Travel and Live Free

09/11/2023

Do you have any plans to travel to either Japan or Timor Leste? During my time in both countries, I kept track of my spending breakdown, and to no surprise, both travel destinations are quite expensive. Despite Japan's Yen being lower, it is still not a cheap travel destination. And Timor Leste is expensive if you want to do any water based excursions as it's one of the two places in the world where you can swim with a blue whale. Read the full trip spending breakdown here:

In this article, I share my spending breakdown travelling in Timor Leste and Tokyo, Japan in my quest to visit all countries.

07/11/2023

Have you ever heard of a country called Timor Leste? Most people have not as it's quite a far-off and obscure travel destination. During my quest to visit every single country in the world, I got a chance to visit Timor Leste which is my country #99. During my time here, I got a chance to see Cristo Rei and attempted to go Whale Watching (a massive failure). I also learned about what scams happen in this country. Read the trip report here:

In this article, I share my experience travelling to Timor Leste which is my country #99 to visit all countries.

07/11/2023

Do you have a short stopover in Japan? During my latest trip, I travelled to Japan for 2 nights and 3 days thanks to being allowed a stopover by Japan Airlines. It's the perfect time to get a taste of Tokyo just to see if it would be fun to visit this country. It's also my country #99. I'd like to report that I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed my time and can easily put Japan in my top 20 favourite countries of all time. Read my trip report here:

In this article, I share my first time experience travelling to Tokyo Japan and what I thought about the country.

30/03/2023

Is the Atacama Desert in Chile in your travel bucket list? During my time in Chile, I got to visit the Atacama Desert. The journey started from Santiago when my girlfriend and I took a LATAM flight going to Calama. From there, it would be another journey by shared shuttle going to San Pedro de Atacama. The main sights to see would be Valle de la Luna and the Tatios Geyser. There's also an astronomy tour but we didn't get to do it because it was full moon when we arrived. It's safe to say we will go back one day. Read this article to see the full review of this trip:

In this article, I share my adventure travelling to the Atacama Desert in Chile which is the driest place on Earth.

08/02/2023

Do you plan to travel to Chile one day and would like to know roughly how much it cost to travel there? During my most recent trip, I documented my spending in Chile during my 9 days of travel there. Chile is not a cheap travel destination so be warned. Flying to Easter Island, for example, would cost you an arm and a leg. There are loopholes of course, such as booking through the Chilean LATAM website using a VPN. That seems to lower the cost of the flight bookings to what the locals would pay. Read this article to get the full breakdown of how much it cost to travel to Chile:

In this article, I share my complete spending breakdown while travelling in Chile and also in Lima the capital of Peru.

02/02/2023

Do you plan on travelling to Lima? During my latest trip, I had a two-night stopover in the capital city of Peru and decided to join a city tour. Check out this article on my experience exploring Lima:

In this article, I share my experience doing a Lima City Tour after doing a two night stopover in the capital city of Peru.

30/10/2022

Is Bora Bora in your bucket list for travel destinations? It certainly was in mine and for the longest time, I've wanted to travel here. The biggest obstacle is that it's expensive and it's quite a challenge to get here. But, after putting in the work to earn enough points with IHG and also with Aeroplan and Alaska Airlines, I was able to redeem all these points to travel there with my girlfriend without breaking the bank. Ironically, staying in the resort was not the highlight of my trip there; but rather, the snorkelling tour of the island. Read this article I wrote about my experience travelling to Bora Bora:

Do you wish to travel to Bora Bora one day? In this article, I share my experience travelling to this famous paradise island.

02/10/2022

Is Bora Bora in your dream bucket list destination? Unfortunately, the biggest problem to going there is the cost. It's damn expensive, not going to lie. I actually saved up for 7 years to get enough points to stay one night for free at the Intercontinental Bora Bora Thalasso Spa resort. It was totally worth it and surprisingly, I was perfectly happy with just staying one night there. The rest of the time, I stayed in a hostel (lol) and an Airbnb. When I travelled there with my girlfriend, we only stayed for 4 days and 3 nights which was actual perfect. I felt satisfied with that duration. Price wise, everything is imported to Bora Bora that's why everything is so expensive. So if you plan on travelling there, just prepare for insane prices on goods. Read this article to get an idea how much it cost to travel to Bora Bora: https://kendrickuy.com/2022/10/01/travelling-in-bora-bora/

In this article, I share my travel expenses while travelling in Bora Bora for 4 days and 3 nights in French Polynesia.

18/06/2022

Is travelling to the Maldives and Sri Lanka on your bucket list? Would you like to know how much it costs to travel to these places? During my recent trip to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, I recorded all my expenses including flights. In this article, you can get a rough idea of how much it costs to travel to both places. Read this blog post here: https://kendrickuy.com/2022/06/18/travelling-in-the-maldives/

16/06/2022

Would you like to know how much it costs to travel to Nepal? During my travel to Nepal to trek the Annapurna Circuit and sightsee Kathmandu and Pokhara, I recorded all my expenses. In this article, you can see how much it costs to travel to Nepal. Read this article here: https://kendrickuy.com/2022/06/16/travelling-in-nepal/

15/06/2022

Is trekking and travelling to Nepal on your travel bucket list? For the longest time, going to Nepal to trek the Annapurna Circuit has been on my radar. I know many people want to do Everest base camp but for me, the Annapurna Circuit was more appealing. I decided to do the trek in May 2022 which is a month that many blogs and websites say to be a bad month to go to Nepal for trekking. Apparently, it's monsoon season and you'll be experiencing a lot of rain which makes trekking unpleasant. This is further from the truth as the weather was good for most of our trek in the Annapurna Circuit. It did start to rain more by the 4th week of May in Nepal but by that time, we have already completed our trek and were well on our way back home. I'd say trekking the Annapurna Circuit is really hard and it will truly test your will and determination. The high altitude makes things even more difficult and taking your time to acclimate is of utmost importance. Despite the challenge, I'd say that the Annapurna Circuit is one of the greatest adventures I have ever done in my life and I would recommend it to people who are interested in doing it to just go for it. Read this long article to see the entire journey from start to finish (Kathmandu to Pokhara to the Annapurna Circuit and back): https://kendrickuy.com/2022/06/14/annapurna-circuit-trek/

26/05/2022

Has your experience with Air Asia mostly been negative or positive? In the past, I've mostly had a positive experience with Air Asia. And it makes sense because I've only flown one-way flights with them. In my most recent trip, it was my first time doing a connecting flight with them and it was one of the biggest nightmare experiences I've ever had. Read this article for a full trip report with Air Asia: https://kendrickuy.com/2022/05/26/air-asia/

In this article, I share my horrible experience dealing with Air Asia when they didn't issue my a boarding pass and lost my baggage.

25/05/2022

Have you had issues with Aeroplan since Air Canada changed the program? During my most recent trip, I soon learned that a flight I redeemed didn't exist. There was no check-in counter which left Karen and I stranded in the Maldives. With no way out of the country, I had to call the Aeroplan Call Centre as soon as they opened. Unfortunately, my call with them did confirm that they allowed me to redeem a flight that was not boardable because it was a fueling stop. Read this article to get a full report of this latest problem with the new Air Canada Aeroplan program: https://kendrickuy.com/2022/05/24/stranded-in-the-maldives/

Being stranded in the Maldives doesn't sound so bad. In reality, it's really bad and it's thanks to Aeroplan selling me an unboardable flight

23/05/2022

Is travelling to the Maldives to stay at an overwater bungalow on your bucket list? For the last 3-4 years, I've been saving up my Marriott Bonvoy points so I can redeem them to stay for "free" at an overwater bungalow in the Maldives (you still have to pay for the seaplane and food). Come 2021, Marriott opens a new resort there called Le Meridien Maldives, and the number of points needed to make a redemption is at a record low! Without hesitation, I redeemed most of my points to stay for 5 nights. This turned out to be an awesome decision as the trip to the Maldives was amazing! The villa was beautiful, the water was amazing, and the resort staff was very warm, genuine, and friendly. The Maldives is easily in my top 10 favourite countries now and I'd love to go back again one day. Read this article to see my full trip report of the Maldives: https://kendrickuy.com/2022/05/23/le-meridien-maldives-2/

In this article, I share my experience staying at the Le Meridien Maldives overwater bungalow resort in my quest to visit all countries.

22/05/2022

Is travelling to Sri Lanka on your bucket list but afraid of the current fuel and economical crisis happening in that country right now? In late April 2022, I got a chance to travel to Sri Lanka and realized quickly that what the media portrays and what is reality are oftentimes not the same. We decided to hire a guide before coming to Sri Lanka and some things that surprised us included how fast he was able to get gas outside of Colombo. There was no lineup at the gas station and he literally just pulled up and filled up. It also felt very safe to travel there and the locals were friendly. From what I've heard from the locals, getting medicine is their biggest struggle than getting fuel. They've been able to cook food using firewood and they just rationed their cooking oils conservatively. During our trip, we visited the Sigiriya area to climb Lion Rock as well as check out the Dambulla cave, do an elephant safari, and visit a local village. Overall, we had a great time and it's a shame there are not as many tourists there right now. In my opinion, now is a good time to visit the country and I wouldn't let the media's fear-mongering stop you from visiting this awesome and beautiful country. Read my full trip report here: https://kendrickuy.com/2022/05/21/sri-lanka/

In this article, you will learn what it's like to travel to Sri Lanka in 2022 during the infamous fuel crisis the country is facing.