Month: January 2012

Every year, my packing list for gadgets seems to get a little longer (thankfully, gadgets are getting smaller). What electronics do you have to have by your side, and what purpose do you use them for? Do you use ebooks or paper guidebooks?

What travel resources do you use the most (and why) before you go on a Europe trip? I’d love to know what your go-to online tools are when traveling for research, finding hotels and restaurants, scouting for transportation information, etc.

Even a few years ago, it seemed implausibly expensive to bring your own mobile phone to Europe. Now that phone calls are getting (a little) cheaper and free hotspots make it easy to download data, do you travel with your mobile phone? If so, to what extent do you use it? If not, how do you make phone calls while you’re traveling?

As a student traveler sleeping in dives, just getting a warm trickle of water was a challenge. Later, figuring out how to use the shower was a trick. Now, more rooms have showers and more showers function easily and well. When traveling in Europe, how much of a concern is finding a shower and then being able to use it without freezing or scalding yourself? What kinds of issues have you had with European showers and bathrooms?

I love the idea of creatively finding a free bed in Europe. I used to do it routinely. These days, I usually sleep in hotel rooms. How much a part of the equation is sleeping free for you? What super cheap options (couch surfing, AirB&B, other social B&B networks, etc) are useful to you and why?