This article details how we (EU passport holders) obtained our 90-day tourist visa extension in Mauritius. This was in addition to our original 90 days for a total of 180 days. To skip over our experience and find out what documents you need + the address, click here. If you’re looking for info on how to get the 1-year premium visa, read the dedicated article. This article also has a Russian 🇷🇺 translation: «Как продлить туристическую визу на Маврикии (90 дополнительных дней!)» Contents1 How to Get the First 90 Days in Mauritius?2 Failed Attempt! How to NOT Get a TouristContinue reading
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Kawthaung to Ranong: Crossing from Myanmar to Thailand by Longtail Boat
The events in this story happened on Friday the 31st of January 2020. We reentered Thailand near Ranong after one month in Myanmar in the southernmost city of Kawthaung. There it’s possible to travel to Ranong across the Kraburi/Pak Chan/Kyan river mouth in the Andaman Sea. Mind you that these were the early days of the coronavirus outbreak and Thailand already had its first 14 confirmed cases. Click here to skip to the summary of tips for what to bring and what to expect. Preparations The Kawthaung-Ranong border is one of the few border crossings between Myanmar and Thailand thatContinue reading
How to get a 90-day visa for Cabo Verde: Part II – the Cabo Verde Visa Extension
Read Part I of trying to get a visa extension in Cabo Verde here. Disclaimer: This article on securing a 90-day visa extension after getting a 30-day entry to Cabo Verde applies mostly to EU+ citizens. This new visa policy only applies to holders of EU, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, and UK passports. Passport holders of other nationalities can still apply to a Cabo Verdean visa at embassies and consulates the regular way. If you don’t want to read the backstory, read The TL;DR or ‘What to bring’ for a summary of findings. The Immigration office in Espargos, Sal We first tried toContinue reading
Colombian Visa Extension in Santa Marta
Today I got a visa extension for the first time in my life. I’ve been nearly 90 days in Colombia, which means my passport needed a refresher 90 days. I’m very far from ‘done’ with Colombia; it’s a fun country! With 90 extra days, I can hitchhike around the country in peace. While I know it’s not such a big deal for EU citizens to do this, it requires me to play the role of Good Tourist: a role that’s not well-suited to me. I entered Colombia on the 4th of July on a tourist visa from the land borderContinue reading
How Many People Can Visit All Countries on Earth?
You might have heard of some people who have visited all 195 countries on earth. Whoa! How do they do that? Isn’t this hugely expensive? Could a person like you or me visit all countries? Possibly, yeah, but if you think money is the greatest obstacle to visiting all of the world’s countries, you’re wrong. It’s actually the passport you hold – if you can afford one, to begin with. Out of curiosity, I tried to calculate how many people cannot visit one or more of the world’s 195 countries. If one country doesn’t let you in based on your nationality,Continue reading
Paraguay from the Back of a Pick-Up Truck
Just another day at the office… for a hitchhiker! Today I hitchhiked in the back of this pickup truck toward Mariscal Estigarribia, the last village with a sizeable population in Paraguay before the border with Bolivia—and that border is still 250km away! In Paraguay, you usually get your entrance/exit stamps in your passport at the migration office in a town before the border rather than at the actual border. This also happened to us when leaving Brazil and entering Paraguay. Besides being a little strange and not straightforward at all, this is a complicated process of asking around for ‘laContinue reading
Canary Islands, beware of the Hitchhiker
Just five days until I hit up Las Palmas in the Canary Islands! I can’t wait to wear summer clothes again and walk in flip flops or barefoot. Wow, I’ll miss the beautiful autumn colors here in my hometown though! Such wow… I hitchhiked to my hometown again today to see more family and friends. Jonas and I have taken the train from Maastricht to my small train station Hollansche Rading. There’s no bus, so we hitchhiked from the roundabout to my mom’s house. This was Jonas’ first time hitchhiking. I think he liked it 😍 I’ll also need to startContinue reading
Gibraltar: Tech Problems and Blind Hitchhiking
I’m back in the UK! Last night I found a last-minute couchsurfing host in the Spanish border town of La Linea. He was so kind to drop me at the border today. So now I can go hitchhiking Gibraltar and explore the monkey rock. The guy who took this photo is a born and raised Gibraltarian. He organizes some of the concerts for the national week here. Many people in the streets dressed in the national colors in anticipation of this week. It culminates on the 10th of September when it’s their national day. The border crossing to Gibraltar wasn’tContinue reading
