Travel Lean

The completely new face of travel. High-speed travel hacking and toilet paper races.

How to hack a quick trip.

By Brad Beckstrom

Last month I visited Portland, OR. I was in town for 5 days attending a conference. The conference included lots of evening events spread throughout the city, as well as daily events downtown. I also had a dinner and a breakfast meet-up with friends on opposite sides of the city and a day long photo shoot, many locations. I did not rent a car, call a cab or set foot in a hotel. I purchased cross country nonstop flights separately on Southwest at a total cost of $391. The return nonstop flight was particularly impressive arriving 20 minutes early and crossing the country in 4 hours and 40 minutes! Price for that leg was $186. What jet lag?

I was elected captain of the toilet paper race team on one of the flights. These things just happen to me, I hear they don’t happen as often for other people.

While in town, I stayed at a very nice private home. The home was a short ride from the event and less than two blocks from hundreds of restaurants and bars on 21st and 23rd street in Portland. The owner left out an assortment of fruits, nuts coffee for me. My total tab for four nights in these deluxe accommodations $323 about $80 a night.

I got around the city just fine using a combination of my feet, UBER and Portland’s cool light rail system called Max. If I were just to go back 30 years to 1985, many of my travel habits today would be completely unrecognizable. I’m not talking about flying cars or high-speed magnetic rail trains. Some might have predicted those back then if you asked them to describe the future of travel. [Read more…] about The completely new face of travel. High-speed travel hacking and toilet paper races.

Going where you’re wanted….

08/15 by The Frug Leave a Comment

Discovering towns, or entire countries, that will hustle for your business…

By Brad Beckstrom

I was in a jam. I usually take the family away for a few days around my birthday. This year some plans fell through and we skipped it. I was getting some heat from SuperK about getting away for a few days in July. The reason I was getting heat wasn’t because we don’t travel, we travel a lot. However, lately I’ve been visiting cities like Bangkok, New York, Seattle, Portland, Baltimore and Fargo as part of my creative quest to photograph 1000 different places in 100 different cities. The family was feeling a bit left out.

So, I wanted to make good on my promise and scrambled to find something very quickly. [Read more…] about Going where you’re wanted….

Whop Bam Bang.

06/15 by The Frug Leave a Comment

The Delta 2064 FAR-MSP…..CAT…..DCA Story.

By Brad Beckstrom.

Sitting at Gate 21 Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. I had about 40 minutes until my next flight en route from Fargo, North Dakota to Washington, DC. Hanging out with Rami Matan Even-Esh, better known by his stage name Kosha Dillz. Rami is a freestyle rapper that rhymes in English, Hebrew, Spanish, and often in a language all his own. I met Rami last year at Misfitcon, a small event in Fargo North Dakota for creatives, misfits, and troublemakers.

Like everyone else I met at #misfitcon, we hit it off, and we were catching up on all the great people that we hung out with in Fargo this year and talking about what’s next. Rami is getting ready to head out on the Vans Warped tour this summer and is slammed recording new music and launching a kickstarter campaign. He mentioned he really wants to tour Asia but said he just doesn’t like flying that much.

I, of course, jumped in and said go. I gave him my whole ”I waited too long” spiel about world travel. And, I added, flying is safer than driving or walking around US cities, looking at maps on your iPhone. He offered me some coffee but I told him I planned to sleep all the way back to DC. I was also swearing off alcohol for at least a week after all the amazing cocktail and beer “sampling” I did at misfitcon. I wished him luck on the tour and headed off to my gate. I was going to go grab some spicy chinese food. My plan was to enjoy my szechuan chili chicken, do a bit of reading, then pass out. None of that would happen. [Read more…] about Whop Bam Bang.

The Allure of the Obscure.

05/15 by The Frug Leave a Comment

The Real Grand Budapest Hotel. Palace Bristol Hotel in Karlovy

By Brad Beckstrom

Knowing little about your destination is half the adventure.

Years ago, before online travel booking, I had a roommate that used to walk into a travel agent, or up to a ticket counter, and ask for the least expensive plane ticket available to anywhere. He would gather up the information and try to talk friends into joining him at this random, often obscure, location for a weekend. It was the late 80s and discount airlines were starting to crop up with all kinds of $39 specials to destinations that they wanted to build traffic to. There was one airline, People Express, that would even collect payment for the tickets once you got on the plane, sort of like a city bus.

His rule was it had to be the absolute cheapest ticket available, not something close to cheapest. The destination would be a secret to anyone who went along until they got to the airport. [Read more…] about The Allure of the Obscure.

See It All. Adventures in Thailand with a backpack and an iPhone.

03/15 by The Frug 1 Comment

My Longboat Captain and First mate.

I was hanging out on Khao San Road enjoying my last beer in Thailand. It’d been a whirlwind 12 day trip, exhausting, but in a good way. I was speaking with a couple from Australia, who joked, in a friendly way, that I’d seen more in two weeks and they’d seen in three months.

For a minute they must have been thinking “over scheduled American can’t relax”. Seeing more with less time was my plan all along. I met more than one person who was visiting for 3 to 6 months. With SuperK and kids back home, I did not have that luxury this trip.

I did, however, find that having a rough outline of a schedule, and using mobile apps, I actually ended up having more free time than I’d planned on. There’s a lot written about travel hacking and grabbing flights and hotels at the lowest price. There’s not as much about hacking your trip once you arrive.

For me, the planning process is part of the whole journey. Just 3 or 4 years ago, you’d have to carry around a thick travel book and clumsy maps and do your best at navigating the chaos of a city like Bangkok. This is not just about tourist attractions, In fact, mobile apps allow you to find the best restaurants, bars, hiking trails, and off the beaten path destinations.

Here’s a list of the apps I used for my Thailand visit, as well as recent family trips. All of these apps are multi-platform and sync across my desktop, tablet and mobile device. [Read more…] about See It All. Adventures in Thailand with a backpack and an iPhone.

The Man in Seat 61. Jump on a Train and Go.

02/15 by The Frug Leave a Comment

By Brad Beckstrom

I’ve always enjoyed train travel. I figured out years ago that it’s often faster than traveling by air when you factor in getting to and from the airport and ever intensifying security. This is especially true in the Northeast, traveling between Washington DC and New York City. If I’m going downtown, I can step off the train at Penn Station in Manhattan versus cabbing to and from the airports, dealing with lines and weather delays. Sure, trains get delayed occasionally but at least you’re in a large comfortable seat with power outlets and can read a book or get some work done. As a bonus, no bag fees and up to 70% less CO2 versus a plane.

I really caught the train bug while traveling in Europe. There are some fantastic trains like the 186 MPH double decker TGV in France or the Frecciarossa ETR500 in Italy, also clocking in at about 186 MPH. Like Formula One, they are very serious about trains in the EU and UK. You can take a comfortable high-speed overnight train, have dinner in Munich, and breakfast in Rome. In addition to some great sunsets and scenery, you’ll be saving money you’d otherwise be spending on a hotel room.

Trains create stories