GET THIS: DJI Osmo Mobile

Camera quality is one of the main things we all look for in a smartphone. And we spend extra to get it. But no matter how good the optics, software and electronics in our phone cameras, it's never enough to compensate for the users' imperfect ability to hold the camera. 

Every hand shakes enough to blur photos in low light. And when we try to take video, or panoramic fast-motion sweeps, the quality of our video looks amateurish because, as Steve Jobs once told us all, we're holding it wrong. 

Professional quality video looks professional because professionals use advanced stabilization gear. But now that technology is available to consumers. 

The best camera stabilization for consumers I know if is found in the DJI Osmo Mobile -- yeah, the same DJI that makes consumer drones. 

DJI Osmo Mobile is a three-axis motorized gimbal that uses gyroscopes and software to dramatically stabilize your phone for photography and videos. 

The DJI Osmo Mobile makes your videos look cinematic.

The DJI Osmo Mobile makes your low-light photography sharp and clear. 

The DJI Osmo Mobile automatically tracks the subject, even while it's on a tripod. 

And finally, the The DJI Osmo Mobile does a wide rage of really cool tricks, such as Motion Timelapse (it smoothly pans as it does your timelapse). 

It also gives you customizable joystick control for pans and tilts. 

Get the DJI Osmo Mobile as a holiday gift... for yourself!

#djiosmomobile

Picnic On an Aztec Canal

One of the coolest things to do in Mexico City is to enjoy a boat ride in the borough of Xochimilco.

Before the Spanish arrived, Mexico City was a kind of land-locked Venice -- an island in the middle of Lake Xochimilco served by an enormous network of man-made canals and artificial islands.

Xochimilco is where the Southern shore of the lake was. And that's where today you can find the last remnants of this amazing ancient city. Some 110 miles of canals are all that remains of the extensive water highway system built by the Aztecs which once connected most of the villages in the Valley of Mexico. (The Spanish drained the lake and most of the canals.)

Nowadays, you can hire one of these boats and spend hours gently floating down the canals. Each boat is a shaded flat gondola-like craft (the "driver" uses a pole to push the boat) and has a long picnic table and wooden chairs.

Floaters are offered a wide range of services, from mariachi bands to a wide range of food and drinks and so on. All these services are provided from other boats. You just call them over. They attach to your boat, and they provide the service.

Some Mexicans attach two, three, four or more boats together. We saw one with seven boats -- four filled with customers and three boats providing music, food and drinks.

The canals are surrounded on either side by botanical gardens.

Boating in Xochimilco is a perfectly unique experience, which you shouldn't miss if you ever go to Mexico City.

 

GET THIS: Ray-Ban folding aviator sunglasses!

I've worn these sunglasses all over the world (pictured: Greece, Morocco and Kenya). They fit great, provide awesome sun protection and -- the best part -- they fold up and fit into a case, so you can actually carry them in a front pants pocket. 

I tend to break everything, but these sunglasses seem to be indestructible. I love mine. I think you'll love them, too. 

Buy them here!

(Full disclosure: The link above is an affiliate link, so I'll get paid if you buy it. I only recommend the products I love...)

#sunglasses

GET THIS: The Microsoft Mobile Keyboard

I use my iPad, iPhone and Nexus phone with a physical keyboard -- a lot, and always have. 

Just about any bluetooth keyboard will work with just about any phone or tablet. A lot of people don't know this. 

For years, I used the standard Apple Magic Keyboard. I liked the feel of the keyboard, and it was pretty durable. 

The problems with it as a mobile keyboard are that 1) it doesn't hold the device like a cradle; 2) the keys are at risk from jostling stuff in side my backpack, and could get damaged; and 3) it uses AA batteries. 

A while ago, I did a comprehensive review of truly mobile Bluetooth keyboards, and the Microsoft Mobile Keyboard came out on top of my review. 

The Microsoft Mobile Keyboard is truly awesome. It's a clamshell design, so the cradle part that holds the device at an angle also folds over to protect and cover the keys. It's instant to use; opening the lid turns on the keyboard. The battery last for weeks or months (no idea, since it has never died on me). And you can set up three devices, which you can choose with a switch -- I often use my tablet and phone side-by-side, and switch between them. It's durable, too. 

Best of all, the keys feel GREAT to type on. 

It makes a perfect gift, too. 

Get this!

(Full disclosure: The link above is an affiliate link, so I'll get paid if you buy it. I only recommend the products I love...)

#getthis #microsoft #mobilekeyboard

I love my luggage!!

I bought this Osprey Meridian Wheeled Luggage at the beginning of the year, and put it through hell since. I've taken it to Cuba, Mexico -- twice! -- France, Italy and elsewhere. 

I've dragged it over medieval cobblestones, subjected it to rain and dirt, boat ramps and airport baggage-handling systems around the world, and still it looks and works like it's brand-new. 

I've stuffed it so full that the internal pressure must of have been enormous, but the fabric, stitching and zippers seem indestructible.

It's inherently flexible. I can hold the handle on the side while climbing up stairs, the handle on top while giving it to the airline agent and both top and bottom while loading it into the trunk of an Uber. I can roll it, and the wheels are amazing. Or I can wear it like a backpack.

A really nice day pack zips and straps on to increase the content.  

I love this backpack!! Click here to buy one for yourself! 

(Full disclosure: these links are affiliate links, so I'll get paid if you buy it. I only recommend the products I love...)

Digital nomad survival tips you can use anywhere

I just got back from Mexico City, which tourists usually avoid because they don't feel safe there. It's a shame, too. Mexico City is awesome -- and can be safe.

Three years ago, I wrote a piece here called "Digital nomad survival tips you can use anywhere." The column was based on everything I had learned (often the hard way) about how to stay safe while living and traveling abroad since 2006.

In the past three years, however, new tech has emerged that enhances safety even further. And I've learned a few new tricks as well.

Here are my best, most surprising new ideas about how to travel while protecting your money, property, health and life.

The Street Food in Mexico City Is In a Class Of Its Own

I love Mexican food. Always have. But there's something transcendent about the street food we tried in Mexico City. 

For starters, it's clear that Mexicans love street food. All the good places had big crowds all the time, with vendors churning out tacos, quesadillas, tortas, enchiladas, huaraches and on and on. 

There's also a range of vendor types, from people with "carts" to literal holes in the walls (ad hoc kitchens assembled every day in a depression in the wall of a big building) to indoor market stands where you sit at a narrow board-like table surrounding the kitchen. 

Somehow, the cheese and corn and all the ingredients taste better in Mexico City than anywhere else I've tried Mexican food. 

As a capitalist, I assume the quality of street food in Mexico City result from free-market competition. The Greater Mexico City area has about 21 million people living and eating there. Make awesome tacos, and the crowds reward you with business. Make so-so tacos and be ignored and go out of business. 

Mexico City is also a magnet for people from all over Mexico. The country has 31 states, not including the city itself, which like Washington D.C. isn't a state or in a state. Each of these Mexican states has a rich and unique food culture, and each is represented in Mexico City by countless food operations. Unlike in American cities like New York or Chicago, where street food is radically international, Mexico City street food represents the Mexican food in all its variety and regionality. 

In any event, we plan to return to Mexico City a.s.a.p. and spend some quality time scarfing amazing street food. 

Boating In Mexico City

Amira and I Ubered down to Xochimilco, which is one of the 16 boroughs of the city. Before the Spanish arrived, this area was on the shore of Lake Xochimilco. The Aztecs built an elaborate series of canals and artificial islands here, which are still functioning.

The locals offer slow, leisurely rides in colorfully painted Mexican gondolas, which are called trajineras. Each boat has what is essentially a picnic table with wooden chairs on either side. Amira and I got one to ourselves.

Mexicans take full advantage of these boats by having floating picnics and parties. If the size of a party exceeds the capacity of one boat, they lash them together. We saw one floating event with four boats conjoined. 

It gets better. Smaller boats offer a wide variety of services, from meals to treats to booze and bands. Each service is provided from a boat, which is attached to the other boat. We got some grub from one boat and some surprisingly good pulque from another.  (If you're seeing this on the web site, click on the photo to see the rest of the pictures.)

This activity is on the top of our list for recommendations for what to do in Mexico City.  

Amira Checking Out a Bakery (A Continuing Series)

We tried some pan dulce at a random bakery in Mexico City, and it was the best pan dulce we'd ever had. Amazing. 

I Love Mexico City

We walked around 4.5 miles for our accidental pilgrimage (and the same distance back). During that time we got to see one small part of the city, which has amazing culture, restaurants and other big city attributes, but which has an awesome vibe. We're already planning to come back and spend some serious time here. 

Efficient Locomotion

Pilgrims come from all over Mexico, in many cases loaded into cargo trucks, which are decorated with Virgen iconography.  

Inefficient Locomotion

Some of their faithful make the journey crawling or on their knees. They have family or friends pick up blankets or cardboard from behind and put it in front. After going miles, this guy is almost there. 

The Devoted

The moving mass of humanity was funneled by a massive police presence into a central walkway down a major street, which was closed. Tributary avenues added to the crowd. In the last mile or so, we numbered tens of thousands of people per block.  

The Accidental Pilgrimage

After arriving in Mexico City, Amira and I noticed from the cab great herds of people all walking in the same direction. Turns out that we arrived on the peak day of Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe! 

On December 9, 1531, a native Mexican named Juan Diego said he saw the Virgin Mary appear on Tepaeyac Hill in the city. Yada yada yada, now 9 million Mexicans walk, sometimes great distances, sometimes crawling or on their knees, to said hill to pay respects to the Virgen de Guadalupe. 

So naturally we joined the throngs. (We were literally the only Americans we saw, other than a group of what I assume were Hawaiians.)  

I wonder if mom knows they took the canoe

I took a photo of these cute Mayan kids while traveling through a jungle river in Guatemala.  

In 2006, my wife, Amira, and my sons, Kevin and Kenny, and I spend 6 amazing weeks exploring Mayan ruins in Central America and Southern Mexico.  

What made it a Digital Nomad event for me was that I worked the entire time. Even then and even there I was able to find WiFi.  

The Places You'll See, the People You'll Meet

Remember that scene from the movie "Out of Africa" where Denys takes Karen on an amazing flight over Kenya? They fly along the rim of a crater, which is call Mount Longonot. Here's the scene. 

Here I am standing on the rim of Longonot posing for a picture with some local kids, who were on a field trip to the crater. 

This part of Kenya is already high altitude, and Longonot peaks at over 9,000 feet. I got altitude sickness on the hike (in part because I was carrying a backpack full of water bottles). 

It was an experience of a lifetime, a magical day (despite the nausea and barfing). 

Our roof-top Barcelona apartment had a tiny front door

This is the very top of a long slog up the stairs. After entering the tiny door, the stairs continued and came up into the living from the floor. (I took this picture in March, 2015.)

Living Nomadically Lets You Witness Great Events

One of the great things about living nomadically and internationally is that you get to see amazing things. One example is that we witnessed the 2012 Spartathlon, which is a 153 mile running race between Athens and Sparta. 

I never stop missing Greece

Amira took this picture of me four years ago while we were living in Sparta, Greece.

Not Exactly 'Inception'

Just another quiet street on the Greek Island of Samos on an October morning in 2012. [image: samos38.jpg]