Shanghai, China

Shanghai, China is the biggest city in the world (depending on how you measure it). Its among the most popular Chinese destinations for western travelers, and though our visits there were brief compared to some other cities, we certainly kept ourselves busy. We stopped there twice in May. Once to apply for new passports, and once to pick them up again. But while we weren’t battling the bureaucracy, we were walking the bund, shopping, and enjoying the food.

Must Have Apps for Living In China

If you aren’t traveling to get off the grid, you will find that a cell phone is a very useful thing to have in China. But not only won’t some of your favorite apps not work while you are in China (unless you have a VPN - see below), you also have the chance to try some really useful ones that you’ve never heard of before, but which are being used by over a billion Chinese people. After months in China, here’s our list of apps that we really couldn’t get by without.

Review: Using ExpressVPN While Traveling

If you are in China, much of the internet will be unavailable to you unless you have a VPN. Google Maps, Gmail, Facebook, Instagram and much more are all blocked by “The Great Firewall of China.” In this post, we go over what a VPN is, and review ExpressVPN, the service we have been using ever since we started traveling. Even if you aren’t in China, a VPN also provides security and anonymity as you browse the web.

Review: 6 Things We Liked (and 5 We Didn’t) at Shanghai Disney

Having lived for a few years not far from Orlando, Florida, we couldn’t help but spend one day at the Shanghai Disney park. It’s the biggest Disney park in the world, and the newest. Some things felt very familiar, others not so much. In this post, we go over what we thought were the best and worst aspects of our experience at Shanghai Disney. We mix a couple tips in as well, of course.

YES, You Keep Your U.S. Passport While Renewing Overseas

We were going to Shanghai to renew our U.S. passports (all part of full time slow travel), but we weren’t sure if we got to hold on to our old ones while the new ones were being processed. Our research and attempts to contact the consulate were inconclusive at best. This post not only answers that question, it also goes over the steps involved in renewing a U.S. Passport overseas. Oh, and we tell you the correct address of the U.S. consulate in Shanghai.