Hi everyone, I just came back from a trip - here are some interesting takeways I thought would be useful to share. Happy to hear from anyone about any other interesting ways to make your life better on the road.

• Power: Bring a British power adapter head for airplane / train usage - often the North American style NEMA pins are very loose and this is a handy way of overcoming that problem. A very good solution is one of those power adapters for multiple countries with USBC and USBA ports in addition to being able to plug in. It was amazing on the flight to charge multiple devices at the same time.
• Power: Modern power banks can deliver 100W and hold around 28K mAH (weird power unit, I know...) - even with a laptop you can last all day
• Trusted Traveller Programs: Everyone knows about Global Entry, but a lesser known one is ABTC for Asia - saved me hours of waiting in line. I'm curious if there are any other good ones.
• Networking: A little mini travel router is really useful to auto-connect all of your devices and allows you to use smart home devices. A little finicky in terms of setup so it requires some level of networking knowledge (e.g., MAC cloning). You can bring your own casting devices and take over the TV. You can also use it to share wifi on an airplane but I found it too clunky to want to do this often when flying economy.
• Networking: Bring an ethernet cable and if your laptop doesn't have one, a dongle. Some hotels will have a more reliable eth connection.
• TVs: Some TVs are set in a "hospitality mode" and have HDMI ports disabled.
• Organization: Numbering all of your interal compartments with little tags so that you can make sure you have everything by just running through the numbers - this time, I left behind one bag by accident.
• Finances: A Wise prepaid credit card is very convenient re: paying in local currency.
• Transportation: Consider getting a transponder for whatever local toll system is in place. In the US my research indicates that the best one is the UNI from Central Florida Expressway.
• Transportation: Always have an international driver's permit (IDP) - I forgot to get one ready and couldn't rent a car.
• Passport: Lots of places surprisingly required the physical passport for things like tax free rebates, etc. Important to carry on person in a secure pocket.
• Laundry: Surprisingly, many budget hotels come with either coin laundry or laundry machines, and many AirBnbs have ensuite laundry. It's good to book one in the middle of the trip on purpose to wash your clothes. The fancy hotels had very expensive laundry service $5 per piece of underwear...
• Hotels: Travelling in Asia, I became a fan of the local hotel chains (especially Dormy Inn). Booking cancellable reservations also gave me flexibility to modify my travel plans.

Curious to know what museums people have visited that really left them thinking, "this was worth it" (time, money, whatever "worth it" means to you).

I will start.

Minneapolis, MN
Mill City Museum

This museum really shocked me with its breadth and depth! The location and setting are really cool as well. It has parts of the ruins of the historical building, integrated with some beautiful architecture of the new building.

The museum aims to explain how the grain industry was established and blew up in the Midwest, and what special role it had in shaping Minnesota. It goes all the way back to discussing WWII up to the advent of convenience foods like Betty Crocker and Pillsbury. There is even a Betty Crocker test kitchen in museum, complete with all the smells pumped into the air.

The displays are cool and I think are kid friendly, while also not boring the shit out of adults. My favorite part of the museum is the elevator, I truly believe it's one of the coolest displays(?) I've seen in a museum before, but I don't want to give away anymore, lest I make anyone's expectations too high and spoil it lol.

I'm going to be in NYC with my daughter next week for a school conference. There are already some planned tourist things: the One World Center observatory, South Street Seaport, the Roosevelt Tram ride, and a Broadway show.

There is a pretty full schedule of scheduled activities. The primary degree of freedom is that almost every meal, breakfast lunch and dinner, is "on your own".

We're staying right in Times Square, so the expectation seems to be that everything you could want for food is within walking distance of the hotel. I plan to find a grocery store and get some fruit and snacks to keep in the hotel so we don't have to go out for every meal if she's exhausted.

Keep in mind also, it will be myself, my 4th grader, and whatever of her 4-6th grade friends we pick up, so we're not looking for bars or haute cuisine. If there's something "special" or uniquely new york, I can probably sell it as a new experience, but it needs to be in their overton window.

She's a pretty good eater but prefers familiar food. She's a fan of American staples like pizza, dogs, and burgers. She does well with Italian and Mexican, but rarely likes Thai, Indian, or Chinese.
Her best friend is vegetarian, so at least some vegetarian- friendly options would be good.

We won't have a ton of time for other touristy stuff, but I'm open to recommendations for something simple and short we could do in the evenings. In this thread people mentioned riding the ferry, so if that's a thing we can easily do from there, maybe grabbing some street hot dogs and sitting on the ferry would be a good option?

So, Tilderistas what Times Square recommendations (or anti recommendations) do you have?

It's always been a dream of mine to attend one of those big metal fests - simply don't have those in my country. I'll be traveling to Europe for the first time, and I really want to catch one while I'm there.

I'll be there from 13 July - 29 July this year, particularly on the west side of Europe. Planning to go the UK, Switzerland, Germany and maybe more. I found this fest that seems to fit my criteria, Baden in Blut.

I just wonder how comfortable I'll be, as someone who only speaks English and is going solo. Should I be worried about anything? Any advice? Thanks!

I am an Indian by origin and currently a Canadian citizen. During my recent holiday visit to India, I purchased a Turquoise gemstone along with a certificate from a reputable seller. Now, as I prepare to return to Canada (Surrey, British Columbia), I have a layover at London Heathrow Airport before my final destination with Air Canada.

I would like to know if there are any specific regulations regarding carrying gemstones while traveling. Do I need to provide any supporting documents, such as an invoice, a bill, or an authenticity certificate from a particular lab, for immigration clearance? Also, since I have a layover in London, I am curious if there are any specific requirements or restrictions at Heathrow Airport regarding carrying gemstones.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Any guidance on the required documents at both London Heathrow and Canada for a smooth immigration process would be greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to helpful responses. Thank you!

A pretty quick work trip has been planned. I will fly into Heathrow Saturday morning. I'll have until Sunday evening to get to Warwick. I'll be in Warwick for 5 days before flying back out the next Saturday.

I'm looking for any general advice but also if there is anything specific to the following:

• I'm going to book my own hotel in London the Saturday night I fly in. Saturday and Sunday are essentially my "tourist" days. Where is good to stay? Not too concerned with price.
• I'm taking a train to Warwick and mostly have that figured out but is there an app or pass that I should add to my Apple wallet for transit around London?
• I like museums of all types. Are there any in particular I should check out?
• Any classic pubs or restaurants I should try to get to?
• Once the week starts I don't think I'll have much time to do touristy stuff and I won't have a car. Any recommendations on things around Warwick/Birmingham that I can get to some evenings via train or bus?

We stayed in Albuquerque and Taos.

I was surprised and pleased to learn that petroglyphs national monument has free admission. The Pueblo cultural center in Albuquerque is a great resource. If you plan to visit, definitely check their website to see what is scheduled.

We visited and toured Taos Pueblo. Each Pueblo has different craft and art traditional styles. The museums and art galleries in Taos were cool.

New Mexico is beautiful and has a unique cultural identity within the US. It's a poor state but with a high percentage of scientists, artists, old Spanish American families and native Americans.

I liked it well enough to plan for a return trip.

Recently I just came across this channel Ilya Varlamov , great quality video content related to travel. Thought I should share this channel.
I also watch Not Just Bikes , it's more related to Urban planning, but you get to explore a lot about the countries.
Then is series called Scam City , It gives great info about native people trying to scam tourist's.
Series called Deadliest Roads , Shows the tough life of the native people with bad Road networks.

What all Youtube channels/Series you watch related to travel?

I think I'm not the only one asking themselves, whether it's time to pack up and leave. But where to?
So for the sake of brainstorming I need your help. As for myself I'm willing to go basically anywhere as long as I can imagine a future there.

Edit: Since you all are getting caught up in telling me how naive/wrong/misguided I am, I'm boiling it down to one question:

What countries are not on the verge of descending into fascism and are accepting in some form or another of westerners moving there?

All I want is countries I can look into myself and give people in my spot something to look into, please for the love of all that is holy if you don't have anything positive to say, save it.