Laurie's light travel travel tips

The big dog was waiting for me in the kitchen. I did not know his or her name, breed, or temperament. I only knew that it was a shock to see a dog there. "Aaaaaahh!" I screamed, racing into the downstairs bathroom, calling out to the owner who was not visible: "Get your dog! Leash your dog!" A guy comes out, looking pissed at me. "What? Why are you yelling at me?" "Because your dog is not on a leash!" He starts waving his finger at me, "Shut up, shut up, lady. Dogs are allowed here. Shut up!" Just another fun day when you are, more or less, living at Airbnbs. I spoke to the host, who seemed great at first. I told her I'd been bitten in the rear by a dog at 16, after leaving the old folks' home, where I'd gone to play piano. "That's awful," she said, showing real compassion. "I don't blame you at all for yelling." Then today she sent me the text this guy sent, accusing me of yelling at him, demand...

A recent study developed by MouseNotifier , which alerts users when a Disney restaurant table is available, ranked 203 countries based on LGBTQ+ rights and safety. Hearing this, I took note, as rights of this community are in peril in the U.S. In a comprehensive report, the researchers tapped five key factors, including legalized same-sex marriage, LGBTQ+ worker protections, and the criminalization of LGBTQ+ acts. Key Findings Sweden ranks #1 for strong protections, including legalized same-sex marriage and hate crime laws. I spent my 57th birthday in Stockholm , I am not gay it definitely felt very LGBTQ+ friendly. Where else would one find such colorful foods, flowers and art? Indeed, Sweden has hate crime legislation written into the Penal Code, as follows from the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Hate Crime Report: Criminal Code of Sweden (1962, as amended 2018) (excerpts related to hat...

I'm finally in London (yahhh!) for my master's course in 18th century studies at King's College, a dream of place I've long wanted to be. Yet, I cannot help but wince a bit when I think of the awkward journey that got me here, one which both amuses and infuriates me if I dwell too hard on it. First, when travelling alone, ladies do appreciate a man's help in lugging our bags, i.e. putting them overhead on the airplane. However, this unfortunately seems to be a dying art with men complaining of things like "back injuries" and "sore hamstring". These are the same men who think nothing of lifting what appears to be a five-pound sandwich into their mouths with their fat fingers and throwing back a pint of beer during a football match. Second, these same men make travel painful because of both their girth and sense of entitlement, the latter of which is the infuriating part (I'm not skinny, so forgive them their extra poundage). I am talking a...

Responsible tourism is not only about taking an organic approach to travel, such as "using outhouses and sleeping in a yurt," but according to the PR for NightSwapping , which bills itself as the new player in the home-stay accommodation industry, it means getting back to basics. Why run one's credit card and rack up debt, not to mention mounds of paperwork and regret, when we can just hit "send" and share our homes? Everyone's heard about AirBNB , but it's not the only entity to cash in on the marriage between low budget and high adventure. Launched over a year ago, NightSwapping now welcomes some 10,000 new members every month, touting a 'back to the roots' way of travelling where no money changes hands. It all reminds this examiner of that scene in "The Holiday," in which Kate Winslet's character e-mails Carmeron Diaz's character - or maybe that's the wrong way round - and they end up swapping homes. I'm in. At Ni...