You Can’t Put Wine in Hobo Stew!

Image source Shelter.co

A recent chat with the hospitality team here at marlo had each of us waxing reminiscent of a film that should be required viewing for any young lady – the 1989 classic, Troop Beverly Hills.

Full disclosure – one of the main reasons I hold this movie so dear is because I was a Girl Scout as a child. And although I don’t come off as the outdoorsy type, my grandmother ran a Girl Scout camp in North Florida that I spent many summers running around, crafting, canoeing and telling ghost stories. Now years from my scouting days, my inclination to camp has dwindled…yet living in a city, I find myself longing for a little wilderness refresher.

So last weekend when it was rainy and dreary I hopped online to do a little investigating and stumbled across what I think is a pretty genius idea. Shelter Co. is a California-based pop-up lodging service, born out of a nostalgia for the days of summer camp. They set up fully furnished European-style canvas tents, complete with Pendleton blankets, a carpeted floor and bedside tables, and you just show up to stargaze, roast marshmallows and play games. I realize it’s basically camping for dummies, but in all honesty I am not sure I remember how to tie a clove hitch or what the three-leaves of poison ivy actually look like, so it’s probably for the best that a professional leads the charge in this endeavor.

But that’s not all! This initial research and several ADD moments later led me to a whole site dedicated to summer camps for adults! We’re not talking s’mores and sing-alongs; most of the options I looked into let campers explore a hobby or live out a childhood fantasy with accommodations ranging from rustic to luxurious. With options like a wine camp in Napa, band camp at an acclaimed performing arts school, ice skating with Dorothy Hamill or learning to be a cowboy, I am kind of wishing I had gone into teaching – what a rad way to spend your summer.

Though not in the cards this year (I mean it is already June), you just may find me next summer center stage in NYC for Broadway Fantasy Camp!

Posted by Miranda

The Hidden World of airbnb

Sometimes you just have to get away. The weight of the world, work, weather, whether, whither and wherefore has wasted you away and taking your pup for a walk around the block just won’t do.

With the long weekends of summer just around the corner, I have begun my search for the perfect weekend getaway that will both calm the nerves and be gentle on my bank account. On a recommendation from my sister, I began to peruse the offerings on airbnb.com, a site that allows you to rent private beds, rooms and homes all over the world. Oh the places you’ll see! Have you ever wanted to sleep in a historic beer barrel in Schlichtenfelde, Germany? Well my friends, for $132 a night now you can, bring your friends – it sleeps four (Note- blondes not included). Prost!

Image source airbnb.com

How about a private houseboat in Amsterdam? If you can pony up for the bazillion dollar flight, the two-bedroom boat is a doable $159 a night. Get out the linseed oil, your wooden clogs could probably use a lil’ tlc before this trip of a lifetime.

Image source airbnb.com

The last season of Lost may have come and gone, but why not keep the mystery alive by reenacting it with friends on your own private island in Fiji? Ok, so it’s a $500 a night shack that sleeps 10…aka, a hostel, but think of all the fun things you could do on a remote island! Swimming, drinking, surviving… regardless, that Twilight guy’s island sucks in comparison.

Image source airbnb.com

If exotic locations aren’t your thing, here’s one a bit closer to home. Who needs a humdrum New England B&B when you can sleep in the trees! The Tiny Fern Tree House in Lincoln, VT is but a car ride away – whether you prefer to take a good book or your boo, that’s up to you.

Image source airbnb.com

I leave you with this word of caution – not all airbnb abodes are created equal, vacation at your own risk. Located at the dead end of a long dirt road in Jamaica, VT, you can spend the night in Vaughn’s Room, which boasts a “recently created” bed, and a “family atmosphere” courtesy of the multiple animals and small child that reside in adjoining rooms. Don’t worry, the owner reassures, “the chickens are harmless.”

Posted by Jenna

Whatever You Do, Don’t Look Down

I’m really not okay with heights. Like, if I had been on the plane where people were doing the Harlem Shake, I would have probably had a breakdown. So you can only imagine how I felt when I came across these images on Francesco Mugnai’s blog.

In the pictures, the scenery in its own right is breathtaking, but when you combine the awesomeness of height with precariously positioned people it truly becomes sublime. Humans by nature are so fragile and when you juxtapose them with the power, the majesty, the limitlessness of our beautiful planet, it puts things into a perspective that while, to me, is admittedly blood-curdling, at the same time they have to make even the most devout acrophobe grateful for living.  Anyway, that’s just how I see things from where I sit, on the north side of the 2^nd floor of a Boylston Street office building gladly without a direct window view, which for now is where I will stay. Here are some of my favorites:

Image source Reddit

Image source Luc Rousseau

Image source BeautifulDecay.com

Image source ArmchairAdventurista.com

Image source TheZooom.com

Image source Climbing.co.za

If you’d like to see all the pictures, follow the link here.

Posted by Ben

Mile-High Thanksgiving

Image source Swide.com

Though I’ve waxed lyrical about down-home Southern Thanksgiving dinners in the past, this year I’m thrilled to say I’ll be hunkering down in a more local setting to celebrate the pilgrim’s peaceful feast with the Wampanoag tribe (yes, it’s more than just an excuse for binge-eating). While I’ll miss cream-drenched, sub-Mason-Dixon staples like oyster dressing, creamed onions/peas, sweet potato casserole and giblet gravy, not having to wrestle with holiday travel crowds and conundrums is a godsend. Believe you me, I’ve spent too many cold November nights camped out in airport terminals or nearby Holiday Inns to make those country-fied dishes worth the flight this year.

But for those stubborn souls not yet willing to part with their holiday wanderlust, airlines like Etihad Airways and Air Berlin are serving up Turkey Day feasts aboard flights today. While jet-setting to far-flung destinations (Dusseldorf! Mumbai!), guests nosh on multi-course repasts featuring the usual Thanksgiving suspects (turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc.).

While I like this idea in theory, somehow, eating sodium-packed, mass-prepared meals trucked in from a commissary doesn’t make Thanksgiving-day travel sound any more appealing.  This year I’m giving thanks for staying close to home!

Posted by Abby

Back to Where It All Began

Image source MSNBC

According to the Corallium Spa in the Canary Islands, sleepless nights and insomnia can be eliminated through a spa treatment designed to create a protective, relaxing environment similar to a mother’s womb. No joke.

En route to the luxurious “womb room” you’ll begin by walking down a hallway of pink carpet, known as the “neck of the uterus.” Enter a low-lit room with pink carpet, “blood-coloured” water beds, and soft playing music that is described as “breathy.” (Freaked out yet?) To top it off, the room revolves slowly to “simulate a giant umbilical cord.”

I can only wonder whether I’d find this comforting or terrifying. One thing I do know is that this room brings more than a few questions into my head—for starters, what expert declared the womb to be so friggin relaxing? Do they clearly remember those months being fed through a tube while stuck in a pool of watery darkness? If so, props to those memory skills (you are full of it) … because I know my claustrophobic self would be screaming, “get me out of here woman!”

Let me put it another way: if we were already trying to escape after 9 months, I sincerely doubt we’d want back in.

Posted by Susan