August 9, 2012

I Made It To A Quarter Century!

So, I somehow managed to make it to 25 years young, relatively unscathed. It’s been quite the ride, and sometimes I feel more like a 45 year old than a twenty-something, but I am now in fact an official member of the quarter century club. Being born on August 2nd, I was suckered into the world during the summer. As a young kid, my family were the only ones ever over for my birthday. This was fine at the time and I’m pretty sure I had a pretty good time. My grandpa would design all sorts of kooky cardboard life-size cut outs…

August 6, 2012

The World’s Best Bars: Bar Marsella in Barcelona

While the name might seem rather unassuming, Bar Marsella is one of the coolest bar’s I’ve ever been to. Not because they have wet t-shirt contests, rock bottom prices, or just awesome music, but because of something very special that they serve, absinthe. I studied abroad in Barcelona and my apartment was located right next to a neighborhood called El Reval. It is an area just west of La Rambla and is known for it’s more ethnic, North African inhabitants. I’d be comfortable to say that there are parts you don’t want to wander off into at night, but the center is perfectly…

August 3, 2012

Review of EasyToBook.com

On my recent trip up to Philly, I decided to try out a hotel booking website called EasyToBook.com that a friend told me about. With the competition pretty fierce these days for hotel booking websites, it’s rare to find much of a better deal on one or the other so for me ease of use is just as important. The site reminds me almost of an AirBnb.com/wimdu kind of set up which I like. Big search fields, a nice font and a clean design go a long way in my book. What’s cool about the initial search is that if you put…

August 2, 2012

Magellan Had Nothing On You!

Well, if any of you have been reading my blog for the past year, you know that I’m into maps. When I was a kid, and there was any downtime in class, you could always find me at the back of the room, elbowed over the globe. I was so fascinated that people had been to every inch of the earth, and managed to draw it all out so perfectly. I also really liked looking at old maps as well and seeing how off some of them were! For some reason, geography has always interested me more than let’s say, math, chemistry…

July 30, 2012

Random History Lesson: European Subway Systems

Rapid transit has been improving commutes since the late 1800s when the first steam railways were built. The underground Tünel in Istanbul, built in 1875, is one of the earliest known subways. The London Underground (“The Tube”) is quite possibly the most well-known rapid transit system in the world, as well as the second largest. It opened in 1890 under the name City & South London Railway, the first electric system of its kind which today spans 250 miles and includes 270 stations. Elsewhere in Europe, the turn of the 20th century saw the opening of both the Paris Metro…

July 30, 2012

Flying – The Good, The Bad and The Cat

The more I fly, the more weird shit happens to me. On a recent flight to Paris, I ended up having to play dad to unaccompanied 7 year old twin boys for 10 hours. On my flight from Germany to Miami, I had to listen to a poor girl spill her guts to me about how she caught her husband cheating on her, as well as him giving her HPV (new seat please!). Not to mention my mounting flying anxiety that is only being quelled with increasing amounts of alcohol (I think a road trip might be in my future). Well,…

July 29, 2012

Who Needs London When The Sun Is Shining!

Kilver Court in Somerset County, England

As Europe’s most visited city, London is no stranger to tourists. As sporting fanatics from across the globe pile into Heathrow Airport to begin their Summer Olympics journey, it’s worth noting some peaceful sites around the English countryside to check out for a little respite before or after. While English weather is often deemed dreary, summer months bring relaxing warmer weather that is definitely meant to be enjoyed in the outdoors. Here are some picturesque and notable places to visit outside London Town: 1. The Courts Garden in Wiltshire is a beautiful place for all visitors – even those without…

July 24, 2012

My Shameful Confession and Yorkshire Obsession

The following is a guest post from Emily Buchanan about how we all try and travel outside of our own borders, but never stop to experience and appreciate our mother lands. As a proud British gal and a steadfast traveller, there are a number of things I’ll always love about my home country. They are as follows: Sleepy villages British history (especially monarchical history) Churches, cathedrals and castles (basically historical architecture, I loathe modern stuff) Cream teas (scones + clotted cream + strawberry jam + a pot of tea = drool) The coast (we’ve got lots of it, being an…

July 24, 2012

When in Philly, Do Like Rocky Does!

Once again I’ve found myself in the magnificent city of my birth, Philadelphia. I came up to visit both family and friends, satiate my cheese steak craving, and of course do something I have to do every time I visit…run up the art museum steps like Rocky. Yes, you might think this is a touristy thing to do, but in fact, us Philadelphians do run up the stairs as well. There is nothing more invigorating than waking up early, putting on “Eye of The Tiger” on your ipod, sprinting up the steps, turn around and take in the awe inspiring Philadelphia…

July 23, 2012

What Marco Polo Teaches Travelers

(…or, How to Reconnect with the Pace and Poetry of Overland Travel) Marco! Polo! Ever wondered where that tiresome game originates from? Of course you haven’t, but it’s an interesting and relevant story, so read on. Marco Polo was a man of the 13th century – a man who did spectacular things for our global sense of curiosity and for the West’s exposure to the East (and vice versa). Accordingly, he should have been canonised a long time ago as the Socrates of exploration, especially in the travelling community and especially in the blogosphere. As Christopher Columbus’s senior and mentor,…

July 21, 2012

The Most Unique Spa Treatments in The World

When it comes to youth and beauty, lots of people are willing to go through many an extreme treatment in order to improve their looks. Of course, many people are just looking for ways to unwind. Whichever camp you’re in, you might find some of these unconventional spa treatments right up your alley. Tension-Relieving Snakes Therapist Ada Barak offers a $70 treatment in her Talmei Elazar Carnivorous Plant Farm in Israel. Her treatment medium of choice? Non-venomous California and Florida king snakes. Ada rounds up six of these slithery helpers to crawl around patients backs and help them relieve the…

July 20, 2012

Three of The Craziest Places to Tee Off in The World!

When it comes to golfing, some of us just don’t have the patience, skill or interest to take four hours out of our lives to walk around a massive course, lugging around heavy clubs in the beating hot sun. A regular day out on the links can be mitigated by a cooler full of cold ones, but sometimes you just need a little more stimulation. Check out three of the coolest golf courses in the world that might actually get you out on the green more often than not. La Jenny Golf Resort La Jenny resort located on the west…

July 16, 2012

Why do the Dutch Wear Clogs?

What the English speaking world calls “clogs”, the Dutch call “klompen”. Within the area of cultural accoutrement, Dutch clogs are an extremely well-known phenomenon. They show up in story books and every year, around 3 million pairs are manufactured. Painted wooden clogs are the quintessential Dutch gift for travelers visiting Amsterdam and other cities in The Netherlands. Shirley Temple even sported clogs on the big screen in the 1937 film Heidi, So what’s the story behind this strange wooden footwear? Long ago, during the Roman era, much of the land in The Netherlands was covered with mud. Locals had to…

July 14, 2012

An Adventure to The Agean!

By Natalie Likness Bored of the ‘Great British Summer’, I decided to look at holidays abroad. There are so many deals around to choose from and when I found cheap flights to Turkey, we struck gold! After much deliberation, we settled on a trip to The Aegean, which kept myself, the culture vulture, and my sun-worshiping other half happy. Flying into Istanbul, we took an internal flight to Izmir and used this as our base for the trip. Izmir is the 3rd largest city in Turkey and one which urges you to explore. I immersed myself in the ancient wonder…

July 11, 2012

The Cheapest Cities To Live in The World!

If you enjoy spreading a dollar thinner than a Stretch Armstrong while traveling like me, then you’ll enjoy this one. Travel is something that’s part of my life, no not like it holds a dear little place in my heart, I mean I’m traveling more than I’m not at this point. While I like to think I do alright financially, I definitely don’t do well enough to be going to crazy expensive places and living the good life. I actually prefer to go cheap/interesting places so I can bend my spending power in my direction. I also especially enjoy slow…

July 11, 2012

How to Avoid Travel Scams

The Following is a Guest Post from Emily Buchanan. It’s a well-known fact that when you’ve been travelling on a sweaty chicken bus for 12 hours straight, you’re going to be more susceptible to scams. Even if you’re the most scam-aware individual in town, fraudsters will prey on the unwitting, weary foreigner who just wants to bunk down for the night. It can and does happen to anyone (and yes, it can even happen to the clued-up, hardened travelers amongst us. Just read what happened to Lauren of Never Ending Footsteps and heed her advice). Therefore, whether you like it or not, it pays to practice extreme…

July 5, 2012

Crazy European Weather Records!

In my continuous pursuit of more random and pointless fact based knowledge that will never get me laid, I decided to look into some European weather records as this summer has already been a record breaker for many countries (Poland was stupidly hot!). Mother Earth can be a real bitch sometimes, so check out the hottest and coldest temperatures in Europe that she’s ever crapped on humanity with. Hottest European Temperature Ever Recorded, Ever. Like Greece didn’t have enough to worry about right now with its financial system about as stable as Stephen Hawking on a tight rope, it also…

July 5, 2012

Photos of the Week: Daniel Buren Installation in Paris

When I was in Paris a couple weeks ago, my friend thought it would be cool to head to the Grand Palais (which is worth a visit in itself) to check out the annual installation. Every year, a French artist has the special opportunity to completely take over the space and create something all there own. This year, Daniel Buren used hundreds of large, different colored plastic circles propped up on poles to create a very unique piece. It’s massive and you can walk below the whole thing as well as snag an aerial view of it as well.

July 4, 2012

Where oh Where Could Atlantis Really Be?

The story of the lost ancient city of Atlantis has intrigued people for centuries and has inspired countless works of writing and film. The city was first described as legend by Plato in his 360 BC dialogues Timaeus and Critias. Plato described Atlantis as a naval city with a history of African and European conquests which famously sank into the depths of the ocean after falling at the hands of Athens. Ever since that first story was told, people have speculated as to where Atlantis might be located. Here are five possible locations for the lost city of Atlantis. BIMINI…

July 3, 2012

The 10 Longest Zip Lines in the World!

One thing I’m trying to do more of this year is experience a little more adventure travel. Sight seeing is cool for a while and museums are good for rainy days, but I miss a good ole’ adrenaline rush like when my parents let me go to extreme sports camp for two weeks. I begged them to let me go and I ended up messing up my tail bone and broke my hand, oh well (shame on them!) I think the controlled chaos of a zip line would be more my speed these days, so here are the 10 longest…