Spending money in a foreign country is a frustrating process. Credit cards typically charge a currency conversion fee of 3% or so, and hit you with an exchange rate that's inevitably worse than the actual rate, sometimes by several percent. Travel cards are offered by various banks and currency exchange companies, but there are a plethora of hidden fees for loading money onto the card, as well as a fee for the card in the first place. Currency exchangers ...

While Utah is justly famous for its skiing, it is also full of many interesting sites besides mountains. That being said, there are some very, very pretty mountains (particularly for someone who has grown up on the driest continent on earth).

Salt Lake City was the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics (a fact made famous by 2012 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's leadership), and many of the facilities constructed for the Games remain present in the city. The large ...

The goal of seeing at least 10 states in the US leaves plenty of room to see interesting places that wouldn't normally be on the tourist list for an overseas visitor. Today I'm writing about state #3, Utah, and its capital, Salt Lake City. I visited with my friend Tara over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Thanksgiving is the most important holiday in the US. Celebrated ...

I have set a goal of visiting at least 10 different states during my US trip. So far, I've made it to three, with plans for six more tentatively in the pipeline. Today I'm going to write about state # 2: Washington State, and its capital Seattle.

The home of Boeing, Amazon, and Microsoft, Seattle is nestled between the Olympia mountains to the west, and the Cascade mountains to the east. A seaport city, the Pugent Sound winds north ...

One of the most exciting things about being a computer scientist and visiting the Bay Area is the proliferation of amazing technology companies. Berkeley and Stanford have exceptional computer science programs that supply and are supplied by the companies of the Bay.

Nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, Stanford University is one of the top academic institutions in the world. With just 15,000 students on an enormous campus, the university feels incredibly spacious and well ...

Last weekend, I went on a trip to the Contra Costa county, to the east of the Bay Area. Run by the Rotary club, the trip was designed to give international students a taste of country life in California, and how Americans who didn't dwell in the more urban areas made their lives. The day included visits to a nursery, a farm, a ranch, an olive oil plantation, and a historic preserved ranch.

The country areas of northern California ...

Booking flights is a painful process. Fares can vary wildly depending on your booking date, when you're flying, what time you're flying, and more. It's often tricky to compare lots of airlines at the same time to find the best deals - this can mean thousands of dollars of difference.

Flying from Australia means that layovers are often inevitable. Ensuring adequate transfer times (and minimizing overall layover time) can also be aggravating - particularly when there are multiple layover ...

A few weekends ago, I went with a group of fellow international students to hire bikes and pedal around San Francisco. This was the first time I really explored the city and its western and northern most areas.

We spent around seven hours all up pedaling around the city, and saw many amazing things. We also experienced the fickleness of San Francisco weather: the conditions varied from brilliant sunshine to chilly overcast to icy winds as we ventured through the ...