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Ivana De Domenico

Dr. Ivana De Domenico and Her Featured Writings

Why Is Airbnb A Great Way To Travel?

January 14, 2016 by Ivana De Domenico

The travelling landscape has changed drastically over the past decade, largely due to the spread of information technology on a global scale. Travellers now have endless resources and information about future destinations at their fingertips. They also have a wide range of new tools to make an itinerant lifestyle more convenient and practical. One of these, which has made my travelling experiences infinitely more enjoyable, is Airbnb.

Airbnb is a website that connects people who have extra space with those looking for accommodations. Individuals can rent out a room, a bed, or their whole property for a given period. The website interface makes it easy to find a place to stay and get in contact with renters. Though there has been some concern about safety, the company has gone through great lengths to put its customers at ease. The ratings and review system is especially useful in terms of making sure that your host is trustworthy and in order to ensure a positive experience.

Safety concerns aside, Airbnb is a wonderful resource for travellers. It’s user-friendly, affordable, and a great way to discover a new culture. Far from the sterility of hotels, renting a room in someone’s home offers an entirely different perspective on your destination of choice. It’s also a great way to meet new people–Airbnb hosts are often extremely welcoming and willing to offer travel tips and advice to their guests.

It’s also a great resource for renters. Financial perks aside, welcoming people from all around the world into your home offers an invaluable cultural experience. Despite the occasional awkward moments–sharing your space with a stranger isn’t always an ideal situation–overall the benefits far outweigh the cons.

As it gains in popularity, Airbnb has launched a series of partnerships designed to improve the user experience. A new loyalty program allows American Express users to apply their reward points directly to Airbnb stays. On the more unusual side, Airbnb has begun a partnership with Tesla in order to bring charging stations to select homes in California, and soon across the globe. These mere two examples truly illustrate the potential impact that the company could have on everyday life.

In my experience, renting a room through Airbnb is the best way to travel. It’s cheaper, it’s friendlier, and it’s far more conducive to discovering a new place and culture. I would recommend it to any aspiring globetrotter–while, of course, using caution and common sense.

5 Travel Accessories You Need To See

November 5, 2015 by Ivana De Domenico

As fun as traveling is, it certainly comes with its fair share of inconveniences. That is why it is always great to see new accessories on the market that make the traveling experience even more enjoyable. I recently read this article, which provided some pretty weird travel accessories that I thought would be fun to share. While some of these travel accessories may look a little odd, they all provide solutions for some of the most universal travel problems.

1) Dresstogo

Ivana De Domenico

If you hate carrying bags while traveling, you should considered just wearing your bag as a piece of clothing. This jacket from Jacktogo comes with 14 different pockets so that travelers can carry all of their belongings on their body. This is a unique idea, which looks like it would be a lot of work, but you never know when it could come in handy!

2) Lechael Haptic GPS Shoes

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Let’s be honest, some of us hate asking for directions. These shoes make it so that you will never have to ask for directions again or stare at your phone will navigating the streets. These shoes are powered by small pods that turn your shoes into a GPS device. After connecting them to an app on your smartphone and plugging in an address, the shoes will vibrate when it is time to turn left or right.

3) FlipBelt

The FlipBelt was invented by some clever athletes who were looking to solve a common problem: where do you put your keys when you’re on the tracks and trails? This belt has secret pockets to hold your keys, money and phone. Not only is this belt useful for running, but it is great to wear under your clothes if you want to avoid pickpockets while traveling.

4) Moon Morning iHug Pillow

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After a long flight, no one wants to walk off the plane with a sore neck. For years, travel pillows have tried to solve this common problem, however, they often failed to do the trick. But the iHug by Moon Morning is here to save the day. This five-in-one device functions as a neck pillow, eye mask, back support, tablet stand, and tablet pouch. Yes, this may be the weirdest looking travel pillow out there, but at least you’ll be comfortable.

5) Hush Smart Earplugs

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There is nothing worse than getting stuck next to a crying baby on the plane. Not even the most expensive headphones in the world can drown that noise out, until now. The Hush Smart Earplugs will not only block out noise, but they will play soothing sounds to help lull you to sleep. These headphones even have a personal alarm that will go off without waking up the other people around you!

 

Banned Books Week Is A Time To Celebrate: The Books Have Won

October 2, 2015 by Ivana De Domenico

We are in the midst of Banned Books Week, an annual awareness campaign that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books and highlights persecuted individuals. This campaign has brought awareness to the censorship placed on many books throughout our country for years.

The awareness campaign may not hold much meaning anymore. As Ruth Graham describes, Banned Books Week “traffics in fear-mongering over censorship, when in fact the truth is much sunnier: There is basically no such thing as a ‘banned book’ in the United States in 2015.” Graham argues that instead of complaining about nonexistent censorship, we should take this time to celebrate the fact that books won.

There was a time in our country’s history when book bans were a extremely prevalent and serious issue. The Comstock Law, passed by Congress in 1873, made it illegal to circulate “obscene literature.” This law led to the ban of classic books, such as The Canterbury Tales and the actual prosecution of publishers and booksellers of forbidden novels such as Tropic of Cancer and Fanny Hill. If your local library or bookstore did not carry a book, it would be extremely difficult to find it anywhere.

It was not until 1982 that things began to change. In the Supreme Court decision, Island Trees School District v. Pico, the court ruled that local school boards cannot remove books from their libraries simply because they are offended by them. With the growth of technology and the emergence of the internet, it is now possible to gain access to any book in the world in a matter of seconds. The idea of a banned book or the inability to access a particular novel is not really a concern in our country anymore.

There is no question that books have won the battle over censorship. The growth of technology, as well as a more sensible approach by our society, has helped secure this victory. The rhetoric around Banned Books Week sheds light on the differences in the past and the present, showing the great progress our country has made. However, it also brings attention to the fact that we need to continue to explore the difference between a general availability of a book in a public school and inclusion of such book in a school curricula.

If a parent merely questions the presence of a book on a required reading, it should not be viewed as an attempt to remove the book from circulation at the school or local library. Unfortunately this is how organizations that run Banned Books Week tend to view it. Instead, we need to continue to maintain an open dialogue between the two parties. If parents raise concerns over the bad language, violence, or sexual content of a book it should not be viewed as a move for censorship, but rather a move to protect their children.

These decisions should be viewed on a case by case basis. Afterall, each town in our country has a different set of values and way of life. A single attempt to remove a book from a school curricula is not a threat to censorship. At the end of the day, books have won. This is something to celebrate.

Food + Travel

April 28, 2015 by Ivana De Domenico

There’s no more pivotal time for cultivating and nourishing a sense of multicultural understanding and openness to new experience. There’s no question things in all dimensions are advancing at unprecedented rates. With change, there comes a need to preserve the important elements of the past while inviting the innovations of the future. Those who do not grasp onto the ever changing present will be left without the know-how to navigate the turning cultural tides. As things evolve, we must keep in mind their roots, for we cannot enjoy the apple tree without appreciating its seed.

One of the greatest representations of the traditions and changes experienced by any society can be found in its food. A great peek can be taken into a culture just by experiencing its culinary culture. Traveling all over the globe to familiarize yourself with foreign cuisines is an invaluable experience that teaches an awareness and acceptance of the new through the most universally enjoyed experience out there. Eating food is not just an act of necessary indulgence. Food is one aspect of a meal, that cannot neglect or replace the equally important customs therewith. No food thrives without its story. The occasion, preparation, presentation, and traditions of any culture provide a way to connect with aspects of culture that are ingrained in a society’s view of itself.

It starts with something as obvious as recognizing the differences in geography and climate. Stepping outside of the connected world where importation and exportation blend cultural lines, one still finds the cuisine reflective of indigenous availability. They don’t eat much fish in Kansas, because there aren’t fish in a land-locked state. By contrast, famous port cities along the Mediterranean coast develop their culture around marine biospheres that are foreign to mountainous terrains.

The views people share as to what animals they eat also reflect societal attitudes, and can enlighten sheltered or unknowing minds. And while concepts like respect go a long way in any culture, the manifestation of such a concept is ultimately varied through the uniquities of culture. You can imagine the differences in views toward eating beef in India, where the cow is respected and considered sacred for its generosity, and in the United States where cattle are the playthings of food plant corporations and have sustained meals since the 20th century. These views often become ingrained in the traditions that characterize a culture’s individuality and palette. Mythologies are integral to cultures and acknowledging them breeds empathy necessary for mutual respect. Often the stories told reflect the society’s understanding. Jewish and Muslim religious communities will refrain from eating pork because it was viewed as unclean and forbidden by God. On the Chinese New Year many different fish are cooked, all symbolizing various qualities such as good luck or prosperity. In fact, many Chinese will refrain from eating a certain type of dumpling on the New Year because it suggests a bleak future.

Travel raises awareness of other cultures. For an example, to someone whose scope only goes as far as United States’ boundaries, Mexican food may mean Taco Bell or Chipotle, and Italian food may mean any number of pizza chains like Domino’s or Papa John’s. However, these imitations of true foreign culture deny them of their authenticity. Fast food chains claiming to represent a foreign culture say more about the American melting pot than they do about the authenticity of their food. One can only rely on the source for a fair experience.

Travel also raises awareness of one’s own culture. A similar phenomenon happens with students studying a foreign language. The technical components of a language such as grammar and syntax are not as clear to a native speaker whose nearly instinctive capacity takes them for granted. It is only after studying a foreign tongue that one can appreciate the structural mechanisms in his own language. (For example, one may not know not to end English sentences with a preposition until he is taught that it is unacceptable in Spanish.) Many travelers voyage across continents, are enthralled by the exquisite unfamiliarity and drop all intentions of returning home. Others, however, learn to appreciate what they have come to know. The Amish have a custom called Rumspringa during which an adolescent is separated from his community and experiences the external. After his extended leave, he is given the choice to return to the community or leave permanently. Interestingly enough, the majority stays within the church. The clichés of “there’s no place like home” and not knowing what you have until it’s gone ring true here. Traveling shows you what other cultures have, and by that very same measure, it shows you what your culture has.

From the days of antiquity, life in one city was not enough to keep people from exploring uncharted territories, and exploring always opened up doors for innovation. Cultures borrow from one another, and the blending of communities presupposes the acknowledgement and acceptance of one another. Even on television today, hosts like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern continue the undying quests for knowledge and experience. Most would scoff at the reduction that these shows teach little more than habits of ingestion. Undoubtedly the greatest novelty in trying new foods comes from the many tales and customs that accompany them.

On the Road

March 13, 2015 by Ivana De Domenico

Jack Kerouac’s classic has fostered a sense of rebellious self discovery since its initial publication in  1957. Semiautobiographical, the book features Kerouac chronocling the narrarative through the voice of Sal. Beautifully written and set against the backdrop of the Beat aesthetic and 50’s counterculture, On the Road remains not only a staple of travel literature, but also in the stable of great American novels.

Ivana De Domenico kicks off her bookshelf with On the Road

On the Road

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