Cheapest destinations/Similar song finder/Mini vacuum

Recomendo - issue #478

Cheapest destinations

Every year, Tim Leffel, who runs our sister newsletter Nomadico (a Recomendo for travel) researches the cheapest places to travel round the world. His 2025 Cheapest Destinations report is brief, but very current. Inexpensive regions can extend how long you travel, or raise the level of quality, or both. Cheaper places also make the most difference if you are attempting to work for a while as a nomad. His survey takes that into account. — KK

Similar song finder

This search tool helps you generate playlists based on your favorite music. Just input a song, and it finds similar tracks based on energy, instrumentation, acoustics, and danceability. You can also adjust your preferences. I’ve been discovering artists I never would have found — and songs I instantly love. — CD

Mini vacuum for quick cleanups

This handheld vacuum from HRYCF is a handy helper for small messes. I use it to clean coffee grounds near my espresso station and crumbs on countertops. It offers strong suction and comes with versatile attachments, even converting into an air blower. Its compact design makes it easy to grab. The USB-C rechargeable battery runs for up to 40 minutes. — MF

In a category of one

Martha Stewart, now 82, was the original lifestyle influencer. She built a media empire beginning in the 1970s around herself making stuff, from gardening, baking, to crafts, to home improvement. She was the first woman to become a self-made billionaire. Like many geniuses, she was a bit of a jerk. (I had a chance to interview her mid-career.) What I really like about Martha, the new documentary about her surprising life, is that it reinforces the power of being the only, of being a category of one. Instead of trying to overcome her oddities, her unconventionality, her character weaknesses, she leaned into them hard so that she was unique and had no competition, until she herself was the brand. This later became the goal of many others: “the brand of YOU.” The documentary is extremely well done, a lot of fun because Martha Stewart can’t hide her flaws, and is streaming on Netflix. — KK

How to resist everyday temptations

This is a useful guide for understanding impulsive behaviors and managing everyday temptations, like snacking and binge-watching. What I find helpful is immediately replacing an urge with a healthier and enjoyable alternative — like swapping doomscrolling for a phone call — and creating roadblocks by deleting apps or moving snacks out of sight. More importantly, the guide emphasizes being kind and gentle with yourself, and reminds us that progress comes from consistency and smart tweaks to your environment. There’s plenty of actionable advice here, but the real shift for me was how it normalizes impulsivity without shaming it. With that acceptance, it becomes easier to better understand myself. — CD

Free newsletter for life experiments

I’ve known A.J. Jacobs for 20 years and have read all his books, including his accounts of reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, becoming the healthiest person alive, and thanking the 1,000 people involved in his morning coffee routine. His newsletter, “Experimental Living,” is a weekly dose of his signature immersive journalism. Each issue blends memoir, humor, science, and practical self-help tips from his latest life experiments. — MF

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09/7/25

Public Speakerphone Fines/What Not to Buy/Biz Class Deals

Nomadico issue #169

Get Some D%#@ Earbuds Already!

Some travel etiquette “no-no” rules are up for debate. Others should not be—like playing sound on your phone or tablet speaker in a public place. This rude behavior won’t just get you an angry stare from those around you if you’re on a train in Ireland. It could cost you a €100 fine from Irish Rail. This follows a public campaign on the London Tube, announcements on many flights, and a few isolated fines so far in public stations. Let’s hope that this highly popular “shame or fine” trend is going to spread quickly since the abuse is so rampant, from biz travelers filled with self-importance to the spoiled kids on iPads.

Things Not to Buy

We’re often recommending products and services on here that are a good fit for working travelers, but here are three products you might want to avoid for now. 1) Spirit Airlines tickets. The company’s CEO expressed “substantial doubt” about its ability to survive, which is bad news if you’re booking a ticket with them for a wedding you need to get to. 2) Cybertrucks. Musk said Tesla would sell a million cybertrucks. They’ve sold 52K instead and already had 8 recalls. 3) Kodak photography products. As with Spirit, the company expressed doubts about the “ability to continue as a going concern” and is trying to pivot to pharma products.

Airline Loyalty Program Changes

This has been a busy month for loyalty programs. Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines’ programs will merge into one October 1. JetBlue inked a deal to offer Condor flights to Europe with its miles—and vice-versa. Frontier has been busy capitalizing on Spirit’s troubles (see above) to take over its routes and is aggressively wooing customers with lots of new loyalty program goodies and status matches.

Business Class Deals to Latin America

Most of the online chatter about business class flights is about status upgrades or cashing in points, but some routes have a much lower premium for the front of the plane than others. As mentioned before, I’ve snagged one-way fares between the USA and Mexico for less than $100 more than basic economy. It’s often a 2X or less multiple when flying further south, on U.S. carriers or foreign ones like Copa, Aeromexico, or LATAM. See info in this article, with actual prices: Business Class Deals for Latin America.

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A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

09/4/25

What’s in my NOW? — Danielle Krage

issue #222

Danielle Krage is a writer and creator of Questful World.

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PHYSICAL

I’ve just completed Ray Bradbury’s 1000 Nights challenge—to read a poem, a short story and an essay a night for 1000 nights (2.7 years). I’ll include one physical item from each of these categories. Ones that delighted me, and I hope you might enjoy too. (Prior to this I read fiction, but hadn’t touched poetry or short stories since school!)

• Poetry collection that I found accessible and dynamic: Machete by Tomás Q. Morín
• Essay collection that made me laugh and cry: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
• Short story collection that was both fun and philosophical: Sum:Forty Tales from the Afterlives, by David Eagleman

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DIGITAL

• This is the Ray Bradbury talk that sparked it all off. (I also took his advice to write a short story a week for a year.) I love his zest and gusto!https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/_W-r7ABrMYU?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
• This site sends you a poem a day. (I still chose to read collections of poets I was interested in, but it’s a super easy way to get started if you want to explore more poetry.)

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INVISIBLE

I’m now hooked on doing extended creative Quests, and will be starting a new one shortly. My mantra has become:

Make it hard enough to matter—and fun enough to finish.

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09/3/25

Tiki Style / An Unreliable History of Tattoos

Issue No. 82

TIKI STYLE PACKS A BIG PUNCH FULL OF EVERYTHING UNDER THE TIKIDOM ROOF

Tiki Style
by Sven Kirsten
Taschen
2015, 192 pages, 4.9 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches (softcover)

Buy on Amazon

This little pocket book packs a big punch full of tiki culture with flamboyant images and a fun history. The author Sven A. Kirsten is the go-to guy for everything tiki. He’s the author of the Book of Tiki, which this bite-sized edition pulls from. The book takes you through the origins of tiki in the South Pacific, explains how this island culture worked its way into mainstream Americana, and highlights some of the legends like Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic.

There’s something about Tikidom that’s just fun. The mugs, the artwork, the cocktails – it’s easy to get wrapped up in the tropical fantasy. Maybe it was growing up in grey and rainy Seattle that made me a sucker for tiki, but I can’t get enough and this book delivers. It’s filled cover to cover with photographs, illustrations, and incredible island imagery. So grab your favorite ceramic mug, pour yourself a Mai-Tai and enjoy this fantastic look at the stylish world of tiki. – JP LeRoux

Note: If you already have The Book of Tiki there won’t be anything new for you here, but I’d highly recommend picking up any of Sven’s other tiki books if you want to learn even more about the culture.

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SATIRIST PAUL THOMAS MIXES FICTION WITH FACTS IN AN UNRELIABLE HISTORY OF TATTOOS

An Unreliable History of Tattoos
by Paul Thomas
Nobrow Press
2016, 96 pages, 7.9 x 10.6 x 0.7 inches (hardcover)

Buy on Amazon

A minor celebrity/reality star, whose name I can’t remember, said in a recent interview that she thinks of people without tattoos as being “unicorns” because they are so rare. It’s true that today tattoos are much more popular than when I was a kid. In my day, only sailors or criminals had dye permanently etched into their bodies, but according to the graphic novel, An Unreliable History of Tattoos, inking people has been around since Day 1 (think Adam and Eve).

In his first book, award-winning British political cartoonist Paul Thomas loosely traces the origins of body art. There’s definitely a focus on European (and specifically British) history in this book, but Thomas also pokes fun at a few famous Americans. Mixing fiction with facts, (honestly sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s made up) this book is interesting, humorous, and very unusual!

I don’t know if the Upper Paleolithic man really punctured his skin with blunt twigs, nor do I know if King Harold II had his wife Edith’s name tattooed on his chest way back in 1066. Should I believe Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Princess Elizabeth, had her knuckles tattooed? Was Kings Charles II’s chest covered in permanent ink with names of all his many bedroom conquests? According to this parody, Queen Victoria, Sir Winston Churchill, and even President Obama love body art too. An Unreliable History of Tattoos also touches on Japanese, Greek, Roman and Viking ink. If any, or all, or some of the fun facts in An Unreliable History of Tattoos are true, the thorny roses, tribal arm sleeves, and Mickey Mouse heads that show up on today’s bodies are nothing compared to what came before them. – Carole Rosner

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Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

09/2/25

Pedals & Saddles

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 153

Simple cheap toe clips

PowerGrips

PowerGrips give most of the benefits of toeclips or clipless/cleat systems on bicycle pedals, without most of the downsides. The concept is simple: an asymmetrical strap of cloth that attaches securely to most bicycle platform pedals. The strap is attached in such a way that it loosens when you rotate your heel away from the bike, and tightens when you “heel-in”. This gives you similar benefits of a clipless/cleat system; greater efficiency in pedalling, because you can pull on the pedals’ upstrokes, rather than just being able to push down. They are just as easy (if not easier) to disengage from. The PowerGrips also have a couple of other benefits which fit well with all but the higher-end performance cyclists:

* Can be used with regular shoes or sandals. Almost no lock-in to a particular type of clip/cleat system.
* (Relatively) cheap, at only $20-$25.
* You can get off the bike and walk around without looking like you’re doing some sort of odd balancing act, or scratching up whatever floor you’re walking on.

Because the PowerGrip strap is directly above the pedal, gravity does tend to flip it upside-down when not in use. Just as with toe-clips I can pedal on the upside-down pedal to get started, then flip it over with my foot when I’m moving and insert my foot into the strap. Since my riding is commuting to/from work, I have a fair amount of stop-go traffic at intersections, and feel less likely to get a foot stuck and fall over sideways when I have to stop. The PowerGrip strap is totally loose enough for me to quickly get my foot out at a stop, and it has the unusual benefit of being as tight as I want it to be (without using my hands), depending on how I adjust the strap, and how far I heel-in to the pedal. So the “float” can be adjusted on the fly, according to my current riding conditions. This takes a little getting used to, but in my opinion, involves a lower learning curve than clipless pedals. — Brian

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Ergonomic bike pedals

Ergon PC2 Bike Pedals

I’ve been using these larger-than-usual ergonomic bike pedals this bike riding season. I’ve always had foot problems from cycling. Almost all bike shoes are too narrow for me and clip-in pedals are small and create pressure points. The Ergon pedals are slightly concave which allows the foot to easily find a position of comfort.

These pedals are extremely comfortable all day long, and I have found that they increase pedaling power. Sure they look geeky, but they are one pragmatic tool. — Curtis Wenzel

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Supremely elegant and efficient bike pedals

Egg Beater Pedals

Bike pedals have been around forever, and one would assume they would have reached their climax state in sophistication and function. Wrong — Egg Beaters beat every other cleated bike pedal out there. They lock your feet in securely, but also afford effortless release. My road bike friends like them too, but they excel on mountain bikes, as the design self-clears mud and dirt, and the mechanical advantage of the design guarantees that a stray bit of dust isn’t going to lock your feet into the pedal.

And they just keep getting better. I bought my first pair — the classic egg beaters– just over two years ago. Then when I purchased my new mountain bike earlier this year, I bought the new Egg Beater Candys — just like the classic, but with tiny platforms wrapped around the egg beater mechanism. This makes it much easier to ride unclipped for short periods than was possible with the old pedals. I haven’t tried the Egg beater Mallets (street shoe ready) yet.

In short, Egg beaters transformed my ride, and I can’t imagine riding a bike that didn’t have them. — Paul Saffo

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Ergonomic handle bar grips

Ergon Cycling Grips

I ride single-track trails on a mountain bike in the heart of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and during 20 years of riding I was unable to find a handlebar grip that alleviated numbness and pain in my palms — until I tried the Ergon GP1 grip. Ergon grips differ from normal grips in that they have a contoured, rubber-coated platform under the outside portion of your palm. This platform provides support in such a way that pressure on the ulnar nerve is reduced or eliminated entirely. (I learned my hand numbness arose from pressure on the ulnar nerve in my palm while holding the handlebars.)

Installation is simple, requiring the use of a 4mm allen wrench. Fine-tuning the fit involves riding your bike for a few miles and then evaluating any pain or numbness. If necessary, loosen the bolts, slightly rotate the grips up or down, and retighten the bolts — repeat until your pain or numbness disappears. In my case, rotating the rearmost portion of the grip down from horizontal did the trick. I understand people with carpal-tunnel issues typically rotate the grips upwards from horizontal to reduce the flex angle of their wrists.

Ergon grips are mounted on straight handlebars, such as those found on mountain bikes and some touring bikes, but NOT drop bars. They are available in models with or without bar ends and special short models that work with twist shifters, plus slightly smaller and lighter competition models.

Compared with standard rubber slide-on or “lock-on” grips the Ergon grips are more expensive and heavier. However, the price and weight difference for mine (70-100 grams more) pale next to the increased comfort and pleasure while riding. Since installing the grips, I’ve ridden 244 miles of expert mountain trails with a total 26,500′ vertical gain, and experienced no pain and a huge reduction in my chronic numbness — absolutely no numbness in my right hand and only very minor, infrequent numbness in my left. Everyone I have recommended these to has been pleased, including my chiropractor wife. — Graham Ullrich

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Comfy classic bike seats

Brooks Saddles

We have three points of contact while riding a bicycle: pedals, handlebar grips, saddle. As anyone who’s been uncomfortable on a ride knows well, the latter’s by far the most significant in terms of comfort. Saddle choice is as personal as musical preferences; the only way to know if a saddle works for you is to plant your butt on it and take a spin. One general design, however, made by an English company since the late nineteenth century, has proven itself a tried and true favorite.

Brooks leather saddles come in configurations for nearly every type of rider and every mode of riding. Among the choices for leisurely upright cafe bikes is the B67 model, which I use on my utility/errand bike. It’s the most comfortable saddle I’ve ever owned. I’m obsessive about bike fit (bike fit is more important than bike quality), and there isn’t a component I’ve used that makes my bike fit me better than my Brooks saddle. Brooks’ B15 model has been around since 1937, and is best suited to a racer hunched over in the drops. Other options include women’s models, and wider models with bigger springs.

Like baseball gloves, Brooks saddles require a break-in period, though under you instead of your mattress. After a couple of months mine became noticeably more contoured to my contours. It’s felt custom-made ever since. Also like baseball gloves, bike saddles should be chosen for your size and position (on the bike). A wider platform is better suited to an upright riding position/wider body; narrower is better for racing-oriented cyclists/narrower bodies.

Leather saddles don’t tolerate wet weather as well as modern synthetic models. They’re also heavier and more expensive, too expensive for me to have a Brooks on all of my bikes, though I would. — Elon Schoenholz

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Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

09/1/25

Retro Recomendo: History

Recomendo - issue #477

Our subscriber base has grown so much since we first started nine years ago, that most of you have missed all our earliest recommendations. The best of these are still valid and useful, so we’re trying out something new — Retro Recomendo. Once every 6 weeks, we’ll send out a throwback issue of evergreen recommendations focused on one theme from the past 9 years.

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Chart of world history

For 50 years this chart has been hanging on my wall. The Histomap of History is a 5-foot long diagram that visually displays the relative power of ancient nations over the last 4,000 years in 50-year increments. At one glance, this colorful chart gives you the gist of world history. Since it was made in 1950, some of the historical details may be considered old-fashioned now, but this is the chart I use to get a rough idea of our past. Visitors to my studio will usually remark on its ingenious design. Long out of print, you can get a reproduction of a vintage copy for $48. — KK

Musical history of rock

This fantastic podcast, A History of Rock in 500 Songs, does what it says: it traces the history of rock music in 500 songs. Start with the first episode, which looks at 1939’s “Flying Home” by the Benny Goodman Sextet. The most recent episode, numbered 152, is about 1967’s “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. New episodes come out about once every two weeks. — MF

A timeline of food

I became fascinated with the history of food after experiencing the Last Supper in Pompeii exhibit, where I saw ancient cookware, wine vessels, and preserved foods up close. This food timeline is equally fascinating. Created by a Food History Librarian in 1999, it begins with water and ice and includes transcriptions of ancient recipes. She continues to update it today. — CD

Oblique history

Youtube history is my latest obsession. There’s now a ton of very good history YT channels that tackle history in oblique and idiosyncratic ways. One of my favorite streams is ToldInStone. They tackle the kind of questions I’ve always had, but couldn’t find in books or other programs. Like: how fast was Rome mail? How did the ancients prove their identity? What were their kitchens and bathrooms like? Much further in the past, North02 tackles prehistory. What were humans like 1 million years ago, what kind of life in the Sahara when it was tropically green? And so many more! — KK

World history map

TimeMap.org presents a world mapwith a slider bar that starts at 4000 BC and ends at the present day. As you slide through time, you watch empires rise and fall. Any interesting civilization or event you spot can be instantly researched — just click on it and the relevant Wikipedia article appears in a side panel. — MF

Explore the Tree of Life

OneZoom is an interactive tree of life that lets you zoom in and out to explore connections among 2.2 million living species. It’s a lot to take in, but also fun to explore. I felt small—and grateful—realizing what a tiny branch of life we humans occupy. — CD

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08/31/25

What’s in my NOW? — Danielle Krage