Games NOT to play in an airport

• The Bomb Bogies Game: Just like playing Bogies (where you take it in turns to say the word and each person must say it louder than the person before them), but with the word bomb.
• Mister Security: Try to sneak up on security, but you must freeze every time they look in your direction. 
• The Unlabelled Baggage Scavenger Hunt: Leave your bags in carefully hidden places around the airport, then challenge your friends to find them.
• The Beligerant Passenger Game: You don't even need to be travelling anywhere for this one. Just march up to the check-in counter and start shouting at the innocent staff members who work there. Fastest person to be escorted out by security is the winner.
• Guess Who: Swap passports with friends. Try to go through security checks and see if anyone guesses that you're not who you say you are. Hilarity will ensue.
• The Racial Profiling Game: All players should gather up a group of people from different ethnic backgrounds, then line them up in order of Most to Least likely to be a terrorist.
• Guess What's in my Boogy Board Bag: Is it a board or is it 3kgs of marijuana? You've got a 50% chance of being right!

Now don't these sound like fun? Thanks in advance for making your next overseas trip far more entertaining for the spectators.

Foreign or travel themed horrors to get your blood pumping tonight

It's a little late for a "halloweeny" themed post and I'm probably the worst person in the world to be writing this list since I can't watch horror films without screaming, hiding, turning all the lights on repeatedly, crawling up walls and generally making other people laugh at me/ pity me... but I'll give it a shot anyway.

The Orphanage
Creepy, creepy children tormenting adults into madness in the beautiful Spanish countryside? What's not to love? Or freak out about and be terrified of your younger siblings and cousins for a while. Whatever. Still, it was an amazing movie. 

Hostel
Of course this one's on the list. I've stubbornly refused to even watch this film due to the fact that I stay in a lot of dodgy hostels and would like to continue doing so without heart palpitations... but I'm told it will make your skin crawl. So if that's your thing: enjoy.

Friday the 13th
It is totally a travel themed movie/series! Don't argue with me! Quick question, though. Why do these people insist on returning to the damn lake? Honestly!

Pan's Labyrinth
Okay so this is more in the historical/fantasy/tripping-you-out genre, but watch the scene with the child eating monster and tell me it's not freaky as heck. Another creepy Spanish film. What is up with the Spanish anyway? Why must you Spaniards make such creepy movies!

Eyes Without a Face
An old as dirt French film for those of you who are into the classics. But, just so you know, the footage of the skin graft is real. 

A Tale of Two Sisters
Recommended to me twice, I've persistently avoided watching it as I've seen more than enough clips from it to know that it goes well beyond my personal 'creep threshold'. If you've got a stronger horror tolerance level and want some Korean creepiness in your evening: go for it.

Five vaguely useful travel apps

Airbnb - Hooks up travellers (with no friends to stay with) and homeowners/renters (with no friends to hang out with). Basically, if someone has a spare room they can advertise it as accommodation for travellers via this website and app. Travellers can then book the room to stay in. It can save you a freaking fortune in hotel/hostel costs and you can make a new friend or two in the process.

Accio - Okay, so this is actually the name of the app provider, not the app, but searching this will bring up the most options. Basically, they make translator dictionaries for your iPhone (and probably your Android, too, but I can't vouch for that). Helpful if you're wanting to learn a few words and phrases before you leave and super helpful in getting yourself out of a pinch once you're actually travelling. Also, much, much lighter than a bilingual dictionary. Must think about those luggage allowances, hey?

Lonely Planet - Yes, there are apps now.

Streetmuseum: Londinium - I'm kind of stretching the definition of useful with this addition to the list, but it's absolutely the cutest, coolest app idea ever. Basically, it overlays ancient sites over the top of a map of modern London and then includes facts, pictures, little excavation game things and the like. It's awesome. Well, it is awesome if you're under the age of twelve... or if you're me. Shut up!

Hostelworld.com - I tend to just go through the website, but they have an app, too! How nifty! I almost always go through Hostelworld to make my bookings, because they have not failed me yet. If they say a hostel is good, it's good. Just take it as fact, okay?

A World of Cliches

Well, just about two weeks have passed in Britain and so far my days have been an unending stream of British cliches. Villages are filled with tiny roads and identical houses, all the homes have decorative fireplaces, everyone is obsessed with football and train stations are tremendously huge and overly ornate. 

Oh look, a castle!

Days and nights have been both rainy and chilly and I'm told it will snow soon! And as promised on television: the Brits speak in a variety of dialects that range from classy to posh to adorably quaint to completely impossible to understand. The British coast is long and pretty but seems to be without the sand and sun I typically associate with the seaside. Castles are big and majestic and old and... full of old stuff. Halloween (Not just an American thing! Who knew?) promised small children in teeny tiny monster costumes but instead delivered dodgy teenagers with jackets over their faces trying to bung some free candy. Bonfire Night involved a dangerously large fire and a disracting display of fireworks to make sure everyone turned their backs on the blaze to give it a chance to get out of control.

British pubs contain cheap beer (or cider if you're me and therefore weak) and jolly locals getting scarily hammered. Tea rooms are staffed by middle aged women (probably the jolly locals' wives) who bake cakes and slices by the dozen and serve tea in pretty china pots. Oh, and Sunday dinners are epic. 

All in all, it's been very gratifying to know that my vaguely insulting expectations for this country are coming true. It's always nice to be proven right, over and over again. Although it's not helping the dear boyfriend's attempts to make me stop calling the UK a quaint, itty bitty island. But hey, he can't win 'em all.