If you’re in Sydney and want to get a few good notches on your art belt in one solid hit, head to 2 Danks Street in Waterloo for a whole slew of galleries under one warehousey roof. Wander in and you enter into an artful lucky dip. One gallery might be pungent with an installation of rotting flowers, another will have concrete casts of TV sets engraved with the word ’silence’, while another displays an affordable pop mash-up of plastic cast ravens and busts of Andy Warhol. All this awaits you - if you manage to drag yourself past the incredible Danks Street Depot café at the front. This is no manky-muffin-and-crappucino operation - as the slow cooked broccoli and eggs will attest.

Why do we feel the need to dress differently when we travel? The ‘traveller/tourist’ look is usually very easy to spot - it falls into two broad (and insultingly generalised) categories: The Sensible and The Native. Why does the former get about in chunky, overly practical, asexual synthetics and the latter in baggy cottons, waistcoats and toe-rings?

Sensible doesn’t have to mean you dress like you’re about to climb the Eiger and Native shouldn’t have to include exposed navel and dodgy tattoo.

A mate and I travelled together in Mexico some years ago and he insisted on wearing a very clean white panama hat and cravat everywhere we went - we were assumed to be a nice gay German couple, which was very understandable in hindsight.

Why are ‘normal’ clothes so wrong?

Larry O’leary

Whether you’re a blogger, an ardent correspondent or just want to keep up with the news or book ahead for accommodation, these days the internet plays a big part in the way we travel.

Several sites offer directories for where to find internet cafes, like this one in Australia. Or if you, like many others, don’t dare travel without your laptop, you’ll love a great wi-fi directory for Australia, Europe, the UK.

Got any hot-spots? C’mon, we want in!

Jenni Kauppi

Las Vegas and Orlando have laws that ban the feeding of homeless people in certain public spaces. Put that ladle down, son, and come out with your hands up! Such laws in a self-proclaimed Christian country have raised hackles all over the world - but what’s your ethical position on giving food or money to beggars when you’re travelling in poorer countries like India or Thailand? It can go against the heart to resist a plea for help; on the other hand, many argue that giving to beggars unbalances and corrupts communities, creates dependencies and encourages child trafficking. So, what to do? Do you give directly to a local charity, even though that will probably not help the unfortunate directly in front of you? Do you harden your heart and walk on?

-Cherry Washington

Well, almost: put 10 July in your diary, because this auspicious date not only marks 44 years since the Fab Four’s triumphant return to Liverpool after conquering the USA in 1964, but also… the city’s first Beatles Day!

It was only a matter of time. Liverpool has long been a Beatles mecca, luring starry-eyed fans with attractions like the famous Cavern Club (yes, I confess: I had my photo taken on the stage), the Beatles Story at Albert Dock, the wallet-whacking Beatles Shop, and, of course, the Magical Mystery Tour, which takes in the city’s key Beatles landmarks.

Not forgetting the recently opened Hard Day’s Night Hotel, complete with Beatles artwork, Lennon and McCartney suites and, one would hope, at least a Starr spa or a Harrison health club…

Of course, too much John, George, Paul and Ringo is never enough, and Beatles Day promises to amp up the fun with a street parade, a citywide mop-top-wig-wearing drive (I kid you not), inflatable guitars, and a huge fundraising concert to top it all off.

Not a day tripper? (yay! Finally got my corny song title allusion in there) Go the whole hog with the annual Beatle Week ‘08, from 20 to 26 August. It’s not for nothing Liverpool was designated Europe’s Capital of Culture for 2008…

What’s your most memorable Liverpool experience? Did you spot anyone wearing a mop-top wig while you were there?!

- Suzy Watusi

In recent days, a British tourist was awarded compensation for a holiday on the grounds that it wasn’t what he was expecting. His family holiday in Greece was hugely disappointing because the resort catered almost exclusively to German tourists.

Whether a resort crammed with buffet-hogging Germans is less fun than a beach town full of pink, pissed and parochial Britons is an argument for the tabloids. Better yet, next time you and your flock head off to Greece, buy a German Phrasebook for the kids.

I’m interested in how far this ‘disappointment’ compensation could go. If the sunset isn’t quite right, the coffee’s a little bitter, the rain’s a bit fierce, the parties dull, the locals jaded, the bed too hard, or whatever, should you be able to get your money back?

If your entire travel experience doesn’t mirror the brochure, then sue.

I remember a holiday we had when I was a child. The beach was often quite windy, I was stung by hordes of mosquitoes, and I never got to bat while playing cricket. My solicitor is currently contacting my family over the matter.

What holiday do you want to be compensated for?

Larry O’Leary

The main attractions as you wander the globe may well be the galleries you visit and their world-renowned displays of priceless art. Few would dare tread the streets of Paris without also making at least a cursory trip to the Musee du Louvre to visit its most famous face.

But take a glance from another angle. The pavement you pound in the city you visit may also be home to a less conventional brand of art, albeit a little less sanctioned and a little less legal.

Street art, also known as graffiti art (and vandalism), is a thriving movement rich in symbolism and diverse in technique, carrying with it a taste for a city’s underground culture. Free of all the PR of a city’s tourism board and official ‘must-sees’, street art speaks for the locals in a way no brochure can.

Particularly thriving in this scene is Barcelona, and LP’s very own Melbourne is also known throughout the world for it’s street art scene. And of course, in all matters of art and the cutting edge, there’s always New York. In the UK, the elusive Banksy has made quite a reputation for himself with his art as social commentary.

But, to be fair, it’s everywhere and anywhere in the world, and if you like your art a little on the subversive side, you get the pleasure for free.

Got any recommmendations? Favourite pieces or artists?

Jenni Kauppi

One of the hottest (but sadly, let’s face it, most boring) topics of conversation right now is the price of fuel. One glance at the price boards at the local service station is seriously the cheapest facelift you can get - those eyebrows aren’t coming down for a good long while. In light of this rise in fuel prices, some airlines are cutting their services to less popular destinations (or ‘low-yeilding leisure routes’ as they call them - how’dya like that, Gold Coast? Wow.) Both domestic and international services will be getting their wings clipped.
This is really interesting. Are the days of 10-cent travel over? Is that flurry of budget flights finally coming to rest? How is this going to affect the future of travel? Are we all going to start investigating destinations closer to home or are we just gonna suck up that price hike and awkward schedule?

I’m interested, I’m conflicted, I’m kinda excited. How’s this going to pan out? What do you think?

– Slickarus

North Melbourne doesn’t tend to rate much of a mention in guidebooks about our fair city, but this may change now given the suburb’s starring role in controversial Aussie TV series Underbelly. For those of you who’ve been living on the moon or in the wilds of Mongolia lately, Underbelly is an absorbing and shamelessly flashy dramatisation of the infamous ‘gangland wars’ that shook this town between 1995 and 2004.

Ironically, it’s banned from screening in Victoria until ongoing court cases pertaining to the gangland wars are finalised.

But you can get an Underbelly fix simply by trawling the restaurant-lined ‘mean streets’ of North Melbourne (standing in for Carlton, scene of actual events). Forget that dorky Neighbours tour, don those bullet-proof shades and get hungry: these gangsters had big appetites!

Have you ever visited landmarks and/or locations related to your favourite TV show?

- Suzy Watusi

In about six months or so I will be heading off to Europe for three weeks with my Mum. We are off to England to celebrate my London-based older brother’s 40th birthday and then on to Portugal.

We’re expecting to have a great time travelling with Mum; she is an adventurous, curious traveller, with a lively mind who adapts well.

However, from what I have gleaned, most web-based travel advice concerning travelling with older parents assumes they are drug-dependent, semi-invalids, prone to fatigue with an insatiable appetite for dietary fibre.

Is my trip to Europe going to involve very little except medicating, reviving and hydrating Mum, eating bland bran-based food and washing tired legs?

This sounds worse than travelling with a squalling brat.

Have you ever travelled with an older parent? Was it fun, or an ordeal?

Larry O’Leary