Travel

Fall / Winter Break 2019 - 2020
21 November 2019 - 4 January 2020

"These trips aren't frivolous excursions in taking it easy.
They're about generating a sense of accomplishment
and — believe it or not — building a better future for myself.
They are an investment in me."
Mattopia Jones

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Stats

Miles Walked

• 5.57 miles/day average over 44 days
• 245.92 total miles
• (as tallied by the iPhone 11 Pro Max)

Baggage (at the end)

• 28.6 pounds - day backpack
• 20.2 pounds - camera bag
• 48.5 pounds - duffel (22 kilograms)
• 97.3 pounds - total carried
• 10.9 pounds - box mailed home from Korea (4,921 grams)
• 108.2 pounds - total overall

Gigabytes Consumed

• 5 x 256 GB SD cards (1 purchased during trip)
• 6 x 128 GB SD cards (1 purchased during trip)
• Plus uncalculated iPhone storage

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Apps

Agoda: Needs work. A reservation was canceled at my request. The only problem is, I never requested the cancellation. Another booking indicated a New Year's Eve dinner was included. Agoda never sufficiently explained why that message was included in my reservation confirmation.

Booking: A perennial favorite.

Google Maps

Grab

iPhone Clock

Kakao Map: Helpful for navigating Seoul.

Kayak: Helpful to find airfare options, but I preferred to book directly with the carrier whenever possible (and with Air India, that was often not possible.

OANDA Currency Converter

TripIt

Uber

United Airlines

Note: Travelocity apps and sites (including Orbitz and Hotels) are barred from use in the PRM following a technical glitch Orbitz refused to address adequately.

Note: The booking apps offer a certain level of convenience, particularly in identifying a broad range of options, but there are more incentives on the rise through direct booking and credit cards that offer better overall value.

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Airlines

Brands: 9

Flights: 17

• 4 x United: ***1/2
• 2 x Thai Airways: ****
• 2 x Garuda Indonesia: ****
• 1 x T'way Air: ***1/2
• 4 x Air India: No stars (even the airline's app and website are problematic)
• 1 x SpiceJet: ***
• 1 x Bangkok Airways: ****
• 1 x Nok Air: ***1/2
• 1 x Ethiopian Airlines: ***

Worst Flight: Air India from New Delhi to Bangkok (closely followed by the three other Air India flights)

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Hotels

Brands: 10

Bangkok, Thailand
Centre Point Hotel Silom: ***1/2

Perth, Australia
Comfort Inn & Suites Goodearth Perth: *** Great location, relatively reasonable price, friendly staff; basic, no-frills accommodation

Tokyo, Japan
Candeo Hotels Tokyo, Roppongi: **** Started with a one-night reservation, then stayed through the whole Tokyo visit.

Seoul, South Korea
Fraser Place Namdaemun: ***1/2

Mumbai, India
President – IHCL SeleQtions: ****

Special Recognition: I did not stay at the Taj Palace in Mumbai (way outta my price range), but I did hang out at the Harbor Bar (a couple times), dined there and even shopped there (the rooms are exorbitant, but everything else is relatively reasonable). The service truly lives up to the hype. A great place — and I will stay there after I've made it big.

Aurangabad, India
Lemon Tree Hotel: ***1/2 This place grew on me, especially after a particularly great dinner — poolside — and terrific, attentive service.

New Delhi, India
Taj Mahal Hotel: **** A calm in the storm of protests, fog, shuttered Internet, honking, pollution and shady characters.

Pattaya, Thailand
Hard Rock Hotel: **** Not only do I want to return to the Hard Rock, I want “my room” back! (623, please.)

Chiang Mai, Thailand
Duangtawan Hotel: *1/2 This is my least favorite hotel during the trip, and one of my least favorite in quite some time. It's a two-star hotel masquerading as a four-star. But, it has a great location going for it. An error on the part of the booking service Agoda did not help matters, but the hotel's response was less than customer-centric.

Bangkok, Thailand
Arte Hotel: ***

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