Category Archives: Travel
Must Have: Burton’s Lightweight, Spacious Carry On Roller
On a trip last week to the U.S. Virgin Islands’ picturesque St. Croix and The Buccaneer Hotel, I traveled with Burton Snowboard’s Drifter Roller Travel Bag. As I only do carry on when traveling under a week, especially if I have transfers, it proved to be a formidable travel companion. 
The dimensions (H: 22 in, W: 13 in, D: 10 in) were perfect for my three flights each way to get to and back from the island. Usually it is just two flights if leaving from the city, but I took flights from White Plains. Super lightweight, the roller without anything weighs 7.7 lb, which is due to the polyester body and use of IXION lightweight skate wheels. The wheels are also easily replaceable if you want to spice up your roller some more, but of course that isn’t needed with the trendy camo option of the Drifter Roller.
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Jeffrey Fashion Cares 2014: Chad White, Parker Hurley And More Male Models
Jeffrey Fashion Cares, now in its 11th year, brings together fashion industry pros, models and stars for a good cause. Proceeds from the New York event last night—which I attended via Instagram since currently traveling—benefited charities such as Lambda Legal and the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America, and attendees included My Girl‘s Anna Chlumsky, designer Steve Madden and even Vogue‘a Anna Wintour, who did not partake in any selfies it looks like.
Hunky models marched down the runway at the 69th Regiment Armory sporting spring collections of various designers. They included favorites such as Chad White, Brian Shimansky and Clint Mauro and newcomers like underwear model Parker Hurley. See the boys on the runway and some behind the scenes below:
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In The Bag: Travel Essentials For Cancún, Mexico
In this edition of Vee Travels’ In The Bag series, essential accessories for traveling Cancún, Mexico. Shot at the Moon Palace, these accessories mix a little luxury with simple travel and tropical necessities that’ll keep you stylish and happy.
Tote – Coach
The sophisticated Coach Bleecker Day Tote In Bar Stripe Leather makes a colorful statement with the sky blue stripes, but its gold hardware adds the refined look to the bag. Spacious with large pockets inside (one zip and another with snap closure, it can be carried by its leather handles or a detachable nylon shoulder/crossbody strap. Large and durable for 15″ laptop as well.
Swimwear – Zara
You can’t go wrong by selecting a floral or tropical print swimwear for the Caribbean, my selection is a clean black and white design from Zara (not available anymore, but here’s another style). The key to swimwear is picking one for your body, but a good rule of thumb to keep in mind is to avoid purchasing ones that go past your knees. Swim shorts with an 6-8″ inch seam should be able to work and look good for men of most heights and body types.
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Contest: Win One Of Four Trips To Britain During Pride
In celebration of same-sex marriage becoming legal in England and Wales over the weekend, VisitBritain is hosting a contest to attend Britain Pride events across the country.
Enter here once until April 30th for a chance to win a trip to either Brighton, Cardiff, Manchester or Birmingham for pride events in 2014 or 2015, depending on which is won. Prizes include round trip flights with Virgin Atlantic (with connections with Delta if needed), pride tickets and three night stays in either at the Grove, Wales, from Further Afield, Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester or the Staying Cool Apartments, Birmingham. Good luck!
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Style Guide For Music Festivals
If you find yourself heading to Magic City this weekend for the Ultra Music Festival, I’ve put together a cool guy’s guide for AskMen.com to give you a rundown of who to check out, where to eat, drink and shop in Miami, who to take style inspiration from, and what to wear:
Styling for any music festival, you can never go wrong with skinny jeans, but if the destination is very warm (like Miami), shorts are also a great option—just make sure to go for flat front over cargo styles (those are so over). For tops, go for graphic tees and tanks with funky designs, and make sure to skip out on the usual band, kitsch or ironic T-shirts. For accessories and footwear, old-school chic and plastic sunglasses are great to go from music festival to sunbathing, a colorful or print baseball cap is useful all spring and summer long, and sneakers and slip-ons are good go-tos as you’ll be standing and bouncing around for hours. Read the rest of this entry
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NYC Freedom Tower BASE Jump Video Is Beautifully Terrifying
The tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere is getting its fair share of attention this week. First with a teen sneaking on the Freedom Tower roof, and now with two dudes who videotaped their B.A.S.E jump (an acronym for the four categories which one can jump: building, antenna, span and Earth) off the structure into the Manhattan streets at 3 a.m. The description on the soon to be viral video shares that the men made the jump back in September.
In the video below, the first guy jumps at around 2:30 minutes in if you want to fast forward (you video adrenaline junkie you), and the second guy (who gives us a first person view) jumps at 2:45. Not for the faint heart, unless you’re practicing to be Batman:
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Must See: Where Lady Gaga Filmed “G.U.Y”, The Hearst Castle In California
Lady Gaga’s released an 11-minute ARTPOP film for her song “G.U.Y”, which along with performing the provocative single also features the song “Venus”. The video follows Gaga after being reborn (or as she enters the next stage in life) and makes her way to a white mansion that’s filled with familiar faces from the Bravo family (like Andy Cohen as Zeus) and turns into a big Gaga-esque party. The entire video is flawless, with the dance numbers reminding me of her “Paparazzi” days, but something that’s also worth mentioning is the location of where the video was shot, the Hearst Castle on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California in its own town of San Simeon.
The beautiful central Californian castle, a National and California Historical Landmark mansion designed in the Mediterranean Revival style, can actually be visited and able to host events. It dates back to 1919 and can look like a castle in the sky as it is perched on a hill with an altitude of 1,600 feet.
Here’s a look inside the castle and its grounds beyond the “G.U.Y” video:
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12 Stylish Backpacks For Every Traveler
Bags are obviously one of my favorite accessories, and the backpack is a style perfect for all types of travel. Whether you’re headed to a tropical destination, getting ready for an outdoors adventure or visiting a luxe hotel in London, there’s a backpack out there that’s perfect for you this spring:
Luxury & City Travel
Kenneth Cole Leather Convertible Backpack ($325, Kenneth Cole)
Tumi Alpha Bravo Lejeune Backpack Tote ($445, Tumi)
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Cancún-Riviera Maya Wine & Food Festival 2014 Photo Diary
Fresh from Cancun, I had the pleasure in attending the third edition of the Cancún-Riviera Maya Wine & Food Festival. Over the course of four days across seven different resorts, attendees could partake in events such as the conference series (which featured renowned New York-based, French chef Daniel Boulud who talked about his inspiring career path and about the future of cuisine), tastings of wine and spirits from California, Argentina and of course Mexico, and countless delicious and beautifully displayed bites from all over the world to fill everyone’s culinary curiosity.
The Gourmet Tasting Village at Moon Palace was the place to be for two days of Mexican cuisine from local restaurants (such as La Casa del Agua, Cocina de Autor and Alquimia), resorts (such as Palace Resorts, Le Blanc, ME and Nizuc), the local culinary school (El Instituto Culinario de Cancún) and food and drink brands. While I couldn’t bring back the food with me (if only!), I was able to snap hundreds of photos. Get a food porn photo sampling below of the tasty goodies at this year’s CRM Wine & Food Festival:
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4 Niche Museums To Visit In Europe
Sure you can visit Paris’ Lourve, London’s British Museum and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, but what about a museum dedicated to the dog, gelato, surfing in the UK and the music group ABBA? From a Details online article I wrote in summer, after hearing that the Swedish band ABBA got its own museum I noticed there was a spike in offbeat and niche museums popping up the past year and half. Check out the European selections below, and the full collection here.
Gelato Museum Carpigiani (above)
Where: Bologna, Italy
“Italians have been enjoying their fancy ice cream longer than you might think. It was even served at 16th-century Medici parties. You can learn more about the dessert in this new space, located just outside the city of Anzola dell’Emilia, near Bologna. After an hour-long tour spotlighting the history, culture, and production of Italian ice cream, visitors get to sample modern versions of 19th-century recipes. Hard-core gelato lovers can even take cooking lessons at the Carpigiani Gelato University.”
The Museum of British Surfing
Where: Brauton, United Kingdom
“Although Hawaii, California, and Australia are renowned hot spots of surf culture, the sport has been popular on the U.K. coastline of North Devon for over 200 years. Art lovers will appreciate the collection of 50 surfboards, some made as long ago as the early 1900s.”
Vee Travels 
