Travel Tips

How I pick my guides: Enjoying cocktails and sunset with The Roman Guy

Big cities can be quite a puzzle to get to know, and Rome is no exception.  Even tougher still, Rome’s huge tourism economy makes it tricky to discover how to deviate from the beaten path.  I’ve been to Rome about ten times, and I still don’t feel like I could confidently recommend a restaurant for dinner, for example.

When my extended family called me in Bologna a few months ago and told me they’d be in Rome and wanted me to show them around, I knew it was definitely time to brush up on those dinner recommendations, among other things.  It was time to work on my Roman game.  

It was a huge relief when they told me they were willing to spend a bit of money for the experience they wanted to have.  Having a fantastic time in Rome is totally possible without spending much money.  The catch is that it takes quite a bit of advance planning and research, which they didn’t have, and neither did I, really.

I immediately thought of finding them a high-quality walking tour of Rome.  In my work managing logistics for CISabroad, I’ve come to really respect a good city guide.  That being said, not all guides are created equal, as the job requires a curious combination of social aptitude, knowledge, and passion for their city.  If you manage to find a good guide, what they offer is invaluable: a personalized, in-depth local’s perspective on the city you’re visiting. Which is kind of the ideal offering when visiting a new place.

Once I find a guide I really like, and the company they work for is easy to work with, I find I usually like all the guides from that company, and can explore other tours they offer.  But finding that company can be tricky.  For my family’s trip, I was searching for a great guide and a unique tour that didn’t focus too much on history or culture, as my family is more of the sporty type.  So when I stumbled upon The Roman Guy’s Cocktail bars in Rome: Evening Walking Tour, it seemed to be the perfect solution and I booked it immediately.  Let me tell you, my family really appreciates a good cocktail.  The Roman Guy is a big operation, offering many different types of tours, and lots of guides.  They pretty much bent over backward to get my family set up with three tours, with just a couple of days notice.

Piazza Colonna, Rome.

We met our The Roman Guy guide, Fiona, in Piazza Colonna.  She immediately endeared herself to us, admitting she was thrilled to lead our private tour, as she needed to get away from her half-Italian, half-Australian teenage son who had just started his summer break.  “Our apartment is feeling smaller and smaller these days,” she chuckled.  She is the kind of person you hope to meet at a cocktail bar for some fun small-talk with someone other than your family members, who you’ve been talking to 24/7 since your vacation started.

We wove our way to the first bar, and Fiona casually introduced my family to the important landmarks along the way, like the Tempio di Adriano, which was in the neighborhood of the first bar we visited, sporting elegant cocktails and the coolest Jell-O Gin shots set in lemon skins I’ve ever had (ok, admittedly, the only Jell-O Gin shots in lemon skins I’ve ever had).

Lemon wedges with jello Gin shots.

Next stop was the Pantheon, where Fiona explained its intriguing history to my family, filling in the blanks of my less-than-adequate description from when we had been by the Pantheon earlier that day.  What can I say?  My forte is logistics and not history.  I can’t do it all, sigh.

Our guide, Fiona, explains the Pantheon.

With my family sufficiently briefed on the Pantheon, we headed to the next bar, and within a five-minute walk, we found ourselves in a sea of fun and chic bars and restaurants that were anything but tourist traps.  I’ve been in the area of the Pantheon umpteen times, and I never knew it took so little effort to get away from the touristy cafes.  Our destination was Bar del Fico, where Fiona helped me improve my Italian by explaining the origin of their name.  I’d always known that “fico” in Italian was a similar slang word to our version of “cool,” but I had never known that outside the slang, the real definition of the word “fico” was “fig.” 

We loved our cocktails at Bar del Fico.

The bar was named after a beautiful fig tree standing proudly out front, under which crowds of men were hunched over chess boards, playing to their heart’s content amidst the bustling little square full of action and life.  I loved this place, such a great find, feeling so far away from the typical tourist destination, yet actually, just a five-minute walk away.

Playing chess under the fico tree.

Next, Fiona diverted our tour to the French church, San Luigi dei Francesi, to see a Caravaggio painting.  This diversion was a personal passion she wanted to share with us, as she loves art and is fascinated with the life that the painter Caravaggio, a feisty character, led in Rome. 

I love photographing in Rome. There’s beauty around every corner.

As we sauntered to the next bar, she shared stories about Caravaggio’s antics in Rome in the 1600s and pointed out places where he had lived and frequented.  She also stopped to show us how to properly get water from the famous Roman drinking fountains.

Fiona showed us how to properly use a Roman fountain.

Now was the moment I had anticipated: crossing the Ponte Sisto bridge into Trastevere, and enjoying this lovely, spirited neighborhood on a Friday night.  My family would have never gone to this area of Rome if it weren’t for the tour, and were grateful to take in the sunset over the River Tiber from the bridge, and the fabulous vibe of couples and families hanging out, playing music, and taking in the beautiful scene. 

Sunset on the River Tiber.

The next bar was just a short walk from the bridge at the edge of Trastevere, famous for having one of the best cocktail-makers in the city, and a fabulous aperitivo.  My family hadn’t yet learned about the fantastic world of aperitivo, where a drink purchase buys you access to a free, endless buffet. 

The aperitivo buffet!

I, on the other hand, lived on aperitivo when I was a poor student in Bologna.  We fondly call the act of eating aperitivo for dinner “apericena,” meaning, “aperitivo” plus “cena” (dinner).  We apericena-ed happily this evening, enjoying the rambunctious crowd on the patio.

By the end of our cocktails, my family was admittedly exhausted.  It had already been a full evening, and were feeling the jet lag.  Nonetheless, we couldn’t finish the tour without stepping into the famously windy streets of Trastevere, and also not without a bit of dessert.  Fiona had just the place, and we soon found ourselves standing outside of a little bar, Vendita Libri, Cioccolate e Vino, that only offered chocolate shots with raunchy names.  We were thrilled. 

Selecting our chocolate shots.

We all selected our shot, blushed a little when we ordered it, and watched the bartender combine all of the delicious components into little chocolate cups topped with whipped cream. 

The catch was, we were firmly instructed by the bartender that we must insert the entire shot into our mouth, which we all laughed our way through, some of us with more successful outcomes than others.

We ended our evening with a walk to the taxi stand a few blocks away.  My sleepy family got in a taxi and were off.  Fiona and I exchanged a hug and a goodbye, and I walked back to my Airbnb in Trastevere.  To me, that’s the mark of a good tour guide…someone you’d like to stay in touch with.  I hope to see Fiona again on another tour or just around town.  And despite the jet-lag, my family considers this evening on The Roman Guy’s cocktail tour the highlight of their trip to Rome.

Repurposing On The Right Side Of Travel And Fashion

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This week’s photo challenge, Repurpose, is inspiring me to share an object I’ve repurposed, and continue to use every day in my travels throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Traveling doesn’t afford the luxury of taking any object in your possession for granted.  Each and every piece that you carry with you is evaluated on the basis of size and weight.  And if either of those measurements outweigh its worth in any capacity, that object is dunzo.
Until I began traveling full-time, I was a lover of stuff of all kinds.  I couldn’t throw away a postcard or a receipt if my life depended on it. My idea of a fun weekend activity was going to a home-decor store and picking up a throw-pillow, or two.  Or maybe a doorstop.  Or a fruit bowl.
Nowadays, that life couldn’t be more foreign to me.  I don’t even own a pillow, let alone a closet.  I work as an educational travel coordinator, and I live from hotel room to hotel room, couch to couch, and when I’m lucky, my parent’s spare bedroom.  If I want it, I have to lug it.  But therein lies the rub: I can’t give up my passion for fashion.  So, despite the fact that I live on the road, I continue to have a lot of clothes, shoes and accessories.
My accessories were a mangled mess,  tangled and mixed up to the point that I was only wearing three or four pairs of my own earrings.  Yet, I continued to lug around the whole collection.  What a waste of energy, and potential fashion opportunity.
The solution came not a moment too soon from my pioneering, Pinterest-loving, high school friend Giovanna.  Over brunch one Saturday she said, “Peggy!  Haven’t you seen my travel board?  Pill organizers!”
And the rest, my friends, is history.  My ears are now back to being as fashionable as the rest of my body.  And not a moment too soon.  Thank goodness.
If you liked this article, you might enjoy My Secret Packing Tips, where I originally shared my pillbox jewelry storage tip.

My secret travel packing tips.

Packing is a pretty personal experience.  Maybe you’re a student, a businessperson, an artist, or a health nut.  Whatever is important to you dictates what you need to bring.  So instead of giving you a packing list for your next big trip, I’m offering you the packing techniques I’ve adopted over my years of European travel and two international moves.  Good packing can reduce your stress during your travels by helping you think through your packing ahead of time and plan for whatever you might need in the new environments you’ll be exploring.
If you do happen to be looking for a packing list, there’s a lot out there to choose from, including HER Packing List, which indexes packing lists by type.   The lists are focused on women, but certain things are universal, right guys?
Please note: This post focuses on trips with international airlines that offer generous baggage allowances.  If you are traveling a budget airline between countries in Europe, visit my budget airline post for tips.

1. When it comes to packing, controlling weight is key in order to avoid paying high overweight airline fees and a lot of stress on yourself.

Yes, I’ve been that person sitting on the airport floor in the check-in area, looking like my luggage exploded as I am re-shifting all of my personal items to knock five pounds off the weight of my checked baggage to avoid a $100 fee.  This process becomes even worse in a foreign country, where you have to go to a cashier window to pay the excess weight fee, and then stand in line again at the check-in counter with the receipt, risking missing your flight.
Here are some tips for avoiding overweight baggage:

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Making last-minute luggage shifting outside of JFK on my way to Milan.
  • Try to limit the amount of shoes you take with you.  Shoes are the biggest space and weight hogs.
  • If you can bear it, wear your heaviest pair of shoes on your flight (you can always take them off during the flight).
  • Put any non-liquid, heavy items like cameras, shoes, batteries, and even jewelry, in your carry-on if you think you are close to exceeding baggage weight restrictions for your checked baggage.
  • Make sure you have removed any excess packaging from any items you are traveling with.  You’d be surprised how much weight a little extra cardboard, plastic, or glass here and there on a souvenir or cosmetic can add up.
  • Take a jacket out of your bag, if necessary, and clip it onto your purse or carry-on with a travel jacket clip.

Wholesale-Cotton-font-b-Foldable-b-font-font-b-Reusable-b-font-font-b-Grocery-b2.  If you are flying international and think you might buy a lot of souvenirs, pack a large recyclable grocery bag to use as a carry-on on the way back if necessary.

International flight baggage allowance usually includes two checked bags, a carry-on and personal item (but be sure to double-check the baggage policy before you leave!).  If you buy so many souvenirs that you can’t fit them in your luggage, you can always check both the luggage and your carry-on, and then carry-on instead your large recyclable grocery bag.  Make sure to transfer your souvenirs to your former carry-on that you are checking (especially if they are liquid!) and your important traveling items to your grocery bag.  I know, walking around an airport with a recyclable grocery bag is not the most fashionable solution.  But recyclable grocery bags are light-weight and don’t take up much space, and are perfect in this sort of last-minute packing emergency.  Needing to buy a new luggage while on vacation in order to get all of your belongings home is not only time-consuming, but can also be pretty expensive.
 

51rR7sw-i3L._AC_UL320_SR318,320_3. Saving space is important, but space saver bags are only helpful to a point.

Space saver bags are fine, and if they help you get organized, even better.  I’m not a big fan because I find the plastic tool that helps you seal the bags often falls off, and the bags become difficult to re-seal, so they become useless.  If you are going on a trip that involves a lot of stops/changing of hotels, this is especially annoying.  And, needless to say, who has a vacuum on vacation with them?
Instead of space saver bags, I organize with inexpensive laundry bags they sell for separating your clothing items by type during washing.  They come with a zipper and really last a long time.  They don’t make noise like the noisy plastic space saver bags do, because they are made of acrylic fabric, which also makes them more durable.  You can usually find them on the same aisle as the space saver bags.
 

4.  Get an L.L. Bean hanging toiletry kit.

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In my humble opinion, there is no other toiletry organizer on the market that is as well-made and well-designed as L.L. Bean’s hanging toiletry kit.  I get no money from L.L. Bean.  In fact, when my dad first gave me this toiletry kit as a birthday gift, I was underwhelmed.  Fast forward 10 years later, and not only am I still using it, but it is my most valuable travel accessory.  I use it nearly every day because I travel so much, and it easily and effectively holds all of my toiletries.  In fact, it does such a good job that I forget how much is in there and it can get really heavy, so watch out for the weight!
 

IMG_61335. Speaking of toiletries, leave behind your expensive bottles of serums and moisturizers, and use contact lens cases instead.

If you are only going on a two-week trip or less, it is pretty easy to count out the amount of serum/moisturizer drops you need for your trip by pumping all the drops in a water-tight contact lens case.  Believe me, I’ve lost a lot of expensive products during my travels through damage in the traveling process.  Don’t risk ruining expensive products and benefit from not taking on the extra weight of the big bottles.
 

IMG_61356. Protect your blush, bronzers, powders, and eye shadows from breaking and crumbling  with disposable face pads.

My fabulous friend and fellow adventurous traveler Giovanna told me about this tip and the tip above.  I’ve had enough casualties of my make-up over the years that I embraced this tip from the first day she suggested to me.  Placing one or two make-up remover pads on the faces of my powder cosmetics has definitely minimized breakage.
 

7. Get out your suitcase at least a week in advance and start filling it with trip-specific items that you don’t use every day.

There are many trip-specific items that you don’t use on a daily basis, like your passport, so why not get them packed in advance and save yourself the stress and energy of packing these items the night before your trip?  If you have your luggage or carry-on out in advance, it is a gentle reminder to think ahead about important items you need to pack, and you can toss them in as you think of them throughout the week before your trip.  I’m leaving for Italy in three days on a work trip with CISabroad, and I’ve had my luggage out since last weekend.  I realized when I put my camera in my luggage that I needed to charge the batteries.  I was so grateful not to be charging batteries at midnight the night before my trip!
Types of items you can pack in advance:

  • Energy bars/snacks for traveling days
  • Camera and accessories
  • Gifts for relatives (if you’re paying someone a visit)
  • Passport
  • Winter clothing accessories
  • Plug adapter

8. Ensure your comfort in unknown environments by packing a large, light-weight scarf that you can keep in your carry-on or purse.

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I keep a large, light-weight scarf in my purse year-round.  It is a lifesaver.  When I’m on a plane, I use it as a blanket.

During the summer I use it as a shawl if an evening gets a little chilly.  During the winter I use it as a scarf.  It can also be a beach cover-up, extra layer of warmth on your legs outside on a cold night, the list goes on and on.
I’m using it as a shawl on a chilly summer evening in Ojai, California in the photo above, and in the photo on the right, I’m using it as a scarf on a chilly summer morning in Birmingham, England.
 

9. Do your vacation shopping trip several weeks in advance in case there are a few items you can’t find and need to order online.

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I went to Target a few weeks ago, and while I checked off most items on my shopping list, the shopping trip also reminded me of other items I needed.  I wanted a high-quality, fashionable backpack that fit my laptop.  Not an easy item to find, and Target didn’t have one.  I went home and found one online, but the item was back-ordered.  It is supposed to arrive tomorrow, three days before my trip.  Close call, phew!
 

10. Use pill boxes to keep small items like jewelry separated on long trips.

I admit, I’m a lover of accessorizing, so pill boxes aren’t necessary for everyone, especially for short trips when selecting one or two pairs of earrings that go with everything is a better option.  But my trips are quite long, and I get bored with just two pairs of earrings after a while.   I’m thrilled to finally have such easy access to them!  This is another tip I got thanks to my traveler buddy Giovanna!
 

11. Pay attention year-round to the travel-sized section of your local pharmacy or big retail store to look for clever travel solutions.

Although your basics are always available, the travel-sized product selection is constantly changing, and varies significantly from store to store.  If there’s a product you use regularly that you’d like the travel-sized version of, it isn’t so easy to find it by just going to one store.  So just pay attention year-round whenever you find yourself at a CVS, Rite Aid, Target, ULTA, etc.  For instance, a few months ago Target had several travel-sized Burt’s Bees products that I had never seen there before, and are since gone.  And I just picked up travel-sized nail polish remover wipes, which are so much lighter than my mini-nail polish remover bottle, and isn’t considered a liquid.  I’m so excited about this find. 🙂  Please note: Certain cosmetics brands you can contact directly or go to their websites to find travel-sized versions of their products.  I often pick-up specialty travel-sized products when I’m at ULTA.
 
 

Organized Tours: Not just for our parents anymore

Editor’s note: In my humble opinion, traveling solo is truly the best way to travel, whether you are joining a tour or setting out on your own. But when the thought of traveling alone becomes too overwhelmingly intimidating,  turn to an organized tour.  They aren’t as bad as you think.

But I think you’ve heard enough from me lately, so I asked an expert on the subject – one of my favorite people and a great friend from high school – to explain how she’s used organized tours to satiate her traveling appetite as a young, single woman. Giovanna has gone from slight isolation in our small town in the southwest corner of the US,  to pursuing international adventures on her own through the help of a great tour agency.  And she even managed to meet me for dinner in Florence. 

Giovanna and Peggy
Here we are, recently reunited in Florence (I’m having a hard time concealing my excitement). The tour company was nice enough to offer me a ride to dinner with Giovanna on their tour bus.

I’m from a small town in southern California where most people only travel to another country because we live in a border town 20 minutes from Mexico. So when I took my first trip across the country to Syracuse, NY I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack (I’m joking because I’ve never had an anxiety attack, but I’m sure that what I felt might have been a borderline attack). That first trip was for a continued education course just for a few days, but it encouraged me to be adventurous and explore other countries – countries on different continents, not just the one 20 minutes from my house.

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Giovanna with friends from the tour at the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

My friend found a trip to Italy with a tour company named Contiki, which specializes in tours for young adults, and I thought it was perfect! I would be traveling to another country with a group of people my age (safety in numbers), hotel and transportation would be taken care of, I didn’t have to learn a new language to get around (although leading up to the trip I did listen to an Italian CD over and over for months to learn common phrases), and I would get to see all the tourist attractions. That first trip was absolutely amazing and the only thing that was disappointing was how quickly we ran out of time in such a beautiful place. Since then I have traveled with the same company several times, including several other land tours and a cruise. I’ve felt so safe on those trips that last year I decided to take a tour of Europe and this time I went alone – eeek (I was nervous and excited at the same time)!  I made some wonderful friends while on the trip and learned a lot about myself and finally began to realize all that my traveling has taught me about culture, religion, art, music, FOOD, and respect for people.

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Giovanna enjoying her food. 🙂

Although I have enjoyed traveling with tours, it certainly isn’t for everyone.  If your idea of traveling is to have freedom with sites you visit especially in respect to how long you will be there, or you prefer to travel without an itinerary, or to travel alone or with a few friends, then tours may not be for you.  The tours I have been on tend to be fast paced and you may not spend much time in any one city or town but you will find that you spend enough time to know if it is somewhere you would like to come back to and visit again.  The tour guide will also inform you of the tourist attractions and interesting facts and any relevant history related to the area along with tips and suggestions for meals and exploration.   You will be given some free time to roam and explore but the tour is on a time frame and will not wait for those who wander too far.  If you are unable to make it to the pick-up point at the appointed time you will get left behind and it is your responsibility to catch up with the tour group at your expense and I am a witness people DO get left behind!
Tours seem to come in all shapes and sizes, so it is never impossible to find one suited to your interests.  Here are a few resources for choosing a tour that’s right for you:

When being a tourist is a good thing

Somehow, quite mysteriously, the word tourist has acquired a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Admittedly, I am as guilty as the next guy for striking down any notion of the idea that I might possibly enjoy being a tourist sometimes.  I’d actually probably rather stay home than get caught doing anything that could potentially be labeled as “touristy.” Far be it for anyone to catch me enjoying a nice Mexican lunch in Old Town, San Diego.  But why?  Where has this anti-tourist phenomenon come from?  How have we managed to self inflict this somewhat silly stigma upon a relatively innocent word?  I felt the need to investigate.

So when any good mystery presents itself, what is there to do?  Open up my iPad and look up the definition of the word “tourist” on my iPad dictionary, of course.  The definition is short and sweet: “A person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure.” A wholesome and respectable definition if I’ve ever heard one.  But this makes the negative connotations of “touristy” even more perplexing, as by this definition, rejecting going somewhere touristy is essentially the same thing as rejecting the act of going somewhere for pleasure.  Geez.  Weird.

But then I take a moment to think about touristy places, as in places bursting at the seams with tourists. Disneyland calls to mind.  Or Venice perhaps? And then my heart drops a little as I forget about the beautiful canals and bridges, and Main Street, and I am instead overwhelmed with images of hoards of people in t-shirts and sneakers. Not romantic.

So ok, I get it now. Lots of tourists – not so great. But going back to the definition again, “…visiting a place for pleasure,” is pretty great. So, why wait until you get to Disneyland to be a tourist, where you do have to join hoards of thousands of other tourists in your pursuit of pleasure, when you can just do that at home?

Once I went two years in San Diego without going to the beach a single time. Shameful, I know. My home is currently Bologna, Italy. Living abroad has bestowed on me an important gift – the opportunity (and excuse) to be a tourist in my own home, when I return to my previous homes in San Diego, Pittsburgh, and New York every summer.   In my pursuance of pleasure, I will be a tourist nearly 100% of the time when I return to America this summer. Without a set routine bogging me down anymore, I am free to pursue pleasure by seeking out those activities that not only define the city in the eyes of the world, but also those special activities that I have found that define the cities for me and me alone, like eating most of my meals at The Mission when I’m in San Diego, or having yogurt at the top of Bloomingdales in Manhattan.  And I also plan, without shame, to pursue those most stereotypical activities.  The first thing I want to do when I get to San Diego is go to the beach. In New York I’m counting the days until I get to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And in Pittsburgh, the incline.

Which brings me to my most important point: what’s life without a little curiosity and fun? Don’t wait till you’re on vacation. But please, if you can, maybe ditch the t-shirt and sneakers just this once?

Teaching English Abroad: A means to an end, or home away from home?

Does your burning desire to travel keep you up at night?

Do you speak any other languages?

If no, are you an expert in skiing/snowboarding/sailing/scuba diving?

No? Well, worry no more. If you are reading this blog and understand all of my slang, phrasal verbs, use of the verb “to get” and collocations, your English is your golden ticket to a life abroad.

So, how do you feel about teaching English?

While this is indeed a fictional conversation, I’m certain that it has taken place many thousands of times, over the years, all over the world. If you are wondering how I became such an expert on the topic, the answer is possibly one of the most surprising things that has ever happened to me. I’m a Californian, and I have been living in Bologna, Italy, for two years. My career path twisted and turned enough to dump me out in Italy for what was supposed to be a period of one year. And at the conclusion of that year, I realized I wasn’t nearly ready to return to normal life in the U.S. So, what could I possibly do to sustain myself here? Why, teach English of course.


I wish I had a time machine and could have read my own blog before I moved to Italy. Instead, I spoke less than ten words in Italian when I touched down here two years ago, and had no idea how I would possibly make money. Crazy you say? I think yes. Believe me, getting settled hasn’t been a cakewalk. But every little setback and frustration has been completely and utterly worth it. My time living in Europe is pretty much the most important period of my life to date. I thank my lucky stars that this opportunity fell in my lap.


And now, at the age of 32, with two masters degrees and fifteen years of work experience, I find myself living like a college student in Bologna and spending most of my days hissing like a snake in a hopeless effort to remind my students not to forget the “s” when speaking in the third person.

My English teaching colleagues span the career spectrum from college student to lawyer to security guard, and come from the United States, Australia, and Ireland. You can find us with the heaviest backpacks, standing at bus stops with our lunch in our hands. I can safely say that none of us imagined ourselves as being experts at explaining the usage of the present perfect verb tense, but I guess weirder things have happened. No matter what the economy is like, people will always spend money to learn English, and therefore, there is always a demand for mother tongue English teachers. And that is great news for you, because no matter what your skills are in teaching English – from none to expert – it means you can live wherever you want in the world, and pay your way through this profession. But while becoming an English teacher is quite easy, being a good English teacher is not so easy.

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My students watching Obama’s acceptance speech.

A deceptively simple occupation from an outsider’s perspective, the reality is teaching English is a constant juggling act of the infinite needs of a student body that includes every imaginable age, learning type, background, and English level. Being a good English teacher mandates a drive and a determination to rise above the mediocrity of the industry in an effort to not only share the gift of our native language, but to fill the many challenging roles that go along with teaching including diplomacy, psychology, and friendship. This isn’t an easy task. But the payback is exponential (notice the use of “payback” and not “paycheck).

There are circuits of international schools around the world that allow their teachers to spend their lives moving from city to city, teaching at different international schools within the circuit, and exploring different countries. Coincidentally, a close friend of mine from my hometown is doing just that. We ran into each other by chance in Bologna, and after living here for a year and a half, making a living by teaching English at a wealthy private English school, he has now moved on to China, where he is teaching for a private English school owned by Disney. He loves it.

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My students at the Mediateca library in San Lazzaro always remind me to wear my jacket.

Not only does teaching allow you to earn the money you need to live in the country of your dreams, but the students you teach help you build the support network you need to acclimate to and live happily in the country of your dreams, which is the least talked about and most important aspect of this job. Every Friday at the local library my longtime students make me feel a little less homesick for my Aunt Suzanne, as they know the ins and outs of my love life and even remind me to wear my jacket. When I miss my nephew, every Monday and Friday I enjoy my youngest student just a little more, especially when I get to help him decorate the Christmas tree, which was especially important this year since I didn’t get to go home for Christmas. When my Saturday afternoon student cried on my shoulder after her boyfriend broke up with her, I felt like the big sister I always wished I was (I’m an only child). And I was overwhelmed when one of my students called me from the hospital just before Christmas to apologize for missing our last class, and to give me the information for a theatre group he was encouraging me to join. Through my students I know the ins and outs of Bologna in a way that some of my Bolognese friends can’t even understand.

I feel utterly blessed, and I wonder how I could have possibly been so remiss as to never have considered moving abroad earlier in my life. But then I remember that after discovering my love of theatre at the age of 11, I’ve spent the better part of my life completely absorbed in my career oriented-ness. Unfortunately, I spent little time pondering what I wanted from life aside from my career goals. Fancy that. How American of me.

I have written this blog in the hopes that my unexpected adventures in the life of an English teacher will somehow inspire you to think about what you want from life, and not what you want from your job. And if what you want from life somehow includes traveling, all the better. Now you know how to finance it.

And the next time you are in Italy and happen to see someone on the bus reviewing an English grammar book, do say hello.


Bon voyage.

Museums and Traveling and What You Could be Missing.

I’ve finally realized that I am addicted to traveling.  Perhaps because I embrace the opportunity to be a fleeting resident in a new place where I am willingly sucked into someone else’s world.  A world where – for the time being – there is no laundry waiting, no dishes to be done, and no bills to be paid.


I want to pretend that this new and exotic world is mine, if only for a few days.  I want it all, actually, because somehow I also want to figure out how to transform my visit from something fleeting and touristy into a long-term, measurable connection.  But how?  Because honestly, as much as we strive to know about these places we visit, how much do we really know?


I find myself wandering tiny streets,  optimistically searching for that café or restaurant where only the locals go so I can somehow meet them and understand their spirit.  And let’s face it – this is not an easy task.  These places are not on google maps.  Or on tripadvisor.


So after many fruitless attempts at this technique, I have gladly settled for the next best thing.  Which is actually not settling at all really.  It has become my favorite activity in every city I go.


The places I go to instead of the elusive “locals only” spots are on google maps.  And they are probably in your travel books too.  I guess it sounds too good to be true.  And maybe it is, because maybe you aren’t going to like my answer.  The place that I go in every new city I visit in order to understand and connect with the city, is the local art museum.


Yes, I get it.  At face value museums can seem uptight, cold, and uninteresting.  Boring perhaps is the best word.  But I beg to differ.  Far from being a victim of bad lighting and boring docent lectures, my museum visits over the last year have often been the highlight of my travels.  Favorites range from Baltimore’s provoking American Visionary Art Museum, to Winslow Homer’s rugged New England beach landscapes at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, to the overwhelming Monet exhibit at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, and the passionate permanent collection at the El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem.

Sunset in front of the American Visionary Art Museum


What is most fascinating about these museums, and what subsequently prompted me to write this blog post, is each of them are about as different as you and me.  Why?  Because within their walls rest objects created by people.  These objects each have an individual story to be told.  But the true fascination comes from seeing them grouped together in permanent or temporary exhibits, as the collective story they tell reflects the personality of the city and the individuals that make up the city you are visiting.  Seriously.


On my current tour of the US, I’ve spent my evenings hanging out with friends and loved ones, and my days wandering the halls of my favorite art museums.  I know, I can’t complain.  My trip thus far has included New York, Washington DC, and Chicago.  I return to the museums here over and over again.  They are amazing. But each one is very different, and their differences are related to the cities they call home.  Understanding their differences is about getting to know what makes each of these cities tick.  Here’s why I love each of them.


The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
The American Spirit

Institute of Art
Not an inspiring picture, but an inspiring quote.


Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the world, and its museums haven’t let me down.  It is a city that embodies the resilience and graciousness of the American spirit like no other city in America, and these qualities are skillfully mirrored in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago through combinations of masterpieces like Grant Wood’s American Gothic, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, and Mary Cassatt’s The Child’s Bath, among many others.  

All of this amazingness on the backdrop of a beautiful building steps away from fabulous Millennium Park.  It is really no wonder why this museum is one of my favorite museums in the world.


Subsequently, it was quite àpropos that in this museum, wandering the endless maze of Roy Lichtenstein‘s work last Thursday, I had one of those light bulb moments where I finally came to understand a museum’s unique ability to poignantly capture the essence of the city it calls home.  Seeing the Lichtenstein exhibit taught me the importance of comics and comic art in the cultural heritage of Chicago in a way that I never would have understood otherwise.  Hurry up because the exhibit closes soon.


Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Diversity and Humanity

Metropolitan Museum of Art
My favorite museum steps – the Metropolitan Museum of Art


When I realized that Harry and Sally spent an afternoon here in a scene of one of my favorite movies of all time, When Harry Met Sally, it confirmed that I was not alone in my love for this place.   But how could I ever think I would be?  Like the Art Institute of Chicago, a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art is an experience both in and out of the building.  There is nothing like approaching the Metropolitan Museum of Art and witnessing hundreds of people treating the steps of this magnificent building like their own front porch.  Sitting outside in the sun, dancing and painting on the sidewalk, entering and exiting the museum in a flurry of positive activity.  People of all shapes and sizes happily co-habiting and epitomizing the je ne sais quoi of New York, where constant wonder shocks you in the realization of the diversity of humanity.  All this on the backdrop of the sheer awe of the scale of the museum building and its collection representing in perfect form the grandeur of New York City.  The museum’s permanent collection of art and artifacts is just as diverse and grand as the outside.  So much so, there is little my words can do to convey the experience.  There is truly something for everybody here – from fashion to Egyptian architecture.  Just like New York City, you can literally find the world in this museum.  You just have to go.


The National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum, Washington DC
Stately and democratic

The Portrait Gallery
A cold but lively night in Chinatown in front of the Portrait Gallery


I have never met more new people in one day on vacation than during a day spent at the National Portrait Gallery.  No matter how much I love a museum, no appreciation I have can ever compare to what I feel for this place.  This is, hands down, my favorite museum.


Believe me, the first time I visited this place I was just as surprised by my reaction as you might be.  But the reason is very clear – while the connotation of the word “portrait” might call up ancient images of boring rich people who you have no interest in, this place proves that everything you expected to feel about a portrait is unfounded.  This is a museum whose purpose is understanding people through art.  A docent here once told me that the museum is half art and half history, as understanding each portrait is to enjoy the artistic quality as well as absorb the story behind each of people in the paintings and to understand our own history more succinctly.  Mirroring the role of the city it calls home, this museum truly represents not just the nation’s capital but the United States as a whole.  In a true exercise of cultural democracy, the Portrait Gallery proudly displays portraits from the most stately politicians to your next door neighbor. Here and only here is it possibly for a person like me to meet everyone from George Washington to George Bush to the founder of the Girl Scouts, and finish my visit by strolling through 180 portraits of residents from the Iowa hometown of portrait artist Rose Frantzen.


And it gets better.  The National Portrait Gallery shares space with the American Art Museum.  As you wander the halls of the Portrait Gallery you will find yourself mistakenly wandering into a hallway belonging to the American Art Museum.  Wait, did I say mistake?  I wish I made mistakes like this more often.  After seeing Norman Rockwell at his finest two years ago, I began wondering if I needed to reserve two spots on my number one favorite museums list.  Last week my delight with this museum surpassed everything I’ve ever seen here, with the best collection of photography I have enjoyed in years as part of the African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond exhibit.  My suspicions are officially confirmed, and I now have two number one faves.


But my favorite afternoons in Washington, DC are actually spent both inside and outside the museum on its dramatic steps in the center of Chinatown.   Coincidentally – or maybe not so coincidentally – this museum joins the ranks of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art with its urban proximity to the spirit of the city.


Gee, what more could I ask for?  Hope you too can find your favorite places in the next city you visit. 

Priceline: How to make it work for you

Priceline has forever changed the way I book hotels when I am traveling within the United States.  I now see pricing and booking hotels as a process of negotiation, and the better I am at it, the more I save, and the more I can travel.  Over the years, I have acquired a few techniques for maximizing Priceline’s potential to save me money.  Here I’d like to share a few with you.

1.  Don’t settle for face value – always “Name your own price!”

It may seem a bit risky to bid on a hotel room instead of choosing your hotel directly through Priceline’s hotel listings.  But believe me, whatever risk is involved (very little, in my opinion) is minimal compared to your potential savings (up to 75%!). It is true – when you bid, you don’t know what hotel you are booking with until your bid is accepted.  But Priceline allows you to specify how many stars you prefer, and this makes it highly likely that your hotel preferences will be met.

In my experience, the hotels I have stayed in through Priceline bookings are on par or sometimes even better quality than I would have managed to find on my own, and I most likely would have spent much more.
The biggest drawback to the bidding process is a loss of control regarding where your hotel is located.  In general, the bigger the city, the more likely that Priceline will give you the flexibility of narrowing the neighborhood where you prefer your hotel will be located significantly enough to ensure your satisfaction with the location.

Please remember that if you have a car and are trying to stay in the city center of a large city, there are usually large parking fees for the hotel garages.

2.  Time is your friend.
Sometimes the bidding process is not ideal if you know exactly what you want from your hotel and what you want to spend on it.  If your bid is very specific, there are potentially only a small number of hotels that can meet your bid, and you have no way of knowing what their bottom line is.  Priceline controls your bidding process by forcing you to broaden your search by decreasing your star level or increasing the areas you are willing to stay every time you lose a bid.

But, you can continue to bid without changing anything about your original bid once every 24 hours.  So, if you plan ahead, you can begin your bidding process several weeks ahead of time in order to ensure you get the lowest price possible.  What I have done in the past is begin my bidding very low ($40), and then re-bidding with the same parameters and increasing my offer by $5 when I am permitted to every twenty-four hours
Keep in mind, this process is absolutely not necessary if you are flexible about your star levels and location, because as long as you change your bid parameters each time you bid, Priceline allows you to continue to bid as many times as you like.

3. Do some research first – your potential hotel is not as much of a mystery as you may think.
If you spend just a few minutes looking at the hotels listed at face value on Priceline’s site for the city and dates you need, you are actually looking at the inventory Priceline is pulling from to meet your bid for the “Name your own price” side of their site.  If you like what you see, you can be confident that you will be happy with whatever hotel accepts your bid.

Most importantly, this research allows you to familiarize yourself with the pricing of hotels for your city and time-frame so you have a better idea of where to start your bid.  If the lowest listed price for a hotel within your preferred star category is $150, then you can be pretty sure that your starting bid has to be a decent offer, and if you are bidding last-minute, you will need to bid higher.  On the other hand, if the price range of hotels you like on the site spans as low as $75 for example, you know your starting bid can be much lower.

4. Get an app!

With the help of my iPhone Priceline app I have booked hotels while standing in a theatre lobby in mid-town Manhattan, while in the passenger seat driving through South Carolina, standing in line at the airport, etc.  Many times I have used the app and literally checked into my hotel as little as a half hour later.  The app makes the process simple and quick.  It doesn’t have all of the information available through the website, but it will redirect you to your phone or iPad’s browser if necessary.

5.  If you are indecisive, Priceline is either your best friend or your worst enemy.
If you have trouble deciding on hotels and often find yourself spending hours of time researching every hotel option in the city you are traveling to, Priceline is a godsend because it does the research for you, in that the hotels it works with are comfortable and usually rank highly in customer reviews.  You can finally let go and save yourself all the research time and spend that time researching other critical things, like transportation options to and from the airport (if you are flying).

On the other hand, once you book a hotel through Priceline, you are charged immediately for that hotel.  If you happen to need to change your dates for any reason, this can be difficult to impossible to pull off.  So beware.  In this case, Priceline might end up costing you money instead of helping you.

Please note: I am in no way making money from advertising or sponsorship related to my travel tips.  I write these tips solely from personal opinion.  Also, these tips are related to booking hotels through Priceline, as I do not use Priceline for airline bookings.

My secret recipe for booking a good hotel room, every time.

My secret to hotel booking.
Booking comfortable, affordable and centrally located lodging is possibly the biggest and most underestimated challenge related to travel planning.  While there are many ways of going about meeting this challenge, over the years I have perfected my own system that I am now happily sharing with you.  In the following step-by-step instructions I hope to save you not only time but also money on your next vacation.

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So, let’s imagine that you are booking your dream trip to Venice, Italy.  A popular and sometimes quite expensive travel destination, it can be very difficult to know where to begin in your search through hundreds of hotel options, many seemingly quite expensive.
Instead of even attempting to evaluate the scope of accommodation options available to me in Venice, I instead save myself perhaps hours of time by going to a trusted travel expert – Frommers.com.
Frommers.com provides reviews on many things, but their hotel reviews are invaluable as they are reliable, clear, and most importantly, they are written by travel professionals.  This is an important point, and is the major reason their reviews are so trustworthy.
1.  Find a trusted and professional reviewer’s hotel listings for the city you would like to visit.
For our trip to Venice, I went to Google.com and type “frommers, venice” in the search bar, because my favorite professional travel review resource is Frommer’s.  Fodor’s also works, as does Lonely Planet, etc.  Use whatever source you are comfortable/familiar with – the important thing is that they are professional reviews, and not just reviews from the general public that have stayed at the hotel.
When I type Frommer’s Venice into google, the page I was looking for was the first result, which I clicked on to arrive at the homepage for Frommer’s information about Venice.  I then clicked on the left-hand side of the screen where it says “Venice Hotels” and “List All.”
Below is a screenshot of what you will be seeing when you are looking at the Frommer’s hotel listings for Venice.  You can sort the list by stars, price, name, and neighborhood.  I normally sort by price and then choose the hotel with the most stars.  For the sake of this blog post, let’s pretend we will select Hotel Al Piave, as it has a three star Frommer’s recommendation and is in a lower price range, listed as only one dollar sign.
An important note: Frommer’s star system is not related to the normal hotel star system.  Instead, their star system refers to their recommendations for hotels and is not related to the amount of amenities the hotel offers.  A Frommer’s 3-star hotel is their most recommended hotel, while a Frommer’s listing without stars is still recommended but not as highly recommended as their other listings.

2.  Read the hotel reviews to find the one that suits your needs. 
Next, I clicked on the name of the hotel, Hotel Al Piave, in order to read Frommer’s review, and to make sure that it sounded like the type of hotel that I would enjoy staying at.  Normally if the hotel has any major inconveniences related to location, architecture, amenities, etc, Frommer’s will mention it in the review.

3. Do a general search for hotels at your destination and in your date range on Kayak.com.
Kayak.com is like a giant search engine for travel, allowing you to gain a perspective on the general price range of the type of travel you are booking in that area and timeframe.  Kayak is able to do this by searching prices listed from a huge number of discount travel websites like Expedia, and Hotels.com to help you find the best price available on the internet.  I also like Kayak because it includes even more information than pricing, like Tripadvisor reviews, and an interactive map with all the hotels in the area you are searching for to help you get a great idea of location.
Below, I have typed “Venice, Italy” and my dates under the hotel search section in Kayak.

4.  Price the hotel(s) you are most interested in and check availability on Kayak.com.
Once Kayak has performed a search for available hotels in Venice for my date range, I then narrow the results by searching specifically for the hotel or hotels I found in the Frommer’s reviews that I am most interested in.  In this case, we liked the Hotel Al Piave.  Kayak offers many options for narrowing your search on the left-hand side of the screen within the search results.  Toward the bottom of these options, you will find a search box that says “Hotel Name.”  Here I type “Piave.”  Kayak found two hotels with “Piave” in the name, but only one is in Venice.  I click on the hotel in Venice to confirm this is the hotel that I am searching for.

5.  Confirm the hotel information matches the information from the Frommer’s review, and check out current prices and more reviews at Kayak.com.
I arrived at Kayak’s detail page for the Al Piave Hotel, which you can see below.  Because the name is slightly different on the Kayak listing than the Frommer’s listing, I confirm this hotel is the same by comparing the contact information listed for the hotel here with the contact information listed with Frommer’s.
The information matches, so I know I have successfully found the hotel that Frommer’s was recommending.  Here on the Kayak detail page I can get tons of information, including more hotel reviews from other travel sites, as well as the pricing for the hotel on about 15 major travel discount websites, and  more information about the hotel’s location.

6.  Check pricing on the hotel’s website.
Before I book my hotel, I need to perform one more important step. Now that I have researched current pricing for the hotel, I need to compare this pricing with the pricing on the actual website of the hotel itself.
As surprising as this may sound, most of the time I book my lodging directly through the hotel itself, because most of the time the hotel offers pricing that is competitive with what the online discount sites are offering.
As you can see below, the Hotel Al Piave is no exception, with a room available that is even less expensive than on the discount sites.
Let’s say for the sake of this discussion that instead of being cheaper, the prices listed on the Hotel Al Piave’s website were more expensive than the prices listed on the discount travel websites.  Before I book with another website, I would give the hotel a chance to match the other website’s price by calling them and telling them about the rate I found, and if they could sell the room to me directly at that rate.  Most often they can, as they would much rather book directly with you than have to offer service fees to outside agencies selling their rooms.

7.  Book your room!
After completing all my necessary research on my stay in Venice in about twenty minutes, I am ready to book my room directly with the Hotel Al Piave.  Booking directly with the hotel has many advantages as opposed to booking with a discount site “middle-man,” including more control over your reservation, as well as – in many cases – a more understanding cancellation policy, etc.
Do remember to always book with your credit card when possible, as your credit card company serves an important role as your advocate if something goes wrong with your room or with the billing.
And most importantly, enjoy your trip!!!
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Another important note: It is important that you know this system is relevant for both North American and European travel, so once you learn it, it will serve you well on a large variety of vacations.  Kayak.com and Frommers.com are the two websites I use, and while both of these companies are American, I’ve found that being an American, my standards for lodging are high and I am not as willing to compromise my expectations for lodging as much as I am willing to adjust my expectations for food, transportation, and sight-seeing.  Therefore, the information and recommendations by these companies on both American and non-American lodging is quite relevant, as their frame of reference matches mine.