Public Transport
Originally uploaded by potecina

If you commute to and from the city on week day mornings it would be easy to assume you’d actually gotten yourself lost in a procession of funeral attendees. Long faces looking like they’d belong better on someone who had lost their last friend rather than that of a commuter on their way to the office, pushy fellow commuters who are far to eager to give you a good hard shove in the back to ensure their place in the carriage, suits whose self loathing is matched only by their selfishness – cutting in front of you at ticket barriers and ticket machines….

And so, the joys of city commuting, with a mixture of equal measures immaturity and depression – it is hardly the most positive start to the day – so how does one avoid feeling like they’ve done a days hard yakka before they’ve even set foot in the office? Here are a few pointers… be sure to share your tips in the comments:

Listen to a bit of Michael Jackson on your mp3 player. Then some Bob Sinclair. Then the Time Warp. Smiling yet?

Switch over to Tiny Dancer – secretly imagine how great it would be if everyone started singing along, Almost Famous style.

Pay attention to the scenery that you pass, take black & white photos as you speed past.

Download some podcasts and use your time productively.

Dream up your next blog post.

Smile at the crankiest looking person within eye shot.

Profile your fellow passengers, imagine what they do, who they do (!), why they’re secretly smiling to themselves/looking so cranky. Dream up their story.

Take a pen and paper, get the creative juices flowing, write for a few pages – anything you think of, it need not be a masterpiece (or even make any sense), just write. Scribbles, blog posts, a play, poetry, letters, conversation observations…

Eavesdrop – sometimes people have the most fascinatingly odd conversations (See: Overheard in New York). Don’t feel bad for listening in, think of public transport conversations like a blog, if they didn’t want their story out there, they’d shut up.

Draw up a set of post it notes with kind words “SMILE!”, “Have an AWESOME day!!” … & stick them in different spots throughout the day for others to find.

Got your laptop? Create a slideshow full of all the embarrassingly funny moments from Friday night drinks to send around to the department at work. Make Monday fun for everyone (bar those who over indulged on aforementioned Friday night).


Alright, over to you – The best way to pass time on the [insert method of public transport here] is _________?

There is very little joy in showering in communal washrooms, but from time to time, in the lives of wanderlusting nomad types, it must be done. Communal shower blocks can range from manky pits, inducing fear & turning the stomachs of even the most hardened travellers, right through to those that are more on the 'clean, simple and not too scary' end of the scale. The first step is to decipher which category the communal showers you are considering use of fall into. If it is the former, then perhaps a better consideration would be to pick up some baby wipes, a can of deodorant and some dry shampoo - travelling proves just how long, if pressed, one can go without hot running water as a means of staying clean. If the shower block looks like it could be braved, than there are a few basic tips you can follow in order to have an experience that is not entirely grisly:

THONGS
aka flip flops, jandels, pluggers etc
Wear them. No matter how clean it looks, these are an essential item. You can't see the icky germs that spread fungal foot diseases, but chances are you'll see them on your own feet if you go for a dip without thongs. When sharing foot space with fellow communal shower buddies, it is better to be safe than sorry - foot fungus is one thing you DO NOT want to be sharing, right?

PLASTIC/CALICO BAG
This is for your bits and pieces (ie. clothing & shampoo). Most showers will only have one hook (obviously designed by males), very few will have bench space to leave you clothing on and the floor of a communal bathroom is the last place you want to be putting your clothing. To solve this problem of space, take with you a plastic or calico bag, hang it on the hook and pop all your bits and pieces into the bag while you shower.

PROPER ATTIRE
Wear shorts and a singlet or as little as decently possible. As previously mentioned, space is a hard to come by commodity in the communal showering business, so taking in as little possible makes for a much more pleasant experience. A towel and some fresh knickers plus whatever you are wearing (inclusive of thongs) should do it. If you try changing in and out of jeans or long pants you'll end up with wet pants... which isn't too pleasant.


Where is the oddest place you've had to shower & what are your top tips? How long have you abstained in order to avoid showering in a place that looked as though you'd come out dirtier than you went in?!

wanderlust
Originally uploaded by Jayray24

Wanderlust; (noun) very strong or irresistible impulse to travel

Travel is a timely and costly leisure pursuit, one that, for most, takes considerable planning and budgeting before to time to take off is right. If travelling is a pursuit you can not seem to push from your mind it can seem so far off when you are pushing papers behind a desk, answering frustrating customer calls or pulling pints to earn the cash to take you there. Or perhaps it is that you have landed yourself an incredible job and just can not bring yourself to leave, making travel an infeasible option for at least the time being. Either way, once travel is on your mind, it’s a difficult to ease the day travel inspired day dreaming. However, there are a few things you can do to nurture that insatiable wanderlust you are feeling…

Journal & Scrapbook Plans

Use a city moleskine or big scrapbook to collect a collage of pictures of all the places you’d like to visit and things you would like to see. For really great images, hit up your local travel agent for some flyers on your dream location. The weekend newspaper usually has a travel section, as do a number of magazines. You may also find it useful to keep other article items such as reviews of accommodation, restaurants and attractions.

Do a rough itinerary; say you would like to travel across Europe. Jump online and print off a map of Europe, then take to it with a marker & draw your dream journey. Then create a page in your journal for each place you hope to stop off at along the way (“Locations Page”); Paris: picnic & champagne by the Eiffel Tower … next stop Spain ?!

Buy a Lonely Planet guide (this will become your bible) & decide where you’ll stay & what you’ll do. Jot down the names and numbers of the places you’d like to shortlist, under each location page in your scrapbook or journal. This is also particularly handy for getting a rough idea of needs in way of a budget, as the authors of Lonely Planet have taken the hard word out of research by including costs (or fare rate in case of transport options) for accommodation providers, activities, trains/buses/taxis, restaurants, bars etc. Make sure you are reading an up to date edition so you don’t get any nasty shock & be aware that all prices are obviously only guaranteed as correct at the time of publishing so if your budget it tight, double check costs with the providers directly.

On your location pages, keep a list of any advice anyone gives you, say, a friend arrives back from a trip to Italy and suggest you visit a particular café in Rome, jot down the name for future reference. You may never use these tips but then again, you never know when you might just be in the neighbourhood.

Read & Research Online

The internet is a fantastic resource when it comes to travel. Not only will you find websites for the part of the world you wish to visit, the accommodation available, activities on offer – you can also find travel bloggers who are doing just what you plan to do. Through reading the blog of someone who has ‘been there done that’ you can pick up some valuable tips about what is well worth the fuss AND importantly, what’s not. The best ones to read are those who are blogging for the love of it, rather than being paid for their posts (like for example on a newspaper’s website). This means you are more likely to be getting some fair and impartial reviews!

If you are planning on a backpacking style trip, be sure to jump on Hostel World to look for accommodation. Not only can you book and pay for all your international accommodation in the one spot, but there are reviews and ratings for each accommodation option by travellers who have stayed there. This can be great for weeding out the dodgy hostels with not so nice bathrooms and also for picking up on less then favourable aspects that would not be mentioned on the accommodation providers official site, for example, the fact that the hostel sits at far end of steepest road in the town (which is exactly the sort of guidance you’d like to ahead of time if you are arriving carrying a 20 kg rucksack on your back).

Little Things

Aside from planning there are a number of things that can help cure a bit of the wanderlust you are feeling. A great one is to learn how to cook some authentic international dishes or eat out at a good restaurant. Again using Italy as an example, you could whip up a killer bolognaise or hit a restaurant with your girlfriends for a delectable woodfire pizza.

Pick up little knick knacks to add to your wardrobe that are travel inspired. If Europe is your destination of choice you could find brooches or scarves reminiscent of European styling, or if Scotland is your object of travel desire, spice up your wardrobe with a tartan kilt & some white knee socks!

Spend some time in the international corners of your city, for example, the Spanish quarter or China Town. Authentic foods, trinkets at market stalls and the buzz of expats speaking fluently in their native language.


Where do you want to go? How to you feed the wanderlust?

Bastille Day is celebrated each year on July 14. It's the national holiday of France, commemorating Fête de la Fédération. But you don't need to be a Parisian princess or a fabulous french fellow to get into the Bastille Day spirit. Why not use this day as an excuse to indulge in french cuisine, festivities & style? Enjoy all the joys of French living; here are a few ideas to celebrate in style:

Enjoy a Champagne Breakfast with your girlfriends.

Have a tipple of a delicious French liqueurs such as Cognac.

Head to the bakery & pick up some French bread & buttery croissants.

Dine at a French Restaurant. Give snails a go! (or don't!)

Put together a picnic basket & enjoy in the park. Pack it with gourmet french goodies, like a cheese platter, breads and some wine.

Dress up: french colours are blue, white & red are the nation colours.

Don some Parisian style: a beret, classic red lips, trench coat ("french trench"!) & pashminas will get you started.

Learn French! Join a class to learn a new skill or brush up on what you learn back in high school. If joining a class is not your thing then jump online and learn a few neat new words & phrases.

Treat yourself to a french manicure.

Look to some french icons for inspiration: Coco Chanel, Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot.

Head to your local department store & spritz some classic french perfume, like Chanel.

Grab your moleskine & jot down all the things you want to do when you one day travel to Pareeeee!

Did you celebrate Bastille Day? What is your favourite French tradition or festivity?

Backpacking and fashion are not two concepts that would normally be associated, unless you were talking about what not to do ie. cargo pants, which, despite what anyone will argue, really belong in the same basket as Crocs: comfortable yet utterly and ridiculously unattractive, no excuses, there are better options. However, the task of packing what will become the total of your material possessions into a somewhat restrictive 80 L rucksack can teach you quite a lot about what you actually need and the value of what you have already got. Add to that the fact that you are often preparing yourself for an entire barrage of climates and situations and you will discover that another skill you acquire will be sourcing aesthetically pleasing yet versatile and sensible pieces of wardrobe. It will also teach you that you can, in fact, survive with just four pairs of shoes (for the record, your four basics are: black mary-jane heels, black flat boots, thongs & joggers). Here is what this tres lola girl has learnt after spending the best part of the last two years living out of suitcases and rucksacks…

You have far more than you need: regular wardrobe clean outs are essential. Get rid of your ‘just in case’ pile! ‘Just in case’ it ever fits me again. ‘Just in case’ tie dye makes a come back. ‘Just in case’ I decide leopard print is my thing. ‘Just in case’ my feet grow into the fabulous yet one size too big heels. Sell them on Ebay, donate it to charity, give it to your sister – if you haven’t worn it in the last month or two, give it the flick.

Basics are key: this is particularly vital if you are working in corporate offices to support your habit (travel, that is). Basics such as plain cotton t-shirts/singlets can work well casually with jeans as well as making a top choice tucked into a high wasted skirt or teamed up with a blazer to wear into the office. They also tend to travel well, requiring minimal bag space & ironing. Another example of a versatile basic is a simple black vest. This can be used to layer over other pieces (shirts, dresses, t-shirts) for corporate or casual to deliver a different look. A good pair of fitted straight leg dark coloured jeans will become a wardrobe staple too, respectable enough to team up with a nice top to wear out and being jeans they are the epitome of appropriateness for casual wear, and lets not forget suitable ‘casual Friday’ attire. A good, warm, double breasted charcoal coat will do you will too. Although this choice of colour may not be your usual, it is versatile in that you should not tire of it as quickly as say, a red trench, and it is versatile enough to wear with most all of your other wardrobe pieces. Basics in general are the most practical and stylish way to go when in comes to travelling, packing according to the current trend will see you soon turfing the contents of your pack and wasting money better spent say, drinking champagne in … Champagne, than on keeping up with the latest fad- choose classic & avoid this!

Black mary-jane heels are the epitome of versatility: comfy, classy, essential. Mary Jane heels aren’t sky scrapers and they have a wider heel compared to most, making them more comfortable for day to day wear. They can take you from the office to the pub and right back around to the Sunday morning crawl to home/to Starbucks. Corporate, night out, casual… one shoe fits all. They are the style conscious travellers ultimate investment.

You can’t have it all so choose wisely: develop succinct personal style. Use Polyvore to create some sets to refine the basic style of looks you want to achieve while travelling. Print out your creations and paste them into your moleskin to create a more defined personal style. Keep this handy when shopping or picking from your current wardrobe in preparation for travel. Remember your space is limited and what space you do have you should use wisely – choose items based on three key factors: Respectability, Comfort, Flexibility. Try and fill your luggage up with pieces that fulfil these criteria and you’ll be one happy, stylish traveller.

Be grateful: for the amount of clothes you usually have. For your wardrobe space. Your shoe collection. Your accessories.

The saying ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’ certainly rings true when it comes to your wardrobe & travel. It’s difficult to see just how much excess exists in our wardrobes until having to cull work wear, casual outfits, going out gear, accessories, coats, shoes etc.. down to the airline allowable 20 kilograms. Learning to live out of your suitcase can be difficult but it certainly allows you to develop a greater understanding of need vs. want and therefore teaching you a lesson in being grateful for life’s little extravagances – like a full wardrobe!

Tim Tams and Vegemite aside, what we miss while abroad can help us learn a lot about who we are. While it's easy to cringe when people start guffing on about how your "OE" is a journey of self discovery and so on; we can draw something of sense from that cliche. Being away from home, it goes without saying really, you'll miss stuff. That stuff will more often that not be completely random - things that you never expected to miss, and that's when you realise what is truly important to you. Or perhaps you'll find that you don't miss much at all. Either way, it opens your eyes to what you really want in life and what actually makes you happy, not just what you think makes you happy. You'll compare who you are abroad to who you are at home, you'll choose the best bits of each and grow a little. But back to yearning for pieces of home...

It makes a whole lot of sense that what you miss when you are abroad is indicative of what is important to you. If you piece together the things you miss you can get a pretty clear picture of what your ultimate lifestyle would look like. Say, you may be in London, you love the city, but you miss your mates and the thai take out shop that was a block away from you apartment back home. A great exercise in getting what you want out of life is to compile a list of the things you love abroad as well as that you love & miss from back home. Often you'll find there can be a compromise somewhere that will offer you everything you love and even if you can't, you'll walk away with a greater appreciation of the stuff that really matters.

Usually the biggest hurdle when abroad is missing the companionship you had back home. Whether it be your girl friends, your family or even your work mates. Either way, chances are the people you miss aren't going to be up and moving to wherever in the world YOU are & the best thing to do is not dwell. The great thing is that travelling offers the absolute perfect opportunity to meet like minded, fun loving souls that have found themselves in the same predicament as yourself. Speak to travellers that have done their time and they'll tell you that one of the best parts of travelling was the people they met along the way. All the while remember, the bonus of having people you miss back home is that chances are they miss you too, which means you can talk them into sending care packs full of aforementioned tim tams and Vegemite - send them some foreign appreciation in the form of a 'wish you were here' postcard and a snow globe and everyone's happy!

Expect passport control to grill you. Have your passport, return flight details, proof of funds (if staying for a longer period or have no return flight), local accommodation address and contact all at hand. Be quite clear about the purpose of your trip. Basically, these people want to know why you're in their country and when you'll be leaving. Don't ramble and don't expect them to be sympathetic about the fact that you've just come off a 24 hour flight.

Be aware of baggage limits on your flight. This varies, though as a general rule, for economy class, most airline carriers have a 20kg limit for check in luggage. Excess luggage is charged per kilo and this rate differs between airlines. Don't wait until you get to the front of the queue to freak out and try to deflate 30kg bag down to the allowable 20kg, you will probably cop a beating from a cranky traveller waiting in line behind you.

If you are checking in a rucksack it is a good idea to arrive at check in a little early. Once they've checked your luggage and provided you with your boarding pass, you will generally be asked to take your bag to the Outsized/Oddsized Baggage. This is just so the straps on your bag don't get caught up in their conveyor belt. Alternatively, some airlines will get you to put entire rucksack into a big clear plastic bag (which, on the positive side, makes it rather visible on the carousel at your destination).

Put a name tag or something distinguishing on your bag. Also ensure you know the brand. It seems fairly obvious, but recently I had my luggage not quite make the flight to England with me (thank you Germany) and do you think I had a name tag on my bag? Could I recall the brand? No. As a result the description I gave the airline was "It's a big 90L grey & black rucksack", yes that ought to stand out from the crowd!

Make things easy on yourself and don't bring fresh food across borders if you can help it, declaring stuff can be time consuming. In saying that, if you have it, declare it. If you don't you'll waste more then just time, your wallet will cop a beating too.

Check the airline/airport carry on baggage rules. In Australia, carriers tend to be quite lenient allowing a carry on bag AND a handbag AND duty free. However they are more strict in the UK/EU, they allow ONE piece of hand luggage only and any duty free you purchase needs to go inside your hand luggage. Though, this apparently has just been changed/is in the process of being changed for UK (now allowing TWO pieces)- read the small print on your ticket or you may be binning some of your precious tidbits.

Have a clear plastic bag (resealable lunch bags work well) to pop your liquids/gels/aerosols into. Some airports are not as willing as others to provide you with one (*ahem* San Francisco).

If you're a fellow 'no-i-will-not-use-an-airplane-bathroom' kind of a girl, then I've found that the best bathroom to use once you arrive at your destination is the first one you see. This is usually somewhere before you arrive at the baggage carousel. It's cleaner and less crowded than most, as people rarely use it, being in a rush to grab their luggage and clear customs.