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Everything You Need To Know About Attending STLV: Las Vegas’ Star Trek Convention

by Anil Polat | Aug 28, 2025 | Lodging, Pictures and Video, Travel | 0

STLV Trek to Vegas is the world’s biggest Star Trek Convention on most years. It’s a sprawling event covering 5 days in Las Vegas and is a must-visit for any sci-fi fan (and certainly Trekkie). The scope of STLV, not to mention a trip to Las Vegas, means a lot of moving parts that can make it hard to wrap your head around what one actually does at a Star Trek convention.

You can watch the video above for your complete guide to STLV and read on for the highlights.

What Is STLV?

STLV one of the many fan conventions run by Creation Entertainment. It’s not a pure Star Trek convention (STLV does have guests and panels covering other fandoms) but is mostly about the show Gene Roddenberry created. STLV takes place every year in the early part of August and goes from Wednesday to Sunday at the Rio Hotel and Casino which has recently been acquired by Hyatt.

stlv trek to vegas vendors

Planning Your STLV

The first step is to sign up for a World of Hyatt rewards program account if you don’t already have one. You can earn and use Hyatt points for booking at the Rio, but you can’t claim points after a stay (unlike most airline mileage programs). You’ll want to book a room at the Rio – which is off the strip and makes staying a other properties much less convenient – at the very latest in mid-May to ensure you can find a room to meet your needs.

Once you’re at the hotel, you can sign up for a Rio Rewards card. That will not only let you earn points for any purchases at the hotel (minus your room) but Rio will send you free stay offers throughout the year. Using a Rio Rewards promotion you can often get at least one day of your booking before or after the convention for free.

The STLV tickets can be purchased as general admission or under a variety of tiers, each with perks of their own. For general admission, the busiest days are Saturday and Sunday so I recommend purchasing tickets at least a month in advance. Throughout the year around many United States Federal Holidays, Creation also runs sales on tickets. You can sign up through their website to get notified of any promotions.

Personally I like to get to Rio the Sunday before STLV, plan some side trips like Area 51, and leave the Tuesday after the convention. (There’s an unofficial Star Trek pool party on the Monday after STLV which helps with recuperating after the long weekend.)

What’s STLV Like?

STLV is like a Star Trek buffet, you can pick and choose how you want to make your plate. There are panel interviews with actors, crew, and writers who will take audience questions, a packed vendor’s room full of merch, science talks, concerts, and more all happening often at once. You’ll need to pick and choose in between all the events and any photo ops or autographs signings you have scheduled.

Photo ops are fun but if you want to interact a bit more with a given Trek personality, getting an autograph is the better way to go. You’ll pay for the autograph but many will take a selfie with you for free. Plus you get a few more moments to chat with the Trek actor, writer, or crew.

Money Saving Tips

An extra day before STLV gives you time to visit a nearby grocery store and buy snacks plus any alcohol you want. The Rio, like most Las Vegas resorts charges high markups for food and booze so going to a nearby grocery store can save you hundreds of dollars over an STLV. I’d also recommend bringing or buying a filtered water bottle so you can drink from the room faucet. The convention spaces all have free water available but having a bottle will cut down on waste.

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No Cosplay Needed

You don’t have to dress up but if you want to, there’s no limit to how creative you can get. At STLV you can be a different character every day but just be sure to wear good walking shoes. The steps down the long Rio hallways add up quickly and be sure to pop down to the Masquerade Bar in the evenings where most everyone at STLV passes through at some point to unwind.

For any Star Trek fan, STLV is a convention to visit at least once. Creation does run other regional ST-Conventions in other U.S. cities also worth considering but for the biggest show for the best show, there’s no place like STLV Trek to Vegas.

How To Plan A Trip To Bangladesh

by Anil Polat | Aug 21, 2025 | Advice | 0

Getting to Bangladesh can be a bit confusing since a lot of the information about visas, safety, and culture found online is conflicting. For those of you looking for a short, straightforward guide to visiting Bangladesh, this is it.

Visas

For those of you arriving through one of the international airports, Bangladesh offers a visa on arrival for many Western nation citizens, several Asian countries, and others in the Middle East. It’s the easiest way to get a visa and you can check if your country is on the list here. The fee, which needs to be paid in cash is around $50. The process at the airport though is very, very slow and takes approximately 30-45 minutes if you’re at the front of the line.

I’d recommend you get there as quickly as possible (power walk!) so you have less waiting to do. It will also save you a bit of time to have a print out of you travel itinerary in and out of the country – otherwise you’ll lose time having to email it to the desk, wait for them to receive it, review, and give you final approval.

For everyone else, you can apply for a visa to Bangladesh ahead of time.

Where To Stay

Bangladesh has a variety of hotels across different budgets so finding good accommodation shouldn’t be too difficult. There aren’t many tourists heading to visit Bangladesh either so you can find good deals on nice hotels at better rates than even nearby countries. In Dhaka, the Intercontinental is a luxury option but there are plenty of others and home-stays in small villages and towns across the Bangladesh.

Safety In Bangladesh

For all of the recent news regarding Bangladesh’s mass protests it might be hard to imagine Bangladesh is a relatively safe and welcoming place for travelers. Aside from common sense advice like watching your bags in crowded places, being aware of the traffic where crossing the street can be borderline insanity inducing, Bangladesh is a hectic but hospitable place to visit. It’s certainly not for everyone and experienced travelers feel more at ease, but not so chaotic that it ruins the travel experience.

It’s also worth mentioning the people are friendly and inquisitive, in fact Bangladesh might have the least camera-shy people I’ve met. Everyone wanted to take photos or appear in my videos and I felt more like a guest than a tourist. Bangladesh is moving toward becoming a country on the cusp for travelers but if you want to have a little adventure and see the best day trips, now is the time to visit.

The Best Day Trips From Dhaka, Bangladesh

by Anil Polat | Jul 31, 2025 | Travel | 0

Visiting Dhaka, Bangladesh can be an overwhelming experience and one that’s difficult to plan out. There isn’t a lot of information about the places to visit in the city, let alone just a short drive away. (And I say short drive but make no mistake, the traffic will slow you down quite a bit if your timing isn’t just right.) Still, as a traveler there are some interesting spots to visit within a day that make it worth a bit of car time.

You can watch the video above and then read on to plan a day trip around Dhaka.

Start Early

Dhaka’s seasons go from wet to dry but are generally hot and humid throughout the entire year. To avoid the worst of the heat and traffic, it’s best to get started around 7:30am. You could do earlier but anything before 7 in the morning and you’ll be waiting for sites to open at your destination.

It’s best to hire a driver locally. You can do this either through a tour company or trusted contact (tour companies can charge up to $100 a day to a driver and guide) but ride share apps are a less expensive alternative. Using Uber, you can hire a driver for a day and add stops along your route as you go or enter them all in at once. The total cost from Dhaka to these major sites around trip will be $20-40.

Head To Sonargaon

Pronounced “sho-nar-gone” it was once the capital of ancient Bengal. Today it is a smaller city with large open air parks and historical sites like the Folk Museum. Inside you can see ancient arts and crafts from the times from the various Bengal Sultanates that existed in this region. The Folk Museum has a nominal entry charge and you can spend an hour or two strolling through the museum buildings and enjoying the large areas of green nature.

A 10 minute drive away is Panam Nagar, or Panam City. Another ancient capital, this time from the 13th century it is one of the most impressive sites around Dhaka. It’s been destroyed a rebuilt by a number of colonial power before being completely abandoned in the 1960s. Today it remains as a sprawling ghost town with architecture being slowly eaten up by forest.

Unfortunately there are not videos permitted on the grounds (plenty of people were sneaking them with their phones but you didn’t hear that from me) but even so, it is a photographers dream. Bright colors, eerie buildings, selfie opportunities, it’s all there in Panam.

Explore The Towns

One of the interesting aspects of these parts around Dhaka is that they’re much less crowded. You can wander into the towns, meet people, see local markets, and stumbled upon historic relics like the Goaldi Mosque, built in 1519. These days it’s abandoned and remains as a historic site in a quiet neighborhood. From there you can branch out and see a slower side of Bangladesh before heading back to Dhaka to enjoy Bailey Road’s street food. Arrive at 19:00 and enjoy all the snacks. My recommendations on where to eat are in the video here.

What You Need To Know About Turkey’s eSIM Ban

by Anil Polat | Jul 24, 2025 | Advice, Pictures and Video, Tech | 0

The Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) recently banned several popular eSIM providers. These changes could make it more difficult for you get mobile data in Turkey, so here’s what you need to know.

What This Ban Is

The Turkish government did not ban eSIM technology or all eSIM providers, just these 7, so far:

Airalo
Alosim
BNESIM
Holafly
Instabridge
Mobimatter
Saily

More may be added to this list but for now, you can still use any eSIM provider not listed if you’re already in Turkey.

Outside Of Turkey

You can still use the Turkish-banned eSIM providers if you purchase and activate your eSIM for Turkey before you enter the country. Purchase your eSIM while outside of Turkey, then activate it the day before you arrive in the country to maximize the time on your eSIM plan. You data plan will still work provided you activate your eSIM before entering Turkey.

Already In Turkey?

Other than using an eSIM provider not on the banned list, you can also use a reliable VPN to access the eSIM online shops. Purchasing has been confirmed and in most cases, activating your eSIM (assuming your VPN is on the entire time during the process) should also work. It may take longer than usual (e.g. 5 minutes) however. Still, if possible it’s best to purchase and activate outside of Turkey to be sure or use a non-banned eSIM for now.

The video above covers why the ban may be happening and what could be some of the next steps for the Turkish government and the eSIM providers.

What Really Works To Prevent Jet Lag

by Anil Polat | Jul 10, 2025 | Air, Pictures and Video | 0

Jet lag is undefeated but there are some steps you can take to reduce its effects, though not everyone will agree with this advice. I’ve taken notes for flights over a decade and tried to determine what works and doesn’t.

These are my best – and probably unpopular – jet lag prevention tips.

1. Start Strong

First, try to get your sleep schedule at home stable, at least a week before you fly. That means getting up and going to bed at roughly the same time every night and avoiding caffeine after noon and alcohol in the evening. You want to build a base of good sleep and rest.

The more tired and off schedule you are at home the more likely it is to take longer to recover from jet lag because your body has triple duty. It has to recover from the initial poor sleep and then adjust an already chaotic sleep schedule while simultaneously being asked to accept that it’s now sunny at 3am. That’s a lot for your body and just like it’s not a good idea to run a half marathon the day before you run a marathon, the more recovery time your body needs prior to skipping time zones, the longer everything is going to take.

2. Schedule Wisely

Try to schedule your flights for the evening or arrive in the morning based on your personal body clock. Morning people who are most alert during the day should try to schedule arrival times in the morning. The opposite for you night owls. You can use your body’s natural response to light and dark to trick your sleep cycle into adjust quicker to the local time.

3. Nap… Or Don’t

Don’t nap after 2pm and if you do, keep it to 20-40 minutes. There is a big caveat though, if you’re not someone who regularly naps don’t start when you’re jet lagged. You’ll likely oversleep and feel groggy but if there’s time, learn to nap now. Napping is a skill anyone can develop.

4. Compression And Run

Using a good pair like Nabee, I noticed I feel a lot better after a long flight. My feet and legs are less swollen and to better aid circulation (and get naturally more tired or awake) a good walk or run immediately after you’ve dropped your bags off at your destination is one of the most counterintuitive but effective things I’ve tried.

5. Avoid Airplane Food

Rather, bring your own snacks and try to be a little hungry when you land. The high sodium in airplane food can have you feeling more bloated upon arrival so stick to your own snacks and pack yourself a meal before heading to the airport.

You can watch the video above for the rest of my jet lag tips and let me know if you have any tricks of your own down in the comments.

What Are Those Stickers Some Airports Put On The Back Of Your Passport?

by Anil Polat | Jun 26, 2025 | Travel Unravel | 0

You may have gone through an airport where someone from the staff slaps on a sticker to the back of your passport. They are annoying, not very aesthetically pleasing, and a bit of a pain to remove. So, what are those passport security stickers for and when should you remove them?

You can find all the answers in the video above or read on for the highlights.

Where In The World

Passport security stickers are commonly used in Asian and Middle East airports. Though not as common as they once were, they are still frequently used by staff to indicate a passport has been checked at some point between check in and boarding. They reason is that some airports want extra diligence in making sure passengers have a valid passport (e.g. not expired) and a visa for their destination, if needed. To reduce any human errors multiple security staff will check your documents and bags. To confirm they have for the next officer, a sticker may be placed to show you were inspected at a given checkpoint.

Removing The Stickers

You’ll want to wait until you clear customs at your destination before removing any security stickers but don’t want too long after arrival. The adhesive gets harder with time to remove but you can make things easier on yourself by using a little bit of olive oil, shown here. Many countries, like the United States, have passport control regulations that can cost airlines a hefty fine if they let someone on without proper documents. So it is cheaper to employee a few additional security screeners and use stickers to double and triple check you have a valid passport than letting even one person have to be deported back on the airlines’ dime plus the fees they’ll have to pay on top.

About Anil Polat

Hi, I'm Anil. foXnoMad is where I combine travel and tech to help you travel smarter. I'm on a journey to every country in the world and you're invited to join the adventure! Read More