Travel Questions for You

The Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic.

I've been spending too much time on the internet lately. It's a lonely place, the internet, and spending too much time there just makes me feel sad and dirty inside, like when you've eaten too much (or really, any) McDonald's. But here, on this bright and shiny bloggy, we're not lonely! (Are we?) Heck nah!

As I was drinking 32 ounces of cold Bud Light (don't judge me; it was $4) out of a styrofoam cup last Saturday afternoon, a friend told me that while she is a regular reader of this blog, she has never commented. "But you should!" I cried out, "Comments make me feel all warm inside!" "'Tis so permanent!" was her reply, and later we donned princess hats and did historical reenactments at the Renaissance Faire.

So, in hopes of getting to know you readers a bit better, I have devised a series of five (travel-related) questions for the comment-shy among us. Answer with abandon! Let your freak flag fly! I'll even go first!

Tell me, friends:

1. Do you prefer city trips or trips through the countryside?
2. What country produces your favorite cuisine?
3. What is your favorite item to pack for any journey?
4. Do you prefer traveling with friends & family or going it solo?

and finally . . .

5. Where is the most beautiful place you have ever been?

My answers:
City trips // France // My notebook // Traveling with friends & family // The Charles Bridge in Prague, at dusk

Your turn! You can do it! I believe in you! Happy Monday! 

Here's another exclamation point, just in case!

Psst. This post inspired this post. Those guys are pretty swell. 

The Great American Road Trip of 2012

Wow, so January is pretty much over. I realized this as I was sending an email that started with "Hello and happy new year" and I was like, hey self, you sound like you don't know a damn thing about reading a calendar. I basically spent this entire month in my pajamas, recovering from a 2011 that saw me pub crawl my way through Europe walk eight hours a day to take in all the sights of the Great Continent. (Though I did venture outside once or twice this month to visit friends and do a menu tasting at our wedding venue. Holla for free food!)

I figgered it was right 'bout that time to be shar'n my plans wit cha. (I do funny voices in my spare time.) So here is the semi-completed version of our spring road trip across the U.S. and Canada, though we don't have any Canadian destinations yet because we're going to surprise attack Canada like a band of rabid flying squirrels. O Canada! (We stand on guard for thee.) (I'm using a lot of parentheses today.) (Who cares, right?)

Feb. 2-11 We're headed to Rochester NY to visit Dan's family. I've never been to this part of New York State before, probably because it's mostly boring farmland. I'll take some pictures of cows for you. It's pretty close to Niagara Falls which I've also never seen, so I'll be relentlessly begging Dan's family and childhood friends to take us there. Ooo, falling water!

Feb. 11-20 Back to NYC to pack our stuff for the real road trip. Would anyone like to see a "Best of NYC" on the blog for this week? Like, my picks for best restaurant bathrooms and cheapest dive bars and stuff? Yeah, we can do that.

Feb. 20-25 The road trip begins! Philadelphia is our first stop, where I will eat unhealthy amounts of cheesesteak and do the Rocky dance at least 37 times.

Feb. 25-28 We head to Washington D.C., where I'll power lunch with Michelle and Barack. (P.S. MY BIRTHDAY IS FEBRUARY 27TH! SEND PRESENTS! :-D ! ! !)

FEB. 28-MARCH 13 WE'LL BE IN NORTH CAROLINA. (Sorry, forgot the caps lock was on.) Cities we'll be rocking: Raleigh, Greenville, Greensboro, Charlotte.

March 13-16 HOT-lanta! My only previous experience with Atlanta was a stopover in their airport, which is one of the most hellish ports of air known to humankind. Here's your chance to make it up to me, Georgia. Let's be friends, okay? I like your song.

March 16-22 We're going mobile in Mobile. I've never been to Alabama before, but I suspect there's going to be some absurdly delicious deep-fried something or other and a lot of friendly people. Maybe a crocodile or two? Or is it alligators that live in the Gulf? I'll find out and report back.

March 22-26 Ooo, New Orleans! I almost went to university in New Orleans, which I'm still kind of sad that I didn't. This city hurts so good. You know when you find yourself in a place that feels like home? Yeah, New Orleans does it for me. It'll do it for you, too. Promise.

March 27-April 4 Texas. The Lone Star State. We're hitting Austin, Houston, and Dallas and I'm going to be wearing cowboy boots the whole way. Vintage ones. My mom gave them to me. They're pretty great, and I think Texas will be too.

April 4-12 The American Southwest: New Mexico and Arizona. Def Albuquerque, def Scottsdale, def Grand Canyon, maybe Tombstone. Mostly I just want to pretend that I'm Doc Holiday and that Dan is Wyatt Earp. Let's all try to convince him to grow a handlebar mustache. WE CAN DO THIS.

April 12-19 Californ-I-A, from south to north. Stopping in: San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I've never been to L.A. and as a New Yorker, I have mixed feelings about it. (You know, the whole East Side/West Side thing. I mean, don't get me wrong, I liked Tupac and all, but Biggie was the soundtrack to my life as a youth in the Bronx. Sigh. Like I said, mixed feelings.)

April 19-27 We're off to the Pacific Northwest! Stops include Eugene and Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. We're also TRYING REALLY HARD to make Vancouver happen, so if you have suggestions for good (ideally, paying) music venues, holler at me.

April 28-May 3 Idaho? Sure! (And P.S. it's pronounced Boy-see, not Boy-zee. Consider yourself schooled.)

May 4-10th(ish) We're playing it fast and loose with the dates here, but we'll definitely be in Boulder, Colorado on the fourth. See you there?

May 10-14 Kansas City, Missouri. We'll be palling around with such KC notables as J. Alex Greenwood, prominent author of thriller Pilate's Cross and tweep extraordinaire. Hi Al!

May 15-18 We'll be in Minneapolis, Minn-uh-SOH-ta, donchya know?! I really ❤ the Minnesotan accent.

May 19-? Chicago, Illinois. I like Chicago. They have good pizza, and that's a high compliment coming from a pizza snob like me.

This is the partly completed map of our spring road trip. Why's it only partly completed?
Because I'm lazy. 

Yeah, so that's it. That's our partially completed, work-in-progress map of a road trip. We don't even have an end date yet, so feel free to leave suggestions for cities/attractions/must-sees in the comment section below. We can even meet up, if you want! I like to make new friends.

Oh: I'll be working with different state and city tourism boards to bring you the best of each destination, which means that sometimes I'll get stuff for free, but I'm not going to lie about it and say I didn't because that's not really fair to you guys and isn't it just sucky when people lie about stuff for really no reason at all? It is, which is why I don't do it. Let's keep it real, okay? Okay!


Have a great weekend guys! Become a Google follower! Right over there, in the sidebar! →

Thanks to everyone who joined the Facebook page recently! Bye!


Photography Credit: All images via the United States National Archives (see more here). I'm getting a little obsessed. Send help.

Why I Started Traveling in the First Place

Inside the Cargo store in Portland, OR. This is not a real Polaroid.

Guys, you know what I realized? A couple of things, actually (including, but not limited to, my About section being grossly outdated, my blog header needing a refresher [do other people think about such things?], and my so-called "winter boots" being worthless pieces of shite - thanks for NOT KEEPING MY FEET DRY IN THE RAIN), but most importantly, I never really explained how or why I embarked on a traveling lifestyle in the first place. We can talk about it now if you want. Do you have a few minutes? Sure you do.

When Dan and I met, it was love at first sight. Straight up. We even moved in together exactly one month after we had met. Couple of crazies, am I right? Am I? AM I?

Anyway, we spent an entire year happily living in Astoria, Queens, and during that time we talked a lot about what we wanted for the future: for our relationship, for our mutual careers, for our general happiness. In those conversations, travel came up over and over (and over) again, only to be shoved away because I had a position as a manager for a high-end handbag boutique, and travel was limited to the two weeks of vacation I had each year. (Do not even get me started on how OUTRAGEOUS it is that American companies are not required to grant their employees paid annual leave - and the ones that do typically only offer two weeks, which, as was my situation, are usually not allowed to be taken consecutively. Capital R Ridiculous.)

Dan likes to expose his chest hair during happy hour. Also not a real Polaroid.

I was becoming increasingly restless - although the company I worked for was a good one and my bosses respected me, I had what the Germans call "itchy feet": the desire to move, to roam about. (Side note: my mother tells me there is a similar saying in Spanish, though rather than "itchy feet," the term is "pie caliente" or "hot foot." So there you go.) Here's what I wrote in my grossly outdated About section:

Travel and books and art and writing became more urgent, more necessary, than waiting for a paycheck to watch my bank account rise. It became that I was denying myself something, and denial often passes into regret.

So in October 2010, whilst sitting in a bar in Portland, Orgeon, partaking in their sweet, sweet happy hour deals, Dan and I decided that we wanted to go to Europe. Soon. And for a long time. Here's how we did it (and how you can do it, too. You know, if you wanted. Or not; that's totally fine, too):

1. Decide on a realistic leaving date. For us, that was early February 2011. Five months was enough time to save the amount of money we deemed necessary to have an appropriate cushion. Since Dan is a musician and he would have paid gigs all over Europe, it was my responsibility to have enough cash in savings to supplement his earnings while I was making, um, zero dollars. (Later I began to make money via this blog and paid freelance pieces, so the earning scales evened out a bit.)

2. Start saving money. Immediately. Though Dan and I are both thrifty by nature, we were accustomed to having certain luxuries: evenings out at restaurants, cocktail hours with friends, and little treats here and there (things like buying new books or really good [i.e. expensive] coffee). We made a budget that drastically reduced our spending, even if it meant we would miss certain things. For example, we cut our grocery budget from $85-100 weekly down to a mere $50 (no more "Martini Mondays" for us ☹), and stopped buying Dan an $89 monthly unlimited Metrocard (the transit card for all NYC buses and subways) - instead, we shared mine. Once we took the small steps in saving, it became SO much easier to part with the things we thought we needed, which, in truth, were just taking up room in our apartment and our lives. That's when we started to  . . .

I also like to expose my "chest hair" during happy hour.
It's really too bad none of these Polaroids are real.

3. Sell stuff. Craigslist, eBay, Amazon: these resources were our best friends in the months leading up to our departure. We sold everything from clothing to books to a vintage accordion I had lying around. (Oh the hobbies we think we'll pursue!) The stuff we had that was in decent condition but not valuable enough to sell, we donated to the Salvation Army in our neighborhood. This is when I began to . . .

4. Feel the fear. You may find yourself questioning the sanity of your plans. You may find yourself lying awake at night, at once thrilled and terrified. You may find yourself answering uncomfortable questions from family members. And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here? The truth is that doing a complete lifestyle 180° is scary, but if long-term (or short-term or any kind of) travel is your dream then you owe it to yourself to do it. Ignore the haters. They'll be jealously stalking your Facebook photos in no time.

No, really: fear can be either a great motivator or a great saboteur - don't let it be the latter. Dan often cheered me on by reminding me of the "Be, Do, Have" paradigm. "Be, Do, Have" works like this: most people believe that if they "have" a thing, then they will be able to "do" a thing, which will allow them to "be" a thing. For example, "If I had more time, then I could write that book and become the writer I've always wanted to be." This line of thinking is all wrong because not only does it make room for excuses, it also doesn't reflect how the universe actually works. The way to set the process of "being" into motion is to look at what you want to "have," ask yourself what you would want to be if you had it, and then start being that thing immediately. It's kind of like fake it 'til you make it, except with sincerity. 

Not to get all New Age-y on you or anything. I'm way off-topic now. Popsicle, anyone?

5. Book a ticket. Buying our one-way ticket from JFK to Heathrow made it seem so much more real  - before, it was something we could still back out of. But once we hit that Pay Now button, there was no turning back.

Of course, there was lots of other in-between stuff like quitting my job, putting the rest of our things in storage (mercifully for free in my dad's garage), and packing our suitcases, but the steps I mentioned above were the most important ones we took to begin our journey into becoming "digital nomads." I prefer "wayfaring artists," but, ugh, I don't know. Does that sounds pretentious? They both sort of do, I guess. Whatever, when you call me, you can call me . . . Jess. Though Chevy Chase calls me Al.

✌ out.

Reverse Culture Shock: Signs and Symptoms

Just because you're not traveling doesn't mean you have to stop carrying a suitcase.

I took a shower today, at my mother's request (Mom: "Treat the world to a better you." Me: *rolls onto back and plays dead*). In the shower, I got to thinking: reverse culture shock is kind of a misnomer. (Showers, like beer, really get me thinking deep thoughts.) Nothing about returning to New York shocked me; after all, how surprising can your hometown really be? Not very, methinks.

Reverse culture shock, instead, might be more properly identified as reverse homesickness - for me, at least, it's not that American culture is so shocking; it's just that there are a whole bunch of things that, in the year-long interim of traveling through Europe, I forgot pissed me off in the first place. 

Take TV, for example. OH IT'S SO REVERED/REVILED, ISN'T IT? After only a week of being back at home, I thought my head was going to explode if I watched even one more show about any of the following: a) severely obese people b) the U.S. prison system c) drug addicts or d) pageant children and their mothers. IT WAS TOO MUCH. It started to seem that every television program that was meant to "educate" us actually just showed how horrible other people's lives were - so we could point and laugh. It honestly started to affect my mood, and I longed for the TV-free life Dan and I had been living as travelers.

But TV can be avoided - there is that handy little "off" button, after all. Other, less controllable things started to bug me . . . like going to the grocery store. After a (nice) trip to the Trader Joe's in Union Square (a store we adore) (<-- that rhymes), we realized we'd missed a few items and had to go to a local Fine Fare. That's when it happened. The complexity and abundance of products was overwhelming. Everything had screaming orange stickers with "2 for $5!" or "Buy 2 Get 1 Free!" on it. And worst of all, the labels could have been written in Cyrillic for all I could tell: I was so used to purchasing simple, natural ingredients that I'd forgotten how to navigate in this land of "high fructose corn syrup" and "red coloring #3." It was confusing and intimidating, and I remembered how much I hated the lengthy process of deciphering food-industry-speak just so I could make healthy choices. 

This is what downtown Manhattan looks like from across the East River in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

So I purchased a tank of propane and a box of matches and set that shit ON FIRE made a decision to stop wishing I was back in Europe and start embracing the fact that I was home. Here's what I did to overcome my reverse culture shock/"home"sickness:

1. Took off my pants. Why not be comfortable, right?

2. Made, then ate, a delicious burrito. Because everyone knows there isn't any real Mexican food in Europe.

3. Made a list of little stuff I'd missed doing while I was in Europe - things I could only do at home. Here are some of the things I put on the list: paint my nails (not that painting your nails is illegal in the E.U. or anything, I just didn't want to be carrying highly flammable, potentially messy nail polish + remover in my suitcase), leisurely read old issues of Harper's magazine while drinking green tea, eat pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup, and wear pajamas for entire days at a time.

4. Started doing stuff on the list . . . slowly.

5. Changed my mindset. Even though this is my native culture, I resolved to treat coming home as an adventure, much like I treated heading off to Europe.

6. Made plans of things to look forward to in both the near and distant future. Things like grabbing lunch with a friend (near future) and buying tickets to the TBEX (that's Travel Bloggers EXchange) conference in Colorado (distant future).

7. Stuck to a routine. Despite escaping the initial horrors of jet lag, I found that after two weeks of being home my sleep and work (i.e. writing) schedules were way off: some days I was falling dead asleep at midnight and waking up at 9; other days I'd be stuck with severe insomnia which kept me up until 5 AM, and then not wake up 'til afternoon. Make a schedule; stick to it. Melatonin helps; so does red wine.

Then PRESTO CHANGE-O! REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK BE GONE! 

See, it's like I'm a doctor, but better, because my advice is free. 


Have a good day! Bye!

13 Films That Inspire Travel

This is where I would usually insert a HELLO! YAY! IT'S FRIDAY!, but you know what guys? I'm feeling a little "meh" today. It's really, really cold out, I'm trying to kick this mini-cold I've got going (third one this winter, ugh), and here in New York, we're in for "winter weather conditions" this weekend. That means snow - not the soft, pretty, pristine kind that falls in, say, the Rockies or the Alps. Just . . . icky . . . slush.

Anyway, it has me dreaming of either jetting off to Scandinavia (where winter is not just a season. It's a lifestyle - and they do it oh so well.) or just curling up in bed with hot chocolate and a good movie. Since I won't be hopping on one of these flights to Copenhagen (tear/sad face), I'll just settle for the cocoa. And bed. And one of these, my all-time favorite films that inspire me to travel. Some are cute, some are sad, some are fun, some are sexy, some are frenzies of drug-induced paranoia. Heck, some of them aren't even about travel or taking a journey . . but all of them have a super-strong sense of place that makes me think, I have to go there. Right now. I organized each film alphabetically according to continent and country. YOU'RE WELCOME. (I love you.)

Antarctica

Encounters at the End of the World - Antarctica, documentary

Strange things happen in Antarctica and strange people - with amazing life stories - do them. Let's get weird together.

The March of the Penguins - Antarctica, documentary

Baby penguins are adorable. Even the burliest man among us shall coo. Watch the trailer here.

Asia

In the Mood for Love - Hong Kong, drama

The trailer does not do this film justice, but you can watch it here. Just trust me on this one. Wong Kar-Wai's film is lush, lavish, and the performances are simply stunning. Hong Kong + film noir = perfect.

The Darjeeling Limited - India, comedy

I love all of Wes Anderson's films, but this one . . . this one is SO GOOD. Evocative, colorful, surprising, it speaks to the transformative power of travel. "I want us to be completely open and say yes to everything, even if it's shocking and painful." Even the preview is delightful.

Europe

Hans Christian Andersen (Copenhagen, Denmark, musical)

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, but moved to Copenhagen at age 14. This is a 1950s-era Hollywood fairy tale about the man who wrote all our favorite fairy tales. Listen at the end of the trailer for one of my favorite musical numbers, "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen."

Amélie (Paris, France, dramedy)

Whimsical, joyous - this film will make you believe that magic is real. Love love love. (P.S. The trailer is completely in French; I looked up the dubbed version for English-speaking audiences but it was absolutely charmless. Watch it in French, with subtitles.)

An American in Paris - (Paris, France, musical)

Gene Kelly is a struggling painter with a ballerina love interest and the coolest bedroom ever. Make a date with your grandma to watch this. She'll love you forever. Tap shoes suggested, but not required.

La Dolce Vita (Rome, Italy, art house)

The film that gave us the word paparazzi. Anita Ekberg is sensuality incarnate. An artsy movie for people who hate artsy movies (which I happen to love but, you know, I also collect bottle caps and read books for fun). The trailer is right over here. 

Roman Holiday (Rome, Italy, comedy)

Audrey Hepburn at her most beautiful, Gregory Peck at his most dashing, Rome at its playful, romantic best. "Come along and share their gay and giddy holiday!" Watch the trailer here. 

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain, dramedy)

I'm not the biggest Scarlett Johansson fan, but the stunning Spanish countryside and steamy performances by Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz more than make for it. Pass the sangria, por favor. Check out the trailer here.

North America

Into the Wild (Alaska, United States, drama)
The true story of Christopher McCandless (a.k.a. Alexander Supertramp) who, upon graduating from college, donated all the money he had in the world and set upon a a physical and spiritual journey across the United States. Watch the trailer here.

South America

Motorcycle Diaries (South America, drama)

I never really understood why Che Guevara was appropriated as an icon for Western youth, but this film made me "get it." And now I want to take a trip across South America with nothing but a crappy motorbike and the spirit of adventure.

180 Degrees South (Patagonia, South America, documentary)

The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia. Oh, and you know what else? Chouinard is the founder of Patagonia. Not the region. The company. That makes fleeces and down jackets and seriously great outdoor sporting gear? Yeah, that one. The trailer is right over here.

Here are a few other favorites, but without links to the previews because I got tired of looking them up: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Annie Hall, Casablanca, Belle du Jour, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Oh, and if you've got a favorite film that makes you want to take off your pants and dance get off the couch and go, feel free to let the world know in the comments.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND. (See you Monday.) BYE. (Ta-ta for now.) HOLLER AT ME ON THE FACEBOOK PAGE. (And don't forget to like it while you're there.) 

Europe Travel Tips and Resources

Canal side in Amsterdam. 

Let's talk travel tips for a minute, okay? There are a LOT of travel planning resources out there. Everything from big guns like Lonely Planet (which, sigh, there is still something totally dreamy about opening up an LP guide and caressing their glossy photos . . . it's almost hotter than my own hot travel porn) to medium revolvers like those-that-shall-remain-nameless-so-that-yours-truly-can-submit-articles-to-them-and-hopefully-get-paid-for-the-privilege to small pocket rifles like, well, me.

Anyway, the point of this story before I got caught up in firearm metaphors is that travel planning resources these days are like one big circle jerk - and here's me without a penis. What I mean is, so many people have so many of the same tips that the tip is kind of useless by now. For example, I've already read at least 13,621 times that Kayak is the best resource for comparing flight prices. (Which it totally is, so I'm also including it on this list. Wah wah.) 

But what about alternatives to the lovely but extremely expensive Rail Europe? How about eco-conscious ways to traverse an entire country? Read on to find out . . .

Getting There

Best Flight Comparison Sites for Long-Haul Flights: kayak.com and skyscanner.com

Best Reason to Slit Your Wrists with a Rusty Blade Airline Company for Short-Haul Flights: easyjet.com (Let me warn you now, though: their customer service is so horrendous, so unbelievably wretched that you honestly might want to consider traveling by train instead - even if the ride takes twice as long. EasyJet's flights are cheap, but they catch you with all sorts of hidden fees, so do yourself a favor and READ THE FINE PRINT.)

Getting Around

Best Way to Spend a Lot of Money to See Europe By Train: raileurope.com and thalys.com (Thalys service includes France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands only).

Best Way to Save a Lot of Money to See Europe By Train: Use the national rail service for the country you are in. Let me explain: Dan and I accidentally found this trick when we were searching for a cheap way to get from Hanover to Kiel. We went to the Deutsch Bahn website and typed in our journey details. Below the area where you enter your preferred departure/arrival times, there are two boxes. One (which is automatically checked "yes") says "Prefer fast connections." The other says "Local Transport." You must UNCLICK the former and CLICK the latter. Comprende? Here, I made this fuzzy picture as a visual aid:

Using the local transport means that the ride will definitely take longer, as the train will be stopping more frequently and you are not allowed to ride the high-speed trains. However! Dan and I SAVED LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF EUROS BY DOING THIS, and I really recommend national rail systems for people who are a) staying in Europe for a long time b) exploring countries in an in-depth way by visiting multiple cities c) don't have a ton of cash to burn or d) all of the above. 

Here is a list of the official websites of the national rail systems in popular European destinations:

Germany bahn.de * 

France sncf.com  

Netherlands ns.nl 

Italy trenitalia.com 

Spain renfe.com

*DISCLAIMER: Please note that the process for each website is a little bit different. I chose Germany's Deutsch Bahn because the screen shot made the most logical sense to aid in the description. To get the kind of savings Dan and I did, you need to be willing to search each website in depth. It is also best to book your travel at least a few days ahead of time - most websites remove the cheap price 24-48 hours prior to the train's departure time. 

Souvenirs in Bruges, Belgium. 

Most Eco-Conscious Way to Travel Between Countries: Ride shares. Ride sharing is basically carpooling, but with a little bit of cash thrown in. Drivers post their planned routes (including date, time, where they're leaving from, and their proposed price) on the ride sharing website and passengers who would like to take the trip with them contact the driver via email or phone (phone is better). The typical price is 5-6€ per 100 kilometers - this helps the driver pay for fuel, and is often much cheaper than train tickets for the passengers. This method of travel is most popular in Germany (they are so damn efficient! I love them. God, Germany, please please please adopt me?), though it's also gaining traction in France. We tried to use a ride share in Italy, but found out from locals that it is not popular and thus not really worth using.

Here is a list of the best websites for ride shares in popular European destinations:

Germany (which is always first because I love it): mitfahrgelegenheit.de
*Helpful hint #1: be sure to use the one I've posted here, and NOT mitfahrergelegenheit.de, which is way more expensive and posts fewer rides. Can't spot the difference between the two site names? The second has an extra ER before the gelegenheit.
*Helpful hint #2: A lot of drivers from other countries also use this website, so even if you're looking for a ride from, say, Paris to Antwerp, check Mitfahrgelegenheit anyway - just use the "Ausland" ("Foreign Countries") tab.
Austria: mitfahrgelegenheit.at
France: covoiturage.fr
All countries: carpooling.com (It even includes the U.K.!)


Best Site for Long-Haul Bus Routes: eurolines-travel.com. This company is based in Scandinavia and so has the best routes for traveling within that region, but they cover countries ranging from Austria to the Ukraine. Their website is pretty shady looking, but fear not: Dan and I traveled to and from Denmark with these guys and while their drivers have an all-consuming love for bad techno music, you will arrive safely and on time and you won't even have hidden charges to your credit card - hooray!

Best Random Snippet of Information That You Can Use to Travel Through Germany on Weekends: Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket ("Happy Weekend Ticket").  This ticket is valid for up to 5 people traveling together and only on either Saturdays or Sundays between midnight and 3 a.m. of the following day. Tickets are just €40 when you buy them online, and you can use them to travel any distance - so even if you're going from Munich to Hamburg, the price remains the same. As the DB website says, "Funny name . . . serious savings."

*Helpful hint: If you're traveling solo or have less than 5 people in your group and want to score even better savings, post your planned route on Mitfahrgelegenheit and how many free spaces you have left on your ticket along with your suggested price (8-10€ per person is generally considered fair) so that the price per person goes down. I worded that in a really confusing way, so here's an example: if there are only two of you traveling together, the ticket costs 20€ each - but if you post your ticket and fill up the three free spaces you have left, that ticket now costs 8€ each. Neat, right?

Teaching Dan how to use to manual focus on my camera. Focus fail.

Staying There

Best Way to Have the "Local Experience": couchsurfing.com. Lots of people like to debate over who is a traveler and who is a tourist, as if tourist is the dirtiest of dirty words. WELL GUESS WHAT? THEY'RE SYNONYMS! THEY MEAN EXACTLY THE SAME THING, I.E. YOU DON'T LIVE THERE. Anyway, couchsurfing is a wonderful way to experience the local culture in a deep, meaningful way: not only do you stay in the home of a native (or sometimes an expat), but you can also tour the city with them, share meals with them, go out for the best cocktails in town with them, take a 4-hour bike ride around Paris with them, have international dinner parties that last for 10+ hours with them, pick berries to make Schnapps with them, recreate a true American NFL Sunday with them . . . the experiences are only limited to what you can dream up. It is such a great feeling to make a real connection with someone who, last week, was just a stranger with a profile. Even if you don't use the site for accommodation, definitely reach out to people to grab coffee or a drink, or attend one of their many weekly activities. So fun. 

Best Way to Have the Local Experience Without Couchsurfing: airbnb.com. If you feel really uncomfortable about meeting strangers (which, uh, sorry to shamelessly self-promote, but read my Traveler's Guide to Making Better Small Talk - it'll help, I promise!) but still want to feel like you're part of the local culture, try staying in an apartment rental. AirBnB has everything from single rooms to beach cottages to refurbished Boeing 727s (no really - look) and they have a ratings and review system as well as address verification and privacy controls that give users that little extra peace of mind. Dan and I tried it out in Rome, where we stayed in a lovely apartment in a great little neighborhood called Pigneto. We really liked the owner, too: Benedetta invited us to her brother's bar for delicious (and free!) aperitivos - yum! 

Best Sites for Booking Hostels: hihostels.com and hostelbookers.com. Hostelbookers can be a little bit of a crapshoot (seriously, READ THE REVIEWS), but they have great prices. 

Best Travel Blog for European Travel Tips and Resources: This one, duh. :-D

Oh! If you have any other tips and resources for European travel (or travel in general), leave a comment below. Or you can holla at yer girl on Facebook. Bye!

Spotted By Locals: Budapest

A little cafe in Budapest.

Hi guys. It just so happens to be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the good old U.S. of A., which means HANDS UP FOR RACIAL EQUALITY! He was a great man, he was. Since it's such an important holiday and I'm feeling a little sicky (i.e. at brunch yesterday I had WAAAY too many mimosas and glasses of red wine and giant strips of bacon and a humongous bowl of chili - all of which was delicious, mind you - so everything is sitting in my stomach such that I can only groan and roll over and direct Dan to load up the next episode of Dexter) I will direct you to my recent Spotted By Locals article in lieu a regular post today. 


Here's a snippet: 

Unlike so many of the other destinations on our year-long tour through Europe, Budapest was anything but last-minute. In fact, we had planned and scheduled and organized almost our entire autumn around the fact that we would be in Hungary’s capital city. Under normal circumstances this would lead to all sorts of high expectations, but if there is anything I learned over the preceding nine months of nonstop travel, it’s that the main point of any journey is the desire just to go. 

Read the full article here (clicky clicky!): Budapest: A Lesson in Authenticity.


Okay bye. Promise I'll be better on Wednesday. NOW WHERE'S THAT DAMN CLICKER?

Americans in Europe: What To Do When You've Overstayed

Happy Friday! I'm really excited it's the weekend because several exciting things are happening starting RIGHT NOW! They are, in chronological order: Dan's first performance back in the Good Old U.S. of A. (tonight at Two Boots in Brooklyn - come on out if you're in the NYC area!), getting my hair cut (upon arriving home for the holidays, my mom objected heartily to my scruffiness . . . and thus, this little vagabond gets her hairs cut tomorrow morning), and seeing good friends (who I haven't seen in TWO YEARS!) for that classic New York ritual . . . Sunday brunch! Mimosas will abound.

Anyway, in my ABCs of Travel post on Monday, I promised you the story of our mad escape from passport control in Berlin. (Okay, it wasn't so much a "mad escape" as it was an incredibly nerve wracking yet remarkably civil exchange with German police at Tegel airport . . . just spicing up the story, you know?) After I posted that, lovely reader Jenzie - check out her blog about living a beautiful and eco-friendly life here - had a few questions about visa requirements for Americans traveling through Europe, so I thought it would be helpful for everyone if I did a little research and posted a few informative links as well. 

So play on, player! And read on, reader . . .

On December 23rd, Dan played his last European show in Pavia, Italy. Our return flight to New York was leaving from Milan, and we were lucky to catch a ride from Pavia to Milan from the manager of the venue (who stayed up with us all night in a pub with his hilariously drunk friend who kept asking us things like "What's the cool way to say you're going to buy cigarettes in America? What do they say? [then, in half New Yawk, half Italian accent] "I'm-a gonna buy some-a smokes, maaaaan." Uh-MAZE-ing. We laughed for hours with those two.).

Now, since our flight from Milan was only to Berlin and not to New York City directly (which technically qualifies as international, but isn't so serious thanks to accords like the Schengen Agreement, which is generally an open borders policy between the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland - phew, that was a mouthful), we were prepared for a passport and security check, but not for anything too . . . shall we say . . . thorough? I feel it is also appropriate to mention that we found Italian security officers extremely laid-back - and I mean that as a compliment. They literally flipped open our passports, gave us a stamp, and shuffled us through. 

We landed in Berlin for a four-hour layover (which turned into six hours thanks to inclement weather, UGH) and knew we were in for an extremely rigorous security check. Here's the thing: DAN AND I HAD OVERSTAYED IN EUROPE. NOT BY DAYS - BY MONTHS. We just didn't know what to do about it once we'd been informed - we called consulates and made appointments with several embassies, but all of them had the same basic message of WE CAN'T HELP YOU. (That's a pretty common misconception about embassies, I think: I always believed they were in place as legal help for citizens abroad, but actually their purpose is mostly administrative.) Our last stamp within Europe was from arriving in Berlin-Schoenefeld on March 5, 2011 - and here we were leaving from Berlin-Tegel on December 23, 2011.

As an American, we had exactly 90 days to stay within the ENTIRE Schengen zone, which includes ALL of the countries I mentioned above. So to a security officer, our stamps looked like we were in Berlin for ten months, possibly as illegal immigrants (which, of course, we weren't).

Thanks to an encounter at the German-Danish border back in September, we kind of knew what to expect from the German police: they are meticulous and methodical about their work (which was a minus for us, obviously), and they are also extraordinarily polite and professional (a plus, yay). The attendant at the Air Berlin desk checked us in without a problem, but sure enough, at passport control: BOOM SHAKA LAKA. We were hit with the burliest, nastiest, gigantic-est lady security officer EVER. This woman could probably take down your average Yeti with one hand while drinking a Maβ of Löwenbräu in the other, no problem. 

She pointed out the obvious discrepancy in our passports, but when we tried to explain that we were travelers and had been touring through all of Europe, she brushed us off, saying she didn't speak English. (Which I think was just a scare tactic, because literally every other officer we encountered spoke English fluently.) The man who had checked us in at the customer service desk came over, and we explained our situation to him. He then called over another security officer, then another, until the original burly lady called down the head security officer, who brought us aside and quizzed us about our journey. Here are some of the things he asked:

Where did you just fly from? (Milan.)
Where were you before that? (Ljubljana.)
For how long? (One week.)
And before that, where were you? (Budapest.)
For how long? (Two weeks.)
How long were you in Germany? (11 weeks.)
In Berlin the whole time? (No.)
What other cities in Germany did you visit? (Kiel, Dresden, Munich, Stuttgart, Hanover, Dortmund, Hamburg, Cologne, and on and on we went until I felt like a frickin' German geography ROCK STAR.)

After we had named so many cities in Germany - especially tiny little towns like Rüsselsheim or Neudietendorf that are, frankly, virtually unknown to outsiders unless they've been there - the officer smiled and said, "Okay, I believe you" and let us through.  

And that was it. The whole process from Burly Brumhilda to Nice Guy Gerhard took only twenty minutes, which I think speaks not only to the efficiency of their process, but also to the professionalism of their staff - after some of the horror stories I've heard from my European friends trying to enter the United States, the TSA could take a few thousand notes from the German transportation authority.

Aside from that, though, here are a few tips and tricks for travelers who may have (inadvertently, I hope) found themselves in the same position:

1. Be polite and respectful at all times.  

2. Be clean, well-groomed, and dressed decently. It doesn't help you to look like a creep.  

3. Stay calm! My heart always starts to pound when I feel like I'm in trouble, but nervous habits like stuttering or stammering or - heaven forbid - getting loud with the authorities do nothing to alleviate the situation. Maintain your composure at all times. If you seem like you're in control, people will assume that you're telling the truth. Which brings me to my next point . . .

4. Tell the truth. Just do it. Because getting caught in a lie is probably the worst move you could make when dealing with international police. 

Now, here are those links I promised:

U.S. Department of State - this is a good place to start, as it provides the official websites for United States embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions in countries throughout the world; they can help point you in the right direction. 

Vagabond Journey: How to Get a European Self-Employment Residency Permit - the article title is pretty self-explanatory.

Popular countries for extended tourism:

France - general information on obtaining a visa for foreign nationals (i.e. not French citizens) with ordinary passports. 

Germany - information on numerous consular services, from business visas to student visas to permanent resident permits. 

Netherlands - information on the temporary residence permit (the MVV), which is required if a person plans to stay for more than 90 days. 

Spain - information on the three types of visas for foreign nationals traveling to Spain: airport transit visa, short-stay visa, national/long-term visa. 

Popular forums for others in the same situation (though be prepared for some nasty commentary in addition to the helpful advice): 

Fodor's Travel "Overstaying in the Schengen Zone - Please Advise!"

Travelblog.org "Overstaying a Schengen Visa"

Note that different countries within the European Union have different visa requirements and application procedures. Although it is certainly possible to apply for a visa once you've already landed within your chosen destination, it's best to acquire a long-term visa BEFORE you go, especially since applications typically take 1-3 months to be processed. 

This post was long, I know, but hopefully our story can help others be more informed. It is extremely important to know the laws and regulations of the countries you are visiting, because once you get right down to it, there are really no excuses for overstaying your visa - the information you need is plastered all over the internet, you just need the time and the will to parse through all of it. There are SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES to overstaying, including but not limited to enormous fines and being banned from reentry. Know before you go, right? Right. 


Photography Credit: All images via the United States National Archives. I love their '70s era pictures; see more here.

Easy Exercises for Tired Travelers

Hi traveler! Question: Have you ever felt bloated from too many beers in Berlin? Or perhaps a bit plump from Parisian pastries?  Portly from Polish pierogis? Flabby from Flemish frites? Meatier than an Italian sausage? Beefier than boeuf bourguignon? Well you have come to the right place my friend, for I am the delusional queen of easy exercises to do - on the go! Once you've finished my simple five-step program, you'll be able to aerobicize faster than Jane Fonda, Tai-Bo better than Billy Blanks, flex your pecs like The Situation, pump bigger iron than Tony Little, and generally confuse everyone with oddly sexual thigh-squeezing à la Suzanne Somers.*

So here they are, friends and fellow wayfarers. A workout that you can fit into your carry-on, no Lycra required.

1. The Luggage Lunge

Shockingly, the only thing required for the Luggage Lunge is a piece of hand luggage. And knees. You'll need knees. Anyway, the Luggage Lunge works like this: hold a bag in your right hand (you also need hands. A right and a left will do.), then step forward with your opposite leg. Then dip, baby, dip! Cause when I dip, you dip, we dip. Now just keep switching the bag from hand to hand and lunging forward with each opposite leg. You can do this for entire city blocks, and soon your glutes will be tighter than the average subway car during Tokyo rush hour. Sayonara shitty metaphors cellulite!

2. The Overhead Bin Bicep Curl

This move is best utilized on planes or trains where there is actually an overhead bin for storage. However, should you not have access to either of these because you were recently banned from all public transport since that time you drugged the conductor so you could drive the "choo choo," any high shelf will do. You can even use a tall friend! Just sneak up on them quietly, baggage or heavy object in hand, bring the object chest-high (this is where the "curling" part comes in), then put it on their head. Since most people's heads are round, your bag probably won't stay there, but you'll both have fun. Repeat fifteen times, or until your friend passes out.

3. The Crosswalk Dip a.k.a. The Frogger

Similar to the Luggage Lunge, but not quite the same as this move has the added excitement factor of taking place while you're crossing the street. First, wait for the signal light to turn red. Second, watch for the cars to start coming towards you. Third, begin to cross the street. When you reach the middle, stop, bend at the knees, then jump straight up as high as you can and wave your hands in the air! Like you just don't care! Because you actually don't! Working out is so much fun! YAY! Should you be so inclined, you could also gather three friends and recreate the cover of Abbey Road; however, neither bare feet nor companions are required to reap the multitude of health benefits from the Crosswalk Dip.

4. The Piss Drunk Plank

Get piss drunk. Now plank. This move is best when you're planking on a high perch from which you are likely to fall. As you graduate to the next level of assholery difficulty, you may substitute planking with Tebowing. 

5. Backpacker's Revenge a.k.a. Montezuma's Revenge a.k.a. Traveler's Diarrhea

This has nothing to do with exercising and everything to do with that terrible, terrible doner kebab you ate from the street cart last night. Shame on you.

*Note: Please consult your physician before beginning any new diet or exercise program, especially one that was invented by a travel blogger who has absolutely zero qualifications pertaining to health, nutrition, and/or body conditioning, and who has been known to define "cardio" as the fourteen steps it takes to get from one bar to the next. 

The ABCs of Travel

Thieves carrying the street sign away in Rome.

Hi. Let's talk about internet memes! Before we do that, though, I need to get something off my chest: I have been back in New York City for exactly four days (at the time of writing) and I am already sick to death of advertising. American commercial directors are grossly abusing the language. I know, I know: words evolve over time and definitions are subsequently changed or appended, but let's take "decadent" for example. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CHOCOLATE, OKAY? Every time I see an ad from Godiva or whatever that has some red-lipsticked woman licking a chocolate and breathing heavily and whispering, Mmm, so decadent into her lover's ear I just want to scream that DECADENCE IS CHARACTERIZED AS A STATE OF MORAL DECLINE. All of a sudden the freaking chocolate companies and people who sell perfume went ahead and were like, oh, let's just use this word because nobody seems to know what it means and redefine it as luxurious or self-indulgent and see what happens. 

And what happened was that I subsequently lost my mind. Sorry guys. Let's move on.

Anyway, there's this internet meme going around of the ABCs of travel and I was nominated by Erik Smith to do one of my own, so here it is. CLAP YOUR HANDS AND SAY YEAH!

A: Age you went on your first international trip

My mom, dad, sister, and I went to the Bahamas when I was 15 or so. Personally, I don't really think of any Caribbean destination as "international," even though it technically is. (Do other people think so?  Or is that just a New Yorker thing? Tell me.)

The first trip that felt truly international was to France, when I was 20 years old. That sounds old but is pretty typical for Americans, I think. (Side note: have you ever seen this map of American passport ownership? Clicky clicky: United States Passport Ownership.)

A boy and his beer.

B: Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where

Now, I really like drinking beer so this is a hard one for me. Czech beers are both delicious and cheap. Belgian Trappist beers are amazing, but are so strong I literally feel like I'm being punched in the face with flavor/alcohol content.  I'm just going to be sentimental about it and say German Sternberg, which is kind of like saying your favorite beer is Pabst Blue Ribbon (which I also like and drink with semi-regularity. P.S. I wear skinny jeans and tortoiseshell glasses. SUE ME.). The thing is that some of my favorite memories from Germany were accompanied by half-liter bottles of that sweet, sweet pilsner.

Also, I collect beer bottle caps. DOUBLE SUE ME.

C: Cuisine (favorite)

French food. Except anything tartare. Ick. 

D: Destinations: favorite, least favorite and why

Favorite: Hmm, toughie . . . a lot of cities are pretty stinkin' great. Though I'll say Prague's fairy tale charm gives it an edge over others.

Least favorite: Milan, Italy. It's kinda sucky. Why? Read: Milan: Kinda Sucky.

E: Event you experienced abroad that made you say “wow”

Here's Dan's answer: "Uh, there was a lot in Prague. . . I don't know . . . the street parties in Berlin?" (Scratches head, returns to tweets.) So there you have it: this question is too difficult to be answered coherently.

F: Favorite mode of transportation

I like trains well enough, when they run on time and are clean. The best mode of transportation can be anything, though, as long as it's first-class. Rich people have all the fun money.

Me, looking creepy on a train. WHERE ARE MY EYES?!

G: Greatest feeling while traveling

While relaxing in the thermal baths of Budapest, I had a feeling of complete contentedness and the miraculous sensation of mind-body oneness. That was nice.

H: Hottest place you’ve traveled to
God, the Danes are freaking hot: every single one of them is just tall and blonde and fit and supermodel-esque . . . buuut you were asking about the weather, weren't you? You were. Okay. Uh, in that case, I suppose the Caribbean countries I've been to would fit the bill: Aruba, Jamaica, Bahamas.

Let's sing some Beach Boys!

I: Incredible service you’ve experienced and where
I find that German airlines provide incredible service, even in coach. I've flown with Lufthansa and Air Berlin, and both have lovely attendants and the in-flight food ain't half-bad.

J: Journey that took the longest
Well, any journey on a budget airline like EasyJet or RyanAir will feel the longest because the experience is, in a word, hellish. But the actual journey that took the longest was coming out of the womb. Shiz took 36 hours. (TMI?)

K: Keepsake from your travels

I admitted above that I collect the bottle caps of foreign beers. I also try to purchase a postcard from each city I go to, but I have very high standards for postcard purchasing which are laid out for you below because I have that kind of time on my hands:

1. Must be under 1€ (or currency equivalent). I am immediately attracted to any postcard at the 0.50€  price point.

2. Photos of a vintage or old-timey nature are preferable, but not a requirement.

3. Text must be limited to less than five words across the front.

4. Must not feature any of the following: busty ladies in bikinis, muscle men in Speedos, Looney Toon characters. Hate, hate, HATE.

These postcards from Europe made the cut.

L: Let-down sight, why and where
The Milan Cathedral was pretty boring. Then again, by the time we visited we'd already seen, like, 37 Gothic cathedrals. Whatever, Milan sucks. Go to Rome instead.

M: Moment where you fell in love with travel
I was standing with two friends on a balcony overlooking a large and beautiful park in the center of Luxembourg City. It was autumn, and the trees were on fire with screaming red and orange and yellow foliage. The air smelled like apples, and the street below was cobblestone. A little train was weaving around the park on its tracks, and a woman in high heels clicked daintily across the stones and got on. I turned to my friend Mary and said, "I understand now how people could write fairy tales."

And it was true.

N: Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in
Dan and I received a free bottle of "Hungary's finest wine" upon check-in at Europa Centerpoint Guesthouse, which was pretty awesome. It's not a luxury hotel, but it definitely had the nicest staff. I ❤ Hungarians.

O: Obsession — what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while traveling
This question was worded sort of crappily, methinks. That "of" is just sort of dangling there, and the whole sentence relies on its presence. Prepositions are really important, you know? They deserve our respect.

Anyway, the answer is architecture. I'm really into architecture, and have lots of pictures of it. Probably too many.

Architecture in the Pigneto neighborhood of Rome.

P: Passport stamps, how many and from where

Twelve, which seems surprisingly low. But then again most of my international travel has been in Europe (within the Schengen Zone), the Caribbean, and Canada, and U.S. citizens previously weren't required to present a passport for the latter two.

Q: Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where
The Clink Street Prison Museum in London was pretty quirky (read: ridiculous). The history of the prison is fascinating and they are in possession of some incredible artifacts, but most of the signs are hilariously misspelled and ungrammatical - it's certainly not the King's English in there.

R: Recommended sight, event or experience
A soak in the thermal baths of Budapest. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?! GAWD.

S: Splurge — something you have no problem forking over money for while traveling
More traveling. I have forgone meals and other necessities in order to finance further travel. Totally worth it. Plus, my jeans always fit better afterwards. #winning

T: Touristy thing you’ve done
On my first trip to Paris, I waited in line for what seemed like hours just to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Also worth it.

Le Tour Eiffel, bien sûr.

U: Unforgettable travel memory

Yeah, since we're talking about the Eiffel Tower, here's one for you: back in 2005 I was still using my mom's old Kodak camera which required 35mm film. (Side note: as much as I love my HDR, I totally miss the surprise and excitement of real film. I have a '70s era Polaroid that I am considering taking on our Great American Road Trip this spring.) The battery was low but I was so excited to be at the top that I didn't realize I hadn't opened the battery compartment - instead, I'd just accidentally exposed the film, thereby ruining the entire roll. There wasn't an extra, and so I subsequently do not have pictures from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Or inside the Louvre. Boo.

V: Visas, how many and for where
Just one: my student visa for studying abroad in France. Though Dan and I should have had visas for this past year of travel in Europe, which led to some hairy situations at passport control in Berlin - get psyched for that story (coming Friday!). We were like frickin' Bonnie and Clyde up in there.

W: Wine, best glass of wine while traveling and where
The profoundly delicate wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in Aix-en-Provence, France. Read all about it here: Châteauneuf-du-Pape: A Wine Tasting. 

X: eXcellent view and from where
The most excellent views are from the tops of mountains. This is why we climb them. My favorites are Monte Sainte Victoire (Aix-en-Provence, France) and Eagle River Overlook (Eagle River, Alaska).

Y: Years spent traveling
I've been traveling nonstop since February 3rd, 2011, which means my one-year travel-versary (yes, it's a real thing) is coming up kinda soon. So that's twelve months right there . . . hmm . . . plus four months as a student in France . . . plus three months as a photographer's assistant in London . . . plus random vacations with family and friends . . . let's say I've spent approximately 22 months out of my 26 years traveling. Not bad, and getting better all the time.

Z: Zealous sports fans and where

I don't really care much for anything involving balls (yuk yuk yuk), so I'm having a hard time answering this question. Though the chaos of a New York City Subway Series is unparalleled.

Wow, that took forever. Take this snowman as a token of my appreciation: ☃