Nomadico

Bad News Bali/Best Public Transit/Wonder Utensil for Travelers

Nomadico issue #48

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.

Bali’s Downward Spiral

As more proof that continuous bad press won’t prevent new visitors from seeking out “paradise,” Bali is now as traffic-choked, polluted, and jammed with foreigners as it was before the pandemic gave the island a breather. This scathing article in Financial Review takes direct aim at the new flood of wellness gurus, life coaches, and crypto traders, including lots of escaping Russians, who are remaking the island in their own image. (Possible paywall, do a search in the title to read.)

Best USA Work-From-Home States

On the other side of the ocean, those who are working remotely but in the USA might want to consider New Hampshire or Connecticut. According to a new Wallethub data dive, the former has “the highest share of households with a broadband internet subscription, 81%, which is 1.5 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest.” Connecticut has “the highest share of households with access to broadband speeds over 25 Mbps.” Washington D.C., sort of a city-state, has the highest percentage of at-home workers, at 12.3%.

Cities With the Best Public Transit

I noted last week what a dream city Sofia was for public transportation. On the heels of that, a recent survey from TimeOut got feedback from 20,000+ city dwellers about how they rate their public transit systems. At the very top was Berlin, with a 175-station subway system to start, followed by Prague, Tokyo, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. Numbers 6 through 9 were all in Asia. The North American cities that have a comprehensive system weren’t left out: New York, Montreal, and Chicago made the top 20.

One Utensil to Rule Them All

In an earlier edition I mentioned reusable bamboo travel cutlery you can pack in order to reduce the amount of plastic you use from take-out places. But in sister newsletter Recommendo, Mark F. mentioned an even more compact alternative: a titanium spork. This is the kind of travel gadget you’re more likely to lose than wear out and even the best ones (from Japan’s Snow Peak brand) only cost $9.95 on Amazon.

04/20/23

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