Lonely Planet and Fodor’s don’t prepare you for quite everything.GARLIC, CHECK. HOLY WATER, check. Crucifix, check. So you’ve packed for every contingency, even encounters with Nosferatu, and now you’re ready to go?Think again, intrepid traveler. More than one kind of bloodsucker haunts the far reaches of the earth.

Just imagine … relaxing on a golden beach in Thailand, trekking through a teeming jungle in Peru, swimming up close and personal with the inhabitants of the Great Barrier Reef, roaming the electric streets of Tokyo at 3am in a sake-fuelled haze – Ah, the possibilities!BUT AS THE REAL world back seeps back in (a dreary nine-to-five desk-job, perhaps?

I heard of Janelle Monáe on November 8th, 2009 in a facebook post in which an ex-boyfriend of mine was practically wetting himself over her apparent musical genius. (And yes, I remember the date.)In addition to all the yelling and sobbing that came with young love gone hideously wrong, he did introduce me to some excellent music.

Crashed Ice is making its way to Quebec City for the fourth time, and it’s bringing some chaos with it.Crashed Ice is an incredibly fast race that mixes downhill skiing, hockey, and boardercross, and it all takes place on a steeply-sloped ice rink.The sport originated in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2000 and began spreading to other European cities shortly after.

Drag queens from the Oaxacan isthmus and Oaxaca’s gay and lesbian community join forces for a gay pride parade and all night party.THE ISTHMUS OF Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico, is home to a matriarchal society in which the youngest son in the family is raised to be gay. From a young age this child is dressed up as a woman and treated as such; isthmeñan society embraces this role and encourages it.

In operation for 13 years, Dionisios Teatro Bar is the only drag bar in Quito, Ecuador.My friend Chad and I went out looking for a good time tonight and stumbled into a full scale performance already underway. If tonight is any indication, the drag scene in Quito, though tiny, has developed as traditional theatre.