Slow Travel Archives - Poplar Travels

by Evanne

Ah, the long haul traveler’s worst nightmare. Or at least close to worst. Jet lag is a plague everyone crossing time zones has to deal with. Our latest trip from the West to the East Coast of the Unites States reminded us that even a few hours difference can throw you off for days. Not to mention flying across the world and being thrown 12 hours into the future. You’re hungry in the middle of the night, you can’t sleep or you sleep all day, you’re disoriented and maybe grumpy....

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Dec 14 2015

Christmas Gifts for Travelers

If you have a frequent traveler or someone with an upcoming trip on your Christmas list this year, you may be tempted to get them something that will be useful for them on the go. Has your sister been talking your ear off about how excited she is to take pictures on her trip to Germany over Christmas? Or maybe your best friend mentioned they want to upgrade their headphones before they have to fly across the country? Traveling is always exciting and there are tons of gadgets to help make...

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Jul 23 2015

PARKROYAL Serviced Suites, Kuala Lumpur

Reviews, Top Hotels

by Evanne

Frequent travelers know that staying in a hotel can get old. Especially when making a foreign city your temporary home, even a luxurious hotel room can just feel cold and cramped. Serviced apartments are one of our favorite ways to get comfortable in a new city and they are a perfect springboard for getting to know the place. PARKROYAL Serviced Suites offers a modern home away from home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [gallery type="rectangular" ids="4724,4720,4719"] *Photos courtesy of PARKROYAL because this happened. The Rooms These incredibly well-designed serviced suites make creative use of space...

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Apr 10 2015

Big News: Our Next Home Base

It has been a busy few months here at Poplar Travels and now we finally get to share our plans for our next adventure! Last year, we started this journey by leaving Washington, D.C., with one-way tickets to Thailand. Our plan didn’t extend beyond our 6-month lease, and when it was up we started on a tour of Southeast Asia starting with two weeks in Vietnam followed by Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia. The past five weeks have absolutely flown by and we have so many stories to share. We stayed in...

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Jan 02 2015

2014 In Review: A Travel Summary

by Evanne

When we started Poplar Travels, we were beyond excited to move to Thailand and start exploring the other side of the world. We have now been in Thailand for four months and we absolutely love it. While based in Chiang Mai, we have had the opportunity to travel to some really amazing locations in and outside of the country and even make a trip home to the East Coast. 2014 has been a fantastic year and in the spirit of the new year, we want to take a moment to...

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Dec 06 2014

How To Unlock Your iPhone For Travel

by Eric

There are many preparations that you need to make when planning for a trip. If you happen to be traveling to another country an important and overlooked preparation is making sure that your phone is able to work with a foreign cellular service carrier. For vacations of only a few days, buying a cheap disposable phone or only using your current phone with wifi is a simple option, but if you are traveling for a while or if you need reliable internet, like us, then knowing how to unlock your iPhone...

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Dec 03 2014

Ascott Raffles Place Singapore

Reviews, Top Hotels

There are hundreds of hotels in Singapore and dozens that offer refined boutique luxury experiences, but only a few that offer cultural luxury enveloped in the rich history of Singapore. Ascott Raffles Place Singapore is one of these distinguished heritage hotels. Ascott Raffles Place is located in what used to be the Asia Insurance Building. The building was designed by one of Singapore’s pioneer architects and was finished in 1954. At 20 stories, it claimed the title of the then tallest building in Asia. Its Art Deco design and construction quality was...

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Oct 31 2014

Poplar Travels Is On YouTube!

by Evanne

We have had some amazing experiences on our travels so far. Thailand has proved a beautiful and adventurous place. Not only do we have thousands of photographs already, we also collected some pretty awesome video footage. We decided you just needed to see it, so Poplar Travels has officially launched our YouTube channel! We are learning a bit of video editing as we go along, so things will only get better from here. Subscribe to our channel so you don't miss our upcoming videos from Phuket! Check out what we've uploaded so far...

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10 Ways to Meet People While Traveling

by Evanne

Whether you travel solo or with a friend, meeting people abroad is still one of the best parts of traveling. The person you share a laugh with on a beach in France could be someone you keep in touch with for life. Even if your chance encounters don't amount to anything more than a conversation over a few drinks, it is worth putting yourself out there a bit to meet fellow travelers on the road. Here are 10 ways to meet people while traveling. 1. Go on tours I know, I know, you hate...

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Oct 02 2014

How to Extend Your Thai Tourist Visa in Chiang Mai

We previously wrote about how to get a Thai tourist visa and, with a multiple-entry visa, how to extend each entry. This time, we will go more in depth on the extension process which can be used to extend any 60-day entry for another 30 days. We have triple-entry tourist visas and we just extended our first entry (valid 60 days) for another 30 days (giving us 90 total days on our first entry). The extension is added to the end of your entry period, so you don’t have to go the...

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Sep 29 2014

12 Simple Travel Tips To Help You Prepare For Any Trip

by Eric

Have you ever gotten on a flight, ready to relax until you arrive at your wonderful vacation destination only to remember you forgot to do something important? Here are 12 travel tips to help you prepare for any trip and eliminate that stress. 1. Check in 24 hours before your flight for better boarding status and print your tickets to avoid check in counter lines. 2. Scan or take photos of your passport, drivers license, health insurance cards and itinerary then email to yourself or upload to Google Drive or Dropbox so you...

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Sep 04 2014

How to Get a Thai Tourist Visa

by Eric

Long term travel takes a lot of preparation. Besides the more exciting aspects of planning a trip to Thailand, we also had to figure our how to legally stay in the country for as long as possible. Trying to find information about how to get a Thai tourist visa can be a very stressful and confusing experience. After researching the several available types, we decided to go the route of obtaining a triple entry tourist visa. The requirements for tourist visas change periodically and government websites can be confusing and sometimes contain conflicting...

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Sep 02 2014

How to find an apartment in Chiang Mai

When we moved to Chiang Mai, we knew that we wanted to rent an apartment for 3-6 months. After living in a small, old apartment in D.C., we also knew we didn’t want 75 layers of lead-based paint on the walls, nor did we want to live on the fourth floor without an elevator. We needed a furnished apartment, too, and we wanted to be close to the Old City. So we were faced with the question of how to find an apartment in Chiang Mai. After asking around, we learned...

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Aug 10 2014

How To Save For Longterm Travel

by Eric

Travel is not cheap. Period. Even flying on the cheapest airlines, staying in the cheapest accommodations, and doing all the cheap activities you can find will add up to a considerable amount. So how can you go on your dream trip without moving back in with your parents? Research, Prioritize and Execute. Research! Decide on a travel goal. Narrow down all your travel desires and destination ideas into one specific trip. This doesn't mean that you have to choose only one destination but you will need to transform your dreams into an attainable...

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Jul 30 2014

Goodbye Pains