Hello Readers – I am very excited to be launching The Meticulous Traveler!
My background
I was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to a Japanese mother and a Scandanavian father. I grew up on the West Side of Saint Paul, a predominantly Mexican area of the city.
When I was a teenager, I converted to Islam with some help of my Somali soccer teammates. In college, I spent six months living with a host family in São Paulo, Brazil. In my early twenties, I met a Hmong woman, Sunshine, who would become my wife and travel partner.
You could definitely say I’ve been exposed to many different cultures throughout my life!
Reason #1 I love travel: Diversity
My diverse upbringing gave me a major appreciation for different ways of life. Having friends with ethnic backgrounds from all around the world opened my eyes to the wonder of various different cultures and people.
Even though I am normally introverted and reserved, I love interacting with people overseas. There’s nothing better than getting a tip from a local for the best places to eat or see. On the flip side, it’s also great to meet other foreigners and compare notes on experiences.
I live for these little interactions with people. People that I would never come across in my everyday life at home in the US. There is something magical about being in a foreign country and making connections with others. There is an element of destiny when two random people from different countries find a reason to connect with each other.
While living in Brazil for six months, I stayed with a family with whom, to this day, I stay in touch. Here we are enjoying ourselves at a Carnaval celebration in São Luiz do Paraitinga.
All people are different, yet our lives are often surpisingly similar. We’re all trying to get by, all trying to take care of the people we love, and all trying to find happiness in our own way.
I love exploring how people live their lives. Cultural exploration and learning is something I don’t think will ever be satisfied for me.
Seeing how other people live also helps to build empathy and understanding. I always return home after a long trip appreciative of the blessings and privileges I have (and will continue to enjoy) in my life.
This is why I love to travel.
Reason #2 I love travel: Nature & Conservation
The second reason I love to travel so much is the chance to take in nature. As an environmentalist at heart, there is something spiritually uplifting about seeing an expansive mountain range or ocean.
As a non-drinker and self-admitted old soul, I would take an expansive natural view over a party or bar visit any day of the week.
Separately, I’ve always had a soft spot for conservation. I served on the board of a non-profit called The Nature Conservancy while in business school, and I hope to continue to give back via conservation as much as I can.
Traveling has built my appreciation for the natural environment. It’s helped me understand how important conservation efforts are for preserving the places I love to visit.
Many of the places I’ve visited could easily be shut down in the next decade or two to protect them. That makes these once-in-a-lifetime experiences that much more important to enjoy while I can.
Exploring the world through natural landscapes and views is something that brings me joy, relaxation, and peace. Capturing the beauty of the natural world with a camera and looking back to admire it years later is one of the greatest simple pleasures I can think of in life.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my home in Minnesota. But sometimes you just start to get tired of flat terrain and sub-zero temperatures in the seventh month of winter…
Flash forward to today: why The Meticulous Traveler, though?
Today, I work a full-time job in marketing at a Fortune 500 company. Even though I love my work, travel is my true passion. I’m always thinking about my next trip. Keeping that anticipation going is what keeps me motivated in my day-to-day at home in Minnesota.
However, my career comes with limited vacation time. I only have a few weeks out of the year that I can dedicate myself to travel. With that short amount of time, I HAVE to make sure I’m planning and executing my travels properly to maximize the experience.
Luckily, I’m a very detail-oriented person. That goes double for my approach to travel and travel planning. If I have only a few weeks, I need to make sure I set up experiences to be as impactful and economical as I can.
I’ve been to 30+ countries across all the world’s continents except Antarctica (someday…). I’ve had incredible experiences and met life-long friends. Conversely, I’ve made catastrophic travel mistakes. I’ve built up a collection of approaches and thoughts that I want to share with others like me.
I came up with the idea for The Meticulous Traveler (TMT) as I was – meticulously – planning a family vacation with my wife and parents to Japan. Coordinating flight options to Tokyo, assessing available vacation packages, and plotting in-country transportation involved enough many moving parts and interdependencies to make someone pass out.
That, in addition to some tough lessons learned from previous trips, e.g. almost missing a flight in Dublin due to lack of airport knowledge, almost turned what should have been excitement and elation about visiting Japan into stress and frustration.
The purpose of The Meticulous Traveler
Enter: The Meticulous Traveler (aka TMT). Across all of the trips that I’ve taken abroad, I’ve amassed a collection of details, tips and “travel hacks” (that is the last time I will use that phrase, I promise) that I wish I had known before I set out on my earliest international adventures.
My mission for The Meticulous Traveler is to share what I know about traveling in order to make travel and travel planning simpler and less stressful for working professionals with limited vacation time.
Traveling should (and is) a positive life-changing experience every time. I don’t want difficulties or doubt with planning or logistics to ever get in the way of that for anyone!
Especially those working professionals who want to make the very most of their precious vacation time.
This blog is for those who are thinking about traveling abroad but may be intimidated by the task of planning it. However, it’s also for seasoned world explorers who think they could learn a thing or two that could make their next endeavor a little easier!
Whether you’re new or experienced, a budget traveler or looking for a luxury experience, I am confident that you can take something away from these posts that can make travel life easier for you.
What you can expect from this blog:
I will prioritize sharing details on how to travel or plan to travel – not cool places to go
There are plenty of resources, online or otherwise, that will tell you about great destinations around the world that are worth visiting. The Meticulous Traveler will focus more on the minutiae of the travel experience. The closest I will get to this is outlining detailed itineraries of my previous trips.
What do you need to do to not get held up by customs at the airport? How can you use your iPhone to its full capacity abroad? How can you minimize your transit in a country by using exploring various forms of transportation? These are the types of uncertainties that TMT will strive to demystify.
If I review and/or recommend a product, I’ve used it or spent hours reading about it
I am an avid travel blog reader and podcast listener. Most of these platforms make money for their creators via recommendations and affiliate marketing.
In the early stages of a blog the companies aren’t exactly knocking my door down asking me to recommend products. However, in the (hopeful) event that readership builds, I will continue to focus on making travel as simple as possible for TMT readers, not pushing offers that I don’t think they need.
Long story short, I’m in this to help all of you. I will recommend products and services that I think serve the mission.
Simple posts for simple tips
Other than itinerary posts, I will keep posts short and simple. I’ll highlight one or two valuable tidbits to help make the travel process smoother. I want this blog to be a bookshelf to collect helpful tips, not a library with novels on travel recommendations.
I will listen to readers for recommended post topics
If you have an issue that you would like me to explore, just ask! Send me an email at Andrew@TheMeticulousTraveler.com. If there is a topic that multiple people are asking to simplify I will look into writing a post about it. Make sure to subscribe to the TMT mailing list so that you see the newest posts!
I will address issues at all levels of the travel process
Travel, especially international travel, is never simple. The actual time in-country is obviously the highlight, but there are multiple stages in the overall travel process.
Choosing a location, finding the right flight, planning lodging and activities and getting to know the local culture are all important to consider. When I refer to the “travel process”, I mean the entire activity system from your idea to take a trip, to when you’re back home reflecting on what a great time you had.
I will keep TMT light & fun
Travel is supposed to be fun! I’m hoping that TMT can shed light on uncertainties that people have about traveling to help maximize enjoyment. You can expect to have some fun learning about how easy and worthwhile exploring other countries can be.
I am honored to have you as a reader. I’m very much looking forward to building a community around making travel easier for all. My international experiences have changed my life for the better. I hope I can pay it forward in a small way by sharing what I know with all of you!
Andrew, The Meticulous Traveler
P.S. If you haven’t already, the START PAGE is the best place to start exploring the website. You can also find me on social media, particularly on Instagram. I look forward to hearing from you!