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It’s officially spring break, and we have two weeks off from class. Not going to lie, it won’t be much different than any

The Jigger in all its glory

other point during this semester, except for the fact that I don’t have my usual 4 hours of class a week.

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My backyard

This is my response to a post written by Gary Arndt titled “Commentary: Put Down the Guidebook, Pick Up the History Book”.  If you’ve never heard of Gary, he’s the man, and you should definitely check out his site. He’s a world traveler, and a pioneer in the travel blog community.

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I’ll be the first to admit, I had no idea how to book a flight before I came abroad. I didn’t realize all you really have to do is pick a date and time, throw down your passport info (if you’re going to a foreign country), and type in your credit card number. I’m not really too embarrassed about it either. Every time I’ve flown before, someone else has booked the flight for me, and I’m assuming it’s the same for just about every other college student out there. Well it’s time to take your flight booking virginity because if you plan on doing any traveling while abroad, I doubt you’ll want your parents doing it for you every time.

What better way to start than with your first transoceanic flight to your abroad university half way around the world. At its simplest, the process is pretty much what I outlined above, and when you’re booking flights for your travels while abroad, there isn’t much more you have to consider. But your flights to and from home are a little different. Before you go book your $1200 flight to who knows where, take these things into consideration. It will save you a lot of time, money, and headaches in the long run.

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I had my first assignment of the semester due this Thursday for my Medieval Castles class – a 15 minute presentation

Intense Korfball

on Ayyubid Castles, exhilarating I know. I’m just pumped because I hate public speaking, even if it’s only in front of 20 people.  Not to mention, I’m pretty sure I aced that bad boy. I had the same professor and the same assignment last semester, and I completely tanked it and still got a decent grade, so due to the fact that this one was infinitely better, I’m assuming I got a pretty good grade. No more assignments for another month.

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Like the commercial says, Amsterdam is a “dam” good city. But there’s a few mistakes you can make that will ruin your trip. Now I’m no expert on the Dutch penal code, but I’ve picked up a few tips while I was there that will make your trip a lot more memorable. Here they are:

1. Don’t buy drugs from anyone in the streets, especially in the Red-light district at night. There are a few reasons for this, the first of which is really common sense. You have no idea who’s selling it to you, and you have no idea what it’s laced with. Second, while smoking marijuana is “tolerated” in coffee shops, sale of it on the streets is illegal. Cops are pretty lax, but they do have the power to arrest you if they feel like it.

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