Jeremy

Jeremy founded Living the Dream in 2008 to chronicle his long-term trip around Asia. Since then he has been on two long-term trips, visited 69 countries, and is just getting started. He is now on a Lifestyle Design quest to build businesses to pursue a life of travel.

How to Get an Emergency Passport While Abroad

If you found this article via a search engine, then you probably lost your passport or, if you are like us, had your passport stolen.  Since no one can go back in time fix it, there is only one thing to do and that is head to an Embassy and get a new one.

But what if you cannot wait the 10-15(+) business days for a full replacement passport to arrive?  Well, the emergency passport is your answer.

Since there is hardly any information published online about getting an emergency passport, what they are, and how they work, we are publishing our experience to help those who may find themselves in a similar situation.

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After 62 Countries, We Were Robbed While Traveling

As most long-term travelers and nomads will say, it is only a matter of time before you are a victim of theft while traveling.  No matter how skilled you are at keeping your gear safe and how cautious you are about protecting your valuables, one day someone will get the better of you.

After 550+ days of travel since 2008, being gone for almost a whole year on this trip, and visiting hundreds of cities in 62 countries, our day finally happened in Puno, Peru.

And we nearly lost everything.

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What Makes Valparaiso Chile’s Capital of Culture?

Skyline of central Valparaiso from Planeta Lindo HostelWhen you travel around Chile, you will hear one expression in particular over and over again: “Valparaiso is the cultural capital of Chile.”  Other than a few poor attempts to describe the meaning of this expression, with the most common being “all the artists go there,” you’ll be left wondering what it truly means.

We were so intrigued by this expression that we decided to extend our stay in Chile to figure out why everyone has such a high opinion of a city we rarely hear about.  It only took a few moments in Valparaiso to understand, and the city quickly rose to a spot in our Top 10 favorite cities anywhere in the world.

But the question we were so interested in still needed an answer.  Why is Valparaiso considered to be a cultural highlight of Chile?

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Our Best Tips for Driving in Easter Island

Ahu Tongariki on Easter IslandEaster Island is one of the smallest islands I have ever stayed on, and definitely the smallest I’ve ever driven on. At about 10 miles at its widest point, you can drive around the island in a full loop in just over an hour with a few quick stops.

Prior to our Easter Island visit, we were quite torn about renting a car.   We read many stories online about some of the difficulties that other travelers faced, and were not even sure it would be necessary considering how tiny the island really is.  Once we realized that there is no public transportation on the island, and a rental doesn’t cost that much more than a round-trip taxi doing an island loop, picking up a rental car for half our stay was a logical choice.

But even with our eagerness to get out and explore Easter Island, we did have to consider those difficulties we’ve read about online time and time again.  Luckily for you, we think they’re quite overblown.

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