A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
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I have a regular quality USB microphone for sounding good on podcast interviews and video calls, but it’s another sizeable thing to carry around when traveling, especially with a carry-on. So I recently bought this tiny gooseneck USB mic that fits in a little pocket-sized pouch and weighs next to nothing. At $17 it’s not pro quality of course, but better than the built-in mic on most computers and it’s easy to keep off-screen too.
Frequent travelers got two pieces of good news this week. First, Thailand flights can now go direct to and from the USA after meeting safety conditions, something that hasn’t been possible for a decade. Second, one silver lining from the huge drop in visitors to the USA is that flight prices dropped 5% year-over-year in March and look to be down even more for April onward. This is a great time to look at every column when searching international fares. I just snagged one-way biz class seats from Tampa to Leon/Guanajuato in Mexico for $425 in July, only $90 more than the worst economy ticket available.
This questioning part of this travel trends survey from American Express took place before all the negative disruptions in Washington DC started, but it’s still an interesting look at what regular travelers around the world are thinking about (more meaningful souvenirs) and acting on (like stacking points and miles) for upcoming vacations. Looking at different age groups and how they travel, it dives into attitudes about social media, AI answers, traveling for events, and letting the kids choose a destination.
The best-known novel from Latin America is probably the Gabriel Garcia Marquez classic One Hundred Years of Solitude, set in a mythical Colombian town in the 19th and early 20th centuries. If you found the 422 pages of “magic realism” and a century’s worth of characters hard to keep straight, I’d highly recommend the recent 8-part miniseries on Netflix covering the first half of the book. (The rest is going into production now). Seeing the people on screen makes them much easier to track and the pacing feels just right. The cinematography is impressive too, mostly done within a purpose-built town that evolves through the ages.
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.
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