Nerd on Tour Podcast

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1. Walking with Piotrek: Real Poland with Dorota and Krz

   5 november 2026 · 3 min

   Afspelen
   Planning a trip to Poland? Start with this episode. Lees meer

   Dorota and Krzysztof are two of my Polish friends, and many years ago I built the website for the company they were just starting — Real Poland, a small tour agency. Krzysztof is a licensed Warsaw guide who can walk you through centuries of our history on foot. Dorota did many other things before deciding to run the business alongside him, designing experiences for the Americans, Australians, and Canadians who make up most of their guests.

   Those guests keep coming back. There’s always more of the country to see, and planning it well is harder than it looks — which is exactly why you hire people like Dorota and Krzysztof.

   Their story isn’t a straight line, though. The company was growing fast, then COVID froze tourism entirely. Then the escalation of the war in Ukraine hit them again. What saved them was a client base loyal enough to keep returning, and Real Poland was reborn.

   We talk through all of it, plus their favorite sights. I love hearing stories like this, and I love passing them on.

   Nerd on Tour Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

   #Poland #TravelPoland #NomadPodcast #Warsaw #WalkingWithPiotrek

2. Leon Ahlers — Vienna VC Turned Tenerife Coliving Owner

   3 november 2026 · 1 uur 38 min

   Afspelen
   Check the full transcript and show notes at: https://nerdontour.net/leon-ahlers-vienna-vc-turned-tenerife-coliving-owner/ Lees meer

   Leon Ahlers grew up between Vienna and Tenerife, learned Russian before English, co-founded a startup, worked as a VC, imported Clase Azul tequila to Austria, and now runs his family's fourth-generation property business on the island.

   We talk about laid-back Austrians, a great-grandfather sent to Vilaflor in 1898, how family properties became Casona Charco and Marina Urbana, Spain's housing crisis, and slow travel in Tenerife.

   Nerd on Tour Recommends:
   Wise — for fast international money transfers. Try at https://nerdontour.net/wise
   Revolut Personal — for the lowest exchange fees. Try at https://nerdontour.net/revolut
   Revolut Business — to manage your global business finances. Get it at https://nerdontour.net/business
   SafetyWing — for reliable nomad medical travel insurance. Go to https://nerdontour.net/safetywing scroll to the bottom, click the pink camera, and enter the code: NERDONTOUR for free 8 weeks of electronic theft coverage.
   Riverside — all-in-one podcast recording platform I use to produce my podcast. Start it at https://nerdontour.net/riverside

   About Leon Ahlers
   Vienna-born entrepreneur and investor with a Canarian mother. Studied political science, then international relations at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe. Co-founded geolad and Spirituosity, worked as an investment manager at aws Gründerfonds, and now runs his family's boutique hospitality business in Tenerife. His newest project is Marina Urbana, serviced apartments on Plaza de Espana in Santa Cruz: https://marinaurbana.com/

   Timestamps
   00:00 Start
   01:03 Laid-back Austrians and Canarians
   05:12 Growing up between Vienna and Tenerife
   09:41 Two homes, two melting pots
   13:49 Russian at ten, French on his own
   20:17 Diplomacy school and thinking in odds
   26:34 Philosophy to startup
   31:39 geolad: telecom data vs. Silicon Valley
   38:45 VC life: thirte…

3. Walking with Piotrek: Digital Addiction

   29 oktober 2026 · 3 min

   Afspelen
   Is digital a new form of addiction? Nobody really does yet. Lees meer

   What we can see is that people build bad habits around games, smartphones, and social media. And as nomads, me and everyone I travel with are glued to these devices by necessity — they’re the toolkit, not a luxury. Which makes the question harder, not easier: how do you keep a healthy relationship with something you can’t put down for work?

   My answer is to treasure everything offline. After a full day across several screens, I want a pause. The park. A walk. Nothing in my hand.

   And board games. I’ve been playing them since I was a kid and I have no intention of stopping — new ones keep coming out, they’re brilliant, and they pull people together in a way no app has managed. Proof you don’t need high technology to make a memorable evening.

   I wrote more about this in “Offline mode for humans” at my blog.

   So — are you talking to AI more than to your friends? And if so, do you want that to change? Tell me below.

   #DigitalDetox #DigitalNomad #OfflineLife #BoardGames #WalkingWithPiotrek

4. My travel eSIM for nomading in Japan

   27 oktober 2026 · 8 min

   Afspelen
   Read the full article at: https://nerdontour.net/my-travel-esim-for-nomading-in-japan/ Lees meer

   From pocket WiFi to SIM cards mailed to my hotel, I've stayed online in Japan since 2010. In 2025, eSIM finally won. Here's why public WiFi fails nomads, why you get no phone number, and how roaming hit 1.5 Mbps while an eSIM hit 106.

   Nerd on Tour Recommends
   Wise — for fast international money transfers. Try at https://nerdontour.net/wise

5. Muhammed Alard: From a Worthless Syrian Passport to Arab Nomad Fest

   20 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 35 min

   Afspelen
   Full transcript and show notes: nerdontour.net Lees meer

   Muhammed Alard flew to Istanbul in 2014 to study, then the Syrian border closed behind him. A father arrested over a Facebook post, a fake passport sticker that worked, citizenship by lottery, a Ukrainian wife, Hoi An, crypto when PayPal says no, and Arab Nomad Fest in Taghazout, Morocco, from October 26, 2026.

   About Muhammed Alard

   Syrian-born nomad with a Turkish passport, founder of Arab Digital Nomads and Arab Nomad Fest. Self-taught video editor, first dollars on Upwork. Lives in Hoi An, Vietnam, building a visa database and app for MENA nomads.

   Arab Digital Nomads: https://arabdigitalnomads.com/

   Arab Nomad Fest: https://arabdigitalnomads.com/arab-nomad-fest/

   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arabdigitalnomad/

   Nerd on Tour Recommends

   Wise — for fast international money transfers. Try at https://nerdontour.net/wise

   Revolut Personal — for the lowest exchange fees. Try at https://nerdontour.net/revolut

   Revolut Business — to manage your global business finances. Get it at https://nerdontour.net/business

   SafetyWing — for reliable nomad medical travel insurance. Go to https://nerdontour.net/safetywing scroll to the bottom, click the pink camera, and enter the code: NERDONTOUR for free 8 weeks of electronic theft coverage.

   Riverside — all-in-one podcast recording platform I use to produce my podcast. Start it at https://nerdontour.net/riverside

   Timestamps

   00:00 Start.

   01:09 Gulf childhood, road trips to Syria.

   06:52 Damascus: temple, church, mosque.

   08:17 Nerd on Tour recommends Wise and Revolut.

   11:16 $4,000 stolen on his first solo trip.

   17:59 Stuck in Turkey, father arrested by Assad.

   21:22 Fake passport sticker, hitchhiking Austria.

   27:37 Nerd on Tour recommends SafetyWing.

   29:33 Becoming a Turkish citizen by lottery.

   32:39 Hoi An: 50 kids a class, freelancing.

   37:27 A Ukrainian wife, two wars, one family.

   44:11 Erasmus friends and Cappadocia tours.

   50:33 Le Cordon Bleu on half a scholarsh…

6. Internet Connectivity in Malaysia for Digital Nomads

   13 oktober 2026 · 6 min

   Afspelen
   Read full article: https://nerdontour.net/internet-connectivity-in-malaysia-for-digital-nomads/ Lees meer

   Bali and Bangkok top every nomad list. Yet Kuala Lumpur is my base, and reliable Internet is one reason. Here’s the prepaid eSIM I use, why I pay 30 MYR a year to keep my number, my only outage, and what Starlink means for nomads in Malaysia.

   Chapters

   (00:00) - Intro

   (00:20) - Which Malaysian mobile operator is the best for nomads?

   (01:04) - What Hotlink offers?

   (02:09) - Wi-Fi for heavy workloads

   (02:55) - Seamless switching between networks

   (03:21) - Coverage is never ideal

   (03:54) - The future of connectivity

   (05:02) - Over to you

7. Dorota & Krzysztof Who Resurrected Their "RealPoland" Travel Business

   6 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 27 min

   Afspelen
   Check the full transcript and show notes at: https://nerdontour.net/dorota-krzysztof-who-resurrected-their-realpoland-travel-business/ Lees meer

   Krzysztof and Dorota spent years building a tour company in Warsaw, then watched COVID close the borders of nearly every country their guests come from. Just as people started booking again, war broke out next door. After three years of running tours for free at night, they shut the business down. Then an email from a past guest arrived at the exact moment they drove past the sign of her family's tiny hometown.

   We talk about what makes someone Polish, why Krzysztof travels to countries that officially don't exist, slow travel, AI trip planners that look perfect on screen, and why Poland is still one of the few places in Europe without crowds.

   About Krzysztof and Dorota
   Krzysztof and Dorota are a married couple from Warsaw and the team behind RealPoland Tours, an inbound tour operator focused on small group and private tours. Krzysztof is a licensed guide who helps travelers with Polish roots find their ancestors. Dorota designs the itineraries and translates children's books from Swedish into Polish. Together with their two boys, they explore Poland by caravan and run the business remotely, on their own terms.

   What we cover
   - What makes someone Polish: language, roots, or a last name
   - Slow travel with kids vs. intense couple trips
   - Surviving COVID and war next door as a small travel business
   - The email from Miłomłyn that brought RealPoland back to life
   - Why Poland is having its moment and still has no crowds
   - AI trip planning, chatbot fatigue, and the human touch

   Timestamps

   (00:00) - Start.

   (00:59) - How I met Krzysztof on a tour with Silesian miners.

   (02:33) - What makes someone Polish: language, roots, or a last name?

   (04:10) - Is Poland still seen as provincial?

   (09:13) - How foreign visitors see Poland today.

   (12:41) - The travel bug, family votes, and a Google Maps bucket list.

   (19:06) - A US road trip without …

8. Offline mode for humans

   29 september 2026 · 7 min

   Afspelen
   I'm a nerd who grew up on Game Boys and LAN parties. Yet decades of gaming taught me that digital is an enabler, not a goal. Here's how I stay offline enough as a digital nomad, without quitting the screens that pay my bills. Read the full article at: https://nerdontour.net/offline-mode-for-humans/ Lees meer

9. Gigi — Spiritual Pro Skater Pirate from New Caledonia

   22 september 2026 · 1 uur 56 min

   Afspelen
   Check the full transcript and show notes at: https://nerdontour.net/gigi-spiritual-pro-skater-pirate-from-new-caledonia/ Lees meer

   Gigi got hired on a superyacht after telling the captain he knew nothing about sailing. In this episode we talk about how a skater from New Caledonia ended up delivering yachts across Asia with one safety course and one good reference. Why a stranger's question in a Phuket bar changed his life, and what cutting fishing nets off a propeller at 3 a.m. taught him about work.
   We also go through 37 hours in a force 9 storm off Western Australia with no harnesses, the reason he finally went back to school, and why he refuses every label, flag, and "where are you from?" thrown at him.

   About Gigi
   Gigi is a Pacific Islander from New Caledonia. A sponsored skater as a kid, he left home at sixteen, hated Paris, flew back alone, and wandered Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia with one bag. After an STCW course in Phuket he spent years as yacht crew on delivery passages, a 27 meter catamaran in Pattaya, and motorboats in Melbourne. We met in 2021 at an RYA sailing school in Tenerife, where he was working towards his Yachtmaster Offshore.

   What we cover
   - Why "where are you from?" is the worst question for someone who doesn't belong anywhere
   - How an STCW course and one reference got him onto a superyacht
   - 37 hours in a force 9 storm and arriving 40 centimeters from sinking
   - Indra's net, Lao Tzu, Terence McKenna, and choosing freedom over labels

   Timestamps

   (00:00) - Start.

   (00:34) - A backlog episode from pandemic Tenerife and our RYA sailing course.

   (04:21) - Meet Gigi: the spiritual pro skater pirate from New Caledonia.

   (05:02) - Why "where are you from?" is the worst first question.

   (06:20) - New Caledonia: Le Caillou, the Loyalty Islands, and the biggest lagoon in the world.

   (10:15) - Tribal life, never quite belonging, and running away at eleven.

   (13:51) - No snakes, no spiders: rusa deer, the kagu, and a life lived from the sea.

   (17:…

10. SMS verification silliness in Thailand

    15 september 2026 · 9 min

    Afspelen
    Grab and Bolt work with any phone number. Lazada and SF Cinema wanted a Thai one. So I typed my expired Thai number from 2013 into the cinema form. It worked! Here is how I dodged SMS verification during two months in Chiang Mai.
    Read more at: https://nerdontour.net/sms-verification-silliness-in-thailand/ Lees meer

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