With summer vacation quickly approaching, many soon-to-be travelers are weighing their holiday options. For those music lovers, check out this top five list of popular music festivals taking place this summer:

1. Named best festival by Rolling Stone Magazine, Bonnaroo is a four-day, multi-stage camping festival hosted on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. The party gets under way June 10-13, rain or shine, with dozens of bands, including Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Norah Jones and Thievery Corporation. It costs around $250 for a four-day pass that includes camping and parking http://www.bonnaroo.com/

2. With eleven days of entertainment and some 3,000 artists, a visit to Quebec’s Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is guaranteed to keep your toes tapping. From June 25-July 6, festival-goers will have a chance to hear an eclectic line-up of performers from across all genres from blues to reggae, afro-funk to electronica. http://www.montrealjazzfest.com

3. Summerfest, the “world’s largest music festival” takes place in Milwaukee June 24- July 4. Over the 11 days, there are some 800 artists across 11 stages, with a range of performances. Some of the artists rumored to be there are: Sheryl Crow, Modest Mouse, Kool & the Gang, Public Enemy and Eric Clapton. http://www.summerfest.com/

4. Trying to do NYC on the cheap? Check out Summer Stage, a free performing arts festival in Central Park. This 25-year-old festival has everything from spoken word to stand-up comedy, with free big name performances from Hot Chip to the Flaming Lips. Tickets are first come/first served and gates open an hour before show times. http://www.summerstage.org/

5. Against a gorge backdrop in the middle of the Pacific North West, the Sasquatch Music Festival (from May 29–31 in Washington) will showcase all your favorite indie-rock bands, among them: Broken Social Scene, Massive Attack, Pavement, LCD Soundsystem, Tegan and Sara, Ween and MGMT.  Single day tickets are $70.00. For more info check out http://www.sasquatchfestival.com/

There are tons of great music festivals to hit this summer… which ones are you going to check out? Which ones are totally amazing and NEED to be on this list? Leave your comments below…

I’ve been around the world four times, to over 80 countries, across six continents. Here are some of the video highlights: learning how to fight like a gladiator in Rome, overlooking the inspiring vista of Chile’s Atacama desert, spending a night of ‘torture’ in a Latvian prison, sucking back the Sour Toe Cocktail in Yukon and, of course, eating Moriche worm in the jungles of Venezuela. Check out my compilation video of my adventures around the world, and enjoy!

What are some of your own travel highlights? Leave me a comment below!

Khao San Road is an affront to the senses.  For the fresh-off-the-plane traveler, a visit to this part of Bangkok, Thailand’s capital city, may have you wondering what the hell you got yourself into.

It’s a frenetic scene of neon signs, drunk backpackers and scantily-clad promo girls (who may or may not be transvestites), but Khao San is also the crux of the budget traveler scene, where hostels, tour operators and sarong shops converge.

It’s the ultimate backpacker hub for the budget South East Asian traveler. This strip is where you can book overland trips to Laos, find cheap flights to Vietnam or get your visa for Cambodia. Chances are good that, if you’re going through Bangkok, you’ll end up on Khao San Road.

A selection of delicious (and cheap) Thai street food

Most are lured by the international vibe, cheap accommodations, $10 Thai massages and tasty food. Stalls lining the street sell a rainbow assortment of incredibly cheap and tasty curries available curb-side. The air smells of fresh banana pancakes and peanutty Pad Thai, an immediate reminder that you are, in fact, in Bangkok, one of the most vibrant and fascinating metropolises of the region.

There are also tons of vendors selling every knock-off imaginable: fake Gucci sunglasses, fake Puma shoes, fake Diesel jeans. There are phoney student cards, bootleg DVDs and photocopied Lonely Planet guides for the price of a Starbucks latte. Vendors (dressed as some of Northern Thailand’s indigenous hill tribes) stroll from patio table to table hawking novelty items: massive Zippo lighters, X-rated flasks, wooden frogs that make a “ribbit” noises when you stroke them, and other knick-knacks you don’t need but somehow end up buying.

The iPood T-shirt, a popular item sold in kiosks along Khao San Road

Today’s popular backpacker purchase is a t-shirt with an ironic saying. A big seller is “Ipood,” with an illustration of a man on a toilet listening to his iPod.  Let’s not forget the classic Thai t-shirt with the words “Same Same But Different” –  the commonly used vernacular in the Thai backpacker lexicon -  scrawled on the front.

The shopping in Bangkok (especially the Chatuchak weekend market) is sick, with silk sarongs, hand-made leather jewelry, flimsy summer dresses, colorful canvas purses, knifes and Nunchucks.

Shopping till you drop is made easy with ever present ATM machines and 7-11’s as common as Buddhist temples.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when bargaining in Bangkok:

Rule #1: when the vendor first tells you the price, balk at it. You’re a tourist, so no doubt it’s inflated. Never accept the first offer.

Rule #2: offer half (sometimes 1/3) the wanted price and negotiate from there. I like to use a calculator to show the price I want to pay. I set a mental limit of how much the item is really worth to me and won’t go over that price.

Rule #3: always negotiate in local currency and bring small bills to pay for it.

Rule #4: don’t squabble over a few bucks. Bargaining isn’t about screwing the other guy. It’s about coming to a price that works for both of you.

Rule #5: the “walk away” sometimes works but if it doesn’t get you your desired price, don’t be ashamed to come back and purchase the item. Don’t let pride get in the way of getting a cool souvenir. After all, it’s likely to be waaay cheaper in Thailand than at home.

Have you been to Bangkok? What are your travel tips for navigating the chaos of Khao San? Have any bargaining tips you’d like to share? Post your comments below….

In the spirit of International Women’s Day, a global celebration for the achievements of women, I bring you a quirky story I stumbled upon while traveling through Bolivia….

With their long flowing skirts, braided pigtails and bowler hats, ‘Cholitas’ are easy to identify in the streets of La Paz, Bolivia’s capital city.  It’s an antiquated look — compared to the skinny jeans and low cut tops seen across the new generation – but the Cholitas have become a symbol of indigenous tradition and culture.

That’s why I was so surprised to hear about the event that happens every Sunday in the mulifunctionary arena in El Alto, just twenty minutes outside of polluted La Paz.  Here, in this humble arena, you can spot the Cholitas…wrestling!!

With long line-ups and fanatic fans, it’s a popular form of local entertainment, so I made my way outside of the city to explore this unusual female phenomenon.

The make-shift wrestling ring, with ropes wrapped in fraying electrical tape and a thin greying mattress on the floor

The actual wrestling arena looked like a high-school gym, with basketball nets, wooden bleachers, and a makeshift ring in the centre.  Ropes were wrapped with fraying electrical tape and the floor was a thin greying mattress.  Depending on where I stood, the room smelled either of freshly popped popcorn or stale urine, the appropriate fragrance for a wrestling match.

To the tune of “Eye of the Tiger”, the Indigenous Bolivian women leapt on male contenders, flexed their muscles and rumbled in the ring…in skirts, no less.  It was tradition in one corner, kitschy entertainment in the other.

Alicia Flores, a 17 year-old wrestler

I met Alicia Flores, a 17 year-old wrestler who wanted to improve the status of women.  “We want to show that Cholitas are strong ladies,” she said in Spanish, “stronger than the men.”  She told me that this local event not only amuses the masses but works to subvert Bolivia’s predominantly machismo society.

The Cholitas train twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays.  “This is a dangerous sport,” she said. “You must train a lot.”  She is sure to mention that she has just finished school and hopes to become a police officer one day.

Wrestling Fans watch the choreographed drama

Post interview, Alicia entered the ring and prepared to fight.  Her opponent, a bare-chested man with stringy long black hair, slipped through the fraying blue ropes and staggered around the ring.  He gave a fake head-butt, while she took a dramatic plunge.  The crowd ooh-ed and boo-ed, throwing orange peels, popcorn and plastic water bottles in protest.  They were really into it but I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.  Let’s just say, the drop kicks and grimaces of anguish were as real as Pamela Anderson’s breasts. Clearly, this Bolivian type of Luche Libre is more of a soap opera than a sport.

At first I felt a wee bit disappointed.  Call me bloodthirsty, but I was hoping for a real tear-your-hair-out-gouge-your-eyes-hardcore-athletic-spectacle. What I got was a carefully choreographed performance that became surprisingly more entertaining the more I watched.  I didn’t take long before I was sucked in by the frenzy of an energetic crowd.

Yes, it’s fake but it’s fun.  Beyond the kitsch, it makes a statement.  The depiction of strong indigenous women plays a positive role for young people in the community.  Female wrestling may indeed be making social change.  It’s girl power– Bolivian style.

In anticipation for Tim Burton’s movie spectacular Alice In Wonderland (set to open this weekend), why not organize your very own Mad Hatter tea party?  New York City knows how to pull off high tea, so before you start drooling over dreamy Johnny Depp, chase your own white rabbit through some of the city’s best herbal haunts.  Check out my Top 3 spots to sip afternoon tea in NYC.  These places offer stewed brews of loose leaf fit for the Queen of Hearts; pastries and scones so delicious they’ll have you smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

Alice’s Tea Cup: This Upper West Side cafe offers Alice In Wonderland themed treats and matching decor.  Order the Jabberwockey, a $38 spread with scones, preserves and cream, an unlimited selection of sandwiches and Jean’s “not-yet-but-soon-to-be-famous mocha chocolate chip cake.”

Tea & Sympathy: For all things British, this is your one stop shop.  Lewis Carroll style afternoon tea will set you back $35 and includes finger sandwiches, a pot of steaming hot tea, scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam.

The Russian Tea Room: With its decadent decor, plush red velvet seats and twinkling chandeliers, this 80-year-old establishment is the perfect place to enjoy an afternoon snack.  Between the hours of 2-4pm, indulged in caviar-crusted blinis and fancy-shmancy sandwiches (smoked ham and turkey with truffle croque monsieur; curried chicken salad with raisins and pecans; roquefort bleu cheese and pear with walnuts…de-lish).

Do you have a favorite tea spot in NYC?  Are you pumped about the new Alice In Wonderland movie?  Share your thoughts below…

The gang at Kayak is a clever bunch.  In the days leading up to the launch of the epic sci-fi drama “Lost” a.k.a the most awesome show on television, Kayak showcased it’s ironic sense of humor.

Go to www.kayak.com and search for a flight on September 22, 2010, one-way, non-stop from Sydney to Los Angeles.  Surprisingly enough, you’ll find the infamous “Lost” flight on the doomed Oceanic Flight 815!  Trust me, if you’re into Lost, this is a big deal…

In the show, this flight ultimately crashes, leaving our stranded cast of hunky characters to fend for themselves against smoke monsters, polar bears, the Others, Ben and a bunch of other forces that have yet to be explained (umm…Jacob? What the hell?)

I won’t lie.  Seeing a fictional flight on Kayak’s very real travel site was a thrill for this die-hard Lost lover.   Sadly, buying the $4,839 ticket won’t give you a ticket to the magical and mysterious island, but it will redirect you to Lostpedia, a fan wiki site with all things “Lost.”

Bravo Kayak. Very funny stuff!

February 2.  The season premiere of Lost.  OMG.