“He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.” — Chinese proverb

China is the world’s most populous country, with a fast growing population of 1.3 billion (officially). The country has 21 cities with a population over 5 million people (compared to 2 in the United States), while more than 150 cities have over 1 million people. This human density alone is enough to shock even the most experienced traveler, and there are many more surprises in store during your stay. My best advice to you is to leave your preconceptions at home, as modern China has developed rapidly over the past 20 years. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind to minimize your potential culture shock:

1. BYOTP

Yes, that stands for bring your own toilet paper.

The Chinese-style squat toilet is the greatest surprise to most foreigners, and even in large cities it is often unavoidable. Your hotel is likely to have Western-style toilet seats, and so will any Starbucks, but even American fast food chains usually have ground-level fixtures where you will have to balance carefully while doing your business. Before you leave your hotel, make sure you’ve got portable toilet paper with you or tissues. Lots of public (and some private) restrooms don’t provide it. [Read more...]

I’m sure it has crossed your mind more than once, to just pack a bag, hop on a plane and see where life takes you. To go on an adventure far beyond your comfort zone, to discover new continents, foreign cultures and meet people who will inspire you and change your life forever.

I’m also pretty sure that you have told yourself that now is not the right time. Will the time ever be right to put your life on hold, and travel the world? I don’t think so, not unless you wan’t to save it for retirement. And if traveling the world is something that you have dreamt of for a long time, something that you almost feel like you need to do to be fulfilled – then you should keep reading. Below I have listed a few ways that you can travel the world on a very limited budget:

Workaway

Workaway is an organisation that enables travelers willing to work as volunteers for hosts (a host can be an  individual, a family or a group with a cause or an objective/goal) Volunteers or ‘workawayers’, are expected to contribute a pre-agreed amount of time per day in exchange for lodging and food provided by their host. As a traveler or language learner, volunteering with a family or for a small organization is an ideal way to get to become part of every day life in the country you are visiting, and to immerse yourself completely in a foreign language by interacting with different people on a daily basis through your work. [Read more...]

New York City reserves the holiday season for its moment of magical transformation, and the city tends to swell in size over the holidays, as millions of tourists rush to take in the sights and sounds of Christmas in the Big Apple. There is a special beauty in New York during Christmas time. Even the city’s side streets sing with cheer (literally, there’s Christmas music everywhere!), trees are adorned with white lights and wreaths go up in windows. Ever since I was 5 years old and watched Home Alone 2 with my family on Christmas Day (which became a Christmas tradition ever since), I dreamt of celebrating the holidays in New York with my family. I wanted to experience the feeling of walking the streets covered in lights and decorations, hearing Christmas music on every street corner, having breakfast at the Plaza and spending the entire day with my family in snow filled Central Park. It goes without saying that Christmas brings out the best in New York, and New Yorkers. If you haven’t found your Christmas spirit yet, here are a few things that will without a doubt bring out your inner kid that used to start counting down to Christmas months in advance:

1. Oh, the lights!

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Hurricane Sandy began in Jamaica on October 22nd, developing from an elongated tropical wave near the Caribbean sea and left a trail of death and destruction from North Carolina to Maine, New York to West Virginia, that may take years to fully recover from. The superstorm killed more than 70 people in the Caribbean before killing at least another 70 in the United States. It left tens of billions of dollars in damage, and crippled New York, which is only now crawling back to normalcy through never ending bus lines and gridlocked streets.

More than 12,000 flights were canceled due to the hurricane and the three main airports which serve New York City were shut down for two days. The Port of New York and New Jersey was shut down as well, and is likely to remain closed to vessel operations until at least Saturday when surveys of vessel channels are completed and marine terminals can clean up some of the extensive damage caused by the storm surge Monday night. [Read more...]

The island of fire and ice situated between the Greenland Sea and the Northern Atlantic Ocean is unique in more ways than one. The Saga Island has something to offer everyone, whether you are a family with small children or a group of friends looking for a weekend getaway.

A few quick facts

Capital: Reykjavik

Population as of January 1 2012: 319,575

Language: Icelandic

Climate: Temperate. Moderated by North Atlantic Current; mild, windy winters; damp, cool summers

Export partners: UK 17.4%, Germany 17.3%, Netherlands 11.2%, US 9.9%, Spain 6.3%, Denmark 5.1%, Norway 4.6%, France 4% (2003)

Export commodities: Fish and fish products 40%, aluminum, animal products, ferrosilicon, diatomite

Exports: $4.619 billion (2010 est.) $4.05 billion (2009 est.)

Import partners: Netherlands 30.71%, UK 12.73%, Germany 11.21%, Norway 5.75%, Spain 4.82% (2009)

Import commodities: Machinery and equipment, petroleum products; foodstuffs, textiles

Imports: $3.677 billion (2010 est.) $3.318 billion (2009 est.)

Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words, right? So here goes a whole chapter that proves why you need to experience Iceland first hand:

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Coming up with brilliant ideas takes creativity, but bringing them to life takes tremendous courage. Courage – is that all that separates entrepreneurs from the rest of us? I’d say there’s more to it, but the willingness to take life altering risks is a significant factor of entrepreneurship. Quitting your job to nurture your brainchild is not an easy step, and often thoughts of loss in income, health insurance and stability prevent us from doing so. You don’t have to quit your day job to give your brainchild legs to walk on, you can foster and develop it in your free time, create a business plan and pitch it to close friends and family for feedback, or even better – a venture capitalist.

The definition of an entrepreneur is an enterprising individual who builds capital through risk and/or initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity. According to economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950), entrepreneurs are not necessarily motivated by profit but regard it as a standard for measuring achievement or success. Schumpeter discovered that they greatly value self-reliance, strive for distinction through excellence, are highly optimistic (otherwise nothing would be undertaken), and always favor challenges of medium risk (neither too easy, nor ruinous).

You shouldn’t wake up every morning not feeling excited about the day ahead of you, as much of a cliche as it may be – life is too damn short not to love what you do. It may not be easy to find your passion, but somewhere buried in the back of your head it lies dormant, waiting for the day you become the architect of its vision. [Read more...]

Choosing the right University for your graduate studies is not an easy task. Not only will your decision follow you for the rest of your life, shape your career path and future success, it may also put you in serious debt. Saying that a Masters Degree in the United States is expensive is an understatement. Student loan debt now tops credit card debt among Americans!  In 2009, spending by Americans for post-secondary education totaled $461 billion, an amount 42% greater than in 2000, after accounting for inflation. This $461 billion is the equivalent of 3.3% of total U.S. gross domestic product and an amount greater than the total GDP of countries such as Portugal, Norway and Sweden. Unlike American universities, a majority of universities in Western Europe are subsidized by the state and students are offered financial support, either with grants or soft loans. These grants/loans are mostly spent on food and living costs, as a majority of the universities are tuition-free. So before you narrow down your list of graduate schools, make sure you take a good look at what Europe has to offer. It might be the smartest decision you ever make (says the European who moved to America to get her degrees). Below is a list of the highest ranked universities in Europe:

1. University of Oxford
United Kingdom

As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford University has won eight Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher Education, more than any other university. Graduate students make up around 44% of the total student body at Oxford, and 61% of them come from outside the UK.

Website: http://www.ox.ac.uk/

Tuition: http://www.ox.ac.uk/feesandfunding/fees/information/universityrates/201314feerates/ [Read more...]

Williamsburg is a neighborhood with multiple personalities. This warehouse-filled, once industrial area now has a thriving arts and music scene, stellar restaurants, cutting-edge entertainment, and some of the city’s most interesting shopping destination. I mentioned this neighborhood briefly in my article “6 “Hidden” Gems in New York”, but this time I want to take you across the Williamsburg Bridge, and show you why a visit to this neighborhood is an absolute must.

The first artists moved to Williamsburg in the 1970s, drawn by the low rents, large spaces available and convenient transportation, with only one subway stop from Manhattan. This continued through the 1980′s and increased significantly in the 90′s as earlier destinations such as SoHo and the East Village became gentrified. [Read more...]