Geneva, Switzerland was one of our first destinations in our three-week, whirlwind European holiday. We flew into Geneva from Manchester, UK (A VERY lovely airport, I was impressed by it’s décor, calm atmosphere, and cleanliness) via EasyJet. It had been about five and a half years since I had flown on EasyJet, one of Europe’s most economical airlines. The are the Southwest or JetBlue of Europe, offering fares at amazing prices, with most being somewhere in the double digits. I often advise that if you are travelling to multiple cities in Europe, first check if EasyJet (or RyanAir, another discount airline) flies between the two cities. It’s amazing how often taking a plane is actually cheaper than taking the train. EasyJet does tend to nickel and dime, but in the way almost all airlines are now: checked baggage is extra, more legroom is extra, etc. But, unlike RyanAir, use of their bathroom is complimentary (seriously). I have to say, this flight on EasyJet was much more pleasant than the last, and much more pleasant than most of my Southwest flights as well. The plane was clean, well maintained. The staff was quite lovely and helpful. And I didn’t feel like a stuffed sardine. While the flight was short, as most within Europe are, for being so inexpensive it was very pleasant. If you have the choice between RyanAir and EasyJet for flying in Europe, I would pick EasyJet any day. Once we landed in Geneva, we were shuttled to the main terminal and waited to go through customs. The line was long, but honestly, I was just really happy to get my passport stamped in Switzerland. Traveling by train is wonderfully picturesque, but you do not get any passport stamps when moving from country...

Some trips are all about the journey. Other trips are all about the destination. Then, there are those trips that are all about coming home and kissing the floor because you’re so fucking happy to be back that you don’t care how much dog hair sticks to your lips. Last weekend I went to Albany to visit my grandparents in the nursing home, attend Rosh Hashannah services and take in a spontaneous funeral just for fun. Care to guess which type of trip this was? Like stepping over a dead cat on my way in to work, visiting Albany is a depressing and unsettling break in my routine. It’s an inconvenient but unavoidable opportunity to contemplate mortality, the fragility of life and all the other horrible shit that I don’t ever want to fucking think about. In fact, according to AllTheOtherHorribleShitThatIDontEverWantToFuckingThinkAbout.com, “mortality and the fragility of life” was ranked just below “picturing Jan Brewer having sex with her gardener and screaming ‘Ay, papi! punch a hole in that wall, and fill me with your anchor babies! There are 2 week old eggs up there with more civil rights than you could DREAM of!’” (her gardener was born and raised in Phoenix), but less horrible than “Mitt Romney ACTUALLY becoming the next US president” – which has been number one on the Horrible Shit list ever since replacing “Herman Cain ACTUALLY becoming the next US President”, which replaced “Michelle Bachman ACTUALLY becoming the next US President”, which replaced “Rick Perry ACTUALLY becoming the next US President”. Sigh.  I miss the Republican Primary debates. It was like watching the Heat play the Lakers and cheering for gruesome knee injuries (just as long as they’re all right for the next Olympics because I am a shameless Gold...

Two adults take a vacation to Disney World over a holiday weekend. While this would be a great start to a surely hilarious joke, it is the true story of my friend Julia and my true-life adventure for a fantastic, fun filled few days in Central Florida’s best-known theme park with an adorable rodent problem. It all started a few months ago when my college friend Julia emailed me about our annual trip. In the past we have met up in Pittsburgh (where we went to school) or in New York City (where she works and my family lives). This year, Julia offered a whole slew of options and at the bottom of her list was the most magical place of all – Walt Disney World. For some people, a trip to Disney would include cyanide pills, as they would without a doubt want to kill themselves rather than be stuck in the humid air, waiting on line for hours to watch animatronic children sing about what a small world it is, but for me, it was an adventure into happiness, a chance to relive my youth and be a child for a few days. So without hesitation, I agreed to Disney and started preparing to drink the proverbial Kool-Aid of the happiest place on earth! One of our main goals of this trip was to make sure that we kept it an adult vacation and Disney World seemed to have a whole world of activities and restaurants geared just for adults. In addition to the parks themselves, this resort destination has fantastic dining, great themed hotels and a whole variety of leisure activities and sports. From the research that I did, I learned that Labor Day week was actually a great time to...