Often when guests visit us in the US we are asked about tipping culture. For those not accustomed to it, the ‘rules’ can be considered arcane and arbitrary. While I’m sure my approach will not be without contention, it has served me well to feel comfortable and reflect good service.
The following is a list of some of our favorite restaurants in NYC.
It seems everyone has a story of being stung by an airline booking gone bad. In the age of travel aggregators and easier access to self-booking, I recommend the following rules to ensure you're not caught out.
Several months into the pandemic, we decided to not renew our lease, and find a silver lining by moving out west. Many days couped up in a studio apartment we dreamed of green hikes and snow. We moved to Portland for a 10 week period, but ended up coming back for another 10 weeks after Colorado, and ended our west coast adventure in Portland after a road trip to California - so 5 months in total.
Bri and I have been living in the states six months now, and we are excited to have family and friends come visit in 2020. We’ve been growing a personal list of things we like doing or want to do while living in NYC. If you're planning on a visit, let us know if you like the look of any of these!
I started work at BCG in July this year, and was eager to do my job well and settle in. Starting with a top consulting company can be an exciting, anxious and stressful time. On top of assimilating a new company culture, I was also experiencing a new city and culture. To perform well, you need to have a clear understanding of the expectations on you. In particular with consulting, we land in new environments and need to get up to speed fast. After six months in, I have a firmer grasp on the expectations and how to succeed at the job. I wanted to write up a reflection on this starting period and provide some advice for others. I want to provide some practical tips on getting orientated at the company and getting up to speed on cases.
If you’ve found yourself here, we may have had a discussion about an upcoming family holiday of yours to Australia, and you wanted to know how best to organise a trip to stay for a week. I have lived in Melbourne, Australia pretty much my whole life up until a few years ago. I have visited a few places but have generally preferred to travel overseas. I always figured I would leave the in-depth touring until later in life when travelling with kids. That being said, I discussed this topic with family and came up with some great suggestions of how to spend a week in Australia. This is particularly relevant to people coming here for two weekends worth of time.
My partner and I spent 6 weeks in Porto, Portugal in late 2018. During that time we were working remote, usually in the morning and late evenings, leaving us most of the day, evenings and weekend to explore Porto. We arrived in the colder, rainier month of November, and didn’t end up venturing outside the city at all. Along the way we found some great places to eat, have a drink and various things to do. The following is a list of what we found to be good.
Hobart has been a destination for some great weekend trips over the years. Very accessible from Melbourne, and with low cost airlines making it easy and cheap to visit, it’s likely a destination we’ll continue to visit every so often. I’ve been wanting to jot down some notes on ideas for people taking holidays there, so this article will list some top picks.
My partner Bri and I spent two months in Split as part of our six month trip in Europe. Although we spent most of that time working, studying or at the beach, we had a lot of fun in and around Split. Split boasts a historic castle old town, a great park for walks and cycling, a long coastline of pebble beaches, and small but growing communities of interest (tech, startup, expat, sport and coffee). Outside of Split the best way to enjoy Croatia is on a boat, either the common ferries to islands or Dubrovnik, or small boats for day trips to famous spots, or whole week cruises.
One of my top recommendations for anyone visiting Japan is to visit Koyasan. Koyasan is high in the mountains of the Wakayama prefecture. It is a historically relevant village, considered the centre of Shingon Buddism in Japan. It is here that you can experience a temple stay (Shukubo), many of which include vegetarian haite cuisine and onsen. Guests are welcome to attend early morning meditations. The town and its surrounds are perfect for walks, with the long graveyards nested in forests, large gates, and pilgrimage trails with great views.
A fun video we took to capture the key parts of our six months working and studing remote in Europe.
I've been wanting to put together my packing list for digital nomad life for some time. For a few reasons really, one is for my own purposes as a checklist to see if I have everything when I'm packing. Another is to have a reference link for anyone who sees and likes an item and wants more information or to buy it. I'm also a habitual list-writer, so this list may come in handy if I were to lose my luggage and needed to start over or file insurance.
A sneaky peak inside the suitcase of a digital nomad traveler. I work remote and like to stay agile for long periods of time, so I try to maintain 'carry-on' sizing for travel gear. Accompaniment to the article I wrote.
While baby boomers have their francophiles, more recent Australians have grown up with a different experience. Like many others, I was offered Japanese language and culture classes starting as early as grade 5. A fair chunk of my teenage years were spent with Nintendos, various anime and sushi. My first chance to visit Japan came in 2007 where I got my first big dose of culture shock. Since then I’ve holidayed twice more, once with family and once solo. The itch was never fully scratched, and I knew I wanted to try living there one day.
Working remote is a paradigm that fundamentally changes the social and physical nature of work. In many ways it is an evolution like open office environments and hot desking. While there are some clear benefits to employers and employees, there remains some potential difficulties collaborating effectively with remote working employees. This blog post will examine some of these difficulties and suggest strategies for employees, employers and colleagues to get the most out of the experience.