Chris Backe's Blog, page 76

Packing goals as a digital nomad, what I’ve learned from other travelers, and an awesome new bag on Kickstarter

When it comes to packing, my goal as an expat / digital nomad is simple: be able to push, pull, or carry everything I own from point A to B in one trip. Since I’m also carrying all my game stuff and clothes for all four seasons, getting it all down to a suitcase, carry-on, and a computer bag is challenge enough!

Some travelers, they’ve gone even further than that — sometimes getting everything they own into just a carry-on or a single backpack. How, you ask? We’ll get to the hive mind in a se...

Need a taxi? Here are the local taxi apps around the world not named Uber

Whether you’re not a fan of Uber, it’s banned in your country, or you’ve realized it’s not available in your country of choice, lots of other taxi apps are out there.

Select your country: (double-click / double-tap / ‘+’ to zoom in, ‘-‘ to zoom out)

Bulgaria

 

 

TaxiMe (Apple, Android) – operates in Sofia.

United Kingdom

MyTaxi (Apple, Android)

 Gett (Apple, Android) London, Birmingham, Coventry, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle

Israel

 Gett (App...

Destination: Brussels, Belgium — your guide to 11 of the weirdest places in town

Brussels, Belgium — home of comic strips, a Belgian fry museum, huge art, and the MOOF.

It’s more than just waffles, centuries-old churches and the de-facto capital of the EU… but it’s not the European city you associate with lots of stuff to see. Yes, the city avoided bombing during World War II (though it was occupied following Belgian surrender), meaning a lot of the historic buildings are still around…

But you didn’t come to One Weird Globe to hear about that. I’m trying something ne...

Where the hell you been, Chris? On making games, going to Essen Spiel, and what’s next

If we’re not Facebook friends or following me on Twitter. you might have wondered where I’ve been — it’s been a couple of months since I’ve written a new post. Where the hell you been, Chris?

In short, Düsseldorf, Germany from mid-September to the end of October. As I type this: Brussels, Belgium.

Why Düsseldorf? It’s the nearest major city to Essen, Germany — the home of the biggest tabletop / board game convention in the world. That was held at the end of October, and I spent most of our no...

Announcing my two newest books: 3 Days in Zagreb and 3 Days in Bucharest

Ready to take in the weird side of Eastern Europe? Check these out.

After three months in Zagreb and three months in Bucharest, we’re now exploring Düsseldorf, Germany… and of course there’s plenty more coming about Germany…

But for now, it’s time to have a look at Eastern Europe. Both Zagreb and Bucharest are capital cities of their respective countries (Croatia and Romania, respectively), and both suffered under the hands of non-democratic leaders until the late 80’s or early 90’s. Both h...

The State of the Crowdsharing Industry, late 2017

Crowd sharing has come a long way in the past few years — what was once a niche that barely bothered hotel executives now has some of them angling to compete. Travel has seen its share of offerings — after all, what better time to try something new?

Airbnb — the favorite but plateauing?

I love Airbnb. It’s convenient, easy to use, and offers plenty of places around the world. We’ve stayed at Airbnb’s on multiple continents (and even hosted, for a time) and generally had a great time. Hosts a...

Site review: Travellerspoint.com

Quick note: One Weird Globe partners with companies to share Site Reviews like this, and they’re your chance to learn about new travel services and websites. All opinions remain my own.

It’s not every day you come across a travel-focused site that’s been around for well over a decade. That said, Travellerspoint.com offers a lot of stuff travelers will like (and sorry, travellers, but I’ll stick to the American English unless referring to the site or its URL). Peter and Samuel, the site’s fou...

First impressions: Chisinau, Moldova

First Impressions posts are starting to be a thing, and people seem to like them, so I’ll keep writing them =)

After a fun couple of months exploring Romania, we crammed ourselves and our stuff into a minivan that ended up taking over eight hours to go from Bucharest to Chisinau (key-sheen-naw), Moldova… We’re here for about two weeks before heading on, so the schedule is a little tighter than it usually is.

(Why two weeks, you ask? Well, we usually base the length on how much there is to see...

Things I Wish I Knew Before Going on a Romanian Road Trip

So we recently took a pretty cool road trip through Romania — a full week’s worth of driving and destinations — and there’s plenty of awesome destinations to cover in another post. If you’re looking at taking a Romanian road trip for yourself, though, here are a few things I wish I knew before heading out.

(Much like other Things I Wish I Knew posts, this one’s focused on the lessons learned, in the hopes that they help you on your own trip.)

Romanian drivers are nuts.

Watch for speed demons...

Random pictures: the ‘Romanian road trip’ edition

In early-mid August 2017, we took a week-long road trip covering most of Romania’s weirdest destinations. I’m still working on the best ways to write about these places (one super-big post? a lot of little posts? Yes, even after nine years I’m still asking questions like this..), so until they’re ready, enjoy some photos.

One thing you have to watch for as you travel through Romania are the parking lots. There’s typically ample places to park for free, but that doesn’t stop paid parking lots...