I am generally planning on being in South America through March and then in Europe from April to August.

I'll have a blast no matter what, but I'll have even more fun if my time some of my trip to coincide with festivals, events, and other parties.

For instance, I would have had a blast in Brazil in June no matter what, but I had 10x the fun because I was there during World Cup.

Before I go into the guidebooks, I'll go the infinite wisdom of my readers.

My former law professor penned a fascinating article for Slate that touches on the Coase theorem, endowment effects, and social norms.

I'm sharing it here because I think the article has some amazing nuggets on how to get the guy in front of you not to recline your seat.

My last Allegiant flight, this guy on the left is praying no one reclines

The last few times I've flown economy, I got my own row or ponied up for Allegiant's Giant Seats, but the next time I'm not so lucky, I may try one of

Last week I flew United economy for eight hours from Honolulu to Guam. I shared how I got my own row in economy for a long and comfortable nap.

I also got free food on the flight.

There are a few sure-fire ways to get free food on United flights:

Fly first class or business class; Economy Plus doesn't count.
Fly an international route that offers free food in economy.

I didn't do any of that. I was just given free food from the buy onboard snacks by accident.

Moses Storm was caught up in the pretension of Los Angeles and felt the need for his birthday bash to be memorable. He mused: "Ideally...[a cool party] is something everybody's talking about, it has very high security, and it's exclusive.

Hopefully everyone has heard that you can stay in China for 72 hours without a visa if:

you fly into Beijing (PEK), Shanghai (PVG or SHA), Guangzhou (CAN), or Chengdu (CTU)
fly out of the same airport
stay in the city/province the entire time
arrive with an onward ticket to a third country departing less than 72 hours after arrival
hold a passport from one of 51 countries including the United States

Here's what the U.S.

I actually haven't ranked my travel tips, but I love this one because it's super simple and saves me from getting lost all around the world.

But it's not my #1 travel tip, which would probably be "use miles" or "travel more" or "travel solo" or something like that.

It may not even be my #2 travel tip because you can save a lot of money with these two:

How I Pay Zero ATM Fees Worldwide
How to Get Free Texts and Cell Phone Data (Almost) Worldwide

Anyway, here's how I avoid getting lost worldwide when I don't have cell

T-Mobile offers an incredible deal for travelers. All of their monthly plans offer free text messages and mobile data in over 120 countries worldwide.

On previous trips, I've done everything from buy a local SIM card in every country to pay AT&T upfront for way-overpriced international phone, text, and data packages. On this round-the-world trip, I kept my phone and phone number and got free text messaging and mobile data in five of the six countries I visited.

Most of this post was written in August as I left Buenos Aires, but I've edited it today. Thus the perspective is a mix of my perspective as I was leaving and my perspective as time has passed.

I arrived in Buenos Aires on February 19 with three 50-pound checked bags and two carry ons having flown from Los Angeles in American Airlines First Class. I'm typing this up on August 9 from the Star Alliance lounge at Ezeiza International Airport about to board South African business class to Johannesburg with one backpack and one overflow shoulder bag.

One of my most popular posts was How to See Seven Cities in Europe on One 12,500 Mile Award.

In that post from June, I explained how to use the 23-hour layover trick to see seven (or more) cities on one United award for only 12,500 miles plus taxes (of $155 in this case.)

I am in Rome, heading to Brussels tomorrow, so I am already done with three of my goals for the week.

party in Zagreb--check!

cliff jump in Dubrovnik--check!