Refuse to bid farewell to the 70s? Rent a VW CombiVan in Europe

By Dian Hasan | September 29, 2009

Cars have always played a major role in our lives, as well as in pop culture. Marking certain milestones and historic eras. And we’ll all admit to relating personally to our vehicles.

One such vehicle that is synonymous with the care-free hippie movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, is the VW Combi Van. A vehicle forever linked and etched into San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury neighborhood, Jimmy Hendrix, and Woodstock on the East Coast. Replete with the Peace Sign and… a flower in your hair!

And while the US population of the VW Combi Vas has dwindled, Europe still has a few. And retrofitted as an RV (Recreational Vehicle) for the modern age too. So anytime you itch for some nostalgia, you can rent one of these RVs that are about the size of an American RV’s cooler box… and hit the road. After all, everything in Europe is smaller and more quaint, making for a truly unique travel experience.

Hobo Chic ~ Stay in a Concrete Hotel on the Danube in Austria

It seems that creating accommodation for paying-guests is just limited by the imagination. As long as there’s a market, people will do anything for fun. A look at Das Park Hotel in Ottensheim, in the municipal camp site of Linz, Austria, which has rooms (well it’s more like circular cubicles, with barely enough space for a bed). I don’t dare to imagine there are en-suite bathrooms. Let’s just say that these concrete tubes could fall under the category of glamping (glamorous camping).

Baobab & Wet Volcanoes make a unique Eco-Lodge couple ~ Chile

When Chilean architect Rodrigo Verdugo ventured into the design of two Eco Loges in Chile’s Huilo Huilo Private Natural Reserve, he was set to take his imagination to new heights. While La Montaña Mágica (The Magic Mountain) Hotel was inspired by an erupting volcano, with cascading water replacing the fire and amber, the idea for the second lodge, Baobab Hotel was probably drawn from a bee-hive, or a snail’s shell.

Live like Genghis Khan ~ Three Camels Lodge, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

By Dian Hasan | August 19, 2009

For all the adventure and thrill seekers, who never exhaust in seeking new adventures across the globe, glamping like Genghis Khan, replete with yurts (Mongolian tents) amid the splendor of the Mongolian desert, is now an option. Three Camel Lodge is no slacker of an eco lodge either, and takes its responsible tourism mission very seriously. Actively empowers the local community, pursues sustainable environmental practices, and helps preserve the traditions and cultures of Gobi Desert nomadic tribes, and protect its wildlife.