Brent and Michael's Secret Travel Hacks, Part 29!
Buy a Pixel phone, get free smartphone insurance, land more bonus miles, always read the fine print, eat more passionfruit, confirm the "full" refund, and cure all your long-term health ailments!
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We’re back with another edition of our unusual travel hacks!
For other travel hack columns, go to Part Thirteen and Part Fourteen and Part Fifteen and Part Sixteen and Part Seventeen and Part Eighteen and Part Nineteen and Part Twenty and Part Twenty-One and Part Twenty-Two and Part Twenty-Three and Part Twenty-Four and Part Twenty-Five and Part Twenty-Six and Part Twenty-Seven and Part Twenty-Eight.
Here are our latest hacks:
Find your focus in nature
Looking for a way to increase your attention span? Spend time in nature. A recent study found a fairly dramatic result comparing people who walked through town compared to those who walked through a forest.
From a single walk!
Apparently, nature is “softly fascinating” — complicated enough to draw our attention but not so complicated as to be confusing or anxiety-inducing.
Oh, and past research has also shown that exposure to nature probably improves our creativity, cognition in general, and even our mood!
Consider a Pixel Phone
Michael and I have long insisted that the best phone on the market — a great combo of quality and affordability — is Google’s low-selling Pixel. It’s nice to see someone else finally agrees with us.
Look, if you insist on an iPhone, you’re probably going to get the best discounts with AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. But you’re paying way more than you have to for phone service.
We buy unlocked Pixels every three years ($299-$699 each, with discounts and trade-ins), then use Google Voice for calls and texts (free) and Airalo eSims for worldwide coverage (about $15 a month each), for a cost of $58/month total, or $28/person, for both hardware and service.
Get free cell phone insurance
Reject my advice about cheaper smartphones? Then what about free cell phone insurance?
The Capital One Venture X card has a genuinely great perk: cellphone insurance. You’re covered for theft or (non-cosmetic) damage, starting the first day of the month after your first monthly cellphone bill, and it continues for as long as you continue to pay that bill on the card.
That said, Venture X also has a $395 annual fee (albeit with an $300 annual travel credit). I think the better deal is the plain old Venture card, which has only a $95 annual fee, and it also has a $300 (one-time) travel credit. However, this card does not include cell phone insurance.
h/t Vicky at Victoria’s Substack
Listen to us
Want to hear what we sound like? We just appeared on The World Awaits podcast and had a great discussion with Kirstie about our weird life as digital nomads.
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