America
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Getting an ESTA despite traveling to Cuba after 2011
About to spend a few months in French Polynesia for work, I carefully fill out my ESTA application in anticipation of my stopover in the United States (reminder: it’s essential, even for a simple transit). I felt a jolt of stress when I saw the following question: “Have you traveled to, or been present in Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011?” Yes, that’s exactly my case (I went in 2017), and I don’t remember seeing this question on my previous applications. Some might be tempted to answer “No,” encouraged by the lack of a stamp in their passport. Very…
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How to order from US websites and get delivery in France
Have you ever drooled over Sephora USA or Amazon USA, wondering why they don’t sell in Europe? Today, I’m going to share my tips for ordering from US websites and getting delivery in France. This article is not sponsored and is only intended to help you find what you need. The US market is huge, which is why many US websites and sellers prefer to sell only in the US rather than dealing with international shipping (with customs and currency issues). However: How to order from a US website that doesn’t ship to Europe/France? There are services that receive all your orders for you in the US. By signing up,…
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Santiago, Pucón and the Surroundings (Chile)
It’s March 2024. After spending a month in Buenos Aires and a week on Easter Island, we have to find a place to stay before our road trip in Japan with my parents. We choose to spend a few days in Santiago before heading quickly to the lake region. Santiago Santiago has never been a remarkable city for us. Despite passing through several times (often to get to another region of Chile or Argentina), we’ve always struggled to appreciate it. This time, we opt for a hostel right in the city center, in an old house (that could have looked like a museum, Casa Marina Huérfanos, Booking link). But we…
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Back on Easter Island in 2024 (Chile)
We went to Easter Island during our first round-the-world trip (gap year), a few days’ stopover between Tahiti and Santiago. We never thought we’d go back a second time, and yet… this year, the opportunity came up, and to make the most of it, we spent a week on the island. Now, the official name of Easter Island is Rapa Nui, no longer “isla de pascua” or “easter island”. Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Measures against overtourism Even though the island is in the middle of nowhere (between 5 and 6 hours by plane to the nearest destination), it suffered from overtourism in 2018-2019,…
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3 days in the Sud Lipez desert (Bolivia)
I usually write my articles “while the iron is hot.” In this case, I’m writing it three months late. Since I didn’t note down the name of each stop and my memory is far less reliable than Anh’s, this article won’t be very precise. Sorry 😀 While we’re in Uyuni, I finally decide to book a 3-day/2-night tour to discover Sud Lipez. I hesitated a bit because Anh, due to her sensitivity to altitude, doesn’t want to do this tour. So I leave her in Uyuni for 3 days. There’s no shortage of tour agencies in Uyuni; they all offer the same tours at a similar price. We chose one…
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Easter Island: what mobile internet and WiFi in 2024?
Easter Island is the most isolated inhabited area in the world. Tahiti is 4,000 km away, and the Chilean coast is 3,700 km to the east. While Tahiti has been connected to the “rest of the world” via undersea fiber optic since 2010, which is economically justified by its population (200,000), the same is not yet true for Easter Island. There have been several projects in recent years, but none have come to fruition. Few companies are motivated to invest an estimated one billion dollars to sell internet to just 8,000 residents. But in 2024, that’s no longer necessarily essential, and you can get a very good connection on the…
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Prepaid SIM / eSIM in Chile: How much does it cost? Where to buy one? (2024)
Buy an eSIM valid for Chile If you have an eSIM-compatible phone and want one for Chile, you can go through Holafly (read our article on the topic). See eSIM offers for Argentina. Feel free to use the promo code NOMADBENTO Holafly offers plans with unlimited internet. The price varies depending on the number of days you want. In a few clicks, you have internet on your phone! Buying a SIM card at the airport Having landed quite late and still having my Argentine SIM card (which also works in Chile), I didn’t take the time to check the offers available at the airport. If you have any info, feel free to…
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Digital Nomads: A Month in Buenos Aires (Argentina)
After a few days of rest in Salta, we take a flight to Buenos Aires. It’s either the plane or a 30-hour bus ride, I think the choice is pretty obvious. We could have chosen Salta or Mendoza, but we really liked Buenos Aires, a city that bears a striking resemblance to Paris, so we wanted to spend a month there. It’s not relaxing at all; JB and I have quite demanding projects that require us to stay put for a while and have a fiber-optic connection. The city is massive, we took a hop-on hop-off bus ($30/person) and with the traffic, it took us forever just to do half…
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Attending the derby between Independiente and River Plate (Buenos Aires)
In 2017, I had the chance to attend a match of San Lorenzo and another of River Plate. Back in Buenos Aires in 2024, I got to discover the stadiums of Racing and Boca Juniors. You might know that five teams are considered los cinco grandes del fútbol argentino. All located in Buenos Aires. All I was missing was Independiente to complete the collection. Independiente is the team with the most Copa Libertadores titles (South America’s “Champions League”), even though the last one dates back to 1984. The team is now coached by Carlos Tevez, a former Boca Juniors player who delighted fans in Europe at Manchester City, Manchester United,…
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Rest in Salta (Argentina)
We finally arrive in Salta after a long trip by bus from La Quiaca. We’re no longer in the mountains, it’s very, very hot. We could have had time to explore the surroundings of Salta, but JB thinks we’ve been moving around too much lately and wouldn’t mind a few days of rest before our flight to Buenos Aires. There are 2 five-star hotels in Salta and we choose Alejandro I because it costs half as much as the other one. After a misunderstanding, we think we get a better rate by paying in cash, so we went to get a wad of bills from Western Union (JB explains this…
