Despite its clever lists, Lonely Planet's 1000 Ultimate Experiences isn't likely to have any real travel relevance.

Those looking for a little student travel inspiration, a stocking stuffer or simply a good-looking coffee table conversation piece may want to consider picking up a copy of Lonely Planet’s 1000 Ultimate Experiences.

Or they may not.

In a style similar to the once overwhelmingly popular 1,000 Places To See Before You Die, Lonely Planet – the now overwhelming popular guidebook producer – has compiled a list of what it believes to be the best excursions and adventures, menus and memorials, road trips and romances. Celebrate one of the Best Obscure Holidays, wine and dine at one of the World’s Most Bizarre Restaurants and Bars, or scout out one of the 10 Best Places to Steal a Kiss, all with the help of this 300-plus-page guidebook.

While it’s a clever idea, 1000 Ultimate Experiences is likely to fall into the aforementioned coffee table category as opposed to being a valuable travel companion. The lists are, as illustrated, arranged by obscure categories that offer little relevance to someone already in one place, unless that place you’re in happens to be one of the World’s Happiest Places or host one of the Best Beaches to Swing a Hammock. I suppose that – if you had a particular travel prerequisite (i.e. I must, must visit one of the World’s Strangest Festivals) –  this book may act as an adequate planning reference, but for all other purposes it seems a bit pointless – likely to be collecting coffee mug rings instead of joining you on your overseas adventure.

Spend time with classmates and roomies

So you’re doing a year abroad and that pesky winter schedule dictates that you stick around until after Christmas, meaning you don’t get to go home for the holidays. While the prospect of spending the jolliest time of the year alone in Europe might seem daunting at first, it really doesn’t have to be. I’ve spent several years away from my family, passing the holidays abroad, and what I’ve learned is that, if you put a little effort into your plans, it can be an extremely rewarding, not to mention fun, experience. Here are a few tips on how to make your Christmas/Hannukah/New Year/Whathaveyou great while you’re studying abroad. Read the rest of this entry »

Dancing Minnie

Those of you that have been to Rome are familiar with the infamous dancing Mickeys. Those who have yet to go to Rome, beware of the dancing Mickeys. Although they come in many forms: Disney characters (plenty of Minnies and Donalds to be had), bugs, The Simpsons, and even Picachus, the Mickey is the most common figure I’ve seen.

A toy that can be found near most popular attractions in Rome, these paper cartoons bounce magically to the tunes blaring from a boom box. An obvious scam, there is still something very alluring about these dancing mice, as hoards of people will stare at them for hours, trying to figure out the mystery behind how they work.

On a recent trip to Rome with 2 of my friends, we found those hypnotizing dancing toys greeting us immediately after a memorable tour of the Forum. Impossible to ignore, I’m not even sure that the Popemobile passing by could have thwarted our attention from those miraculous mice. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether it’s called “el crisis” in Spain, “die krise” in Germany, or “a válság” in Hungary, the global economic crisis has impacted Europe as much as it has the rest of the world.  Now, at least according the official line, the continent has emerged from the recession.  The Washington Post reported recently that the euro-zone economy – made up of 16 nations – showed slight growth in the last quarter – the technical benchmark for the end of a recession.  However, the gains are unevenly distributed.  Germany and France are leading the way, but Spain, Ireland, and Hungary are expected to remain in crisis for much longer.  In Spain, according to AFP, some desperate people have resorted to selling hair for money.  The crisis has sorely tested European unity and if some nations stay mired in a recession while others surge ahead, it could strain future attempts at cooperation among euro-zone countries.

The economic news can mean many things to young travelers in Europe.  Lagging economies may push prices down (especially in tourism-oriented places like Spain), but if the European recovery outpaces the American one (the real existence of which many still doubt, despite official statistics and bureaucratic proclamations), the dollar could be further devalued against the euro, raising the costs for, well, everything (at least for American students.)  And of course, in today’s perilously interlocking global economy, major economic changes in Europe can easily impact economic conditions in the U.S.  Our generation is facing some of the worst unemployment this age demographic has encountered in decades, and those who are trying to save money to travel are facing more obstacles.  The recent improvements might mean good news, but the outlook is still, above all, uncertain.

Learn from my mistakes, because I’ve certainly made enough of them.  Here are five random pieces of advice, learned mostly the hard way.

1)      Take anyone’s advice with a grain of salt: Including mine.  Suggestions from other people on where to go and what to see are a valuable source of information with a huge caveat.  For one, each person has a unique idea of what is worthwhile and what should be avoided.  For another, unanticipated, circumstantial events that happen during a trip – such as getting robbed or meeting someone especially cool (hopefully not in the same instance) – can completely alter a person’s perception of a place.  These incidents are often random and have little to do with the specific locale in which they take place.  They’re factors of chance – which is, after all, the source of most adventures, good and bad.

Don't let Lonely Planet tell you where to go! They just don't want to get sued.

2)      What matters is who you’re with, not where you are: My most memorable trips have been with wonderful people to mediocre places, and my most disastrous have taken place in incredible settings with individuals with whom my relationship ranged from indifferent to hostile.  The financial and chronological limitations of travel usually force you to pick and choose destinations, so if you’re ever facing a dilemma between going to one place and to another, I firmly believe the quality of travel buddies trumps the quality of a place.

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If you’re looking for cool souvenirs that capture the liberal spirit of Berlin, the place to go is ausberlin (check out www.ausberlin.de to browse, but ordering will be difficult unless you speak German). Located off Alexanderplatz in the heart of the city, ausberlin offers music, jewelry, clothes, and gift items all made by designers and artists from Berlin.

Everything in the store speaks to the irreverent, urban character of Germany’s capital. Check out the sweatshirts emblazoned with the silhouettes of construction cranes – one of Berlin’s permanent fixtures since the wall fell and reconstruction began. Or buy a sterling silver curry-wurst fork. You’ve seen the plastic disposable version all over the sidewalks – now you can celebrate Berlin’s indigenous cuisine with the elegance it deserves. If you’re feeling really rebellious, consider an ash tray that claims it’s from the Betty Ford clinic.
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How I miss Thanksgiving at home!

Preparing for Thanksgiving is, more often than not, an all day affair at least. Sifting through recipes, compiling ingredients, making sure you have enough pots, pans, and trays. There are a ton of the things that must be done on top of the actual cooking and baking. Now, move that whole process across the pond to Europe, and your tacking on a lot more time than you had probably anticipated.

All of your mom’s recipes you had planned on trying out for your friends in Europe? Those all need to be converted into metric cooking units. Luckily, though, this problem can be easily solved. A very helpful website, Convert-me.com, effortlessly converts all your measurements, and even lets you choose the substance that you want changed. Read the rest of this entry »

A call to action on a bright apartment building - just one example of progresive Berlin

Demographically, Berlin is a young city. It’s also home to four universities, and the combination may account for Berlin’s thriving contemporary culture. Walking around Berlin, you run into all kinds of examples of the city’s interesting liberal lifestyles. There are alternative living communities, including one group of anarchists that lives in Conestoga-style wagons in a strip of land that used to lie between two sides of the Berlin Wall. There are solar panels on houses, organic restaurants, and my favorite – guerilla art.

I was wandering around the city with a friend on our way to one of Berlin’s major art museums when we passed a bombed-out building (substantial funding has been put into repairing and updating East Berlin, but West Berlin still contains a lot of evidence of the war). A sign spray-painted onto corrugated cardboard said “art show” and pointed under the building’s brick archway. My friend and I looked at each other – we didn’t have much time. But in the spirit of Berlin, we opted for the unofficial art.
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Most of us who were already born were too young to remember, but on April 26, 1986, the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in present-day Ukraine melted down and spewed a devastating amount of radioactive material into the air.  At first the Soviet government tried to keep it under wraps, but once they realized the magnitude of the disaster, they were evacuating area residents by the busload.

They never returned.

The refuse of the Soviet Union rots, rusts, and collects dust in ghost-town Pripyat.

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In a pattern all his own, Olafur Eliasson has saturated Europe’s world of contemporary art.

Eliasson's The Weather Project, installed in the Tate Modern. Photo: Olafur Eliasson, Tate London

America’s too, and now that of the East, with a current solo exhibition in Kanazawa, Japan. The exhibition commenced Saturday, and will remain installed until March 22.

The Danish-Icelandic artist is perhaps most famous for The Weather Project,  a weather system created in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2003. Visitors were cast with sunlight and dampened with precipitation in a building seemingly void of a ceiling, while cast under one of Eliasson’s favorite lighting maneuvers – mono-frequency lamps that drain both skin and surroundings of color, like walking through a black and white movie.

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