How to be a good house guest when visiting a friend abroad

by Meg Nesterov on

If you ever have a friend living abroad or meet someone traveling who extends you an invitation to come to their city, take advantage of the opportunity and go visit. Seeing the city with the help and knowledge of a local or native is invaluable, especially if they know you and your point of view, plus it can save you money in travel expenses (see more reasons to visit a friend from Mike Barish, who was an excellent guest last year).After a year in Istanbul, I’ve hosted a dozen or so guests and seen all the big tourist sites more times than I needed, but also had a great time showing friends and new acquaintances around my new city.

No matter how well you know your host, you still should aim to be a good house guest (you want to get invited back, right?). After you book your tickets, here are some more pre-travel plans to make before visiting a friend abroad.

  1. Do your research before you go – When your host asks, “What do you want to do while you’re in town?” you might think that saying “Oh, whatever, I’m here to see YOU!” shows how flexible and low-key you are. What it really does is put pressure on your friend to come up with a plan to entertain you and show you the best side of the city. You may not want to present them with a checklist either, but knowing what sights are important for you to see and what interests you can help your host figure out where to take you. You might learn what’s overrated or stumble upon something no tourists know about.
  2. Bring gifts from home – I’ve asked for a lot of oddly specific items in the last year from visitors from the US – Ziploc bags, Easter candy, and the ever-popular expat-in-a-Muslim-country request: pork. But some of my favorite gifts have been unsolicited: two friends brought me things from their home cities, including wild rice from Minnesota and Ghirardelli chocolate from San Francisco. Imagine what you’d like if you were away from home for an extended period of time: gossip magazines? Beef jerky? Some New York bagels? Just because it seems common to you doesn’t mean your friend (expat or foreign) won’t be delighted.
  3. Give your hosts some space – Whether your friend has a night or a week to spend with you, respect their time and space, especially when they are spending it playing tour guide with you. While I’m lucky to work from home, I still need time every day to answer emails and write fine blog content like this, and appreciate friends who have found other ways to entertain themselves for a few hours. Take the time to do a super-touristy activity your friend wouldn’t be caught dead doing, catch up on the local history, or just go hang out at a cafe on your own. I spent a great afternoon last summer with a visiting friend sitting by the Bosphorus, drinking beer and reading books – no itinerary required.
  4. Share your “fresh eye” with your host – No matter how long your friend has lived in town, they probably don’t know EVERY restaurant or piece of local trivia. If you read about a cool new restaurant, make reservations and treat your host to dinner. Taking a walking tour one afternoon? Maybe your friend would like to learn more about the area too. This makes your pre-trip research all the more valuable and take the pressure off your host to come up with fun new things all the time.
  5. Stay in one night – While it’s a lot of fun to eat out when traveling, it can get old fast, not to mention expensive. If you are in town more than a few days, offer to make dinner or order take-out for your host. Just going to the supermarket in a foreign country or discovering what Chinese food is like in Turkey can be a memorable travel experience. A night staying with your friends, sharing some good duty-free wine (another thing to add to your host gift!), can be a perfect way to end your visit.

Any other tips you’d share with house guests (or hosts)? Leave them in the comments below.

The Obama pen: weirdest African souvenir ever?

by Sean McLachlan on


Obama is big in Africa. There are Obama shops, Obama hotels, Obama t-shirts, even Obama: The Musical. A craze of naming babies Obama hit the continent when he was elected. Even better, the proud parents could fill out the birth certificate with an Obama ballpoint pen.

I came across these in a shop in Harar, Ethiopia. A friend of mine worked for his campaign, so it seemed the perfect gift. The box proudly proclaims the virtues of “Quality+Econmy”, promises “maximum writing pleasure and comfort”, and offers a one-year money-back guarantee. How CAN´T you buy this amazing item?

So why is Obama so big in Africa? There’s more to the craze than the fact that his father is African. Many Africans told me they see him as an inspiration, that no matter where your family is from you can make it big. Some also see his election as a hopeful sign that the U.S. is getting beyond its racist past. There was some serious Obamamania in Africa when he got elected but, like in the U.S., that initial enthusiasm has cooled off somewhat. Now Africans are questioning his policies, asking why he hasn’t created closer ties with Africa and why he’s helped some Muslim nations in their struggle for democracy and not others.

It looks like no president’s honeymoon lasts forever.

[Note for the easily offended: the crack about the birth certificate was a joke. I am not a birther. You can tell because all the words in this post are spelled correctly]

%Gallery-123686%

Top North American rodeos to check out this summer

by Laurel Miller on

In honor of the approaching National Day of the American Cowboy, which I wrote about earlier in the week, I wanted to highlight some of the best rodeos North America has to offer.

Even city slickers can enjoy a rodeo; it is, after all, a sporting event. With a lot of beer. And grilled meat. And a lack of giant foam fingers and face-painting (not a bad thing, I might add).

In all seriousness, rodeos are great family fare. There are usually parades and drill team exhibitions, down-to-earth people, great camaraderie, and you can watch some truly amazing human, equine, and bovine athletes perform in independent and team events. At day’s end, you can always count on a big barbecue, live music, and a dance. The below rodeos are all located in places of great historic interest if you love the Old West or Americana. Git boot-scootin’.

Calgary Stampede
It may be surprising to learn that Canada has a cowboy culture, but Alberta does, and is home to this world-famous event, which is an integral part of the community. Critter lovers should note that the Stampede places extreme emphasis on animal welfare, which you can read about here (FYI, the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) also has strict animal welfare regulations in place, so contrary to belief, livestock are not being tortured for the sake of entertainment). Events ranging from steer wrestling and women’s barrel racing to junior steer riding will be happening July eighth through the 17th.

[Photo credit: bronc, Flicker user Bill Gracey;Sheridan WYO Rodeo
Located in the heart of Yellowstone Country at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains, Sheridan has no shortage of pastoral pleasures to go with its Western heritage. Rodeo Week–July eighth through the 17th–kicks off with a parade, and night rodeos are held the 13-16th. Part of the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour, Sheridan WYO also features events like the Indian Relay Races (Those of you who are offended by the non-PC-ness of the name…remember we are not in Berkeley, and there’s a $25,000 payout prize), and a public Boot Kick-off event featuring live music, food vendors, and more.

Cheyenne Frontier Days
Know as the “Daddy of Em All,” the world’s largest outdoor rodeo has celebrated the American West since 1897. From July 23rd to the 31st, crowds from all over the world gather to watch arena events. You can also visit Cheyenne’s excellent Old West Museum, tour historic homes and “Behind the Chutes(don’t miss if you want to see what goes on before that gate swings open and bulls and broncs cut loose),” and attend Western Art Shows, concerts (Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow headline this year), a carnival midway, an Indian Village handicraft/historic recreation, and more.

Days of ’76 Rodeo
Held in one of the Old West’s most historic and notorious towns, this Deadwood, South Dakota event has been named Best PRCA Small Outdoor Rodeo four times, as well as PRCA Midsize Rodeo of the Year since 2004. This, the 89th year, runs from July 26-30th, and features two parades and lots of local Native American culture. The entire city of Deadwood is a national historic landmark located in the Black Hills Territory, so be sure to plan on an extra day or two for exploring.

Pendleton Roundup
Eastern Oregon is at the heart of the state’s cowboy country, and Pendleton is one of the ten largest rodeos in the world. Have a last-days-of-summer trip September 14-17th, when the weather is hot and sunny (it does happen in the Pacific Northwest, really). Bareback and saddle bronc riding, team roping, bull riding, Indian relay races, wild cow milking, children’s rodeo, and parade: it’s all here. Trivia: Pendleton is one of the first rodeos to have women officially compete. In 1914, Bertha Blanchett came within 12 points of winning the All-Around title.

[Photo credit: team roping, Flickr user Al_HikesAZ]

MasterCard PriceAssure offers travelers new airfare-tracking service

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Buying an airline ticket is easily one of the most confusing and costly purchases a traveler can make. There are many questions: Is the price found online the best price? Could the price go down? What does it cost to re-book the ticket if things change?

MasterCard cardholders now have a new airfare tracking tool, called PriceAssure, that may provide some assistance. What is it and should you give it a try? We investigate below.

Eligibility
Anyone with a MasterCard and a existing flight registration on any of big domestic carriers (American, Delta, United, US Airways and JetBlue were all listed when we checked) are all eligible to use the service. At this point, PriceAssure doesn’t cover international airfares.

How it Works
To start, new users need to enroll in the program by providing their basic MasterCard card details, name and an account login. After login, users have a couple options: The first is to input an existing flight itinerary and the price paid for the ticket. Gadling Labs tried out an upcoming flight that we’re taking on American Airlines from LaGuardia to O’Hare.

Once the flights are in the system, PriceAssure goes to work. It constantly monitors the current fare on your airline for the chosen dates. Should that price fall below the price you originally paid for your ticket, PriceAssure sends out an email, letting you know that you may be eligible for a refund. Interestingly enough, PriceAssure also incorporates any potential change fee you might have pay as part of the new re-booking price.

All of this, mind you, is based on the type of ticket that you have booked and what the rules are for changing that ticket (and the fees therein). If one is booked on a heavily discounted ticket with high change fees, for example, a $20 fare drop won’t account for the $150 in change fees so a refund is moot. But for a more flexible ticket or a larger price drop, the service is particularly handy.

Once you discover you’re eligible for a refund, MasterCard also offers to call up the airline for you to negotiate your refund for $19.95. You can make the call yourself for no additional charge (though the hold time and haggling with the customer service rep is up to you).
Our Take
With all the variables involved in booking airfare these days, any solution that claims to simplify the process is already a thumbs up in our book. That said, PriceAssure is likely to work best for certain certain types of travelers more than others.

If you’re a budget traveler, chances are you’re already buying heavily discounted airfares and the likelihood your fare will fall enough to save you more money is slim. Even if the price on your flight does fall, it’s not likely to be enough to offset the often hefty airline change fees attached to most deep discount tickets.

Business travelers, however, play a different game. Many of these passengers book more flexible, high-cost airfares, and for these itineraries, PriceAssure will prove quite useful. Take a test drive of the application over at priceassure.mastercard.com

Video of the Day – Journey through Asia

by Stephen Greenwood on

If you have 4 minutes to spare and a virtual tour through Thailand, Cambodia, & Vietnam strikes your fancy; sit back and enjoy this beautiful montage from filmmaker Ivan Vania.

Shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and set to a soundtrack by Yann Tiersen (composer of the score for Amélie), it’s an incredibly vivid depiction of the boat rides, temples, smiles, and landscapes that many travelers to Southeast Asia are familiar with. Ivan does a great job of mixing wide angle shots of the environment with close ups that capture the detail of the locations and the expressions of the people he encountered, which adds to the video’s realism and authenticity.

Do you have a favorite video or photo that lets you escape to another part of the world at the click of a button? Share it with us! Leave a comment below and it could be our next Photo / Video of the Day.