TRAVEL TIPS–NUTS AND BOLTS PLANNING
Obvious stuff? Some new ideas on the basics

  Passports and Visas
          —The reason to renew your passport from abroad
          —The joys of a passport issued in Colombia
          —The surreality of acquiring my Paraguayan visa

  Money, Credit Cards & Insurance
          —To budget or not to budget?
          —Do you really need a credit card on the road?
          —Is travel insurance the devil?

  Backpack
          —The heavy hidden cost of schlepping the heavy pack
          —Why almost every modern brand has a poor design
          —Don’t count on the post office to save you!

  Packing
          —I’m not packing light; you’re packing heavy
          —Where I hide my money so you can rob me easily
          —The importance of traveling with baseball cards

  Guidebooks and Languages
          —In defense of Lonely Planet
          —Foreign languages? Push yourself in head first
          —The Brazilian parable