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

There’s No Luxury on a Cruise Ship

April 12, 2016 / Sarah / 9 Comments

why you should never go on a cruise and why cruise lines are evil

Let me start off by saying I’ve never been on a cruise ship. I’ve heard stories, seen pictures, and understand the appeal, but I have no desire to be on a cruise ship. It seems that, unlike everyone else, I can’t see the luxury others find in a cruise.

The idea of a cruise is great. I love boats, meeting people, and being lazy. To make it all better, a cruise is generally cheap. At face value, you can’t really go wrong. In fact, most people who tell me about their cruise vacations come back ecstatic and rave about the fantastic time they had. [More]

Netflix is Officially More Expensive Than Amazon Prime

April 9, 2016 / Sarah / 10 Comments

netflix price increase means amazon prime is officially cheaper than netflix

Do you remember Netflix way back in the day? Before it was primarily a streaming service, their tiered plans revolved around how many disks a month you could order. You might also remember their marketing practices were horrible. They used misleading banner ads, hid the terms of your account billing, and made it so that no matter when in the billing cycle you canceled your account, your access was instantly shut off and you received no refunds. There goes that free month you got when you joined!

Yeah, for those of us who remember, Netflix has never actually been a, “good” company. [More]

The Ultimate Road Trip Preparation Checklist

April 4, 2016 / Sarah / 3 Comments

the ultimate travel blogger guide to an american road trip

Some of my friends and family know that I’m preparing for an exciting road trip. This won’t be my first long haul I put my vehicle through, but I know the preparation for a road trip is always stressful when you’re taking an older vehicle.

Obviously having a newer vehicle decreases the chances that you’ll experience vehicle problems while traveling, but I’m a bit sentimental about my vehicle and just can’t let it go. This means I ‘ve got to plan carefully to avoid a disaster while making long drives. [More]

Happy Dyngus Day! Where’s the Krupnik?

March 28, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

dyngus day buffalo ny decade celebration polish american krupnik

I’ve written about Dyngus Day before. It’s a Polish celebration that happens the day after Easter, but oddly enough, is celebrated in Buffalo, NY more than any Polish city today.

Buffalo, NY is the second largest city in the state of NY, New York City being the obvious first place spot. Most of the immigrants who came to Buffalo, NY were from three places, Italy, Ireland, and Poland. For whatever reason, the Polish-American community is stronger every year.

Buffalo, NY may not be the first place you think of when you think of up-and-coming quirky cities, but it really might be. [More]

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. [More]

Tips for Getting Sleep While Traveling

March 22, 2016 / Sarah / 1 Comment

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 / 1 Comment

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 / 3 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 / 3 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 / 7 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 / 5 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

[More]