I’ve been reflecting quite a bit recently on my decision to live in Berlin — what am I doing here? how did I end up here? Is this what I really want? With spring and the eventual end of winter, it finally feels like the right time to figure out some things.

Trying to figure out what to do with my life has been a lifelong challenge. But one that I’m prone to think is fairly universal among my generation. With the internet came all this connectedness, and with that came too many distractions. I didn’t travel to figure out my life, but it did happen regardless. Traveling around the world taught me more about myself in such a short time than just about anything else I’ve done. I learned how important it is to enjoy life —if something isn’t enjoyable, best to get out of there as fast as you can.

When backpacking around the world I filled up more than a handful of Moleskine notebooks with lists of varying specificity. Things meant to help me figure out my life. In one entry from May 2011 (I was in Vietnam):

There are two things I think I’m fairly certain about: I want to live in London and I want to work with books. I could spend my weekends jetting around Europe. A beach one weekend; Italy the next. London’s great nightlife, music. I could really live it up with the right attitude and the right amount of money.

Oops. That wasn’t exactly what happened. Instead, I ended up in Berlin at a startup company which pretty much ruined any shred of respect for the travel startup industry. Though it was discouraging at first, I figured out what I wanted out of life and worked at that instead. It seemed to work for a while, life has even been pretty exciting. It’s been over a year since then and I find myself worrying and wondering about what to do with my life all over again. I suppose life really is like a circle.

* * *

On a separate entry from my travel journals…in a rather personal list from January 2011 (while in India—where I did most of my internal philosophizing), I wrote down the things I wanted to improve about myself and what I’d need to do to solve it. Pale skin? Live in a sunnier climate. Out-of-shape? Run. Too skinny? Exercise daily. Eat healthier. And so on.

I also wrote…

I need to live somewhere with TimeOut Magazine and a Burberry store.

The two pretty much epitomized what I was looking for out of life: amazing nightlife & culture, and a city with a fashion sense. Coming from Barcelona the other day, I guess I realize how much of a big city I’m still looking for. Berlin is a big city, yes, but it’s also rather small. People still like to refer to it as a “village.” I see it as an adolescent. The city is still coming of age since that momentous turn of events in 1989.

And maybe that’s what makes it so exciting to be here. I’m trying to figure myself out just as much as the city is. The beauty of Berlin is that you can make it whatever you want it to be. If only I knew what the hell I want!

Up to now, I’ve been in pretty good control of my own life. I’ve known what I wanted since I got here to Berlin, and more often than not I’ve managed to make it happen. You’ve probably noticed quite a bit of philosophizing on this blog of late—I hope you’ll still bear with me while I figure out what more is to come.

Are you currently trying to figure out your life? Have any tips?

The post Reflecting on the life that I’ve made for myself appeared first on the Travels of Adam blog.

Excited about the food in Barcelona!

That title is a mouthful but it’s pretty apt. You see, as much as I love Berlin in the month of May (best weather all year—sort of!), sometimes you just need to escape. I’ve been entrenched in German culture for the vast majority of my winter (think sausages, cold, Christmas and more cold), so as the weather has started to break, I’ve been itching to get moving again.

When the chance to visit Barcelona came up, I pretty much jumped at the opportunity. It’s been a year since I last visited, and it’s one of those cities that I know I’m supposed to like, but I just haven’t found my own way there. I was always one of those tourists who preferred Madrid over Barcelona, despite all signs that I should prefer BCN to Madrid. For starters, it has a beach and I’m a bit of a beach fiend.

This time around I’ll be relaxing on the beach (weather permitting) and researching some cool spots to  include in a future hipster city guide. On my last visit to Barcelona, I only really had two nights and pretty much saw the basic tourist sites—especially along Las Ramblas. For this visit I’ll try to delve into the city’s underground and see what I can discover. But I’m also terrible at planning, so I’m going to do the bulk of the exploration in person when I’m there…rather than online. If you’ve got some recommendations, feel free to shout ‘em out or share them with me here or on Facebook.

I’m also going to experiment more with video blogging. The goal is to create videos for my new YouTube channel from the trip. Hopefully one video for each day. It’s a test, though, as I haven’t ever done a daily vlog before. If you haven’t seen my new video blog (where I’m trying to be more personal), you can check it out here. The name is still pending, though. Have a suggestion? The “Travels of Adam Vlog” just sounds dopey to me.

* * *

Special thanks for this upcoming trip goes to European budget airline darling, Vueling, who is helping me get to the city. They’ve been advertising all over Berlin since they opened up their Berlin—Barcelona route last year. Ever since I flew with them in 2012, I’ve pretty much raved about their style and design. You can read my full review here.

Besides my airfare being covered by an airline I know and trust, this is a totally solo trip. No expectations except my own personal travel goals — which is to (1) relax, (2) have fun, (3) explore the hipster side of BCN. If the weather’s not great (fingers crossed that it is!), I’ll just head out of town for the day to see if I can’t find the Spanish sunshine I so desperately need.

Have a hipster Barcelona tip? Share it with me, please :)

The post When in doubt, book a plane ticket (or how I ended up with a last-minute trip to Barcelona) appeared first on the Travels of Adam blog.

Back in January I had the chance to revisit Palestine. I’ve been touting it as a tourist destination for a while, so I was happy to revisit again after years of avoiding the Middle East. I thought I’d share a few of my Instagram photos from my trips around the West Bank in Palestine.

While I didn’t stay overnight (I was a guest at Abraham’s Hostel in Jerusalem), I did spend several days exploring Palestinian cities. On this particular visit I briefly visited Ramallah, took a self-guided day trip via public bus to Nablus, a self-guided day trip to Bethlehem and another day trip to Hebron (with this tour). All together, I definitely came away with a renewed interest in Palestine as a tourist destination. So much so that I bought a copy of the official Visit Palestine travel book. If you’re looking for similar travel resources for Palestine, I highly recommend the Educational Bookshop in Jerusalem—located just outside Damascus Gate of the Old City.

My favorite Middle Eastern beer: Taybeh! Brewed in Ramallah, Palestine

Inside the Ibrahim Mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. So many colors!

Hebron in the West Bank. What an intense city with a long, complicated history.

Another wall in Palestine at Checkpoint “HaMinharot”

Aida Refuge Camp in Bethlehem, Palestine

Just a snapshot of Nablus in the West Bank (Palestine). It’s a very commercial city in a valley – and very scenic!

If you’ve enjoyed my Instagram photos from Palestine, be sure to follow me as “travelsofadam” on Instagram. I try to just share a single photo a day.
instagram.com/travelsofadam

The post Instagramming Palestine appeared first on the Travels of Adam blog.

Let’s talk about maps. There’s something poetic about putting a place onto paper. Not only is there a need and an usefulness for maps, but oftentimes there’s an emphasis on art & design. A well-designed map not only provides the information you need, but also provides you with an interest and a desire in discovering that information.

These days, paper maps are less and less frequent. Unless they’re something you pin up on your corkboard, collect from the hostel front desk or stow away in a travel journal, you’re likely using digital maps more than paper ones. And while I’m a big proponent for destroying the environment* for the sake of paper products (books, maps, notebooks), I also think there’s plenty to value in our new digital era. Historically, maps have provided important uses whether chronicling diseases (read The Ghost Map if you haven’t — it’s an important piece about a cholera outbreak in London which lead to the development of one of the most important maps in history) or navigation for ships.

Digital maps have been around for a while. MapQuest and Google Maps have provided drivers with turn-by-turn directions for years. With improved satellite surveillance and up-to-date information, maps are more than just driving references these days. Many online maps provide detailed information for public transport, bicycling paths, walking directions and, famously, embarrassing and amazing street view photography.

But maps aren’t just for getting from point A to point B anymore. Thanks to innovative developers and coders, you can find maps for all sorts of uses online. Sure, there are maps created just for fun with selective data (such as these), but there are others which serve unique and useful purpose.

Paper maps have been around for a long time, and I don’t see them disappearing anytime soon. Spend 5 minutes on Pinterest and you’ll start to see maps for any and every type of subject matter. But with this new digital era, maps are coming online and they’re having to prove their usefulness as well as their beauty. Maps are no longer stagnant objects but have a full life unto themselves. Digital maps can be updated instantly, provide live coverage or simply present data in a clear and purposeful manner. And despite my love for paper, I’m pretty excited about the prospects for digital cartography.

The Big Blog Map Project

That’s where the Big Blog Map comes in. The project is meant to curate interesting and useful travel blogs from around the world. If you poke around the website enough, any sort of wanderlust you might have could be easily cured (or perhaps enhanced). The Big Blog Map also provides custom-tailored maps for blogs and websites, for which I was provided my own personal map. You can explore my personal Travels of Adam map (exclusive to this website — with all my travel blog posts & city guides categorized geographically!) here: travelsofadam.com/map

Contact Ben at the Big Blog Map for your own map quote. And be sure to poke around my own Travels of Adam map to find all my content geographically!

*Please note: I don’t really believe that destroying the environment for the sake of paper is sustainable or enjoyable. But the touch of paper is undoubtedly important for nostalgic reasons as well as providing an oft-forgotten need to connect to nature. There are plenty of companies and services which provide recycled paper products. This Earth of ours is important, and recycling is an important part of maintaing a well-designed life.

The post The beauty of cartography in our digital era appeared first on the Travels of Adam blog.

If you ask me, beer and travel go hand-in-hand. From trips based around the hops & barley drink to those tourists that collect and try different beers from around the world, in most backpacking circles you’ll find a fair amount of beer.

My travel history with beer

When in Dahab, Egypt I met another backpacker who collected beer labels during his travels. When I saw him peeling off the label for an Egyptian beer and pasting it into his notebook, I immediately knew what I would do to commemorate my travels. I started collecting labels and pasting them in my notebook. Flipping through my five notebooks from my travels, I’ve now got more beer labels than any other type of souvenir — and each brand reminds me of specific travel adventures and destinations. There are four stand-out memories from my round-the-world adventure that focus on beer.

1. Beer in Spain
   In Spain, the beer is cheap and is often served with tapas. In Madrid I discovered the amazing place that is the Museuo del Jamon. Despite its name, it’s not a museum — but instead offers up cheap bocadillo sandwiches…with beer of course.
2. Beer in Thailand
   In college in the US, because the drinking age is 21, beer wasn’t something I couldn’t legally consume. When I did finally hit the golden age, I was eating pretty regularly at some cheap and local Thai restaurants. Pad Thai and Singha beer will always remind me of my college days. And when my sister returned from Thailand on a trip with her husband, the souvenir they brought back for me was a Singha beer t-shirt. So, needles to say, by the time I arrived in Thailand, I was pretty excited to try out the local beer on the local turf. I quickly learned there were much better Thai beers, though! 
3. Beer in Vietnam
   While the beer in Laos was memorable and oft-cited among backpackers (look up Beerlao), it’s the beer in Vietnam that stands out in my mind. With the cheapest beer in the world, I still remember wandering the streets of Hoi An trying to find a cheap local beer, sitting along the river and enjoying the sunset. On the streets of HCMC, I would sit at one of the plastic street-side tables drinking beer after beer with the other backpackers and the occasional cute local boy. If there’s a country in the world who knows the value in beer drinking, it must be Vietnam!
4. Beer in Berlin
   When I first arrived in Berlin as a tourist, I quickly learned about a few of the quintessential Berlin activities: street parties, open-air festivals and spätis. Specific to Berlin, the spätis are small convenience stores on just about every street where you can find cheap beer.

The Traveler Beer Company

It’s no surprise to discover that one beer company in the US has started to adopt the travel lifestyle for their own brand. The Traveler Beer Company launched in 2012 and offers craft beers around the travel theme. And just to make theme even more cool, they’ve adopted the European shandy style of beer. Shandys, if you don’t know, are often beers mixed with soda, lemonade or cider. In Germany, we call them Radlers.

And, just in time for summer fun, the Traveler Beer Company is launching a sweepstakes called “A Ticket to Ride” on their website and Facebook page. The Grand Prize includes 2 Eurail passes, 2 round-trip airline tickets to Europe (travel voucher for $1,000 per airline ticket,) 2 Curious Traveler backpacks and $500 traveling cash. Want to get in on it?  Get going! The sweepstakes runs through May 31!

If your’e a US resident, check out the Traveler Beer collection online, be sure to enter their contest, and then share below where you’ve enjoyed your favorite beer while traveling!

The post My travel history with beer—and a new craft beer for travelers! appeared first on the Travels of Adam blog.