All posts tagged: pop culture

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How to Recover from Rose-Colored Glasses

We’ve all had this fantasy at some point in our lives. You meet a dashing stranger in passing and spark an instant, soul-searing connection. On this fateful day, you chat for hours and imagine how you’ve never encountered each other before but are certain you’ve met in a past life. Dopamine and euphoria cloud your better judgment and your instincts become heavily reliant on emotions and the “feels” of falling fast and hard in love – though often times it’s a whole lotta lust! Like the hopeless romantic you are, you decide to be spontaneous despite what logic tells you and agree to hit the road together on a quest to turn this fairy tale into a reality of sweet nothings. This all sounds beautiful in theory but can realistically turn into the biggest nightmare of a first date if you ignore certain cautionary signs along the way. I’ve been down this road before hopping on a plane and traveling out west for a weekend with a guy I only met just shy of a …

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Say Yes To Austin City Limits!

Being a kindred “analogue girl in a digital world” like Texas native, Erykah Badu, visiting Austin struck a chord with me since it’s a city that literally revolves around music boasting festivals eleven months out of the year. Last October, I flew out to Austin City Limits, aka ACL, and highly recommend a pilgrimage for fellow music lovers alike. Here’s why! TWO THREE-DAY WEEKEND OPTIONS IN A PHENOMENAL CITY ACL has two separate weekends for concertgoers to choose from with dates typically falling around Columbus Day. This is a huge bonus for crowd control and the line-ups for both weekends are synonymous with the exception of a few acts. Options allow for purchasing either: early bird specials, which are three-day passes issued prior to line-up announcements for $225, regular three-day passes at $250 or single day passes at $100 each. I chose the latter since my main focus was seeing Outkast who kicked off the first night of the weekend I attended. I spent the rest of my time soaking up Austin, which translated to …

O’ Captain, My Captain: Life & Travel Lessons from Dead Poets Society

As a millennial obsessed with pop culture and digging up old movies from a young age, I stumbled upon my first entry into the wanderlust worlds of Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau and Robert Frost via sneaking a view of Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society past my bedtime. Far too young to fully understand the depth of the various themes outlined throughout the film until I later encountered the original texts, I nonetheless was emotionally inspired by the overarching message of living life to the fullest without seeking the permission of others to explore self-expression through the arts. It was then that I fell in love with one of my favorite movie characters of all-time, Professor John Keating portrayed by the genius Robin Williams. With Williams’ untimely passing on Monday, it is here that I share five pre-mature life lessons I learned and still carry along my journeys from dear O’ Captain, my Captain John Keating, through quotes and travel images, in honor of one of my favorite actors, comedians, and creative inspirations of all-time. Rest in peace Robin Williams, you will …

Why I Thought All Camels Were From Brooklyn

I’ve been lucky enough to have had camels be a major mode of transport for some of my adventures thus far and I’ve gotta say, they are some pretty badass animals! In general, camels are super laidback to the point of comatose, unless of course provoked which takes a bit of effort to do! Even then, their attitudes are still calm but with a gangster lean as in they’ll simply just lean over, spit on you and keep it moving…leave the gun, take the cannoli, Godfather style! Not to worry, a spitfire reaction as described above is rare. Camels are generally lovers, not fighters and are particularly known for their loyalty, patience and endurance. Their loyalty runs so deep, they never forget where home is and can easily find their ways back to the exact spots they were raised and if domesticated, to the exact people who reared them similarly to Mohammed bin Shouishan al-Sabaii’s heartwarming story from earlier this year. Camels are all about spreading love to their crew (just like the Brooklyn way) and openly express affection by …

Jetsetter Problem #1: Where To Go Next! (Finale)

Unlike Rihanna who hung out with the entire German locker room after the World Cup finals, I can’t exactly say I was hot & bothered by the results. In fact, when Mario Goetze made that crucial last minute goal, I flew into a tizzy! It would have been AMAZING to see Argentina win, not only because I’ve never been before, but also to breakup Europe’s dominance over the championship. To cope, my foodie brain immediately lunged into overdrive. My tongue watered and whined about wanting more vacío over schnitzel all the while settling for swallowed pride and muttered congrats to German fans on ending a 24 year drought. Eventually, my thoughts shifted from soccer stats to travel memories. My first adventure in Deutschland took me to the capital city of Berlin. If you’ve never visited, Berlin is a great intro to modern German history due to its balanced diet of old East and West remnants seamlessly blending in with the new. It’s also a cool city to check out: Great art in all forms (beer included!)…Outside of classics like …

10 Personality Types To Avoid When Selecting A Travel Buddy

Traveling with a friend, lover or family member can either be the most invigorating experience or biggest nightmare on the planet. The key to avoiding the latter category is by remaining mindful of different personality types while plotting your next escape. Enlisting the cast of one of my all-time favorite first world problems movies, “Mean Girls” along with E- Online, here’s a handy list of travel buddies to avoid so you don’t end up kicking your own bucket list! 10) The Age-Inappropriate Partier whose motto will forever be, “Turn down for what?!?!” 9) The Thirst Bucket who falls in love with everyone and everything no matter where you happen to be… 8) The Debbie Downer who should never have left home in the first place and reminds you why every second you attempt to make plans…ummm #BYEFELICIA!! 7) The Paranoid Worry Wart who is convinced everything you do will either kill you or land you in the next installment of “Hostel”, “Taken” or a remote Thai prison… 6) The Itinerary Nazi who needs to calm down …

Jetsetter Problem #1: Where To Go Next! (Part II)

Fresh off the heels of an exciting 4th of July holiday weekend coupled with migraines gained from watching some pretty riveting soccer matches (namely the Netherlands vs. Costa Rica heart attack special!), I’m ready to dive back into using the World Cup as a means of narrowing down my next international destination! Unfortunately my desired pick from last week, Colombia, was eliminated by Brazil, which means it’s time to draw a new card for the semi-final rounds… The remaining countries left in the pool for World Cup domination are Brazil, Germany, Netherlands and Argentina.  These choices pose a 2:2 dead heat ratio of places I’ve visited in the past and places yet to be discovered. My new desired pick would be Argentina. Buenos Aires has been a city high on my list for quite some time now. Who can honestly go wrong with the solid combination of fine wine, sizzling steaks, sexy tangos, fascinating architecture, a fantastic arts scene and a chance to recreate an even cheesier rendition of Madonna’s “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” at …