Fhloston Paradise - The Fifth Element

Want to go to space but all that science and technology in the International Space Station turning you off? Well, save your money, get your orbital passport and mark you calendar for 2016.

A Moscow based company, Orbital Technologies, has a pie in the sky dream of building a hotel in space. A seven room boutique that would serve space travelers as well as overflow from the International Space Station.

Picture from NASA

In the past, people with an extra $20M in their pocket could stay at the International Space Station. They’d catch a ride into space on the Soyuz (the Russian version of the Space Shuttle) and get dropped at the Station. The final trip by a tourist was in 2009 as more astronauts are taking up tourist seats on the Soyuz.

The awful part of being a tourist on board the International Space Station was having to live among the astronauts and all that science stuff housed in the space station. Imagine the horror of being so close to a scientific discovery.

At the International Space Station, there was also the constant worry that space tourists would break something sciency. There were too many rules and precautions that the space tourist needed to follow. No one was allowed to run or throw a ball indoors.

The hotel currently proposed has seven rooms. The number of rooms could increase or decrease when final plans are arranged, based on interest and demand. This would be a hotel, not a science project, so there’s nothing to worry about. Travelers would have private rooms to soak up the stars and planets on their own and if they wanted to, could toss a ball in the hall without a care in the world, or galaxy, for that matter.

Already, plans to make the hotel more enticing to those out there with a couple million to spend on a vacation are in the works. Ideas are being floating by Orbital Technologies to use celebrity chefs to prepare food especially for each traveler. Food would be prepared on earth, made to each traveler’s specifications and shipped with the traveler to the great frontier.

Once Orbital Technologies can figure out how to get a swimming pool and palm trees in the space hotel and then name it Fhloston Paradise, demand will skyrocket.

Travel, that’s what.

Anna Kramer, a Masters student at the University of Washington, was awarded the Bonderman Travel Fellowship. What does this mean for Anna? Well, she was awarded $20K to travel alone to at least six different countries in two regions of the world over a minimum of eight months. A few requirements, but hey, they’re giving her money and momentum to get going.

While traveling, fellowship recipients can work or loaf, they just need to immerse themselves in the local culture. Apparently, most tend to work and use resources available for inexpensive travel as the airline budget eats a lot of the $20k. But really, being away in a foreign land and working your way through it only enlightens your experience.

Anna is focusing her travels along the Pacific Ocean, with stops along various Asian islands, New Zealand and then up the Central American coast. Kind of a ’round the Pacific tour. Her only hesitation is traveling alone, but a young woman as resourceful as Anna should be fine. Now, we just need her to submit stories to Hipster Travel Guide.

Fellowships and scholarships for travel abroad are out there. It’s up to you to find out how you can apply to pack your bags. If you’re currently in college, check out what is available through your college and any of the organizations of which you’re a member. For those of you not currently enrolled, this is another reason for continuing that education. There’s plenty of on line resources that will tell you what is out there and how to apply.

It’s up to you – either buy the crystal world globe pictured above and let it collect dust or use it to plan your next trip.

But everyone knows that it’s the commercials that everyone talks about on Monday. But what have you been missing?

Here are some of the commercials just too funny for prime time — or at least the censors who approve commercials. Most of these were banned this year, but some go back a few years, just to bring you up to speed.

Here’s a banned KGB ad:

And the annual banned Go Daddy ad.

Banned Doritos Ad

Banned a couple of years ago

Banned Bud Light

Banned PETA ad from last year

Another banned Bud Light

And another

This one will actually be on tonight, but we thought it was kind of funny anyway

We can help you look cool, sound cool and live life with the savvy you should have. Return to Sender is the next installment to the Hipster Travel Guide.

Click here to read our next chapter.

Now, one New Yorker is challenging that premise with an interesting idea. Zachary Sanders headed off to Cuba for a couple of weeks by way of the Bahamas. (You can also get direct flights to Cuba via Mexico and Canada.)

When the U.S. government found out about this, they questioned him about his trip — something that has never happened with any Hipster Travel Guide trip. Zach refused to answer, so he was fined $1000. He appealed, and was fined an additional $8000, see what appealing a government inquiry gets you.

See if Zach answered the questions, he would be admitting to potential criminal activity, which he doesn’t want to say anything, he was has the constitutional right to remain silent. Paying the fine is like a confession.

Now, Zach has filed a suit with the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Go team! And let us go to Cuba.

If you want to go to Cuba, here is the U.S. State Department info on the country and how to obtain a visa.

Here are a few facts about the 112th largest country in the world (it’s slightly smaller than the state of Pennsylvania).

Population: 11.4 million

Capital: Havana

Climate: Tropical

Type of Government: Castro

Flag: Very ugly

With the height of the tourist season coming to an end (Labor Day), now could be the time to look for some great trips.

The Associated Press reported that with the lull of business travelers as well as others, prices could continue to drop for airline tickets. That means now’s the time to start looking at where you want to go this fall.

Just a quick look and you can find some deals.

Tribeca Grand Hotel is offering 20 percent off rooms for a stay of three nights.

Allgetaways.com has some excellent deals to Vegas.

Bugbog.com offers up its tips for the places in Europe to go in October.

Look, we don’t care where you go, just that you go some where, you’re annoying your roommate anyway.

Think you know poker? Go to Old School Vegas and find out. The money you save on your room and flight might be enough to get you through two bluffs and a bad beat. None of us are that good.

Pack your bags and take a bite out of the Big Apple, home to more ironic T-shirts than all of China.