Category: Travel

What You Need To Know About Europe’s New Entry/Exit System (EES)

by Anil Polat | Jan 22, 2026 | Pictures and Video, Travel | 0

Europe has been rolling out an Electronic Entry/Exit System (EES) over the past few months that will affect many travelers who have been used to visa-free visits. The EES is fairly straightforward and the more you know about it ahead of time, the smoother things will go for you. Still, there will be delays so here’s what you need to prepare for.

You should watch the video above and then read below.

European Union But Really Schengen

To understand the EES you need to have a solid grasp of what the Schengen Area is. I’ve written in detail about the Schengen but in short, when you visit one of the 29 European countries you are only crossing a single border (as far as your passport is concerned). Those of you who have visa-free travel to the Schengen Area (any of these nations, including the United States) can stay 90 days within every 180 days. That’s not for a single country but the entire area.

What The EES Is

With the EES, you’ll now have to register you fingerprints, photo, and scan your passport upon entering Europe. The kiosks may also ask your reasons for visiting the Schengen Area and once you’re approved (on the spot) you’ll continue on. There will no longer be passport stamps – everything is recorded digitally – and for most people, you won’t meet a passport control officer.

There’s nothing you have to do ahead of time but expect delays as everyone gets used to (or shocked because they didn’t know) about the new system.

What’s The About?

Your bio-metric data will be stored by the EES for 3 years so on any subsequent visits all you’ll have to do is scan your passport and either fingerprint or face. The data is stored within in the European Union and you can request a copy of the data they have of yours. Going through the EES is mandatory for all visitors and is aimed to bolster security while also preventing people from overstaying their visa-free allowance.

Both The Ridge Tracker Card And AirTag Are Good For Lost, Not Stolen Wallets

by Anil Polat | Jan 15, 2026 | Security | 0

AirTags are Apple’s disc-shaped solution to lost keys, purses, pets, and wallets. The problem is their shape makes them too bulky to fit in a traditional wallet – let alone a slim one. That’s where Ridge’s Tracker Card comes in. The credit card shape, thickness, and weight make it perfect for slipping into a wallet but without the AirTag’s ultra-wide band chip are they any good?

You can see in the video above I put them to the test and learned they have a significant limitation.

The Stolen Wallet Test

I had two friends take my wallet – one with an AirTag and the other a Ridge Tracker Card to see if I could find either of them within 20 minutes. Both devices use Apple’s Find My network and should give you a notification when they leave your (phone’s) vicinity. Unfortunately, in both cases, it took over 10 minutes to get that notification. That cut my search time in half and while the Ridge Tracker Card did ping more often than the AirTag, the updates were minutes apart.

Ridge Wallet Tracker Card - Tile Slim Tracking Card Compatile...

Getting Lost

Yes, in both cases I was not able to track down my wallet. Both the Ridge Tracker Card and AirTag simply weren’t updating frequently enough – in a large and crowded part of a European capital city – so I would expect in less densely populated areas it would be even worse. My pickpockets were always one step (or three) ahead of me.

Of course in an actual pickpocketing, the thieves would likely ditch and AirTag immediately. A Ridge Tracker Card is less conspicuous so there’s a chance it wouldn’t get discarded quite as quickly. Still, the most likely scenario is someone stealing a wallet, walking a few blocks away somewhere quiet to unload the money and cards, and leave everything else behind.

Not All Is Lost

Both the Ridge Tracker Card and AirTag have a number of uses but these are not GPS devices. They don’t update frequently enough to actively track someone in most cases. For lost items though, they can be useful to get a location, be notified you left your wallet at home, or that a kind barista is safeguarding the wallet you forgot at the cafe.

Where time is critical, an AirTag and Ridge Tracker Card might just be a bit too slow for you to keep up with a crook.

How To Find Hidden Cameras In Your Hotel Room

by Anil Polat | Jan 8, 2026 | Security | 0

It sounds straight out of spy novels but finding hidden cameras in hotels and other accommodation rentals is not unheard of. Cameras are getting smaller, better camouflaged but on the flip side the tools to detect them have improved as well.

Watch the video above to see hotel room search for hidden cameras, then follow the guide below the next time you check in.

Visual Inspection

The first step is to use some of the most sophisticated lenses on the planet – your eyes. Look for items that are out of place, don’t match the room decor or design, or otherwise are doubled up. For example, there may be two alarm clocks (with one in a drawer). Hotels order furniture and accessories in bulk so differences in brands, makes, especially in larger hotels should stand out.

JOOKACE Hidden Camera Clock - Ultra 4K HD Wireless Indoor Camera...

Take a close look around the room and inspect anything you have suspicions about.

Know The Lenses

Hidden cameras and microphones can look like anything. You should be aware that wall chargers, television remotes, smoke detectors, and alarm clocks (to name a few) are some common form factors. All of these types of hidden cameras and mics can be bought online, found easily, and cost $150 or less.

Sale

JMDHKK K18+ Hidden Camera Detector, Spy Camera Finder, Bug...

They’re fairly sophisticated and can stream directly to an app the spy is using as well as a build in SD card. Use your visual inspection to take a close look at these items – which may actually work as the devices they’re disguised as – and look for any additional pinholes or glass covers.

Detector Time

It’s after you’ve completed your visual inspection that you can use something like the K18 or X13 bug detector. The K18 is a little more powerful but both devices detect radio waves that something like a smoke detector shouldn’t need. Even if it is a smoke detector that uses wifi for monitoring, a hidden camera detector can draw your attention to such devices so you can take a closer look.

Remote controls can be especially tricky since we expect them to emit some amount of waves that could set off our detector. Again, that’s where your eyes come in. Focus on the areas someone is most likely to bug you – like the bath and bedrooms, be alert, and after a 10 minute inspection for electronic bugs you can move on to bed bugs.

Ridge Wallet 2.0 Review: Slim Gets Slimmer

by Anil Polat | Dec 19, 2025 | Money | 0

The Ridge Wallet has been a solid slim choice to carry cards and some cash. They’ve grown quite a bit in popularity since I originally reviewed Ridge and this is the first major update to the design. The changes are a lot of improvements on what previously weighed down the Ridge Wallet.

Version Increase

The Ridge Wallet 2.0 is a lot of the same at a glance. Two polycarbonate (strong plastic) panels held together with a durable elastic band. On the front of the panels are screwed on faces with options for aluminum, carbon fiber, leather or titanium materials. The look can be customized as well, with teams, artwork, logos, and more. Ridge has kept a lot of what’s worked, which is a good thing.

Ridge Wallet for Men - Slim Minimalist Compact Wallet and Card...

Refining The Details

Ridge have dropped the weight of the Wallet 2.0 down to 70 grams. It’s not a major drop in weight from the original but noticeable enough to make the Ridge Wallet 2.0 feel much less imposing in your pocket. (A big gripe of mine the first time around.) The cash strap on the back has also been slimmed down, is still removable, and as much as 2.0 looks like 1.0, it feels significantly improved.

Ridge’s Impressive Guarantee

Ridge has always had a very generous 99 day return policy for many of their products, including the Ridge Wallet. It’s no questions asked so you can really test this out to see if you like one. But Ridge also though have a full replacement policy for loss and theft that comes with the Wallet 2.0 at no extra charge.

Basically, if you lose your Ridge Wallet or it gets stolen, they’ll send you a new one minus a processing fee of 17 to 27 dollars, depending on the cost of your original wallet. That’s a backing competitors will find hard to copy and a backing Ridge are hoping Wallet 2.0 will convince you too.

Ridge’s Tracker Card Is A Better AirTag For Your Wallet

by Anil Polat | Dec 11, 2025 | Pictures and Video, Security, Tech | 0

Apple’s AirTag is one of the best but subtle pieces of travel tech to come out from the past few years. AirTags let you track your luggage, purse, backpack with a breezy setup and forget it till you need it design. The problem with the little white puck is they aren’t shaped to fit what’s likely your most valuable pocket-able possession – a wallet.

Leave it up to Ridge, a slim wallet maker at its core to come up with the Ridge Tracker Card, an AirTag for you wallet.

Setup And Shape

The Tracker Card is a ever so slightly thicker than an average credit card, about the same weight, and has a plain black exterior with some Ridge branding on the front. Around the back there’s a very small “Find My by Apple” logo but this is a discrete tracker. There is a small pressure based button on the front for the initial set up, which works with Apple devices on the Find My network.

Ridge Wallet Tracker Card - Tile Slim Tracking Card Compatile...

Like An AirTag… But

The Tracker Card set up is much like an AirTag. You go in to the Find My app, add a new device, give it a name and optional emoji, then you’re done. Now you can see your Tracker Card on the Find My map. Like an AirTag, the Tracker Card is using any Apple device around it to ping its location and let you see where it is. This is a seamless process and you can basically forget about the Tracker card (until you have to wireless charge it every 5 months or so).

Worst Case Scenario

Automatically Find My will send you notifications when your Tracker Card isn’t near you any more. (Of course you need one of your Apple devices around to let you know.) That’s useful for a possible pick-pocketing situation or forgetting your wallet at the hotel. The alerts let you know something might be wrong and you can then pull up Find My map to see where your card is.

Once you’re within 10 meters (30 feet) you can set your Tracker Card to emit a beeping sound that can help you further locate it. Unfortunately, due to the lack of ultra-wide band capability like an AirTag, you won’t be able to see the precision location tracking arrow when you’re in close range. That’s a limitation of the physical slimness of the Tracker Card but it’s the closest, and best, AirTag alternative for your wallet.

The Sonder-Marriott Hotels Divorce is Ugly

by Anil Polat | Nov 20, 2025 | Lodging, Money | 0

Marriott hotels announced in 2024 that they would be partnering with Sonder and rebranding the apartment accommodation service as Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy. Then, abruptly at in November 2025, Marriott released a statement saying they were terminating their partnership with Sonder effective immediately and all guests staying at Sonder properties had to get out. Immediately.

So here’s what happened between Sonder and Marriott.

The Partnership That Wasn’t

Right after Marriott’s press release on November 9th, messages were sent to Sonder guests informing them they had to vacate their rooms. Some returned to their rooms to find their belongings in plastic bags left in hallways. It turns out, Sonder had not been paying Marriott for their end of the bargain (Marriott even used the term “default” in their press release) and filed for bankruptcy within 48 hours.

Their CEO, Janice Sears made it seem like Marriott was to blame for their Chapter 7 filing:

“We are devastated to reach a point where a liquidation is the only viable path forward,” said Janice Sears, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Sonder. “Unfortunately, our integration with Marriott International was substantially delayed due to unexpected challenges in aligning our technology frameworks, resulting in significant, unanticipated integration costs, as well as a sharp decline in revenue arising from Sonder’s participation in Marriott’s Bonvoy reservation system. These issues persisted and contributed to a substantial and material loss in working capital.”

Yikes. The blame game has begun but it’s hard to see how partnering with Marriott could have devastated Sonder so quickly. It’s more likely Sonder were already running on fumes and simply could hold out until the (expected) revenue boost from Marriott came.

Sonder No More

Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy leading to liquidation means that Sonder won’t exist any more. All future reservations have been automatically canceled and if you want a refund, you’ll have to work with your bank to get a charge back. Marriott is helping customers who booked through their site but have said Sonder users are on their own.

<a href="https://rss.com/podcasts/foxnomad-podcast-anil-polat/2325159/">Why Marriott Hotels Killed Sonder | RSS.com</a>

It’s been a messy break up and a shame for travelers. Sonder offered spacious, apartment style alternatives to hotel rooms in major cities. I guess now we know that it was all too good to be true.

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