When I was a young buck, I used to travel like a maniac for work. I racked up travel miles fast because I was earning them non stop. I was based in Manhattan and had to cover clients in Florida, Bahamas, Iowa, Texas, Colorado, and California.

Then, there were the necessary quarterly or semi-annual pilgrimages to Hong Kong to kiss the ring. When you’ve got a corporate card with unlimited credit, you feel a little better about taking red-eyes to your 8am meetings. But after a while, the novelty wears off and all you want to do is take the Chairman’s Flight (fly in the middle of the work day).

Travel miles and credit card rewards points were my combination of choice because not only would I gain more points flying more miles, I would then gain rewards points for every dollar I spent on the ticket, hotels, food, and entertainment.

For example, I’d earn 16,100 points for flying to Hong Kong from New York City roundtrip + 5,000 points for the cost of the business class ticket + 2,500 points for seven nights in a hotel + 1,000 points for food + 500 points for entertainment. The total rewards points accumulated would therefore equal ~25,000 for a one week business trip to Asia.

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Figuring out how much to tip is one of the most awkward things to tackle because tipping is not mandatory. But if you live in America like I do, tipping is part of our culture. Not tipping for service feels weird, so we tend to do it anyway even if it’s not a part of another country’s culture.

Although each country in Europe has a slightly different tipping culture, I’d like to provide a rough guideline of how much to tip any waiter or hotel staff while traveling in any country in Europe. The tipping amounts have been researched through my own travel experiences and speaking with numerous travel industry veterans. And if you’re ever in doubt, you can always tip more!

_{Disclosure: Financial Samurai has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Samurai and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.}

Overlooking North Korea At The DMZ

In order to get to my friend’s wedding in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I stopped by Seoul, Korea for five days. In addition to checking out some amazing palaces and eating kalbi every day, one must also take an hour bus ride, 35 miles away to the Demilitarized Zone, aka the DMZ.

The DMZ is ironically one of the most militarized areas of the Korean peninsula. It was established on July 27, 1953 as a 2.5 mile wide buffer between the North and South. The line in the center of the DMZ is called the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). I was curious to see the place for myself since a flare up in country relations always seems to occur at least twice a year.

So why was the DMZ created in the first place? It started with the Japanese when they took over Korea from 1910 until the end of World War II in 1945. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and—by agreement with the United States—occupied Korea north of the 38th parallel. The US subsequently occupied the south and Japan surrendered.

From 1950 – 1953 over three million people died fighting for the sovereignty of Korea. The North, influenced by the Soviets and the Chinese with their communist ideology, felt they had right to rule the land. The South, helped by the Americans and our democratic ideology strongly disagreed. 

_{Disclosure: Financial Samurai has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Samurai and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.}

Recently, I hopped over to the United Kingdom to meet some friends and perspective clients in London with a buddy. I have been everywhere, and I mean everywhere in Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States.

Despite my time in Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York City, San Francisco, Paris, Rio, Barcelona, and Venice, I can comfortably say that London, with its Great Britain Pound and $50+ million dollar royal wedding is absolutely the most expensive city in the entire world!

Here’s a sample itinerary of what I spent on a Friday. I’ve recorded to the best of my ability what I spent to give you an idea of what food, lodging, clothing, and transportation costs go for in London and how it compares to your city.  Don’t shit a brick!

_{Disclosure: Financial Samurai has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Samurai and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.}