Once a month we put together an exclusive Gadling playlist – a little something to bring you sounds from around the world.
Every month we choose a theme paired with one of our #ontheroad Instagram locations and choose some of our favorite tracks, giving you a music-inspired playlist meant to inspire a little wanderlust.
Last week we hit up the island of Reunion and this week we’re in Cabo, and in celebration of getting a little sun and waves in around the time of spring break, we figured a tropical inspired playlist was just what we needed. We’re calling it “Tropical Beats and Rhythms Even If You’re Not on Spring Break,” because everyone could use a little warm weather inspired music, whether it’s vacation time or not. Enjoy!
Spring break is a vacation time of the year wherein many people let loose and eat and drink with abandon. Fun as that might seem to some, your idea of a good time might be one that isn’t filled with worries about the pounds you’re packing on or the detox you’re going to need post-vacation to recover from all of the alcohol. If you’re looking for an detoxifying escape plan this spring, here are some ideas that will get you started. 1. Sweet + Thrasher: St Lawrence Gap, Barbados
This resort is offering a health-conscious vacation package called “Fitness + Foolishness” for April 18-22. The package includes daily yoga, Pilates, morning runs, surf classes and dancing in the evening at the hot spots in town.2. Playa Nicuesa: Gulfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Playa Nicuesa is an eco-friendly lodge in Southern Costa Rica. Fully immersed in the rain forest, this beautiful destination can only be reached by boat. Once you’re there, you’ll take part in fresh and communal meals and have an assortment of detoxifying activities to choose from in between, including yoga, massage, hikes through the rainforest, swimming and more.
3. Esperanza, An Aubrege Resort: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
This “Find Your Balance” program offers guests vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free meals and the resort offers relaxing ways to stay in shape. Spend your time attending vegetarian cooking classes, practicing yoga in a private lesson or enjoying a massage at the spa. 4. Wanderlust Festival: Vermont, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Canada and Chile
The Wanderlust Festival’s locations this year are all fantastic and each offer their own advantages. While attending this festival, you can join in on a yoga class and indulge in the food at the healthy marketplace during the day and see live music at night.
5. Grand Velas Resort and Spa: Playa del Carmen, Mexico
This grand expanse of luxurious accommodations is the perfect place to pamper yourself and detox this spring if you’re looking for something top-notch. The resort is all-inclusive and you’ll have your choice of fresh juice, salads and veggie-heavy meals – the restaurants are also equipped to adjust their menu to your diet if you ask. When you’re not taking advantage of the detoxifying food options, you can spend your time swimming, scuba diving, kayaking, snorkeling, doing yoga or working out in the resort’s fitness center.
Spring Breakers, did you know that anyone boarding a plane is covered by a “passenger bill of rights?” Or that in Mexico you’re guilty until you can prove yourself innocent?
Lawyers.com’s editor in chief, Larry Bodine, has some legal insights that Spring Breakers should digest well before their first Jello shot – particularly the 120,000 students heading to Mexico this year.
What can I do right this instant to be safer on Spring Break?
Sign up for the U.S. government’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. It’s free, and in the feds’ own words, “It allows the State Department to assist U.S. citizens in an emergency and keep you up to date with important safety and security announcements.”
What’s another thing?
Look up the U.S. consulate or consular agency closest to where you’re staying. At travel.state.gov, check under Country Specific Information for a list of agencies in your destination. Print copies for you and your travel mates and enter the information in your cellphone.
Is there an app for that?
Yes! There’s a Smart Traveler Program app for iPhone and Android.
American laws apply to me everywhere, right?
Wrong. Bodine says many college students think American citizenship grants them immunity from laws in other countries. This isn’t true. If you’re in Mexico or Jamaica or the Dominican Republic or anywhere, you are subject to that country’s laws and punishments. “There are a lot of semi-innocent things we do the U.S. that are crimes in Mexico,” Bodine says. “Walking on the street with an open alcohol container is a crime. Getting off the bus without paying. Taking off your clothes on the beach.”
In another country you can’t count on something like Panama City’s Spring Break Court to minimize the repercussions. “The laws in Mexico are very different,” Bodine says. “If you’re charged with a crime, you are presumed to be guilty, and you have to prove you are innocent. If you are arrested, you’ll be held for 48 hours before you get to make a statement. If they want to charge you, you can be held for a year without bail.”
Check the most recent edition of a reputable guidebook for laws.
How can I find out about open-container laws?
In Mexico, it’s illegal to walk on the street with an open container of alcohol. Costa Rica made it illegal last year. The law varies by country, so ask a bartender, a hotel manager or concierge or a security officer about your destination’s law once you arrive. Ask about public intoxication laws, too. And research them before you go.
Why do the police seem cool with the “anything goes” thing?
Police might let the good times roll – but they often crack down when there’s a car accident, a fight breaks out, someone gets belligerent with the cops or danger otherwise looms, Bodine says. You don’t want to be anywhere near these incidents. Find someone fun and rational to hang out with if you want to make sure to stay out of jail.
I’ve been arrested. Whom should I call?
Bodine says your first call – and only call, if just one is allowed – should be to the U.S. embassy or consulate in the area where you’re staying. Consular officials can provide information on the local legal system and help you find a local attorney, but they can’t get you out of jail.
What will happen if I get caught smoking pot in Mexico?
The U.S. State Department’s website says: “The importation, purchase, possession or use of drugs can incur severe penalties, including imprisonment without bail for up to a year before a case is tried, and imprisonment of several years following a conviction.” Don’t even risk having some in your pocket.
I’m 18 and can drink legally in Mexico. Can I also bring home alcohol?
No. Once you land in the U.S., it’s illegal for you to have it. Chances are it will be confiscated when you go through Customs after you land.
What should I do if I am the victim of a crime?
“Notify the authorities,” Bodine says, “but don’t let the hotel or tour company or restaurant make the report. You should also call the U.S. embassy.”
What rights do I have at the airport?
If you’re bumped from a flight because it is oversold or canceled, the airline is required to give you a paper detailing your rights. The airline employees rarely offer it, but you can ask for one. Bodine says the law requires the airline to rebook you on a different flight, and if that flight isn’t scheduled to arrive within two hours of your original flight, the airline is supposed to pay you 400 percent of the one-way fare for that leg of the trip. But again, don’t expect the airline to be upfront about this. “Ordinarily, they’ll offer you as little as possible,” Bodine says. “They’ll put you up in a hotel and offer you a $300 travel voucher. If you don’t ask for [your full entitlement], they won’t give it to you.”
If your flight is canceled or delayed by weather, the airlines don’t owe passengers any compensation.
Going to Mexico? Read the U.S. State Department’s “Know Before You Go” page for Spring Breakers, and brush up one more time with this video:
[Editor’s note: Got legal questions? This isn’t legal advice. Try reaching out to the folks at Lawyers.com!]
[Photo credits: top, Mnadi via Flickr; bottom, Spengu via Flickr]
The World Travel and Tourism Council has introduced a fun element to their Facebook page: rather than a timeline of their own milestones, they’ve designed a timeline highlighting all of the events in the travel industry. Starting in 1400 with the first passport, and ending with the 1,000,000,000 international tourist arrival in December 2012, it puts the whole development of tourism in context. The first airport dates to 1909 in College Park, Maryland, and there are now over 44,000 airfields and airports all over the world. Hilton pioneered the hotel chain concept in 1943, and now has properties in 78 countries on six continents. Expedia has been around for 17 years, and TripAdvisor just celebrated their 13th anniversary.
Check out all the travel industry milestones on WTTC’s Timeline, and be sure to click through all the years.
My expectations weren’t very high when I visited Phoenix’s Musical Instrument Museum (MIM). I imagined a small collection of dusty drums and pan flutes along with a guitar or two donated by famous musicians. Boy, was I ever mistaken.
The MIM is actually a mammoth museum whose collection and quality rival that of a Smithsonian Institution. Founded by Robert J. Ulrich, the former CEO and chairman of Target Corporation, the museum’s mission is to represent the musical instruments of every country in the world-and Ulrich apparently had enough dough to not only send curators around the globe to collect more than 15,000 instruments, but to also document the traditions and history that surround them via videos.
Galleries, which are organized into geographical regions, take visitors all over the world to learn about that magic of music. Instruments include the 40-stringed zither, a xylophone from the Philippines called the gabbing, a 12-foot-tall octobass (a string instrument that takes two people to play), a gamelan orchestra from Indonesia (pictured at the top) and a collection of strange-looking harmonicas. Also on display are costumes traditionally associated with the music, including a whirling dervish outfit from Turkey and a dragon dance costume from China.
There’s also a mechanical music gallery with instruments that “play themselves,” including player pianos, tiny mechanical birds and other automated instruments that use barrels, cylinders, discs and other technologies to operate. And then there’s the artist gallery, a shrine to music legends such as Elvis Presley, Dick Dale, Carlos Santana and Taylor Swift, where you’ll also find the piano John Lennon used to compose “Imagine.”
But it’s not only the collection that is impressive. It’s also the technology available to each guest via a special audio guide. Instead of a run-of-the-mill guide that forces guests to follow along on a cookie cutter tour, MIM’s guide synchs up with whatever display you’re standing in front of. This allows you to choose to browse things you find interesting, and also ensures that your experience doesn’t bother those around you (if you take your headphones off you’ll notice everyone is essentially walking around a the museum in complete silence).
Before you leave, be sure to stop in the experience gallery, where you can test your chops by strumming and banging instruments from all corners of the world, including a Burmese harp and Chinese gongs. And in the event you can’t make it to Phoenix but just want to learn more about world music, check out MIM’s YouTube page, where you can hear and see many of these instruments being played.