The Passport Fight You Already Lost
The visa service sent a stranger on a motorbike, and I handed him both our passports. I'd do it again tomorrow. The fight to keep your passport data private was lost years ago. The real leverage is somewhere else.
Latest
Border Police Ask? Short Answer. True Answer. Stop Talking.
Border agents aren't your friends, but they're not your enemies either. What they are is an authority with broad discretion. The correct strategy is boring, brief, and completely honest.
You're Not Self-Insuring. You're Gambling.
"I self-insure" shows up constantly in nomad forums, usually from people who've never had a claim. Self-insuring is a real strategy. What most people are doing isn't that—it's just hoping nothing happens.
Of Course There's a Mall
More same same than different. Big companies own most of it. Maybe we're living in one big mall?
Just Because You're Paranoid Doesn't Mean the ATM Is Safe
The readers who were nervous about ATM cards weren't wrong. But they might be nervous for the wrong reasons. Here's the full breakdown — what the law covers, what it doesn't, and why the world is making this less relevant anyway.
2026 - 11 Years as a Digital Nomad Lawyer
Eleven years in. We sold the company, got on a plane, and spent a year finding out what's left when you keep subtracting: tigers in the rain, jets over Okinawa, a funeral and a kid waiting at a Bangkok gate thirty-eight hours later.
They Can Search Your Phone at the Border. Here's What That Actually Means.
Hong Kong passed a law making it a crime to refuse to hand over your device password at the border. The U.S. hasn't gone that far — yet. What border agents can actually do with your phone, and what you can do about it.
The Airlines Know More Than the Government
The most complete surveillance profile on you as a traveler isn't in a government database — it's sitting with your airline. And you handed most of it over voluntarily, in exchange for miles you'll probably never use.
Your YouTube Channel Could Get You Detained
A British tourist in Dubai filmed an Iranian missile strike, then deleted the video. He was charged anyway—police found it in a deleted files folder. What you post, film, and store can become a legal problem in ways that don't follow the rules you think you're playing by.