The constant river Seine flows through the heart of Paris, a meandering muse that divides the city into two distinct halves, the Rive Droite (the right bank, or northern half) and the Rive Gauche (the left bank, or southern half).  Most travelers find themselves strangely attracted to one side or the other and remain fondly enamored for the rest of their lives.

Are you gauche or droite? Answer the questions below and find out.

1. On the flight to France you are dreaming of the perfect Parisian dining experience. You see yourself:
    A. Seated in an elegant restaurant having a fabulous five-course meal
    B. At a sunset picnic overlooking the river Seine or under the Eiffel Tower, savoring a bottle of red wine

2. You arrive in Paris, but your luggage does not! You need some new clothes, and fast. You grab some euros and go:
    A. Right to rue Saint-Honoré to the houses of high fashion and haute couture like Louis Vuitton and Chanel- after all, you are in Paris!
    B. To browse at street markets, boutiques, and small student shops on the Boulevard St-Michel- maybe you can find a deal!

3. Ah, a night on the town! You can’t understand much French, but you know that body language will help you comprehend the story of the:
    A. Ballet at the opulent 19th century Opera Garnier
    B. Comedy show in a restored art house theatre near Odéon

4. Before the show, you want to celebrate cocktail hour a la française. You are found:
    A. With a glass of champagne in the swanky bar at the Ritz hotel
    B. Sharing a carafe of table wine at a sidewalk café

5. You’re hopping on the train for a day trip. You take the:
    A. RER C to Versailles, the magnificent gilded chateau and expansive gardens built by France’s greatest king, Louis XIV
    B. Train from Gare St-Lazare to Giverny, the small cottage home and tangled gardens of Impressionist painter Claude Monet

6. Which other city do you dream about visiting (or LOVED when you were there)?
    A. London
    B. Prague

7. After an inspiring week in Paris, you only have one afternoon left to take in an art museum. You take the Metro to:
    A. The Louvre, for a quick foray into the largest art museum in the world; enough great artwork for a lifetime of afternoons, but you can still see the classics in a former royal palace: the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Delacroix, Michelangelo and Raphael
    B. The Musée d’Orsay where you head to the third floor to stare in wonder at an amazing array of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists such as Monet, Manet, Renoir, Gauguin, and Van Gogh, all housed in a converted train station

8. Paris is the capital of style. Which words best describe yours?
    A. Classy and refined with a touch of glamour
    B. Bohemian and unique with just a little funkiness

9. If you left Paris without doing this, you would be crushed:
    A. Strolling down the Champs-Elysées to the dramatic Arc de Triomphe
    B. Sitting in a sidewalk café with a coffee or a glass of wine, watching the world swirl around you

10. And finally, imagine yourself as a soon-to-be-famous Parisian living three hundred years ago. Who are you?
    A. The future King or Queen, in line to take the throne and rule the country
    B. The next big avant-garde artist, soon to be discovered for your innovative style

What is your score?

If you answered mostly A’s: You have an innate appreciation for the finer things in life and are drawn to Paris for the glamour, elegance, style, and romance it epitomizes, and you are in good company. You will love the RIGHT BANK, just as kings, queens, nobles and celebrities have for centuries. Stroll down the tree-lined boulevards, relax in the garden of the Palais Royale, imagine yourself with a chic address in the Place des Vosges, and enjoy the pomp, grandeur, and sophistication of the rive droite.

If you answered mostly B’s: You are attracted to the unconventional and the offbeat and are interested in experiencing the real Paris. You belong on the LEFT BANK, drinking a café express at the tables that countless writers, artists, and philosophers have occupied before you. Get lost in the winding streets of the Latin Quarter, explore the art galleries of Saint-Germain, plan for a picnic in Luxembourg Garden, and immerse yourself in the free-spirited energy of the rive gauche.

***DISCLAIMER***
Of course, no city can be broken down into two definable parts, not the least Paris. There are dozens of neighborhoods in this cosmopolitan city, each with their distinctive feeling and moods; even a certified leftie can find themselves drawn to the royal Tuileries Gardens, and a rightbanker may become captivated by the boisterous Mouffetard Market. So don’t define yourself or the city so easily, instead, travel toward what thrills you, explore all that you can and you will always grow into a more enriched human being!

In Bangkok it is easy and recommended to get lost, and getting found again is as close as the nearest taxi or tuk-tuk. Tuk-tuks careen around Bangkok, belching diesel fumes into your face to the unmistakable sound: tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk. Taxis here are colorful too; most are neon pink with a few sky-blue and lime green ones mixed in. Taxis have AC, which is nice, however they can't compare with the tuk-tuk, every single one of which is different.

Traffic is insane, from the zillions of scooters to the taxi boats on the river- when the long boat gets next to the dock and is bouncing back and forth on the buoys, the driver just says, "JUMP!" and you have to leap from the boat to the shore over slimy brown water that would no doubt land you in the emergency room if it landed in you.

The drivers here have a miniscule idea of the space needed between vehicles, and lane markers are merely a suggestion, like helmets for your toddler on a motorcycle. Taxis have multicolored flashing disco lights alongside their brake lights, and the air is hot and humid and 98% diesel fumes.

Hubcaps are red, yellow, green; the bench seat that you sit on is rainbow-striped or fake blue snakeskin. The silver rails which you hold on to for dear life are embellished with curlee-cues and from the front photos of the king, Buddha, the driver's kids or the Thai Britney Spears gaze back at you. Most have a silver plate reading "THAILAND" on the back above their license plates, and you can fit as many people in a tuk-tuk as you can cram- my personal record is six.

Tuk-tuks aren't just three-wheeled little open-air trikes that race around the city stuffed with tourists- they are emblems of Thailand itself and carry the driver as well as his personality. Their multi-colored brake lights are the same as those on rocket ships at Chucky Cheese; their dashes are sparking lime green and decorated with stickers from happy-faces to elephants. Riding in a tuk-tuk is a quintessential experience for travelers to Thailand and the little sputtering vehicle is perhaps the best symbol of the colorful, fun-loving country.

Maine is the northeastern-most state in the union and is so far away and isolated, many people think its in Canada, and even kids from Vermont make jokes about the lack of TVs and other pop culture media "down east."

But the rugged, maritime culture of Maine is rooted in the immense beauty of the state; look far into the backwoods and deep into Penobscot Bay and you will find a fresh beauty unlike any other place in America.

I called Maine my home for almost three years, and here are my Top Ten Reasons to Go to Maine:

1.    To eat lobster on the beach along with clams and corn, all steamed next to the ocean and under a bed of seaweed, followed by a jump in the cold Atlantic to wash yourself off.

2.    To sail on a traditional wooden schooner like the Timberwind and jam the wind with a crew of salty sailors- and maybe even become one yourself.

3.    To ride the mountain at the Camden Snow Bowl, the only ski resort in the world with a wicked view of the Atlantic Ocean, and catch the National Toboggan Championships in February of each year.

4.    To indulge in blueberry season with fresh pies, tarts, and pancakes- served with Grade A maple syrup, of course. More about the chocolate than the fruit? Try a classic New England Whoopie Pie.

5.    To go ice fishing. Sitting out on a frozen lake staring at a hole in the ice waiting for fish may seem a little boring to you, but add a wood-fired sauna on shore and a large helping of coffee brandy and milk (the Maine State Drink) and you will understand this northern obsession.

6.    To tie a sled to the back of a snow mobile by a long rope and get your friends to pull you around in circles over snowy hills. NOT recommended after indulging in the Maine State Drink.

7.    To walk in a field of lupines, tall elegant flowers which dot the countrysides in spring in a palette of purple, pink, white, yellow and fuchsia. Visiting in autumn? The bright red leaves of the sugar maple tree will blow your
mind.

8.    To truly understand the essential need for gloves, hats and scarves which are not accessories in Maine, but necessities (during the six-month snow season, anyway).

9.    To share your days with the wildlife: sea lions who pop into bays at low tide, families of foxes playing in your backyard, bright birds of all colors sipping seeds out your windows, and the regal moose, lumbering through the backwoods of Maine and into your heart.

10.    To breathe in the smell of the sea and the firmament of the forest, letting the raw salty air and deep piney green soak into your body and become part of your person. Natural beauty defines Maine, and will delight you. Ayuh.

“Okay, you start washing the laundry and I’ll run to the grocery store and buy some wine and cheese for our picnic on the beach,” I said to my boyfriend Joe as I walked out of the hotel room.

“Sweet, see you soon!” he replied, dumping out a garbage bag full of dirty laundry onto the bathroom floor.

We had been backpacking across Europe for almost a month; having traveled through the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain, we know found ourselves in Anzio, Italy.

Anzio is a little town about an hour south of Rome by train, and I had wanted to visit the ocean-side town to swim in the waters where my grandfather had landed over fifty years before. Anzio was the site of one of three amphibious landings that the young soldier participated in during World War II. Remember the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan? Yeah. My grandpa had no desire to see that movie. He had lived it. Three times.

My boyfriend and I were budget travelers extraordinaire and had planned to camp out on the beach under the stars; however the appearance of more than a few unsightly characters around our lean-to tent convinced us that the smart decision was to book a room at a cheap hotel.

We were used to hostels and similar budget accommodation, and the little hotel felt palatial with its TV, window and private bathroom. Taking advantage of the latter, we decided to finally deal with the growing mountain of garbage laundry we had in our backpacks by washing it in the sink and using the hotel’s laundry line to dry it overnight.

I returned to the hotel room with a bag of picnic goodies in hand, excited to get the laundry washing over with and hit the beach for a sunset dinner on the sand. But Joe had things well under way, and not exactly how I expected.

“What’s this extra sink for?” he asked, hunched over the bidet which was full of warm soapy water and my clothes. He was nearly elbow-deep in the “extra sink” as I explained to him that it was actually a bidet, used to wash, well, butts.

BUT- what can you do at that point? We finished up the laundry and headed to the beach, toasting our travel lesson under the setting Italian sun.

Photo by JMazzolaa.

Thailand is a shopper's paradise; travelers tell tales of being able to fill a suitcase with souvenirs for twenty American dollars, and this is true.

In Bangkok you can buy anything you want, from perfectly fake California drivers' licenses or university degrees to a watermelon shake served in a plastic bag (they give you a straw). Men with no legs pull themselves along the pavement hawking squeaky duck puppets for a quarter. The Chatuchak weekend market has over 15,000 booths, making it the mother of all markets- the big, fat mother.

Everyone is selling something and asking five times the amount you ought to pay for it. Cops wear Johnny Walker emblems alongside their badges- perhaps they are sponsored? And you can get a cup full of crickets to munch on as you peruse the false Adidas, Converse, Von Dutch, fake EVERYTHING for sale. Name your price. There are also huge shopping malls selling real name brand clothes for half the cost of the same in America, but who wants to buy that? Boring.

Much more fun are the open-air markets, which seem to make up 75% of the city. While looking for an amulet market I found a flower market where ladies were stringing together bright yellow chrysanthemums to hang in devotion. The markets are the wheels that turn and fuel the madness of Bangkok with all of their unidentifiable fruits and strange smells- smells that at once wash over you like a wave and make you sure you are about to puke- until you are hit in the face by the smell of fresh tangerine juice, or grilling bananas, or the omnipresent street-corner Phud Thai dealer. The best smells in the world and the worst smells in the world mingle together, and that is the smell of Bangkok.