Did you kiss some random cuties in the pubs over the weekend? Hope you saved their phone numbers/email address/Twitter handles because one of them might be a real catch. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Irish-Americans are more educated, more available, more ambitious and richer than the average Yank (see the graphic below, via Visual.ly). You’ll have to find out for yourself if they are also better kissers (here are five cities ripe for research).
How To Stay Healthy On Spring Break
Whether you’re a beach-bound college student or a middle-aged couple headed to the Rockies for some end-of-season snow, spring break presents the same health risks every year. Fortunately, they’re all easily preventable by using common sense and following a few basic rules.
This year, here’s hoping your only souvenirs are great photos and even better memories.
Hangover helpers
You could just watch your alcohol consumption, or try drinking a glass of water in between drinks, but I hear you laughing. Try to maintain, especially if you’re in a foreign country, traveling alone or at altitude. If I wake up with a hangover that not even a truckload of Tylenol can cure (it’s also not good for your liver when taken in combination with booze), I swear by coconut water, which is loaded with electrolytes. Don’t forget to consume regular water, as well, and get something in your stomach that’s full of complex carbs and protein, not grease (sorry).
Adjust for altitude
Regardless of your physical condition, altitude sickness can strike anyone. Give yourself a couple of days to acclimate, hydrate frequently and take ibuprofen, aspirin or even Diamox if you’re really feeling bad. Watch your alcohol consumption! One drink has the effect of two (see above if you ignore this advice).
Prevent food- or waterborne illness
Far be it from me to tell anyone to avoid street food, unless they have a compromised immune system, or are very old or young. You can safely enjoy street eats in foreign countries, as long as you know what to look for. If a stall or vendor doesn’t have a line, or their sanitation practices are poor, give it a miss; the same rule applies to restaurants (just because gringos flock there doesn’t mean it’s safe). As for water, I avoid ice cubes in rural areas and from street vendors, and always check bottled water in developing nations to make sure the seal isn’t broken. Don’t forget to travel with Imodium, because nothing is ever foolproof.
Save your skin
Yes, you need to wear sunscreen, even if it’s cloudy, rainy or snowing, and you need to reapply it thoroughly every two hours. Wear a minimum SPF 30 broad spectrum product. Ask your dermatologist for referrals; not all brands are created equal.
Be self-aware
Being drunk n’ sloppy is never attractive, but it can also be downright dangerous. Know your limit, stick with you friends if you’re not traveling solo, and if you (ahem) get separated, maintain phone contact, let them know where you are and who you’re with, and when they can expect you back. We’ve all had a spring fling, but safety should always come first.
[Photo credit: Flickr user dbrekke]@
Travel Like A Boss: Le Parker Meridien’s Burger Joint – Secret New York Food Spots Part I
While it’s really not the best kept secret in all of midtown Manhattan, The Burger Joint, tucked inside of the Parker Meridien is certainly a gastronomic underdog.
About 10 years ago, this local favorite was essentially created from scratch, carved from a tiny nook toward the back of the reception area and modeled after a greasy spoon you would find somewhere in the Midwest. Replete with wood-paneled decor, cheesy movie posters and impromptu scrawling on the walls, the Joint is so popular with the neighborhood that the lunch line forms before they open at 11 a.m. and doesn’t die down until way into the afternoon – only to pick up again just before dinner. The menu, aimed at the heart of the minimalist, consists of burgers, fries, beer, soda and shakes – nothing else. Under advisement from the super friendly staff, we ordered the works on a medium burger with fries.
With so many burgers in the ring for best burger in NYC, we were unsure how the Joint’s take on the revered beef patty would compete, but take our word for it; this is definitely up there with the best. It’s just the right amount of succulence you want in a burger. With the bun toasted just right, and the mustard ketchup combo, you have to wonder what the other guys are doing wrong. Well, we may know that secret. The Burger Joint employs a full-time butcher, working around the clock processing only the best beef money can buy – no additives, no spices, just great beef. The answer may lie in the freshness.
Vagabond Tales: How Travel Can Literally Make You Younger
The famous Spanish explorer Ponce de León spent parts of his travels on an unfruitful search for the fountain of youth.
Sailing from Puerto Rico to Florida in 1513 on a voyage, which would become the first documented European exploration of the American mainland, rumors of de León’s search for the mythical fountain wouldn’t arise until documents published after his death (which, as it turns out, wasn’t due to old age, but from being wounded in the thigh by a poisoned arrow during an exploration of Southwestern Florida).
Unfortunately for de León, not only was he was searching in the wrong ocean for the secret of anti-aging, he was also searching in the wrong century. Had de León been sailing around the western Pacific in, say, 1910, he would have discovered a completely arbitrary line, which has the ability to make a traveler an entire day younger.
Sure, you might only be younger on the calendar as opposed to in actuality, but thanks to the existence of the International Date Line, trans-Pacific travelers technically possess the ability to go back in time.For those who aren’t familiar (or who have never crossed over the non-existent line), the International Date Line was established as a way of making sense of the world’s time zones for explorers who were traveling across oceans.
Magellan found out on his first circumnavigation of the globe that despite the fact he had kept meticulous record of the days on his journey, he nevertheless returned to Europe and was off by an entire day. Similarly, those traveling eastbound would discover that upon returning home, days, which they had recorded as having happened, actually hadn’t happened yet.
Since no imaginary line had been crossed, which would denote you had “crossed into yesterday,” explorers would continue with their erroneous calculations until an International Meridian conference was finally held in Washington D.C. in 1884. Delegates from 25 nations decided that the “International Date Line” would be 180 degrees from the Prime Meridian in England, and conveniently, this line passed mostly through water.
Over the course of its 129-year history, however, the specific location of the “line” has been conveniently shifted on numerous occasions, most recently in 2011 when Samoa up and decided they were going to move across to the other side of the line.
The reason? The government figured that being closer in time zones to Australia and New Zealand would attract more tourists who simply couldn’t be bothered with flying all the way to a country, which is located in yesterday.
“That’s great. Enough history. Where does the time travel part come in and how can travel make you younger?“
While the establishment of the line was a mere calendar convenience during the days of oceanic travel, with the advent of the airplane and trans-oceanic flights, travelers suddenly had the ability to reach a nation on the other side of the line in less time than it takes the world to spin and catch up. Thanks to the ability to propel ourselves through the air at speeds in excess of 600 mph, it’s now possible to actually live the same day twice.
This was a trendy realization of novelty-seekers who actually celebrated the year 2000 in Sydney, Australia, and then promptly hopped on an eastbound plane to Honolulu so that they could experience the whole party for a second time.
They departed on January 1, 2000, landed on December 31, 1999, and after a quick nap on the plane were geared up and ready to party all over again.
While this isn’t exactly news for those who cross the dateline regularly, what if that day where you skipped back in time … just so happened to be your birthday? Technically, then, according to a calendar and whole numbers, would you not actually become younger?
As it just so happens, I experienced this phenomenon this very past year. My wife and I met a friend for my birthday dinner in Auckland, New Zealand. We went to an Indian restaurant. We drank wine (Gewurtztraminer goes great with curry), and the date was February 13. On the stroke of midnight we clinked glasses to the day of my birth, February 14, and I had officially turned 29.
Hopping on an eastbound flight to Honolulu the next morning at 9 a.m., I drooled on the window in a semi-hungover fog as we passed up and over the imaginary line. Landing nine hours later in Honolulu, I awoke to the reality of it once again being February 13.
I was now 28. Again.
Have you ever experienced your birthday twice in the same year? Share your tales of dateline madness in the comments section below.
Want more travel stories? Read the rest of the “Vagabond Tales” over here.
[Photo Credit: Heather Ellison]
Cheap Spring Break Ideas For Broke People
Spring break may be full of fun, sun and adventure for students and families who plan ahead, budget wisely or just have travel as a priority when it comes to spending. Some make wise, thoughtful decisions on where to go, while others head out on the open road with no plans at all. Spring break can be a time of renewing, head-clearing goodness that resets brainpower, allowing a return to school or work refreshed and ready to go forward.
Unless you’re broke.
Without some money, a lot of Spring break ideas never happen. Here then, at the last minute, are some cheap spring break ideas for broke people.
Obviously, A Road Trip Works
Other than walking or going nowhere, Spring break via automobile is about as cheap as it gets so road trip options are for sure on the table. But instead of planning a trip half-way across the country, burning up time to get to the beach, national park, fabulous city or some other “main event,” why not look right in your own back yard?
I was surprised at the number of attractions, mostly free, that I found within 50 miles of our home, and we live in Orlando, the attraction capital of the world. You won’t have to search Gadling very far to find a plethora of posts with a travel-like-a-local flavor. Most commonly we use that information to get the most out of destinations not visited before. Turn that app around and see what may be hiding just down the street. The results may surprise you.Smartcations
Best understood as bundling applied to vacations, smartcations have travel service providers collaborating to put air, hotel, rental cars and more together. The result: lower overall cost than by booking each element separately. Nothing really new there; airlines have been suggesting, “would you like a hotel with that?” at online check-out for years.
What is new and applicable for broke people is widening the search to include deal sites like Groupon or Living Social. For our purposes here, those with limited travel funds often find that going the smartcations route can enable otherwise abandoned travel plans to happen. Better yet, some allow us to play the pied-piper role, encouraging others (broke) like us to take advantage of the offer.
Smartcation options are available for destinations around the world, including tropical islands.
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Vacation Home Rentals
What was once the lifestyle of the nearly-rich and famous travel option, renting someone else’s fabulous vacation home while they are away at one of their other fabulous homes has come down considerably in price, across the board. Thank you Mr. Recent Recession.
In Florida, for example, bank-owned foreclosure homes are often rented for not much more that they cost in taxes. Banks figure something is better than nothing, which has opened up a whole new market of budget accommodations.
Especially attractive to larger groups of close friends in a “lets set up our own hostel” sort of way, vacation home properties number in the tens of thousands. Most come completely furnished and ready to use and may include the security of a gated community, preset services like cable TV and/or a pool. Homeaway is a good source to start with but renting vacation homes has become such a popular option that their Tripadvisor category numbers over 275,000 properties.
Vacation homes are available all over the United States, Canada and even safe places to visit in Mexico.
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A Short Cruise With A Lot Of People
Three- or four-day cruise vacations (AKA Party Cruises), bought at the last minute (convenient for you since this is the last minute) can be a good option for those with limited travel funds. Sailing from Florida to the Bahamas, the domain of three-day cruises, prices might run about $200 per person, based on double occupancy (two people per stateroom), tax included.
But third and/or fourth people sharing the same room come in at a discounted rate. Add it all up and divide the total price by the number of people and that $200 per person charge could drop to nearly half that.
Mom, Dad and the kids? Beware of short cruises, especially the three-day booze cruises that run over a weekend. This might not be the wholesome family entertainment you had in mind. On the other hand, there’s no time like the present for teaching valuable life skills like how to avoid obnoxious drunks, even at an early age.
But which cruise to choose? Again looking for the best value, consider a tour operator that specializes in just this sort of travel, but includes more in the price. StudentCity is a huge student tour operator, specializing in Spring Break trips for high school and college students.
“Come party with us in the best tropical destinations and at the hottest nightclubs on the map, with world-class DJs and talent,” says StudentCity of this video:
[Photo credit – Flickr user Tostie14]