I was recently nominated by the Trip Base Travel Blog to possibly be a part of their E-book on best kept travel secrets.

They are compiling this amazing list from travelers near and far of great travel tips, lesser known destinations, and hidden gem restaurants or hotels. Of course, as with any list like this, any ‘gem’ will no longer be so secret. But, alas, that is the way of today’s information age, I suppose.

So here goes. Here are three of my best kept travel secrets…soon to be not so secret anymore. You can also see more of my own tips here and soon here on my ‘Ever-Expanding Tips’ page.

1. Destination: Bozcaada Island, Turkey (pronounced: bose-jah-dah)

This tiny island off the west coast of Turkey is one of only two inhabited Turkish islands in the Aegean amidst a sea of Greek Isles. It is a dry, yellow-hued scrubby little island with picturesque wine vineyards blanketing its sunny slopes. It has a charming cobblestoned main village that is filled with mostly locals and thankfully really isn’t a big stop on the tourist trail. The main industries are fishing, tourism, and wine production. The population is mostly Turkish but there are still about 30 ethnic Greeks living here.

It’s a great escape from Istanbul and just ‘off the beaten path’ enough to be an island of mostly vacationing locals and not the hordes of tourists going to the other islands in the Aegean Sea. Gorgeous blue waters, tasty local fare & wine, and lots of sun. Ah, the simple life.

2. Travel Tip: Most Credit Cards (including highly publicized ‘travel’ card, American Express) charge you a fee if you charge something in a different currency. I use Capitol One which (at the time of this writing) does NOT charge a fee or percentage. What’s in your wallet?!

3. Great, off-the-beaten-path Hotel: Inn-Berlin

This small hotel in hip Berlin is shiny, bright, modern, and spotless, and its owners, Ralph and Yvonne, are extremely friendly and helpful.

The rooms are bright and clean, and all have fluffy down comforters encased in colorful duvets. The style is Ikea-minimal with clean lines. Rooms have cool and whimsical murals on their walls, and most importantly, they all come with their very own good-luck gnomes!

The Inn-Berlin is located a bit north of central Berlin, but the trip to most of the city’s main districts can be made in just fifteen minutes on either the U-Bahn or S-Bahn.

**As requested my Trip Base…I now tag and nominate these five bloggers to share their best travel secrets on their blogs: 360 in 356, Lives of Wander, Killing Batteries, Ms Traveling Pants, Travel Betty.

There is no way I could just be a tourist in the world for 2 ½ years.  I knew I had to mix it up to prevent boredom and burnout. I craved variety in my everyday life, so why would my life on the road be any different? Yes, of course, the constant change of scenery, culture, and people was variety in and of itself, but I knew I couldn’t just keep showing up in a new town each week and essentially continue to ‘walk around the world for a year.’  I needed to do, ya know, stuff. I needed to immerse myself somehow in society and feel like a part of it.  To start this process, I did different things like a Spanish Immersion program in Costa Rica (Spanish lessons in the morning and yes, surfing lessons in the afternoon) or a two-week, several-hundred mile bicycle trip down the length of Vietnam. But I needed even more structure. I needed…a job (cue shrieking horror music).

Now, just the sheer fact that I decided to blog about my trip and also write travel articles to be published elsewhere means that I was already working. I was trying to make time each week to sit and just write – a very hard thing to do when you are sitting in Rome or Cairo or Hong Kong and there are so many things around you vying for your attention.

Besides my new ‘day job’ as travel writer and photographer, I landed a few other actual jobs around the world.

1. Barrista and sandwich maker at a café in Melbourne
2. TV producer and reporter in Chile
3. Private business English tutor in Istanbul
4. Media proofreader in Istanbul
5. Actress in American Feature film in Istanbul
6. Research Assistant at the University of Cologne helping conduct an International survey on Airline/Airport Relationships
7. Writer and proofreader at publishing company in Berlin
8. Publicist for English Immersion company in Madrid
9. Extra in Hollywood
10. Pet Sitter around the world (Istanbul, LA, Chicago)

But many have asked me how did I find all these jobs? Did I look before I went on my trip?  The simple answer is no.  I simply arrived in a new place with the random idea that I could maybe find work there. In Australia, I spoke the language (sort of), so it seemed like a natural place to find a job other than teaching English. In Turkey, it’s all about connections and once I met one person…the ball just started rolling.  Besides that, I used persistence, word-of-mouth, and friends’ connections and a lot of smiles.

So, on this adventure, I worked all over and found it to be another great way to “go local.”  I lived in one place for an extended amount of time. I had a place to live. I took public transport (or a bicycle in Melbourne) to work. I had a schedule. I had a paycheck (well, cash). I truly felt like part of the fabric of society. And I actually gained some new skills, but most importantly I made real friends.

To hear more about my working around the world, listen to this podcast interview I did for Chris Christensen at the Amateur Traveler.

Amateur Traveler Episode 194 – Work and Travel Around the World

It’s an interesting time in America and the rest of the world. Being abroad during this election season, is giving me a different perspective. Your first thought may be I’m missing something. But the US elections are huge news everywhere and just as important to the rest of the world as they are to us. Thankfully though I’m not inundated by media and lip-flapping pundits here-perhaps because most of it is French so I just can’t understand it anyway, nor do I normally have a TV.

Absentee Ballot

While in Berlin, I went to www.votefromaborad.org and was able to print out my absentee ballot application and a ‘write-in ballot’ and mail it in. The process was mostly painless, except that once I mailed that and they received it a couple weeks later, I then actually had to fill out a second more ‘official ballot’ that they emailed to me and then I could fax that from France to the NJ elections office (oh yeah, I’m voting in NJ where my current permanent address is at dad’s and NJ is inching a bit closer to becoming a swing state) and then had to mail them the hard copy. Thankfully there are no chads on my ballot–hanging, dimpled, or otherwise. So the process is either really accurate and careful OR I just voted three times.

One day I was hanging out at a café in Berlin called St. Oberhotz where a large number of laptopers and expats seem to hang out downing coffees and sucking in the free wifi all day. There was a guy sitting at a hightop table near the door with a small sign affixed to a clipboard that read: US Voters – Help. This expat American voluntary sat here once a week and helped overseas Americans register to vote and find the necessary links to be able to fill out their absentee ballot. I told him I had already sent my ballot in, but he continued to look up the name and phone number for me of the woman I should call at the NJ elections office to confirm she’d received my ballot.

Then a few weeks later I found myself in Paris joining a fellow expat New Yorker I’d met through Couchsurfing, at a ‘Democrats Abroad’ debate party. Since most of Europe is 7 hours ahead of New York, it’s hard to watch the debates here unless you want to tune into the BBC or CNN International at 4am. So the following night they scheduled an event for the many expats living in Paris who wanted to watch the Obama/McCain town hall faceoff. It was held in a lovely cinema-style screening room in Paris’ Cine-Aqua, a sort of Aquarium.

Proud to be American

I am more proud than ever to be voting in this election. During my travels over the last two years, I’ve gone from criticizing my own country, to defending it, and back again. It’s hard to be the one “American” in the room trying to explain all the aspects of being American-many of which I have come to appreciate more while away-but something else I just can’t do. I am American, but I am certainly not a spokesperson for all Americans or the United States government.
I am proud of where I come from and very lucky in many ways. But I think this is something hard to even appreciate when it’s all you know. It’s actually the foreigners that sometimes make me more aware of how fortunate I am to be free and have so many opportunities in my grasp. That being said, since I have never really lived in another country, how can I say the US is the best one? How do I know that growing up in France or Sweden wouldn’t provide the same opportunities or perhaps even more? I can’t say this. Who can – unless they’ve actually done it. Unfortunately, in today’s world, being an “American” has become complex and comes with many stereotypes and stigmas. I want to be proud to be an American because, of course, I love my country. But this does not have to mean I love everything.

Just please vote.

Berlin is a city on the move. It is one of those rare places that grabs you, takes hold, and never lets you go. You can’t help but love a city that looks back and acknowledges its (undisputedly awful) past with great reflection, no more denial, and respect for the tragic events that either took place or were rooted here. And at the same time Berliners are not just looking toward the future, but sprinting toward it with progressive thought, bold ideas, and striking architecture.

City of Neighborhoods

I tend to like cities that are big and thriving, but made up of smaller, friendlier neighborhoods where one can build a life and a community. Berlin has this. For a more local, neighborhood-feel you can find  a place to stay in the hip, leafy ‘hoods of Prenzlauer Berg or Kreuzberg (pronounced kroitz-berg).  P’berg is situated in the heart of what was East Berlin. This area had become rundown and filled with squatters after the fall of the wall. Yesterday’s bohemian, alternative-artist types have morphed into today’s hipster pierced parents pushing prams around the quaint, refurbished blocks past innumerable cafes and independent boutiques. During an afternoon stroll around Kollwitzplatz, you can stop in for a latte and a quiche slice at the Anna Blume Café and enjoy sidewalk seating under the awning while watching the young urbanites walk on by. For a younger vibe, head just a few blocks over to Kastanienallee (say that three times fast) where actors, artists, and expats are often found at many of the cafes and bars.

Afterwards you can head north a few blocks to the Kulturbrauerei -a former beer brewery turned ‘culture brewery’ with a lively mixed use space of galleries, restaurants, and cinemas.  Also here you will find Berlin on Bike. They do a comprehensive and down to earth four-hour city tour – very worth the 17 Euro cost. Seeing the flat city on two wheels is a great way to get an overview of this sprawling town and much less ‘insulated’ than one of the many double-decker bus tours around. Besides watching out for cars, you will notice how bike-friendly Berlin is by all your fellow cyclists whizzing about. From your bike saddle, you will see the tourist musts:

• Alexanderplatz and the Fernsehturm (TV Tower)
• Hackescher Markt
• Berlin Dom and Museum Island
• Unter den Linden
• Potsdamer Platz and huge modern Sony Center complex
• Checkpoint Charlie
• The Berlin Wall
• The Reichstag and other modern government office buildings
• Brandenburg Gate
• The Holocaust Memorial
• The Tiergarten – Berlin’s huge, ‘Central Park’

Back in Prenzlauer Berg there are several choices for Berlin accommodations. For something a bit more affordable I checked into the EastSeven Hostel – one of the nicest hostels I’ve ever stayed in. It’s a squeaky clean place with singles, doubles and dorms. There is a great backyard with tables and even a grill and a lounge and kitchen to use at your disposal.

The more arty bunch of today have left Prenzlauer Berg behind and are pushing the limits in Friedrichshain – around the grungy-turned-trendy Boxhagener Platzand in Kreuzberg – dining on tapas or Indian food on Bergmanstrasse or hanging out at the bars lining the Landwehrkanal (canal) during the balmy summer months until the wee hours.

If I lived here I would pick one of these neighborhoods to live in. And living here seems pretty easy – you can find a small one bedroom apartment for under 500 Euros. No wonder so many people are moving here Quentin Tarantino has flat here, Brad Pitt bought a place here (both are in town filming Quentin’s latest flick currently titled “Inglorious Bastards“, Even 80′s pop star Joe Jackson moved here. Now that says something. I think.  Berlin is one of the cheapest and coolest cities in Europe to live in…something I just might do.

The first time I traveled around the world, I really wasn’t running away from anything. It was more like I was running toward something – a dream; doing something I had always wanted to do, but just never could. But then a small window opened and I slipped out into the world and never looked back.

That was two years ago now. Starting October 2006, I left the comforts of my well-appointed home in Chicago and traveled, literally, around the world – staying with friends, meeting strangers who became friends, and having the time of my life. Fifteen months later, I returned to the US. For eight months I bopped between coasts from New York City to Chicago to Los Angeles and back to New York again. And now I actually think I am running away – away from having to ‘root’ myself in an ordinary life; away from having to make a decision about where to live; away from having to work full time again; away from having to pay actual bills and away from the reality of the fact that eventually I will have to give up this vagabond lifestyle and someday buy a bed of my own again.   Or maybe I figure I should just keep traveling until I just can’t stand it anymore. But I think that is highly unlikely.

I am sitting in seat 21D on a Swiss Air flight headed to Europe.  This time around it didn’t seem as monumental leaving the US and all; sort of anti-climatic actually.  No goodbye parties. No big farewells. No major life changes.  I just hopped the subway to JFK in New York City and blew a kiss goodbye to one of my favorite cities.

And soon I will be in Berlin, perhaps my favorite city from my last trip. I am returning for several meetings/interviews for some possible freelance opportunities. Then I will be heading to France and Italy for a few months. I’ve been to these popular destinations a few times before, but not on my last trip. Paris was the first city I had ever set foot in in Europe more than 10 years ago and it had me at ‘bon jour.’ And Italy, oh Italia, I’ve been three times and am anxious to return to see if I still love it like I did every time I was there in the past.

Then I’m not sure where my wanderings will take me. As any traveler knows, my list has not gotten any shorter. In fact the more you travel, the longer it gets. This trip is currently looking something like this:

• Berlin
• France (Paris, Normandy, Lyon, Swiss Border towns, Provence, Bordeaux ?)
• Italy (some of these: Turino, Verona, Assisi, Gubio, Orevieto, Bologna, Perugia, Arezzo, Lucca, Roma, Sicily)
• Malta
• Cyprus ?
• Egypt
• Israel
• Jordan
• Istanbul
• St. Petersburg
• The Baltics (Latvia, Lithuania)
• Denmark
• and eventually back to Berlin and Paris again.

As always, if you know anyone - friend, family, animal, mineral – in any of these locales, please let me know. I would really appreciate it. I love to meet new people and have new friends when I get to a new town.

Unlike the last trip, this time I do have a return ticket. For two reasons: one, I’m taking advantage of all my racked up frequent flyer miles and flying for free to and from Europe therefore needing to book an actual roundtrip ticket and, two, I have a ‘save the date’ in New Jersey in the Spring.  I will return home for my father’s wedding. After thirty odd years of bachelorhood, dear old dad is tying the knot and my tiny family is getting just a bit bigger. Mazel Tov!