Should i go hipster

Then experience the fantastic Broadway Market. If fashions more your thing, there are tons of vintage threads on offer too. This edgy part of East London is a known hipster paradise. The grubby streets are turned beautiful with vibrant art-filled walls and endless street art, and the area feels effortlessly cool with its quirky markets and alternative fashion scene. Eat: Brick Lane is famous for its curry houses, but make sure you pick the right one. You might see a poster for a local band you have never heard of playing at a venue you definitely have never heard of.

Sounds like the perfect entertainment for the night. Should you drop 70 euros on a big name band or find a cheap, maybe even free, gig in a small club where some band from the city you're exploring are playing? I know what my choice would be. Then after, you can brag to your friends about knowing the band when they get popular. Hear me out. I am just as guilty as every other millennial out there. I love my phone and I use it for a ton of things while traveling.

However, I cannot help but feel self-conscious about how much I use it. Sometimes I think that everything we post or share online is some form of bragging. Everyone takes pictures of their latte art before actually drinking and tasting the espresso. So, if everyone does it, then is it still hipster? It seems like the hipster thing to do now would be to use our phones less. I can do interesting and fun things without sharing them immediately on social media.

An extremely important part of travel is the disconnect. Using Instagram and Facebook is comfortable, but travel is not always about comfort. Yes, it is important to ourselves, and probably to others as well, when to share our experiences. However, it is also important to know when to simply experience the moment.

The point here is that it is possible, and healthy, to separate your real life from your digital life. You might be surprised about the things you find and the conversations you have. A Leading Study Abroad Blog, brought to you by students who travel.

News U. Politics Joe Biden Congress Extremism. Special Projects Highline. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Follow Us. Terms Privacy Policy. Explore the Creative Class District. This one might hurt, but Ditch the Phone. Suggest a correction. On top of that, the waiter was wonderful and enjoyed chatting with us about growing up in a small town in Estonia. This place is insanely busy and was booked up for two nights during the week.

We lucked out as we stayed right across the street and squeezed in after regular dinner hours. So, call and book in advance for an enjoyable dining experience.

You can get fresh local fish served on a bed of veggies, in a soup, or cut up into tartar. The Scandinavian decor is modern and cozy. They have their own coffee roaster in the back, which I will mention later. This restaurant was a recommendation by Allison from Eternal Arrival, and it did not disappoint. What attracted me was her description of food with beer pairing.

This place gets my sustainable stamp of approval for serving only local and seasonal food. So, the menu is always changing, but you can expect to find smoked quail, veggie stews, and fish. I debated putting this on my coffee or food list, as they do have good coffee, but their food options were probably better. It still feels like a coffee shop atmosphere where people come to work on their laptops and hang out for the afternoon.

The menu had everything from ramen, pub food, and more. They have a cozy loft where you can get a bottle of wine and relax with friends or get some work done. They do have one veggie option. Eating here was the second-best foodie experience we had in Tallinn. The all-vegan menu is one of the more creative I have seen, and it was honestly hard to choose the best option. I had the meal of the day, which was a tomato risotto with a cucumber garnish, and my partner ordered veggies stuffed with couscous.

They have an extensive local drink menu and lots of vegan dessert options, so make sure you save room! This eclectic boho space serves your basic vegan options from vegan soup, burgers, and falafel wraps.

If you only have time for one veggie meal, though, I do recommend Vegan Restoran. They have falafel, burgers, fries, and wraps, plus a ton of bio drinks. The street food scene is a bit different in Tallinn. The great thing about Tallinn is there are so many great hipster things to do and see, but Tallinn compacts them all into these wonderful areas. Tallinn is a model example of how cities and countries should support their local businesses and artisans.

Even the touristy old town was showing support for local wares. Sustainable Tip: The fashion industry contributes more greenhouse gasses than the airline industry and it is only getting worse.

It is important to choose organic fabric, buy used clothing when you can, purchase local goods and support small businesses. When you can, shop at farmers markets for snacks rather than supermarkets. Always bring your reusable shopping bag with you. As a traveler, it can be tough to plan around these pop-up markets.

Tallinn solves that by again putting everything under one magical roof. An entire section of the Balti Jaama Turg market is a daily farmers market, where you can find local honey, veggies, cheese, and more. This market is your more traditional pop-up market with a few stands selling local products. If seafood is your thing, then head down to the harbor and visit Tallinna Kalaturg Fish Market for the catch of the day straight off the boat.

Estonian design has the flavor of Scandinavian design, but its own unique edge gives it a whole new feel. The TDH was located in this tucked away up-and-coming section of Tallinn, just outside the old town. This store had everything from edgy Estonian fashion, funky design home pieces, and odds and ends. I got the impression that Tallinn focused more on local first-hand fashion, but there are a few places to get your second-hand thrifting done.

The best is probably Fankadelik Vintage, which has 2 locations: Balti Jaama Turg and the other an independent storefront. The independent store is larger and has a magical feel of a real vintage store and not just a thrift store. If you have more refined tastes and enjoy vintage couture, then Kopli Couture is a must. They feature local fashion designers at a price you can afford. If you enjoy locally made clothing without previous owners, then Tallinn has tons of great fashion boutiques.

Also, your best bet is to walk around the Telliskivi Creative City. There were dozens of boutiques and clothing stores created by local fashion designers. Since we were slow traveling through Tallinn, we had lots of time to sit at cafes for hours reading or getting work done, and we enjoyed the coffee scene in Tallinn. Sustainable Tip: Cutting dairy is a great way to reduce your footprint, but remember, not all dairy alternatives are created equal.

I repeat vegan does not equal ethical. Oat milk is a sustainable and healthy alternative to dairy and it tastes great. The name says it all. There are several couches and lots of power plugs, so everyone has a comfy spot to sit to stay connected. The living room cafe wins the award of the best hipster coffee shop in Tallinn as they have a selection of exotic beans that can be poured through a V60, Aeropress, or Chemex.

Walking into Raven Coffee, you feel the coziness of Hygge in the small details and warm wooden decor. Order up a regular latte, or get fancy with a turmeric golden, a matcha green, or a beetroot red latte.

Their flat whites are made to the standard of my Australian husband. They serve fresh baked goods, with their specialty being a cinnamon twist. It is a tiny coffee shop, so you might want to make sure you pack your to-go cup if there is no room. The staff are friendly though and helped manage the crowds to make sure we had a seat. A local roaster in Tallinn, Kokomo, has only been around since , and they are striving to change the coffee culture in Tallinn and Estonia by showing both locals and tourists how good coffee can be.

Keep an out for their coffee at local markets, stores, and other coffee shops as well. This all-vegan cafe has popular Estonian design furniture inside, along with an exposed brick wall. They have several milk types, and their coffee is just as good, if not better than those with dairy.

Adoring the many walls surrounding Telliskivi Creative City, there is plenty of street art, including huge murals taking up the entire side of various buildings and smaller pieces you have to look to find. The complex is quite large, so you can easily spend more than an hour wandering around just looking at art.

Tallinn has a cultural kilometer really, it is a bit longer than that that runs from the PADA to the ferry terminal. So, give yourself an extra hour to walk to or from the ferry and walk along the cultural kilometer. At the end, near the PADA, there is a little art shop inside of a container. Sometimes the best way to see the alternative sights of a city and explore the hip and local side is to get lost and wander.

Tallinn is a place where wifi is considered a fundamental human right, and startup culture is supported on a government level. Startups can apply for E-Visa citizenship to Estonia. The Creative City is known as the less douchey silicone valley. I explore these types of creative areas in many cities, so I was expecting a smaller area filled with some street art, maybe a food truck or two, and that was it. However, the Teleskivi Creative City in Tallinn is basically small.

There is so much to do, eat, explore, and learn the best way to uncover the secrets is to wander. This city is set up into a few sections. First, there are three attached multi-story buildings. The rest of the building is full of mini-offices that provide low-cost working space for startup companies. The program they run for creatives is pretty cool. The Sadama neighborhood is near a university, so there are lots of cool uni hangouts and cheap eats.

It is well worth exploring. If you need a starting point, check out the narrow cobblestone alleyways in the triangle between Hobujaama, Mere Puiestee, and Ahtri. This place is mostly residential, so it can seem quiet, but sprinkled in the residential quietness are some thrift stores, cute cafes, and breweries. The area around the brewery reminds me a bit of something you would find in London.

We were not expecting to enjoy cocktails in Tallinn, but we were pleasantly surprised. Hands down, the best bar in all of Tallinn is Whipster Sister. You will need a phone number to call them to gain entrance. The staff welcomed us into their bar, gave us a tour of all the nooks and crannies, and mixed some made to order drinks based on our favorite liquor.

They are talented and friendly, and it is a lovely bar. Good luck finding it! Sigmund Freud is a fun bar with a creative mixology team behind their creations. Expect significant and exciting garnishes and presentations, including everything from a cocktail in a flower pot to large floral arrangements. The cocktails are as fun to look at as they are to drink. They get bonus points for using paper straws, yay!

Can you go wrong with a bar named Sazarac? The answer is no. Sazarac is your classic Ameican style cocktail bar serving up a great selection of classics and some house creations. They do serve some drinks with plastic straws, so ask for no straw! Wildflower bar is a classy and refined place perfect for a group outing or a date night. They play with fruity and floral flavors, making it the ideal watering hole for a hot summer night.

Again, they use plastic, so say ask for no straw. If you like to munch while you drink, this is the spot for you. Stepping into this will feel like you stepped back in time. Depending on the night you visit, they might even have some live music. A bit outside the city and totally off the beaten path, in a good way.

Strive up a conversation with strangers and your bartender and prepared to be amazed by some excellent cocktails. This large brewery is located in an old restored brick building down by the water. On the bottom floor, you can buy beers to take back to your hotel, a gift shop, and you can sneak a peek at their shiny new brewing equipment.

There is a taproom, a sauna????