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.

Please Switch Your Search Engine

The latest company to get fat and bloated, the innovator turned evil empire, seems to be Google. In case you haven’t noticed already, their search results have gotten abysmal lately as they try to keep you on their site instead of clicking out. So the “habit product” you relied on for more than a decade is now the one that has stopped caring about the user experience. Here’s a long version and a shorter version of what has happened at the top. What to do? I have used Duck Duck Go for 99% of my searches the past two years and have saved hours weekly from less scrolling and more relevant sources (they also don’t track you). But Bing will also save you loads of time with less bloat and unlike Google, they allow you to turn off the AI results.

Cruises That Don’t Suck

At our partner site, Recomendo, Kevin Kelly recently highlighted the joys of going on a small ship cruise instead of a giant monster with thousands of people on it. You can see his full post here and I’ll chime in that I’ve done some great ones with Uncruise, Sun Fun You, Scenic, and two Galapagos companies that I’ll remember for a lifetime. These were amazing travel experiences that got us into areas where no giant ship that needs a big port can ever dock in, with the ability to jump off the boat or take a zodiac, a paddleboard, or a kayak to go exploring.

Pack a Toothbrush

Here’s a simple tip to make your life more pleasant if you’re checking a bag: carry on what you really need to get through 24 hours in case your bag gets delayed. For just the second time in 10 years, my checked bag was lost for a day this week due to weather delays. While I got rerouted to another flight, my bag was on another. (Don’t tell me I should have carried it on—I never would have made the new connection after sprinting across JFK and barely getting through the gate in time if I had been carrying a bag.) I got it back eventually, but in the meantime, I had the essentials, including a toothbrush and travel-sized toothpaste. After all, you may be able to get by for a day with no deodorant, but you’re going to want to brush your teeth.

Quick-dry Underwear

Sometimes I’ve packed an extra pair of underwear in the bag I carry on too when I check one, but this time I didn’t. Fortunately I had some quick-dry synthetic underwear I could sink-wash and put on dry in the morning while I waited for my bag to arrive. This pair was from Saxx, but I’ve also got ones packed from ExOfficio and no-name brands that I picked up at TJ Maxx and the like. The key is, they shouldn’t be cotton if you want them to dry overnight. See options here.