By: Philip Barnes

If you want to travel to expensive places, then you better have friends. Why? Because Hotels are just so expensive these days- wherever you decide to travel to.

It’s annoying, especially if you’re as desperate to see the world as I am. However I’ve found that if you’re a nice person; able to hold decent chatter with just about anyone, you can be rewarded. You build-up contacts which you can use later on in your travels.

For example, there’s no way I could have afforded to fly to New York AND stay in downtown hotels. There just isn’t enough money in my account to pay for a standard night’s accommodation along Lexington Avenue. What I needed was a couch to sleep on; people I could befriend who would hopefully let me freeload off them.

It sounds a bit harsh, but when you really think about it: meeting different kinds of people, whether locals or fellow travellers, is a massive part of travelling. Of course you can visit all the ‘unique’, ‘interesting’ places your Lonely Planet guide book tells you about, but ultimately what you later remember about these places is the people you’ve met.

To be brutally honest, I can get sick of seeing tourist attractions. Seeing one Buddhist temple in Asia was enough in my opinion. And I’ve felt the same way about Europe: one Cathedral in Spain looks EXACTLY the same as one does in Italy. For me, what really makes the places I’ve visited memorable are the people I’ve meet there. The people I got drunk with, the people I shared funny stories with- basically the people you live with for short periods of time.

My trip to New York could easily have cost two, three, even four times as much as it actually did if I had to make my own arrangements and sort out my accommodation in overpriced hotels. However what actually happened turned out to be a real fortune saver. Luckily, friends I had met in South East Asia were from Manhattan and happily let me stay with them throughout my time in the city. Of course, this not only saved me loads of money on hotel bills, but they also showed me round the city- taking me to cool places camera happy tourists would have most likely miss out on. I got to drink in rooftop bars, listen to the beats and bop of New York Jazz- and I even went to a frat party one night at Columbia University (which was simply amazing).

I saw everything I wanted to, and more, had a great place to stay and got free food too, bonus! I’ll never forget my time in New York, it’s a wicked city. But it’s not the Empire State Building I’ll remember or that super sized Big Mac I had in McDonalds either. It will be Ryan, Bradley and Kyle- my American buddies who happily put me up for 4 days and made that trip memorable. I can’t wait to return the favour when they come to visit me later on this year in London.

So, basically, do your best to make friends whilst travelling. Besides being there for you when the rain starts to fall… they can save you money!

By: Maria Climent Huguet
Maria Climent is a 26-year-old Catalan lady. After studying translation, she decided her life was odd enough to became a humor scriptwriter and by default, a blogger. This is how she’s now a mother of no one and a better person. She also likes to cook!

Before I begin, I would like to say that this post is a kind of homage to Hogga after reading her last post, which has also served me as inspiration to write about something I wouldn’t have thought otherwise, ahem… Hogga is right, life is not just about parties, nightlife and dealing with hangovers. Eventually you start to think of alternative activities that make you grow spiritually, make you feel like a more interesting person, of simply help you get up not hungover in the morning. One last thing: it is focussed in Barcelona but these activities can be found in any other city, so Hogga, pay attention.

Sushi workshops: Japanese food and specially sushi and all its varieties are lately a growing trend in Barcelona. Thus, there are many options if you want to learn how to prepare it and impress someone with your culinary abilities. Moreover, cooking relaxes, it helps you evade from other problems and concentrate on what you’re doing. Among all the options of taking sushi lessons, I recommend Maguroya sushi, in the neighbourhood of Gracia, where for just 48€ you can have personal lessons with a real professional.

Flotarium: It consists of soaking yourself with treated water that makes you float. I’ve never tried it -yet- but they say it’s like going back to our mother’s womb or staying in a 0 gravity area. Isn’t that amazing?? –Except if you suffer from claustrophobia. And it is supposed to provide a profound mental and physical relaxation that isolates you from external stimuli.

Painting workshops: You may be an atrist inside and never know it until you try. Stimulating your artistic side is always interesting, you get to know yourself better, even if it’s to find out that you have no artistic charms… There are some great studios near apartments in Barcelona, as there are a lot of schools of art.

Get a massage, or even better, learn to massage! Oh wait, did I say better? Anyways, stress caused by giving up a habit can be removed with a good, relaxing massage. And there are many variants, from hot stones, to chocolate and aromatherapy…

Tantric sex: Why not? Sex can help you relieve stress even when it’s not the spiritual kind!

We all know that changing habits is very traumatic and probably one of the most complicated things a person can do. Thus, starting doing “abnormal things“ like going to spend a time in one of the Barcelona apartments or to another part of the world will do nothing but help you in the changing habits process. Good luck!

By: Maria Climent Huguet
Maria Climent is a 26-year-old Catalan lady. After studying translation, she decided her life was odd enough to became a humor scriptwriter and by default, a blogger. This is how she’s now a mother of no one and a better person. She also likes to cook!

Every city smells differently. And so does every person or even every house. And I bet that every single one of those smells takes you directly to good or bad memories. How many times have you run into someone who was wearing the same perfume your ex boyfriend or girlfriend wore and all of a sudden a thousand memories come rushing back?

The same happens with cities. I can recognize London’s smell as soon as I get off the plane (it’s sort of a mix of chips and hot dog). Rome, however (and remember, always from my point of view, everyone has theirs!), smells like a mixture of ancient stones, mopeds, fountain water, croissant and coffee… idyllic, right? I think I could even remember the smell of the Rome apartments.

However, what I am interested in is the link between the memory of a smell and the emotions. Why do we instantly go back in time and are happy, sad, melancholic or exited as soon as we perceive a certain smell?

Well, I’ve done some research on the matter and found out that, of course, it has a scientific explanation: Knowing that odors move through the limbic system and the limbic system is an area where memory is utilized, we can partly understand the connection between past experiences and the same odor that we smell in the present. The limbic system is not only a memory storage area, but it also regulates mood and emotion. Since odors, emotions, and memories meet here, this is why smell elicits distinct memories and emotions.

Anyways, I don’t want to get too technical, just wanted to understand something that happens to all of us, and focus it in the fact of travelling, as either you want it or not, you will inevitable land in a city and one must be conscious of this, as the memories you get from that travel will be associated –probably forever- to that city’s smell.

In fact, the sense of smell is the most primitive sense, and will take you directly to those apartments in Rome, to the Eiffel Tower or that Delhi hostel.

By: Maria Climent Huguet
Maria Climent is a 26-year-old Catalan lady. After studying translation, she decided her life was odd enough to became a humor scriptwriter and by default, a blogger. This is how she’s now a mother of no one and a better person. She also likes to cook!

Party animals don’t need to sleep, they are disappointed when the club closes at 5AM, and will search for an after hours party until noon. If you’re one of these party animals and have in mind to spend some days in one of the Berlin apartments, as there are some places I am sure you will be interested in:
GoldenGate: With no doubt the trendiest places in Berlin. Hope you’re clever enough to find the entrance. The GoldenGate represents current Berlin: underground, techno, hipster, graffiti, other things I can’t tell here…

Ritter Butzke: Is there anything cooler than a factory turned into a club? No, there isn’t. The Ritter Butzke is also home of the best electro music until 7 or 8 in the morning!

Berghain Kantine: Do you know those places where, as soon as you get in, you feel special? Where you feel awesome merely because you’re in that bar? Well, the Berghain Kantine if definitely one of those places. Concerts and performances take place here, just in case it wasn’t already cool enough.

Das Edelweis: Oh my god, what a beautiful club. I can’t even explain how impressive this space is where good taste, glamour, class, mix up with jazz, good music sessions and cool people. Wallpapered vintage style; but you be the judge.

Arena: More than a club, this is nearly an institution in the city. Apart from the most famous DJs in town, it offers art, culture, sport…even a boat is part of Arena. Join their society, if you still have energy…

I hope this serves you for your next “Berliner” visit and you can always check out apartments in Berlin to rent while you party there.