Men’s Travel Clothing/Liveable Cities/Bad Bedbug Places

Nomadico issue #218

Travel Clothing for Men: 3 Perspectives

I was one of three traveling men featured in this article on the best traveling clothes for guys and it’s a good rundown of different options, showing that there’s no one-brand solution for long-term travelers. (Though some brands are definitely more reliable than others.) Also, while packing quality items that will last is a good strategy, comprising most of what’s always in my bag, sometimes it’s best to just buy upon arrival as needed, like for t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops. Three common threads though: wrinkle-free is essential, merino wool keeps you from getting stinky, and double-duty clothing helps you pack lighter.

Yes You Will Check a Bag in Asia

I’m leaving soon for a three-month jaunt through Asia with just a carry-on (see above for packing tips) but funny enough, our carry-ons will be checked on most flights as we move between the Stans, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. After booking four flights on four airlines, I have discovered that they definitely don’t want you to carry on your own bag these days—likely because it slows down the boarding and deplaning times. Most Asian budget airlines seem to be capping the carry-on weight at 7 kilos (15 pounds), which is kind of a joke, and only one of the four we’re on even offered the option to pay more for a higher weight carry-on. The rest only let us pay to check a bag instead or bundled it in a package. So we’re packing carry-ons to be sure our bags get to Kazakhstan okay, but after that they will only come into the plane cabin with us once. More on this trend from other continents here.

Most Liveable Cities in the World

I see a lot of “most liveable cities” reports regularly and the outcome can vary depending on what they are measuring and how those factors are weighted. Oddly, very few seem to consider the weather or days of sunshine, for instance. This year’s batch is surprisingly consistent though. Use your own judgement and check out these entries from the Economist Intelligence Unit, Monocle, and Global Citizen Solutions. In the first rundown you’d better have plenty of money because cities like Copenhagen, Vienna, Sydney, Zurich, Tokyo, and Vancouver make up the top 10. Monocle cares whether you can get a drink after 10 p.m., so Lisbon and Barcelona make the list, but there’s still a lot of overlap with the first report. The last one includes those two and adds Seoul. Then they make this interesting aside: “San José in Costa Rica records the highest ease-of-settling-in score in the ranking, followed closely by Mexico City, Bali, Rio de Janeiro, and Bangkok.” In the top spots though, your money may be more welcome than you are…

Where to Watch out for Bedbugs

Fortunately, I haven’t gotten bit by bedbugs since I was a young backpacker, but I know plenty of people who have, sometimes in a very nice hotel even. This Orkin report for 2026 lays out the U.S. cities with the most bedbug reports and Chicago tops the list for the sixth year in a row. Ohio is a bad state overall and other cities ranking highly were L.A, Detroit, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. The report links to helpful advice on how to check your hotel room. Some paranoid/careful frequent travelers I know leave their suitcase in the tub or shower, never on carpet, and carry some kind of bedbug spray. I can’t vouch for those personally, but this is the highest-rated travel-sized one on Amazon.

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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.

08/6/26

What’s in my NOW? — Thomas Plaatsman

issue #265

I’m a globally minded Dutchie who developed a passion for culture after having lived in Spain, Kenya, Ecuador, the Philippines, and Brazil. I now run a blog and newsletter to help curious individuals discover books, movies, and music from around the world and broaden their perspectives.

Cultural Reads NewsletterThe best music, book & movie recommendations worldwideBy Culturalreads

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PHYSICAL

• Imarhan Signed Vinyl – I’ve been a huge fan of Desert Blues, a type of music from the Sahara Desert often performed by the Tuareg, a Berber people who live across the desert. The genre first became widely known through the band Tinariwen, who started making music to support the Tuareg cause during the conflicts in Mali and Niger. Some of the band members even received military training by Gaddafi’s government. Today, there’s a new wave of bands that often sing about similar themes, including the nomadic way of life, political struggles, and cultural memory. Despite not understanding the lyrics, the music really strikes a chord with me. Imarhan is my absolute favorite and ended up in my Spotify Top 5 two years in a row, so I was thrilled to get a signed vinyl at their last concert.
• The Sorrow of War by Bảo Ninh – Whenever I travel to a new country, I buy 1-2 books by local authors to gain better insight into the culture. During our family trip to Vietnam, I found The Sorrow of War, which is the fictional account of a Vietnamese soldier who was 1/10 survivors out of a brigade of 500. It’s been one of my favorite books ever since, not only because it provides a very refreshing counter-perspective to the many American books and films out there, but also because it’s wonderfully written from the perspective of an ex-soldier with PTSD who constantly gets catapulted back into the war and gradually tells the reader the full story through these fragments.
• Pedemeia (Colorful) Socks – I love colorful and high-quality socks. One summer in Portugal, I ran into this small store that only sells socks, often at great summer discounts. Ever since, whenever I visit Portugal, I buy a few pairs, but the last time I was glad to hear that they now ship internationally.

DIGITAL

• GOWOD Stretch App – When I was younger, I played a lot of basketball and never worried much about my health. Now, in my mid-thirties, after years behind a desk, I’ve spent almost 10 years struggling with neck pain. Several months ago, I discovered the stretching app GOWOD, and it’s the first thing that has genuinely helped. The app first measures your flexibility through a series of exercises, then creates a personalized stretching routine. Every month you can retake the test and track your progress, which I’ve found surprisingly motivating.
• Radiooooo – I’m always on the lookout for new music and, despite the many streaming platforms, often struggle to discover new artists I really like. That’s why I love Radiooooo. The five O’s stand for the five continents, and the platform lets you explore music by country and decade. The songs are uploaded by users and curated by a group of French DJs, making it a great place to discover lesser-known music in a world full of algorithms.

INVISIBLE

When you don’t know what to read/watch/do next, instead of trying to fill that empty space, just wait and give life a chance to respond.

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08/5/26

Home / Matthias Buchinger: “The Greatest German Living”

Issue No. 129

HOME – A QUIRKY ODE TO THE MANY STRUCTURES WE LIVE IN ACROSS THE WORLD

Home
by Carson Ellis
Candlewick
2015, 40 pages, 10.2 x 12.1 x 0.4 inches

Buy on Amazon

Home, the quirky triumphant solo debut of Carson Ellis, might look oddly familiar. You’re not mistaken – you’ve seen this charmingly wholesome artwork before. And it’s not because it looks as if it fell out of a Wes Anderson movie set and into your lap. Carson Ellis is the illustrator for children’s classics like Lemony Snickett and The Benedict Society. She’s also well known for her artwork in Wildwood, a children’s fantasy novel written by her husband, Colin Meloy, the lead singer for the Decemberists. You’ll recognize Carson’s contributions on the band’s album covers and merchandise, full of blossoming colors and quaint patterns.

Home is an ode to the many structures across the world that we dwell in, from the messy riotous nest of a sparrow to the peaked roof of the artist’s own humble abode. Carson gives a nod not only to the cheerful graffiti and clustered bricks of urban sprawl but also the domed turrets of white marbled eastern palaces and the cozy cottages of the countryside. She indulges in the silly and the fantastic at every turn, with houses fashioned out of shoes that spill mischievous children across the yard or the Spartan spatial quiet of a lunar landscape. Peculiar characters people her pages; knights in armor astride seahorses, a Norse god in a winged, gold helmet, and a Slovakian duchess peeking grimly from beneath her hat while anchoring twins in her iron grasp. The final page is a culmination of the detailed illustrations that have preceded it, with an element from each scene included as a component of the artist’s own studio. – Kaz Weida

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ONLY 29 INCHES TALL, MATTHIAS BUCHINGER’S ARTISTIC ACCOMPLISHMENT WERE GIGANTIC

Matthias Buchinger: “The Greatest German Living”
by Ricky Jay
Siglio
2016, 160 pages, 8 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches

Buy on Amazon

When Matthias Buchinger was born in 1674, he arrived without arms or legs. As an adult, he was under 2.5 feet tall. He lived to the age of 65, outliving three wives (his fourth wife outlived him, and he was rumored to have as many as 70 mistresses), and he sired 14 children. Most remarkably, Buchinger was an accomplished artist, magician, sharpshooter, and calligrapher. Buchinger’s specialty was micrography: the art of writing tiny letters. He was famous throughout Europe. According to Wikipedia, “Buchinger’s fame was so widespread that in the 1780s the term ‘Buckinger’s boot’ existed in England as a euphemism for the vagina (because the only ‘limb’ he had was his penis).”

The author is Ricky Jay, a famous magician, performer, historian of unusual performers, and writer. Jay’s biography of the extraordinary Buchinger includes many reproductions of Buchinger’s exacting pen and ink drawings, which he made holding a pen in his small fin-like appendages. Jay is a longtime collector of Buchinger original art, and this book includes several entertaining chapters about Jay’s personal interest in collecting Buchinger’s work and his interactions with other Buchinger-philes. – Mark Frauenfelder

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Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

08/4/26

Auto Security

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 201

Most secure auto theft prevention

Ravelco Auto Anti-Theft Device

Two years ago I caught someone trying to steal my car. They were doing it in a way that would not set off my alarm. That prompted me to do a bunch of research about the current state of the art of auto security. Much to my chagrin, most of the items on the market right now are easily defeated by car thieves. There was only one product that everyone said worked. Called a Ravelco device, it consists of a multi-pronged plug and socket that disables multiple electrical systems in your car. They claim that in 29 years and in an installed base of 3 million cars, not one of those cars has ever been stolen.

So I got it. They sent a technician to my house to do the install and he did an excellent job. The solution is simple and elegant. It is not an alarm but a device that makes your car undriveable. It uses a coded dongle and the installer will pick multiple systems (electrical, fuel) that are disabled when the dongle is removed so even if the starter is hotwired, the car cannot run without the dongle. The installer will also go to great pains to disguise where wiring has been spliced. My experience with other mass-installed alarm systems is that they use bright red wire for power and always put the controller and the siren in the same spot.

I have used the Ravelco for several years now. It is completely foolproof and couldn’t be simpler to operate. When you pull the dongle, the car stops and cannot be restarted, period. No false alarms, no waking the neighbors. I feel confident parking my car almost anywhere. They give you two dongles up front and you get a code to order new ones from the company if you should lose one. That being said, we have had some exciting moments when my wife temporarily misplaced her dongle once.

Then two weeks ago I accidentally left my car door open overnight. When I opened the car door to go to work I realized my mistake. Someone had been in my car and had opened my fuse box to look for the alarm shutoff. They had also opened my hood to start the car. The Ravelco had completely foiled them. I love it! — Kurt Wendelken

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Window smashing lifesaver

ResQMe

The ResQMe tool is something that I believe everyone should own, but I pray that no one will ever need to use.

I have been fortunate enough to have never needed to use this tool myself, but through my work as an EMT I have come across more than one situation where my patients may have benifited from this tool, and one situation where I honestly believe that this tool could have been lifesaving.

When you have been involved in a serious motor vehicle collision your adrenaline starts flowing and, if you are like the large majority of people, your fight or flight instincts kick in and thinking rationally can become a challenge.

If it is safe to remain in your vehicle, that is certainly your best course of action. But in some situations this is simply not an option. If for example the vehicle has entered water, if chemicals or fire are involved, or if you are in an isolated area and assistance is simply not going to find you in your current location it may be necessary to vacate your vehicle. Seatbelt mechanisms may become jammed and pushing the release button may no longer work. Electric windows may no longer work if the electronics were damaged by the collision.

In order to get out of the vehicle you need to find not only an alternate way to undo your seatbelt, but a means of breaking a window specifically designed not to be easily broken, and you must do both these things while in a near panicked state. With other tool combinations that I’ve used the seatbelt cutter and the window punch have been separate and have had no means of attaching to a keychain.

As a rescuer, these independent devices work well. However, if you are the person trapped inside the vehicle you don’t have time to be reaching around looking for one tool, let-a-lone two. Having the ResQMe attached you key chain means that you will almost always be able to escape from your vehicle. — Caity

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Velcro hide-a-key

Velcro Key Hider Pouch

Locking yourself out of your vehicle is nigh inevitable. Whether your keys are lost, misplaced or dangling tauntingly from the ignition of your locked rig, you’ve got yourself in a pickle. A recent review of a trailer-hitch key vault proposed a nifty, albeit pricey method to ensure you’re not stranded.

But for those too frugal to spend $65 on a solution, there’s a cheap and effective solution that has saved my bacon on a number of occasions, including out in the middle of nowhere after losing my keys in a trout stream.

The Velcro key hider is a pouch which can be affixed to your vehicle discreetly. Unlike the magnetic key hiders, it won’t jiggle off on rough roads. I still have the original key pouch I purchased a dozen years ago, tucked safely away but readily accessible. I use it often by design, not wanting to carry my keys with me if I’m engaged in sporting events or hikes or such.

They can be purchased for a tiny fraction of the aforementioned trailer hitch (and don’t have to be removed if you intend to be pulling a trailer, either.) This one on Amazon’s site retails for around $8, but I found mine at my local key shop for a similar price. — John Bulger

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Secret truck stash

HitchSafe Key Vault

I do a lot of outdoor stuff like fishing, hunting, diving, etc and when I leave my car I am always trying to figure out what to do with my keys. In the past I had three places I hid the keys but I never felt really comfortable about it. I never liked taking keys with me because I worried too much that I might lose them. I used to be able to take them diving, but now that most keys have electronics attached, it has made it impossible.

I recently discovered the HitchSafe, an attachment that slides into my tow hitch that has a compartment that can hold credit cards, drivers licenses, keys, etc. The hitch has four dials on the drawer allowing you to create a custom unlock combination. And it comes with a cover that conceals the HitchSafe.

I recently bought a second for my wife as she is always getting locked out of her car and so she now keeps her spare key in there. In the past she has tried those magnetic boxes that stick to the underside of the car, but they kept falling off and it was hard for her to find it, let alone reach underneath and grab it.

This is exactly the kind of tool I wish I had thought of. — John Davis

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Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

08/3/26

Tips for philanthropy / Pixel Thoughts app / Packable travel bag

Recomendo - issue #525

Tips for philanthropy

For some people “Giving Money Away Can Be Harder Than Making It” so Roy Bahat, someone whose lifelong habit has been to give money away, has written up some tips in this essay. He follows part one with a second set of more practical suggestions aimed at the thousands of young people about to become millionaires in the AI IPO boom: How to Actually Give Away Your AI Money. Our family has had a habit of philanthropy even when we had very little. I agree with Bahat that giving away well is challenging, and also incredibly rewarding. — KK

One-minute worry release

Pixel Thoughts started as a 60-second meditation site where you type whatever you’re stressed about into a star and watch it drift off into space, and now the same idea is available as a phone app on iOS and Android. My favorite new feature is the custom meditation option, where you pick the length and music, and it reads your specific worry and builds a short reframe around that exact thought instead of a generic one. It’s free, and you can just download it and try it out, no account needed. — CD

Packable travel bag

I keep an Infinity packable travel bag in my suitcase for trips where I know I’ll be bringing more home than I left with. It weighs just 260g and folds down to almost nothing, so I pack it empty and only unfold it when I need the extra space. It slips over a suitcase handle for rolling through the airport, has interior pockets for small stuff, and stands up on its own so it’s easy to load. — MF

Jurassic Park control room nostalgia

Jurassic Park Computers in Excruciating Detail is pure movie-nerd joy and behind-the-scenes magic for JP fans. The author goes through every single computer in the film, and I learned that today’s equivalent of about $4,000,000 in hardware and software was loaned for the production, and that everything was functional because, even then, audiences were too sophisticated about computers to fake it. This movie came out when I was 10 years old. I played the video game, I watched the movies on loop, and at one point I even had a Jurassic Park–themed birthday party (at age 27), so this kind of obsessive breakdown literally induces glee. R.I.P. Sam Neill. — CD

Master explainer

If you have listened to podcasts in the past decade, or watch tutorials on YouTube, it would be hard to miss Hank Green, who is a prolific explainer. He is omnipresent in the explainosphere. I enjoy dipping into his latest YouTube solo channel, where, in his signature rapid-fire style he explains whatever interests him. His lessons are very clear, sensible, and often with a little bit of a skewed view. He’s probably one of the best explainers of complex things. — KK

Non-luxury fountain pen

I bought this inexpensive fountain pen from Asvine after reading Neal Stephenson’s essay on writing by hand, which makes the case that longhand recruits more of your brain — and that a fountain pen is far less tiring than a pencil or ballpoint because the nib skates on the ink instead of requiring pressure. He recommends buying cheap pens until you know what you like. This one writes beautifully, has a metal body, a knurled barrel, and satisfying weight. It comes with a converter for bottled ink. — MF

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08/2/26

Book Freak #220: The Mind’s I

Hofstadter and Dennett on the Strange Loop of Self and Consciousness

Get The Mind’s I

The Mind’s I, edited by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett, collects 27 stories and essays that explore three questions: “What is the mind?” “Who am I?” and “Can machines think?”

It has pieces by Jorge Luis Borges, with a man dreamed into existence in “The Circular Ruins” and the vertiginous “Borges and I.” Stanisław Lem contributes “The Seventh Sally,” about tiny beings who beg their maker not to switch off their world. Alan Turing asks whether a machine can think; Richard Dawkins writes on selfish genes and memes; and Thomas Nagel wonders what it is like to be a bat. Dennett narrates his own brain being separated from his body in “Where Am I?” After each piece, the two editors add a “Reflection.” This is one of my favorite books, and one I have returned to for over 40 years. Sadly, all the essays were written by men.

Core Principles

1. What Is It Like to Be You?

Thomas Nagel’s famous essay asks: “What is it like to be a bat?” His answer: we can’t know, because consciousness has an irreducibly subjective character. There is “something it is like” to be a conscious creature — and that something can’t be fully captured from the outside. The same mystery applies to every other mind, including the person sitting next to you.

2. The Self Is a Strange Loop

Who is the “I” that thinks your thoughts? Hofstadter suggests the self is a kind of strange loop — a pattern that refers back to itself, emerging from the brain’s physical processes but not reducible to them. You are not your neurons, but you are not separate from them either. The self is something the brain does.

3. Thought Experiments Reveal Hidden Assumptions

Can a computer think? Could you be a brain in a vat? What if you were teleported —would the person who arrives still be you? These questions expose hidden assumptions we carry about mind, soul, and identity. The book uses fiction and fantasy to crack open questions that dry philosophy can’t reach.

4. The View from Nowhere Is Incomplete

Science seeks objectivity — a “view from nowhere.” But when applied to the mind, this approach leaves out something essential: the view from somewhere, the fact that experience is always someone’s experience. Any complete account of reality must include the subjective, not just the objective.

Try It Now

1. Try to imagine what it’s like to be someone radically different from you (even a bat) — not what you would experience in their situation, but what they experience.
2. Ask yourself: who is the “I” that is reading this sentence? Can you locate it? What happens when you look?
3. Consider a thought experiment: if a perfect copy of you were made, would it be you? What does your answer reveal about what you think identity is?
4. Notice something you’re certain about regarding your own mind. Now ask: how would you prove it to someone else?

Quote

“An organism has conscious mental states if and only if there is something that it is like to be that organism—something it is like for the organism. — Thomas Nagel’”

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Book Freak is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We also run Recomendo, the Cool Tools website, a YouTube channel and podcast, and other newsletters, including Recomendo Deals, Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Books That Belong On Paper, and Book Freak.

07/31/26

What’s in my NOW? — Thomas Plaatsman