Laurie's light travel travel tips

August 21, 2018: I needed to get out of town. I know that sounds rich coming from someone living in London this year, but it's how I felt. I'd bought the ticket months ago for just one night in Stockholm, a birthday celebration designed to punctuate a thesis already written. Unfortunately, that didn't happen; nor did plans to make my student loan stretch til October. I'm not even done with chapter one, and I'm so broke I'm 'borrowing' a bit of honey from cafes in order to add zest to a piece of bread. This is real. And yet, yes, I was in Sweden just yesterday. 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪 January 16, 2024: I just found the above paragraph in draft form. I had forgotten I had written it because the next day, my mother died. While in Sweden, she had told me to be sure and look at the bright, beautiful flowers in "Europe", telling me "I remember how beautiful they were." She had said this August 19th, my birthday. And so the next day, I just wandere...

Buona sera! Did I say that right? OK, good. I've been talking about wanting to go to Rome since 2004, when I bought a $20 D.K. guide and slapped it down on my desk. "Ever been to Rome?" I asked my then-boss Eugene. "No," he said, "but I'd like to." I was reporting for a London-based company out of their New York SoHo office. My world was opening up as I worked with colleagues from the UK and also, remotely, from Hong Kong and elsewhere. I remember a coworker saying to me, when I told him I didn't have a passport, that "there's a whole world out there!" It took me about a week to hustle out and get my first passport - thank you, Ben. So that brings us to Rome. It only took me 14 years to realize this dream, but it was well worth the wait. I took an Alitalia flight out of London's Heathrow, purposely sitting at the window. Being daylight, flying into Rome and seeing ruins from the plane stirred the giddy child in me. It had ...

Travelling to Europe is but a dream for many, yet it needn't be. And too many people flock to organized tours when a solo journey offers deeper rewards. How else will you be asked for directions in French when you have decided, spur of the moment, to walk from the 10th arrondissement all the way to Musée d'Orsay? And in this moment overhear how the natives actually pronounce "oui" (it's more like "weh!"). You will need some tips, though, and lodging is always a good start. In that spirit I offer two hotels across the pond - one in Paris and one in Vienna: Hotel De L'avre 21, rue de l'Avre, near Gare de Montparnasse train station. E-mail: hotel.delavre@wanadoo.fr; Phone: 1-866-599-6674. Cozy, out-of-the-way yet accessible to La Tour Eiffel, I highly recommend this boutique hotel for anyone on a budget or just fans of courtyards and quiet breakfasts outdoors. Une chambre-double-sur-rue (a room for two on or facing the street) is about 164...

Although it's expensive to fly to Europe from the US, that doesn't mean you'll have to mortgage the condo just to enjoy a week abroad. Think 'traveler' and not 'tourist' and you're already on your way to enjoying your time in France, Spain or as Anthony Bourdain suggests, "parts unknown." Savings can be found on everything from dining to sports, entertainment to culture. In Paris , for example, forgo the usual expensive restaurants down by the Seine and eat Croque Monsieurs or baguettes, apples and some divine brie in the Jardin du Luxembourg instead. For fun in London, most museums are free, from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) to the Tate Modern , the British Museum to the Natural History Museum . Donations are appreciated at all of these locations, and of course, the cafés are pricy. So here are my five tips for how to travel throughout Europe for under $999: 1. Book early.  And by early I mean yesterday. If you ...