Huge Tourist Tax Increase in Japan

A visit to Japan is going to hit you harder when you arrive and harder when you leave. The price of a single-entry visa jumped from around US$19 to $93 this month and a multi-entry one went from $37 to $185. Then you get hit up again with a “Sayonara Tax” when you depart and that one just went from $6 to $19. The additional millions they collect will supposedly go toward travel infrastructure and trying to spread travelers beyond the overcrowded selfie spots. The exit tax should be included in your flight ticket, along with hundreds of dollars of fuel surcharges added recently due to price hikes from the Iran war.

Places With More Tourists Than Locals

If you’re trying to get away from tourists and mix it up with the people who actually live there, you’d better avoid Monaco and Malta. According to this chart, the first has 9 tourists for every local, while the second has 6.3 to 1. Naturally there are a lot of islands and tiny nations on the list, but some that I found rather surprising were low-population countries in Europe like Albania (4.8 to 1), Croatia (4 to 1), Austria (2.9 to 1), and Portugal (2.7 to 1).

The Pros and Cons of Living in Medellin

One of the most popular cities for remote workers and digital nomads in South America is Medellin, Colombia and the people I’ve interviewed over the years that lived there have tended to stick around longer than they had initially planned. The temperature barely budges throughout the year, the infrastructure is good, and Colombia has a functioning digital nomad visa that self-employed people can acquire. On the downside, it does rain a good bit, the U.S. dollar has tanked badly against the peso this year, and street crime can be an issue. See my Medellin rundown here and chime in with a comment if you’ve got recent experience.

A Solar-powered Tourist Train in Argentina

Sometimes I’ll be scrolling through travel headlines and be surprised by something I didn’t know existed, like this solar train through historic villages in the northern desert area of Argentina. “They have trains in Argentina?” you might be wondering and the answer is, “Not many for passengers.” This solar-powered one is not exactly an epic journey: only 26 miles (42 kilometers), but you can choose a round-trip option with stops that turns it into a 10-hour affair. It is in the province of Jujuy and the closest city is Salta.

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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.

07/30/26