You’ve always longed to visit Tahiti, but that coconut-perfumed dream never includes the utter, abject misery of being stuck on a plane for close to an entire day. Don’t let fear of confined spaces, boredom or blood clots keep you from taking that exotic trip; there are things you can do to make your long-haul flight as pleasant as possible.
I am always on the hunt for a good deal, especially when it comes to traveling. It’s partially how I’m able to fund my trips on a writer’s salary – I know where and how to look for ways to make my trips cheaper. A lot of people think that travel writers get to go on tons of luxurious, amazing trips for free, but the reality is that most of us travel writers are regular traveling stiffs. And quite frankly, I would prefer to organize trips myself and travel on my own, rather than be told where to go and what to look at (not that I don’t appreciate press trips, because I do! Hello PRs!).
One way I’ve recently taken to making travel cheaper for Husby and I is using coupon and daily deal websites. You know the ones. They are famous for offering half-price dinners at fancy restaurants, dance classes and cheap hair and dental treatments. These sites usually offer a certain number of coupons, which are only given if a base number of people buy them.
What you might not know is that many of these sites also offer travel-related deals. One further, you can find them all over the world.
Groupon river adventure. Photo: Groupon
As long as your European experience remains in the tourist sector, where everything is served to you by tip-hungry minions, you’ll be spared the rigors of European grocery stores. But stay a little longer, or venture beyond your guide’s solicitude, and you’re in for a rigorous experience: European Grocery Shopping.
The American grocery store seems consumer heaven, with its wide aisles and inexhaustible supply of every conceivable wish. Immigrants have been known to burst into tears upon first walking into an American grocery store (or, read some PCV’s impressions of returning). And at the triumphant climax of your shopping experience, a strapping lad from the local high school cheerfully puts your purchases in a bag for you, “Double-bag, Ma’am?”. Well, mes amis yanquis, put such memories out of your mind when you enter a European grocery store. These emporia are modestly-sized and likely to have some varieties of most of the things you want. But you’re in boot camp – don’t expect to be coddled.
Surprise: one of the most delicious things you can eat in Japan doesn’t even have Japanese origins. Yakiniku – Korean-style barbecue adapted to Japanese tastes – is an extremely popular food in Japan, due to the country’s high percentage of Korean immigrants. Yakiniku (焼肉) literally means “grilled meat” in Japanese. Part of yakiniku’s appeal is the campfire-like atmosphere: each diner cooks his or her own meat on the grill built right into the table.
Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city, is home to the world’s largest population of Koreans outside of Korea. The Tsuruhashi neighborhood is Osaka’s little Korea - a labyrinth of Korean food and goods vendors underneath the train station. It is quite possibly the best-smelling place in Japan.
Yakiniku isn’t the most cost-friendly cuisine, but remains a hallmark of social and business gatherings nonetheless. Birthday parties and sayonara parties are made all the more bittersweet by the tangy smell of roasting meat. It is raw, simple deliciousness on a plate. Read on for some tips to better enjoy your yakiniku dining experience.
With the new year comes an excuse to plan new travels. Not sure where to go in 2012? Be inspired by the tripwolf Travel Trends 2012. These are the top travel destinations picked by the tripwolf team; where we want to go this year (and think you should, too!)
Colombia - by suzanitadz on tripwolf.
Lose your predjudices and start packing – Colombia is attracting more and more travelers, inviting them on a journey through time and breathtaking landscapes. tripwolf blogger Elena was in Colombia and stayed with a foreign family. She spent three months in Bogota learning among many things, how to cook local cuisine (see her post on the tripwolf German blog, “Culinary delights from Colombia.”)
In its heyday, the Roman Colosseum seated up to 50,000 people and, in modern times, receives millions of visitors each year. Yet, when I recently visited the Roman monument with a disabled friend, I asked several of the staff members how many visitors in wheelchairs arrived each day. They couldn’t tell me. “Not many,” said one. “It’s very rare.”
Photo by Andres Sandoval
I may never have been all that great at Math, but “very rare” out of “millions” seems to be a rather low figure, if not altogether surprising. After all, ancient cities and monuments aren’t known for being especially wheelchair-friendly, what with their cobblestone-paved streets and crumbling steps. But the Colosseum in Rome has taken steps to welcome all visitors, and is actually quite accessible to tourists with limited movement.
Tracking down a good time is not actually difficult in Cork, as I discovered on my Christmas trip through Ireland‘s second city. Husby and I were down to see his extended family who all bleed red and white (the county’s Gaelic sports colors) and, though I had passed through Cork briefly twice before, it was my first time really getting to know the city properly.
Murphy's billboard. Photo: IrishJaunt on Flickr
Cork is an easy place to get around, primarily because it is so small. You can actually walk the city center – most of which is located on a little island created by a split in the River Lee – in a few hours, and this is of course where all of Cork’s main sights are located. Still, despite its relatively small surface area, Cork doesn’t lack in bustle – with its 275,000 metro population descending on the main streets for shopping, eating, drinking and general merriment.
If you were a very good boy or girl this year, your Sugar Santa might just have brought you a plane ticket. But Sugar Santa never thinks about how being trapped in an aluminum tube with recycled air will affect your looks, darling. By the time your plane touches tarmac, you will be rumpled. You will smell like wet puppy. Your airport pick-up will shrink in horror.
Photo by Eva Sandoval
I’m guessing you’d rather step off the plane looking refreshed and – dare I even say – attractive. Here, a handful of tips on making sure you look good when your plane lands.
Here is the final installment of our piece celebrating all of the PCV’s who have volunteered over the past 50 years. My goal was to provide any potential volunteers (even those who didn’t think they were potential volunteers) with important information they might not find elsewhere. Thanks to PCV’s Brian, Burch, Elizabeth, Vincent, Dustin and Josh for volunteering again to answer my questions.
Photo by ozziebackpacker
In this post, the questions pertain to reintegration – describing the most influential moments of their trips, how they changed, and how each one of them understood reverse culture shock upon returning home…and more of course!
Read part one here on how to join the Peace Corps, and part two for more information on what it’s really like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer!
How did you pay for day to day expenses, like food? Were you given a stipend?
In this second installment celebrating 50 Years of the Peace Corps volunteer program, I asked volunteers to tell me about real life in the Peace Corps. What was their first impression? How long did it take them to feel comfortable, and were they properly prepared for their posts? If you’ve been thinking of volunteering with the Peace Corps, I’m hoping this series can get you inspired, and get your some answers on how to do it, and what to expect! Enjoy ~ see the first piece here about how to volunteer, and look forward to the third installment coming soon.
Lazy Saturday by Lshave on flickr
What was the first impression of the place where you were posted?
Vincent: My first impression of the place I was initially posted during my training was shocking. My babe (father in Siswati) spent the night with me in the same hut. He slept in a chair while I slept in the bed. I was hot. It was so hot that night. I was sweating buckets. I remember hearing so many strange noises. I was up all night long. Thinking about what the hell I got myself into. I decided that this was not for me. That next morning I had every intention of dropping out.
I had never visited the country before. I did not speak the language. However, English is one of the official languages. In the cities and towns, it was pretty easy to navigate yourself. In the village, it was a little bit more difficult. My first impression of the people was how friendly they were and how hospitable. My babe (father) was just welcoming me to his home. It was his way to show the utmost hospitality to a guest.
