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Brandon Himpfen
Essays on systems, technology, travel, and open knowledge, focused on understanding how things work and sharing that understanding through writing and projects.

Featured articles

The “Trip Planning Stack”: A Simple Workflow That Prevents Bad Decisions

The “Trip Planning Stack”: A Simple Workflow That Prevents Bad Decisions

How to Read Travel Advice Critically (Even From Trusted Sources)

How to Read Travel Advice Critically (Even From Trusted Sources)

The “Travel Reference Stack”: How We Layer Sources Before We Trust Anything

The “Travel Reference Stack”: How We Layer Sources Before We Trust Anything

What Solo Washing Is And Why It Matters for Independent Travelers

What Solo Washing Is And Why It Matters for Independent Travelers

How We Decide What Not to Recommend

How We Decide What Not to Recommend

Why Solo Travelers Need Different Information Than Groups

Why Solo Travelers Need Different Information Than Groups

Introducing Open Source Weekly

Introducing Open Source Weekly

Trusted Travel Resources in the Age of AI: What the Conversation Gets Wrong—and What Actually Matters

Trusted Travel Resources in the Age of AI: What the Conversation Gets Wrong—and What Actually Matters

Why I Build Public Travel Resources (And Keep Them Free)

Why I Build Public Travel Resources (And Keep Them Free)

The Hidden Economics of Airfare: How Airlines Set Prices and What the Data Shows

The Hidden Economics of Airfare: How Airlines Set Prices and What the Data Shows

Why Medical Language Matters for Solo Travelers (And Why We Built This)

Why Medical Language Matters for Solo Travelers (And Why We Built This)

Introducing Awesome Learn: A Clearer, Calmer Way to Learn Anything

Introducing Awesome Learn: A Clearer, Calmer Way to Learn Anything

Introducing HTML Template v2.0 — A Modern, Accessible, Minimal Starter for Today’s Web

Introducing HTML Template v2.0 — A Modern, Accessible, Minimal Starter for Today’s Web

How I Built Solo Traveler Media: From Passion Project to a Growing Digital Brand

How I Built Solo Traveler Media: From Passion Project to a Growing Digital Brand

Countering Trusted Travel Resources in a World of Artificial Intelligence: A Comprehensive Perspective

Countering Trusted Travel Resources in a World of Artificial Intelligence: A Comprehensive Perspective

Latest

13
Apr
Creating a Static Knowledge Base with Jekyll

Creating a Static Knowledge Base with Jekyll

Build a structured, scalable knowledge base using Jekyll. Learn how to organize content, enable internal linking, and create a durable static documentation system.
4 min read
10
Apr
What “Open” Really Means in Open Source Marketing

What “Open” Really Means in Open Source Marketing

An analysis of what “open” really means in open source marketing, examining incentives, licensing, and the gap between definition and industry usage.
4 min read
09
Apr
Budget Travel Without the Chaos: The Rules I Actually Follow

Budget Travel Without the Chaos: The Rules I Actually Follow

A systems-based look at budget travel. Learn how pricing, infrastructure, regulation, and platform incentives shape costs and how to travel affordably without unnecessary complexity.
5 min read
09
Apr
Designing a System for Solo Travelers

Designing a System for Solo Travelers

An exploration of why solo travel resources should move beyond articles toward structured systems built on tools, data, and interconnected information.
4 min read
08
Apr
Harnessing the Power of Storytelling in Travel Writing

Harnessing the Power of Storytelling in Travel Writing

Learn how travel bloggers can use storytelling to build trust, improve content structure, and create sustainable, credible travel blogs over the long term.
5 min read
07
Apr
Google Explains Why Some Websites Use Multiple XML Sitemaps

Google Explains Why Some Websites Use Multiple XML Sitemaps

Google explains why websites use multiple XML sitemaps, citing technical limits, content organization, and automation as key factors.
2 min read
07
Apr
What I Learned Building 400+ Repositories

What I Learned Building 400+ Repositories

A reflection on building 400+ repositories, focusing on patterns, mistakes, and what actually scales in long-term systems and open knowledge projects.
4 min read
07
Apr
AI and Travel Scams: How Solo Travelers Get Tricked (and What a Safe Workflow Looks Like)

AI and Travel Scams: How Solo Travelers Get Tricked (and What a Safe Workflow Looks Like)

Learn how AI is changing travel scams and how solo travelers can stay safe with simple, practical workflows for booking, communication, and verification.
4 min read
06
Apr
Google Core Update, Crawl Limits, and Gemini Traffic Trends Reshape Search Landscape

Google Core Update, Crawl Limits, and Gemini Traffic Trends Reshape Search Landscape

Google rolls out the March 2026 core update, details Googlebot crawl limits, and sees Gemini AI referral traffic surge, signaling changes in search and indexing.
4 min read
06
Apr
Building a Lightweight RAG Pipeline (Node.js + JSONL)

Building a Lightweight RAG Pipeline (Node.js + JSONL)

Build a lightweight RAG pipeline using Node.js and JSONL. Learn how to design simple, transparent retrieval systems without vector databases or heavy infrastructure.
3 min read