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:
Tomorrow I will be hopping onto a plane for Belgium, where I shall meet up with a good friend and indulge in as much chocolate and castles as possible. Considering I’ll be heading out of the country in 24 hours, you might understand my trepidation when I confess that I haven’t finished packing yet.
Granted, given my penchant for bringing only carry-on luggage, how much packing could I possibly do? It’s not as if I, say, have the option of stuffing a partridge and a pear tree into my wheelie. Then again, having a limit on luggage space leaves no room for error. That, ladies and gents, is the sticking point.
No matter what you do or don’t bring, however, or how much time you have to pack, there are a number of things that can help keep your head on straight before your trip. I know they do mine. In this first of the series, we see how being finicky can actually be a good thing.
» Read the rest of Travel Checklist #1: Keeping It Together ...
So you’ve got your toiletries all packed and ready to be checked in, but what do you do when you need moisturizer on the plane itself?
TSA guidelines require that all carry-on gels and liquids fit in a quart-sized zip-top baggie. I confess, I used to fill this baggie to the brim, resulting in one airport security agent fondling it quite closely. What can I say? One needs hand-sanitizer, lip balm, eye-drops, and skin moisturizer, among other things, if one doesn’t want to end up dehydrated from that recycled air on planes. And let’s faced it, though they may be travel-sized, those containers still contain bulk.
But I’ve found a way to slim down that plastic baggie! For my upcoming international flight, I gathered the sample packs of skin-care products I had accummulated in the past. People, you know what I mean. These are sample packs you find at cosmetic counters, at your local community pharmacy, even at places like Whole Foods on occasion. You invariably grab one or two, and either use it immediately or toss it into a drawer.
Well, if you’ve saved a bunch of these, now is your time to use ‘em. Simply dropped them into the baggie. They use up far less volume than a travel-sized container, meaning you can use the extra space for other liquid/gel products you’d like to bring. And the samples can be easily discarded once they’ve done their job. Each sample usually contains two or three uses’ worth, so even tossing three into your baggie will be more than enough for your in-flight needs.
An opportunity to travel light yet sensibly? I’ll take it!
The first time I went to New York City, I hated it.
It was a bitterly cold January. Jessica and I were staying with her cousins in Philadelphia, and after the hoo-ha of New Year’s had blown over, we decided a day-trip to New York was in order. I actually looked forward to it. Let’s put it this way: when you’re bouncing on the balls of your feet, you’re either trying to recover from poor arch support or you’re brimming with anticipation. My arch support was fine, so there you go.
Jessica particularly wanted to see the Statute of Liberty. I really had no inclination to see the Lady, to tell the truth. Okay, she carried a torch. And there was that toga. I still get a kick out of that bit in Ghostbusters II, when the team enlists Lady Liberty’s help to defeat Viggo and his river of slime:
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
“Wonder what?
“What she’s got underneath that toga.”
Classic Venkman.
But other than that, it did not pique my interest at all. There were streets to walk! Shop windows to goggle at! Don’t make me go to a statue, for crying out loud!
We went to the statue. “For the view,” Jessica insisted cheerfully.
» Read the rest of Behind the Burnish of the Apple ...
You don’t have to visit museums or art galleries in order to get a feel for the local culture. Sometimes all it takes is a trip to the market to find a true representation of the people and their lifestyles. An afternoon stroll through a pasar (market) in rustic Kota Bahru was a prime example of this, as I found out.
Onward, to the pictorial tour!
» Read the rest of A Stroll Through A Pasar ...
Owning pets—or, to be more accurate, their owning me—means that while I’m able to enjoy trips and vacations, I will definitely not be taking off to go around the world anytime soon. That doesn’t mean I can’t live vicariously through The Lost Girls, however!
The Lost Girls are three fresh young ladies from New York who decided to shuck off their business suits, ditch their nine-to-fives, and spend a year going around the world. They began their journey in January 2006, though now it looks like they might end up taking up more than the intended one year. But hey, one can’t live life to a schedule after all, can one?
I haven’t caught up on all their posts yet—there’s such a lot!—but I do enjoy their Trip Planning links, which are available on the sidebar to the right of their website. Among other things, they explain how they paid for their trips and reveal what they packed. Between you and me, I can’t wait for them to update the section that tells how they gave their employers notice!
Another favorite section is the top 20 reasons they took off and embarked on this adventure. Partly funny, partly thoughtful, this list definitely rules, not least because it reasons that “fending off a drunken pervert in Central Park hardly constitutes as communing with the locals.”
If you’re interested in embarking on your own worldwide sojourn, give the Lost Girls a read. As these fine ladies put it, “Sometimes you have to get lost in order to be found.”