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…

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.

Boobs, booze and beads – three things that come to mind when you hear the words Mardi Gras.  One of the world’s best parties, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, is home to more than just X-rated frat-boy fun.

This year Fat Tuesday falls on February 16^th but when I was there, reveling in ten days of Carnival craziness leading up to the big day, I discovered that this free street festival has many faces.  From the colorful and very PG-13 parades Uptown, to tacky tourist traps in the French Quarter, there isn’t just one Mardi Gras experience.

By day, in residential areas of New Orleans (Uptown, Algiers or Metairie) parade-goers were lined up along the route, staking out their spots before the floats rolled in.  A great parade spot is determined by where you can park and where you can pee.

Dressed in purple, green and gold feather boas, locals arranged fold-up chairs, coolers filled with snacks and home-made ladders for the kids.  Everyone, from toddlers to university students, was enjoying the spectacle, eating cotton candy and spraying each other with Silly String.  The vibe was familial, the energy positive and safe.

As the parade approached, costumed men riding atop floats threw beads.  The crowd went crazy.  They waved their arms and hollered, jumping to catch the cups, foam footballs, coins, doubloons and other trinkets.

Part greed for beads, part self-preservation, the crowd kept their hands up and their senses alert.  When a pack of heavy plastic beads is hurled full-speed and mistakenly makes contact with your face – it hurts, so it’s best to keep your hands up and your eyes open.

Between bead tosses, high-school marching bands kept the crowd entertained with big brass instruments, sequin costumes and choreographed dance routines.

During Mardi Gras season, there were some 60 parades like these, held across the city.  Most of the super parades, organized by Krewes called Endymion, Bacchus or Zulu, take place over the last few days leading up to Fat Tuesday.

Although public drinking (from ‘go-cups’) is allowed at the parades, nudity is absolutely not.  For this crowd, flashing would be highly inappropriate, not to mention illegal.

If you’re looking for boobs and flashers, Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter, is stereotypical Mardi Gras at its best.  While locals steer clear of the area, tourists on a bender flock en masse.

It’s sleazy, sloppy, over-crowded and dirty with 24/7 alcohol but, for a Mardi Gras first timer who likes that vibe, it’s a crazy trip!  Though Mardi Gras in the French Quarter lives up to its party-hardy reputation, other parts of New Orleans promise a cleaner, more local vibe…beyond the boobs.

Have you been to Mardi Gras?  Share your tips and advice… post a comment below.

Traveling around the holidays can be very stressful. Long line ups, delayed flights, crowds of irritated people…holiday travel can be a nightmare! Having traveling around the world four times, to over 80 countries, across five continents, and hundreds of flights, I’ve picked up a few tips along the way.

Here are my Top 10 Holiday Travel Survival Tips:

1.  The #1 Rule of Survival – Give Yourself Enough Time: This rule applies across the board, from booking to connecting flights. When first selecting your flight, remember to book in advance for better prices and bigger selection of dates and routes. When browsing for flight, hotel and car options, a great travel tool is www.kayak.com – an online travel search engine that compares hundreds of flight options in one simple search.

Using Kayak Trips www.kayak.com/trips is a great way to organize your travel itineraries and set up alerts for delays, cancellations, and gate changes. Trip alerts can be sent directly to your mobile device so you can stay informed before and while you are at the airport.

Kayak also has a newly updated Kayak iPhone app which offers a quick directory to all airlines. You can forward all of your different booking receipts from airlines, hotels and car rentals, and get an integrated itinerary on the trips tool on the iPhone. Handy!

2.  Book a direct flight to avoid getting stuck somewhere due to weather. It will cost more than connecting flights but may save you hours in layovers. If budget is more your concern, then connecting flights are your best financial bet, but be aware of potential delays and give yourself a good buffer zone between flight connections.

3. When you’re packing, leave the gifts unwrapped for airport inspection. To save money on overweight luggage, it’s worth looking into sending presents ahead via ground transportation. Depending on the gifts, UPS or Fed Ex may be cheaper alternatives. Better yet, buy your presents online and have them shipped directly to your vacation destination (often for free).

4. Before you leave your house for the airport, check in online. There are a lot of delays and cancellations around the holidays, so be sure to call your airline or check their website to confirm flight times before you head to the airport.

5.  Don’t rush. Get to the airport with enough time to saunter so you’re not running around like a lunatic. You won’t feel that debilitating sense of panic if you’ve given yourself enough time to navigate traffic, security lines and baggage issues.

6.  Bring a big, light-weight over-the-shoulder bag. Scrunch it up in your suitcase to have on hand. If you have over weight luggage issues, you can dump some of your belongings into this over-the-shoulder bag and use it as carry-on.

7.  Turn negatives into a positive. Waiting in the airport can actually be quite relaxing.  You’ve been given the gift of personal time. At the airport, there are no dishes to wash, no errands to run, I say enjoy this mini vacation on the way to your vacation. Enjoy things that are hard to make time for in day-to-day life: reading a book you’ve been dying to dive into, listening to music or podcasts and crossing off crossword puzzles.

8.   Pack a Survival Kit.

If you’re delayed at the airport, you can’t fully chill out unless you have supplies.

-Laptop. Not just for business travelers, laptops are handy tools to have.  They’re especially great for watching movies – which always kill a good chunk of time.  Outlets in airports and many airplane seats now have their own plugs, so don’t forget your chargers.  If you have access to wireless internet, you can also watch full TV episodes online at Hulu.com or Fancast.com.

-iPod. With tons of your favorite music, the iPod is a great way to zone out the angry mob and retreat into relaxation. When I’m stuck at an airport, I’m a huge fan of downloading free podcasts from iTunes and lectures from TedTalks at Ted.com to pass the time.

-Bose noise-canceling headphones are a great way to escape the sound of screaming babies and travel companions who are getting on your nerves.  Crank the tunes.  Enjoy the experience. (For the budget traveler, invest in ear plugs to help drown out the noise on the plane while sleeping.)

-If you’re traveling with young children, pack a bag of goodies to keep them occupied (books, games, snacks.)  I see a lot of parents with portable dvd players that keep kids quiet and entertained for hours. It costs between $100 and $200, fits in your hand and is also handy for road trips.

-Snacks. Hunger leads to crankiness, so I always pack some crackers, fruit, almonds or granola bars to keep me going through my layover.

-Empty water bottle – to fill up at free water fountains in the airport after you get through security. Filling up your own bottle is cheaper, better for the environment (if you use a re-usable one) and staying hydrated helps avoid jet lag.

-An inflatable pillow and your own blanket, for taking a much deserved nap.  Many airlines now charge for these items, so it’s more cost efficient to bring your own blankie from home.

-Distraction is key!  But so is patience, don’t forget to pack that.

-ALSO: Don’t Forget Carry on Essentials: I always assume that my luggage will be lost, so I pack my carry-on accordingly. Medication, a change of clothes, contact lens solution, fragile camera gear and any other major items find their way with me onto the plane.  This way, if my luggage IS lost, I have all my essentials with me, ready to rock!

9. Splurge for the lounge: If you’re facing a really long delay or layover, splurge and pay the extra for access to the business lounge. American Airlines, Delta, Northwest, US Airways and Continental all have one day passes (approx $50) where you’ll have access to a variety of amenities: snacks, self service bar, high-speed internet, newspapers, etc.  For me, it’s totally worth it!  For a little extra, you’ll find the seating is more comfortable and the atmosphere more relaxed.

10.  Embrace the Zen. If things don’t go well – if your flight is cancelled, delayed, the plane needs maintenance or whatever – don’t get stressed. If you don’t have the power to change it, why sweat it? Embracing the Zen is one of the most important things in travel…especially during the holiday season.  It’s a special time of year, a time of charity and appreciating what we have…so hopefully we can all take that spirit of kindness with us, all the way through airport security.

Share your own travel tips. How do you make it through this stressful holiday travel time? I want to hear from you…