The single best clue to a bird’s identity is the shape of its bill. — Christine Jones, birdwatcher, San Francisco, California
10/13/14
A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.
The new Ripley series on Netflix may have beautiful black-and-white shots of Venice with hardly any people in them, but you won’t find that happening in 2024. If you’re visiting the city on a day tour and not spending the night, you’ll now pay a 5-euro entrance fee. Only between mid-April and mid-July though, when Venice averages 40,000 visitors per day.
I’ve been avoiding Turkey for years since a free press, women’s rights, gay rights, and much more went into the trash bin under its autocratic leader. Democracy showed some surprising strength in the last state and municipal elections though, as the opposition made huge gains, so there’s some hope for eventual relief for its beleaguered population. (Inflation is still 68.5%.) The country launched a digital nomad visa on April 15, though apparently I’m too old for it and there are a lot of details that are still fuzzy. See what we know so far here.
There’s been some news this week that marijuana could be in for a classification change at the federal level. Until that happens, it’s illegal to fly with it, no matter what its status is where you’re departing or landing: airports are subject to federal laws. There’s a big “but” to that though, as this TravelPulse article that quotes the TSA points out. If you read between the lines, it says you’ll probably get away with something that looks like candy and not a clear baggie full of dried buds and leaves. They’re looking for weapons and big bottles of liquid that are a threat to safety.
I’ve previously talked about avoiding local ATM fees while traveling by using a debit card from the likes of Fidelity or Schwab that reimburses them. (My Novo one reimburses up to $7 each month too). If you don’t have one of those though, the local charges can make a big difference over time, so shop around as hard as you would for anything else. Last week in Los Cabos when I needed to use a different card, the Banco BBVA machine wanted 197 pesos to get to my money, almost US$12. The HSBC machine a few steps away was 89 pesos. I kept going and tried the Santander branch, which charged 39—US$2.29 instead. Ka-ching.
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