Sarah Kohl - A Nerd's Commentary on Life & Travel

How to Buy Products Only Sold in the USA

sarah kohl travel blogger tips to buy in the USA and ship internationally

Being a US citizen I hardly ever think about “not” being able to order something from a site. Once in awhile I’ll see a retail site in the UK that claims they won’t ship to the United States, but pretty much, everyone is willing to ship here.

Sure, I had seen the text, “only ships to the continental United States,” or something like it before while checking out, but it never impacted me so I didn’t pay it much attention until I started dating a Canadian.

This guy was well off, but maybe not the most educated person. He adamantly believed that a weird cocktail of supplements in fruit juice was the magic bullet that could prevent or cure any flu, cold, or unidentified sniffle. [More]

Tips for Getting Sleep While Traveling

March 22, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

Getting sleep is important regardless of where you are and what you’re doing. The benefits of a good night’s sleep range from maintaining overall health to an improved mood. As difficult as it can be to get rested at home, it’s even more challenging to get sleep while on the road.

Changing time zones and red-eye flights aren’t the best way to ensure you get your beauty rest, but I have a few travel tips that should increase the chances you’ll stay healthy and rested while you’re on the go. [More]

Spend Your Rewards Points!

March 21, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

Too many people save their rewards points like a dragon hoarding gold, but why? Rewards points aren’t money. There is no reality where a company will increase the value of your rewards points over time, but there is a very good chance that they will decrease the value of those points!

There are a lot of programs that have rewards points, credit cards, airlines, grocery stores, gas stations, movie theaters; almost anywhere you go, there’s a rewards program. So it’s easy to loose track of how many points you have and what you can get for them. [More]

Bug Industries: A Game for Programmers

March 14, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

I’m a sucker for new tabletop, card, dice, pretty much whatever games. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to see this kickstarter. The game is called Bug Industries. Each player is in charge of a project and they need to de-bug their project first to win.

The game is simple, but it looks to be hilarious and enjoyable. It’s also just a great way for non-programers to get a sense of programing culture. I wouldn’t consider myself to be a programer even though I dabble. I simply think this would be great to play with say, a marketing department, so they can understand the frustrations that tech teams experience. [More]

Some Great Things About Florida

March 9, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

Florida is known around the US for providing the country with strange and disgusting news stories. From people being swallowed by gators, to junkies accidentally burning down landmarks, Florida knows how to capture headlines with class. After spending a bit more time down south I might be starting to understand why.

You Can Buy Alcohol ANYWHERE

In New York we don’t tend to have beer and liquor sold in the same store. This is because wine and liquor can only be sold in designated liquor stores, where as beer can be sold in grocery stores. [More]

Credit Card Threats While Traveling

March 2, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

Today there are a lot of different tech threats that travelers have to worry about. Often times, the threat is to your credit card. Travelers encounter all kinds of credit card theft and there is no shortage of new methods being used. Here are a handful of new and old tricks being used to gather your information and ways you can protect yourself.

Card Readers

Processing cards has never been easier. Unfortunately, that holds true for legitimate businesses and criminals alike. This new trick requires a mobile payment processing terminal (as seen in the picture) and the target to be carrying a card with an RFID tag. [More]

Traveling to a Natural Disaster Site

February 24, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

Any seasoned traveler will let you know that not every trip will go as planned. Being flexible is an important part of traveling regardless if you’re dealing with airlines, hotels, or as in this case, the weather. If you didn’t know, last night there was a tornado that hit Pensacola, Flordia. Precisely where I’m traveling to.

My sister who is currently living there had just looked at some of the apartment buildings that were torn down. Areas are without power, roofs have been blown off, and despite my upgrade to first class this isn’t the best way to start a trip. [More]

February 20, 2016

“There are no strong men, there are no beautiful women. At least, you can die knowing this and you will have the only possible victory.” – Charles “Hank” Bukowski

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Women-Owned Comic Publisher Kymera Press

February 18, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

It’s been awhile since Comic Con, but believe it or not there is still a pile of independent comic books that I haven’t had a chance to read! I’ve just started to get around to checking out the comics I picked up from the Kymera Press booth. I hadn’t heard of the company before Comic Con, but I have to admit I’ve been itching to get to these since the show.

Kymera Press is a comic publishing company that was founded in 2013 for women. It’s owned by women, and intends to help women succeed in the comic industry. [More]

Free Space Tourism Posters From NASA

February 15, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

For the past 50 years people have been obsessed with the idea of going into space. We are closer than ever to making it possible for average people to visit space with the launch of companies like SpaceX. The idea of space tourism seems to be an exciting thought for even the scientists at NASA. They recently released a series of retro posters designed to be marketing propaganda for fictional space travel programs. Anyone with even a mild interest in space or design will enjoy these.

A few of the planets mentioned in this poster series by The Studio at JPL aren’t the ones you learned for your model of our solar system. [More]

Pascal Campion’s Art of Love

February 12, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

I bought a print from this artist at a convention not too long ago, but thought writing about the artist’s work around Valentines Day would be more appropriate. Many of his illustrations revolve around the many flavors of love that people experience throughout their lives.

The one in particular that I purchased is a couple taking a dip in a wooded area on what one can only imagine is a warm summer day. (It made me chuckle a bit when I bought it because he went to sign it then realized he had pre-signed it so he pretended to sign it again and handed it back.) [More]

Love is Blind Blog Hop

February 12, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

I’ve decided to participate in the Love is Blind blog hop this year. Please check out some of the other blogs participating! Most of them are authors or aspiring authors, but they are all a good read. [More]