So, I've decided to make the leap and go backpacking through Europe (and Morrocco and Iceland) this summer. I'm going to do it as economically as possible, staying in hostels and eating picnic meals.
I've been doing a lot of research to prepare so far but unfortunately, most of the guides I've been able to unearth are hosted by middle aged white males. Although I've learned a lot about the particular cities from these mainstream men (such as the ubiquitous Rick Steves) and even women (Samantha Brown) I am hoping to find a guide that more reflects my demographic, my interests and budget.
Can anyone suggest a video program hosted by a 20-something tour guide who is eco-conscious and city savvy? Who don't want to spend most of their time celebrating white men's war achievements? Who love being foreign locals and are not interested in simply finding the best places to get drunk in every town at night or taking as many photos of themselves in front of landmarks as possible during the day? Or has this niche yet to be explored in the travel guide world? I'm aware of written publications such as Let's Go, but I'm hoping to tap into a vivid and entertaining show...even if it's just on YouTube.
I work for an artist whose friends have created a promising show called TravelistaTV. Has anyone found anything in a similiar vein?
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I feel like I'm being unnecessarily argumentative, but:
You want a video travel guide hosted by a woman who doesn't talk about history or nightlife. You don't want to go sight-seeing. What topics do you want the guide to cover?
The only things left are food and shopping, but you say you're saving money so those are out. That leaves maybe theater and live music, but theater can be expensive and people get drunk at shows.
This started out argumentative but now I'm just confused. I've read this post a couple times and I still have no idea what you're looking for or what you're planning to do.
That said, have a great time in Europe.
I'm not the OP, but maybe she'd like to go to local festivals, parks, and/or scenic walks through the cities and countries. I could see wanting to do things that are less touristy and be involved in some of the more inexpensive things that the locals frequent.
I don't have any advice on travel books for the OP. But maybe you could find some travel communities online with suggestions on local attractions that are cheap and fun.
I counted parks and scenic walks as sight-seeing -- you tend to take a lot of photos -- but maybe I shouldn't have. Festivals are a great idea, although I'm not entirely sure where she can find that information.
When I travel, I do a lot of walking and cycling. I meander through neighbourhoods and alleyways, and oftentimes it would be helpful to know how safe I'd be in doing so. I bet a feminist travel guide would give me that.
Some evenings, instead of going out drinking, I'd love to know how to find PWYC concert and local theatre listings, an account of free classes, workshops or lectures being offered, revue cinemas with local flicks. Lonely planet definitely doesn't offer those kinds of things. I think I see what the OP is getting at.
But some of those things change so quickly that I think the only way you could reliably find out about them is just doing internet research on the cities and towns.
I figured since the OP mentioned being alright with the internet ("even if it's on YouTube...") more fluid subject matter would be up her alley.
The "Hanging Out in..." series offers alot of things geared for 20 somethings but also had lots of information on festivals and local or secret hang outs such as full moon parties in Spain, ect. Its a huge thick book as well, with lots of information and little cultural tid bits.
How do you get history from celebrating the wars of white men? And why would you think she doesn't want to see sites when it was clear she was trying to avoid tourist pits? Read it again without the anger glasses. You might be able to see the intent of the post is all about avoiding the spots everyone thinks they are supposed to see.
I'm not wearing "anger glasses" and if you actually read my comments you should have noticed it before firing off a bitchy response. I was really just a little confused as to what she was looking for.
Travel guides tend to talk about history in kind of a general ways, and that means they do cover wars. I don't know what the OP would qualify as "celebrating" said wars, but I feel like most history vids I've seen at least attempt to be unbiased. If she's looking for more specific history, she's not going to find it in a travel guide.
She wrote a post asking for a travel guide and only talked about what she didn't want rather than what she did want. I asked her what she wanted.
"I feel like I'm being unnecessarily argumentative"
Does your opening sound angry?
Don't call me bitchy on Feministing. I wasn't trying to respond in anger but I can't definitely stoop to your level if you want a fight.
On TV, Globe Trekker is my favorite. It has young (20s and 30s) travelers, the majority of them are women, and they do off-the-beaten-track kinds of things.
I'd take a look at the Lonely Planet travel guides, too, for adventure or less-travelled places. They seem pretty gender neutral.
Why do you want TV? A book is more convenient when you're actually traveling.
I don't know about guides, but I think, based on my experiences, especially in Europe, you can just learn a lot at hostels. Just ask the people who work there and your fellow guests. Wikitravel is also one of my mainstays. I know that Bust has a column in every issue about travel.
I second this - I've done a lot of living/traveling in Europe, and I've honestly never found a specifically feminist travel guide. I tend to just keep my ears open and ask people what they recommend, and hostels are especially good places for this kind of information. And I personally love Rick Steves; even if his viewpoint is that of an older man, he does a pretty good job of covering off-the-beaten-track history, and he does great self-guided walks.
Hm! A specifically feminist travel guide. If only I had the time to create a website like that. Because that would be awesome!
I do like Rick Stevens. I'm really into just kind of wandering around the places I visit looking at things, going into whatever shops or places I feel like. He does a lot of good off the beaten track stuff.
So does Playgirl
Hostels are very useful, yes.
Also, I don't know about other countries, but in Spain you have lots of tourist information points and offices.
They'll provide with maps, cultural calendars and whatever they can. Seriously, even towns with only 10000 people use to have one if they have historical interest sites. They also have web sites in about four languages.
All city councils are networked under the phone number 010, and also provide touristic information.
Just a notice about train tickets, I read last week in meneame (spanish version of digg) that RENFE's website charged about double price for some travels if you read the website in English, because they don't list the offers and packet prices available in Spanish. So, if needed, better go to a travel agency or a renfe office, they'll have the correct prices.
I've used the "Hanging Out in..." series. Its definitely created for the 20-something demographic. I have the ones for Spain, Ireland, England and Italy.
"I feel like I'm being unnecessarily argumentative"
Does your opening sound angry?
Don't call me bitchy on Feministing. I wasn't trying to respond in anger but I can't definitely stoop to your level if you want a fight.
It's not really a travel guide, but you could find a lot of locals willing to help you on couchsurfing.com.
use couchsurfing.com and join a feminist group on there
I don't know how useful this would be, but Lonely Planet has a show called Six Degrees which has Asha, a young Asian woman capturing the alternative sights and sounds of different places. It doesn't cover essential issues like hotels and food, but can be a good guide if you want to try different things.
I always use the Lonely Planet guide on a shoestring books which dole out info on hostels and backpacker accommodations. They also trace routes that you can follow depending on the time you have right in the beginning of the books. Of course, the best way to go about this is to talk to other people who've done it before and you can do that through travel forums like the thorntree and exchange sites like couchsurf.
-anin
The white men's wars made me raise my eyebrows a little: a lot of my (European) history consists of just that. But you're right, there is more to it then that.
So if want to know more about Holland, feel free to drop me a line at agnesdenie [at] hotmail [dot] com.
I've heard good things about the shoestring books as well.
hey, im from london, if you are coming to london i can have a look for tour guides matching the description you gave here. just tell me, my email is cubanoheat[at]hotmail[dot]com.
White mens wars, hmm, generalizing and lessening the value that is given to honor those who stood in the face of evil and gave thier lives and prevailed, so that future generations wouldn't have to live in that kind of world. But, of course, they are just some white men shooting at each other aren't they.