A California barber. 22 countries. Zero plan.
Real travel. Honest stories. No highlight reels, no fake reviews, no resort packages. Just a guy with a passport and a very good reason to keep moving.
This isn't a contrarian stance — it's a practical one. The tourist areas are usually the worst version of a place, and once you understand why, you can't unsee it.
Real numbers. Real strategies. Not 'bring a reusable water bottle' — actual frameworks for traveling more, spending less, and not making yourself miserable in the process.
Every city has a version of itself that tourists don't see. Here are the neighborhoods I've stumbled into across multiple countries that felt like finding a door most people walk right past.
Not a highlights reel. Not a list of Instagram spots. The actual things I've learned from 22 countries — including the lessons that came from the trips that didn't go as planned.
Everyone assumes a trade keeps you tied down. I found the opposite. A pair of scissors is one of the most portable skills on earth — and the barbershop is one of the best places to actually understand a city.
Everyone goes to Saranda. Almost nobody makes it to Vlore. Here's what's waiting for you when you get off the main tourist trail in southern Albania — and why it's worth the detour.
"The best trips I've ever taken are not always the ones to the places with the longest Wikipedia pages."— Baldo
I'm Ubaldo — but everyone calls me Baldo. I'm a barber from California with Mexican family, a Spanish tongue, and a compulsion to get on planes to places most people can't point to on a map.
I've been to 22 countries, lived in Scotland, Mexico, Albania, and a few places in between. I travel on a budget, eat where locals eat, and skip the tourist areas on principle.
No ads in your face. No sponsored BS disguised as genuine recommendations. Just honest travel writing, kept alive one taco at a time.
Buy Baldo a Taco