Let's face it, there are times when you just can't travel -- or don't want to. Vicarious web travel can be a great supplement to boots-on-the-ground journeys, and we should know, right? However, our wise elders keep talking about these things called "books", so we decided to check out these paper dinosaurs a bit, and guess what, they aren't all a waste of time. Some of them are quite good.
Congratulations! You've won a trip to Paris! All you have to do is spend eighteen hours a day up to your elbows in grime and other people's leftovers as a plongeur, or dishwasher, at a fancy restaurant! When you're not working, you'll be able to see the city as much as you like -- but we won't pay you nearly enough to do anything you want to do, so mostly you'll just see the restaurant. Afterwards, you will stay in posh places in the English countryside where you will almost get a complete meal every day -- for free! Better adjust that itinerary.
Before there was Nickel and Dimed, there was George Orwell's book Down and Out in Paris and London, in which the author, a dissolute middle-class college graduate, took off for unglamorous jobs in big cities. Okay, he started out as a tutor and (ahem) freelance writer, but when he couldn't make ends meet, would take almost any job, even one that involved regular run-ins with giant rats.
In London he became a permanent tramp, forced out of doors for 12 hours but then able to enjoy the (relative) luxury of government way stations and the freedom of not having to report to work.
How does the man also known as Eric Blair make less-than-minimum-wage work and threatening bums sound so dangerously alluring? By being both social journalist and wide-eyed youth, impressed by the people he meets instead of inspired to pity them. We're tossing our laptop into a hobo bundle as we speak.
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[Photo: Wikipedia]
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