i AMsterdam

After an amazing weekend in Amsterdam I've decided I definitely could live in that city. Who knows what my future holds, but I sure love the architecture, water (I could row again!), fashion (functional - for biking - yet stylish), fantastic design, a great local vibe, friendly people, a melange of languages being spoken at all times. I could go on and on...

{World Cup fever}

{great vintage eye glass shop that Joyce and Andres took me on during our tour}

{modern design at Moooi}

{the colorful world of Kitsch Kitchen}

{draw the pirate girl during the ABC Urban Arts Festival}

{soaking in the sun and beers with new friends}

{bikes EVERYWHERE!}

{more great shops - RESTORED (lots of Dutch designs) and the One Day Shop - an office store front that takes on different faces on the weekend for designers who want to set up a temporary shop}

{picnics in the park! it was packed! tons of bikes, people, grills, sunbathers}

{dining along the canal}

Click HERE for more pictures from my trip.

Urban Solitude {Just Doodle}

{Since I am on this trip by myself I am going to treat my bike like my travel companion. This means you will see lots of pictures of my bike as if it were a person. via Kate Bingaman-Burt}

The art of traveling alone has become a subject of recent fascination for me. While I travel alone more often than not these days, there is usually someone or something waiting on the other side. It was interesting talking to Kate over the weekend - where we met up in Amsterdam - and seeing her pictures where she ended up taking pictures of her bike as if it were her travel companion. We both experienced Amsterdam in a disconnected fashion, turning off our iPhones (namely for fear of horrific charges). For Kate that meant sketching more, and for me it meant I had no excuse not to do my class readings. Still, it's interesting to think how a single shift in our typical routines can affect how we experience the world around us. I must say, it was quite refreshing. Oh, to imagine how people ever met up before cell phones existed...

{How I get around sans iPhone via Kate Bingaman-Burt}

This month GOOD ponders a similar issue looking at the topic of "Urban Solitude" through their Doodles Project which asks people to create a doodle that tells your story of finding solitude in the city. Submissions are due July 2nd for this theme - click here for more info.

{images via GOOD here and here}

Boarding Pass - Magda Lipka Falck

A few weeks ago I posted about Magda Lipka Falck's incredible thesis project: Anywhere, a Travel Handbook. I love the project for so many reasons, but specifically that it looks at travel as something that doesn't have to be destination specific. The minimal, yet beautiful design, makes you stop and want to explore more too. So I'm beyond thrilled to have Magda as the star of today's Boarding Pass, to help understand how she travels, and perhaps how this project came to be. {Thanks, Magda!}
last trip taken:
Berlin! I decided to go on one trip during my master exam project about travelling – and the choice ended up being Berlin, a city I haven´t visited since I was very young. I thought it was symbolically suitable for the project since it is a city with so many layers, both historically dramatic and geographically diverse, today a place visited by many creative people.

{berlin}

next trip on deck:
I dream of New York every day! I hope to go there next time in november during the NY Art Book Fair. Such a lovely fair, one of the most inspiring fairs I have been a part of! It´s a special feeling when you start to get to know a city – it becomes like a friend that you are curious about and want to hang out with. Once you know some areas of a city, it´s easier to relax and just let things happen during the journey, to be curious about things you didn´t know you would like.

{new york - berlin}

one place you would go back to again and again:
Tokyo!!! It is really one of the strangest and loveliest places on earth. It feels like being on a totally different planet when walking the streets of Harajuku or Shibuya.

{berlin}

place you'd most likely recommend a friend go visit:
It would probably depend on the person asking – what kind of interests this person has and how long time he or she has to travel. But something I´ve thought about lately is that I think it is a good idea to travel in your own hometown – to get a new perspective on the place that you see everyday, but maybe never really look at carefully.

preferred method of transportation:
I love travelling by train – to see the landscape pass by creates sort of a hypnotic feeling. I also like getting around in a car – even though I haven´t gotten my driver´s license yet...

place you've never been but dying to go:
I recently met a girl who told med she is going to get married in India this autumn, and that I could come to the wedding – and wow – I would REALLY love to experience an Indian wedding!

{venice}

place you'd never go back: none

most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
I have to say Bali. I was there during long periods as a child – and the culture, the religion, the people, really had an impact on me!

{warsaw}

how do you prepare for a trip?
I usually google for nice places to visit, sometimes I make a map with different spots. Once I´m actually there I like to just wander around though, try not to stress to see everything...

{warsaw}

how do you record your travels when you're traveling?
I like to take pictures, but also to record sound during my stay at a place. I like to save the maps used during the trips, with the different notes and routes I have taken.

{venice}

what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?

I often photograph details – colours, shapes, patterns, shadows. I am very bad in taking regular tourist pictures, which is sometimes a pity. But often the details are what sticks after a trip.

{new york}

on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?
Depends on how focused I am at taking pictures, sometimes I enjoy taking a break from photographing and just experience what happens around me. But I would say maybe over 500 pictures...sometimes I dream of just bringing a polaroid camera with maximum 10 shots per day.

{berlin}

what's in your "designer travel kit" ?
I often bring my computer, where I can review and edit my pictures while I´m still out travelling. Camera (Canon 350D), sound recorder, notebook, a good pen.

{berlin}

what do you do after a trip? how long after a trip does this happen?
It depends on what I am working with at the moment, I often recycle images from journeys for many contexts – to use as illustrations etc. I am not so good at making physical albums of my pictures, which would actually be nice to have for later.

favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
Small found items –such as brochures, stickers, pins etc. I also love to buy books, which is not so good for the weight of my bags when I go home...
art you've created inspired by travel:
My master thesis project was inspired by travelling in general, a travel guide that can be used wherever you go – since I wanted to focus on the way we approach a new place rather than the exact locations we visit. I also arranged an alternative guided tour from the tourist center of Stockholm to the art school where I studied – in one of the suburbs of Stockholm.

(alternative tour images by Tobias Ohls)

More on Magda's project HERE!

More BOARDING PASS features HERE, and to your right ------>

Going Dutch

I have Kate Bingaman-Burt's Twitter feed to thank for linking me to her Tumblr page (her's is my favorite on the web right now), linking me to this post where she mentioned being in Amsterdam promoting her new book, Obsessive Consumption, at the ABC Urban Arts Festival in Amsterdam this weekend. Then I saw that Pia Jane Bijkerk is also going to be there promoting her new book, Amsterdam Made By Hand, and the festival looked awesome too with it's emphasis on the urban edge of design (just my style!). I know these women well thanks to the web world and numerous email exchanges. In fact they've both participated in Boarding Pass (Pia here and Kate here). So, I figured, what better excuse to go to Amsterdam - one of my favorite cities, particularly for design - than to meet these two lovely ladies in person finally. So in less than a week - when this crazy idea first popped in my head - I've pulled together last minute, CHEAP train tickets (zepass.com is my new favorite site for last minute travel in Europe!), pieced together lodging, plan to see my friends who passed through Paris a couple weeks ago for a second time (after 2 years of living in Africa), arranged to meet Joyce of Rosa Blu for my own private tour of her favorite neighborhood in Amsterdam, and meet some new friends of friends. Yes, my friends, this is how I travel - frugally chic with a vague plan that's designed to be broken. Even with all this, I promise in my two days away there will be plenty of down time, good eating (Proef, finally!), sitting in cafes (of the coffee/beer, not the brown kind) and taking in the city.


More on the festival which takes place on Saturday, June 26th at the American Book Center in Amsterdam:
These ‘creatives’ have been chosen to participate because they represent a cross section of graphic designers, illustrators, graffiti artists, fiber artists, paper-toy designers – all with an urban edge.

Across the square, in the ABC Treehouse, workshops will offer free ‘hands on’ lessons to the public and discussions with artists, publishers and other industry professionals covering subjects such as design, crafts, illustration and practical crossovers between the areas.

The ABC Urban Arts Illustrated Book panel URBAN will be the first panel in the Netherlands to emphasize “street art / urban art “ as part of the world of visual / illustrated books, and trace the journey of a design book from idea to book shelves. The panel will be moderated by Buzz Poole, managing editor of Mark Batty Publisher (NY).

P.S. Speaking of how I travel, check out this interview I did with Travelinsurance.org.

View From My Window

I wish I could claim this view as my own, but alas, it belongs to my friend Julie and her great apartment in Montmartre. Anyway, just wanted to say a quick note about the June Gran Tourismo contest which invites you to submit an image + 250 words that captures your perfect vista, which could be a landscape, cityscape or streetscape. Prizes include a HomeAway holiday rental, Context [travel] tour voucher, and an Olympus camera! Click here for more info on how to enter, and meanwhile you can find more on Lara and Terry's latest adventures in Tokyo here.

First Date {Paris} + SLPS

Sometime this fall the New York Times had an article on Paris noting the inherent nature of Paris making it naturally romantic for any date. I couldn't help but laugh at the truth in this statement. So for the Slideluck Potshow Paris call for entries with the theme "firsts," I thought it would be fun to play on the idea of "First Date {Paris}" with a little ode to all those first dates - good, great, and those best left forgotten through the images of Paris that make it what it is, as captured on my iPhone. And while I won't be sharing my video at tonight's event, I thought my blog would be a fun excuse to share it in any case.

First Date {Paris} from Prêt à Voyager .

Slideluck Potshow is an event that takes place around the world where photographers and creative types submit 15-40 images along with an accompanying song, and people gather together to watch the series of slideshows on a given theme while sharing a potluck meal. Tonight's event in Paris starts at 19h at Le Comptoir General, an awesome venue along Canal St. Martin (80 Quai Jemmaps). Click HERE to see if SLPS is coming to your city anytime soon and to check out videos by past participants.

Treasure Hunting {Paris}

While I've had a ton of fun geocaching around the city, I can't claim to having a lot of success actually finding the caches. So perhaps it's a sign it's time for me to return to old school treasure hunting. On July 3rd, the City Halls of Paris host La Chasse aux Tresors, or a Treasures of Paris, a free treasure hunting event around Paris. The event was created five years ago to encourage locals and tourists alike as "unique way to discover the city, its secrets and its inhabitants. The treasure hunters will also get a feel for the authentic heart of Paris: meeting shop keepers, craftsmen and artists or discovering little-known places like hidden gardens, narrow streets and secret passages." The event starts at 10am and ends at 3:30pm, and great prizes will be awarded, including entrance into a special concert. You can learn more about the event as featured in the New York Times here and register your team here (clues are available in both French and English)! Happy hunting.

Best of Both Worlds {Paris}

Wandering the streets of Paris last night during Fete de la Musique, a celebration of music around the city (and Europe now), I was reminded of one my favorite things about living here - the communal spirit that brings together people of all ages and backgrounds be it for sport or art (there's an appreciation for both!). Last night, on my way to meet friends for dinner, every corner I turned I hear a new beat and sound, with acts in the street and music bursting from bars and restaurants. Like Nuit Blanche in October, Fete de la Musique gives Parisians a great excuse to get out, explore the city, and likely have a bit too much to drink. And while I don't find the French particularly athletic when it comes to gym going, and especially at the pool, they, like all Europeans they LOVE their sports - they do make great fans (except when they lose). Every night before I go to bed can hear the roars of crowds watching the game on the jumbotron at Trocadero. Whether it for the love of sport or art, what I've learned is that it's often best not to have a plan at all, but see where the night takes you - you may even find yourself having dinner with good friends, watching the game, while listening to music from Ghana playing in the street as people dance by.
{FIFA Fan Fest at Trocadero, broadcasting games live day and night, while enjoying a view of La Tour Eiffel - typically packed with people}
{Group of teenagers rock out in front of Saint Eustache last night}
{spectators watch Roland Garros - aka the French Open - at Hotel de Ville last month}

Boarding Pass - Peggy Wong

Lately I've been seeing designers use Tumblr in new and exciting ways, and it really does feel more like a scrapbook than any other online tools. So I was excited and inspired by Peggy Wong's own "snaps" page where she uses it and shows how you can explore a place even when you're not traveling (and upload it from a smart phone). Peggy is a talented designer - and former deputy art director for Martha Stewart - who now runs her own stationery line, Blue Pool Road. And today, as a woman with an eye for style, I'm so pleased to share with you a look at how she travels. And can I just add, I don't think I've ever seen someone make gray skies so appealing in photos beforese ! I love the way she captures color. {Thanks, Peggy!}

{hong kong - catalina}

last trip taken:
New York City

{nyc}

next trip on deck:
New England

{nyc travel collage - photos from camera phone}

one place you would go back to again and again:
Even though I used to live in New York City, I would go back as a tourist anytime!

{london}

place you'd most likely recommend a friend go visit:
I love little islands. For a weekend getaway in the states, my faves are Catalina Island, Peaks Island, and Shelter Island.

{nyc}

{shanghai}

preferred method of transportation:
I think walking is the best way to see a city. Subway would be my second choice.

{chicago}

place you've never been but dying to go:
Just saw the movie To Catch a Thief for the first time and south of France is on top of my list right now!

{chicago}

{hong kong}

place you'd never go back:
Happy to report I don't have one.

{san fran travel collage - photos from camera phone}

most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
I have so many... but if I have to pick one, it would be my trip to Bangkok when I was eleven with my mom.
how do you record your travels when you're traveling?
Lately it's been with my camera phone.

{nyc}

what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
Architecture, and anything that has great graphic quality, especially with type and lines.

{london}
{hong kong}

on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?
300+

{chicago}

what's in your "designer travel kit"?
I travel light, so just my PowerShot and my Muji zip pocket to keep any ephemera that I collect along the trip.

{london-nyc}

what do you do after a trip? how long after a trip does this happen?
Blog. Although I'm not very good at keeping it up! My dream would be to design a travel journal/coffee table book for each city.

{hong kong}

favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
Paper items. Most of the time they are typographically driven. They get put into my type + design box when I return home.

{shanghai}

{london}

bonus:
I love taking pictures around town as well. I started a blog called "snaps." It's my on-the-go visual journal on Tumblr. It's been a great outlet for me to document my snapshots directly from my phone.

{shanghai}

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Click HERE for all past editions of Boarding Pass, or visit the column on the right ----->