Explore Culture Through Cuisine

Are you like me and plan full days of vacation around places you want to eat, or are you normal? Just kidding. I know a lot of people who do that, so if do, that's cool, and if you don't, that's cool too, but don't be the person who actively avoids new foods, because it's too scary, or you hate change or whatever. You can eat a hamburger at home, so maybe try something you've never heard of before.

I get so excited about trying a new food, so tell me what your favorite food city is.

5 Budget-Friendly Destinations for the Solo Traveler

I'm a big fan of solo travel. Not only does it give you a new outlook on a destination, but it can give you a newfound sense of freedom and teach you about yourself in the process. If you've never traveled alone, you should do it at least once. On our last trip, I didn't go alone, but Eric went on ahead of me and I showed up 2 days later, giving me the opportunity to take myself to the airport, do all the stuff there, fly alone, and also pick up a rental car on my own. 

It's not a full solo travel experience, but sometimes those things are the actual most difficult if you've never done them alone before. If you want to ease into solo travel, this is a good way to do it, or just take yourself on a weekend getaway. Here are 5 places to go alone on a budget:

Denver, Colorado

I'll be traveling to Denver later this month to check out some things and eat all the food, so I'll have some suggestions for you. It's a great food city, but it's also excellent for those that like culture, history, and the outdoors. Save even more, while doing more, with the Denver CityPASS, where you can choose a 3-, 4-, or 5-attraction pass and save up to 45% over regular admission fees. 

Calgary, Canada

If you want to get out of the country, but not too far, our lovely neighbors to the north have a lot to offer and they speak the same language. They have a rich cowboy culture in Calgary, so if that's of interest to you, go during the Calgary Stampede. If it's not, there's plenty other stuff to do, especially if you want to be outdoors. It has the largest urban pathway and bikeway network, historical sites, and lots of outdoor art installations. 

Mexico City, Mexico

Want to stretch your language skills and how well Babbel taught you Spanish? We all know that Mexico is affordable outside of the touristy areas, and the capitol is no different. It's full of amazing architecture and food, plus tons of free activities help to keep you on budget. 

Panama City, Panama

If Mexico City sounded up your alley, but seemed a bit too big and scary, then Panama City is a better option. It offers similar things, but on a smaller scale. It's easy to get around and the oldest district, Casco Viejo, has everything you could want during the day - great history, food, culture, and photo ops - then it becomes a vibrant nightlife center when the sun goes down.

Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik is one of the safest cities to visit anywhere, so if you're a woman, you have much less to worry about and can spend more time having a good time. Renting a car can help you get to everything you want to do, including great hikes and a visit to one of their volcanoes. Iceland is wonderful for adventurous eaters, but they have plenty for those that like food that they're more used to as well, and wonderful coffee. Reykjavik is the perfect wellness and self-care getaway, but can be awesome for the partier, too.

Have you ever solo traveled to any of these destinations? Or are you looking forward to a trip to one in the future?

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What Are The Top Reasons To Use A VPN?

Using a VPN has become common practice for many people. However, there are still a lot of individuals out there that never use a VPN. By not adopting this tech, you could be missing out on a huge range of benefits.

Photo by Stefan Coders: CCO Licensed

But before we go into these benefits, let’s work out what exactly is a VPN. Commonly installed as an app, a VPN is an internet security service that can conceal your IP address and encrypt your data. This prevents hackers, advertisers, websites and other apps from accessing various personal information.

There are many instances where hiding this personal information can be useful. Below are just a few examples.

Using public wi-fi securely

Public wi-fi is any free internet connection found in a public place (i.e. hotels, restaurants, airports). Using public wi-fi can be more risky than using private wi-fi, because you never know who else is using the network. Experienced hackers may be able to use methods like ARP spoofing to gain access to your data. In other cases, cybercriminals may set up fake public wi-fi connections to extort the private information of users. 

A VPN can encrypt your data and prevent hackers from gaining any information about you. It’s a simple way to secure your devices while on the go. 

When I travel and I am using an open WiFi network at a hotel (any network without a password), I do everything on my laptop with my VPN on. Originally, I got a VPN, so I could pay a bill from another country. Exciting, I know, but being able to also set it to my home country allowed me to do more things I wanted than a local French network would allow.

Streaming TV shows while travelling

When travelling to other countries, it may not be possible to stream your favourite shows. The likes of Netflix offers different content to users in different countries. Some streaming services may not even be available in some regions of the world. Unless you download titles, you usually won’t be able to watch them (and even then, Netflix may restrict you from watching them).

Most VPNs can not only hide your location, but allow you to change your IP address so that it appears you’re accessing the internet from a different country. This can allow you to continue streaming content from your home country while abroad, as well as accessing content from other regions from your home country. 

Visiting geo-restricted sites

Some websites are not available in certain countries. This can be due to censorship laws, licensing deals, lack of cooperation with local data laws or inability to serve/ship to customers in certain countries..

Just as a VPN can allow you to access geo-restricted streaming content, it can also allow you to access geo-restricted websites by changing your IP address to another location. This can allow you to still visit sites available in your home country while abroad, on top of visiting sites only available in other countries. 

Bypassing IP address blocks

Websites, applications and browsers can block your IP address if they see fit to do so. A common reason to do this is if they suspect you are a hacker or a bot. 

While IP address blocking can be annoying (especially if you have done nothing wrong), there is fortunately an easy way around it. You guessed it - use a VPN. By hiding your IP address, websites and applications won’t be able to tell that it’s you trying to access them and you’ll be able to freely use them.

Avoiding bandwidth throttling

If a lot of people are using the internet at the same time in a certain area, an internet service provider may throttle the bandwidth of people in that area to restrict traffic. This can result in a slow internet connection - which can be frustrating when gaming, watching videos or trying to voice call someone. 

Fortunately, a VPN can save the day in this case too.By hiding your IP address from your internet service provider, you can avoid having your connection slowed down, allowing you to use the internet as normal during busy periods.

Taking advantage of location-based prices

Some companies offer cheaper prices for products or services in certain areas. Unless you live in this area, you cannot access these prices.

That is, of course, unless you use a VPN. By changing your IP address to another location, it is possible to access cheaper prices on everything from flights to clothes. This could save you a lot of money.

Reduce tracking from advertisers

Some people don’t like to be harassed by adverts of things they’ve browsed for. Others simply don’t like the idea of advertisers getting hold of their personal data. 

Using a VPN is one way to counter these ads. It may not completely prevent targeted ads (as advertisers sometimes use other methods like browser fingerprinting), however it could reduce the majority of them.