January 6, 2012

I Flew, I Crashed, I lived – A 1st Hand Account from US Airways Flight 1549

The Following is a guest post from Ian Wells, a friend of mine and fellow alum from the University of Miami. One of the most amazing things about Ian…is that he is alive. He survived the plane crash of US Air Flight 1549 and I and TheWorldorBust are privileged to have him share his amazing story just a few days shy of the three year anniversary of the crash. Ian currently resides in NYC and works as an internet entrepreneur. I love to fly. It’s been that way ever since I was a kid. I enjoy the whole experience; the peanuts, picking…

January 4, 2012

The 10 Best Clubs in NYC

The city that never sleeps? Well, who can blame New Yorkers when there are nightclubs to see and be seen in, toe-tapping rhythms escaping from basement bars and breaking indie acts gracing the stage of New York City’s legendary concert halls. No indeed, there is no time to sleep here. But if you do require a couple of hours of shut-eye, be sure to find cheap hotels in New York within stumbling distance of some of these, my pick of the 10 best clubs in NYC… 1. Bowery Ballroom With a capacity of just 550, this is THE place to catch breaking…

January 2, 2012

The Best Cheese Steak in Philadelphia, Avoid the Tourist Traps!

Whenever someone finds out that I’m from Philadelphia, I either get, “I’ve never been there, but I’ve been to Boston, New York and Washington D.C.” (screw you), or, “Phillllyyyy, Pat’s or Geno’s?” (screw you again). I won’t get into the fact that Philly is one of the biggest and nicest cities in the country and just 3 hours north of D.C. and only two hours south of NYC and is still bypassed, but my mission is to enlighten all of you that MIGHT visit and want to enjoy one of Philly’s best inventions besides myself, I’m talking about heaven between…

December 28, 2011

What to See and Do in Caracas, Venezuela!

The following is a guest post from Victoria Serra. She is the creator of It’s in Miami, an online resource for all things Miammmmiiii. She was born in Venezuela, and she wrote this post to share some cool things to do while visiting her home city, Caracas. I was born in Valencia and raised in Caracas, but my family moved to Miami in 2001 when things began to get a little rough in Venezuela. Even though I live in Miami now (and I absolutely love it), I still have family there, and I like to visit once or twice a…

December 22, 2011

My First Experience Working Abroad

I love Craigslist. While it still looks like it was designed by some amateur in his basement in 1998, it has provided me with a wealth of opportunities from furnishing and renting my apartment, endless fun jobs lasting from a couple hours to a few months to even meeting my former band mates. I check it everyday and almost always find something worthwhile responding to. If you’re not familiar with the website (a.k.a you don’t live in the US), it is basically an online classifieds board set up for every major city with everything from apts for sale, jobs, groups to…

December 19, 2011

How Anyone Can Write Off Travel Expenses

A guest post by Charissa Stuble. Travel is a great equalizer. It is enjoyed by people from all walks of life, from all ages and from people living on a shoestring budget to those who sail the seas on private yachts. Travel is something that humans just yearn to do, as if it is embedded into our genetic code to want to see and experience as much as possible. That’s why most of us are so quick to climb into ourcars, aboard ships and trains, and on airplanes to seek out all the beauty the world has to offer. With that being said,…

December 14, 2011

Picture of the Week – Got Head?

So I went out for dinner with a couple friends of mine from college last night to one of the only breweries in Miami, Gordon Biersch. After a couple Hefeweizens we decided to go walk over to the center of the Brickell neighborhood which has been recently dubbed the “Manhattan of the South”, I guess I agree to some extent. We went to a new Irish Pub called Fado and my buddy ordered a Boddingtons and this is what the bartender handed him. I guess a little head goes a long way (that’s what she said), but this is just ridiculous…

December 9, 2011

Athens Greece Keeps On Keepin’ On

My Aunt Randy recently went on a trip to Athens, Greece. She’s pretty cool (she even has a Wikipedia)! so I asked her if she would write something up for The World or Bust on what her perceptions of the city in the midst of their overwhelming economic crisis were. She is an economist and has written numerous books about gender and income inequality so I thought she might be just the person to provide me with a little contenido. Enjoy! ~Jeremy I recently visited Athens, Greece. One way I get to see the world is through professional conferences I attend or talks…

December 6, 2011

The Gayest, Non-Gay Experience of My Life – The Turkish Bath House

After 24 hours of travel getting from Miami to Istanbul, I wanted to do what I always do in a foreign country where my dollar goes further than the local currency, indulge. Usually that’s grubbing at nicer places than I can normally afford, drinking top-shelf liquor, and of course…a massage. I’m also a big fan of steam rooms. I had a DIY sauna outdoor that I built at my parent’s place when I was younger so it was a daily ritual for me in the winters. I have been to a bath house before (went to one in Budapest), and…

December 2, 2011

Art Basel Miami Beach Make Ya Booty Go Baaap!

So it’s my favorite time of the year in Miami, the humidity is gone, it’s 75 degrees every day and the sun shines perpetually. The “Winter” event season has begun and I’m straight chillen.
Art Basel Miami Beach has begun, and for the next 4 days, every artist, socialite, hipster, cheapo, wino, student and mutant will […]

November 29, 2011

Cool Architecture in Philadelphia

Here are some pics from Downtown Philadelphia (known as Center City). As you can see, I like skyscrapers. Believe it or not, there was actually a “Gentleman’s Agreement” in Philly (up until it was broken in 1987) that no building would be taller than the hat on the statue of William Penn atop City Hall (the statue is actually 50 feet tall!). This meant that the skyline of the city was kept pretty mid-rise until the glorious year of my birth, and as you can see, some really impressive steel and glass buildings have gone up since. Philadelphia City Hall…

November 27, 2011

Occupy Philadelphia – The Homeless, The Hipsters and The Hopeless

So I’m back in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving and decided to spend a whole week instead of just a few days to enjoy the city a bit and see some friends. After I graduated from college, my parents sold our house in the burbs, and did like many other empty nesters, headed back to downtown to try and reclaim their youth. I even have to say they’re cooler; way more laid back, down to drink that extra glass of wine at dinner and try new things again. At first, I was a bit sentimental about them giving up the house I…

November 25, 2011

Thanksgiving – Religious-Free Gluttony

I love Thanksgiving. It’s a holiday about be being thankful for what you have in life, minus the fact that Jesus, Allah, God or Shiva had anything to do with it (at least in my family). Just a time to reflect how lucky you are for the plentiful and delicious food on your plate and the family around your table. Thanksgiving is a holiday primarily observed in the US to celebrate the anniversary of the colonists settling in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. They held a huge feast to commemorate their first harvest which was mostly successful because the Indians helped them out by providing seeds for crops and…

November 20, 2011

The Weather in Miami is like no where else!

When I first moved to Miami 5 years ago, I was surprised to learn that there are not 4 seasons like I was used to in Philadelphia. In fact, the seasons here aren’t determined by temperature. There are only two seasons in Miami, rainy and dry. While it typically “cools off” from late October through March, you can still expect to have 80 degree days (about 26 centigrade) the majority of the time. The difference is that there is very low humidity which makes a world of difference and the real reason I’m still living here! A fun fact that…

November 18, 2011

Picture of the Week: flickr likes me!

In my attempt to start using an optimized image hosting website, I thought I’d give flickr a try, especially because it’s owned by Yahoo and I really don’t optimize anything for it. Who the hell even uses Yahoo anyways? (supposedly poorer people according to Gizmodo). When making my flickr account this morning, I was welcomed with something special. Call it fate, a divine algorithm, or just sheer coincidence, but I like flickr already, Zdrasti to you too!

November 17, 2011

Even 1% Jewish? Then go to Israel for Free, no Joke!

When my friend Dave told me about Birth Right a few years ago, I thought it sounded too good to be true. A 10 day free trip to Israel with airfare, hotels, and food all completely paid for?..No jew I knew would front that bill. Well, it was true, and a couple years back, just for being Jewish, I got to on one of the most fun, interesting and enlightening trips of my whole life. Mazol Tov to Me, 8 Years of Hebrew School Finally Paid Off (Sort of)! The Birth Right website qualifies anyone 18-26 with any part Jewish,…

November 12, 2011

A Breath of Fresh Air at Dragalevtsi Monastery

After spending four days in Sofia, I needed to get the F*** out for a minute. My new friend Téodora who I actually met through CouchSurfing (check out that website if you don’t know what it is!) suggested we check out one of the many beautiful monasteries near Sofia. Bulgarians love getting out of the city, and any chance they get, you will find them skiing in the mountains, hiking, camping, or if it’s the summer, topless on one of the many beaches on the Black Sea. So, I took a cab to the outskirts of Sofia and met up with Téodora who knew…

November 11, 2011

Sofia, Bulgaria – The Paris of the Balkans…Not!

The final leg of my two week travel to Eastern Europe culminated in Sofia, Bulgaria. I took the bus from Plovdiv which took about two hours and offered some pretty nice scenery. Bulgarians have the most owned property per capita in the world, and much of it is not developed, ensuring that much of the landscape is untainted by human influence. In complete contrast to the tranquil countryside is Sofia, a crumbling soviet era capital city that isn’t easy on the eyes, but offers a certain grime and grittiness that is somehow endearing. Sofia is a shithole that will win…

November 7, 2011

Picture(s) of the Week: Plovdiv!

Plovdiv, Bulgaria is a really nice place to visit after being in a bustling city. It is the second largest city in Bulgaria, but is still rather small and relaxed. The population of the entire country is only 7.5 million people, with the capital and largest city, Sofia, only having a little over a million. I’m sure some of you have been wondering what the hell I’m doing in Bulgaria in the first place, so I guess I’ll fill you in. I am in fact, Bulgarian. My grandparents moved to the US in the middle of the 20th century to…