Next time you’re on a long bus ride stop playing Candy Crush and download Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). I’ve wasted countless hours trying every paid survey website out there and none of them compare to Amazon’s Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs).
Have you ever visited a survey site that coerced you into answering five minutes worth of qualifying questions just to be disqualified? That doesn’t happen on Mturk. MTurk tasks can range from surveys to rating songs to playing games on your iPhone. There’s a variety of transcription and translation jobs to choose from and just about any other small assignment you can think of.
Skyscanner recently analyzed its flight data and the results may not match what you’ve heard in the past.
According to their data, the best time to book a domestic flight is 30 days in advance and the best time to book an international flight is about four months beforehand.
Things to do in New Orleans: Bywater & Marigny Edition
Welcome to life outside of the French Quarter and we hope your experience will now be bro-free. Now that you have taken a step in the right direction, here are some places to explore.
1. It’s New Orleans, you gotta start with the food.
One of the best things about the Bywater is how budget-friendly the food is. The quality of food at St Roche Market doesn’t compare to some of the amazing restaurants in the area but it gets an A for variety and affordability. Heading in further east? One of the cities most renowned places to get a po-boy is at Gene’s Po-boys but my personal favorite is referred to most as the “Orange store”. The actual name is the North Rampart Food Store which to my delight and detriment was just around the corner from the hostel I worked at. I highly recommend calling ahead. This place gets packed and closing times can vary. Bonus: There is a Banksy across the street that I grew to cherish.
Work exchange is an excellent way to travel the world on a frugal budget. I’ve had numerous positive interactions with hosts and many successful stays around the U.S. One of the keys to an enjoyable stay is preparation.
Here are some factors that are crucial to consider before committing to a work exchange:
Scheduling
Scheduling is numero uno. Most hosts expect 20-25 hours of work a week. In my opinion anything over that is taking advantage of a traveler. If you’re staying at a place with more than one person ask if there are different shifts and make sure the start and end times work for you. Don’t try to force yourself into becoming a morning person if you’re a night owl, chances are both you and you’re host will become flustered.
This guide was written after my time spent in Thailand & Cambodia but is generally useful for most of South-East Asia. This one is more for the ladies as men don’t have much to worry about but I have included some notes for men.
What to wear?
One of my friends who frequents Thailand annually had advised me not to pack anything at all and to purchase all of my clothing and luggage when I arrived. Being a tall and curvy North American chick I panicked at the thought of not being able to find any clothing that fit. I was also on a strict budget and clothing was not something I planned to spend on. In hindsight I wish I had followed that advice. I ended up having to ditch a lot of my stuff in favor of thinner and in some cases more respectable clothing.
