Trying to decide which portable power station is right for you? In today’s post we review the BLUETTI EB70S Portable Power Station.

If you’re in the market for an electric generator that can keep up with your on-the-go lifestyle or provide essential backup power when you need it most, the BLUETTI EB70S is definitely worth a look.

We’ve only been able to test the EB70S hands on for a few weeks so far, but we’re definitely impressed with the balance of power and portability.

With a compact design and 800W of power, the EB70S is the ideal companion for camping and van life, providing a dependable source of energy for lighting, cooking, and device charging.

See prices and more on the BLUETTI website now.

It also gives peace of mind during power outages and natural disasters, ensuring that you stay connected and prepared, even if the grid goes down. For RV enthusiasts, the EB70S makes powering your mobile home a breeze, while remote workers can benefit from its reliable backup power capabilities for their home offices.

Before we get into how the EB70S can help in different scenarios, let’s look at some of the technical specs that we think make the BLUETTI EB70S one of the best mid-range solar power stations available.

BLUETTI EB70S Review

To start, let’s look at the battery capacity, charging time, solar panel compatibility, and portability for the BLUETTI EB70S, to help you make an informed decision in your search for the perfect solar power station.

Battery Capacity and Power

The EB70S is a pure sine wave inverter, with 716Wh capacity and 800W rated wattage, with 1,400W of surge power.

So what does that mean? There is 716Wh of energy stored in the battery (total battery capacity in watt hours), and there is 800W of power output, which is how much energy the battery can push out at any time.

The bigger the battery capacity, the longer you can run your devices per charge and the higher the power output, the larger the device (or sum of devices) you can power at once.

The EB70s 716Wh will give you:

• 50 phone charges
• 9-10 laptop charges
• 8 drone charges
• 18 hours running a typical fan

It also offers pass through charging, meaning that you can charge the BLUETTI and charge up your laptop or phone at the same time that it’s charging.

What can you power with an 800 watt generator?

With the BLUETTI EB70S you can power up to 12 devices that take a total of 800 watts at one time.

There are 12 charging ports:

• Four 120V AC outlets
• Two USB-C ports (100W Max)
• Two USB-A ports (5V/3A)
• One 12V/10A car outlet
• Two 12V/10A (DC5521)
• One 15W wireless charging pad

How long does it take to charge a BLUETTI EB70S?

The BLUETTI EB70S can be fully recharged from an AC wall outlet in three to four hours. The package comes with an AC adapter brick charger and charging cable.

It can also be recharged in 7-8 hours from the included 12V car cable.

Using a 200W solar panel, it can recharge fully in 3 to 4 hours. With a BLUETTI 120W solar panel, it will recharge fully in 6.5hrs.

Solar Panel Compatibility

The maximum solar input for the BLUETTI EB70S is 200W, meaning that you can safely charge it with up to a maximum of 200W of solar panels (Open Circuit Voltage: 12-28V). It also has a dedicated MPPT charge controller to ensure it charges the stable LiFePO4 battery it uses both quickly and safely.

The battery is rated for over 2500 charges so the EB70s should last for years to come and is shelf stable at 80% charge for 3 to 6 months at a time which is handy when only used for emergencies.

Portability

One of my favorite things about the EB70S is how easy it is to pick up and move. It weighs 21.4 pounds (9.7 kg), and comes in a compact package (12.6 x 8.5 x 8.7 in, or 32 x 21.6 x 22.1 cm).

It’s lightweight enough to pick up and carry comfortably into our backyard, or to our local park for a picnic.

The handle folds neatly into the top, making storage a breeze, but it unfolds in a snap to make it easy to carry.

What’s included:

• the EB70S portable power station
• AC adapter brick and charging cable
• 12v car charging cable
• solar charging cable
• user manual
• warranty card

What’s the difference between the EB70 and the EB70S?

The EB70S delivers up to 800W AC power while EB70 offers 700W.

Learn more about the BLUETTI EB70S here.

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• An Honest Review of GlocalMe WiFi Hotspot
• The 10 Best Road Trips in British Columbia, Canada
• The Ultimate Vancouver to Banff Road Trip

10 Ways to Use a BLUETTI EB70S Generator

From off-grid living and camping excursions to staying prepared during natural disasters and power outages, the BLUETTI EB70S Power Station has you covered.

Tenting

As our kids get older, we’re enjoying tenting and hammock camping more and more. That said, it’s nice to have some conveniences while we’re out in the mountains.

A lightweight power station like the BLUETTI is easy to take on car camping trips, and helps us with everything from heating water to powering lights to recharging our devices.

Van Life

We were original van lifers, way back on our first big trip together in 2003.

We spent five months in Australia, driving our trusty Toyota HiAce van from Adelaide to Darwin, across the Australian Outback, and down the East Coast to Sydney. We charged our laptop and camera on the go, scrounging power at campsites and the occasional restaurant along the way. When we were in more remote places, like the Outback, it was a constant struggle to power our electronics.

These days, a solar generator lets you get reliable electricity even in the most remote locations.

With a BLUETTI EB70S power station on board, van dwellers like us can run everything from a mini fridge to a coffee pot, and everything in between. Imagine the luxury of enjoying a home-cooked meal and a steaming cup of coffee in the heart of the wilderness – it’s a game changer! Coupled with a couple solar chargers, you could stay off grid nearly indefinitely.

Natural Disasters and Power Outages

Every year, weather events are becoming more and more extreme.

Our home base is less than three hours from Lytton, BC, where Canada’s highest ever temperature of 49.6 °C (121.3 °F) was recorded in 2021 and most of the town was destroyed in the resulting wildfires. The same year, extensive flooding in British Columbia damaged major highways in the province.

2021 hammered home the fact that emergency preparation is important in a world where weather extremes can happen at any time.

A generator can give you emergency power for many things, including TVs, LED lights, a small heater, a freezer or just keeping your internet modem and router up, so you can continue working during a power outage. An electric power generator also has the luxury of working directly in your home, meaning you don’t need to run an electrical cable through your window or setting up costly breakers so your fuel fed generator can continue to safely provide you power.

Off site Working

Power stations can power tools and equipment for building projects in locations without access to traditional power sources. Whether they’re used to power traditional plugged in power tools or to recharge the battery hungry cordless tools most contractors use day to day, they’re indispensable for many unpowered sites. They’re even helpful for charging your laptop for late night meetings while on the jobsite.

RV Camping

There’s something magical about immersing ourselves in nature and unplugging from our digital lives however we often need to stay connected too, whether it’s for work, or just for fun. After a day filled with outdoor adventure, nothing compares to the simple pleasures of listening to our favorite tunes, or even catching up on a favorite TV show. This is where the BLUETTI lithium powered power station steps in, making sure we can stay connected while we’re away from the grid.

Thanks to the BLUETTI 800W solar generator, the lack of power sources in remote locations is no longer an issue. A solar generator lets us gather around a well-lit campsite or blend up a batch of refreshing smoothies, while powering up our essential devices, such as drones, cameras, and even cooking appliances.

Backyard Barbecues

Ah, backyard barbecues – those fun times when we gather with friends and family to share good food and even better company.

A power station can help the mood by powering enchanting string lights, plus running speakers and a smartphone to provide the perfect musical interlude. With its reliable electric-powered capabilities, a power station can effortlessly power and even run outdoor projectors for movie nights under the stars. Just fire up the grill, kick back, and enjoy.

Portable Arts and Crafts Station

Taking your arts and crafts projects on the go has never been easier.

With its sustainable and reliable energy source, an electric generator offers the freedom to set up a portable arts and crafts station virtually anywhere, from bustling craft sales to lively farmers markets. The EB70S can power an array of crafting tools, such as hot glue guns and Cricut makers, allowing you to create and showcase your masterpieces without being tethered to traditional power outlets, inside or out.

Picnicking

Want to elevate your picnic game?

A portable power generator can provide everything from music to lights to cooking on the go. Just add the picnic basket and blanket and you’re all set!

Off-grid living

Interested in life off the grid? For those living in remote or off-grid locations, electric generators can supply essential electricity for daily needs and household appliances. Once you add in some solar panels, the need to ever be plugged into the grid is no longer a concern.

Busking

Here’s a unique use for a solar generator: busking.

It’s a fun job you can do as you travel, and a way to share your musical talents with the world. With its eco-friendly power, the BLUETTI EB70S generator can run guitar amps, electronic keyboards, and even dazzling light displays to captivate your audience, all while keeping it green and sustainable.

What if there’s no sun?

While a solar generator is a useful solution for powering your devices, it does require a good amount of sunlight to charge efficiently. On cloudy or rainy days, a solar generator may not recharge as quickly, which could leave you conserving power until the sun comes back out. That said, the BLUETTI EB70s can also be charged via a traditional power plug or even via the 12v jack in your vehicle, making it not only a solar generator but also a portable power station.

While there’s a bit of an initial financial investment for a solar generator and solar panels, in the long run, it’s an eco-friendly and cost-effective way to stay powered up on the road and doesn’t require the continual costs of fuel like gas or propane to run. Unlike a gasoline generator, electrical power stations like the BLUETTI can also be safely run inside a home, camper or van with zero emissions or a hot muffler to worry about.

Is the BLUETTI EB70S worth it? Our Bottom line

The BLUETTI EB70S is a capable mid-range portable power station, with solid performance, and decent capacity. Using it is as easy as plugging in your device and using one of the 12 charging options. The LED readout is bright and useful, showing the power draw, how much power is left, and how long a full charge will take.

Pros

• Solid performance
• Lightweight and portable
• Wireless charging port
• Capable of pass through charging
• Excellent balance of portability and power

Cons

• No app
• Large external brick wall charger
• The fan on the brick wall charger isn’t silent when charging the BLUETTI

All in all, the BLUETTI EB70S is a capable mid-range portable power station, with solid performance, and decent capacity, that hits a nice balance between power and portability.

See prices and more on the BLUETTI website now.

We’ve been actively looking for a generator for a couple of years. We wanted something portable enough for off-road vehicle camping, but with enough power to run our home office electronics in a power outage.

Curious? See the Jackery 1000 Pro on Amazon here or learn more about the Jackery 1000 Pro on the Jackery website.

Using a generator outdoors used to mean bringing along a noisy, gas powered machine on off-road adventures.

Luckily, the past few years have brought a renaissance in solar powered generators, which generate power from the sun instead of from a can of gas, making them much quieter, more eco-friendly and cheaper to maintain in the long run.

Let’s take a look at one of the latest of these setups from a company that focuses exclusively on solar power generators. This is the new Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro.

Jackery is having a flash sale with up to 20% off on selected products from April 14th to 22nd! Don’t miss the chance to snag one for your spring getaway!

Old school generators needed fossil fuels to run, which was always annoying, because you can only bring along so much gasoline, and you’d eventually be left without power. Plus, transporting and storing gas is messy, smelly and can even be dangerous.

Let’s dive into the Jackery solar generator review!

Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro Review

With an impressive 1,000 watts of power, this generator can provide the energy needed to run appliances, charge devices, and power your campsite. And best of all, you won’t have to worry about connecting to the grid or running out of power when you’re out in the wilderness.

Trust me, having a reliable source of portable power can make all the difference when you’re off-grid. So, if you’re serious about finding a generator that can keep up with your outdoor adventures, a battery based solar generator like this one should definitely be at the top of your shortlist.

A solar generator means no cords have to run through windows or an expensive outside switch needs to be installed like a gas-powered model that needs to be run outside the home (due to carbon monoxide risk). A solar generator like the Jackery runs clean and silent, and can be kept in the house, while a gas generator needs to run outdoors.

That means that we can move or position the Jackery anywhere in our home if needed and keep it closer to what’s important. It’s also great when we have to turn off the breakers when working on any electrical projects yet still maintain our modem, router or lighting when one of us needs to continue working online for the duration of the outage.

See the Jackery 1000 Pro on Amazon here.

Learn more about the Jackery 1000 Pro on the Jackery website.

Solar generator for travel and camping

That said, we love our electronics. After a long day out on the trail, it’s wonderful to kick back and watch a movie on our laptop, enjoy the cool breeze from a fan in our tent, or brew a tasty cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, the great outdoors doesn’t come equipped with power outlets, so we need to bring our own portable power station.

Having a solar generator can make off-road camping a little more luxurious, providing power for a blender, coffee maker, or even a mini-fridge plus it can run lights, music and whatever else you might enjoy away from the comforts of home.

A solar generator runs silently, and without fossil fuels. This makes a solar power station much more desirable for camping than a gas generator, since it’s silent, and doesn’t require refilling with gasoline or propane, which is a limited resource off-road. You can only carry so many cans of gas, which are prone to spilling, and stinking up the inside of your vehicle and propane bottles are often big and clunky to transport safely.

Instead, a solar power station can be recharged by solar panels continually for free with zero noise. That means they can run from sunup to sundown regardless of where you happen to be and if you’re in one of the many parks that limit gas generators to only a few hours a day due to noise, with these you can stay plugged in all the time.

Where to use the Jackery 1000 Pro

We love camping, whether it’s lakeside in our travel trailer, or in the middle of nowhere in our tents, and we also love to just hop in our vehicle and explore the great outdoors for the day. The Jackery makes this easier for us.

The Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro can be recharged more than 1000 cycles to 80% capacity. If we camp three times a year, for five days each, for a total of 15 days, charging once a day, well, then we’d need to camp for 66 years before we hit the 1000 charges. Basically, the Jackery would outlast me.

Like many of you, we usually bring sensitive electronics, including smartphones, cameras, wireless speakers and the occasional drone when we camp. That means that we want a power station, like the Jackery, which has a pure sine wave AC outlet, letting us safely use the power station inverter to run and charge our delicate electronics.

We also wanted a solar power station that is light enough for our 14 year old daughter to carry. The Jackery 1000 Pro weighs in at just under 25.5 pounds (11.5 kg), which is light enough for her to easily move around a campsite.

The built-in Jackery’s LED light is useful while camping, and it’s adjustable, with a dim, bright, and flash setting. It could probably run that light for a week.

Solar generator for camper

We’re starting to do more tent and hammock camping, but we still occasionally take out our travel trailer. It’s great for rainy weather, and has more room for our family of four.

A solar generator for travel trailers or RVs generally needs more power than for the off-road tent and hammock camping we do. RVs come with more comfort, and larger appliances like a microwave, blender, and coffee maker plus, since we have more room and a safe place to store them, we’re more likely to use small electrical devices, such as a laptops or tablets while in the trailer.

Taken all together, these appliances can create a pretty big electrical demand.

While we personally tend to either tent or use our travel trailer, a solar generator can be equally useful for other RVs, like motorhomes, fifth wheels, tent trailers, caravans, truck campers, and popup campers. It would also be a great addition for the vanlife crowd with their reduced needs.

When looking for a solar generator for a camper, generally, the more power the better so you might want to look at Jackery’s larger offerings.

Check out higher powered Jackery options on Amazon or on the Jackery website.

Scroll down to see details on the Jackery Earth Day sales event!

Jackery 1000 Pro

There’s a lot to like with the Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro.

Because it runs on green energy from the sun, it’s super quiet (46 dB), which is about the sound level of normal library sounds, and quieter than a quiet conversation.

There’s an integrated battery system (BMS) to monitor and protect battery life, and a folding handle for easy transport and storage.

All of those features mean that it’s perfect for camping and power outages.

How long will a Jackery 1000 Pro run our office electronics in a power outage?

We make our living online, so a power outage from a natural disaster or even on the grid power issues is not only inconvenient, it can also cost us money if we can’t work.

The Jackery Pro has a pure sine wave inverter for stable power that protects against equipment damage, which is perfect for delicate electronics like laptops, phones, drones, cameras, and Wi-Fi routers.

It’s also super quiet, so we can work in peace and quiet!

Here’s a little of what the Jackery can run:

• TV for 13 hours
• blender for 2.5 hours
• coffee maker for 1.5 hours
• charge a phone 130 times
• charge a laptop 12 times. My laptop has a 10 hour battery, so that’s around 120 work hours on just one charge!

You can charge up to eight singular devices at the same time, using the four USB outlets, three AC outlets, and one car port charger. If you have a USB multi adapter, you can charge even more than that.

If we get hungry, it can run a microwave for 1.2 hours, an instant pot for just under an hour, or even act as a backup for our fridge (1.6 hours on a single charge).

What’s especially helpful is that we can recharge the Jackery for free anytime the sun is out. It only takes seven hours to charge from 0 to 80%, using our two 80 W SolarSaga panels. That means that we can get multiple charges every day, especially during the summer when we have over 15 hours of sunlight a day.

We can also just plug it into the wall and have a full charge in 1.8 hours. If you’re heading out on a long drive, it can also be charged up in the car with the included 12v lighter adapter charger.

How long will a 1000 watt Jackery Pro last?

The 1000 in the name of the Jackery 1000 Pro means two things:

• 1000 watts is the maximum power level of a device you can run off the device
• 1000 watt hours of duration

For example, you could run a one watt device for 1,000 hours, or run a 100 watt device for 10 hours (1,000 watts total).

It’s rated for 1000 full charge cycles. At the end of those 1,000 charges, you’ll be left with approximately 80% of your original capacity, and capacity will gradually reduce from there.

Jackery also says the 1000 Pro holds an 80 percent charge for a year sitting on a shelf, which is pretty fantastic, especially if you’re not interested in the hassle of regularly maintaining your battery. Seriously, I have enough to do in my life that I don’t need to have to worry about some sort of regular battery maintenance to the list.

How does a Jackery work, and what can you power with a Jackery?

You can use the Jackery to plug in standard household items, using the AC outlets, USB chargers, or even via a car charger.

The Jackery has:

• three – 3-prong, grounded household AC outlets, to plug in anything from a fridge to a blender to a coffee maker to a wireless router to a fiber optic modem
• four USB ports! Of these, there are:
  • Two USB-A ports with quick charge 3.0, which is fantastic for charging cell phones that can take that much power
  • Two USB-C ports, with 100 W output, which would be great to charge a laptop or tablet
• a traditional 12 volt automotive style outlet so you can charge any device you normally plug into your vehicle’s cigarette lighter port.

The battery itself is lithium-ion, which is standard in these higher end portable power stations. They last significantly longer than old style lead acid batteries, they’re much lighter, and can be more fully discharged than old-school lead-acid batteries.

How to charge your Jackery

To charge the Jackery you have three options:

• Plugging it into the wall. It’ll fully charge in 1.8 hours from empty.
• Plugging it into your car’s 12-volt outlet, so it can charge as you’re driving. This takes about four and a half hours of driving to get a full charge.
• Charging with solar panels (approx 7-9 hours with the 2x80w SolarSaga solar panels and less than 2 if you have the 200w version).

I love the option to charge with the wall charger, and from the car battery, but honestly the solar panels high efficiency MPPT charging ability is the main draw for me. I’m all over the idea of charging with free energy from the sun.

The Jackery comes with numerous charging cables and adapters, and a handy carrying case:

• 1 Car Charge Cable
• 1 AC Charge Cable
• 2 DC7909 to DC8020 Adapters

It also comes with user manuals for the Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro, and the SolarSaga 80 W solar panels.

Jackery SolarSaga 80W solar panel review

Our Explorer unit came with the affordable two Jackery SolarSaga 80 W panels option.

These solar panels use IBC solar cells, which is a fancy way of saying that they’re really efficient at turning sunlight into electricity. In fact, they can convert up to 25% of the sunlight they receive into usable power. That means you can get more power out of these panels than you would with other types of solar cells.

What’s more, these panels work well even in low-light environments. So if you’re using them on a cloudy day or in the shade, you’ll still get a decent amount of power. And because they’re designed to be heat-resistant, they’ll keep working even when temperatures rise. In fact, in hot weather, you can get even more power out of these panels.

Overall, if you’re looking for a reliable, efficient, and durable solar panel for your outdoor adventures, Jackery SolarSaga 80 watt solar panels are a great choice.

Each solar panel comes with a zippered carrying case with a built-in handle to better protect them when on the go.

Each panel only weighs around 11 pounds (5 kg), and they unfold and set up in around 60 seconds, giving our family endless green power wherever we happen to be.

It comes with all the cables and connectors that you’ll need including extenders to give you a few more ideal solar placement options.

The panels come with a quick flip metal stand on the back to angle them to better capture the sun’s rays.

These fold up really nicely for storage and transport, and when they unfold and are aimed right at the sun it takes nine hours for a full 0 to 100% recharge (or only seven hours for a 0 to 80% recharge). Honestly, that’s just fine with me, as during summer camping season we get around 14 to 15 hours of sunlight every day and in all likelihood, the Jackery won’t be at 0% when we go to charge it so it will take even less time to recharge.

The panels themselves are pretty heavy duty, with both water and dust resistance. They’re IP68 waterproof and dustproof certified.

Does the Jackery 1000 Pro support pass-through charging?

Yes, you can charge your Jackery with your solar panels, and plug in devices to charge from the Jackery at the same time. This is a great option for topping off your phone or laptop while still recharging the Jackery for later use.

How many solar panels does it take to charge a Jackery 1000 Pro?

We have the two 80 W SolarSaga panels, but you can also get the four SolarSaga 200 W option.

With the four SolarSaga 200 W solar panels, you can recharge in only 1.8 hours to full charge. That’s as fast as charging with a wall outlet, but it does come at a cost to your wallet.

Is Jackery waterproof?

No, the Jackery 1000 Pro solar generator itself isn’t waterproof.

While the solar panels do have a high resistance to dust and water, that is not true of the power station, so you need to be careful if you’re using this in a rainy climate, in snow, or in high humidity. There are covers for some of the ports though and they will help protect the Jackery from certain things.

Jackery 1000 vs 1000 Pro

The Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro is a newer, upgraded version of their Explorer 1000 power station.

Here are a few of the upgrades you’ll find in the Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro vs the original Jackery 1000:

• Wall charge of 1.8 hours for a full charge vs the original’s seven hours for a full charge
• Maximum solar panel support of 800 W (1.8 hours for a full charge) vs the original’s 200 W Max (8 hours for a full charge)
• foldable handle (Jackery 1000 original has a fixed handle)
• LED light (no light in the original)
• 1000 cycles to 80%+ capacity (vs the 500 cycles to 80%+ capacity in the original)
• extended warranty 3+2 Years 2 yr extension offer available vs the 2+1 years of the original
• Car charge of 12 hours vs 14 hours for the original
• Additional info on the LED display
• The Explorer 1000 Pro doesn’t require the power brick to charge from the wall – all you need is the included heavy cable for charging
• The Explorer 1000 Pro can self-diagnose faults and display details on the LED display.

Is the Jackery 1000 Pro worth it?

For me, the faster charging of the Jackery 1000 Pro (vs the original Jackery 1000) makes the small increase worth it.

The Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro charges in only 1.8 hours when plugged in vs the original’s seven hour charging time. It can also charge in 1.8 hours via solar (with the 4×200 W panels), which is lightning fast.

That fast charging speed, alone, makes the Jackery 1000 Pro worth it for me.

The Jackery Explorer 1000 has the capacity to charge an essential device like your smartphone 130 times over. While that’s probably overkill, the Explorer Pro’s three 110V AC outlets means it can also be used to keep small appliances running during a power outage. It can power a tower fan for 17 hours on one charge, and having a fan to cool us off during a heat wave when the power is out would be incredibly useful.

It can also charge up power tools on the go or charge up battery operated power tool batteries if you tend to work away from home or in areas without power. We could see something like this being a huge boon to contractors on the go or working on new homes without electricity available yet.

Let’s talk price

At $1,199 USD with the 15% off Earth Day promo – (or $1,614.15 with the two SolarSaga 80W solar panels), it’s a relatively affordable power source for outdoors and on camping trips, and emergencies.

Right now, there’s a fantastic Earth day promotion.

Jackery is throwing a flash sale with up to 20% off on selected products from April 14th to 22nd!

Don’t miss the chance to snag one during the Jackery Earth Day Promo for your spring getaway!

See the Jackery 1000 Pro Earth Day promo on Amazon here.

See discounts for the Jackery 1000 Pro Earth Day Promo on the Jackery website.

Jackery 1000 promo code

You can find the promo code for the Jackery on Amazon or it’s own website.

Jackery 1000 Pro Earth Day promo on Amazon.

Jackery 1000 Pro Earth Day Promo on the Jackery website.

Is the Jackery worth the money?

It’s definitely not a cheap portable power device, but it’s in the premium range for quality and reputation too.

If you’re interested in getting a portable power system that lets you go just about anywhere and have serious power and serious recharge this is definitely one to look at.

Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro and 2x SolarSaga 80 W Solar Panels

Every once in a while we get our hands on a camping product that blows us a way, and joins our must-take list for of-road adventures. The Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro is one such product.

Fast 1.8 hour full charge from wall outlet

Powerful 1000 watts

Excellent choice of charging ports

Recharge with solar panels, wall outlet, or car connector

Great for camping or power outages

Summary

The Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro Portable Power Station is useful for power outages, camping, and emergencies. The 1000 Pro has a rugged design, quick charging and is easy to use out of box.

4.9

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Join us as we uncover how the innovative eSIM technology is transforming the way we stay connected, ensuring a seamless and cost-effective travel experience.

eSIMs are the answer to staying connected wherever you are. They’re cheap and also reliable, which is perfect when you’re on vacation. Having an eSIM for travel also means you don’t need to worry about roaming charges, swapping out physical SIM cards, and network compatibility.

An eSIM is usually great for someone who doesn’t mind having a short-term pay-as-you go plan. This makes having an eSIM solution a perfect option for travelers like us.

While some eSims are tied to certain countries, many eSIMs let you connect to cellular networks around the world, meaning you can get cheap travel data and avoid roaming charges.

It has to be noted though that the aloSIM eSIM data in particular does not come with a cell number to make calls or texts and is reserved only for data.

See AloSIM prices now.

Is an eSIM better than a physical SIM card?

Back in the day, we used to recommend that travelers pick up a physical SIM card when they arrived at their destination airport. However, there are definitely disadvantages to this approach:

• It can sometimes be hard to identify a reputable local mobile provider.
• There’s often a lot of annoying paperwork, including showing your passport to register.
• You have the hassle of figuring out mobile data and cell plans when you’re jet-lagged, and sometimes having to make the deal in another language.
• Having to physically swap out your old SIM card for the new one, and store your home SIM card somewhere safe for when you head back home.

These days, we generally recommend travelers get an eSIM instead, as long as their phone supports it.

What’s an eSIM?

An eSIM is exactly what it sounds like: an electronic SIM card. The eSIM hardware is embedded in your phone (meaning it’s not removable, unlike a standard physical SIM card) and just needs to be programmed to work with different carriers and cell providers.

What’s cool about an eSIM is that you don’t need to visit a physical store. You can get an eSIM entirely online.

You can also buy an eSIM from your home country, before you leave on your trip.

An eSIM lets you change your wireless carrier, data, or service plan through software, without removing a physical chip, and inserting a new one. Most of the time, all you need to do is scan a simple QR code to switch your eSIM from one carrier to another.

An eSIM can also let you use two different data plans on the same device (like a home and work plan), or let you switch between different plans, depending on where you are in the world.

Is my device compatible with an eSIM?

Most newer devices are compatible with eSIMs. However, not all phones are compatible with an eSIM. When choosing an eSIM, first make sure that your phone is compatible using this link.

Important Note: Your phone must be carrier-unlocked to use an eSIM.

If you’re not sure if your phone is eSIM compatible, you may still be in luck!

iPads and some laptops support eSIMs. Apple iPads have an easy eSIM interface, where you can simply choose your plan and provider from a menu on the iPad. Some laptops from Dell, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Samsung and Microsoft support eSIM, but Apple laptops don’t support eSIMs at this time.

Using an eSIM is pretty simple for most users. First, make sure your device is eSIM compatible, then buy the eSIM online. Finally, scan a QR code (or enter the settings manually) and turn on data roaming from your settings.

After that, you can call and message all your existing contacts on free chat providers like WhatsApp, just as if you’re in the same country. You can even keep your original SIM for phone calls if you wanted to continue using your existing provider.

AloSIM Review

In this aloSIM eSIM review, we test the aloSIM personally, and give you more information about aloSIM eSIM plans so that you can see if it’s a good choice for you.

Getting an aloSIM is a simple process.

How to buy an aloSIM eSIM

1. Choose your location from 130+ countries for your prepaid eSIM data package.
2. Select your eSIM plan, choosing how much data you want, and how long you want it.
3. Add your eSIM to your device.

My personal experience buying and activating my aloSIM eSIM

Getting started with aloSIM was easy.

You can buy an aloSIM on either:

• their website at this link, or
• through the aloSIM app. You can get the aloSIM app on Google Play here or the App Store here.

I chose to buy it in the AloSIM App so I could do this aloSim app review.

First, I installed the aloSIM app from the Google Play store (on my Samsung phone).

From there, I created an account.

I then activated the account through an email confirmation.

Next I browsed to their store, and chose my eSIM plan.

There are options for plans from over 130 countries worldwide.

Since I’m in Canada right now, I chose the Canada plan. You can choose different data amounts, but I grabbed just 1GB of data, since I don’t need much data right now.

I bought the eSIM, following the onscreen directions.

Then, I went to the My eSIMs page.

Next, I clicked on the eSIM plan (Canada in my case). Notice that it’s not activated yet.

Click Activate.

I could then install the eSIM one of two ways:

1. Manually, by entering the eSIM ID in your phone’s SIM card manager settings, or
2. Using a QR code.

Select the QR Code or Manual tab option.

I chose the install via QR code, since it’s faster, but it’s nice to see there’s a manual option, if you need it, for whatever reason.

I selected the Samsung instructions, which were detailed and clear.

I followed the instructions for Samsung, and took a screenshot of the QR code. If you don’t have a Samsung newer than a Samsung Galaxy 22, you’ll need to either print out your QR code, or get it to display on a different phone, laptop, or other device. If you can’t do this, you can always back up a step and install the eSIM manually.

Follow the instructions for setting up the eSIM. Essentially, you’ll go into your phone’s SIM card manager settings. This is what my SIM manager setting screen looks like:

Select Add eSIM.

Add the QR code. In my case, I chose the camera gallery icon, and chose the screenshot I’d taken. If that doesn’t work for you, just add the code manually.

A message pops up, asking, Add aloSIM eSIM.

Select Add.

I got a message asking me to restart my phone to connect to the new network.

Once the phone was restarted, I continued following the instructions, and browsed to Mobile Networks. Under Access Point names, I changed my eSIM’s name to aloSIM, and the APN to alosim, as per the instructions.

Next, in the Mobile Network settings, make sure the aloSIM setting is turned on, and select aloSIM as your preferred SIM card.

Turn on roaming for the aloSIM, and turn off roaming for your physical SIM to avoid roaming charges with your physical SIM.

And just like that, I was up and running with my new eSIM giving me data in Canada.

After that, I browsed to My eSIMs in the aloSIM app.

My plan was now activated!

You can see how much data you have remaining here. It will tell you your Network, and speed. In my case my speed was fast with an LTE 5G connection on the Bell Mobility or TELUS Communications networks.

You can also top up the eSIM data directly in the app here!

I found the purchase and install easy. I purchased and installed the eSIM in about ten minutes, following the instructions in the app.

Easy!

You can also go into your phone’s SIM manager settings to tweak your settings. To avoid using roaming data on your normal physical SIM, you can even just toggle your primary physical SIM off in the settings.

Will I have a phone number with aloSIM?

No, your aloSIM is a prepaid data package. It does not come with a cell number.

Even though a data-only eSIM doesn’t come with its own phone number, there are still ways to make/receive phone calls with a data-only eSIM, and send/receive texts with a data-only eSIM.

How to make phone calls with an eSIM

• use a calling/texting app like Hushed, WhatsAPP, Viber, Messenger, Skype or any of the dozens of apps with this feature
• use your primary physical SIM for phone calls, but use the eSIM for data (if you use this option, your carrier may charge you for calls and texts while roaming)

How to text with a data-only eSIM

• use an app like iMessage or WhatsApp (which only needs Wi-Fi or data to work)
• use a calling/texting app like Hushed or Skype
• text using your primary physical SIM, but use the eSIM for data (if you use this option, your carrier may charge you for calls and texts while roaming)

See AloSIM prices now.

aloSIM eSIM Review

Stay connected anywhere with eSIMs – affordable and reliable, perfect for your next trip. See AloSIM prices now.

M C Kosman

Cheap

Quick and easy to set up

Data-only eSIMs for over 130 countries

Easy to top up

Summary

With an eSIM, you’ll enjoy cheap global data and dodge roaming charges, but remember, it won’t provide a cell number for calls or texts – still a game-changer!

4.8

Read these helpful articles next:

• Our Fluentalk T1 Offline Voice Translator Review
• Skyroam Solis Review – How We Get Unlimited WiFi Anywhere We Travel
• How to Use a VPN to Get Cheaper Flights: An Easy Step-by-Step Guide
• Using A Cell Phone In Europe Made Easy and Affordable

Chennai (formerly Madras) is an incredible place filled with fascinating sights and activities that keep both locals and travelers occupied. From its thousands-year-old temples to delicious street food stands selling tasty specialties – there’s something here that will appeal to everyone.

Fun things to do in Chennai India

If you’re a traveler looking for adventure, culture, and delicious food, then Chennai is the perfect destination for you. With a rich history, traditional architecture, and endless places to explore, you won’t run out of things to do here, whether you’re hopping on a Dubai to Chennai flight or exploring Chennai as your hometown.

So, let’s explore the fun things to do in Chennai.

Snow Kingdom

Beat the heat and experience a snowy wonderland at Snow Kingdom! Located inside the VGP Mall, this indoor snow park offers a variety of snow-related activities that will make you forget that you’re in a hot and humid city.

It’s definitely one of the most unique things to do in Chennai (the capital of Tamil Nadu). You can slide down an icy slope, build a snowman, or have a snowball fight with your friends. The entry fee includes boots, jackets, and gloves so you won’t have to worry about getting your clothes wet.

It’s a similar experience to the famous Ski Dubai, one of the best activities for kids in Dubai.

Arignar Anna Zoological Park

Arignar Anna Zoological Park is home to many animals unique to India, including the gaur Indian bison.

Experience the thrill of seeing lions roam around freely at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park lion safari. The safari takes you through the lion enclosure, where you can see the majestic animals up close. The safari is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the king of the jungle in its natural habitat.

Birla Planetarium

Wondering what to see in Chennai?

History, science, and astronomy enthusiasts should check out Birla Planetarium, the perfect place to learn about the cosmos and the universe. See the stars and planets up close as they are projected onto a dome-shaped screen. The planetarium also offers informative and entertaining audiovisual shows.

VGP Marine Kingdom

VGP Marine Kingdom (also known as VGP Golden Beach) is a must-visit for thrill-seekers. One of the highlights of this amusement park is the 35-meter high roller coaster ride that drops you at a mind-boggling speed.

You can also try other rides such as the Ferris wheel, the spinning coaster, and the water slides. The park is located on the beach, so after a day of screaming and laughing, you can take a dip in the sea.

Jazz Cinemas LUXE

If you’re a movie buff, you can’t miss watching a movie at Jazz Cinemas LUXE.

Watching movies in this cinema is luxurious, with comfortable recliner seats, personal screens, and a dedicated butler service. You can even enjoy a gourmet meal while watching the latest blockbusters. The tickets are slightly expensive, but for movie buffs, a movie at Jazz Cinemas LUXE is worth the splurge.

Chetpet Eco Park

Escape from the city’s bustle and relax at Chetpet Eco Park.

The park is located beside a lake and has a variety of activities, including cycling, boating, and fishing. You can have a picnic with your family or friends, or take a stroll around the park’s greenery.

Madras Crocodile Bank night safari

For a thrilling and unique experience, try the Madras Crocodile Bank night safari.

The safari takes you through the reptile park at night, where you can see many species of crocodiles, alligators, and turtles. The park is lit up with flashlights and luminous stickers, adding to the ambiance.

Enjoy Sunset on Marina Beach

Nothing quite compares to watching the sun dip below the horizon, casting beautiful hues on the sky, and the smell of saltwater breeze. Marina Beach is a wonderful choice to enjoy a scenic sunset view in Chennai. Marina Beach has a lively, bustling atmosphere to enjoy sunset, while Edward Elliot’s Beach offers a more serene and tranquil experience.

Edward Elliot’s Beach

If you are looking for a pristine, secluded beach that is less crowded, then you consider Elliot’s Beach.

The beach is excellent for swimming, picnics, and leisurely walks. It also offers numerous food joints that serve mouth-watering delicacies, such as seafood, which is a local favorite. It’s also a wonderful place to enjoy sunset on the beach.

Cholomandalam Artists Village

Fancy immersing yourself in the city’s culture? Cholamandalam artists’ village is a must-visit.

This village has attracted artists since the 1960s. The village showcases over 500 artworks, and each visit is more diverse than the last.

Walk Along Thalankuppam Pier at Night

Take a leisurely walk along the Thalankuppam pier at night and revel in the mesmerizing stars’ view.

One of the secluded attractions in Chennai, the pier has a one-of-a-kind, end-of-the-world feel that leaves you relaxed and rejuvenated.

Catamaran Boat Ride

One of Chennai’s most adventurous modes of transport is a catamaran boat ride.

Not only is it exhilarating, but a catamaran ride also offers a unique perspective of the city’s coastline. You can choose to take a calm, smooth sail or a more high-intensity, thrilling ride.

Folklore of South at Dakshinachitra

If you’re interested in learning about the culture, Chennai’s rich history, and art of South India, then Dakshinachitra is a must-visit destination.

Located just outside of Chennai, this living museum showcases the traditional lifestyles of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. You can explore the different types of houses, temples, crafts, and performances here while learning about the different communities that make up South India.

Shop at Pondy Bazaar

For all you shopaholics out there, Pondy Bazaar is your paradise.

This vibrant shopping district is known for stores and street vendors selling traditional clothing, jewelry, accessories, and souvenirs. You can bargain with the vendors to get the best deals, and try some local snacks while you’re at it.

Bonus tip: Visit during the festive season to experience the energy and excitement of Chennai’s shopping culture.

Enjoy Chennai’s Vibrant Food Scene, Including Famous Masala Dosa

Chennai is a food lover’s paradise, with a variety of dishes and flavors to indulge in. From street food to fine dining, you won’t go hungry in this city.

One must-try dish is the famous masala dosa, a crispy rice and lentil crepe filled with spiced potatoes and served with chutney and sambar. You can find it at any local restaurant or street vendor, and it’s a filling and delicious meal any time of day.

Visit Anna Centenary Library

If you’re a bookworm, then the Anna Centenary Library is a dream destination.

This state-of-the-art library is the largest in Asia, with six floors of books, magazines, and digital resources. You can spend hours exploring the different sections, reading, and studying in a peaceful environment.

Bonus tip: Bring your ID and register to get access to more of the library’s resources.

Visit Huddleston Garden at The Theosophical Society

Nature lovers or anyone looking for a serene escape can visit the Huddleston Garden at The Theosophical Society.

This botanical garden is spread over 260 acres and has a variety of exotic trees, plants, and birds. You can take a walk, have a picnic, read a book, or attend one of the events organized by the society.

Bonus tip: Visit during the early morning or late evening for a peaceful and refreshing experience.

Day trip to Mahabalipuram (also known as Mamallapuram)

Mahabalipuram is a coastal town located 60 km south of Chennai. This UNESCO world heritage site is famed for its rock-cut caves and intricate sculptures. The place gains its significance from the mythological stories about the Pallava kings’ reign.

A visit to Mahabalipuram transports you to a different time and era. You can rent a bike or a car and take a leisurely ride along the scenic East Coast Road to reach this iconic destination. Don’t forget to try the local seafood delicacies while you’re there.

Royapuram Fishing Harbor

Royapuram Fishing Harbor might not be on a typical tourist list, but it’s a must-visit destination for seafood enthusiasts.

You can witness the hustle and bustle of the fishermen as they dock their boats after a night spent fishing in the sea. You can even buy fresh seafood right off the boats and have it cooked to your liking at the nearby restaurants.

Mexus Vijaya Mall and Express Avenue Mall

For all the shopaholics out there, a visit to the Mexus Vijaya Mall or the Express Avenue Mall is a must.

These malls are located in the heart of the city and offer a wide range of shopping and entertainment options. You can indulge in some retail therapy, watch a movie, or try out the local street food. These malls are the perfect destinations for a fun-filled day out with friends and family.

Enjoy a Day Trip to Old Mylapore

Old Mylapore is a neighborhood in the central part of the city of Chennai. It’s also known as the cultural hub of Chennai, and a visit to Old Mylapore gives you a glimpse of the city’s rich cultural history.

You can take a stroll through the narrow alleys and explore the vibrant markets selling anything from spices to traditional fabrics. The highlight of your trip should be a visit to the Kapaleeshwarar Temple, an iconic temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Wander Through the Kapaleeshwarar Temple

The eye-catching Kapaleeshwarar Temple is a must-visit destination.

In the center of Old Mylapore, the Kapaleeshwarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple’s vibrant and colorful gopuram (entrance tower) is probably one of the most photographed spots in Chennai. Inside and out, there’s a vibrant vibe here, and since it’s a working temple, you can see locals performing their daily rituals.

Temples and Museums in Chennai

While temples and museums are often excluded from lists of fun or exciting activities, one of the highlights of Chennai’s culture is its vibrant temple scene, and history-rich museums. With dozens around the city, here are some of the best.

Santhome Cathedral Basilica

First on our list is the Santhome Cathedral Basilica.

This church is built over the tomb of Saint Thomas, the apostle of Jesus. As one of the oldest churches in India, it reflects the colonial architecture of the past. The church’s stunning stained glass windows and detailed interior decoration make it a must-visit for lovers of religious art and architecture.

Arulmigu Vadapalani Murugan Temple

If you want a bit of adventure, head over to Arulmigu Vadapalani Murugan Temple.

This temple is devoted to Lord Muruga, the God of War. The temple has a seven-tier Gopuram (gateway tower) with colorful statues and images from Hindu mythology, and many devotees even climb the gopuram to receive blessings from the gods.

Visit the iconic Shree Sai Baba Temple

The popular Shree Sai Baba Temple, located in Mylapore, is one of the most visited shrines in the area. Dedicated to the Indian saint Sai Baba, this temple is a symbol of harmony between Hindus and Muslims. The temple holds regular prayer sessions, and many cultural programs.

The Parthasarathy Temple

More formally known as the Arulmigu Sri Parthasarathy Perumal Temple Tiruvallikeni, the Parthasarathy Temple is a Hindu temple.

It’s believed to have been built during the Pallava dynasty, and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Inside and out, you’ll find intricate sculptures and carvings, and a serene vibe.

Arulmigu Marundeeswarar Temple

For history buffs, Arulmigu Marundeeswarar Temple may be the perfect place to visit.

This temple, located in Thiruvanmiyur, is believed to have been built over 1,000 years ago. It is said that King Raja Raja Chola, a great dynasty ruler, contributed to the temple’s construction. The temple is known for stunning sculptures depicting stories from the Hindu epics.

Government Museum Chennai

Have you heard about the Government Museum Chennai, also known as Madras Museum or Egmore Museum?

This museum houses an incredible collection of South Indian decorative arts, with some of the pieces dating back to the 7th century. The museum’s exhibits provide a unique insight into South Indian history and culture.

Dakshinachitra Museum

If you’re curious about traditional Indian architecture, Dakshinachitra Museum is a must-visit destination. This living museum showcases life in South India, with demonstrations of traditional crafts such as pottery and weaving. You can also observe various cultural performances and savor local cuisine.

Whether it’s a day trip to Mahabalipuram, a visit to the iconic Kapaleeshwarar temple, or indulging in some retail therapy at the local malls, Chennai will leave you in awe of its beauty and diversity. From indoor snow parks to night safaris, Chennai offers an array of unique and fun activities to try.

With so many things to do in Chennai, you won’t get bored or run out of options. Whether you’re here for a short visit or an extended stay, these activities are a great way to experience the culture, history, and beauty of this city. So pack your bags and get ready for an adventure in Chennai!

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Our family of four has made Kelowna, British Columbia, our home town for the past eight years. Giving us plenty of time to check out the local breakfast and brunch scene.

From farm-to-table spots to cozy cafes and trendy downtown diners, there is something for everyone in this vibrant city.

Imagine indulging in locally-sourced ingredients, expertly prepared and plated with care, all while enjoying breathtaking views of the Okanagan Valley. Whether you’re in the mood for a hearty breakfast or a leisurely brunch, Kelowna has it all.

Of course, one person’s list of the best breakfast places in Kelowna is going to be different than another person’s.

For the most part, we focus on places to eat that are open early for breakfast, but we do have a section at the end of the article that goes into the best brunch in Kelowna. Generally, we think of brunch and breakfast as the same thing, but brunch usually starts later, at around 10 or so, and is often an little more fancy (though not always).

We’ll go back and add to this list as we try new brunch and breakfast restaurants that open, and remove ones that close.

Best Breakfast in Kelowna

Breakfast is one of the many fun things to do in Kelowna with the family! Grab your friends, family, significant other, or enjoy a solo break, and head out to explore the many breakfast spots in Kelowna. From classic Canadian fare to international cuisine, you’re sure to find your new favorite spot.

Best Breakfast Places in Kelowna

Do I need breakfast reservations in Kelowna? Yes, you’ll sometimes need to make a reservation, depending on the restaurant, the time of year and whether it’s a Saturday or Sunday (with weekends usually much busier than weekdays). Many of the more popular brunch and breakfast places are also quite busy during the summer tourist season, with July to August especially so.

I use OpenTable Kelowna to make my reservations, as it’s the biggest restaurant reservation booking service in the city. I’ve tried it before to get reservations at busy Vancouver restaurants, and booking was smooth and easy in Kelowna as well.

Porter’s Kelowna

Porter’s is a fairly new, and welcome, addition to Kelowna’s breakfast scene. It’s located next to the Landmark District, in the old MTL building.

There’s a solid breakfast and brunch menu here, packed with classics like fried chicken and waffles, eggs benny, and more. There are also some more adventurous items, like the Japanese style soufflé pancakes, and several vegetarian options.

Charles tried the soufflé pancakes. They’re Japanese style soufflé pancakes, served with vanilla sweet cream, seasonal fruit compote, streusel, and your choice of maple, nut brown syrup or black currant sour syrup.

Charles couldn’t quite decide, so our helpful server brought us four syrups to try which also included a salted maple syrup. Three of those syrups are made in house at the next door Copper Brewing Company however the Black Currant Sour syrup won out as his favorite in the end!

I tried the yogurt bowl, which was delicious with creamy Greek yogurt, house made granola, seeds, seasonal fruit compote (made in house as well), and fresh fruit.

My latte was perfect, made from coffee beans from fair trade local roaster, Craft 42 Roasters.

The Jammery Kelowna

The original The Jammery location was featured on The Food Network’s You Gotta Eat Here! The original location is in Lake Country, and just over 20 minutes from Kelowna’s downtown.

They’ve opened a new location in Kelowna proper. While the new Kelowna location (at 2463 Highway 97), has the same great food as the original, the atmosphere couldn’t be more different.

The rambling original Jammery location has a quaint, rustic farmhouse feel, with a large giftshop. The giftshop is overseen by a large, stuffed bear (which children adore!), and has an abundance of jams (made in house), and local foods and gifts.

The new location in Kelowna is modern, with a tiny gift area, so it just doesn’t have that kitschy charm of the Lake Country location however the food’s as good as the original Jammery. That said, for me, it’s worth a few more minutes drive to get to the Lake Country location.

My favorite dish at the Jammery is the All You Can Eat waffles, with their house made topping made from Okanagan fruit. They have six kinds of eggs benedict on the menu, omelets, plus French toast, crepes, a breakfast paella, and traditional breakfasts. There’s even a vegan breakfast hash.

Cora

While Cora is technically a Canada-wide franchise, it has enough personality and originality in the décor and menu that it feels a lot more like a local spot. Cora started in Quebec in 1987, and has since expanded to 125 franchises across Canada.

If you like fruit, Cora is your place.

While there are plenty of traditional omelets, skillets, and egg dishes, there are also crepes, pancakes, and French toast absolutely smothered in fresh fruit.

There’s even a fresh fruit section of the menu (which I order from every time). The Samira wake up is a huge plate of beautifully cut fresh fruit, served with toast, and there’s also a tasty kale-mango smoothie bowl, and a fruit yogurt harvest crunch.

My favorite is The Ode to Oatmeal, with fresh fruit, harvest crunch granola, English cream, maple syrup, and fresh fruit.

The kids always go with a fruit crepe, which is a single gigantic crepe stuffed with your choice for fruit, and either custard or a cocoa-hazelnut spread.

Charles goes for the classic French toast, which comes with your choice of bacon, sausages, turkey sausages, ham, or fresh fruit.

I’ve tried to get a photo of one of the kids’ fruit smoothies on our last three visits to Cora, but it’s inevitably half guzzled down before I can bring out my camera.

The Train Station Pub

Charles and I often end up at the Train Station Pub if we’re looking for something that’s just a little bit more upscale, with good food, but still casual and fun.

True to its name, the Train Station Pub is built inside a historic (now defunct) train station in Kelowna’s Downtown.

The brunch menu has everything from traditional chicken and waffles, breakfast sandwiches, and strawberry French toast, to more adventurous items like the Pakora benny (with curry spice), breakfast poutine, or Boom Toast (with avocado, pear, and butternut squash).

Brunch at the Train Station Pub is served until 2 pm every day.

My Neighbourhood Restaurant

We stop by My Neighbourhood Restaurant at least once a year. It’s the kind of place that delivers solid portions, reasonable prices, and good food. It’s not necessarily the most upscale place on our list, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s reliable and good.

Every time we’ve visited, service has been friendly, casual, quick, and helpful.

We come here when we’re craving breakfast later in the day, since it’s an all day breakfast place. There’s a nice selection of benedicts, if that’s your thing, including a crab cake benny, veggie delight benny, pulled pork benny, and a traditional benny, among others.

There’s a tasty sounding banana stuffed French toast, an apple crisp stuffed French toast, as well as huevos rancheros, and a slow cooked pulled pork burrito.

Charles’ to-go here is the French toast, which is dipped in a vanilla and egg batter and finished with icing sugar. Hash browns here are good, crispy and hot, but they’re the cubed style that feels like a chopped up steak fry. Don’t get me wrong, they’re delicious, but both Charles and I prefer shredded or finely chopped hash browns.

They also serve lunch. I’m a huge fan of the portabello burger (no meat, only the portabello mushroom), which comes stacked to the ceiling with marinated and grilled portabello mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and a tasty Dijon mustard.

OEB Kelowna

If Coras is the place for fruit lovers, then OEB is the place for those who love eggs. Like Coras, OEB is a franchise, with locations in Arizona, California, and a few Canadian cities.

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A post shared by OEB Breakfast Co. (@oeb_breakfast)

As expected, the menu leans toward farm fresh eggs, omelets, and eggs benedict. There are also sweet treats, like banana cream pie French toast, Belgian waffles and crepes, as well as nine different breakfast poutines.

There are vegetarian and vegan options as well.

We haven’t tried it (yet), but the mimosa flight (with four different mimosas) gets great reviews.

Gulfstream

We haven’t had a chance to try this one personally yet, but Gulfstream (in the Four Points by Sheraton by the Kelowna Airport) gets pretty good reviews and was recommended by friends so it’s made our to try soon list.

The breakfast menu is pretty solid and traditional, with classic eggs/bacon/hash brown/toast on offer, as well as omelets, traditional eggs benedict, a bacon hash and a pulled pork breakfast poutine. There’s a vegan bowl with coconut yogurt, banana, and an Okanagan Greek yogurt bowl with Okanagan dried cherries and apricots.

Diner Deluxe – The Shore

We haven’t tried Diner Deluxe – it’s just a little too far of a drive for us, given all the great options that are closer. That said, it gets great buzz, so we’ve included it.

Diner Deluxe has three locations in Calgary, and the one location in Kelowna, on Lakeshore Boulevard. It’s open 8am to 3pm.

The menu constantly changes, but it offers a big selection, with standards like avocado toast (with eggs), poached eggs and salmon, and a vegan faux egg wrap, as well as breakfast poutine and a big cinnamon bun.

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A post shared by Diner Deluxe | Locally Owned (@dinerdeluxe)

There are also several eggs benedict variations on offer, breakfast bowls, omelets and frittatas, pancakes, French toast, and classic breakfast. There’s also a lunch menu, and a kids lunch and breakfast menu.

There are plenty of vegan egg and vegan meat options as well.

Best Affordable Breakfast in Kelowna

Are you a foodie on a budget, looking for delicious and satisfying breakfast options in Kelowna that won’t break the bank? Look no further!

Kelowna has many hidden gems that offer mouth-watering breakfast dishes at affordable prices.

Join us as we explore some of the best cheap eats for breakfast in Kelowna, and discover a whole new world of breakfast delights that are easy on the budget.

Specialty Bakery & Bistro

Specialty Bakery has a few locations in Kelowna, but most are bakery only, and don’t offer breakfast.

To get your breakfast fix, make sure you go to the Specialty Bakery location on Finns Rd, in the industrial section of Kelowna.

We were introduced to Specialty Bakery by Charles’ 80 year old uncle, so that tells you it’s definitely a Kelowna fixture.

The food here is fresh, not fussy, and filling.

On offer are classic breakfasts of bacon and eggs, omelets and eggs benedict, or you can buy something from the attached bakery and eat it in the bistro.

I’m a big fan of the cinnamon buns, and black forest donut.

Don’t come here expecting a cappuccino – the coffee bar has five blends of freshly brewed Van Houtte coffee. There are also soups, sandwiches, and burgers on offer for lunch.

I don’t think there’s anything on the menu that’s specifically designed for vegans, but vegetarians should be able to sort something out.

The Kelowna Farmer’s Market

Kelowna Farmers’ and Crafters’ Market is a great place to browse, and grab a simple, affordable breakfast.

The summer Market is open April to October, from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays and Wednesdays at the corner of Dilworth and Springfield.

There’s a winter market on Saturdays in the Parkinson Rec Center, but food options are a lot more limited.

One of my favorites at the summer Farmer’s Market is the Crepe Bistro, which has a fantastic variety of delicious crepes, including the zesty lemon and sugar, and banana chocolate.

There are always several fresh squeezed lemonade stalls to wash down your crepe.

All four of us are huge fans of the spiral potatoes on a stick – a must try!

There are also several outstanding coffee places in the market, including Anarchy Coffee.

Beet’N Boo’s

Beet’N Boo’s is a great value. It’s a comfortable place, with homestyle food that almost feels as if you’re being served in someone’s farmhouse kitchen.

There’s a big breakfast menu, with breakfast wraps and burritos, egg sandwiches, French toast, and plenty of different eggs benny options. There’s also oatmeal with berries, and breakfast bowls.

For lunch, you can get a sandwich panini, wraps, a good selection of salads, a burger, or even mac and cheese.

It’s all homemade, fresh, and with good sized portions.

Somehow, we haven’t been here for a couple of years, but I think it’s time to go back!

We made it back, and I’m happy to report that Beet’N Boo’s is the same ol’ homestyle, unfussy place, with generous portions. The food’s pretty good too.

On our last visit, we were both craving potatoes, so we got two of the regular size breakfast bowls, a chorizo breakfast bowl for Charles, and a veggie bowl (minus the egg) for me. There’s a lot of food here! It’s definitely homestyle, with a hair too much oil for my taste, but that didn’t stop me from eating, and enjoying, the entire bowl.

Dosa Crepe Café

Dosa Crepe Café doesn’t open until 11 am, but I’ve included it here in case you’re running a bit late and looking for something really unusual.

They opened just before the pandemic started, but we’re thrilled to say they’re thriving, and have opened a second location downtown. We’ve only been to the original Rutland location, but the menu’s similar at both locations, and the downtown location gets great feedback too.

Dosa Crepe Café offers two kids of crepes: French crepes, or south Indian dosa. An Indian dosa is a thin pancake made of a fermented batter of rice and ground black lentils. The dosa itself is vegan.

The Indian dosas are tasty, with a slight savory tang, and a delicious crispy edges. It’s served with your choice of curries, with vegetable, paneer, chicken or beef curries available.

If their giant savory dosas aren’t your thing, you can try their French crepes, served plain, or with banana chocolate, mixed berry, or mango maple, and topped with a scoop of ice cream.

Our kids always go for the sweet crepes, while Charles and I get a dosa. Both are fantastic – it’s just a matter of choice. The kids also like to load up on a milkshake or lassi.

Dosa Crepe Cafe also offers biriyani (veg, chicken or beef), and kothu roti (veg, chicken or beef), appetizers, and a couple of soup options.

Bliss Bakery

There are plenty of great bakeries in Kelowna, but I included Bliss because 1) it’s fantastic, and 2) it has seating so you can sit down and enjoy your breakfast.

Kelowna’s Bliss Bakery has one location in Kelowna proper, on Ellis Street in the Downtown Arts and Culture District.

The bakery has a funky, industrial feel that somehow manages to be warm and inviting.

In addition to all of the delicious home baked goods, there’s a small all day breakfast menu, with breakfast wraps, a spinach and feta quiche, a Bennywich, and a chipotle sausage biscuit. You can also get lunchtime sandwiches (including a vegan grilled cheese), soups, wraps, and salads.

Every baked item I’ve tried here has been fantastic. There’s a reason that Bliss keeps winning the best bakery in Kelowna award with local publications. My current favorites are the almond croissants, and my son adores their individual-sized lemon merengue pies.

I’d come here just for the food, but it’s an added bonus that their coffee is made from my very favorite organic locally roasted Cherry Hill coffee beans.

The Bread Company

The Bread Company has two downtown locations – one on Pandosy and one on Bernard. I’ve been to both, and I think I slightly favor the Bernard location, if just for the downtown vibe.

It’s a busy place, with a lot of small tables, and I’ve always been able to find seating. They have plenty of pastries on offer, plus traditional breakfasts, frittatas, huevos rancheros, pancakes, plus sandwiches, salads, and soups for breakfast.

My daughter loves their chocolate filled croissant, and I’m a fan of the pesto spinach croissant.

Try the fresh squeezed orange juice!

Best Vegan Breakfast and Best Vegetarian Breakfast in Kelowna

Are you a vegetarian or vegan looking for a delicious and satisfying breakfast in Kelowna? Look no further!

Kelowna is home to a growing number of vegetarian and vegan-friendly breakfast spots, where you can enjoy a range of plant-based dishes. From hearty vegan breakfast burritos to gluten-free avocado toast, these restaurants have something for everyone.

Join us as we explore some of the best vegetarian and vegan breakfast restaurants in Kelowna, and get ready to start your day off on a healthy and tasty note!

Naked Café

The Naked Café is an unfussy place, with café style décor, and wooden benches for some seating.

It’s an affordable vegan breakfast option located downtown on Lawrence Avenue.

There’s a wide selection of vegan breakfasts here, with vegan versions of an English breakfast, a vegan bacon benny, a breakfast sandwich and a couple of vegan Just Egg hash options. The food is colorful, tasty, and comes in good portion sizes.

They’re also open for lunch and early suppers, serving vegan bowls, sandwiches and burgers.

Frankie We Salute You

Well rated Frankie’s offers both vegetarian and vegan options. Menu items are clearly marked as vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free.

I asked to go to Frankie’s for my birthday dinner last year, and was impressed with the food.

This is a local restaurant, owned by Chef Brian Skinner and Christina Skinner, located in the Landmark District.

There’s an industrial vibe here, but it still manages to feel comfortable and welcoming.

The menu is fun and inventive, and they have plenty of interesting cocktails and desserts. There’s also a good kids menu, and we had several families, with well-behaved kids, sharing the restaurant.

Weekend brunch is on Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 3. It’s pretty popular, so a reservation is a good idea. The brunch menu offers a fairly small selection, with items like a Florentine benny bowl, cinnamon toast waffles, and a plant based chorizo ranchera bowl. There are also fun brunch cocktails like a rum and fig leaf mimosa, or a Pimm’s punch.

Chain Breakfast Places in Kelowna

I’m not going into too much detail for chain breakfast restaurants here, other than to list a few. For the most part, a Denny’s in Kelowna is going to be the same as a Denny’s anywhere else.

Here are a few serviceable chain options:

• iHOP
• Dennys
• The White Spot

The White Spot

Of all the chain breakfast places in the city (Cora’s not counting), The White Spot is probably our favorite. It’s kid friendly, has a nice relaxed vibe and the food is consistently decent.

Best Brunch in Kelowna

Of course, you can visit any breakfast place from our list above for brunch however, if you’re looking for a fancy, more upscale brunch, try one of these options below.

You’ll need to make the drive over the bridge to visit our first two picks: Old Vines Restaurant and Terrace Restaurant.

Quails Gate Old Vines Sunday Brunch

Located in West Kelowna, Old Vines Restaurant is nestled on the edge of the Quails Gate Winery. The restaurant faces Okanagan Lake, with stunning views over a gently sloping vineyard to the water below.

Quails Gate family owned winery is one of my personal favorites in Kelowna, and regarded as one of Kelowna’s best wineries.

Given the view and the menu, Quails Gate’s Old Vines brunch is fairly well priced. Sure, it’s a pricier choice than many, with higher end appetizers like oysters on the half shell, and mains like croque Madame. Prices change regularly, but in early 2023, the eggs benny was $24, the brioche French toast was $18, and the artisan charcuterie ran $26. Not a fortune, but the bill can go up significantly with wine, as you may want to try the wine pairings suggested by your server.

Make reservations in advance, since it’s a busy place, especially in summer, and brunch hours are short, running every Sunday 11 am to 2:30 pm.

Terrace Restaurant at Mission Hill Winery

Terrace Restaurant at Mission Hill has one of the best restaurant views in Kelowna. It’s definitely a show stopper, and a fantastic place to bring someone you want to impress.

However, since it’s an outdoor restaurant, it’s only open seasonally from May to October.

This is a farm-to-table experience with produce grown in the estate garden, or locally sourced from farming partners.

Prices can be a bit steep, but this is one of Kelowna’s best restaurants, with excellent service and panoramic views to boot.

We’ve only eaten here once, at lunch, and it was a fantastic experience, with wines paired perfectly to the food. Charles still raves over the duck fat fries three years later!

We’ve never had a issue, but we have heard from a few people that they found the atmosphere at Mission Hill to be a bit cold and exclusive. Our personal experience with everyone, including sommeliers, servers and gift shop personnel has been excellent – they’ve been friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

Lakeside Dining Room at the el Dorado Hotel

The food is good here, and service is solid, but sometimes slow, however, the real draw is the location. Located directly on the waterfront, it offers a stunning view of the lake. If you go in the summer, try to get a patio seat for an even more amazing view.

The buffet brunch is only available on select Sundays. Breakfast is available Monday to Sunday, early.

The breakfast menu is fairly small, with favorites like a traditional breakfast, fruit salad, eggs benny, avocado toast, waffles, omelets, and oatmeal.

Krafty Kitchen + Bar

I hesitate to call anything hip or cool (my teenagers would immediately cringe and reflexively mock me), but there’s no getting around it: Krafty Kitchen + Bar is a pretty hip place.

I mean, they have a Hip Hop Brunch every Friday to Sunday, with items like benedicts named Tupac, Baller Mushroom, and Easy-E. They also offer a Notorious BLT, and a Drop it Like it’s Hotcake.

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This is a local place, run by Chef Chris Shaften. It’s a fun, funky, casual farm-to-table restaurant located beside the historic firehall in Downtown Kelowna.

Brunch is only on Saturday and Sunday 9 to 2, but regular hours are Monday to Friday noon to late.
There’s also a Fondue Sunday.

The Curious Café and Bar Norcino

The Curious Café is another cool downtown eatery, but with limited hours.

If you’re looking for brunch, it’s closed Sundays and statutory holidays however it’s open Friday and Saturday at 11 am.

The brunch menu includes vegan field mushrooms on toast, chick and waffles, a breakfast sandwich, eggs benny, French toast, and a veggie power bowl.

There’s also a brunch party that serves four, with classic eggs benny, French toast, bacon, fruit, and coffee.

As someone who loves a good breakfast, I can honestly say that Kelowna does not disappoint when it comes to morning dining. Whether you’re in the mood for classic Canadian breakfast fare or something more innovative and international, Kelowna has plenty of options to load up before hitting one of the best hikes in Kelowna or taking off on one of the best road trips in British Columbia.

Do you have a breakfast spot in Kelowna that we missed? Let us know in the comments!

If you travel a lot, you know how important it is to find the best flight deals. Spending too much on flights means that you have less money to enjoy great meals, fun activities, and cool accommodations.

Have you thought about using a VPN to save money on your next trip? A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can help you get cheaper flights by hiding your location and making it appear as if you’re browsing from a different country.

It’s honestly much easier to do than you might think to use a VPN on flight tickets to save you money.

Why does using a VPN save money?

Airlines and travel booking sites use a pricing model called dynamic pricing. This means that prices can change depending on factors like your IP address, your purchase history, browsing habits, your ZIP code, demand and supply, and even which Wi-Fi you’re connected to, among other factors.

Using a VPN to change your IP address to another location means that websites might show different prices based on that location. This means that if you use a VPN to change your location, you may get a cheaper price if the new location has lower demand for flights.

A bonus is that you can also use a VPN to find lower prices on hotels and even car rentals using the same idea!

Does changing the IP address impact the price of an air ticket?

Important! This is definitely not a guaranteed method of saving money on flights. It really depends a lot on the pricing model the website is using for flights, and whether or not prices vary on location.

Even though this isn’t a 100% guaranteed travel hack, we’ve had great luck in the past booking flights in different countries, at prices that were much less than we’d seen in Canada.

For example, while in Mexico, we found cheap one way flights from Cancun, Mexico to Madrid, Spain for $160 USD all in. Similarly, while in Istanbul, we were able to book a one-way flight from Istanbul, Turkey to Toronto, Canada for just $288, including taxes and fees. That’s far cheaper than we’d found while physically based in Canada.

There are plenty of other reasons to use a VPN when you travel as well, including:

• streaming your home country’s Netflix shows or local only websites
• protecting your privacy on the road
• preventing theft of personal information
• accessing social media sites that may be blocked in the country you’re visiting

Couldn’t I just use Incognito mode instead of a VPN?

Your browser’s incognito mode is great for hiding your browsing history from other people on the device you’re using and for less cookie tracking. However, incognito mode doesn’t change your IP address (your devices internet address, which most sites can track and get a rough approximation of your actual address) while a VPN will change your IP and help keep you anonymous.

Since your location is attached to your IP, incognito mode means that your location will still show to flight websites.

Can just changing the language save money on flights?

We occasionally see stories that changing the language on a website can save money on flights.

We’ve tried this language changing hack in the past, and had mixed results. It also means that you’ll need to book flights in another language. If you don’t speak the language fluently, even with Google translate, you do run a risk of not understanding the terms and conditions fully.

How to Use a VPN to Get Cheaper Flights

Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to use a VPN to save money on your next flight, in five easy steps.

Step 1: Choose a Reliable VPN Provider

The most important step, in my opinion, to using a VPN is choosing a reliable and safe VPN partner. They’re not all built the same, so it’s absolutely crucial to choose a reputable, safe VPN.

A good VPN should offer IP addresses in many different countries, strong encryption, and a no logs policy.

These days, I’m using Private Internet Access.

Private Internet Access (also known as PIA) is great at hiding your IP address and encrypting your internet connection. All PIA apps are 100% open source, meaning that you, and security experts, can look under the hood to see how everything works.

PIA has over 30 million downloads, and has been around for more than 10 years. It offers thousands of next-gen servers in over 83 countries and each US state, and there’s unlimited bandwidth.

This one’s hugely important for security, so I’m going to go full geek for just a couple of sentences here, and explain what everything means along the way. Here goes: PIA has an independently audited (by Deloitte) no-logs policy.

A no-logs policy means that the VPN provider doesn’t keep any record of what you do online. There’s no record kept of IP addresses you use, data you transfer or websites you visit, keeping your online activities totally secure and private.

If a VPN provider keeps logs, this means that someone could potentially access this information. The logs could be accessed by hackers, authorities, or simply advertisers. With a no-logs policy, there’s simply no information for the VPN provider to give out, even if they receive a request for user data, or if they’re hacked. A no logs policy helps keep your privacy protected and your sensitive information safe. And Private Internet Access is a great choice for this.

It’s also important to mention Private Internet Access can protect up to 10 devices simultaneously with just one subscription. This means you can use it for yourself and the people you are traveling with.

And if you ever have any questions, or would like more tips and tricks, Private Internet Access has a 24/7 Customer Support service, ready to cater to your every need.

Step 2: Download and Install the VPN Software

Once you’ve chosen a reputable VPN provider like Private Internet Access (PIA), download and install the VPN software on your device.

Just visit the VPN provider’s website, choose the plan that suits your needs best, and follow their instructions to download and install the VPN software.

It took me less than five minutes to download and install the PIA VPN software on my desktop. The process is intuitive and fast.

Step 3: Connect to a Server in the Desired Country

The next step is what intimidates most people, but it’s honestly incredibly simple.

Using your VPN, connect to a server in the country where you want to appear as if you’re browsing from.

Important: If you’re logged into your internet browser, be sure to log out. If you’re logged in, Chrome, Bing, or other browsers set your location based on your account information, overriding the change you’re making with the VPN. Also make sure you’re logged out of any airline or travel booking websites, for the same reason.

For example, if you want to book a flight, while appearing as if you’re in Mexico, you’ll need a VPN to connect to a server located in Mexico. This will make it appear as if you’re there, even if you’re actually in another country.

With Private Internet Access, all it takes is one click to connect to a server. Then you’re ready to start browsing and find those sweet, sweet deals.

Which is the cheapest country to set your VPN location to for the cheapest flight bookings?

There’s no firm answer to what’s the most affordable country to book a flight from. Prices can vary greatly, depending on both your departure date and destination.

That said, in the past, we’ve had good luck with these destinations:

• Mexico
• India
• South American countries, like Peru or Argentina

Other flight hackers often mention:

• Malaysia
• Philippines
• Singapore
• Australia
• India
• Portugal
• Thailand

So, you may have to play a little bit by changing your location a few times to see what lands you the cheapest flight.

Step 4: Start Searching for Flights

Once you’re connected to your desired country’s server through the VPN, start searching for your flights.

Try a travel booking website to start, as this will give you multiple flights and airlines to choose from. After that, be sure to try the airline directly, as prices sometimes differ directly from the airline and a booking website.

Prices will reflect the country you appear to be browsing from.

Tip: When at all possible, we book with the airline directly, as this makes changes to flights and communication easier. If you’ve ever had to deal with a large, faceless, travel booking website when changing a ticket, you’ll understand how frustrating the experience can be.

If you don’t find a good price, try changing your VPN’s country again.

For international flights, I get a baseline price by first searching from my home country. Then, I set my VPN to the country I’m flying to, to see if the flight is cheaper. If this doesn’t get a cheaper flight, I set my VPN’s country to the home country of the airline. After that, I start searching through the list of countries above, in step 4.

Step 5: Compare Prices and Book Your Flight

After you’ve searched for flights, it’s time to compare prices and book your flight.

Make sure to compare the prices with other airlines and travel booking websites to ensure that you’re getting the best deal. If you find a cheaper flight, consider booking it immediately, as prices can change quickly.

Important tip! Before you book, check the terms and conditions. I once found fantastically cheap flights from Quito, Ecuador to the Galapagos. Unfortunately for me, when I checked the terms and conditions, I found those cheap prices only applied to citizens of Ecuador. The flights were about 20% more expensive for us.

Step 6: Change the VPN’s location back

Once you’ve booked your flight, don’t forget to change the VPN location back. This makes sure you can keep browsing and downloading based on your default location.

So, does using a VPN to change your location get you cheaper prices?

The answer is yes. Sometimes it can be a simple, affordable, and effective way to save money on your next trip.

By hiding your location and making it appear as if you’re browsing from a different country, you can access lower flight prices and get more value for your money.

Just remember to choose a reliable VPN provider like Private Internet Access (PIA), connect to the desired country’s server, search for flights, compare prices, book your flight, and disconnect from the VPN.

Happy travels!

More great reads:

• How to Get High-Speed Wi-Fi When Traveling
• How Not to Fry Your Electronics Overseas: A Quick Guide
• Skyroam Solis Review – How We Get Unlimited WiFi Anywhere We Travel

If you’ve ever found yourself daydreaming about what it would be like to fly business class on your next international flight, you know it can be tempting. After all, the thought of extra legroom, free drinks, and gourmet meals can make regular old economy class feel like a total drag.

But is business class really worth the higher price tag? Let’s find out!

Is Business Class Worth It?

Whether you’re looking to book an international flight from the UK to Australia, or a long haul business class flight to Greece, there’s a lot to consider.

While you can sometimes find business class on domestic flights, it’s mostly found on international flights, and offers more comfort and amenities than standard economy, premium economy, or domestic first class.

One thing we can guarantee, because business class is more expensive, and geared more to solo business travelers, you’ll likely have fewer babies and children in business class.

Not all business class tickets are made equal

A word of caution first. Not all business class tickets are equal.

Some business class flights have lay flat seats, meals designed by celebrity chefs, multiple bars for business class passengers, and fantastic service. Other business class tickets are minimally upgraded economy tickets, with barely larger seats, the same food as economy, and a seat toward the front of the plane. There are huge differences in business class between different airlines, specific routes, and even airplanes.

Different airlines may also call their business class seats by another name, like executive class, upper class, club world, or club Europe.

Cost

The biggest knock against business class tickets is their cost. A long haul full fare economy ticket can cost as little as a few hundred dollars, while a business or first class ticket can set you back thousands of dollars. But if you’re looking to splurge on a once-in-a-lifetime trip or fly in comfort for an important meeting or event, the extra money might be worth it.

Generally, business class is more expensive than economy, but considerably less expensive than first class.

Short haul flights also tend to have smaller cost differences between economy and business class than long haul flights. For some long haul flights, for example between the UK and Australia, business class can literally cost thousands more than economy.

Meals

If you’re flying over several time zones and want to thoroughly enjoy your journey, then it might be worth shelling out some extra cash for quality meals in business class.

Many airlines offer better quality food than what’s available in economy (think fresh salad instead of soggy sandwiches) plus complimentary wine and champagne (if that’s your thing!). Business class also often includes on-demand snacking.

In general, business class food is marginally better than economy, but there are certain exceptions where business class food is much higher quality. For example, Air France has commissioned Michelin star chef Anne-Sophie Pic to create eight dishes for business class customers.

On short haul business class flights, however, the meal won’t make much of a difference, since most flights don’t have time for a proper in-flight meal service anyway.

Seats and comfort

Business class seating can be night and day compared to the experience you get in economy. First off, business class seating provides added luxury and comfort with bigger, reclining seats, and more legroom.

Long haul business class flights generally offer a lie flat bed, but it isn’t guaranteed. With some airlines such as TAP, the business class seat only partially reclines.

A great seat isn’t just about comfort. On a long haul flight, a comfy experience can give you a much better sleep and less jet lag, leading to a more enjoyable vacation (or business trip). It can also mean choosing an overnight flight and a decent rest rather than a day flight. Not only can you save on hotel costs, you can also get off the flight rested and ready for your first adventure.

Want to know the specific details of your seat? Find your airline on seatguru and check the specifications. Here are a few things to look for. How wide are the seats? How close are you to other passengers? How many seats fit in a row? Does the seat recline? Will the seat convert into a bed?

Departure and arrival

Some, but not all, business class tickets offer a better departure and arrival experience. Depending on the airline and route, this can include express check in, fast track security, priority boarding, priority immigration plus a more generous baggage allowance for the best business backpack.

Services and perks

You can expect better perks in business class than economy, from powerful chargers to keep all your devices in working order, better entertainment options, and even complimentary amenities like free Wi-fi access, newspapers and magazines.

Plus, business class travelers get priority boarding and check-in services so they can be one of the first passengers on board. Business class generally has a higher flight attendant to passenger ratio, leading to better service, including faster meal service which means meals served first and more time with lights out for a better sleep on long haul flights.

Some business class flights offer extra perks like chauffeured pick-up and drop off, and an in flight amenities kit including items like socks, eye masks and toiletries.

Generally, (though not always), a business class ticket gives you access to the airline’s airport lounge. Lounge access often includes amenities like free meals, alcohol, showers and clothes pressing.

Business class vs first class

In business class, you’ll expect perks like wider or more comfortable seating and priority boarding.

When you upgrade to first class, you’re pampered from start to finish. From dining experiences that rival high-end restaurants and personalized concierge services, to private suites with beds, showers, and sound-proof areas for business conferences, first class is a much more luxurious experience.

Food in first class can often rival that of the best restaurants, and can have menus designed by famous chefs.

Business class has more legroom, but not always a private space while first class sometimes offers seats that turn into a bed or an mini apartment.

How to save money on business class tickets

If you just can’t stomach the cost of business class there are a few tricks that may help drop the price.

Wait for a last minute upgrade. You may simply get an offer from the airline at the last minute to upgrade. At one point in the past, they often gave someone a free bump up but those days are generally over since planes often max out their occupancy and it will usually cost you, though oftentimes at a much reduced rate, than you’d pay ahead of time.

Use your airline points or frequent flyer status. If you have points or miles, then it may be worth it to you to shell out some of those points to upgrade. If you time it right, there are times where using points makes the most sense.

Consider premium economy tickets. If you can’t quite justify the cost of business class, premium economy is another option. Generally, premium economy gives you bigger seats, seats toward the front of the plane, better food, and a few more perks at a much lower cost than business class.

Book early. The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the cheaper business class ticket. Book as far in advance as possible to secure the best deals. While hoping for a last minute upgrade can sometimes be cheaper, there is zero guarantee a better deal will pop up.

Consider alternative airports. Sometimes, flying into a nearby airport can save you money on business class tickets. Don’t overlook smaller airports in the area.

So is business class airfare worth it?

In the end, choosing business class or economy is a personal choice. It really depends on your budget and how important comfort is to you when flying long distances (or short distances).

If you’re cash rich and time poor, business class may be for you, and by all means go ahead and book yourself a seat in the front cabin, but make sure that you maximize your benefits by taking advantage of any perks offered along with your ticket, like lounge access or priority check-in privileges!

Should a business class ticket be on your business travel checklist? A good business class experience really makes getting from point A to point B a pleasure rather than an endurance test!

However, if saving money is more important than indulging yourself, then economy may be the way to go. Just remember that there are always ways to make your flight more enjoyable by researching airlines’ amenities before booking your ticket!

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The Galapagos Islands, far off the coast of Ecuador, have some of the most unique species on the planet and offer some of best day trips for wildlife watching anywhere. Couple that with beautiful beaches, tropical weather, and friendly locals and you have a destination worth exploring.

Whether you’re taking a day trip to one of the 18 islands in the volcano-formed archipelago, or hoping to take one of the more luxurious cruise trips to Galapagos Islands, you’re sure to encounter plenty of wildlife.

The Galapagos are home to the endangered giant tortoise, the lava rock loving land iguana and its brethren, the ocean diving marine iguana, plus tons of sea turtles, sea lions and even tropical penguins. The marine iguana is a species of iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands, and is unique among modern lizards in that it finds food under the surface of the ocean.

Some of the most scenic day trips you can do in the Galapagos Islands originate from Isabela Island. We had the good fortune of spending some time there and got to experience the best day trips from Isabela Island, Galapagos for ourselves.

A brief history of Isabela Island

Isabela Island (also called Isla Isabela) is the largest of the Galapagos Islands (it’s actually bigger than all the other 17 islands combined!), however Puerto Villamil (the largest village on the island) is the smallest of the three main settlements in the Galapagos.

Getting around town on the sandy streets is quick and easy and there’s a very laid back, almost Caribbean feel to the island. To say that the town is as unique as the people and the animals that live there is an understatement and we met some really nice people there.

Isabela Island straddles the Equator and was formed, like the others in the archipelago, via lava and volcanoes around a million years ago. As a result, this Galapagos island still has plenty of volcanic activity and ranks among one of the most active volcanic islands in the world. Nearly all the volcanic activity is based around the untouched northern portion of the island but it still makes a for a great trip.

Whether you’re taking one of the many tours or going it alone, there’s a lot to do for such a sleepy place. Like most of the Galapagos Islands, you’ll see sea lions and marine iguanas just about everywhere you look as well as the remarkable frigate birds flying overhead. In the wetlands of the island you can see pink flamingoes and stilts and Darwin’s famed finches, that helped him form his theory of evolution, exist near land and sea.

Under the water you can see some of the largest gatherings of hammerhead sharks in the world as well as plenty of sea turtles, stingrays, manta rays and sea horses. If you’re snorkeling, there’s a good chance you’ll be visited by an inquisitive sea lion and, if you’re lucky, the only tropical penguin in the world, the Galapagos penguin.

Day Trips from Isabela Island

Some of the more notable day trips from Isabela Island include:

A day trip to Los Tuneles

Our favorite day trip from any of the Galapagos Islands, the day trip to Los Tuneles was amazing!

The day we went to Los Tuneles we snorkeled with nearly a dozen sea turtles, swam with reef sharks and sea lions, and also saw a sea horse and a few rays up close.

We also walked over crumbling lava tunnels and got up close to watch the mating dance of a pair of blue-footed booby’s.

One of my personal highlights was sitting down on one of the caved in lava arches and watching sea turtles navigate the shallow channels of Los Tuneles below to get to the warmer lagoon for the night.

Sometimes they would pass only a few feet away from us and the water was crystal clear.

Sierra Negra Volcano

The second largest active volcanic crater in the world, the Sierra Negra is over 10km in diameter. Day trips to Sierra Negra take you up and around the rim and give you spectacular views of the volcano and surrounding islands.

Expect to be hot and tired after your 16 km walk but everyone we talked to who did it said it was worth it for the views alone. It’s about a four to five hour tour that usually includes trips to Volcan Chico which is about an hour farther away where you can see fumaroles (gas vents) and parasitic craters (a non main volcano cone) up close.

Tintoreras

The Tintoreras are a series of small islands directly across from Puerto Villamil.

The tour usually comprises of a small boat that takes five minutes to cross the shallow bay and drives slowly along the coastline so you can see the Galapagos penguins (the only tropical penguin in the world) and blue-footed boobies (funny looking birds with blue feet and an extravagant mating dance) up close.

While on a tour, you also have the opportunity to snorkel in between the islands. While snorkeling, you might see everything from small reef sharks to stingrays to sea turtles and curious sea lions.

Once you’re done snorkeling, you’ll cross onto one of the islands where you’ll get off the boat and hike a short trail that’ll bring you to an area full of sea lions and a water alley full of resting sharks.

Tip! If you want you can also kayak over to Tintoreras as part of a group. It’s a fairly similar tour to what’s above however you won’t end up traveling as far down the coast as you would with the boat. The nicest part is that if you find the Galapagos penguins (they move around a lot during certain seasons), you can generally get a little closer to them.

Concha de Perla

The Concha de Perla is like a giant natural swimming pool that’s closed off from the sea. It’s right next to the main island docks. To get to it, look for a sign on the left as you walk towards the water.

After a 1 minute walk along a long wooden boardwalk, you’ll come to a small deck overlooking the bay. There’s not much seating however there are two sets of stairs leading to the water and the Concha de Perla is a gorgeous place to swim and snorkel.

To get to the town docks or the boardwalk, head east from town. The docks can be reached in around 10 minutes. It can be pretty hot in the afternoons so it might be wiser to grab a truck taxi for a few dollars.

Every time we went to Concha de Perla we saw sharks, sea turtles, stingrays and groups of fish. Along the edges, we saw marine iguanas hanging out in low hanging branches just above the water basking in the sun as well as sea lions frolicking about. Supposedly it’s not uncommon to see Galapagos penguins there from time to time as well.

Caution: There is no beach area at Concha de Perla and the water is deep so it’s not great for kids unless they’re strong swimmers. Also note that as the tide rises and drops it can create a current along the outer edges so make sure you’re a strong swimmer or are wearing flippers if you head farther out. Since it’s too deep to see much in the center, you’ll want to keep to the edges anyway.

Giant Tortoise Breeding Center

The National Park runs the giant tortoise breeding center on Isabela Island and that’s where giant tortoises are raised from eggs to adolescence before being set free into the highlands, which is their natural habitat on the island.

The tortoise breeding center is a great place for kids and there is a good interpretation room. To get to it, you can just head down the beach or up the main road the opposite way from the town docks and turn right onto the wooden walkways just past Iguana Crossing. It’s a pretty 30 min walk from town or around 5 minutes by taxi.

Flamingos Lake

To the west of Puerto Villamil, there are various salt and brackish lagoons which house an impressive variety of coastal and sea birds. Here, visitors can also find the largest concentration of flamingos in the Galapagos.

The path to Flamingo Lake is located only a feet from the beach and starts just past Iguana Crossing hotel. You can visit the Tortoise breeding center at the same time since it uses the same path.

Wall of Tears

The Wall of Tears on Isabela Island has a rich history of fairly grisly details. The culmination of which was a large wall made of lava boulders in the middle of nowhere constructed by prisoners in the late 40’s and early 50’s as a large, make work project that never went anywhere.

The Wall of Tears is five km from the town of Puerto Villamil and makes a great early morning or late afternoon jaunt. To get there quicker, you can rent a bicycle in town that will let you ride down the well posted nature trails that will also lead to lagoons, some gorgeous viewpoints, as well as some beautiful secluded beaches.

Wetlands

Isabela Island is also home to wetland areas located just outside of Puerto Vilamil. The Wetlands consist of salt water lagoons and mangrove swamps and are home to a variety of unique endemic bird species such as common stilts, whimbrels, white-cheeked pintails, and gallinules. You can visit the Wetlands on foot via a path that winds through the swamps.

You might like:

• Our Experience at Hotel Albemarle on Isabela Island Galapagos
• Lounging with Sea Lions at the Red Mangrove Hotel Galapagos – Our Review
• What To Expect On An Ecuador Amazon Tour With La Selva Lodge
• Why You Need To Visit The Hot Springs At Hotel Termas de Papallacta Ecuador
• Canoeing Into The La Selva Lodge In The Ecuadorian Amazon

Learning a new language can be difficult and time-consuming. After years of learning Spanish with Rosetta Stone and Lingoda, I still struggle to do much more than order in restaurants, and give basic directions to a taxi driver.

But what if it was possible to immerse yourself in local culture off the beaten path and chat with locals without having to master a new language?

A real time handheld language translator can do that, from translating directions, to starting a conversation, or even to asking for emergency assistance if you become ill. It’s even helpful for learning a new language or using as a pocket dictionary.

See the Fluentalk T1 translator on Amazon.

Even better, an offline language translator like the Fluentalk T1 can help you break the language barrier and explore with confidence, even when you’re not connected to Wi-Fi and out of cell range.

Our Hands-on Fluentalk T1 Review

Let’s take a closer look at this powerful translator in our Fluentalk T1 review and see how it can help you during your travels.

What does it do? As you speak into the device, it immediately translates your words into another language (both as voice and as text). You can also translate photos. It works with a Wi-Fi connection, an included data plan, or offline.

The Fluentalk T1 comes with:

• an included two year data plan that works almost anywhere in the world
• 95% Accuracy in 40 languages and 93 accents
• offline translation available for 13 languages
• image translation on a four inch color HD screen

The T1 can work offline or online via Wi-Fi or a (included) cellular eSIM card.

See the Fluentalk T1 translator on Amazon.

Quick look at the Fluentalk T1 Handheld Translator

The Fluentalk T1 Handheld Language Translator comes equipped with a host of features that make translating easy and fast. These features include:

• Realtime two-way translation. This feature allows for natural conversations between two people speaking different languages.
• Highly accurate speech recognition. Using advanced algorithms, the handheld translator is able to recognize speech accurately so that users get precise translations quickly.
• Easy one touch operation. With just one button press you can activate the translator so that it recognizes words or phrases in either language being spoken in real time.
• Portable design. The device is lightweight and compact making it easy to carry around while traveling or on vacation.
• Voice recognition accuracy as high as 95%. This means that users get accurate translations every time they use their device, allowing them to navigate their way through any country with ease.

Before I get into the details of the review, a little bit about if the Fluentalk T1 fits my top requirement for any language translation device: It needs to work well, and reliably, offline.

Offline Voice Translator – Fluentalk T1

An absolute must for me for portable translator is that it works well offline.

An offline translator is particularly useful if you don’t have a local SIM card, mobile hotspot, or a portable hotspot to stay connected. It’s also helpful when you’re somewhere remote that’s out of range of cell service.

The Fluentalk handheld language translator can translate 13 pairs of languages offline in either direction: English-Chinese, English-Japanese, English-Korean, English-French, English-Spanish, English-Russian, English-German, Chinese-English, Chinese-Japanese, Chinese-Korean, Chinese-French, Chinese-Spanish, Chinese-Russian and Chinese-Germany.

The T1 comes out of the box with four offline language sets already downloaded for portable translation. You’ll need to connect to Wi-Fi to download the other nine languages for use offline.

Offline review of this translator device without internet

While it was offline, I tested the T1’s translation from French to English, and English to French, and it was reliably able to translate short sentences.

Since my French is pretty limited, I couldn’t confirm it’s accuracy at longer sentences however Charles is fluent and he said it seemed spot on.

I’m more fluent in Spanish, so I was able to push it a bit further, testing full sentences at a time. It translated accurately and quickly in Spanish, as long as I was careful to pronounce my Spanish words carefully.

In my tests translating between French and English, and Spanish and English, the offline mode worked well. Translation was just as fast in offline mode as in online mode, and it seemed as accurate in offline mode as it was using Wi-Fi or data.

In offline mode, the translator outputs both voice and text translation.

Overall, I was happy with how well this little language translator device works without wifi.

Our Hands-on Fluentalk T1 Review

My first impression of the T1 was that it is cute and compact. It’s small enough to be hung around the neck, and feels sturdy and reliable. It weighs only four ounces (155 g), so it’s easy to slip into any pocket, ensuring you have it on hand when you need it.

The four inch color touchscreen is easy to read and navigate. The translation buttons are easy to press, and feel like they’ll hold up with repeat use.

I found the T1 pretty easy and intuitive to use.

There are three buttons on the side. The top yellow button is the power button. I used the middle blue button for my native language button and the bottom red button (it actually looks more orange to me) I used as the other language button however they can can be easily swapped around to your preference.

On the opposite side, there’s also a volume up or down button. Besides for the responsive touchscreen, the controls are pretty straighforward.

It was easy to start up and to choose the languages for translation on the touch screen.

On first start up, it prompted me to activate the eSIM, which happened in a couple of clicks and took less than five minutes for it to fully activate.

I really loved that it came with an eSIM preinstalled, saving me the hassle of inserting and activating a physical SIM card when I received the device. There is a slot for an additional physical SIM card, in addition to the eSIM card if you’re in another country and want to pick up a sim card just for the device.

What does the T1 cost? Is it worth the price?

The T1 costs $299.99 USD.

It’s definitely toward the high end, cost-wise, compared to other personal translators.

However, in my tests, it offered offer good performance in terms of speed and accuracy, and also with the number of languages offered.

Some cheaper pocket translators work by connecting to your smartphone and using your phone’s data or Wi-Fi connection. However, the T1 has a built-in data connection, with an included two year plan, for translating without another device or Wi-Fi connection.

On top of that, it has a solid offline mode, which is crucial for many travelers.

Want to check it out right away? See the Fluentalk T1 on Amazon.

How does it compare to a translation app on a smartphone?

Honestly, I was pretty skeptical about getting a handheld translation device, when I already had a translation app or two on my phone, that mostly work pretty well.

But translation apps are a little glitchy.

For example, if you speak more than one language well, then you’ll know that translation apps like Google Translate make a lot of weird errors, which seem to get worse if you use slang, speak in an accent, or swear. Most also get noticeably worse if you dan’t have a Wifi or data connection.

While translator apps are easily available, having a dedicated device means you won’t have to thumb through apps to get an instant translation and the inclusion of 2 dedicated language buttons right on the device means it’s easier to get it going for both you and the person you’re trying to communicate with. Accuracy and speed are also top-notch.

I also really like not having to hand my smartphone to strangers when doing the translation. Having a stand-alone device makes me feel a lot more comfortable, in terms of protecting my data and personal information.

One area where the T1 is much better than most smartphone apps is that it differentiates between multiple accents in a language. For example, the Fluentalk translator lets you translate Spanish in accents from these countries: Spain, USA, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Columbia, Dominic (I assume this is the Dominican Republic), Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Salvatore.

That’s pretty impressive to me, as there can be huge differences in the accents in Spanish!

After several months in Mexico a few years ago, we flew directly to Spain. I was pretty cocky, thinking that my Mexican Spanish would translate well. Unfortunately, as soon as I got off the plane, I realized that I couldn’t understand half of what everyone was saying in Spanish. It took me a couple of weeks to get used to the difference in accents between Mexico and Spain!

Is the Fluentalk fast and accurate?

The T1 handheld voice translator translates in real-time, almost instantly between two or more different languages.

Translation accuracy

While we can’t test all 40 languages (we did try a multitude of them but couldn’t verify their output), we ran our main tests translating between English and Spanish (Mexico), or English and French. We both speak and read some Spanish, I understand some basic French and Charles is fluent in it.

I found no difference in speed translating in offline or online mode.

Text to speech speed

Fluentalk says the T1 immediately translates any speech within 0.2 seconds. In our tests, there wasn’t any perceptible lag between talking and having our speech translated to text.

Speech translation

Similarly, when translating from my voice to the T1’s translated voice output, it was also fast.

Fluentalk T1 translation modes

The T1 offers a few translation modes: One-Click Translation mode (default), Chat mode, Custom mode, Spectator mode and Photo translation mode. It also includes a speech transcriber for Voice memos.

One-Click Translation mode

The One-Click Translation mode is the default translation mode and works with the two colored buttons on the right. The blue button is language 1 and red button is language 2. I set up the blue button as English in our tests however they can be swapped around as needed.

To use One-Click Translation mode, I’d just press the middle (blue) button to speak. It would wait until I released the button to translate my voice into the other language. This was helpful to avoid confusion having the voice translation play over our own voice while we were talking.

I’d just press the bottom button (red) when I wanted the T1 to translate, in reverse, from the second language.

Not a fan of physical buttons? In One-Click mode, you can quickly rotate the device to use it without having to continually press the buttons on the side. To rotate the screen, just tap the small switch button on the bottom left of the translation screen for a side-by-side conversation. Tap the on-screen language button to start or pause the translation. It will continue auto-translating from that language until the other language is chosen or the current language is paused.

Chat mode

Chat mode allows you to have a real time conversation without having to hold any buttons. Just point the top of the device facing the person you want to talk to and the bottom towards yourself. Once you have your languages properly set up, just click the middle play button and it will then translate what each of you is saying.

You can access Chat mode directly through the touchscreen menu and can adjust the speaking interval for chat translation, if you want to translate longer or shorter sentences, in the options in the top right of the screen. You can also enable/disable voice if you just want the device to translate into text. It’s a cool feature because the screen is split in 2 with both people able to read it standing in front of each other.

You can also see your chat history by swiping up or down on the screen while in Chat mode.

Custom Translation/Ask for Directions mode

In a hurry? Use Custom Translation mode.

Just double click the power button to start a conversation using pre-written text (and voice) translated to your language of choice. It’s set up by default to say in English “Excuse me, can you help me? We can use this translator to communicate.”

However, you can change the content of this message, and change the default language, in the Custom Menu. You can also start Custom Translation mode through the touchscreen menu by clicking the Ask for Directions button.

Spectator (Listening) mode

In Spectator mode, the T1 stays on, and translates what others say around you into your native language just via text.

This could be a great option when watching TV or listening to a travel guide. It could also be great when listening to instructions given in another language since you can quickly scroll back to what was just said if you need to reference it later.

Photo translation

I had good luck with the photo translation as well. On the road, we would use this for road signs, maps, menus, and so on. As a vegetarian, I love using photo translation for ingredient labels and menus.

To do photo translation, just snap a photo of what you want to translate using the T1’s built in eight megapixel camera.

The four inch HD screen makes the translation easy to read.

Image translation works for 36 languages.

I found that the photo translation worked like a dream most of the time, but it would occasionally break down if it was translating an unusual font, and it didn’t work well for me for handwriting.

Photo translation is from text to text only. It doesn’t give a voice readout.

Voice memos

The Fluentalk T1 also includes a Voice Memo mode that automatically transcribes your voice to text and saves it on your device. It’s a cool method to leave yourself notes to follow up on later. You can also set the name of each transcribed voice text for easier identification later on.

I just wish there was an easy way to pull those texts off the device so I could use them in other places. Fluentalk is missing an opportunity here for uses outside of the translation world. Having a ready to go voice transcriber that works well could be handy in several different fields. Couple in the ability to change the side buttons for it’s use and you’ve opened up another use case for the device.

Common Questions about the Fluentalk T1

T1 Battery life

When we first got the T1, it was charged to about halfway. I used the device for about two hours, and it was then ready for a charge.

I charged it using the USB-C cable provided, and it was fully charged when I checked a couple of hours later.

It has a 1500 mAh battery, which offers 3.5 hours of continuous translation time, and 96 hours of standby time.

I played with it, off and on, for around three hours, and the battery level showed at about one quarter.

Will it translate jargon, slang, and swear words?

Instead of translating swear words, it translates them as asterisks (***), at least with the few we tried in English, like f*ck, b*tch, and any swear words we knew in Spanish.

It does translate common slang well in English to Spanish, for example, it translates “what’s up” as “how are you doing“. However, it didn’t translate new slang for us, like the word “cheugy“, which is new slang roughly meaning out of date or trying too hard.

It’s designed as a general translator, so the T1 won’t necessarily translate specialized jargon (or language specific to an occupation). That said, I did test it by asking it to translate some specific words in neuroscience (my university degree). It accurately translated common words like “neuroscience” and “dopamine“, but it didn’t understand less common words like “amygdala” (a region of the brain) and “gamma aminobutyric acid” (a neurotransmitter) from English to Spanish.

Is it loud enough?

I had no trouble hearing the translator at about 75% volume, in a normal home environment, with our (loud) dishwasher running the background and my kids talking in the other room.

I also tried the volume at 100%, and while it was tinny (which is what I’d expect with a speaker in such a small device) I could easily understand it even if I had music playing in the background or the TV on up close. You may struggle to hear the little speakers if you keep the device on a table a couple of feet away in a louder environment, like a busy restaurant. I think for most uses, in normal environments, it should be fine.

How’s the microphone?

There are two microphones on the top of the device, and one on the bottom.

When the device was held at arm’s length, I had no trouble with the mic picking up my speaking voice, and translating it properly. I have a soft speaking voice, and I found that it started to have a little trouble picking up my voice from about ten feet away, while in Spectator mode.

Does it use voice commands?

It does not have voice commands. You operate the device through the buttons, or the touchscreen.

Can you use it as a mobile hotspot?

You can only share data with other devices, using the WLAN hotspot, if you insert a separate nano SIM card of your own. It does not share the included eSIM data (I got errors when I tried).

However, I tested to see if it would act as hotspot for the Wi-Fi signal that I was connected to, and it worked perfectly when I connected my phone to the T1’s hotspot (named Android AP_6654, in the photo below).

How well does the mobile data work?

I tested the T1 using only the mobile data eSIM.

When I ran a speedtest, it downloaded at 17.4 Mbps and uploaded at 11.5 Mbps, which is quite fast. More than fast enough to stream video, in fact.

Given that the eSIM data was so fast, it’s no surprise that I found the T1 translation to be just as fast using mobile data as it was using Wi-Fi.

Is it easy to use and intuitive?

Overall, the T1 is easy to use and intuitive.

To get up and running, all you need to do is turn the device on, choose your languages, and press the side buttons. It’s easy to switch languages, the eSIM started up like an absolute dream, and it’s even simple enough to switch between Chat and Spectator mode.

One feature that wasn’t the most intuitive (to me at least), was how to navigate back through the screens. I had a little trouble navigating back and forth between screens, until I broke down and looked at the manual, which told me that I could use swiping gestures from the sides to navigate back and forth.

For example, to see the previous screen, you just swipe right on the edge of the left hand side of the screen with one finger to return to the previous screen. This works well, but it would have been helpful to have a back arrow on all screens, in addition to having the swiping option. It’s a small thing, and you may just pick it up intuitively, but I didn’t.

Can I connect T1 with my Bluetooth device?

Fluentalk doesn’t recommend connecting via Bluetooth.

While there is a menu option to connect via Bluetooth, it’s not recommended, except in the rare case where you’re connecting directly to the Timekettle TWS earbuds, and listening to the translation through the earbud, with the user talks to the T1 in one-talk mode.

What happens when the two years of data expires?

After the two year free cellular data plan expires on the eSIM, you aren’t stuck with paying for the Fluentalk cellular data. After the data service expires, you can either insert your own SIM card, or use Wi-Fi.

If you want, Fluentalk is currently working on an option to purchase more data directly through them, but details aren’t available yet.

What other features does the Fluentalk T1 have?

There are several extras on the T1 including a flashlight, a configurable world clock, an exchange rate conversion, and an SOS feature.

The little flashlight is fine for a little extra illumination to find your keys in the dark, but I found it to be less powerful than my Samsung S22+ smartphone’s flashlight. It has 2 locations you can set for a world clock and an automatically updated exchange rate conversion for a large variety of world currencies. I just wish it also included a calculator here rather than just the days current rates.

The SOS feature is handy as it lists the countries emergency contact numbers including police, emergency and fire. In North America (US, Canada and Mexico), all 3 are 911 however, in some countries, they have different numbers for different emergencies so that’s a nice feature.

Handheld translator vs translator earbuds: Which is better?

Language translation earbuds are an alternative to a handheld translation device however, for many earbuds, this means giving one of the earbuds to the person you’re speaking to. If, like me, you’re a bit squeamish about someone else having your earbud in their ear, then a handheld device like the Fluentalk T1 may be a better choice.

Who makes the Fluentalk T1?

Fluentalk is a sub-brand of Timekettle Technology Co., Ltd. (founded in 2016). Fluentalk mainly specializes in the research and development of handheld translators.

Timekettle also makes translation earbuds, like the:

• WT2 Edge
• M3
• M2
• WT2 Plus

Want to order the Fluentalk T1?

See the Fluentalk T1 on Amazon.

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• The Ultimate Travel Essentials List
• Skyroam Solis Review – How We Get Unlimited WiFi Anywhere We Travel
• An Honest Review of GlocalMe WiFi Hotspot

In this Jase Medical review, I want to share the importance of having emergency antibiotics while traveling and how Jase Medical can provide that extra level of protection and security.

As a seasoned traveler, I understand the importance of being prepared for any situation, especially when it comes to health and safety. While carrying a well-stocked first aid kit is essential, it’s not always enough. That’s why I highly recommend considering Jase Medical’s emergency antibiotics for your next trip.

With the shortages, travel disruptions, and political unrest in the world right now, being prepared seems like an especially good idea.

When you’re traveling, the unexpected can happen. It’s important to have a reliable source of medical support. Jase Medical’s emergency antibiotics can give you that peace of mind, so you can focus on enjoying your adventure.

Our family of four carries a well stocked travel first aid kit, and it’s come in handy many times. That said, even the best first aid kit for traveling abroad usually doesn’t include antibiotics for emergencies.

There have been many times where our family of four has needed antibiotics on the road, including a kidney infection in Thailand, an E. coli infection in the Philippines, strep throat in Mexico and a nasty cut to our son’s ear in Greece. (See the blue boxes for details from a couple of our personal stories).

In a hurry? See Jase’s emergency antibiotic prices now.

Jase Medical Review

When I found out about Jase’s emergency antibiotics kit, I was excited to get one for my family.

The Jase Case is a 100% legal emergency antibiotics kit that contains five of the most common antibiotics you might need. I think of it as a backup plan if we aren’t able to make it to a doctor or pharmacy when we’re traveling.

Since we’ll keep the Jase Case with us wherever we are, it also serves as prepper antibiotics if we’re off grid, if there’s a natural disaster, or if we can’t make it to a doctor or pharmacy for some reason, and for emergency antibiotics for travel abroad.

How do you get antibiotics for travel?

In an ideal world, if you get sick as you travel, you would just visit an English speaking doctor and pharmacy and have medications prescribed.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to access medical care on the road, and even harder to find a pharmacy to dispense those medications.

Another option to get emergency antibiotics for travel is to have them prescribed by your family doctor. Unfortunately, not everyone has a family doctor. In the US, doctor visits can be expensive. On top of that, a local doctor may not specialize in travel medicine, and may not know the best antibiotics to include in a travel medical kit.

That’s where Jase comes in. Jase lets you order emergency antibiotics for travel online, from a board-certified doctor, and delivered through a local pharmacy.

Wondering how to get antibiotics for a survival kit? While we got Jase for our off-grid and travel use, it’s a great option for getting antibiotics for a survival kit at home.

Since Jase provided us with a kit to see how their service works, I jumped at the chance to check it out. Before I talk about my experience ordering antibiotics through Jase, here’s a little info on Jase, and how it works.

Click here if you want to jump straight to my personal review.

About Jase Medical

Jase founders created the company so people have access to medical help even when professional assistance is not available.

Emergency or unforeseen medical situations can be stressful and without the proper supplies, life-threatening. Jase Medical’s aim is to make sure that you have the medications you need even in times when access to medicines is hard to come by.

Jase Medical is for people who want to keep an emergency supply of medication available wherever they travel or happen to be.

The process for ordering emergency antibiotics is simple. You just:

1. Fill out a simple online form, which is evaluated by a physician.
2. The antibiotics are sent directly by mail from Jase’s pharmacy network.

What I really love is that a Jase order also includes unlimited ongoing care, so you can ask your prescribing physician any questions you may have about a particular condition or treatment. 

To order online, go to Jase Medical’s website here and use code NOMAD10 at checkout to get $10 off).

What medications are in the Jase case?

Jase’s medical team have put together a comprehensive kit with emergency antibiotics for travelers.

The Jase emergency antibiotic travel pack contains the following medications:

• Amoxicillin-Clavulanate
• Azithromycin (which the CDC says is used to treat severe traveler’s diarrhea.)
• Ciprofloxacin
• Doxycycline
• Metronidazole

This isn’t legal or medical advice. Make sure you consult with a doctor to see if emergency antibiotics are right for you.

Among other things, the Jase antibiotics can be used to treat:

• traveler’s diarrhea
• kidney infections
• bladder infections
• pneumonia
• wound infections
• possible bioterror incidents
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF)
• strep throat
• urinary tract infection

How long does it take to get the Jase antibiotics?

Unlike traditional medication, you don’t need to pick up your medication from a pharmacy. Instead, it’s mailed to the address you provide.

My Jase antibiotics came five days after placing my order, which is lightning fast compared to other online orders that I’ve made with other companies.

Orders are shipped from the Jase partner pharmacy via either USPS or the Canadian Post.

Can’t I just buy antibiotics overseas as I travel?

Absolutely, you can get antibiotics from an overseas pharmacy when you travel.

There are a few risks though.

First, you may not be close to a pharmacy or medical help when you need medicine.

Second, you may not get the professional advice you need about usage and dose because of language barriers, or lack of access to medical professionals.

Third, and this is something that most travelers don’t think about, but there’s a risk the meds you get overseas may be counterfeit, especially in emerging countries.

My Personal Experience with Jase

My entire experience ordering the Jase emergency antibiotics online was smooth and simple, and only took about 10 minutes in total.

I very much like the convenience of ordering online. It’s so much simpler than making an appointment with a family doctor, or with a walk-in clinic.

My experience ordering Jase emergency antibiotics online

To start, I went to the Jase website.

From there, I followed along with their online ordering process. Basically, it was just a few questions about my medical history and they verified my identity.

To start, I answered a few simple medical questions, including if I had any potential allergies, if I’ve had a general health checkup in the past two years, and if I was taking any other medications.

After that, I uploaded a picture of an official ID (my driver’s license in my case), which was quick and secure by just holding my ID in front of my webcam. To comply with telemedicine laws, the Jase physicians are required to verify their patients’ identity with a government issued photo ID.

After I was done, I got a confirmation email from Jase, saying my order was being reviewed by one of their independent board-certified physicians.

I placed my order at 3:23 pm, and got an email from the doctor at 7:10 am the next morning saying my prescriptions were ordered from the pharmacy. There was also on email where I could reach the doctor if I had any questions.

I got a text from the pharmacy the day after that, saying that they’d received the prescription order, and setting up a time to talk to the pharmacist.

Later that day, I got a call from the pharmacist, who provided helpful education on how, and when, to use the medications in an emergency. He was also able to answer any questions I had.

Since I live in Canada, my Jase antibiotics were shipped from a partner pharmacy, Pocketpills.

Since I didn’t have any other prescriptions, or medical history, I wasn’t contacted directly by a doctor after the initial consultation. Jase says that a physician only contacts you if there are questions about your medical history. Otherwise, the responses you give during the online consultation are typically enough.

My Jase antibiotics came only a few days after placing my order.

Honestly, that’s pretty impressive since I live in Canada, and in a smaller city, which often makes shipping slow.

To order online, go to Jase Medical’s website here and use code NOMAD10 at checkout to get $10 off.

If you have allergies, or another medical reason, the medications listed can be substituted or removed at the discretion of the physician.

Since I’m based in Canada right now, my Jase Case prescription was fulfilled by a pharmacy that serves Canadian customers.

My Jase case contained everything the Jase website said it would.

The only tiny difference was that I got Metronidazole caplets instead of tablets, but the number and milligrams in each was identical to the website. Here’s exactly what I got:

• 30 Metronidazole 500 mg Capsules
• 6 Azithromycin 250 mg Tablets
• 28 Amoxicillin-Clavulanate 875/125 mg Tablets
• 28 Ciprofloxacin 500 mg Tablets
• 120 Doxycycline 100 mg Capsules

As a note, your pill bottles may look a bit different. Jase’s medications are are sent in their typical pill bottles from independent, licensed pharmacies.

The Jase emergency antibiotic kit came in a handy zippered pouch, which is helpful for keeping the bottles organized in one space, and protecting them from light. The bag is really well constructed, with several compartments, and a sturdy zipper.

It’s a small thing, but I would have liked my fifth bottle of antibiotics to have a designated place. Four of the five pill bottles were snugly held in place with an elastic band, but the fifth was just placed in the case. Again, it’s a trivial thing, but maybe future cases could include this?

There’s also a 33-page Emergency Antibiotic Guide Booklet.

Inside the booklet, there’s a description of each antibiotic in the kit, along with what conditions it’s used to treat. The antibiotic description includes notes on possible dangers, including interactions with other drugs, and potential allergic reactions. It also includes when it is to be taken (e.g., during meals), expiration and storage information, and whether it is compatible with breastfeeding mothers and/or pregnancy.

The booklet also has an easy-to-read index at the front that lists medical conditions, and then which antibiotic in the kit can be used to treat that condition, along with page numbers to find out more information.

There’s even information in the back on how to safely dispose of expired medications.

How much does a Jase case cost?

Currently, prices for the antibiotic kit are:

• For US patients: $259.95 USD*
• For Canadian patients: $339.95 USD*

The pricing difference includes differences between USA and Canadian costs of medications, shipping, fees and materials. Prices may change over time.

We asked Jase for a discount for our readers.

Use our code NOMAD10 at checkout to get $10 off!

See Jase prices here.

Does Jase accept insurance?

Jase Medical does not accept any type of health insurance. If you’re in the USA, you should be able to use your HSA (Health Savings Account) or FSA (Flexible Spending Account), but it depends on the specifics of your account.

Is there a fee for the Jase doctor’s visit?

Your doctor’s consultation is free and is included in the cost. If the physician determines that your order for chronic condition medication or antibiotics is appropriate, the only payment made will be for the prescribed medications.

Is Jase Medical legit?

Jase Medical was founded by board-certified family physician Dr. Shawn Rowland who is supported by a team of experts.

Jase’s clinical advisors are:

• Shawn Rowland, M.D., Founder – Jase Medical, LLC., board-certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
• Lissa Baird, M.D., Director of Neurosurgical Oncology in the Department of Neurosurgery at Boston Children’s Hospital
• Brandon Webb, M.D., Associate Professor of Research in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Epidemiology at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jase Medical contracts with physicians who are licensed to prescribe medicine and treat patients in your area, and complies with all governing medical laws.

JASE MEDICAL

Can I order medication other than antibiotics?

You can request specific medications for many chronic conditions.

However, you can’t place partial orders for the antibiotic kit, or select specific medications for the antibiotic kits.

Jase Medical Canada

Jase Medical is available both in the USA and in Canada. They currently aren’t in any other countries.

Canadians can order on the same Jase website as Americans, here.

How long can the emergency antibiotics be stored?

Most antibiotics have an expiration date between two or three years from the date of manufacture on the bottle. Store medications in air-tight containers in a cool, dry environment to maximize their shelf life.

The Jase website says “Under proper storage conditions antibiotics, expiration dates can be extended for a minimum of an additional 5 years. Studies have even shown 90% retained potency after as many as 20 years.“

What about antibiotic shortages, and supply chain disruptions?

Canada is currently experiencing a shortage of some antibiotics, primarily liquid formulations of amoxicillin and azithromycin. Tablet forms of antibiotics aren’t currently seeing shortages in Canada. See current antibiotic shortages in Canada here.

There are also shortages of some antibiotics in the USA – see this FDA list for current details.

Can I send a Jase case as a gift?

Jase offers gift cards if you’re looking to send a Jase antibiotics as a gift.

See Jase gift cards here.

Use our code NOMAD10 at checkout to get $10 off!

Is Jase Medical Worth it?

I was pleasantly surprised with how quick and simple it was to order emergency antibiotics from Jase.

It may be a couple of more steps if you have potential drug allergies, or don’t have a primary care physician, or if you’re taking other medications.

It feels good to have the peace of mind that I have emergency antibiotics on hand. A medical kit stocked with emergency antibiotics may mean the difference between a ruined vacation and a memorable one.

While I really liked the quick, easy online experience, it really put my mind at ease to know that I could have any of my questions answered by a Jase physician. On top of that, talking to the pharmacist about any potential issues was incredibly helpful.

One downside is that there’s currently no a la carte option, where you can just buy one or two of the more common antibiotics in the kit. You need to purchase all five in the kit.

Should you stock Jase in your DIY travel first aid kit or road trip first aid kit?

If you’re like me, and want to be prepared for travel emergencies, or just want an antibiotic supply for emergency preparedness, I definitely recommend the Jase antibiotic kit.

Carrying a Jase Case just might save your life, and at the at least, you’ll be able to sleep soundly knowing that you have access to vital antibiotics right away if you need it.

Order Jase emergency antibiotics here.