Solutions & stories for optimizing travel
Welcome to The Meticulous Traveler!
Hey there, I’m Andrew.
My hope is that you leave here with a piece of knowledge that makes the travel process easier, simpler and more fun for you.
In my student and professional life, I’ve found ways to prioritize international travel, even with a demanding full-time schedule.
Knowing that I have limited time, I want to make sure I maximize both my time and my money when I’m traveling. This means focusing on the details!
Most Recent Trip: 🇧🇿 Belize
Next Trip: 🇲🇽 Mexico
Why I created The Meticulous Traveler
I want to help working professionals who want to travel but may have concerns about:
- Getting the most of each travel dollar spent
- Getting the most of each travel minute spent
- Planning trips, from flights to the smallest details
- Visas, passports and other travel paperwork
Explore the site by country
Blue countries I’ve visited and written about | Gray countries I’ve visited but not written about (yet)
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Why I love travel
International travel is my life’s passion.
I love seeing new places, taking in breathtaking views of nature, seeing how people live and eating great new foods. Travel has opened up the world to me and made me the person I am today.
I’m always thinking about and planning my next trip. Anticipating my next travel experience is what keeps me motivated day-to-day at home.
My travel partner and wife, Sunshine, and I both work full-time jobs in the US with limited vacation time. It is crucial for us to make the most of the few weeks off we have each year.
Recent blog posts
A Day at Olympic National Park: Staircase Entrance
We just got back from a week-long trip to Seattle which included two national park visits. I’ll write about Mount Rainer separately. This post is specifically about the short day we spent in Olympic National Park – specifically the Staircase entrance. PLANNING This was our first trip with our five-month-old daughter, so we had to […]
A Long Weekend at Hard Rock Hotel Cancun
For a cousin’s upcoming wedding, Mrs. Meticulous and I had the chance to enjoy a relaxing long weekend at the Hard Rock Hotel in Cancun, Mexico. It was the first Mexico visit for the Mrs. and the second for me. If you count a one-day trip across the land border when I was roughly ten […]
A Week in Kenya
Traveling to Kenya was an awestriking experience. As my first trip to sub-saharan Africa, I found a week in Kenya to not nearly be enough time to experience it fully. Despite that, Mrs. Meticulous and I had a wonderful trip which was highlighted by a fantastic safari in the Masaai Mara National Reserve. This trip […]
A Week in Caye Caulker, Belize
Mrs. Meticulous and I just got back from a relaxing week in Belize. We spent the vast majority of it on Caye (pronounced “key”) Caulker, an island east of the mainland. Since we had just returned from a week in Kenya, we wanted this to be a more relaxed trip. We chose to not fill […]
Trip Planning for a Week in Everglades & Biscayne National Parks
Mrs. Meticulous and I just got back from a week in Southern Florida, visiting Everglades and Biscayne National Parks. Since COVID-19 has been affecting our travel plans, we’ve pivoted to focusing on the national parks around the US. The area around the Everglades and the Florida Keys was beautiful and a nice way to spend […]
How to use Mobile Passport
Mobile Passport is starting to get a bit more popular but is still one of international travel’s best kept secrets. This post will describe the details of the app and some of the things you should know about using it. WHAT IS MOBILE PASSPORT? Mobile Passport is a free app that allows you to digitally […]
Weekend in Ironwood, Michigan
This year, my wife and I celebrated our fifth anniversary. To honor that achievement (no small feat, half a decade with me), we wanted to plan something big. But then… COVID changed our plans. Rather than take a trip abroad, we had to rethink. Since we couldn’t add a country, what about another state? Looking […]
Review of the Chase Sapphire Reserve
There are few things in life I would publicly claim to love. My wife, my dog, soccer, and local St. Paul pho are a few big ones. But a surprise addition to that list in the past few years is the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. Not a joke! Time and time again I’ve been […]
A Weekend on Madeline Island
Since COVID-19 has been wreaking havoc on my travel plans, I’ve been more focused and excited for the little trips that fill in the space in between bigger ones this year. Every summer, a group of my high school friends and I drive to Bayfield, Wisconsin to spend a week on Madeline Island in the […]
A Week in Japan: My First Visit
In the summer of 2018, my parents, my wife Sunshine, and I spent a week in Japan. It was an incredible trip full of temples, great food, and even a robot light show. I purposefully named this post “A Week in Japan: My First Visit” to imply my intentions to go back. A week in […]
Airline Partnerships: What you Need to Know
The topic of airline partnerships, or alliances, is one that many travelers overlook. Many fliers don’t even know what these are. In this article, I will dive into the details of these airline partnerships and why it’s important to know how to navigate them for full benefit. Separately, I’ll provide a real-life case study for […]
Two Weeks in Europe by Train
In June 2019, I took my wife and parents on a two-week trip across western Europe by train. I had just graduated from business school and had a couple of months until starting the big boy job. I had to make sure to capitalize on this opportunity! In a few weeks I would be counting […]
Coronavirus Canceled my Vacation (and it’s OK)
As has happened to many other travelers in 2020, Coronavirus recently canceled my vacation. With the recent spread and global impact of the novel Coronavirus, our big South Africa trip for April was put on hold. We’d been looking forward to it since January so it was a huge bummer for us. However, after getting […]
Why You Should Connect With Locals While Traveling
Why should you connect with locals while traveling? If you talk to people who have traveled extensively across the globe, you’ll hear some consistent themes. One that I hear often is the opportunity to meet local people that you never would encounter at home. This gives international travel a destiny-like aspect to it. What are […]
How to Spend A Week in Costa Rica
My wife Sunshine and I recently returned from a week in Costa Rica. We saw a stunning diversity in landscape from urban to mountainous to beachside. Despite hitting three separate locations (four if you count returning to San Jose), it had the feel of a calm, relaxing holiday. This is a far cry from our […]