Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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…in SPAIN of all places! Leaving your passport and an iPhone sitting in plane sight when you are not in the room is just asking for trouble. My roommate got lucky I have no desire for another iPhone and passport, but some people would find this too tempting to resist.
Backpackers should know better than to leave valuables out, particularly in Spain where pick-pocketing and theft is common.
Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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I was beyond surprised to find Nike Madrid closed at 3 pm on a Saturday when I attempted to go look for some hiking shoes. The store is right on Gran Via, a main roadway lined with shops, and none of the other larger retail & apparel stores were on siesta. But I guess even Nike needs a siesta every now and then.
Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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Since I work virtually, that thing they call the ïnternet¨ is kind of important to me. Just a little. I don’t need much while traveling, but WIFI is the one thing I can’t go without (for very long). So it goes without saying that the first thing I generally do when I get to a new city abroad is scout out WIFI locations. It’s a tedious process.
Step 1: Check my hostel or hotel. It´s often the case that hostels, and particularly hotels, have free WIFI — but the quality of the connection is always a bit up in the air. Very seldom do I get a several hour work session in at a hostel without internet cutting out at least once on me. At that point, you often have to wait for someone to go reset the router or for it to reset itself, but generally most places fix it fairly quickly since a gang of people all usually gets cut off at the same time.
Step 2: Scout out local cafes with free WIFI. I usually walk around the area near my hostel or hotel, and especially main streets nearby, looking for ¨Free WIFI Zone¨ signs posted on doors or windows of restaurants and cafes.
Step 3: Search the internet for WIFI locations. There is no good central resource for decent WIFI locations internationally (that I’ve found at least), so this method is usually a bit challenging and time consuming from my experience.
Step 4: Starbucks of McDonald´s almost always have internet connections for customers in Europe. However, at Starbucks, they only give you 45 minutes with the purchase of something — though, in some places like Valencia, they are pretty relaxed about it and happy to give you additional time at no cost.
Step 5: Look for internet cafes that charge for time by the hour. This is usually a last resort, but the only option in some cases.
And the process doesn’t end once I find a WIFI location. Many WIFI locations have shaky connections, so the strength and quality of the network are just as important as finding a network in the first place. For important conference calls or YouReach Media webinars, I judge the quality of the connection I´ve been using — and if it frequently cuts out on me, then I head to an internet cafe and grudgingly pay for internet time.
Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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The photo above is from yTravelBlog — I saw truckloads similar to this both in the Dominican Republic and in Cambodia, but don’t have the photos readily available to prove it 🙂
Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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I felt I got robbed today — by the Renfe train system.
When going to the advance ticket sales counter to buy a train ticket to Madrid either tomorrow or Sunday, I was told all train tickets during the day to Madrid were 115 Euro. Umm, it’s a two and a half hour train. My train from Valencia to Barcelona was 5 hours, and it only cost me 24.50 Euro. Something doesn’t add up here. There are no fewer than 12 trains running daily to Madrid, so I can’t imagine demand is driving these prices — it seems something else is at work here, but no clue what.
I ended up purchasing the night train to Madrid leaving at 22:00 for 43 Euro, but the prices for this route don’t make any sense to me. It was the only train to Madrid that was not 115 Euro. The ticket sales person even told me tickets are cheaper if I want to come back to Barcelona from Madrid. I didn’t say anything, but was thinking “thanks, but no thanks – I won’t be coming back to Barcelona from Madrid”
Any ideas why prices are so high for this specific train?
Update: I had lunch with Claudio Cossio from FronteraEstates.com today in Barcelona and he clued me into the fact that the 3 hours trains are all super fast trains, and the night train is an 8 hour ride. It’s now a little more understandable at least.
Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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A few friend and I traveled to Valencia (following our La Tomatina camping experience) to Barcelona a few days ago and I wanted to share a few details you might find valuable.
First of all, the cost of the trip — the regional express that leaves at 17:00 is the cheapest train we found for 24.50 Euro. We arrived at 22:00 at Barcelona Sants station.
Second, a quick tip for buying a ticket in the Valencia train station — if you are buying same day tickets (we had no problem getting a ticket end of August, but could be different if buying in extreme high season), then do not get a number and wait in line with everyone else. We wasted 30 minutes waiting before we figured out there is a booth at the far left of the Renfe ticket area that is labeled “Salida Hoy” (Leaving today). Go to that line and just buy your ticket; the numbers are all for people buying advance tickets.
Drew Meyers is the co-founder of Horizon & Oh Hey World. He worked for Zillow from September of 2005 to January of 2010 on the marketing team managing Zillow’s API program and various online partnerships. Founder of Geek Estate Blog, a multi-author blog focused on real estate technology for real estate professionals, and myKRO.org, a blog devoted to exploring the world of microfinance. As passionate as you get about travel.
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