Just got back from study abroad? Struggling to express your transcendental experience with words? Need a great closer for your travel blog? Consider AWOL’s handy, travel-sized abroad experience template to deflect the onslaught of nosy inquiries from friends and family. Just follow the steps below and let AWOL provide the informative, detailed, and sometimes condescending description for you!

First, pick the location that best describes where you went (if it’s someplace too obscure, don’t worry—it’ll fit somewhere):

European city        Middle Eastern country        China/India        Failing state        Africa

Next, just circle whichever option in the narrative fits your unique experience the best:

“Hey! So I just got back from being abroad! My trip was so [rewarding • amazing • life-changing] and gave me so many important [perspectives • life-lessons • new experiences]. It’s tough to describe because it’ll be hard for you to [understand • relate to • sit through the story of] the fantastic trip I had. Life was so different there.

In the United States, our lives are stressed and hectic, but there they focused on the important things like [culture • overthrowing governments • staying alive]. I wasn’t anxious about my schoolwork like I am at home because there, learning isn’t about grades or papers. It’s about  the experience. I studied so many new subjects like [art • Marxism • Molotov cocktail hurling].

I spent my nights roaming the [cities • dorm halls • pastures] instead of the AU Library. My fellow Eagles and I reflected on our encounters with culture over local favorites served from [Pierre • Ahmed • Comrade Igor], the friendly server at the [pub • hookah bar • Starbucks café] nearby. There we could even drink alcohol, because to them, our maturity isn’t reflected by the age on our [license • passport • fake ID]. We took so many amazing [weekend excursions • safaris • pub crawls] throughout the area, something we aren’t able to do in the United States because Americans don’t care about [public transportation • culture • young people]. Here, all we needed to do was hop on a [train • bus • Sherpa], and we could be encountering a totally different culture and meeting new people. Try experiencing that in the United States!

I spent most of my free time doing my best to immerse myself in the culture. I often admired the [magnificent cathedrals • exotic mosques • quaint grass huts] from [the top decks of tour buses • the backs of alpacas • my computer’s GoogleEarth application]. It was difficult to adapt to many different things, especially [the language barrier • the scarcity of snacks • mosquito nets]. I always got the feeling that people there were so much happier with their [democratically elected government • socialist regime • tyrant] than we are because they love parades! Sometimes people get so excited that the [street cleaners • police • national army] have to [clean up big messes • push the crowd back • shoot off fireworks]!

I spent a lot of time shopping for [authentic • hand-made • mass-produced]souvenirs of national significance like [scarves • tapestries • key chains].

Everyone there was so interesting, and it’s amazing how they [speak English all the time • get by without English • arrest me every time I speak English]. I know the opinion is that people there are really [elitist • lazy • impoverished], but I know now that they are really [intellectual • cheery • oppressed]. Even though I lived in [a dorm with other Americans • an apartment complex for students • a hostel], whenever we ventured outside, we were always really [outgoing • engaging • obnoxious] and willing to meet new people. I feel like I’ll never be the same until I walk those [cobblestone streets • venues of the local bazaar • cowpaths] again, where the people just seem to understand me better and the culture is so much [richer • poorer]. My experience was so [original • extraordinary • personal] and life-changing, that if you go, I’m sure you’ll have the same great experience.”

Illustration by Hannah Karl.

Are you tired of the same old shelves at Kramerbooks? Confused by the organization at Capitol Hill Books? Intimidated by the speakers at Politics and Prose? Then sigh no more, dear reader, for Washington wasn’t named the most literate city in America for the second year in a row without due reason. Resident AWOL Overbearing-But-Well-Intentioned Bibliophiles Claire Dapkiewicz and Melanie Germond have traversed the streets of Northwest DC to bring you the top six independent stores in the District that everyone should visit (but may not know about). Rating on the average book price and service, these book lovers know their Penguins from their Signets, and are ready to tell you the dusty facts.

BOOKS USED & RARE

Georgetown, 1660 33rd St NW • Mon–Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun, 12pm–5pm

We begin our crawl directly across from the 30, 32, 34, 36 bus stop at Book Hill in Georgetown. Crowded, creaky and a good deal dark, Books Used & Rare is tailored towards the collector. Its fascination lies in the twists and turns that cut through the basement bookstore, where the shelves are mostly stocked with impressive leather- or cloth-bound editions of literary, political, historical and artistic classics. This is not the store to visit with a title in mind, and the clerk certainly won’t help. If collector’s feel of Books Used & Rare does not suit you, have no fear. That’s a good thing to know earlier rather than later on the trip. Ultimately, Books Used & Rare is worth the stop, not only to get a feel for your book needs, but also to experience the epitome of an unabashedly dusty, bookish atmosphere.

THE LANTERN: A BRYN MAWR BOOKSHOP

Georgetown, 3241 P Street, NW • Tues–Fri, 11am-4pm; Sat 11am-5pm; Sun 12pm-4pm

Just two of the original seven Bryn Mawr Bookshops remain, and Georgetown’s Lantern is one of them. Staffed completely by volunteers (including four lovely ladies, all named Elizabeth) the proceeds of the shop go to the Bryn Mawr scholarship fund to aid students of the prestigious all-girls institution.  Buy four books and get the fifth free. Be careful though, a poem pinned in the staircase begs patrons to not buy books simply to display them, but to actually read and love them. The collection comes entirely from donations, and bristles with classics (Shakespeare! Lady Chatterley’s Lover!) and curiosities (Urban Gardening! Atlases of the British Empire circa 1900!). Like all donation-driven stores, the selection is variable (and the music mostly symphonic), but it is meticulously tended and familiar to the volunteers, who will graciously send you out the door with where to look next, should you manage the impossible and leave unsatisfied.

BRIDGE STREET

Georgetown, 2814 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Mon–Sat, 11am–9pm; Sun 12–6pm

In a world of price clubs and Amazon.com, Bridge Street Books is the independent store that makes you forget about the book industry and invites you to enjoy the book for what it is: an author’s labor of love.  Comfortably packed with such labors, Bridge Street is home to some of the finest curated philosophy, classics, and theology shelves in the city. The staff is incredibly helpful, enthusiastic and somehow they just know what you need better than you do. They understand that sometimes you lose track of time and end up reading Leaves of Grass for an hour on the shop floor (alas, no actual seating area is available), but they never ask you to get up.

BOOKS FOR AMERICA

Dupont, 1417 22nd St NW • Mon, 10am–6pm; Tues–Thurs, 10am-9pm; Fri–Sat, 10am–6pm; Sun, 11am–5pm

Books For America isn’t your average charity shop.  It’s upbeat, the music in the background is not strictly classical, and all the profits fund the foundation’s goal to supply children across the country with a reliable source of books. With everything from cookbooks, new mystery and crime, to classic literature and an impressive history collection—each priced at or below $4.00—there’s a lot to feel good about. Take your relationship with them to the next level, and donate all those textbooks you can’t sell back at the end of the semester or offer to volunteer.

SECOND STORY

Dupont, 2000 P St NW • Open Seven Days, 10am–10pm

No, there is no physical second story, but don’t be put off, for Second Story Books is for both the serious and the aspiring book collector. Rife with ancient leather-bound tomes, used DVDs, CDs (yes, many of them classical) and the average paperback, Second Story works a bit like a treasure hunt: what you came for may not be what you found, but the disparity won’t disappoint. A walk through Second Story feels like a crash course in the history of books, and it smells exactly as you expect it to smell­—like the first library you ever visited.

IDLE TIMES BOOKSTORE

Adams Morgan, 2467 18th St NW • Open Seven Days, 11am–10pm

The later you head to Idle Times, the more likely you are to meet Desi and Lucy, the store cats. While this is a fantastic reason to take advantage of their extensive hours—until 10 every night—any time is time well spent at Idle Times. The store’s three levels are flawlessly organized—and cross-referenced with handy maps throughout. From DC history to hobbies, they have it all and everything in between; their political section includes several shelves completely dedicated to Noam Chomsky, and their children’s section has your old favorites. They also stock greeting cards, calendars, collector’s editions, CDs and vinyl. Idle Times is the solution to all your gift giving and collecting needs. There are chairs, stools and poofs tucked away in the corners, plants perched on several of the shelves and the cats that could be in any of the numerous nooks—Idle Times is the epitome of the inviting and homey bookstore, and its just a few mile’s crawl away.

Illustration by Hannah Karl.