Size of Africa/Office Mandate Realities/Cheaper Mexico Flights

Nomadico issue #174

The Real Size of Africa

For reasons that would take too long to go into here, maps and globes often distort the size of some regions and make others seem smaller than they really are. As this graphic points out, it’s hard to fathom how huge the continent of Africa is until we see a visualization like this that overlays other countries onto it. You can fit China, the USA, India, and Iran on it like puzzle pieces and still have room for 21 more countries, including laying Turkey on top of Madagascar.

Headlines vs. Reality in Return-to-Office Mandates

The big companies forcing people back into the office are facing incredible headwinds, with widespread flouting of the rules and A-players testing how blatantly they can ignore the mandates while shopping for a new gig. Among the stats on this page: “While required office time increased by 12% from 2024 to 2025, actual office attendance only increased by 1-3%.” If you’re facing this kind of situation, see this list of 15 companies that are fully remote, though it’s just a start. There are plenty more with hundreds of employees. Try DynamiteJobs.com where there are zero listings that involve key cards, commutes, or cubicles.

Cheap Flight Hack for Mexico

From many destinations you can get a cheaper flight to where you’re going in Mexico if you are willing to fly to Cancun first and change airlines. That’s because the two largest Mexican budget airlines, Volaris and Viva Aerobus, fly from Cancun direct to dozens of other cities. Breeze Airways in the USA just added four weekly flights to Cancun and direct British service from Virgin Atlantic returns this month. This is on top of bargain flights from the likes of Frontier, Sun Country, Westjet, Flair, Wingo, and (for now anyway) Spirit. According to DirectFlights.com, “There are 124 airports with direct flights to Cancun from 27 different countries and 37 U.S. states.”

A Bad Week for Tight Layovers

Even though one party controls all three branches of the U.S. government, they’re not too keen on actually governing, so the whole federal system shut down at midnight on October 1 and isn’t paying its bills. Government workers do a lot of airport work and if this goes on for more than a day or two, expect increasingly frequent delays, long security lines, and flight troubles. (And this will not be a good time to argue with that TSA agent about the size of your liquids…)

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.

What’s in my NOW? — Colby Black, P.I.

issue #225

I’m an Operational Swiss Army Knife (looking for my next gig) Production, Program & Project Management Executive who builds, launches, and grows high-impact digital experiences. West Texas native who lives in Brooklyn with my wife and 4 year old heat seeking missile of a daughter. — Colby Black, P.I.

PHYSICAL

• ANCEL AD310 Classic Universal OBD II Scanner: Our 8 year old VW has started acting like it. I bought this cheap OBD II reader to read the check engine soon codes it throws now and I feed them into Gemini. “Low Vacuum System” and “Low turbo boost” cause Gemini to diagnose I needed a new gas cap instead of a $3000 turbo.
• ARZOPA Portable Monitor 15.6”: I got one of these second monitors for my laptop. Not too expensive, can throw it in a backpack and totally life changing.
• YETI 20 oz Tumbler: Might be lame and basic, but the 20 ounce Yeti Rambler is just about perfect. NOT leakproof so don’t go tossing it in a bag or carrying it upside down.

DIGITAL

• Sunsama: Sunsama is the only way I can keep things on track at home and work and extra curricular. Shared affiliate link will get folks $20 in Sunsama credits.
• Cursor: I’ve been playing with vibe coding the last year or so and Cursor just feels like sorcery.

INVISIBLE

“Never let short term greed get in the way of long term greed.”

I read this almost 15 years ago and it stuck with me.

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The Sweetapolita Bakebook / Castro’s Cuba

Issue No. 87

THE SWEETAPOLITA BAKEBOOK – TRANSFORM BAKING STAPLES INTO (EDIBLE!) FINE ART

The Sweetapolita Bakebook: 75 Fanciful Cakes, Cookies and More
by Rosie Alyea
Clarkson Potter
2015, 208 pages, 8.6 x 10.5 x 0.5 inches (softcover)

Buy on Amazon

Since she was a teenager, Rosie Alyea has been obsessed with “whipping up a sweet life.” She began as a professional baker and then veered into the world of entrepreneurship, launching a decadent beauty product line. In 2010, Alyea began dreaming up creative confections for her blog, Sweetapolita. Her ribbons of Swiss Meringue Buttercream piled up rave reviews, and with each colorful cake creation she cultivated an adoring crowd. Today, Sweetapolita has nearly half a million followers on Facebook, and now Alyea is also an author with her first cookbook, the The Sweetapolita Bakebook.

This bakebook is a showstopper, full of bright, vibrant pastels. Rosie obviously has a passion for color, evident in the line of every dazzling dessert she fashions. Her cookies transcend bakery staples into the realm of fine art. The buttery rounds are swimming with swirls of watercolor frosting and then dipped in edible gold so that they look like gilt-edged framed paintings, worthy of gracing any museum wall. Her infamous cakelets stand like fairytale towers, adorned with charming children’s fondant doodles in carnival colors.

If the Sweetapolita recipes look daunting, don’t despair. Rosie has included lots of basic baking and decorating techniques, as well as an extensive section stocked with easy favorite frostings and simple cakes. Even beginning bakers will find bite-sized inspiration in the shape of Jumbo Frosted Animal Crackers. If you appreciate the art of baking, this beautiful, drool-worthy book will become a source of inspiration. – Kaz Weida

CASTRO’S CUBA – 50 YEARS LATER, THE ISLAND NATION IS STILL CASTRO COUNTRY

Castro’s Cuba: An American Journalist’s Inside Look at Cuba 1959-1969
by Lee Lockwood
Taschen
2016, 360 pages, 10.3 x 13.6 x 1.4 inches (hardcover)

Buy on Amazon

Right now, Cuba is red hot, hotter even than when Ry Cooder introduced most of the world to the Buena Vista Social Club almost 20 years ago. Thanks to the normalization of relations between the United States and the Caribbean island nation, American tourists will soon have a new place to drink alcohol, lie in the sun, and complain about their ceviche – regular flights between the U.S. and Cuba begin at the end of August.

Despite the diplomatic thaw, though, Cuba is still Castro country. Fidel, who just turned, 90, may be out of the picture, but his younger brother, Raul (age 85), remains firmly in control. Which makes the new Taschen reprint and expansion of photojournalist Lee Lockwood’s 1967 Castro’s Cuba, Cuba’s Fidel so timely. The new 7 ½-pound, 360-page version – simplified to Castro’s Cuba — expands greatly on the original, supplementing the original 100 black-and-white photos with hundreds of color shots, a pair of essays by the late Castro documentarian Saul Landau, and, as usual with Taschen, high-production values.

Style, though, is not the book’s primary virtue. Its heart revolves around lengthy interviews Lockwood conducted with Fidel Castro in 1965, in which the revolutionary leader spelled out his vision for his country — from its agriculture to its education system to its arts. Castro considered the roles of his country’s institutions carefully, explaining at one point that what looked like political indoctrination to Americans was social education to the Cubans, who were, after all, being prepared for a new life in a new Communist society. “From an early age,” Castro tells Lockwood, “they must be discouraged from every egotistical feeling in the enjoyment of material things.” Lockwood captured examples of this social education with his camera, as seen in the numerous images of young people working in fields, but he was no propagandist for the Cuban leader who granted him so much exclusive access — Lockwood also got a priceless candid shot of two boys proudly posing with the latest album by The Beatles. – Ben Marks

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.

North America Adventures

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 158

Best guide to Mexico

The People’s Guide to Mexico

I love works that are renewed and improved. Carl Franz and Lorena Havens have been exploring the hinterlands of Mexico and reporting back their travel suggestions in amusing detail since their first edition of this book in 1972. For four decades this venerable guidebook has been the best manual for visiting Mexico, getting better with each edition. It has just been released in its 14th. Franz and Havens are not going to be much help in keeping you up to date with the best hotel in the usual tourist destinations (your standard Lonely Planet-ish guide will handle that). Where The People’s Guide transcends the usual guidebook is in its devotion to the blue highways and backlands, the off beat places and indigenous living.

This guide is best for those driving around Mexico in a vehicle, camping in its many parks, exploring its meandering dirt roads, hanging out on undeveloped beaches, sampling native foods and immersing yourself into the culture of our neighbor as much as possible. It’s chock full of all the advice you’d expect from a couple who have been noodling around Mexico every year for thirty five years: how to live off the land, keep on the right side of the law, shop for strange and exotic foods, survive, educate yourself in local customs, and remain healthy and sane. It’s a fat 700-page book with lots of great stories, and endless good counsel. (They run a supplementary website for updated tips.)

A lot of this lore is universal travel wisdom (the less money you spend the more fun you have). In fact The People’s Guide to Mexico is one of the best travel guides I’ve ever seen to anywhere in the world. You could easily transfer many of their tips to traveling in Asia or Africa, and the rest of Latin America. But the bulk of it is very particular to Mexico. Every page yields golden nuggets of fine advice for every part of a very large Mexico. I find myself reading whole chapters for the pure enjoyment of being in the presence of great, gifted guides teaching me useful stuff I didn’t know.

The Mexico/US borders is one the most abrupt borders in the world. There’s almost no where else on earth where you can travel so far in so few miles as crossing this imaginary line. This trip has the additional benefit of being guided by this amazing encyclopedia of practical tips and insights. You’d be a fool not to take it with you.

It’s the operating manual for people in Mexico. — KK

• I climbed over other passengers and cargo to the cab of the truck, determined to check our speed.”Hey,” I yelled back to Lorena, “It’s really not so bad after all. We’re only doing 90 to 100 kilometers an hour. That’s fast but not so dangerous.” I took another peek through the rear window; a curve was coming up and we were slowing to 70. i was just about to turn and work my way back when I noticed a small “MPH” beneath the speedometer needle.MPH! I felt the blood drain from my face and go roaring through my ears and down to my feet. Seventy into a curve! One hundred on the straightaway!”Let me off! Let me off!” I screamed, pounding the roof of the cab with my fists. I got a glimpse of the driver’s startled face turned toward the rear of the truck.
• Many common driving hazards and annoyances found in the U.S. are also in Mexico, though usually in a slightly altered form.In the U.S., the omnipresent teenager hunched birdlike behind the wheel of his 400-hp candy-colored, air-foiled Supercar, passes you dangerously close at 140 mph as he calmly munches a DoubleBurger and squeezes an annoying pimple.In Mexico, he’s still the same basic teenager, apparently oblivious to other traffic and mesmerized by the blaring radio and the dangling ornaments that festoon mirrors and knobs. But there is one difference: He’s behind the wheel of a hurtling semi-truckload of sugarcane. And he’s passing you on a blind mountain curve. You glance over, afraid to imagine what is about to happen. He grins, flashes a peace sign and cuts you off as he swerves to miss an oncoming bus.Low-flying buzzards are a very real hazard, as are piles of drying corn, beans and chili peppers placed on the hot pavement by enterprising farmers who prefer the smooth road surface to the dusty shoulder.As you fly around a curve and find yourself unexpectedly in the middle of small village, it seems that everyone suddenly leaps up and crosses the street, forcing you to brake madly. Pigs that haven’t moved from gooey wallows for a week lurch frantically to their feet and stumble in front of the car, followed by reckless children beating them with twigs.These are relatively minor hazards that you’ll soon become used to. For really serious trouble, nothing compares to other drivers.”They may be wild, but they’re damn good!” is a comment you might hear, especially about Mexican truck drivers. If good driving involves good sense, however, they must surely be among the worst. Many truckers would be disqualified from a destruction derby on ground of excessive zeal and disregard for human life.The good news is that the average Mexican chofer (driver) is definitely getting better. Drivers are more courteous and less likely to indulge in macho grandstanding while behind the wheel of the family car. Bus drivers have also gotten the message about safety and many of them could give lessons to American drivers.Still, it is dangerously easy for tourists to fall into the same driving habits they see demonstrated by others. When you’re breathing fumes behind a slow diesel truck in a steep mountain pass, the temptation to pass on a blind curve can be very strong. At this point, you should seriously consider what the consequences are if you don’t make it.
• Diarrhea and Dysentery
  Powdered scorpions, chia and 7Up, camomile and “dog tea,” food enzymes, acidophilus, papaya seeds, dried apricot pits: When it comes to upset stomachs, nausea, diarrhea, and disenteria, I’ve tried almost everything. As a firm believer in the value of medical plants and folk remedies, I’m sorry to announce that a dose of bismuth solution (such as Pepto-Bismol) seems to beat them all. In fact, our experience clearly shows that taking the pink stuff in moderate doses before, during, and even after traveling can dramatically reduce stomach problems.Though it is effective, I’m no fan of bismuth’s cloying pink taste and I don’t like to pour it repeatedly into my stomach. I now take about half of an adults dosage (one tablespoon 3-4 times a day). I start my bismuth program a few days before leaving home and continue taking it once or twice a day for about a week. If my stomach shows no sign of rebellion in that time, I go to “standby” and keep the bismuth close at hand in the event of sudden turmoil.
• In Mexico, “look before you leap” isn’t just an expression, it’s a survival tip. Forget about bandits; the greatest threat to your safety comes from slippery cobblestones, uneven sidewalks, knee-high curbs, head-knocking signs, eye-poking awnings, toe-stubbing thresholds, open trenches, unexpected drop-offs and discarded construction debris.
• Keep track of your personal belongings. When Lorena and I lead tours or travel with friends, we continually pick up our companions’ stray cameras, passports, purses and room keys. Tourists routinely walk away from their suitcases, leave their credit cards at souvenir shops and their only shoes at the beach, and can’t recall which lavanderia (laundry) they left their clothes in.A fellow we traveled with in eastern Mexico left his binoculars hanging on a chair in the restaurant of a small hotel. By the time he realized his mistake, we were hundreds of miles away and couldn’t go back. When I returned to the hotel two years later, the owner’s first words were, “I have the binoculars your friend forgot. … As a postscript, the fellow who lost and regained the binoculars returned to travel with us again. This time he left a very expensive Nikon camera in the washroom of a museum. In this case, however, the camera had vanished by the time we returned for it.

Alaskan highway guide

The Milepost

If you’re thinking of doing a road trip to Alaska, The Milepost is a must-have. This thick publication, revised annually, has mile-by-mile conditions of all the major highways in Alaska and other northern points, including Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

It’s available in some brick and mortar bookstores, and online from their website.

— Regis

• “What is the best time of year to go?” is one of the most frequently asked questions about traveling to Alaska. During the summer, the weather in the North is as variable and unpredictable as anywhere else. Go prepared for both hot, sunny days and cold, rainy days. Regardless of weather, the Alaska Highway is open all year.May: fewer people on the road, can be fine weather.
  June: long days averaging 20 hours of daylight.
  July: busiest month on the highway, can also be the wettest.
  August: trees start to turn colors, nights get chilly.
  September: fall colors, first frost and snow possible in some areas, uncrowded ferries.
• Is the Alaska Highway paved?
  All of the Alaska Highway is paved, although highway improvement projects- such as the Shakwak Project between Haines Junction and the AK-YT border-often mean motorists have to drive miles of gravel road through construction areas, bringing into question whether that statement is altogether accurate.
  But the Alaska Highway is much improved from what is was even 20 years ago. It was during the 1980s that many of the rerouting and paving projects were completed. By 1992, the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Highway, the last section of original gravel road had been rerouted and paved.

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.

Brief life advice/Codenames/The Scale of Life

Recomendo - issue #482

Brief life advice

Unlike many of his peers in the advice business, Dan Pink is concise. In his books and videos, he distills his counsel into brief, well-crafted, bombs of wisdom with zero fluff. In 40 Harsh Truths I Wish I Knew in My 20s he packs all his hard-earned life wisdom into 13 minutes. Well worth your time. – KK

Fun party word game

We played Codenames every night when our out-of-town friends stayed with us. It’s a tabletop game with simple rules, so you can start playing without a lot of explaining. Players are divided into two teams. Each team’s leader must help their team guess the assigned words on a grid of cards by providing one-word clues; however, guessing the wrong words can result in penalties. The first team to find all their assigned words wins. — MF

The Scale of Life

The Scale of Life is a website that visualizes worldwide statistics in real time, displaying a live count of everyday events, things made, and natural phenomena the moment you open the page. It’s fascinating to watch the spectrum of activity—from packages delivered and lightning strikes to new trees sprouting. It’s not 100% accurate, but if you are curious can click on counters views sources and explore deeper. — CD

Tiny ring light

I spend way too much time zooming, often at night (because most of my audience is in China), so I needed a way to fill in good flattering light at my computer. The solution which has been working for a couple of years is a small, cheap LED ring light that clips onto my monitor on USB. These are generic commodities; brands don’t matter. I use something like a Cyezcor ring light ($19), which lets you set the color temperature. I usually set mine to warm. — KK

21 party planning tips

Uri at Atom Vs Bits has written up the 21 essentials of hosting great parties. Tested tips include starting at quarter to the hour for better timing, using party apps to display guest lists, and having close friends arrive early to set the mood. Parties are a “public service” — good gatherings create meaningful connections that can change lives. Top tip: Don’t stress out; “it’s better to have mediocre pizza from a happy host than fabulous hors d’oeuvres from a frazzled one.” — MF

Quotables

Here are some quotes I’ve carried with me for years—reminders that keep me aligned with my heart. — CD

• “When you meet the monster, anoint its feet.” — Bayo Akomolafe
• “Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness.” — Alejandro Jodorowsky
• “We hardly ever realize that we can cut anything out of our lives, anytime, in the blink of an eye.” — Carlos Castaneda
• “I recommend the freedom that comes from asking: Compared to what?” — Gloria Steinem
• “In order to experience true freedom, we need to be able to welcome everything just as it is. To welcome everything is an act of love.” — Frank Ostaseski
• “We are as personally free as we can permit the autonomy of others.” — Antero Alli
• “I kept looking for a logic that would explain life. It never occurred to me that instead love is the vital synthesis.” — Jane Roberts
• “I’m not one of those people with their heads in the clouds; I’m one of those whose entire body has been consumed by the clouds.” — Antero Alli
• “I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive… so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” — Joseph Campbell

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Third Place Happiness/Flight Payment Plans/Escaping the US

Nomadico Issue #173

The Happiness of Coming in Third

This week I’m curating some interesting articles from others. The first is strange and encouraging. It turns out that multiple studies with different methods have found that Bronze winners in the Olympics are happier than the Silver winners. There are probably lessons in here about drive and ambition, but maybe it’s just a good reminder to enjoy the moment when you appear on life’s podium. If you expect everything to go perfectly and to win every time, including on travel days, you’re going to suffer a lot of disappointment. Via Chris Guillebeau at A Year of Mental Health.

Payment Plans for Airline Tickets

My friend Kerwin McKenzie wrote an in-depth article for T+L on all the options that are out there for you if you need a plane ticket now but don’t want to pay for it now. Usually you’re better off putting the purchase on a credit card that earns you something back, but if that’s not an option, see these ways to buy a flight on a payment plan and stretch out the due dates. (Many budget airlines around the world offer this directly too in the purchase process.)

The Inherent Conflict of “Live Like a Local”

Despite the best intentions, you will never really see life from a local perspective if you’re on vacation or sticking around for two months as a digital nomad. As this sarcastic “live like a local” article points out, you can only scratch the surface. Most people who live there are working a physical job to pay the bills, dealing with family issues, fighting with the local government, and doing zero sightseeing. Working remotely for a Silicon Valley company at 10X the local salary while in a posh Airbnb rental is just not the same. Found via James Clark at The Travel Wire.

Bolting the USA

Nomadico partner Mark Frauenfelder, from sister newsletter Recomendo, interviewed me at Boing Boing for this article on escaping the USA. If you’ve got your eyes set on greener pastures, check it out for some ideas and considerations. Remember too that “moving abroad” doesn’t need to have a one-destination answer. Plenty of working travelers and retirees bop around to different places in the course of a year and having a home base doesn’t have to mean spending 12 months there.

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.

What’s in my NOW? — Colby Black, P.I.