Go Joyfulli

I haven't flown anywhere in some time... almost exactly three years. I'm very much looking forward to traveling again and am planning to go to Taiwan in a couple of months! Especially because it's been a while, I've been doing what I can to be prepared. The first step (well, other than deciding where to go!) was to make sure that my passport was okay and not about to expire. Around this time, Taiwan hadn't re-opened to US citizens for tourism yet (due to COVID) so I decided to renew my Taiwanese passport just in case. It took a couple months for the new one to arrive since the application had to go from the embassy to Taiwan to be processed.  Note: by now, things are back to normal and US citizens are allowed to visit for tourism without a visa as long as the stay is less than 90 days. Second step was to buy the plane ticket and then book lodging. On a typical vacation, I'd probably look into what cities or other countries I'd like to visit and book lodging/...

tl;dr - when you're looking for a place to stay during your travels, make sure to carefully read through the booking/hotel listing, don't assume that internet counts as a basic necessity, and don't forget to glance at a map! When I first moved to Italy, I had booked an apartment without enough research. I don't remember what site I used, but I ended up in a pretty nice place - except that I didn't realize it wasn't actually in the city, it didn't have internet, and it didn't really have cell reception. My checked luggage also was delayed and when I finally got it, all my electronics were missing... but we're not here to talk about my luck! Travel tip, though: don't check your electronics, even if you have a lot because you're planning to work remotely for a few months. Anyway, the point of this post... be careful when you book lodging! These days* if I'm going to stay somewhere a bit longer, I'll usually book an Airbnb. If I'm jus...