Ramble on.

The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on December 1, 2008.

This winter, I am headed to the beach. Not the actual beach, unfortunately, because my wallet is a few Andrew Jacksons short of a plane ticket. Instead I’ll be heading to Park Slope’s newest watering hole, the beach-themed Cabana Bar.

Cabana Bar quietly opened a few weeks ago, just before its neighboring restaurant, Playa. Even on the chilliest of nights, the beach atmosphere at Cabana can just about make you forget that cold weather has arrived. The ceiling is all glass, giving the feeling of letting in the night sky while keeping out the cold. A faux palm tree shoots through the center table, dominating the room. A crashing wave mural graces the far wall, across from the tiki-thatched bar. All that’s missing is the sand, and the corniness that ruins other themed bars.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on November 24, 2008.

On yet another chilly afternoon, I ventured to the New York Transit Museum for my weekly dose of culture. The green globe at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street marks the subterranean entrance to the museum, housed in the now-defunct Court Street station.

Our first stop on the Transit Museum tour was Steel, Stone & Backbone: Building New York’s Subways 1900-1925. My friend and I marveled at images of the old City Hall station. With arches and intricate tile work, why can’t all our subway stations be that beautiful? (Maybe because the MTA has that pesky little budget shortage.) After perusing displays about Robert Moses, the evolution of rider currency, and the newly-renamed Triborough Bridge, we were ready to move to the hands-on exhibits.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on November 17, 2008.

It’s getting to be that time of year when we want to spend our weekends indoors, somewhere warm and dry. Since we can’t spend the entire winter in our apartments, museums in Brooklyn are a perfect antidote to cabin fever.

The Brooklyn Museum is a world-class museum that is literally in our backyard. While it may be the obvious choice for a post about museums in Brooklyn, I ask you this question: when was the last time you visited? For those of you who live outside of Brooklyn, it’s completely worth the short trip on the 2/3 train. (The subway stop is literally just outside the museum’s door.) To the Brooklynites among us, with an extensive permanent collection and special exhibits opening every month, the BMA begs another look.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on November 10, 2008.

Now that the election is over, we can get back to talking about the really important issue—food! In the month since I moved to Brooklyn, I’ve visited Flipsters twice, both times with friends who were big fans. It’s easy to see why this good-natured bar and grill in Park Slope become part of my friends’ restaurant repertoire.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on November 3, 2008.  I ended up making phone calls to Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, and Nevada, and all four states went blue.

We interrupt the usual Brooklyn coverage to bring you some important election information.  This is a historic election, and arguably the most important election of our lifetimes.   It is crucial that everyone votes on Tuesday, but there is more that you can do to turn the rest of the country a little bluer.  I spent time this weekend making phone calls at Obama’s New York headquarters, and I was surprised by how much fun it was.    The energy in the room is incredible–everyone is there to affect the outcome of this election.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on October 27, 2008.

When I was making plans with my friend Sarah this week, she sent me four Brooklyn restaurant choices, all with links and menus. Perhaps it’s because I looked at their website first, but Melt was the clear choice for our dinner date.

Situated in Park Slope just a few blocks away from the subways at the Atlantic Terminal, Melt was already winning points for being so conveniently located. For some reason I’d been expecting a bigger restaurant, possibly because their menu was so intriguing. The space was pleasantly small; with room enough for only about seventy people. With modern furniture and clean lines, Melt manages to be sleek and sophisticated without being pretentious.

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I write about Brooklyn every week for NYC’s Neighborbee blog.   The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on October 20, 2008.

Hello Noo Yawkers, it’s Julie here, Neighborbee’s new Brooklyn blogger. I’m back in the city after year-long travels, and now I have one more good reason to go out and explore my new borough.

Unsure of what haunt to cover for my first post, I called my friend Hils, a long-time Brooklynite. She suggested Camp, a Smith Street bar that had always intrigued her. “Julie,” she said, “they have S’mores.” That was all it took for me to agree to a 3-train trip across Brooklyn.  (Sidebar: why is it easier for me to go into Manhattan than to go to Smith Street? I really must look into buses.)

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• Inflatable neck pillow, eyemask, and foam earplugs: Indispensable for overnight buses or rowdy hostels, and the pillow will also come in handy when camping. Spend a few bucks on an eyemask with a soft lining, and keep the airplane freebie as a spare. Make sure the inflatable pillow has a removable, washable exterior.
• Convertible pants: Space in my backpack is precious, so everything must perform double duty. Convertible pants zip off at the knee into shorts. You’ll find these at outdoor stores like REI, EMS, The North Face, and Patagonia. Shop around to find a brand that fits and flatters, and remember these are “summer clothes” that won’t be in stores past September.
• Space Bags: Put clothes into these plastic bags, zip shut, and roll the air out.  I simply would not be able to fit all my clothes into my backpack without Space Bags, available at The Container Store.
• Collapsible water bottle: Both Nalgene and Platypus make soft water bottles that take up little space or weight when empty.
• Quick-dry towel: It may only be one foot long by two feet wide, but hey, it dries quickly.
• Sarong: If you’re going to be spending time on beaches, bring a sarong or buy one as a souvenir. I’ve used mine as a beach towel, dress, bathrobe, picnic blanket, and scarf.
• Video iPod: If you’re going to be on the road for a year, buy an iPod with the most memory available. Load it with as many TV shows and movies as it will hold, especially videos that you can tolerate watching over and over again. Ever wanted to watch all six seasons of Lost, from the start? Now is your chance. (Ripping DVDs takes time, so don’t leave this for the week before you depart.) Take advantage of all the free (!) podcasts on iTunes and stock up, especially on language learning podcasts like Coffee Break Spanish. Add some audiobooks and upload some games too, while you’re at it. When you are homesick or stuck on yet another 20-hour bus, your iPod will be your most valuable possession.
• Sleeping bag liner: Perfect for when it’s BYO linen, or when your sleeping bag needs to be just a bit warmer. Invest in a silk liner, which weighs less and takes up less space.
• Flash drive: This isn’t a must, but it’s nice to have, and they are teeny tiny. Use it to store scans of your passport, immunization records, and résumé. Flash drives are also perfect for transferring photos from your camera. Otherwise, be sure to store a scan of your passport in your online email account.
• Money stashes: To split up your cash and cards, you’ll need something in addition to a money belt. Try flip-flops with a secret compartment, a bra stash, or a belt with a hidden zipper. The flip-flops are heavy, but worth it.

Wondering what else is in my backpack? Tennis shoes, hiking boots, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, ten pairs of underwear, ten pairs of ankle socks, two pairs of hiking socks, three bras, one tank top, four short sleeve shirts, two long sleeve shirts, one skirt, a micro fleece, a 3-in-1 jacket, t-shirt and boxers for pajamas, three bikinis, sleeping bag, mini first aid kit, assorted toiletries, camera, journal, books, a deck of cards, backpack rain cover, small Swiss Army knife, one bandanna, one bucket hat, three luggage locks, electric plug adapters, one small bottle of hand sanitizer, and a copy of my travel insurance policy. Now that we are out of cold weather for the foreseeable future, I’m ditching the winter hat, scarf, gloves, and sweater I bought in South America.  Pack much less than you think you’ll need, I can’t say it enough.

What are your travel essentials?

Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, so we will both be making pilgrimages there before our time here is up. It’s the dry season here in FNQ, or Far North Queensland. Days are warm and sunny, nights are cool and clear, and you won’t hear us complaining about the weather. We’ll skedaddle long before the wet season starts in November, when torrential downpours occur daily and the air is so humid you could cut it with a knife.

With our bank accounts slowly making their way towards zero, and an extension to our trip until June 2009 (20 months total on the road), it was time to look for work. We’d looked for jobs in Noosa and Byron Bay, but since this was our last stop on Australia’s East Coast, we had to find jobs. And fortunately, we did. Right away, Jared found a gig working for Wicked Campers, which came with an unexpected perk–free accommodation. Jared spends his days renting camper vans to backpackers just like us, sharing all the tips that we learned on our drive up the coast. It’s a big change from his previous work as a sales executive in the fashion industry, but it’s stress-free fun for the time being. We live in a three-bedroom house above Wicked’s office with Jared’s two co-workers, Lucy from England, and Fabrice from France. It’s about a 30-second commute to work for Jared.

On my first day of looking for work in Cairns, I found two jobs within hours. I work four hours a day at a nearby bakery, go home for a break, then I wait tables at a hotel restaurant. Both gigs are within walking distance of our house. It’s nice to be working again, especially at the bakery, where I am surrounded by chocolate cakes, caramel tarts, and lemon meringue pies all day. I even got to make chocolate chip cookies on my second day, and the whole time I am thinking, “you’re paying me to do this? Sweet!” Life is sweet, indeed. I love working at the bakery, and it’s made me realize that our materialistic culture puts too much value on prestigous, high-paying jobs. Why do I have to have a high-powered career? Can’t I just be a baker?

The Australian dollar is almost equal to the U.S. dollar right now, but minimum wage is nearly double. Minimum wage here is almost $14 per hour, so when our employers told us what we would be paid, we smiled and said “that’ll do.” A strong Aussie dollar means everything is expensive here for us ($6 a gallon for gas, $25 restaurant meals), but at least now we are getting the flip side of that equation by earning Aussie bucks. Now that we’re working, we can finally afford that box of Froot Loops we’ve had our eye on.

So while we tuck into our toast spread with Vegemite, (it’s good, really!) check out our photos of life in Cairns.

In the nine months we’ve been traveling, Jared and I have slept in hostels, buses, planes, a tent, a camper van, and a station wagon. Now we can add one more to the list, a sailboat. We just got back from a three day/two night trip through Australia’s Whitsunday Islands, off the Great Barrier Reef.

We left for our sailing trip from Airlie Beach, which ironically does not have a beach. And it’s just as well, because the ocean north of the Tropic of Capricorn is inhabited by lethal box jellyfish in the summertime, which the Aussies amusingly call “stingers.” To make up for Airlie’s lack of Beach, the town has a free swimming lagoon. It’s basically a man-made swimming pool, but a beautiful one at that. On sunny days, it seems the whole town is sunbathing at the lagoon.

The entire town seemed to be desinged for tourists. We couldn’t find a movie theater, but there were hostels and bars aplenty. We stayed at Koala’s, which is a hostel chain in Queensland. I probably wouldn’t stay there again as it was run-down, loud, and we had our food stolen from the communal fridge, but it seemed like the other main hostels in town were just as bad. There isn’t much to do in Airlie outside of partying, but we also had a big night out with our boat when we got back, and it was fun!

For our sailing trip, we chose the Prima, a 47 foot yacht with capacity for twelve passengers plus two crewmembers. The cabin was snug but had plenty of room for everyone. Along for the ride were a German guy, an Irish couple, two Swedish girls, a Dutch girl, and three other Americans. (The four Americans onboard were the most Yanks I’d seen at once since we left the States. American travelers are few and far between here.) Including Steve the Skipper and Andy the deckhand, we really lucked out with this group, and would recommend this boat for anyone who wants more than just a party boat, although we did have some late nights.

The rain came down heavily as we left Airlie Beach and didn’t stop for two hours. By then we all donned rain jackets and went on deck. The rain kept us from snorkeling that day, but I was enjoying the novelty of being on a sailboat. (Well, except for when I nearly lost my lunch. Thank goodness for Dramamine.) Jared and I were both surprised to see that the islands were covered in pine trees, not palm trees. Although we were technically in the tropics, the Whitsunday Islands resembled the Pacific Northwest in the rain. That night we anchored in Refuge Bay, settled into our private, cozy room (the size of a closet, or Jared’s first New York apartment), and were rocked to sleep by the boat.

The next morning we stopped at Whitehaven Beach, reputedly home to the whitest sand in the world. Apparently it has an almost pure silica content, which NASA used to build the glass lens of the Hubble Space Telescope, just in case you were wondering. The beach is also one of the most photographed beaches in the world.

It had stopped raining for the most part, but the sky was still covered in grey clouds. The beach was gorgeous, but we could all imagine how beautiful the scene would be if the sun was shining. Andy kept us entertained by taking lots of silly photos of us posing on the beach. As luck would have it, the sun finally came out just after we left Whitehaven Beach.

That afternoon we went to two snorkeling sites, in surprisingly chilly water. In the coral reefs, we saw clown fish and a large Hawksbill sea turtle, who let us get really close to him. It was just like Finding Nemo down there – the coral was as good as Fiji. I think our skipper Steve took us to the less visited sites, so we were not complaining.

We finally had a full day of sunshine on the last day of sailing. We took advantage and all laid out on the small deck sunning ourselves. Jared was lucky to get another day of sailing in after the trip ended and it was the sunniest day of them all. Andy, our great deckhand, was taking part in a local yacht club race around some of the islands, and his boat needed extra crew. Jared and four others spent 8 hours racing a 42 foot yacht, and had a blast.