Pedro Ivens

I really enjoy reading while I travel. I always carry a tablet with me for all my trips with dozens of books in it, so that I can enjoy a good read without paperback book taking a lot of space in by bag. One of the books I read recently was the "4 hour work week" by Tim Ferriss (please click here for the official book and author website), which, to me, was an inspiring book. This inspiring book talks about entrepreneurship strategies and how we can gain time by using remote work.  The goal of the author is to give us ideas on how we can minimize the time spent working and give us more time to do what we like to do. One of suggestion Tim Ferriss gives us, is to use the extra time we can gain by creating a business or increasing our remote working to travel for longer periods. Instead of traveling just a couple weeks a year, Tim defends we should spend longer times traveling, and I do agree with Tim! Tim Ferris gives us plenty of inspiring ideas to create self-sufficient busin...

What is the best bag I can pick for travel? In terms of space efficiency and luggage maximization, duffel bags are almost perfect, and that is the reason why I just bought one.  I bought a new travel bag! I've discussed in this blog ( HERE ) that I like to travel with 16 liter Fjalraven kanken backpack or a 20 liter backpack. However, I decided to go for a duffel bag that is Ryanair approved. Ryanair official under the seat measures are 40x25x20 (centimeters). Why I have always preferred to travel with a backpack? Because it is very comfortable to carry around since it distributes weight evenly across your shoulders. Walking around with a backpack makes it very easy to go in and out of public transportation. Why I bought a duffel bag for travel? I will be traveling with the low cost carrier Ryanair, and so to avoid paying extra fees and having my bags sent to the cargo hold (something I have discussed HERE , I prefer not to do), I opted for their cheapest fare, which means I can o...

How to pack socks to save space?  Bundling 3 pairs of socks and rolling them together is, in my opinion, an excellent solution to save space while packing. Pack efficiently is all about getting the most out of your bag and either put more things inside it, or making it more organized. I like to roll all my clothes and pack them inside my bag.  When I roll the clothes, each garment has it's own volume, which ends up taking space inside the bag. However, in the case of socks, I believe there is an another method that is more extreme, but can save a ton of space if done right.  This method is putting 3 pairs of socks together and rolling them, creating one roll.  With practice, I believe this is an excellent technique to reduce the size of our bag. Please take a look to my post on  How to travel only with a small 10 liter backpack . What are the benefits of bundling and rolling socks? Bundling pieces together in one roll really maximizes space, because each roll ta...

Is it difficult to find a free toilet in Budapest?  There aren't many free toilets in the streets. I mostly opted to go to cafes and restaurants when it was time to eat. Where can you find toilets in Budapest? In my experience, in central Budapest, it is difficult to find free toilets in the streets. There is no shortage of toilets, they're just either paid or inside cafes and restaurants. In my view, the best option if you're walking around town is just, every once in a while, go and try something in a cafe, or have a meal in a restaurant. These places have free toilets and you can use them, but they obviously they expect you to spend some money. In my case, I used a strategy I had already described here . What I did was book a hotel in the center of the city and returned to the hotel if I was close by, and use the toilet in my room. Using your hotel room as basis for toilet usage is an excellent strategy if your hotel is located near the places you are visiting. If not, j...

I do not have data to back up what I'm going to say, but I do believe that investing in the stock market may be a good way to generate good returns that ultimately can help us pay for our travels. I just read the book " Rich dad poor dad " and the author confirms the belief I had that it is important to acquire assets during our life that generate returns. This got me wondering: would this be a good way to fund travel costs? I believe it may well be. Investing in the stock market may, in the long run, generate returns in 2 ways:   1) some companies pay dividends which basically give you a portion of the money the company generate in the year,  2) if the company does well, the stock prices can increase, thus increase the value of your assets. Of course there is a lot of risk involved, but in the long run, maybe buying stocks from companies that pay dividends could pay for a portion of a trip (and pay for other things, obviously). Because of this, I decided to start my jo...

Is it always worth booking trips by myself or should I book through travel agency? It depends. What has worked best for me is: if I want to go to a beach resort, I just book it through an agency, if I'm planning a trip to visit a city somewhere in the world, I just book it myself. When I book my travels I always think if I should schedule it through a travel agency or book it myself using booking.com , skyscanner.com (and others). Every time I schedule a trip I do the same exercise: ask for quotes in a travel agency, and compare it against online prices. I haven't done a thorough comparison for this post, so I'll just share my opinion based on my experience. Is it always better to book trips by yourself, directly with airlines and hotels? No.  My experience so far is that in certain specific destinations, such as beach locations with family resorts or similar, travel agencies just have better prices than if you book it yourself (either through booking.com or even through...

  What is the best way to pass the time while in airports, airplanes, and trains? it is reading! I've always loved reading, but I recently rediscovered the pleasure of reading, and I try to read as much as I can. I truly feel the benefits of reading regularly: I'm more relaxed, more concentrated, more patient, and everyday a little more knowledgeable. I found out that reading while I travel is the best way to recover from the traveling day. It can be because I've walked around a lot, or because I spent the day at the beach and I want to relax further, or just because I'm in transit in an airplane or in a train (I'm not able to read in buses though...). But it is not easy to keep a regular reading schedule. How do I create the habit of reading? Reading is hard! Especially when you compare it to watching TV, YouTube, or using any social network. The problem most of the times is that it is difficult to start reading a book and very easy to stop reading it. So how do w...

What should I do when traveling to Japan? When preparing a trip to Japan you should 1) Buy Japan Rail Pass, 2) Travel Light, 3) be polite and respect locals, 4) be mindful of the cleanness around you , 5) book hotel in advance, 6) always have cash, and 7) use a translation app. I went to Japan in August 2016, and this was an unforgettable experience. Japan is a very easy country to travel to, since it is all very organized, very safe, and people are very respectful. But there are still some things I would recommend any friend when traveling to the country. My 7 most relevant tips for traveling to Japan are: 1) Buy Japan Rail Pass, 2) Travel Light, 3) be polite and respect locals, 4) be mindful of the cleanness around you , 5) book hotel in advance, 6) always have cash, and 7) use a translation app . 1. Buy Japan Rail Pass You should take advantage of the excellent transportation network that Japan has. Particularly, their train network is second to none. To make most of you trip and to...

What places in Portugal are worth visiting and not very touristy: the village São Martinho do Porto is a very beautiful place and it not widely known. São Martinho do Porto is an old fishing village in the centre of Portugal, close to the city of Caldas da Rainha, in the western part of Portugal.  The town is built around a very beautiful bay, which is where most people will spend their day: at the beach, and in cafés, and restaurants. You can spend a day at the beach in this beautiful location, which is not as full as in many other beach destinations in the country. How to get to São Martinho do Porto São Martinho is roughly 1 hour away from Lisbon and 2 hours from Porto, and is very easy to drive there, since there is a highway (A8) passing very close by. Brief history of São Martinho do Porto The direct English translation of "São Martinho do Porto" would be "Saint Martin's Harbor". The name is directly linked to a famous tail of São Martinho (Saint Martin) ...

Is it difficult to find a free toilet in Bratislava?  There aren't many free toilets in the streets, but it was easy to use a free toilet in museums. Where can you find toilets in Bratislava? Drinking water and other liquids is essential to keep hydrated in any travel. However, it can be a reason for concern if you keep keep drinking water and not have a toilet nearby! In my experience, in central Bratislava, it is difficult to find free toilets in the streets. However, I visited the Hrad castle in the historical center of the city and the toilet was free and clean. Other museums or similar also had free toilets. You can also visit cafes and restaurants, but they, obviously, expect you to spend some money. Maybe, this is a great opportunity to have a drink or taste the local cuisine. There were also paid public toilets, which are always an option. In my case, I booked a hotel in the center of the city, thus what I did most of the times was returning to the hotel and use the toilet ...

Is it difficult to find a free toilet in Vienna?  Yes. There aren't many free toilets in the streets. I found a few that were free in museums, but not many. However, there are many bathrooms available throughout the city in local places, most of them are paid but very clean. Where can you find toilets in Vienna? Drinking water and other liquids is essential to keep hydrated in any travel. However, it can be a reason for concern if you keep keep drinking water and not have a toilet nearby! In my experience, in central Viena, it is difficult to find free toilets. However, I did find many public toilets that were paid, but cheap, and were kept very clean. Most McDonalds restaurants also had paid toilets, but they were well maintained and clean. You can also visit cafes and restaurants, but they, obviously, expect you to spend some money. Maybe, this is a great opportunity to have a drink or eat something. If you really don't want to pay, my advice is to try and go to the toilet in...

Is it difficult to find a free toilet in Rome? Yes. There aren't many free toilets in the streets, which usually make you visit a shop, restaurant, or a café to buy items. Where can you find toilets in Rome? Drinking water and other liquids is essential to keep hydrated in any travel. However, it can be a reason for concern if you keep keep drinking water and not have a toilet nearby! In my experience, in central Rome, it is be difficult to find free toilets. There are some public paid toilets, which you can put a coin in and use. Cafes and restaurants also have available toilets, but they, obviously, expect you to spend some money. Maybe, this is a great opportunity to drink a coffee or eat something. My advice is to try and go to the toilet in museums or when you go to a café or a restaurant. How clean are the toilets in Rome? My experience wasn't great in this regard. Most of the toilets were not very clean.  But this is understandable, there is a lot of tourists visiting t...

Is Iberostar Royal Andaluz a good hotel? Yes, it is an amazing hotel for family vacation. It has great service, excellent food, great beach, and entertainment for adults and children. Chiclana de la Frontera The hotel area is very calm and is beautifully organized. There are palm trees and golf fields. This makes the area very quiet and calm. Each hotel has it's own drive way. There are restaurants close to the hotels if you would like to try something different, and there is a shopping center where you can buy a little bit of everything, particularly beach items - towels, shovels for children, toys, etc. There are also toy cars, for children! Although I spent most of the time inside the hotel, the surroundings were calm and safe. In fact, I opted to park my car in the street during my whole stay, which was not only free, but I had to issues whatsoever.  My Experience at Iberostar Royal Andaluz The hotel The hotel is a big complex with 2 main wings. There is one wing which is more ...