How to Pick the Best Airport Security Lines | Tips to Get Through Airport Security Faster

How to Avoid Long Lines at Airport Security

One of the most unpleasant experiences we all want to avoid when traveling is going through the airport security. While you can’t avoid that, there are some simple strategies you can take to make your airport security experience better.

80% to 90% of the population are right handed. So, it’s natural for travelers to move towards the right lanes at the airport security point. Before jumping into any lines, scan your left and see if those lines are light. Go to the left lines if opportunities exist.

However, the above strategy may not work at some airports if the security personnel are directing you to specific lines.

Another strategy you can follow is to not stay behind lines where you see families and kids are ahead of you. There is nothing against families and kids … they just take longer than others because they have more groups of people together.

Always look for those lines where you see more business travelers, even if these lines are longer. They are veteran travelers and will pass through airport security much faster than occasional travelers. You can easily identify business travelers by their dress and minimal luggage.

There is nothing guaranteed, but you can increase your chances to pass airport security point faster and smoother by following the three simple strategies above.

I have this article in video format. You can watch it here: How to Choose the Best Airport Security Lines

How to Keep Your Passport Safe When Traveling

Where to Keep Your passport When Traveling | Follow This Strategy to Keep Your Passport Safe

When you travel, this is the one single most important travel strategy you are not following – that’s what I will talk about today.

Your most important travel document is your passport, and you should be guarding this with the utmost security. However, most of us throw our passport in the carry-on luggage in the overhead bin and forget about it for the rest of the flight.

I have seen people lose their passports at airports and on planes. Imagine landing in a foreign country with no passport … you don’t want to be that person.

My recommendation is to use a sling bag or any small, similar bag and keep it attached to your body at all times, even when you go to the washroom or sleep on the plane. This type of bag is small and doesn’t count as a personal item in the airlines’ terms, so flight attendants will never ask  you to remove it and put it in the overhead compartment during landing and takeoff.

When you are wandering around the airport, pay attention to your passport bag and keep it close to your body. I use anti-theft sling bags (I have 4 or 5 of those) which cannot be slashed or cut; they have steel netting and wiring. I am extremely cautious about my passport. You don’t have to have a superior anti-theft bag, any sling or shoulder bag will do the job.

To visualize this type of bag, watch my video below. I have shown a few of these and you can use anything similar, as long as it works for you.

Where to Keep Passport When Traveling

How to Install an eSIM On Your Windows Laptop

How to Use an eSIM to Get Cellular Data Connection On Laptop Computers

I just bought my Surface Go 3 LTE laptop/tablet and one of its best features is the ability to use a physical SIM or eSIM to connect to cellular network and provide Internet. This feature is a life saver when you travel and especially if you are a content creator.

What I noticed in many countries is that the hotel WiFi was so slow, it was unusable except for checking email and light browsing. I was pulling my hair out using it, as I was getting behind updating my YouTube and I was unable to do any work.

An LTE laptop is capable of using a local SIM in your destination country or you can even install an eSIM before leaving for the trip in your own country. Installing an eSIM provides you Internet access right away when you land and you don’t need to search for a local SIM card. The disadvantage of this is an eSIM is always more expensive than the local SIM.

Installing an eSIM or physical SIM is not difficult at all. Search on your 4G or 5G LTE laptop and go to Cellular Settings to setup your eSIM or SIM.

There are many eSIM providers. Your laptop might even have some pre-installed by Microsoft, but I noticed their rates are horrible. The one I use is called Airalo (I am not affiliated) and I have used and tested them in several countries and it always worked for me and it is also by far the cheapest provider I came across. Regardless of which provider you go with, always do your research first for an eSIM for your destination country.

I have a video showing the full step-by-step eSIM installation process on a Windows Laptop here.

1 New Year Resolution I Want to Keep – How to Start Journaling

My 2023 New Year Resolution – Why I Am Starting Journaling & Its Benefits

I remember keeping a journal when I was little. My dad used to buy diaries from the local shop. They had colorful plastic covers and pages for every day – like daily planners. It had to be when I was in Grade 5 or so.

Somehow, I discontinued keeping journals since then, but not I am coming back to this after a few decades. I am into pens, notebooks, and planners and after reading about the many benefits of regular journaling, I decided to give it a try starting in 2023.

Daily writing practice can be enormously helpful in terms of clarifying your thoughts and goals. It is our nature to overthink things and get caught in a spiral of thoughts going nowhere. Writing regularly breaks this pattern by allowing us to externalize our thoughts and get some distance from them.

In addition, a daily writing habit can be a great source of inspiration and creativity. Research shows that journaling regularly can boost the immune system, help injuries heal faster, reduce stress and anxiety, and provide so many more benefits.

Also, most successful and famous people, throughout the wheel of time, have one thing common – they all write daily or do some sort of journaling.

My main challenge will be to continue writing and not giving up on journaling after a few months or weeks. But I am serious about keeping it going and determined to stay on my path to daily journaling.

I hope to write and create more videos on How to Journal and its benefits. Here is the first video I already created: How to Start Journaling

What You Need to Know About Tim Hortons Refreshed Rewards Program

Tim Hortons New Rewards Program

Tim Hortons just updated their rewards program, which will be effective starting Feb 21, 2023. Today, we will look at the changes and if the new Tim rewards programs is better or worse than before.

Tim Hortons Old Rewards Program

Here is a quick look at the current rewards program that will be obsolete starting Feb 21.

- Every purchase earns 10 points

- 50 cents minimum

- 30 minutes interval in between purchases to get points again

- To get free a Coffee and Donut you would require 70 and 50 points

Tim Hortons New Rewards Program

- Every $1 purchase earns 10 points

- 10 cents minimum

- Points will be converted from the old to the new program by multiplying 6.2

- To get free Coffee and Donut you would require 400 and 300 points

- No points buying or reloading Tim Cards

- Points expire after 1 year

Tim Hortons Devalues Its New Rewards Program

I will do a demonstration to prove that Tim Hortons new Rewards Program deteriorates from the old. Assuming you are spending $10 under the new program and $10 under the old program and ignoring the fact that you need to wait 30 minutes under the old program to get points again:

New Program – you would have to spend $40 to get a free coffee (400 points) and $30 to get a free donut (300 points).

Old Program - you would have to spend $3.50 to get a free coffee (70 points) and $2.50 to get a free donut (50 points).

For more details on how I derived these numbers, visit my video here:

New Tims Rewards Program - What You Need to Know Now

Even though the new program is not as lucrative as the old one, I will continue collecting points (instead of wasting them) and recommend doing so to make the most out of it.