Out Of This World Travel

Where digital meets travel + lifestyle … A collection of can’t-miss news from this week. Sign up to get the TURNER Weekly Download in your inbox every Friday.

Digital Nomad

Who has the coolest travel job ever? It might be Chelsea Odufu. She is the chief digital nomad of Fiverr, an online marketplace for freelance services and she’s been exploring Asia as part of her role. But Chelsea didn’t get this supercool gig in the usual fashion – she won it. According to Forbes, “it's a big trend right now — the travel dream job, a buzzy way for companies to generate publicity by searching for a candidate for a high-profile position. Brands ranging from The New York Times to the Mexican resort destination of Cancun have been staging these contests.” So what exactly is Chelsea doing as Fiverr’s chief digital nomad? Read the interview.

Out Of This World Travel Tips

In search of some truly useful travel tips? Consult a person who has traveled more miles than virtually everyone else – an astronaut. Smithsonian has collected advice from nine people who have gone to the stars and back. The most surprising one? Travel light, says Nicole Stott, who has spent 104 days living and working in space on both the Space Shuttle and the International Space Stations. “It’s amazing how much you don’t need. I had one pair of pants for my three months in space, and it was just fine,” she says.

Going Deeper Than Google

Astronauts are one thing. But most of us get our travel advice online these days. However, a good old-fashioned book could be your best bet! Bon Appetit’s Carey Polis has fallen in love with Matt Goulding’s travel tomes. Goulding is the co-founder of Roads & Kingdoms, and Polis writes that his books don’t “fall into the too-familiar look-I-ate-somewhere-cool-now-I’m-going-to-wax-way-too-poetic world of travel books.” His latest is Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture, a deep dive into the noodle shops, tempura temples, and teahouses of Japan.

New Travel Essentials

Some of us want to unplug on our vacations. But these amazing tech essentials, gathered by the experts at Travel + Leisure, promise to enhance your travel experiences. We love the Fitbit Ultra, which “brings all the most loved health features — like heart rate tracking, step counting, and detailed sleep analysis — to a stylish, customizable face.” Even better, the GoTenna Mesh SMS and GPS Device lets you and your crew “text each other and share your locations without data or Wi-Fi as long as you stay within about a three-mile range of one another.” Finally, the Mpowerd Luci Pro 2.0 Solar Light is a waterproof solar lantern that “provides up to 150 lumens of reliable light without electricity or batteries, making it great for camping, hiking, and impromptu outdoor dinner parties.”

Weekly Moment of Zen

Cutest seatmate ever? Yep, there's a koala on the plane.