Month: June 2017

Sighișoara

I arrived in Sighișoara in time for lunch and was there overnight with an 11.30 am train.

You can spend an afternoon in this village, but I went with more ‘favorable’ public transport times.

Again, I was with Romanians – this time, the locals. So on one hand, I did the tourist stuff – checking out the small museums, wandering around the citadel, and the stalls. But also had some drinks at one of the outside bars/cafes and also went to Bella Vista Sighișoara.

Sighișoara medieval citadel

 

The view above Bella Vista Sighișoara medieval citadel

…then through the mountains – Bușteni, Sinaia, Brașov county in Transylvania before catching the Romanian train to Sighișoara

And finally, nearly one week spent in Brașov

Outdoor cafes and restaurants.
How I planned the day (or how I usually plan when I travel..). Just bus routes going to and from my hotel…
Signs leading into a park

The cafe that I spent some time working in.

First class, Romanian train

It was very easy to book a ticket. I just booked mine at the Brașov train station which provided the details in English.

You can also check the times online, but there are some agregator sites out there that can provide times that also included BlaBlaCar (car sharing) and also bus.

Personally, I didn’t want to spend too much time worrying about things so I just booked first class.

Even though I was allocated a seat, I instead chose another seat by the window 😉 The train conducters didn’t say anything.
It’s quiet interesting – because on another train ride leaving Sighișoara, I was ‘allowed’ to sit on my unallocated seat but there was a man who I think asked the conducter in Romanian about his and he was promptly told (based on body language) that he had to sit somewhere else. So there might be a silver lining in my inability to communicate in Romanian.

Berlin Intercontinental Hotel

I was in Berlin Intercontinental Hotel for a few nights.

I usually like these types of chain hotels since you know what you’re in for when you stay.  There is some level of familiarity.  I don’t have the budget to stay in these for all or most of my trips anyway, but sometimes I woulud stay in a hotel that I don’t know about and I would end up staying up all night because of the smell of the room (they even had those automated air freshners… should have been a red flag), or hotels with no sound insulation, or beds with non-existent pillows and springy mattresses.  I’ve found that what makes a good hotel good is the quality of the bedding and you can expect good quality beds/pillows/bedsheets in these 4*/5* hotels.

Pros:

1. Really good spa, pool and sauna choice. You have water beds, one sauna, a cold dip pool, numerous interesting showers, two steam baths, lap pool, large jacuzzi. Not as good as dedicated spa hotels like the Corinthian in Budapest but this is a good alternative. Unfortunately, things get in a bit of a disarray by the end of the day.

2. Location is good for higher shopping as it is within walking distance to Bikini Berlin, KaDeWe. It’s in the Tiergarten area so you also have the zoo and aquarium within walking distance.

3. Intercontinental brands.

4. Mattress is really comfy. I’ve found that quality of the bedding easily makes or breaks a good hotel. I’m also a light sleeper and have had instances where poor quality beds has led me to stay up all night.

5. The business centre (which I only used once to scan a document) was more the 90’s/early 00’s style centres (think faux leather chairs) but it was still a dedicated business center.  Not 24 hours like in Hyatt Regency Waikiki but at least it exists.

Cons:

1. Not really in the centre with the major tourist type locations if you want to be within an easy ride or public transport stop.

2. You have to pay an additional fee to access the spa service that I mentioned above. Which, I don’t understand considering the cost of a room. Then again, it’s quiet small if you compare to spa luxury hotels. Maybe the cost is a way to make it more ‘exclusive’.

3. Not really in an interesting area (like first point above).

4. The hotel restaurant did not seem that exciting, but only if you consider the brand name and location.

Security tips for remote workers

As I ready myself to travel overseas and meet my team, I’ve made a slight addition to my blog post about security tips for remote workers.

Read more at https://superuser-ltd.github.io/2017/security-tips-remote-teams/

You may also be interested in https://superuser-ltd.github.io/2017/digital-nomad-accesories/

How I Organize Long-Term Travel

When I first announced that I was moving to Berlin, one of the first things someone said to me was “Wow! I wish I can just pack my suitcase and go like that“.  Sounds familiar, right?  So many people think that this is the case, and while it is the case for some people who literally can pack a suitcase, it is not so for me.

This post covers some of the top things that I do to organize long-term travel.

Balance preparation with being able to live in the moment

Take my recent move to Germany as an example.  While I really only spent 1-2 months in active preparations of the move to Germany (and by active, I mean, approaching landlords for apartments and sorting out my government appointments), I have always wanted to live there since 2009 and I started my initial research into Germany 16 months before my move.

What I have learnt, and this continues to be a learning experience for me, is to strike the balance of being prepared and being able to live in the moment.   On one hand, I want to avoid as much mishaps and issues as possible that can come out of due to lack of preparation.  Believe me, once something is overlooked, dealing with it while overseas can turn into one massive headache that can easily spiral out of control.  On the other hand, I don’t like to spend too much time simmering in some plan or idea that I forget to live in the moment.  I’ve done both wrongs in the past, and I am always trying to avoid stepping into further issues.  This is especially the case living in Germany, where doing everything is just set to Challenge Mode because of the fact that I can’t speak German.

While I was preparing to live in Germany, I was living in two countries – Canada and Ireland.  It’s easy to get caught up in the future that you forget where you are, and why you are doing this in the first place.

Trade-offs will now be a part of your life

I am constantly making trade-offs between living in the present, and being able to prepare for the future.

For example, you may have friends who won’t stop going on about how you should have joined them on that expensive trip.  Or coworkers that gush about their latest expensive purchase.

Now that I accept that I have to make trade-offs to continue living how I want to live, I am a lot more comfortable in saying no. It’s been a long time since I last experienced FOMO.

These trade-offs can be triggered by your budget – be it your money or your time.

I am constantly creating a new spreadsheet, or a new document when I need to quickly hash out a budget or an action plan if I am indecisive.  At least then, it’s better to make decisions on your own terms rather than someone else’s.

Use project management software

Yes, I use project management software to organize pretty much everything.  From a checklist of documentation requirements that I need for a visa application process, to other articles and blog posts of my target country, to random comments that I have in mind.  It’s all there.

To give you an idea, my setup is divided into major topics – such as housing and education – and finally countries.

A section may look like a scrum board if the scrum style is appropriate, otherwise they are usually divided by interest area.  For example, I have a section that I use which combines a mix of research, planning and brainstorming of the countries that I want to live in and the possible dates (let’s call this ‘International’).  Each is then subdivided into topic points – such as the application process of one type of visa, the application process of another type of visa, any bookmarks or snippets to look at and so on.

Before I started actively planning my move to Germany, I had a section in the ‘International’ area before I created a new area (simply called ‘Germany’) that is dedicated to my research and planning for moving to and living in Germany.

All of this is on typical software / project management software.

I can’t recommend a platform or application to use since I think that you should use the one that you are most comfortable in using.

Don’t listen to the checklist nihilists

I am a fan of checklists.

And yes, there are some people that don’t see the importance of them.  I am the complete opposite – I am constantly making checklists.  Even if it ends up being a duplicate or it ends up not being used.  It’s easy to make a checklist and it’s a good idea to get into this habit as it allows meto filter out the unecessary or bloated information and focus on the important and essential items.

Always prioritize the facts when moving to a new country

Moving to a new country is a daunting experience, especially when you intend to live there far longer than a tourist.  It is easy to be swept up by all the resources out there that is more aimed at the tourist and travel readership.  It is easy to be paralyzed with indecision.  It is easy to pretty much go around in circles, hopelessly, while you try to deal with a barrage of information.  Should you trust that forum comment from five years ago about what you can and can’t do on your visa? Should you live in that suburb, or this suburb?  And what about tax and insurance?

For me, my preference is to focus on the facts and tackle it.  If I don’t understand the terms of my visa, I do not go to social media.  Instead, I will usually look up the official and legal information behind my visa terms and conditions.  If I am facing a subjective/personal type of decision (ie where to live), I focus on the factual information about the place first.

I have found that prioritizing only the factual information has made managing the information load a lot better to handle.