"I expected a lot of things when I started traveling, and most of them ended up being accurate. One thing which I didn’t expect, or plan for in any capacity, was just how drastically my general outlook on the world would change following the removal of material possessions. I don’t know why I didn’t expect it, really, cause it’s something that’s written about frequently. Prior to departure I’d absorbed countless articles discussing the sense of freedom from giving up all one owns. But I’ve never really been that attached to “stuff” – and I had no reservations about giving up mine – so I didn’t really see it as a big deal.

The shift in perspective doesn’t really have much to do with the things you own owning you, as such. It’s a state of mind. Whilst living a “normal” life, even as a relatively non-materialistic person, I was always thinking about the next “thing” to buy, or pay for, or do. I had absolutely no appreciation for how much time my mind spent locked into this rut of: earn money, buy something, do cool things with it, earn a bit more money, buy another thing."

A fantastic guide company offering tours through North Korea. Pretty reasonable prices as well.

Robin Sloan writes about the Kindle as the ultimate travel gadget.

"That, in a nutshell is “Israelification” - a system that protects life and limb without annoying you to death."

Jon Udell writes about the benefit to flying into smaller airports.

"Things are not as they should be. And yet, it feels as if we are all in the right place."

We're losing our liberties at the border when the Department of Homeland Security can seize electronics without warrants or probably cause.

Summary of concerns over the high-speed rail project in California.

Pretty cool travel hacking story.

Current airport security measures are both a waste of our time and our money.

Observations of life in Cuba for a tourist. Some interesting anecdotes.

Interesting model for finding rooms to stay in for the night. h/t @laurenmichell

"Conventional suburbs are overbuilt and out of favor. In cities and suburbs alike, walkable neighborhoods linked by train are the future."

A tool to make it easy to find out what time it is in various places of the world.