On about half the flights I’ve been on the past few years, I see a lonely lost earbud on a seat or the floor when deplaning. I lost one myself this year the very first trip after buying them. So before a very long journey down to Patagonia I bought these Soundcore Sport X20 ones with active noise cancellation and they performed like a dream. The “sport” part refers to the fact that they go over your ear and stay snug, plus they’re waterproof, but they’re far easier to fall asleep with than headphones. The sound is amazing, especially since their app lets you fine-tune the EQ instead of blasting you with more artificially boosted bass than you asked for like many do. The battery lasted 12 hours for me and didn’t run out, so a terrific value for the current under-$60 price.

The Borderless World Embassy

For those who are in the San Francisco Bay Area in the month of October, Safety Wing is operating a pop-up salon space is open to the public in downtown San Francisco, with free coffee and co-working space for digital nomads. Every Saturday this month they will host a series of talks by remarkable speakers on efforts around the world to create the portable infrastructure and policy regime to support a modern nomadic life and borderless travel. Free tickets can be had at the Safety Wing Embassy site so you can connect with people that should probably be in your tribe. (Via Kevin Kelly).

Is Buying Points Ever Worth It?

When the whole point of travel loyalty program points is to get something extra at no cost as a reward, outright paying for those points would seem to defeat the purpose. The airline and hotel points have a defined dollar value though, based on member experience of cashing in, so sometimes when they’re offering a big promotional bonus it could be worth doing. This month I’ve gotten purchase pitches from three hotel chains. One is offering a 100% bonus above a certain threshold and the Wyndham Hotels one of +90% is intriguing because their program only has 3 tiers for redemptions. So it’s easy to do the math and figure out that you could get a $300 or $400 hotel night for $150, or you can “top off” your account to hit the redemption level for an upcoming getaway. Here are examples from AwardWallet.

Nomad Work Hubs on the Rise

Which destinations are getting more working nomads recently? This report is compiled from data based on Nomads.com club member check-ins and there are a few other statistic problems, like the year-to-year spikes/declines being averaged out. Plus percentages hide that some started at a very low base level (hello Paraguay!) Take out the volatile examples though and there’s clearly a steady uptick in Da Nang, Tirana, Hanoi, Taipei, Melbourne, Chiang Mai (still?!), and a whole lot of cities in Japan.

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.