Best Hotel Values/Reserved Seat Tactics/Fastest-growing Tourism Destinations

Nomadico issue #195

The Best City Hotel Values

There are a lot of badly researched articles out there on finding vacation bargains, so I try to highlight the ones based on solid research and data. This article on the most affordable destinations uses booking info supplied by Expedia to highlight the best hotel values in the USA and abroad, based on average booking prices. For the former it’s mostly small or unpopular places, but the international spots are a different story. The top five are Salvador (Brazil), Guadalajara, Bogota, Merida (Mexico), and Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. Nomad faves Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur also made the list.

Reserved Flight Seats Require $ or Patience

Hopefully you’ve learned to avoid the “Basic Economy” fares that make your legacy airline ticket as no-frills as one on Spirit or Ryanair. Unfortunately, even if you buy a regular economy ticket, the legacy airlines are all over the map on if or when you can pick your seat for free, even if you’re willing to sit in the back of the plane. With AA/BA, United/Turkish, and Delta/KLM I’ve had a flight series where I could pick the first leg’s seat upon booking, but had to pay on the longer flight unless I was willing to wait until check-in 24 hours before departure. On this latest KLM one I held off and got a good seat for today, but it’s yet another source of stress from an industry that keeps piling on more. Do some research so you don’t pay up in advance if the plane is half full, but perhaps pony up again to avoid a middle seat for 12 hours on a full flight.

Where Tourism is Growing the Fastest

Mexico had a record tourism year in 2025 thanks to all those Canadians bypassing their southern neighbor, but some other destinations did even better in terms of increases. According to this article from the BBC using UN data, Brazil, Bhutan, and Egypt were the big winners last year for percentage upticks, increasing 37%, 30%, and 20% respectively. A weak currency and increased flight capacity helped Brazil, while the museum we’ve been waiting 20 years for finally opened in North Africa: the Grand Egyptian Museum near the pyramids of Giza. The two others with big jumps were the Seychelles and Ethiopia. See the link for details.

High Costs, High Frustration at Disney Parks

I would imagine the Venn diagram connection between Nomadico readers and “Disney Parks lovers” is a very small convergence, but I’m still linking to this insane article from Frommer’s about how hard it is to be a non-rich person doing a Disney World vacation just so you can feel smug about avoiding Orlando if you’d like. If nothing else, it makes every other kind of vacation in the world that you could take look like a bargain. (Unless you’re cruising to Antarctica or going on an African safari maybe.)

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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.

02/26/26

What’s in my NOW? — Eric Goebelbecker

issue #243

I’m a science fiction author, CTO at an online marketing firm, and part-time dog trainer. — Eric Goebelbecker

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PHYSICAL

• FiiO JM21 – Listening to music and podcasts free from interruptions and distractions is something we lost around 2008. I wanted that back.
• IBM Model M Keyboard – After years of trying to find a substitute for this crunchy masterpiece, I picked this one up, did some work on it myself, then finally paid an expert to restore it. It’s glorious.
• Author Forecast – I love writing, but I’d often rather be outside on a bicycle. So, having the weather at my fingertips is important. The quotes are a nice bonus.

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DIGITAL

• News – RSS is still the best way to consume blogs and online news. I run this app on my Nextcloud server.
• Moon+ Reader – this allows me to cheat and plug my Boox e-reader. Rather than be locked into Amazon’s ecosystem, I can read DRM-free books (like mine) on an Android device that also runs every reading app on the planet.

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INVISIBLE

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

I don’t think I need to point out how relevant Santayana’s famous assertion is right now. While most of science fiction is about imagined futures, I prefer to write about alternative histories in the hopes that readers might learn from it.

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02/25/26

The Art of Finding Dory / Jellyfish: A Natural History

Issue No. 106

THE ART OF FINDING DORY – BENEATH THE SURFACE OF DISNEY’S AMAZING AQUATIC ADVENTURE

The Art of Finding Dory
by Disney and Pixar Studios (preface by John Lasseter)
Chronicle Books
2016, 176 pages, 9.5 x 11.5 x 1 inches

Buy on Amazon

The Art of Finding Dory is more than a companion book to the new Disney Pixar movie – it’s an in-depth look at all aspects of the development and production process for an animated film. Finding Dory the movie explores the life of the forgetful little blue fish known as Dory, while the book not only delves into Dory’s background, but also lets the reader experience the imagination (and magic) of Pixar and Disney. The team behind the movie spent countless hours at beaches, aquariums, marine rehabilitation centers, and along the California coastline to create the most realistic world possible under the sea. They researched how light filters through the ocean, how sea life travels in deep water, and how to make authentic-looking coral reefs out of clay. The Art of Finding Dory chronicles their creative process through photos, hand drawings, computer generated images, story boards, and detailed color palettes. It took four years to bring Finding Dory to the big screen. Once you read The Art of Finding Dory you will understand what a true labor of love the journey was. – Carole Rosner

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JELLYFISH: A NATURAL HISTORY – A LUSCIOUS BOOK ABOUT OUR OCEAN’S BRAINLESS, HEARTLESS CREATURES

Jellyfish: A Natural History
by Lisa-ann Gershwin
University of Chicago Press
2016, 224 pages, 8.2 x 9.5 x 1 inches

Buy on Amazon

Five interesting facts I read in the just-released Jellyfish: A Natural History:
1. The deadly box jellyfish is the world’s most venomous animal, and its sting feels like “a splash of boiling oil, searingly hot and indescribably painful.”
2. The immortal jellyfish is just what it sounds like – its cells keep regenerating so that it forever cycles from baby to adult back to baby again.
3. Recently, jellyfish blooms – or swarms – have become denser, are covering much larger areas than ever before, and are “lasting far longer than normal,” due to climate change.
4. Jellyfish can clone themselves, but the replica is so different from the original that it ends up being classified as a separate animal.
5. The giant heart jelly can grow to 165 feet, longer than a blue whale.

And this is nothing. Every page of text in Jellyfish has facts as fascinating as these, woven into a thorough coverage of jellyfish history, biology and ecology. Author Lisa-ann Gershwin, a marine biologist who has discovered over 200 new species of jellyfish, does an excellent job of combining a compelling narrative of 50 different jellyfish with luscious, I-can’t-believe-they’re-real photos. Put this book on your coffee table with caution – you might lose your guests as they submerge themselves into a book that’s as exotic as it is absorbing. – Carla Sinclair

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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.

02/24/26

Small Pens

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 178

Instant ink brush

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

Leave it to the Japanese to create a brush pen. This pocketable pen has a super fine brush tip of actual bristles, perfect for tiny Kanji characters, or of course, doodling in your journal, or sketching in your Moleskine. While it’s hugely popular with comic book folks and cartoonists, artists of all stripes have picked one up for their paper work. The feel is incredibly tactile and lovely. It works like a fountain pen, with replaceable rich ink cartridges. Once capped it doesn’t leak as far as I can tell. (There’s a moment of panic when you first assemble it since the instructions are 100% in Japanese, but just insert the ball-bearing end of the ink capsule into the tip.) You can purchase other color inks as well. — KK

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Ultracompact wallet pen

Ohto Petit-B

I usually carry a bunch of pens in a leather pocket protector (a beautiful, inexpensive thing from John C. Robert’s Leather Works). My wife despairs when we go someplace nice and I’m carrying all this stuff. So I wanted a small pen that would fit unobtrusively in my pocket. The previously reviewed Derringer Pen is just a little too long for my wallet.

This Ohto pen, just a bit smaller, is ideal. It’s only 3.1 inches closed, 5.1 inches open, and fits perfectly in the fold of my wallet. — David Derbes

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Almost invisible pen

Swiss Army Replacement Pen

I got my ruler out to see if it would clip into my wallet and found that the 4″ long stainless steel Derringer wallet pen would protrude from my 3.88″ wallet. That is unlike the pen I’ve already got in my wallet, which is almost invisible unless you know it’s there. I use — and have done so for many years — a Swiss Army Knife pen refill, Victorinox model number 30422.

It costs $2.95. It’s a replacement pen for the one that comes as original equipment in Swiss Army Knives. 91mm (2.75″) long, with a gray, curved top that fits snugly into the body of a Swiss Army Knife, these handy little pens come in blue or black ink. There’s also an even smaller (2″ long) version that fits the smaller, key-chain size knives. I don’t recommend it because it’s very difficult to grasp and write with.

Now, you are not going to want to copy out Moby Dick with my little pen, but for quick notes, sudden flights of fancy or inspiration, phone numbers, and the like, you can’t beat it. And I always have a pen. So often no one does, and I don’t think I do, until I realize hey, I do have one. People smirk and scoff but they’re very glad when they see it writes just fine. A life-saver. — Joseph Stirt

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Write-anywhere minimalism

Fisher Bullet Space Pen

I like to have a few essential tools with me at all times: my Swiss Army knife, a keychain LED flashlight, a pocket notebook and a pen for scribbling notes whenever inspiration strikes.

I’d searched a long time for a pen that was small enough to carry around in my pocket, yet comfortable to write with and reliable enough to work every time I needed it. I finally found it with the Fisher Space Pen.

Everyone has heard of the legendary Space Pen, which was developed for the space program and writes upside down, under water and in extreme temperatures. They make many different varieties of the Space Pen, but the most useful and elegant is the Bullet (pictured alongside Uniball).

The Fisher Bullet is in two pieces: the actual pen, and a cap that fits on the back of the pen to make a full-size writing instrument. When closed, it makes a compact, tight-fitting, gasket-sealed capsule that easily fits in your pocket. It comes with a shirt pocket clip that can be removed, so it’s less obtrusive in your pants pocket.

You can get it in chrome, but the matte black finish is so much cooler. — Curtis Galloway

Fisher Stowaway Space Pen

After losing two (expensive) Fisher Bullet Space Pens, I stumbled across their significantly less expensive Stowaway ($10). They’re small, available in three styles, with or without a clip on the cap, and with a stylus on the opposite end of the tip. Three colors, too: black, red and blue. — Eric Rosenberg

I always liked the idea of Paul Fisher’s bullet-shaped Space Pens but at around $20 always felt they were not worth the benefits (writing anywhere, upside down, any temperature, under water, over grease, etc.). Now they sell a tiny (4 x 0.4 x 0.4 in.; 5.1 in. in writing mode) pretty-much-weightless tube pen called the Stowaway with the famous ink refill, for about half the price of the Bullet. I bought a mess of them and threw one in every jacket. — Vince Crisci

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Affordable, pocketable pens

Zebra Compact and Telescoping Pens

I’ve always wanted a small pen to keep with me at all times for quick notes and such. I’ve even considered taking a hacksaw to the venerable Bic ballpoint pen to keep in my wallet. One of the things that kept me from doing that was worrying about it exploding and flooding my pocket with ink.

Fortunately, Zebra has come up with a far more elegant and affordable solution with the Telescopic and F-301 Compact pens. Both feature a metal body made popular in their other pens. The telescopic pen body extends to a regular pen length when full telescoped, and exposes the tip, ready to write. Retracting the pen body for stowage fully retracts the tip safely into the body, like a frightened turtle. It fits neatly in the fold of my tri-fold wallet. I found them at my local OfficeMax for about $5. So far, it’s survived some gnarly crashes during snowboarding trips, and being sat on daily with out a single dent. —K. Rhainos

The Zebra Compact closes to a small size and has a clip for shirt pockets. I have used this pen for a couple of years. In the past I’ve used the previously reviewed Fisher Space Pen but they are expensive and easy to lose because they are so smooth. This pen is cheap and even cheaper when you can find them at Walmart. Not only that but the refills are cheap, too! — Chris Acree

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Ever ready pen

Derringer Wallet Pen

Not earth-shattering, but this wallet pen is really handy. I am never without something to write with. The good thing about the pen is that it clips in, so I never have to worry about where I put it. — Chuck Green

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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.

02/23/26

Retro Recomendo: Sleep

Recomendo - issue #502

Our subscriber base has grown so much since we first started nine years ago, that most of you have missed all our earliest recommendations. The best of these are still valid and useful, so we’re trying out something new — Retro Recomendo. Once every 6 weeks, we’ll send out a throwback issue of evergreen recommendations focused on one theme from the past 9 years.

Brown noise for better sleep

I use a simple and free app called Soundly Sleeping to play brown noise while sleeping. It muffles the wheeze of my CPAP machine and other unwelcome nighttime noises. (Brown noise is mellower than white noise). — MF

Silicone earplugs

Mack’s moldable silicone earplugs are superior to squishy foam earplugs because they completely seal the opening to your ear. They do a fantastic job of blocking out sound. These silly-putty-like plugs have saved my sleep many times when staying in noisy hotels and Airbnbs. — MF

Non-Sleep Deep Rest tracks

Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR), also known as yoga nidra, induces deep relaxation while maintaining awareness. If you’re too tired to nap but can’t fall asleep, I’ve found that one of these free 9-minute NSDR tracks produces a similar restorative effect. The guided breathing slows my heart rate, while the body scans draw my focus away from external stimulation into a state of pure rest. — CD

Wake up earlier, naturally

I wasn’t sure I’d like the Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock, but in just a month it’s trained me to wake up earlier—naturally. I set the alarm for my desired time, and the light gradually brightens about 20 minutes beforehand. That’s usually when I wake up. When the wake-up light doesn’t work, I get woken up by the sounds of birds chirping. Either way, I’m never startled or grumpy. — CD

Bargain mattresses

Auto tires are such a bargain at Costco that many folks get a Costco membership just for the tires. Mattresses are a similar bargain. You can get high quality branded mattresses – including classic bedspring models – for a lower price from Costco than from almost anywhere else. And Costco will deliver to the room, set up, and haul away your old mattress at no extra cost. And you can order them online. — KK

Cheap nightlights

I’ve spread these ultra-cheap Uigos LED nightlights throughout our home. They are bright enough to guide me in the dark, but not too bright to use any measurable energy. A six-pack is $10. — KK

02/22/26

Book Freak #197: The Denial of Death

Why We Do What We Do

Get The Denial of Death

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, The Denial of Death argues that the terror of mortality is the mainspring of human activity — that everything we do, from building civilizations to seeking love, is ultimately an attempt to transcend our animal fate and achieve symbolic immortality.

Core Principles

The Terror at the Core

Human beings are unique among animals in knowing they will die. This awareness creates a paralyzing terror that we spend our entire lives managing. The basic motivation for human behavior is not sex (as Freud claimed) but our biological need to control this existential anxiety — to deny the terror of death. The deeper and richer one’s life becomes, the more one senses how much there is to lose, which sharpens the fear of annihilation.

The Vital Lie of Character

To function in daily life, we construct what Becker calls “character armor” — a set of psychological defenses that keep the awareness of death unconscious. This “vital lie” lets us feel safe and pretend the world is manageable. Neurosis occurs when these defenses break down, and we can no longer maintain our illusions.

Immortality Projects

We cope with mortality by pursuing “immortality projects” — activities that give us a sense of lasting significance. These can be almost anything: religion, art, politics, wealth, fame, having children, or belonging to a group larger than ourselves. They buffer our anxiety and provide self-esteem by letting us feel part of something that will outlive us.

The Source of Human Conflict

Because our immortality projects are symbolic constructions, the mere existence of people with different beliefs threatens our sense of security. Wars, genocide, racism, and nationalism often stem from clashing immortality projects — each side unconsciously defending against death anxiety by destroying the “other” whose worldview invalidates their own.

Try It Now

1. Identify your primary “immortality project” — the activity or identity that gives you a sense of lasting significance. Is it your career? Family? Creative work? A cause?
2. Notice how you react when someone criticizes or dismisses this project. Does the intensity of your reaction reveal something about how much you depend on it for self-esteem?
3. Consider: What would remain meaningful to you if you truly accepted that you will die and be forgotten? Write down three things.
4. Pay attention today to moments when you distract yourself from uncomfortable thoughts. Shopping, scrolling, drinking — what might you be avoiding?
5. Ask yourself Becker’s question: “Am I living my own life, or am I living the lie I need in order to feel safe?”

Quote

“The irony of man’s condition is that the deepest need is to be free of the anxiety of death and annihilation; but it is life itself which awakens it, and so we must shrink from being fully alive.”

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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.

02/20/26

What’s in my NOW? — Eric Goebelbecker