Travel etiquette

Americans, if someone was planning to travel abroad to the United States, what advice would you give them? If it were me, I'd recommend that they avoid tourist traps completely. If they were planning to stay in New York, they should avoid Times Square at all costs. It's expensive, overcrowded, and interesting for all of two minutes. Also, don't go to Ohio . That being said, I'm not a tour guide. I can speak for where I've lived and that’s only three states. I don't know the first thing about Fl…

"Leggings are not an outfit in Italy"

In Finland, perhaps everybody receives a mushroom hat when they graduate high school

People may have been taking selfies 20 years ago (Myspace angles, anyone?) but they definitely weren't taken the same way they are now, whether we're talking about frequency, ease, or more about confidence levels. And while it's nice to get an ego boost on Instagram every now and again, it often seems as though selfies have become compulsive. People will literally take them everywhere, and sometimes, it's an actual problem. Just this past weekend, Twitter user @MariaRMGBNews provided the bird a…

Back in the mid-aughts, I was part of an exchange program that took a few lucky Americans on a trip to Japan for a few incredible weeks. It was a little nerve-wracking to think about traveling in a country where I couldn't read or speak the language, but to my surprise, it was incredibly easy to get around, and to ask for help (in English) with my timid voice. It seemed most people could speak English, and were excited to learn about where I was from in America. While there was anti-Bush graffi…

Don't waste your money

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