Are you a Fundamentalist Without Knowing It?

Fundamentalism: a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles.

When we think of fundamentalists, our minds most often jump to pictures of zealous religious followers who are willing to denounce both logic and reason to protect their beliefs. However, fundamentalism can exist in many different forms. Even scientists can become fundamentalists within their own disciplines and refuse to accept evidence that may contradict with their beliefs. We even now have atheists who ironically promote atheism as fervently as many missionaries promote their own religions. Continue reading →

Avoiding the American Debt Trap

Many institutions in the United States have becoming increasing predatory over the past few decades, among the most notably being: student loan providers, mortgage loan providers, credit card companies and the health care industry. While some of this debt is accrued through misfortune or bad decisions, a good chunk can be accredited to the debt holder having been misguided or misinformed. Many of these industries prey on a person’s sense of self worth and convince them that they are buying a ticket to the American Dream. In reality, they are more likely buying a ticket into indentured servitude. Continue reading →

How to Leverage Currency Exchange Rates to Live Like a King.

The English economist Adam Smith wrote in his 1776 book The Wealth of Nations:

“Every man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life.”

While the obvious translation of this is that the more that you can afford, the richer you are, one does not necessarily need to earn more money to become richer. Instead, one could simply place themselves in an environment where they can more easily afford the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life. Continue reading →

Why We Fear Failure

Whenever we imagine pursuing a new endeavor, we all have that small voice inside of us which warns that we are not good enough. Not good enough to work a particular job. Not good enough to put our own needs before others. Not good enough that another person would want to have a relationship with us. We fear that if we try to achieve something and fail, that it will only serve as proof that the little voice inside our head is right.

So to prevent this, we come up with countless excuses and rationalize away reasons to even begin trying. We tell ourselves that we are either too stupid, poor, boring, ugly or low class. Instead of recognizing our common humanity in others, and realizing that what is possible for one person is also possible for another, we instead separate out ourselves into the “not good enough” category. While our immediate intention is to project ourselves from potential pain, with every deference to fear, we forfeit our personal integrity and slowly chip away at our own souls. Continue reading →

How to Study in Germany Tuition Free

As an American, I completed my entire Master’s Degree in Germany tuition free. Actually, if you count the fact that I was awarded an academic scholarship after my first semester, then I was literally paid to study in Germany. My classmates included international students from China, Costa Rica, Columbia, Mexico, Egypt, Ethiopia, Romania and Russia. Many of whom also were on scholarships which covered their living costs for the entire duration of their studies, plus airfare. Continue reading →

How to Best Protect, Manage and Access your Money While Traveling Abroad

In this article I am going to explain how I maximize security and eliminate fees when accessing my funds while traveling abroad. By linking a PayPal account with both my primary savings/checking account and a separate Charles Schwab checking account, I eliminate a single point of failure from leaving me stranded somewhere. You can open both PayPal and Charles Schwab accounts free of charge.
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Causation vs. Correlation: Where Classic “Pick-Up” Advice Went Wrong.

The publication of the book The Game by Neil Strauss, over a decade ago, marked the birth of the modern “pick-up” industry, whose intent is to teach men how to become more successful in meeting and attracting women. Many men started religiously following the advice that they got from such books, lectures and online forums, because when applied, it did indeed appear to lead to better results.

However, almost all these men, including the very authors of the advice, often misattributed the reasons behind why their techniques were successful. They believed that the specific actions that they were taking were directly causing their success, when in reality their success was primarily the result of separate factors which were only correlated with their actions.
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The Attention Economy: How We Are Forfeiting Our Most Precious Resource

The transition from the Industrial Age into the Information Age has caused a dramatic shift in the inner workings of the world economy. The fundamental elements to which we are attaching value are drastically changing. In the Industrial Age, we would provide labor in return for money. People worked in factories, performing value adding processes to create physical goods which were to be sold at a price higher than that of the materials, rent and labor costs that went into producing them. The labor may have been non-stimulating and repetitive, but nonetheless, one received a paycheck for producing something tangible. In the Information Age, people are now giving away their attention and personal information to organizations, which are making record profits by packaging together and selling to advertisers all the data that they collect.
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The “Forgotten Man” and How Donald Trump Became President

President-Elect Trump stated during his victory speech on election night that “the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.” These forgotten men and women, who live primarily in the “fly-over” states and who are often the punch line of the jokes made by the liberal coastal “elite,” were the ones who carried Trump to victory. While the poles leading up to the election seemed to have forgotten to include these individuals, Donald Trump had addressed them by name. And these citizens thanked Trump for acknowledging them by electing him President.
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Pristina and Prizren, Kosovo Travel Guide

Value: 5/5

Livability: 2.5/5

Nightlife: 2/5

Kosovo is one of the world’s newest countries (that is, if your nation recognizes it). The citizens of its largest cities (Pristina and Prizren) are primarily Albanian, and thus Albanian is the language spoken in these cities. However, if you venture to some of the mountain villages, you will hear the people speaking a dialect of the Serbo-Croatian language. Due to alliances during the most recent conflict, you will find streets named after Bill Clinton, and hotels after Hillary. The capital Pristina is more of a typical “soviet style” concrete city with an Ottoman area, while Prizren (pictured above) is quite picturesque.
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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Travel Guide

Value: 5/5

Livability: 3/5

Nightlife: 3/5

Sarajevo is a one of a kind city, and perhaps the most unique in Europe. The city of Sarajevo has always contained a mix of cultures. The buildings of the city itself can visibly be recognized as a fusion of both Austrian-Hungarian and Ottoman architecture. Some women will be walking down the street showing their midriffs, while others will be dressed in full burkas. Since transportation options for getting to the city are quite limited, Sarajevo remains off the beaten path for most travelers. This unique and authentic feel of both the city and its people, unspoiled by massive tourism, is what I loved about the city. The Bosnian people that I met were incredibly friendly, welcoming and helpful.
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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life / Walter Isaacson

Benjamin Franklin is often thought of as the quintessential American. A man that was born without a silver spoon in his mouth, but achieved greatness through being industrious, frugal and hard working. He did not believe in arbitrary authority but instead evaluated a man based on his merit. After “retiring” from printing, following decades of working to build a successful business, Franklin proceeds to become a prominent inventor, diplomat and politician. He was a prime contributor to both the establishment of a brand new area of science involving electricity, and a revolutionary new system of government.
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Lviv, Ukraine Travel Guide

Value: 5/5

Livability: 4/5

Nightlife: 3/5

If you live in the the city center, Lviv is a completely walk-able city. I personally love living in a city where everything can be reached by foot or frequently running public transportation. Lviv is also a very cheap place to live. It will be hard to find another city in Europe where you can get as much bang for your buck. This is partially due to the conflict in the East that began in 2014, and caused economic instability and massive inflation. If you are a digital nomad looking for a city to setup shop in for a few months, I think Lviv is perfect. Lviv is off the beaten path, and a bit more authentic and less touristy than a city like Krakow. In many ways, Lviv can be thought of a bit like being a cheaper Wroclaw, i.e. a compact city where everything is located around a central square. But be aware, the majority of the population speaks only Ukrainian and Russian, and the language is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Thus things that are normally simple to do, can quickly become complicated.
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Budapest, Hungary Travel Guide

Value: 4.5/5

Livability: 3/5

Nightlife: 4/5

Budapest was once two separate cities split by the Danube river. I recommend staying on the “Pest” side of the city, since it is not only cheaper, but also where all the nightlife and attractions are. However, I do recommend visiting the Buda side, and climbing up its hillside so that you can get a view of the Pest side from across the river, such like the one shown in the photo above.

Budapest’s low cost of living and active nightlife has made it a popular destination for both expats and backpackers. Both lodgings and living costs are extremely low. You can find places selling a slice of pizza for less than a dollar. Similar to Prague, do to being a popular tourist destination, you will often hear English more often in certain parts of the city than the local language.
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Getting a Russian Visa (for US citizens)

I recently completed the process for getting a Russian visa as an American citizen, and personally found it straight forward and painless. I was able to obtain a three year multiple entry tourist visa within 13 calendar days of applying in person at the visa processing center in New York City. Without having a scheduled appointment, I was able to walk into the visa office and immediately drop off my application and pay the processing fee. The complete final cost to me was $193. The fee must be payed upfront, and regardless of if your application ends up being approved or not. If you are unable to personally go to one of the consulate locations and need to apply via mail, it will cost an additional $85. While I was personally very pleased with the ease of this process, I’m sure results may vary for others. If you live far away from one of the Russian visa centers (D.C., Houston, Seattle, San Francisco, and New York), and end up getting called in for an interview, you may face some major inconveniences.

The ILS website clearly lays out the steps that you must take to get a visa. However, I will clarify below some of the finer points of the process, and provide some money saving tips. Continue reading →

Vilnius, Lithuania Travel Guide

Value: 3.5/5

Livability: 3/5

Nightlife: 2.5/5

Rank wise, Vilnius falls in the middle between its sister Baltic cities: Riga and Tallinn. While Vilnius has a small city feel like Tallinn, it is not as charming. While its low prices are similar to those in Riga, the nightlife is a full point lower. Thus if you are only choosing one destination to visit in the Baltic states, I would not recommend that it be Vilnius. Vilnius does not excel enough in one area to compensate for its lack in others. However, if you are passing by, its still worth checking out.
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Riga, Latvia Travel Guide

Value: 3.5/5

Livability: 3/5

Nightlife: 3.5/5

Riga is the largest city within the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Riga has a much more busier feel to it than either its sister cities: Tallinn or Vilnius. Riga also has a very large ethnic Russian population, and the Russian language is spoken as commonly as Latvian. The old town of Riga is well preserved and caters heavily to tourists. Second perhaps only to Prague, Riga has become the prime destination for German and English tourists looking for a cheap location for either their vacation or a bachelor party. Riga ranks high, along with Serbia and Ukraine, as having some of the most beautiful women in the world. On a warm summer day, the streets look like a fashion show.
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Top Scams that I Have Encountered While Traveling the World

During my travels, I have encountered many scams, but luckily have rarely ever been a victim of one. Making mistakes is a great way to learn a lesson, but this does not mean that they need to be one’s own mistakes. It can be much more enjoyable to learn instead from other people’s mistakes. Thus educate yourself about the following common scams so that you can avoid them during your own travels.

Flirtatious Women / Honey Pot Scams

I have never had a random beautiful woman just walk up to me on the street, tell me that I’m cute, and then invite me for a drink with her friends. Never that is, unless she was a scam artist. If something seems too good to be true, then it normally is. I have seen this particular scam take place in many different cities. It normally starts with a pair of girls flirting with some men that they meet on the street. They then tell these men that they know a great place to get drinks, and invite the men to follow them to a bar. These men then usually end up buying drinks for both the girls and themselves at this bar. At the end of the night, they get an outrageous bill totaling in the hundreds to thousands of dollars.
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Tallinn, Estonia Travel Guide

Value: 3/5

Livability: 4/5

Nightlife: 3/5

Tallinn is the wealthiest of the Baltic states, and also the one with the least “Eastern European” feel to it. Even the Estonian language sounds more similar to Finnish than it does to a Slavic language. Tallinn is a very beautiful city. Given that its located very far North, I recommend visiting during the summer when the days will be long instead of short. The city has a very quite and relaxed feel to it, similar to that of Gdansk, Poland. Prices are a bit higher than in Latvia and Lithuania, but nowhere near as bad as in Finland. I took a ferry from Tallinn to visit Helsinki, but returned after a day due to Finland’s high prices.
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Prague, Czech Republic Travel Guide

Value: 4/5

Livability: 3.5/5

Nightlife: 3.5/5

Prague may be the most beautiful city in Eastern Europe. The old town district has incredible architecture. However, the beauty of Prague is well known across Europe, and this has caused it to be overrun by tourists. There are so many British stag parties, that you may hear more English spoken on the streets of the old town than you hear native Czech. While the Czechs seem a bit more Germanic and thus more reserved than their other Slavic brothers, I think that this may partially be due to their patience continuously being tried by the hoards of rowdy tourists that run drunkenly through their picturesque streets.

Prague is a pretty liberal city, which is possibly reinforced by the fact that the majority of population does not actively practice any religion. In this regard, Prague has a similar feel to that of being in Amsterdam. The prices in Prague are low on average (not much more than $1 for a beer), but skyrocket in the town square and other tourist locations located around the city center. It may be worth finding accommodation in a cheaper district such as Prague 3, and then taking the metro to the city center. The Prague metro system is clean and works very well. In addition to the metro, there also exists a system of trams. However, watch out for pickpockets while taking the tram.
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