Gettin’ Carried Away

Awhile ago, I wrote a post about leaving tips in other countries, specifically the UK. I’ve had different experiences everywhere I’ve traveled… some awkward, some completely normal. So that you won’t feel awkward about the whole tipping situation, I’m going to continue to give you some helpful tips on… tipping… this time in Western Europe.

• Some countries add a service charge, but the servers expect at least a 10% tip, as well. This happened to me in both Venice, Italy and Paris, France. I noticed this practice is followed in more upscale cities/regions.
• In Barcelona, Spain, we left our server a 10% tip. She literally chased us down to give the money back. I decided to speak to some locals to get the low down on España. I learned that the servers at most of the restaurants are salaried and receive social benefits. They told us that, if we felt compelled to leave a little extra, 3 to 5% is a-ok.
• DO NOT add the tip to the bill if you pay with a credit card. As a general rule, you should give it directly to the server
• DO NOT leave money on the table. It is considered impolite. Plus, you never know who’s lurking around, waiting to snatch it.
• If a bellhop handles your baggage, especially all the way to your room, a one-euro tip per bag is considered polite.
• In a restroom, there may be a small dish for the attendant. If he/she is actually attentive to you (towel in hand and all), 50 cents to 1 euro is sufficient.
• If you are totally unsatisfied with any service, feel free to leave no tip.

Honestly, I always felt weird leaving a small tip (or even no tip at all). And you might, as well. Just keep in mind that you’re in a different place. You’re not going to get a mean look, and no one is going to spit in your food if you don’t give an “adequate tip” to their liking. I tend to follow one rule… if the service is good, I leave a small tip. If I haven’t seen the server for an hour, if the cabbie takes the longest route, if the hostel staff is unfriendly… they don’t deserve anything extra.

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated my blog, and I’ve had good reasons.

• I haven’t been traveling.
• I haven’t been keeping up with travel trends.
• I haven’t spoken to any of my TBEX/Twitter travel buddies.

When you travel, do you ever get the feeling that you’re invincible? Let me put it this way…

• Your flight leaves on time.
• Your flight lands early.
• You receive a great hotel upgrade… at no cost.
• You get to see and do everything you planned.
• Your return trip home is also smooth sailing (or driving, or flying).

When everything is seemingly perfect, when you successfully avoid Murphy’s Law while traveling, you may gain a sense of infallibility. I know I do. So when things go wrong at home, it makes sense that travel, and everything to do with the world of travel, takes a HUGE back seat.

~* Buzz off, rapid strep throat! I’m still going to NYC! *~

It all started when I contracted rapid strept throat last month. An impromptu (and expensive) trip to the ER confirmed my sickness, and I postponed my latest New York trip by a day (losing out on a few hundred dollars to change the flight last minute). And while I was in New York, I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do because I was really sick. I was in pain, I was fatigued, and I went to bed before midnight every night in the city that never sleeps. It–for lack of a better word–sucked. Yet, I was still able to get to the new Yankee Stadium for Game 1 of the ALCS (Yankees vs. Angels), and I got to stroll through Central Park, which is GORGEOUS in the fall, hand in hand with the love of my life.

Although I fought through one hurdle, once I returned home, the sickness and the drama just wouldn’t leave me alone. I’ll spare you all the gory details, but for the past few weeks, I’ve been dealing with reoccurring sickness, loss, anger, frustration and more.

I started to put things into perspective. Travel is a part of my life, and it’s a part of my life I refuse to give up. I’m going to get sick. Dear friends are going to pass away. Bad people are going to try to drag me down. I am going to have money struggles. However, I will not compromise my values, my beliefs or my passions just because I am feeling under the weather.

Life happens. Sometimes, you can’t travel, but that doesn’t mean it is out of the question.
I’m back and ready to rock!

A big thank you to all of you who have sent warm wishes in the form of emails, text messages and comments. Thank you for your support!

Happy Halloween!

It’s no secret that fall is my favorite season. Naturally, I enjoy Halloween, as well. I love to watch terrifying movies (even though I’m easily scared by the smallest noise), and I always have fun putting up scary decorations. Most of all, though, I live for the costumes. Over the years, I’ve dressed up as a lot of characters: Jasmine from Aladdin, a referee, Devil Wears Prada. However, I think that my costume for Halloween 2009 trumps all of my past outfits.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Carmen Sandiego, let me give you a brief back story, courtesy of an amazing vocal group, Rockapella.

Well, she sneaks around the world from Kiev to Carolina.
She’s a sticky-fingered filcher from Berlin down to Belize.
She’ll take you on a ride on a slow boat to China.
Tell me, where in the world is… Carmen Sandiego?

Essentially, Carmen, and her merry band of crooked followers, travel the globe, stealing famous landmarks, paintings, sculptures and more. She was the subject of an old computer game that taught young kids geography. You had to follow clues and chase her around the globe to secure the loot and a warrant before you could arrest her. For example, a clue could be: “I think she was headed towards Montpelier, the capital of the East Coast state.” Then, you’d head to Vermont to keep the chase going.

I first played it on an old Apple Mac (one that had a black screen with green lettering and used actual floppy disks) during my computer class in grammar school. Eventually, the game was made available for our home PC (an IBM at the time), and I played it religiously. It also evolved into a TV show that was on every day, Monday through Friday.

Being an avid traveler, I don’t know why I never thought to be Carmen Sandiego. She may be a thief, and a fictional character, but she has traveled the globe more times than I can count. Another lyric from her theme song reads, “She go from Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe, Chicago to Czechoslokvaia and back!” Aside from trying to lift iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben, she’s my idol. And so, for Halloween 2009, I dressed up as the “double-dealing diva” known as Carmen Sandiego.