Act Like You Know: Cities I

Please don't let it be known that you've never left your hometown before. It's not a good look. But the world doesn't need to know that. Mr. Mannerz is not advocating lying or deception. Mr. Mannerz is more about being vague when it comes to the past...particularly your past (read: controlled substances, bank robbery, accessory to murder, identify theft, shoplifting, insurance fraud, outstanding parking tickets, drug smuggling, embezzlement, kidnapping, grand larceny; etc).

When your boss mentions a trip to Copenhagen or Istanbul he took last year, please keep the visceral ignorant reaction under wraps. As I've done with art and food, I'm going to teach you about travel without you ever having to board that Greyhound bus you used to escape prosecution.

When the next person asks you where you holidayed recently, simply answer, "I was supposed to go to [insert international city here] last winter, but I had to deal with a minor crisis here in [insert city you're currently living in]."

In this series, Mr. Mannerz won't be talking about cities people travel to often, like Paris, London; etc. We need to go down the road less traveled by mediocre Joe Schmos like your boss.





St. Petersburg: One of the world's most beautiful cities, this Russian cradle of culture boasts the State Hermitage Museum and the Mariinsky Theater. You intended on staying at the premier Grand Hotel Europe (5 stars, my dear) and dining at Adamant (not Adam Ant—Adamant, as in "unyielding"). Your days were to consist of strolling along the Neva River and taking in the museums and cafes and your evenings would have involved the opera and White Nights—practically broad daylight for 24 hours. Considered the "Venice of the North", St. Petersburg will eventually be a part of your travel portfolio. And when you go there, please stay away from conspicuous looking men in Matrixesque leather jackets hanging on the street corners. Aren't you tired of that life?