The Cultured Girl

I’m a huge fan of the Lonely Planet travel guides, with their snarky, no-nonsense advice and off-the-beaten path recommendations on everything from the best place to buy shrooms in Amsterdam to an ancient Parisian restaurant once frequented by Victor Hugo. It seemed the only thing cooler than traveling with a Lonely Planet book would be actually writing one, and tromping around an unfamiliar city on a travel publisher’s dime.

But according to this New York Times story, I should probably withhold my envy, because apparently travel writing is anything but a paid vacation. After all, “many of the intrepid young writers scouring the planet doing research for next year’s crop of guidebooks never stopped to consider what those jobs would entail, other than the romantic — and often overstated — prospect of being paid to travel.” Rather than wander leisurely and taking clever notes, writers for companies like Let’s Go are expected to pack in about a week’s worth of tourist activities in a single day. And since the writer is often charged with documenting the sketchy areas of town, it often means wading into very unfamiliar waters with little salary to show for it. According to the NYT, “MTV and Frommer’s, for example, are collaborating to publish a budget travel series for Europe for which they are paying writers $1,500 for roughly 150 pages of work.”

This could be very dangerous. Boggle, the highly addictive word-find game and one of my personal favorites, is now online. The Web-based version, in either the original 4×4 format or the more challenging 5×5 grid, let you compete against other players in real time. When you find a word, simply type it into the blank box and hit “enter.” (It helps to be able to type fast and without looking down.) New games start every three minutes, so you should be able to cram at least 100 into a typical workday.

The fact that I don’t own a car has done little to dampen my enthusiasm for road trips. In fact, always renting or car-sharing means getting to test a wide variety of models, from PT Cruisers to Scion xBs. Now, a number of car-rental companies are offering a choice of fun and fashionable cars alongside their usual Dodge Neons and Ford Tauruses.

First, there’s Avis Cool Cars, which includes Ford Mustang and Chrysler Sebring convertibles, plus luxury models like the Cadillac CTS and Volvo S60. (Please, just don’t get the Hummer.) Hertz just launched a similar line, called the Fun Collection, offering kickass models like the Nissan 350Z and the Chevy HHR. And thought Enterprise doesn’t have a special cool car division, it rents a number of Mercedes and BMW models, including the Mini Cooper, in various markets. Obviously, the nicer cars often cost more, but rental prices can also vary wildly depending on demand. It could be a great way to spice up your next road trip.

I take great pride in being a light packer—so much so that I’m probably starting to alienate my friends and family. My secret — aside from being a petite person whose clothes don’t take up much space — is good planning. Before each trip I make a very anal packing list, where I determine what I will wear each day and how I will reuse each clothing item. Deciding what to wear before you leave means no need to overpack. This method requires a heavy reliance on layering: A nice blazer, for instance, can double as a daytime jacket and a going-out essential when paired with a dressy camisole and some costume jewelry.

If you don’t believe me, listen to the experts at OneBag.com, a web site devoted to helping you fit everything you need into one piece of carry-on luggage. (If you need encouragement, keep in mind that this feat will have male travel companions fawning in admiration.) Though the site is slightly skewed toward adventure travelers in less mainstream locales, many of the tips are universal: laundering clothes as you go, toting paperback books you can ditch or trade along the way, and using accessories to stretch your wardrobe. OneBag also features a downloadable packing list, which includes such essentials as an inflatable travel pillow, a universal sink stopper and rubber clothesline (for laundry), and earplugs. After all, proclaims OneBag, “The consistent use of such a checklist is the single most important step you can take to lighten your packing load.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

No, not those three little words. To me, one of the most beautiful three-word phrases someone can utter is, “Can we reschedule?” And according to this entertaining rant in the New York Times, I’m not the only one secretly hoping that at least some of my weekly social engagements get cancelled—particularly those that are more obligatory than relaxing. After all, between dinners with friends, long work hours, visits to the gym, obligatory lunch appointments, and little details like laundry, I find myself wondering on a daily basis, “How the hell did I get so damn busy?” This Times article is full of great quotes from other insanely busy people that will have you nodding your head in enthusiastic understanding, like this example from marketing exec Michael Kubin:

“He rarely feels snubbed when the other party cancels. In fact, he feels something closer to, well, joy. ‘Very often I experience a feeling of mini-euphoria when I have something canceled,’ Mr. Kubin said. ‘It’s just a matter of finding the gift of free time. If it comes at the expense of a pleasant lunch with someone, then so be it.’”

If watching the World Cup isn’t exciting enough for you, check out this nerdy breakdown of player birth dates, wherein maverick economist Steven Levitt attempts to answer the age-old question of whether great athletes are born or made. (By the way, if you haven’t read Freakonomics , the book that Levitt co-wrote with Stephen Dubner, I highly recommend it for brain stimulation and cocktail-party conversation). On the subject of the World Cup, Levitt surmises:

“because the FIFA cutoff date for determining a child’s age for international play is January 1, we would expect that a disproportionate number of the players in the World Cup would be born in the early part of the year. The idea is that these kids will get special treatment and attention when they are teenagers because they will be developmentally almost a full year ahead of kids born in the latter part of the year.”

But here’s something even cooler: Levitt also realized that FIFA’s January 1 rule didn’t take effect until 1997, so players born after 1979 aren’t really affected by it. So he separates out the birth dates of players born before 1979 and players born after that year, and the results are pretty fascinating:

” … among players born in 1979 or later, making them 18 or younger when the FIFA January 1 cutoff took effect … 32.4 percent of the players were born in the first three months of the year, 25.2 percent of the players were born in months four through six, 21.5 percent in july to september, 21 percent in the last three months. Exactly what the theory predicts.

How about for the older World Cup players, those born before 1979? A very different pattern emerges … For the older players, only 20 percent of the older players were born January to March. 24 percent were born April-June. The months July-September were the most common.”

If only my economics class had been this much fun, I probably wouldn’t have gotten a C-plus.

While visiting my grandfather this past weekend in Lumberton, Mississippi, my mom joked that I should do a write-up on the town for the Cultured Girl. But while shrinking former sawmill towns in the South aren’t exactly Cultured Destinations, Mississippi offers at least one hidden gem that no cultured girl should miss: Hudson’s Dirt Cheap and Treasure Hunt stores.

Stay with me here, because Hudson’s is a Mississippi Institution, and if you relish like the scavenger-hunt-like thrill of shopping at thrift stores and sample sales, these places will astonish you. They are sort of like T.J. Maxx, acting as clearinghouses for what other stores can’t sell, but Hudson’s goes a step further—it’s what CEO Bill Hudson JR. calls an “opportunistic purchasing company.” Hudson’s initially bought damaged merchandise from insurance companies; if a grocery or department store suffered a fire or a flood, Hudson’s would resell the goods in its stores. It later expanded the concept to include customer returns, irregulars, and goods damaged in freight or warehouses. Today, the company has 28 Dirt Cheap stores in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana and six more sophisticated Treasure Hunt stores in Mississippi.

Both stores are great, with the grab-bag of merchandise changing daily, but each has its individual charms. At Treasure Hunt, you’re more likely to find designer steals from department stores: One Cultured Girl reader bought a stylish and well-made wedding dress for $180. But Dirt Cheap, which is more likely to have salvaged goods from Target and the like, is even more fun, with literally piles of smoke-tinged, out-of-the-box, and slightly damaged merchandise. (For example, you might find a set of four really cute martini glasses priced at $2 just because one of them is broken.) On my most recent trip, my mom and I got two bags of loot for $40, including a very nice lace bra and the perfect straw hat for $5 each.

The destination: Located just south of Anchorage, jutting into the Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Alaska, the Kenai Peninsula is an easily digestible slice of the country’s most massive state. The land itself is dominated by the massive ice fields of Kenai Fjords National Park and rounded out by rushing rivers, snow-capped mountains, and evergreen forests. Along the coast, quaint seaside towns, most notably Homer and Seward, offer plenty of redneck hippy hospitality.

What to do: Outdoor activities abound, including biking, kayaking, rafting, and fishing. There’s plenty of hiking as well, including the Harding Icefields and the Exit Glacier (below) at Kenai Fjords park, as well as Kachemak Bay State Park, which can be accessed from Homer by boat. It’s not unlikely that you’ll run into a moose or two or even, god forbid, a bear.
A whole other level of exploration can be found in the towns. Downtown Seward is more charming, with mountainous ocean backdrops, while Homer’s main selling point is the so-called “Spit,” 5 miles worth of beach-shanty bars and fishing boats that’s perhaps the world’s narrowest strip of land.

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The destination: The island of Tenerife is the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, a volcanic system off the coast of West Africa that serves as a sort of Hawaii for European tourists. Like the other six islands in the Canarias, Tenerife has an unusual history and a Spanish-meets-island architecture that complements its natural beauty. The population is concentrated in just a few coastal cities, including Puerto de la Cruz, a century-old resort town, and the more urban capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

How to get there: There are no direct flights from the U.S. to Tenerife, but planes fly out of major Spanish cities multiple times a day. Your best bet is finding a cheap round-trip from to Barcelona or Madrid, then buying a budget flight to Tenerife on SpanAir or Air Europa to Tenerife. Oddly, the tiny island has two airports, so there are lots of options.

What to do: Tenerife’s main draw is its scenery. Driving the entire coast takes about three hours, so rent a car and explore the windy road that circles the island, passing lava-rock cliffs, expansive banana farms, and rocky beaches that have you standing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Other can’t-miss activities include relaxing at Las Teresitas beach (below) and climbing the Teide volcano, which is the highest peak in Spain and affords a view of the entire island group.

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Here’s something to ponder as the summer travel season ramps up: You’d never dream of changing your sheets every day at home, so why do you expect such a thing at a hotel? Thanks to the Green Hotel Association, an increasing number of hotel chains are now hanging cards in bathrooms to give guests the option of reusing their sheets and towels, saving water and electricity. Behind the scenes, the GHA is going even further, accrediting member hotels that adhere to even tougher environmental standards that span everything from in-room toiletries to cleaning supplies to recycling programs. If you can’t find a GHA member hotel in your destination city, the Association offers some handy tips for being a greener traveler, before and during your trip. For instance, just because you’re not paying the utility bill doesn’t mean you shouldn’t turn off the TV and lights when you leave your room for the day.