Four years ago I mentioned these travel extension cords with multiple plugs that I use when taking a checked bag to Europe, but this time I’m in the ‘Stans with just a carry-on and didn’t have room. So I did what I’ve advised before in this newsletter: went to the local market and found an appropriate adapter after landing. Around $2.10 later in Almaty, I had a small device that can accommodate a U.S. plug and two USB cords at once. It’s handy since European-style outlets seldom get installed as doubles and I have yet to find a hotel or apartment in Central Asia that has upgraded to USB chargers. The one I got looks sort of like this if you want to plan ahead and that one’s a bit better if you use USB-C to USB-C cords a lot.

The Return of the Couchsurfing Experience

Are you old enough to remember Couchsurfing? It was a cool community platform for finding places to crash for free around the world... until it wasn’t. The founders turned it into a for-profit venture in 2011 and it quickly went downhill. Now there’s an offering with the same original spirit called Couchers. It’s a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and you can sign up as a host, a coucher, or just find the meet-ups, all for free. See more about it here.

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The “Best” Places to Live Are Subjective

Every week or two I get an e-mail about some study showing the best or worst places to live abroad. Usually it is funded by a brand or a digital PR firm working for a brand, an attempt to have stories picked up and get mentions/links. The people writing it are crunching whatever stats they can find from behind a desk, with the aid of AI. One received this week told me that two of the places rated highest by nomads actually booking apartments—Medellin and Da Nang—were among the 10 worst places to live in the world. (No, I’m not linking to it!) It’s a reminder not to take these studies at face value, especially when the methodology is flawed. The only real way to find out if a place is perfect for you or a “Get me out of here” nightmare is to go there and spend some real time on location. You might hate Da Nang in the end, but decide for yourself based on your own criteria.

2026 Traveler Trends

A more reliable study is this one from TripAdvisor that looked at six months of booking data for day tours to tell us what’s changing in the patterns. Experiences with real locals are overtaking the check-the-box sightseeing jaunts, though somehow already packed Vatican City tours saw a 61% increase. Percentages are deceiving since those with a lower starting level have more room to run, but the activities rated the highest are on an even playing field. The highest-ranked global ones over six months were cooking classes, surfing/windsurfing, craft classes, and activities on two wheels. See the options where you’re headed here.

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.