Travel hacking for free flights and great discounts

On May 21, 2013April 23, 2014 By Nicole HennigIn Location flexibility, Travel, Work & money6 Comments

Have you heard about “travel hacking?” It’s the process of collecting frequent flyer points and other travel discounts without necessarily traveling a lot.

There are quite a few blogs and web sites that collect information on this, the first (and best) that I’ve used is Chris Guillebeau’s “Travel Hacking Cartel.” It’s a membership site where you pay a small monthly fee to get access to loads of information on how to get started.

I joined it for two months in the fall of 2012 and using what I learned, gathered enough points for several free flights that I will use this year (including international flights). Continue reading “Travel hacking for free flights and great discounts” →

On getting by with just basic Spanish (or not :)

On May 12, 2013April 23, 2014 By Nicole HennigIn Apps, Language & culture, Living abroad, Mexico

Translating a text message from Telcel. $200 pesos is about $17 US dollars.

I’m actually a little surprised at how far I can go with only a very basic level of Spanish language skills. Here’s where I’m at:

I can order food, ask directions, bargain a little in the market, go grocery shopping, drop off my laundry to be done, find things on a map, ask the taxi driver how much it will be (it’s always about $3), talk about the weather, and finally… the hardest thing…. get a SIM card for my iPhone and get it activated!

Continue reading “On getting by with just basic Spanish (or not :)” →

Why I put my photos into several different social media sites

On May 11, 2013April 23, 2014 By Nicole HennigIn Apps, Tech, Travel

I like using various social media sites for my photos. Why? A few reasons. I have different followers on each network, so it gets the photos out to more people. Each social network has different advantages and people use them in different ways. All of these provide more ways for people to find my blog, my ebooks, the online courses I teach, and other work. Also, it’s fun!

Oaxaca photos in Instagram for iPhone — Some Oaxaca photos in Instagram iPhone app

Here’s my flow:

I take photos with my iPhone (they get backed up automatically to iCloud and Dropbox).

I lay around on the couch or in bed and look through photos on my iPhone, upload some of them to Instagram (with interesting filters). This is relaxing and fun.