Ever stumbled upon the perfect café, sequestered deep in the quietest corner of a buzzing city, and just had to share the secret? Ever wanted to be part of that secret? Travelistas Lynn Lau and Abby Bender combine their journalism and travel experiences to bring readers Notes From A Café: Travel stories from the deep end, a refreshing cure to the usual stodgy travel resources. Notes From A Café revolves around the love of travel, with articles covering countries from Belgium to Norway to Malaysia, along with tips and resources to fellow travelers interested in the non-touristy side of exploring the world.
Celebrating the joie de vivre of traipsing the globe, Lynn and Abby feature their stories and secrets under headings such as "Voyage Vignettes" (focusing on the thick and thin of personal travel accounts), "Foreign Foibles" (cultural gaffes and taboos), "Travel Tips" (a grab-bag of information and suggestions for travelers), and "Roaming Reviews" (frank guides on true must-see's and definite stay-away-from's).
A random selection of our articles:
With a major road trip coming up, I know I’m going to need plenty of liquids to keep me going. Something hot and toasty in the morning would especially do the trick. But considering my schedule — a four-day drive all the way across the country — it’s neither feasible for my time nor my wallet to have to stop at multiple coffee shops along the way. Not to mention I don’t even drink coffee, so it can be hit-or-miss finding a coffee shop that provides good tea!
Regular beverage cups only hold so much liquid, and I’ve found they don’t retain their heat that long either. I decided to invest in a thermos bottle, and what better one than the original Thermos? I got myself the Thermos Nissan stainless steel vacuum insulated bottle, and was delighted (and am still enamored) to find out that the raves and reviews are indeed true. Your favorite hot beverage, poured in during the morning, remains boiling hot even through the evening. Or, conversely, your ice-cold drinks remain crisp all along your hot summer journeys. Wonderful!
One might argue that a beverage cup allows you to sip while you’re behind the wheel, but really, when you’re on a road trip, you don’t want to break your budget on little things such as this. Having an effective, easy-to-clean bottle means I just have to fill it up once; I don’t have to spend money on overpriced drinks every few hours, especially when they go lukewarm quick as a snap. Plus, its being stainless steel means it’s environmentally friendly and safe to reuse without risk of leaching!
I would much rather take breaks on the road, unwinding with a hot cuppa before a lovely view, than duck into a rest-stop coffee shop all the time. And, well, who wouldn’t?
Tip: For regular water containers, chose reusable bottles that have “PE” marked in the bottom, such as The Planet Bottle. “PE” stands for “polythylene,” which is the safe non-leaching kind of plastic (certainly safer than Nalgene’s polycarbonate). Another way you can tell if it’s a PE bottle is if it’s slightly soft when you squeeze it. It should give in a little; polycarbonate bottles are rock hard.
Happy hydration!
Photo by Seow Yin
The next time you go on a trip, hold off on booking that hotel. Instead, give a bed & breakfast a try. You might find yourself becoming a fan and opting for B&Bs at every opportunity.
Hearing the term “bed & breakfast” brings to mind quaint, old-fashioned images: lush, ivyed houses abounding with leaf awnings and candy-cane wallpaper, owned by a stay-at-home host. And every morning, a group of traveling strangers gather in the dining room to break bread and converse over coffee and orange juice.
Well, that’s certainly a 1950s TV moment. Images change with time and needs, and so has the B&B.
» Read the rest of No Sleeping In: Ins and Outs of A Bed & Breakfast ...
If I could keep but one memory of the Abbey of Pontlevoy, it would be this:
» Read the rest of Elysium Fields ...
If you’re visiting Vancouver and the sheer sense of city life starts to wear you down after a while, flee up north for a soothing retreat. That is to say, enjoy a good deal of repose — and green — at the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
It’s not something you can indulge in every day, certainly — admission rates are at least CAD$25, depending on the season — but it’s definitely a must-see, and you should certainly enjoy it at least once while you’re in the area (and if you live within Greater Vancouver, well, you really have no excuse not to go a few more times).
» Read the rest of A Little More Sway: Vancouver's Capilano Suspension Bridge ...
To travel is to expect much of the places you visit; to move to one of these places is to expect much of yourself.
— Mark Jenkins, “Leap Year”, The Best American Travel Writing 2005
My whole life, I’ve always been going. Just going. Sometimes it’s a small distance — growing up in an oil palm plantation, the mere act of grocery shopping required a family-planned excursion to town. Sometimes it spans oceans — at age 19, I hopped off a plane onto US soil and stuck around since.
I’ve been traveling since before I can even remember. Literally — my brothers and I were born in three opposite ends of the country. By the time I was in primary school, my family were making regular weekend trips to Singapore. Every year until I departed for college, we joined other families on three-day ventures to various destinations, chattering on tour buses while some brave soul with a microphone in front attempted to keep order.
People have asked if I ever get homesick for Malaysia. No, not really. I may get a really intense hankering for mutton soup, spicy rendang, mihun goreng, and especially roti canai with some good chicken curry — hey, what can I say? Food is key — but the truth is, I’m so accustomed to traveling that I couldn’t imagine anything else. In fact, “anything else” would equal cabin fever. One of the most agonizing years of my life was when I was not able to travel at all. Now that drove me stark raving mad.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it was any less of an enterprise for this Malaysian girl to get used to brutal Midwestern winters. We’re talking born and bred in the tropics, after all.
But now it’s time to move on again, and this time, it’s even further north. Yes, the irony of that strikes me too. I will be pulling up stakes, packing all my worldly belongings, and moving to Vancouver, Canada.
The last time I made such a major life move was ten years ago. I’ve accumulated quite a whole lot since then, both in terms of physical belongings and actual experiences. As time goes by, I’ll be sharing my adventures, tips on the process, and learned lessons on such a move. Watch for ‘em.
Because traveling isn’t always something short-term and limited; sometimes it’s a way of life.