Travel

Let's take it back to happier times, before the Big, Bad Rona. After four months of backpacking through South America, I have become quite the expert when it comes to the backpacking male species. Every new destination brought new guys my way. Of course, I inevitably fell in love with all of them.

Because I'm like, such a good friend, I feel that you should prep yourself before you wreck yourself (or before they wreck you), and have compiled a list of men boys you'll encounter during your travels.

To All the Boys (Who Backpack) I've Loved Before: this list is dedicated to your dumbasses. 

Former rugby player, Dean Nicholson, got tired of his day to day life and decided to go on a trip around the world, hoping for a change. What he got on top of that was an adorable kitty cat, who he named Nala, for a travel buddy. 

He told BBC that as he was cycling up a large hill into Montenegro, he "heard a wee cat miaowing from behind me. She was chasing me up the hill. So I stopped and pulled over and she just wouldn't leave my side. I put her on the front of my bike and got her comfy to take her into the next town. I went to find out if she was microchipped," adding that "she wasn't and she climbed up on my shoulder and fell asleep and I just thought that was it, she was coming with me on this tour."

Dean said that Nala changed him as a person, saying: "She has taught me just to slow down and enjoy life a lot more. Having her on the bike her needs come first and it slowed the tour down and now we stop and play a lot. If there's woods we stop and play and she loves running on the beach." He had to organize a pet passport for her, and together, they have covered about 10,000 miles.

Everywhere they are, the pair attract attention, and we're not surprised at all. We would probably be just as in awe as the rest of the local people if we saw Nala riding on Dean's bike or shoulder. One of the locals has apparently even given Dean a free beer as a result of the kitten on his shoulder, which we think is entirely justified and adorable. 

"We are going to spend winter in Greece working at some animal sanctuaries," Dean said. "Then through Russia in the spring and on to Thailand. I want that whole dream of sitting on the beach - with a coconut." We hope that his dream comes true and also that he doesn't forget to give Nala her own little coconut filled with delicious wet cat food. 

Check out their pictures together bellow, and you can visit their Instagramand YouTubechannel as well.

Once a week, we will be featuring an extraordinary animal account on Instagram! Their story, the adorable pictures, and pawesome videos! This week's spotlight goes to the traveling cats; Daikichi and Fuku-Chan! 

Daikichi and Fuku-chan are both rescue cats, rescued by their owner Daisuke Nagasawa, who has been traveling Japan (with Daikichi and Fuku-chan) and documenting their adventures! With over 1000 destinations visited, these cats are definitely living their best lives and seeing the world at the same time! 

When the pandemic struck, it halted their travels but they continued to share some amazing travel photos and videos from their previous adventures! Check them out below. 

Read up on last week's star on Instagram, Sam, The Eyebrow Cat!

If you spend your whole life living in one place, it's easy to think that the way you live is the only way it's done. For someone visiting, there are some easy-to-notice differences like how Americans are basically comfortable talking to strangers, and some other subtle things, like when cultures collide over what lemonade is. Here are some rumors about Americans that ended up being true and some very American habits.

Someone on AskReddit got a fun thread going about the various American habits that Americans didn't realize were so American. Sometimes one has no idea how absurd their habits are, because they've been so normalized by the culture and society they're living in. The outside perspective can be quite eye-opening. 

Admittedly cheese is kind of a strange thing, and to the uninitiated, it's hard to forget that sausage (at its best, even) is an animal's butt stuffed with itself. If you come from a land of avocado dessert milk drinks, then guacamole probably looks like an atrocity. Here's some culture shock had by Europeans in the United States. Culture shock can come from even the smallest things, like this cultural collide over what lemonade is.

When you've lived in one place your whole life, you get used to the various customs and behaviors that are standard in your country. So much so that traveling abroad can be a huge culture shock for a lot of people. These American Redditors are sharing the things they realized are completely unique to American culture.

"Just a small-town cat / Livin' in a lonely world / She took the midnight train goin' anywhere"

These cats below are on a journey of self-discovery. What they will discover is yet unknown to us and to them. 

All we can do with wish them well and hope that they find the answers they are seeking. 

We know that Millennials aren't all entitled cheapskates (we are Millennials after all) but we have to say that people like British YouTuber Elle Darby make us look really bad. 

Darby requested via email a free five-night stay for her and her boyfriend at a hotel in Ireland. Instead of paying the hotel, she would give the business "exposure" - the hotel owner was certainly having none of that and replied to her with a snarky email, which he has since published online. He even went on to ban all social media influencers from his places of business.

Do you think the hotel owner's response was fair or did it go too far? Let us know in the comments!

We hope that times are changing and people have a little more global awareness when it comes to travel. That said, there will always be people who think that you can just move a tropical island somewhere else. While that's horribly stupid, it is pretty fun to laugh at. Tourists asks some monumentally stupid questions. Sometimes fliers become a big problem before they even get there.

Americans hear all about how they can be obnoxious overseas, like being loud and embarrassing, thinking local cuisine is gross and calling someone a "foreigner" in the country they live in. Luckily, there are other less rude things American travelers do that identify them as Americans. For some more outside perspective, here are weird things people noticed about America.