Blog - foXnoMad

Is This The Most Boring Place In The World?

by Anil Polat | May 23, 2017 | Pictures and Video, Travel, Travel Journal | 4

The Best City To Visit Travel Tournament I run every year on this site is often controversial for a wide variety of reasons. 2017’s winner, Granada, Spain (yay!) wasn’t a surprising result for many of you who voted but the city it beat in the final, Campina, Romania, generated passionate comments of hate and love, mainly from locals.

Each year, I visit the winning Best City. I’ll be revisiting Granada this fall – though the fact that thousands voted for Campina while at the same time others wrote comments that I might die of boredom there made me curious. I have a goal to visit every country in the world, and there are many places I’ve visited which turned out to be very pleasant surprises, despite not having large tourist attractions.

You can see the story in the video above and decide if Campina is the most boring place in Romania or if a visit to the area should be part of your Romania travel plans.

My Camera Was Stolen In Argentina 7 Years Ago, Now I Finally Have The Pictures

by Anil Polat | May 16, 2017 | Pictures and Video, Security, Travel Journal | 7

In 2010 I visited Argentina for the first time, taking countless photos of the tasty foods and scenic views of Buenos Aires. I left Argentina with all of those pictures but when I landed in Santiago, Chile, they were gone. Along with my camera. I wasn’t robbed in a dramatic way – no armed mugging or crafty pickpockets – but fell for a sly scam at the airport which taught me two important lessons for all the travels I’ve taken afterward.

Those pictures I missed because of a security mishap had been on my mind until finally, six years later, I returned to Buenos Aires to get those photographs. Here are some of those pictures, 6 years later, and the story, from six years prior.

Traveling back to a place after a long while is like visiting friends with children, you’re surprised by how much they’ve grown, but also how recognizable their characters have remained. Like looking at an iPhone 7 but not seeing a smartphone since the 4S, the contrast is more evident since you’re seeing two moments in time, not witnessing the evolution in between.

But cities often look back at you, showing it’s not just them, you’ve grown too.

Some tastes may have changed, you can like a place you once hated, and getting to know yourself better opens up more travel possibilities.

These beans at Cumana were so good, even the small cockroach in the dish didn’t stop me from finishing the bowl.

A second ride around town with La Bicicleta Naranja was as good, and recommendable, as the first time.

Many touristic areas are popular for a reason, like the very photogenic La Boca neighborhood.

Although I don’t remember specifically, there was probably a guy doing just this the last time I visited La Bombonera, the Boca Juniors soccer team stadium.

I do though recall flipping through the photos on my camera at Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires, prior to checking in.

When I got to the check in counter of a small airline I won’t mention, I was told that all of the electronics in my carry-on would have to be put in checked luggage. It was going to be a short flight, so naively, I didn’t resist much.

After landing in Santiago, many of the electronics were gone, along with some clothes. It was apparent that someone had a short time to reach in and grab what they could. I’m convinced it was part of an organized routine happening between the check-in crew and bag handlers – mostly because of the insistence of checking the electronics – which was never actually required and the knowledge of exactly where in the bag to look.

For a travel blogger not having pictures of a place limits how much I can share of a destination. They’re also memories which can be looked back on, gone. On the other hand, not having one can let you focus on what you can’t capture with a camera.

The theft of my camera cultivated two habits I’ve done ever since, which I would recommend to any traveler:

Backup Right Away – After a day of taking pictures or videos, when you’re back at your hotel, transfer the data over to a laptop. Doing so ensures you have copies of you photos in case something happens to your camera plus it lets you comfortably delete pictures from your SD card or phone, in case it fills up when you’re out and about. There are some automatic wireless backup options or you can go with an external hard drive if you don’t have space on your laptop. No laptop? No problem, the WD 2TB My Passport Pro has an SD card slot, USB ports, and is wireless too.
Keep Your Valuables In Hand Luggage – Although it seems very obvious to me now, at the time I didn’t consider theft from checked bags to be a significant risk. (Or even a thing.) Theft from luggage is fairly common all over the world and it’s important to keep an eye on your stuff through security checks as well. With all this thievery going on, tracking your stuff digitally may be a good idea as well.

WD 2TB My Passport Wireless Pro Portable External Hard Drive

In the end, not having the pictures from 6 years ago brought me back to a place that was both familiar as I remembered but not quite the same. Which had changed more, Buenos Aires, or me? I wasn’t quite sure I thought as I left town, adjusting my small carry-on backpack with camera securely tucked away – probably, a little of both.

Small, Ergonomic, Revolutionary? A Review Of The Penclic R3 Wireless Mouse

by Anil Polat | May 11, 2017 | Health and Fitness, Pictures and Video, Tech | 2

The Penclic R3 Wireless Mouse is a rethinking of how you should use the gadget you probably touch most during a given day. Traditional mice put your arm in an unnatural position, causing wrist, elbow, shoulder, or even back pain from using one. Frequent traveling can make the situation even worse, especially if you’re working on hotel, cafe or tray tables in cramped spaces where you have to get into contorted shapes to type.

No products found.

I know the mouse isn’t the most interesting piece of technology to write about – they haven’t changed much over the past few decades. But as you can see in the video above, the Penclic R3 is really a creative design, put into a travel kit that’s small, light, and very ergonomic.

The Penclic connects to your laptop with through a wireless USB dongle connection, has a battery life of about a month, and gives you precision hard to find in a traditional mouse. Getting used to the Penclic though will take some time but of all the ergonomic designs I’ve tried, this comes closest to real comfort in a size that’s actually practical for frequent travelers.

A 15 Year Old Explains How To Get Hamilton Tickets Easily For List Price

by Anil Polat | May 9, 2017 | Culture, Guest Post | 0

This is a guest post by 15 year old writer and #1 Potterhead Brian Selcik, a student at the Metropolitan School of the Arts. Brian has previously been a guest here before, writing how you can plan your very own Harry Potter tour in London. He also works for the Harry Potter Fansite MuggleNet and runs an Etsy shop where you can purchase hand knit goods.

Hamilton is a great Broadway show that will live up to your expectations but you have to get your hands on some very elusive tickets first. For most people, finding Hamilton tickets isn’t easy or inexpensive but I was able to get tickets for my family and friends at list price, rather quickly, using a simple trick.

Here’s how I was able to get those most-wanted tickets for Hamilton on Broadway without paying an extra cent and how you can too.

Start Subscribing

I follow Hamilton’s Twitter page where they post a lot of Hamilton related content but also occasionally announce ticket specials. Those specials sell out very quickly so when I was actively looking for Hamilton tickets, I turned on notifications for all of the tweets from the Hamilton Twitter account.

1. To do the same, the first step is to follow @HamiltonMusical on Twitter.

hamilton broadway twitter

2. Now, activate notifications for all the Hamilton tweets so you can react fast when they have a ticket deal. To do so, click on the bell icon (it’s near their profile picture).

twitter notifications bell

3. Don’t forget to select ‘All Tweets‘ under Account Notifications.

twitter account notifications

This past spring I got a notification from Hamilton on my phone saying that a block of tickets would be released in 10 minutes for shows from November to January. I immediately followed the link they posted to their site to confirm what I was seeing – sure enough there were the tickets!

I clicked ‘Book Tickets‘ right away before the ten minutes to find they were already available. It’s important whenever Hamilton release a block of tickets on Twitter to check as soon as they announce it.

I called my travel partner and best friend, and confirmed that we were going to go. We quickly decided on a date and purchased our tickets for the list price ($200 per ticket). This may seem like a lot, but we chose great seats and tickets prices before this were ranging up to $5,000, so we were beyond thrilled.

hamilton play

Other, Less Reliable Options

You can also get email notifications by signing up through HamiltonBroadway.com. There will only be an option to enter your email if there are no tickets available. The email notifications are much slower that Twitter, so chances are you won’t be able to use them to get a ticket deal before they sell out. Liking the Hamilton Facebook page is another option but the least effective one if you are interested in taking advantage of ticket deals.

Hamilton was great, worth every bit the small effort I had to put in to find tickets at normal prices. Seeing Hamilton is a wonderful experience if you are planning a trip to New York City that won’t disappoint! Now you know how to get tickets to the show without having to pay the very high resale prices.

Thank you very much Brian for sharing your Hamilton travel trick with us! You can find Brian working behind the wizarding scenes of MuggleNet on Facebook and help support his next adventure by checking out his Etsy page.

How The DJI Drone Repair Service Works And How Much It Costs

by Anil Polat | May 4, 2017 | Air, Tech | 17

Get all the recreational drone laws worldwide on your phone! DroneMate app is now available for iOS and Android.

Crashing a drone, even one with obstacles avoidance sensors like the DJI Mavic Pro, isn’t hard at all. Small falls from a desk can also put your drone out of commission, easily damaging the sensitive camera lens or gimble. For those of you with DJI drones, they’ve got a fairly polished repair service you’ll hopefully never have to use. But things happen.

Here’s how the DJI repair process works and whether or not it’s worth the hassle, cost, or time waiting.

Recover The Drone

First off, I’m writing about the repair process without any kind of warranty, such as the DJI Care repair and replacement plan. So here you are, you’ve crashed or otherwise damaged your DJI drone and wondering why you didn’t spend the extra $99 to get it insured. Whether you have the warranty or not, you need to retrieve the drone. It’s the reason you see people diving into rivers or me throwing car cushions at trees on YouTube to salvage what seems like a lost cause.

DJI Mavic Pro Fly More Combo: Foldable Propeller Quadcopter Drone...

Once you’ve got your smashed, waterlogged, pathetic looking drone back, log into the DJI website, and head to the repair page.

Find A Service Center

DJI has authorized services centers in over 100 countries (they even list Yugoslavia – not sure what that’s all about). Pick the service center closest to you and select your specific drone (e.g. Phantom 4). The next few pages are where you describe the damage and how the accident occurred.

Don’t Lie – You might not know it but your drone keeps very details flight records (you can access from the DJI app). Every movement of the drone and controller input is recorded so forget about trying to make a crash seem like a manufacturer defect.

Choose whether or not the damage is a manufacturing defect or pilot error, remove the microSD card, pack up the drone, and send it to the DJI Service suggested to you.

Shipping Fees – DJI provide you with a shipping label, covering the shipping, but not packaging, costs.

The average shipping time is about a week, depending on where you’re shipping from of course.

Your Drone Knows A Lot About You

DJI has a repair tracking page whose only purpose seems to discourage you from sending them emails asking where your drone is. Once the technicians get a hold of your drone though, they email you a detailed record of ~~what an idiot~~ the exact events of the accident. Mine went something like this, which you can compare to the crash video below.

Unit was in P-GPS mode and was responsive to RC input; 2. At t=237.9s, relative height=7.1m, unit recorded external impact, then rolled over and fell. 3. User commanded full stick forward toward a tree in a parking lot until 1s before impact. User pressed left turn, backward, right turn, descent, and rightward 1s before impact but forward momentum carried unit to the tree. 4. Obstacle avoidance could not detect fine tree branches due to hardware limitation, especially during winter with no leaf on. Conclusion: User stick command error. Impact in air.

DJI Repair Costs

Obviously this will vary depending on your specific repairs but here’s a general breakdown of the costs, which is contained in that same email with the crash report.

Gimbal Camera Component: $101
Camera Flexible Flat Cable: $3
Back Left Motor Arm: $19
Gimbal Vibration Damping: $2
Gimbal Mounting Bracket: $1
Camera Co-axis Cable: $5
Front Left Motor Arm: $22

The service costs $65 an hour – the total work took two hours, added $130 to the cost.

Total Repair Cost: $283

Those of you who have DJI Care, if the crash is covered, you only pay up to the warranty. (Varies by drone but for example the Mavic replacement with DJI Care is $79 for the first drone; $139 for the second.) In the email DJI sends back with the costs, they have a Paypal link, where you can decide to pay for the repair or not. Repairs are not started until you make the payment and shipping costs are not charged unless you reject the repair.

Expect To Wait

Clearly, the camera is the most expensive component with labor adding the other bulk of the costs. I was surprised not to see the body, or other parts listed since there were major dents from the fall. I figured DJI would ignore what was probably aesthetic damage but happily surprised when the Mavic was finally shipped back from repair.

Repair Time – Whatever the repair status page says, it will take about 4 weeks.

A drone repaired by DJI is essentially refurbished. There won’t be any signs of previous damage, scratches, or dents. Damaged parts are replaced and repairs are very thorough for the price, essentially 28% the cost of a new drone in this case.

Important: Calibrate Before You Fly!

You may have noticed a few nicks on the Mavic photos in this post and be asking yourself, hey, I thought he said there weren’t any visible marks?! Well, there weren’t when I originally got the Mavic back from DJI but I crashed it nearly immediately. It was indoors for a small test but the Mavic slowly veered left, hitting a wall, then I used the emergency controls to shut off the propellers. I was lucky to have dodged another trip to the service center.

After looking at the flight records, I realized why the drone wasn’t hovering stably on a horizontal axis. Although DJI tests drones they repair before sending them back, it seems they don’t calibrate the Inertia Measurement Unit (IMU). The IMU orients the drone so when it’s not calibrated properly, it usually drifts.

Calibrate All The Things – Be sure to calibrate the compass, IMU, remote controller, and gimble prior to flying any drone you get back from repair.

The DJI repair process is a thorough, but slow, process. Best to avoid it altogether by doing these 12 things before you ever fly a new drone, which will go a long way to prevent a crash in the first place. Given how easy it is to damage your drone combined with the cost of repair makes getting the DJI Care plan all the more sensible. The DJI Care plans cost about 10% the full price of a new drone plus cover two replacement units over the first year – whether or not the damage is your fault. Since it’s a very cumbersome process to add the DJI Care coverage after you’ve purchased your drone (with no guarantees), keep it in mind and part of your budget when shopping.

What To Expect And How To Access The Internet In Cuba

by Anil Polat | May 2, 2017 | Tech, Travel | 4

There are few major cities in the world where you can sit down, open your laptop, and see absolutely no wireless networks available in the wifi list. That’s because the Internet is extremely restricted in Cuba so in many cases, even in Havana, it will be impossible to get online.

Connections that are available usually are slow, flaky at best, and you can’t simply hop on any wifi network you find. Internet access in Cuba works differently than most other places – here’s how to get online and what to expect in one of the least connected countries in the world.

The Government Decides Where The Hotspots Are

There’s a reason why only 5% of Cubans have access to the Internet in their homes. It’s a privilege reserved to those with money – something in Cuba you tend to only have a lot if you’ve got the right government connections or are a visiting tourist. There’s a tiny chance if you’re staying at a casa particular in Havana the Internet may be available to you. For the most part though you’ll have to head to one of the bigger international hotels.

In Cuba there are roughly 240 total Internet access points with 40 being located in the capital Havana. Hotels are the main point for Internet access around the country. (Although some parks have access points as well, they’re often not working or too unreliable to use.) As a general rule of thumb, if a hotel offers currency exchange from the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) to U.S. dollars (USD) or euros, there’s a good chance they’ll have an Internet connection as well. Most anyone you ask will know where the hotspots are or you can just look around in the evening for groups of Cubans lit by the glow of cell phones sitting right outside a hotel.

You Need An ETECSA Card

There are two primary ways to get online: using the ETECSA card (La Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba) or purchasing a voucher from a hotel. The latter is a rip-off I don’t recommend because a voucher is basically is an ETECSA card with a you-don’t-know-better fee costing you 2-5 times more.

An ETECSA card gives you an hour of Internet for about $1.50 USD. (There’s also a 5 hour card for $7.50 that nobody seems to have.) After you connect to a given wireless network, you’ll need to enter the numerical username and password on the ETECSA card. It’s best to stock up on them since the cards are the gateway to your online access. ETECSA cards also work on those hotel networks who only offer vouchers. No matter where you are in Cuba, if there’s a wireless network, you’ll need an ETECSA card.

Remember To Logout

ETECSA cards are good for 60 minutes or 30 days, whichever comes first. Once you’re logged in and online using an ETECSA card, keep that particular browser window/tab open. ETECSA cards (hardly ever) log you out due to inactivity or when you close your browser, making them deceptively easy to unintentionally use up.

Don’t expect much from the Internet in Cuba when you get online however. The connections are inconsistent, ETECSA cards are moody when it comes to working, and at the best of times you’ll have a very slow connection. (About one megabit per second up and download speeds.) Surprisingly though, the Internet is pretty uncensored. You’ll be able to access nearly all foreign news sites, connect to VPNs – social media is open too.

Forget about Skype calls though due to the terrible connection; not just video but even audio calls are barely tolerable. A trip to Cuba won’t be what you think it is, but when you warn your friends and family you might be slow in replying to them, remember it’s hardly comparable to the lagging connections in western Europe. Plan on having practically no Internet connection at all, much like the 1950s Chevrolets, a throwback to consider enjoying while you can. Pores in Cuba’s iron border have begun expanding beyond the airport to include the World Wide Web too.

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