Pedro Ivens

Visiting Japan is an unforgettable trip. Everything is fantastic: the food, the culture, the architecture, etc. However, if your traveling in the summer there are some challenges to overcome.  I visited Japan in August and when I prepared the trip, I checked the temperatures forecast, as always.  It was warm, but nothing that I haven't experienced.  What I did not account for, was the humidity level... The feel of the temperature completely changed the way I felt the heat, and I had some trouble in adapting to this. So I would like to share what I've learned. These are my 6 tips to anyone traveling to Japan in the Summer, particularly during August: 1) Travel Light 2) Wear breathable fabrics 3) Wear breathable shoes 4) Carry water 5) Eat regularly 6) Carry a hand fan 1. Travel Light   This may sound like a very generic tip, but I do believe it makes all the difference. I am an lightweight travel advocate ( click here to see how it all started ), and I usually travel ...

    Guinea-Bissau is not the typical five-start resort country that you book your next summer trip to. You can't also expect huge museums, vast culture with operas and theaters.  Most of the people that travel to the country are there for work, to live, or to visit family relatives. It is, however, a beautiful country, but it is also a very poor one with many challenges. The infrastructures are very weak, the sanitary system is lacking, the roads are lacking, the energy is lacking, etc. So, why could it be interesting to visit this country? In my opinion, there are 4 main reasons to visit Guinea-Bissau: 1) Climate 2) Untouched Beaches 3) Untouched natural beauty 4) Time Travel and detox 1. Climate The average of maximum temperatures are around ºC 35 (95 Fahrenheit) and average minimums are ºC 19 (66 Fahrenheit).  Regardless of the averages you an find on google, easily, the temperatures reach 40 ºC (104 Fahrenheit) during the day and I've experienced the temperat...

How can you pack a t-shirt to save space inside your bag?  Rolling t-shirts is, in my opinion, the best way to pack it inside the bag.   There is a lot of information online about the most efficient way to pack a bag. The objective is always to get the most out of a smaller bag. Some people say we should bundle it, some say you should fold it, and others say you should roll it. Having tried all three methods, my preferred method is to roll my clothes. In my opinion, not only it maximizes the space, but also makes it easy to take things out of the bag while keeping all other clothes neat and organized.   Rolling a t-shirt The t-shirt is probably the clothing item both Men and Women take in their bags in almost all trips. So, to share my preferred method for packing clothes, I chose to create an example for a t- shirt. I take the 5 following steps to roll a t-shirt:   1. lay the t-shirt on a flat surface.     2. fold a 10 centimeter horizontal line at the ...

Many of us travel to Africa for first time without knowing what to expect, how to behave and how to avoid any dangerous situations.  When I was traveling to Guinea-Bissau I had some work colleagues giving me tips (do's and don'ts) about the country that made my adaptation easier to the reality. In this post I will share what I've learned about traveling to Guinea-Bissau and the tips and tricks I was taught and experienced myself.  There are 4 main topics I would say someone traveling to the country needs to prepare for:  1) appropriate clothes 2) Hygiene cares 3) Health & Medication 4) Practical advice 1. Appropriate clothes The average of maximum temperatures are around ºC 35 (95 Fahrenheit) and average minimums are ºC 19 (66 Fahrenheit).  Regardless of the averages you an find on google, easily, the temperatures reach 40 ºC (104 Fahrenheit) during the day and I've experienced the temperatures not going below 30 ºC (86 Fahrenheit) at around midnight. So, a very...

I visited Guinea-Bissau when I was working as a financial auditor in a consulting company. We had some projects there, so I was lucky to get to know a few things about this country. One of the areas I was impressed with was the local cuisine. I wasn't impressed because of the excellent qualities of restaurant management, nor their dish presentations, or even impressed by a world famous Guinean dish. No. What I was impressed with was the flavors in their food. There are some excellent local dishes I tried during my stay in the country which I would like to tell you about.  I would highlight 5 main dishes. 1. Fresh fish  Guinea-Bissau is located by the sea, so the fresh fish there is excellent. The preparation is very simple, just salted and grilled in coal. They let the freshness of the fish speaks for itself. There is a region 30 kilometers from the capital Bissau, called Quinhamel, where you can eat fresh fish and fresh oysters. I don't really like oysters so I didn't ha...

Traveling light started in different phases of my life. I was a financial auditor working for a consultancy company and I used to travel for work. Our teams went several times to Africa, particularly to Angola and to Guinea-Bissau.   In one of my trips to Angola, I watched, first had, a friend of mine waiting a couple of hours for his bag to be taken out of the aircraft and put it into the conveyor belt at the airport. He was happy for a while, but eventually saw that all of the team had their bags with them but he didn't. The happiness quickly disappeared. I had to lend him some of my clothes and saw how affected he was just because he had to go to work without having his things with him. Minor things were getting to him, like not being able to shave or having to wear the same clothes every day. Because of this event I started to travel with a small 10 liter backpack with me at all times with some essentials, like a change of clothes mobile phone charger and my laptop. All the rem...

Guinea-Bissau is a small country without any well know tourist attractions, but has many beautiful places and it is worth the visit. I visited Guinea-Bissau when I was working as a financial auditor in a consulting company. We had some projects there, so I was lucky enough to visit the country on weekends. However, to do so, first we need a car. There is a car rental at the airport we can use, or you can just rent a taxi for the day.  I went rogue here and my colleagues and I asked in the hotel we were staying how we could rent a car. The result? we ended up renting the car of one of the hotel employees! This is how I discovered the country and ended having an opinion on which places to visit. This post aims to answer the following question: I'm going to Guinea-Bissau, what places do you recommend I should visit? I'm glad you asked! This is my very own 4-day circuit to Guinea-Bissau.   Day 1 On the first day, I would recommend spending the morning in the capital Bissau. Drive...