In 2010 the US enacted FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) to combat tax evasion by US taxpayers holding financial assets outside the United States. This act requires, among other things, that foreign financial institutions report information about financial accounts held by US taxpayers. Banks outside the US must identify and report US account […]
Read More Czech Account and Bank IDWhen spending so much time in Czechia, it is helpful to have a Czech phone number and to be able to access apps available only in Czechia (or at least for non-US Google accounts). I didn’t want a landline, of course, but I needed a solution for my mobile phone. For many of the running […]
Read More Czech phone number and mobile appsNever before for this blog have I struggled so mightily to choose from so many options of what to write about for a trip. Japan is such a startlingly unique (and fun) destination, with many unexpected aspects, so I decided to highlight just some of these for you here, and I’ll definitely provide more in […]
Read More From Toilets to Temples: Revealing Japanese SurprisesMy second, and final, Polish home base on this trip was Gdansk, formerly known as Danzig in German. Gdansk is a port city in northern Poland on the Baltic Sea. Like Warsaw, its core was destroyed in World War II, but this time by the Soviets because its former inhabitants were mostly German. Like many […]
Read More Gdansk SolidarityEstonia has completely embraced the information age, with so many things now possible online, including voting! The following summary is from a display at the local Museum of Occupations and Freedom: “Estonia is an e-state. We’re well aware of that, and we’ve been bending the ears of anyone willing to hear it for decades. We […]
Read More E-stoniaIt’s hard to believe that it’s been a year and a half since Colleen and I previously visited Croatia’s gorgeous Dalmatian coast. This time we rented a car, and so we have much more flexibility and opportunities. We’re staying in Tisno again (about halfway between Zadar and Split, if you know Croatia), but during this […]
Read More Fortress-HoppingEarlier this year, my niece Katelyn (my sister’s daughter) contacted me and said she’s long wanted to visit Iceland, and she wondered if maybe I’d like to travel there with her. With deep appreciation and excitement, I immediately answered yes, of course!! And I’m really happy I did! Katelyn is a wonderful travel partner — […]
Read More Smoky CoveBelow is Major Meander’s first installment of a series on Google Maps translations of establishment reviews from foreign languages. Here, the source is a set of Google Maps reviews (translated from Czech) for a museum bistro in Prague. Today’s travel quote: Travel far enough, you meet yourself. David Mitchell
Read More Mug mugsThe contrast between my normal life in Asheville and the Eastern Europe life I’ve also enjoyed over much of the past year is quite large. But I really appreciate both lives, each with its own associated tradeoffs. It’s fun to transition between the two, frankly, and I hope to continue to be able to do […]
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Major Meander 