Sinful Travelers Confess Their Deepest, Darkest, & Downright Bizarre Secrets

Step right up!

The other day I was conversing with a friend of mine who is just about as obsessed as I am with gallivanting throughout this planet. It seems that when one of us is on the road, the other is planning the next “big” adventure and vice versa. One day over a few adult beverages at a local pub we got onto a topic I like to call “travel confessions.” This is when you get some travel nerds together and try to shock them with stories of odd occurrences on the road, places that as a serious traveler you have never visited, and possible habits you picked up while bouncing from one locale to the next.

My friend, who swears to have been just about everywhere, told me that he has no intentions of ever visiting London, England. He says it just looks like a real “boring city and expensive place to visit.” I was taken aback, not only because London is such a popular travel destination, but that this guy had recently become obsessed with the Manchester United football team. I figured someone who loves to travel for sports and concerts would eventually wind up landing at Heathrow Airport and then check out London en route to Manchester for a game.

It was my turn to share a few secrets or to squash some assumptions that people just believe since you call yourself a travel junkie and a nomad. Well for starters, I have yet to visit two “must visit” countries – France and Germany. Yes it pained me to tell my pal and some others sitting with me that I have yet to walk by the Eiffel Tower in Paris or raise an over-sized beer in Munich. But I swore that both were on the top of my list of countries to check out within the next few years…I promise!

Another confession that will probably make many hotel owners out there frown is my love of hotel key cards! I have a shoe box full of those digital door openers from all over the world. They are like mini-souvenirs that remind me of the many great places I was lucky enough to visit.

But enough about me. I decided that the only way to get over being such a guilty global navigator, was to reach out and ask some other travel experts to join me in a group confessional. Below are some uncensored secrets, habits, and revelations that they felt compelled to get off their chest. God have mercy on their sight-seeing souls.

• First up in the confession booth is Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor and “Travel Guru” at Travelzoo.com, who revealed to me that, “When it comes to hotels, I always check-out with 2 things: amenities and stationary. Amenities are something hotels identify with, and even advertise, especially the upscale hotels. So this started years ago, when my traveling really began to pick up and I found myself forgetting where I’d stayed. Those little shampoo and shower gel bottles were miniature mementos of stays at great hotels. Somewhere along the way, I started passing them on to my mom, who lives in L.A. but travels little (by comparison), as souvenirs of cities I’d visited. Today, she has hundreds and hundreds of amenities from cool hotels all over the world. She gets them faster than she can use them and files them away in neatly organized cabinets.”

Saglie continued, “As for the stationary, I get a kick from mailing letters or bills inside hotel  envelopes. I think it adds a sense of intrigue for the person opening it on the other end. Plus, I haven’t had to buy envelopes in year.I also figure the hotels get some nice PR out of it, so it’s a win-win, no?”

• Lonely Planet’s Andy Murdock also feels the need to snatch hotel items when he travel. Murdock confessed, “I like to swipe hotel room pens – I’m always in need of a pen and often seem to lose or forget them, plus I like finding them in a drawer years later and remembering where the pen and I first met. I think you can tell a lot about a hotel by the pen they provide: some hotels put a lot of thought into it and pick out a pen that writes well, has an interesting design, and suits the hotel’s look and feel; others don’t give it a moment’s thought and just buy thousands of ultra cheapo ballpoints that aren’t worth taking with you. The pencil hotels are the most mysterious to me because they invariably fail to provide a pencil sharpener. Be wary of pencil hotels.”

• Sean O’Neill, Senior Editor for Budget Travel, felt compelled to express to me that while he may be a world traveler, there is just one kind of vacation he has avoided. “I’ve never taken an ocean cruise!” he exclaimed. “I feel silly about having left this off my travel to-do list. For millions, it’s an essential experience. But I’ve been turned off the idea ever since I read a Harper’s essay by David Foster Wallace, in which he ridiculed cruise-going. Sometimes I worry that I’m missing out. But I never worry enough to actually do anything about it.”

I must admit that I too have not gone cruising on vacation. Just not my thing. Next up is another troubled traveler that just needs to get something off her chest. I must warn you though that confession is a tad bit on the R-rated side.

• Adena Harford, who runs the blog at tripwolf.com, told me that, “I kind of got into not using toilet paper in India.” I asked her to please explain that exactly that meant. She continued, “Let’s see – well, first of all, we noticed only the tourists stop at little stand to buy toilet paper – and that there is a faucet and a bucket in every bathroom stall. I was secondly inspired by Jack Kerouac’s idea that most (western) people think they are so clean, but they are actually going around with dirty assholes because we only wipe them with paper. So well, I got into using the water and faucet, and truly felt like I was cleaner than usual – we all referred to it as ‘going local.’ Like, have you ‘gone local’ yet? Sorry if this story was a little TMI.”

Hmm…

• Moving right along we have flight attendant extraordinaire and travel blogger Heather Poole. Heather once told me on Twitter that she does in fact collect hotel “Do Not Disturb” signs, but her confession today was about someone else…or so she says. “I once knew a flight attendant who washed her panty hose in the hotel room coffee pot. NAST-AY!”

• Where Ive Been’s Katy, who is both the Community Manager and #traveltuesday initiator on Twitter, shockingly told me , “Alright, my travel confession is…I always remove my shoes on flights. Even when I have EXTRA smelly feet.  Hee hee hee!” She also confessed that as a young traveler she used to steal the blankets on long, transatlantic flights. But in Katy’s defense she expressed, ” Come on, I was 10 years old!”

• Monica Wong, who runs the travel blog  “A Pair of Panties & Boxers” confessed to me that, ” When I was studying abroad in Shanghai, I took a weekend trip to Hangzhou. I initially planned to stay for one night but I fell in love with the sunset at the West Lake. I wanted to see it again so my boyfriend and I stayed an extra night. The only problem was we only brought one change of clothes. Which meant, we only had one pair of underwear. We had to wear it twice. Inside out, of course. That incident gave birth to the name of my blog.”

Geez, these confessions are just getting dirtier and dirtier. For shame you travel experts…for shame indeed! I am going to clean up this confession booth and will be back with part 2/3 of  travel confessions tomorrow! In the meantime be good you sinners.

Tags: budget travel magazine, cruises, england, france, gabe saglie, germany, heathrow airport, hotel, London, lonely planet, Manchester, Munich, spain, travelzoo, tripwolf, twitter, where i've been, whereivebeen.com

Football, Castles, And Of Course Pubs: I’m Headed To England

The stairway to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, England.

This Saturday I will be packing my bags and hitting the road again. This time around I will be making my way to “Jolly Old” England chaps. But unlike most visits to this left side of the street driving country, I will not be heading off to typical touristy destinations like London, Manchester, and Liverpool. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Instead I will be catching a train from London and heading to a city in the south-western peninsula of Great Britain called Cornwall. The reason for the visit is to check out an amazing event that will take place simultaneously around the globe on September 22.

Twilight Football, which is sponsored by Sony and tripwolf.com, is going to be a worldwide spectacle that will occur in seven exotic destinations such as Italy’s Venice, the Alps in France, and Pinnacle Desert in Australia. To check out the full list of locales click here.  I will be witnessing a twilight football game live from the historic Tintagel Castle in Cornwall. The remains of Tintagel Castle date back to the 13th century and is the legendary birthplace of King Arthur.

Starting this Sunday I will be posting daily updates from my three day England jaunt, which includes me taking all means of transportation while I am there. I fly to England, taxi through London, hop a train to Plymouth, and will be riding in a speedboat while visiting Padstow. Be sure to also check out tripwolf.com, their blog, my Twitter page, and the Sony Twilight Widget on the side of this page for various reports from across the pond.

In the mean time, check out my site tomorrow for a new weekly feature that will provide you with even more travel related articles to check out. Plus be sure to take a peak at this weekend’s autumn related travel shots.

See you in England and cheers you bunch of wankers.

Tags: birmingham, cornwall, england, great britain, liverpool, London, Manchester, padstow, plymouth, tintagel, tintagel castle, united kingdom

Emirates Airways 24-Hour Sale

Planning to use Emirates Airways in the near future?  Then head over to their website for a great 24-hour sale.

If you book today, they will take off $100 the total. This sale is good on all destinations that the airline serves. That is more than 100 locales via many U.S. airports. To get more information and to save some money, click here.

Tags: africa, asia, Athens, birmingham, chicago, dubai, dusseldorf, emirates airways, england, france, germany, glasgow, hamburg, London, los angeles, Manchester, moscow, new york, nice, Paris, rome, san francisco, scotland, toronto, Zürich

Rock On With These Summer Music Festivals

This year's Lollapalooza music festival returns to Chicago's Grant Park.

Although the calender says April, here in New York we have been dealing with some summer-like weather. Temperatures have been hovering around the 85-90 degree mark over the past few days and will continue to do so until midweek. Don’t get me wrong, I will take this warmness any day over the winter chills we just experienced in the Northeast over the past couple of months. But I would much rather gradually switch from cold to hot throughout the calendar year.  I mean last week I had on layers and this week I am walking around in flip-flops and a t-shirt. I may even go to the beach for my birthday this week!

With the summer just a few weeks away, now is the perfect time to plan that road trip (or plane trip since prices are so low these days) to one of the many summer music festivals around the country. Here is a list of seven heavy hitters that will be rocking and rolling over the next few months:

• Bama Jam: Enterprise, Alabama (June 4-6). The 3-day music and arts festival down south is not only a good time, but also most proceeds are going towards a good cause. Money raised during the event will help support the needs of the surrounding areas in Alabama. The headliners include Kid Rock, The Black Crowes, Taylor Swift, and G. Love & Special Sauce. For information on the full lineup and ticket prices, check out Bama Jam’s official website.
• Bonnaroo: Manchester, Tennessee (June 11-14). This lively4-day event is located in the lesser known town of Manchester, Tennessee (just one hour south of Nashville). The show will include an all-star line up, with performances by “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen, Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and many more. For information on the full lineup and ticket prices, check out Bonnaroo’s official website.
• Rothbury: Rothbury, Michigan (July 2-5). This fairly new 3-day music festival is going to include performances by such legendary acts as Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. Other musicians on the bill include Cold War Kids, Ani DiFranco, Guster, and more. For information on the full lineup and ticket prices, check out Rothbury’s official website.
• Mile High Festival: Denver, Colorado (July 18-19).  This 2-day festival includes 2-stages at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Acts include The Fray, Incubus, Widespread Panic, and Tool. For more information on the full lineup and ticket prices, check out Mile High Festival’s official website.
• All Points Festival: Jersey City, New Jersey (July 31-August 2). Now 3-days in New Jersey might sound rough, but trust me with this collection of musical acts, it is well worth the visit to the garden state. Performances include Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Beastie Boys, Tool, and more. For more information on the full lineup and ticket prices, check out All Points Festival’s official website.
• Lollapalooza: Chicago, Illinois (August 7-9). One of the originators in music festivals returns to Chicago’s Grant Park with an amazing collection of musical acts. Headliners include The Killers, Depeche Mode, Kings of Leon, Jane’s Addiction, and Snoop Dogg. For more information on the full lineup and ticket prices, check out Lollapalooza’s official website.
• Bumbershoot: Seattle, Washington (September 5-7). For nearly 40 years this music & arts festival has rocked the Pacific Northwest. This year’s acts include Sheryl Crow, Modest Mouse, Katy Perry, Michael Franti & De La Soul, and more. For more information on the full lineup and ticket prices, check out Bumbershoot’s official website.

Tags: alabama, all points festival, bama jam, bonnaroo, bumbershoot, chicago, colorado, Denver, enterprise, illinois, jersey city, lollapalooza, Manchester, michigan, new jersey, new york, rothbury, seattle, tennessee, washington

Lesser Known St.Patrick’s Day Celebrations Around The World

Hundreds of Canadians celebrate St. Patrick's Day during the long running annual event that dates back to 1824 in Montreal.

With St. Patrick’s Day upon us, I figured what better time to talk about the greenest day on the calendar. Now everyone knows about Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade (I mean the dude was born there) and the masses that fill the pubs in New York City on March 17th. But did you know that pretty much every part of the globe celebrates this festive day in which it is socially acceptable to drink green beer, face your paint with shamrocks and sing Black 47 tunes while chomping on corned beef and cabbage?! Here are a few interesting notes about some lesser known St. Patty’s Day parties.

• Since 1824, Montreal has held a very popular St. Patrick’s Day Parade each March 17, making it the longest running Patty’s parade in Canada. But the tradition of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Montreal can be traced back even further to 1759, when Irish soldiers would celebrate the religious holidays with a pint…or twelve.

• Speaking of Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays wear special green uniforms every March 17 during their spring training games. Quick fact, blue was the original color celebrated on St. Patrick’s Day, it later changed over time to green, due to people wearing shamrocks on their clothing that day.

• You think New York parties hard on St. Patrick’s Day? Try visiting Manchester, England where they thrown down suds for 2 weeks leading up to March 17.

• Montserrat, is dubbed “the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean”, due to its founders being of Irish descent. This little island is one of only three places in the world that has made St. Patrick’s Day an actual holiday. The two other include Ireland and the Canadian province of Newfoundland.  Guinness, the makers of the single greatest alcoholic beverage on the planet, have been trying unsuccessfully to make 3-17 a world holiday.

• Uruguay celebrates March 17th in a much warmer climate. Downtown Montevideo is filled with the sounds of Irish music and party goers dressed in green that drink until the sun comes up.

• New Orleans blends St. Patrick’s Day with their own Mardi Gras flair each 17th day of March. Women are seen flashing for not just beads…but actual potatoes and cabbages. Only in Na’lens!

• The shortest parade route for a St. Patrick’s Day parade is in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Nearly 10,000 people attend this event that spans just one single city block.

• St. Patrick’s celebrations have even made it all the way to China! Yes, the 3rd annual St. Patrick’s “Irish Week” kicks off Friday March 13 and goes all the way through to the big day. The Irish population is actually on the rise in China and is becoming quite popular in the care-free neighborhood of Xintiandi.

Wherever St. Patrick’s Day finds you, one thing is certain, chances are you will most likely have a massive hangover come March 18.

Tags: arkansas, canada, china, england, guinness, hot springs, louisiana, Manchester, montevideo, montreal, montserrat, new orleans, newfoundland, shanghai, toronto, uruguay, Xintiandi