Grilling steaks and drinking beer is always great, but many dads dread the thought of receiving another tacky tie.

Take some time this year to prepare for Father's Day, on June 15th, and thank dad for all he's done with a gift he'll actually love.

Whether he's a golfer, tech guru, or beer aficionado, we've found the perfect gift for every type of dad.

With Mantry, dad can look forward to delicious food deliveries each month.

Mantry, which is shorthand for "the modern man's pantry," will surprise dad with packages containing artisan food products and guidance for how to make the most of them. 

From bacon to beer products, each box of six items has a cool theme that dad will love.

Price: $225 for a three-month subscription

Give dad the gift of crystal clear sound without background noise.

Don't underestimate the power of great acoustics. Try a pair of the Grado SR125i's from our list of the best headphones. With a retro look and sweet sound quality, dad will be able to focus on his favorite tunes.  

This gift is especially useful for any dad who travels a lot, and wants to tune out the noisy airport bustle.

Price: $169.99

The Garmin Golf Approach S4 watch will have dad feeling like a pro.

Help dad's game with this golf gadget. The touch screen GPS watch comes preloaded with over 30,000 international golf courses so that he can easily access his games' locations and key course distances. 

The sleek watch also lets him keep score and syncs his phone's messages to pop up right on the screen.

Price: $299.99

The Big Apple BBQ Block Party takes place in New York City this weekend, and thousands of diners will line up to sample authentic barbecue from around the U.S.

Navigating a barbecue festival can be tricky business.

"It's just like going to Disney World," Myron Mixon, says Myron Mixon, who claims to have won more barbecue awards and competitions than anyone else in the world. "You should have a checklist to get the most BBQ for your buck."

In other words, come armed with an itinerary so you know how to allot your dollars and stomach space.

Mixon, who's visited many of the thousands of barbecue festivals that happen across the U.S. with his TV show "BBQ Pitmasters," shared these tips for navigating a festival like a pro.

• When deciding where to go, start with the websites of regional barbecue governing bodies. The big ones include the Kansas City Barbecue Society, Memphis Barbecue Network, International Barbecue Cookers Association in Texas and the Florida Barbecue Association. You can also search your metropolitan area plus "BBQ" to come up with a list of all the festivals scheduled there.  
• Always visit the people's choice tent to sample a variety of barbecue without filling up on just one. Depending on the festival, you will buy an entrance ticket or pay by the plate.
• Festivals will serve mostly "wet" barbecue, made with BBQ sauce, because 99% of the time, wet wins in competition, Mixon says. If you want a dry barbecue (Mixon recommends Memphis dry rub ribs), you should try a restaurant outside the festival.
• Look for barbecue festivals that are scheduled alongside other local food festivals. Mixon recommends The Plant City Pig Jam, which hosts its event alongside a strawberry festival. He also said barbecue festivals in the Northeast often run their events in conjunction with fresh seafood festivals. "There's nothing better than eating a pound of BBQ and then getting yourself a dozen oysters," Mixon said. 

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When most people think of Brazilian food, they think of honking skewers of meat from a Churrascaria. But Brazilian cuisine is much more varied than that. Sure, there's enough meat that carnivores will be satiated, but there's also an incredible array of exotic fruits and vegetables from the Amazon, fresh fish, rich desserts, and flavorful stews. 

Here are 10 incredible Brazilian dishes you may not have heard of, but should try:

Pão de queijo: A type of fresh-baked cheesy bread that Brazilians eat for breakfast.Moqueca: A type of Bahian fish stew that's made with coconut milk, prawns, small boneless fish, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and coriander.Feijoada: Brazil's national dish is a rich stew made with black beans, smoked pork and a combination of other meats, like bacon, ribs, sausage, and beef. Some versions include kale, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and pumpkin. Pastel de nata: A Portuguese egg tart pastry that's often topped with Cinnamon and sugar.Caipirinha: “Brazil's national cocktail” is made with cachaça (sugar cane hard liquor), sugar and lime. Variations are made with fresh fruit like pineapple, passion fruit, etc. Learn how to make one here.Churrasco: Grilled, skewered meats are a Brazilian staple. Brazilians barbecue everything from beef and pork to lamb, chicken, and turkey.Bolinhos de bacalhau: Fried salted cod fritters are a delicious, salty snack often served with lime. It's a great snack on the beach.Bobó de camarão: Also called shrimp bobo, this dish consists of sauteed shrimp in a puree of manioc (cassava) flour, coconut milk, and spices.Pitaya: Dragonfruit is just one of the incredible exotic fruits to come out of the Amazon. It's cut up and sold on the streets all over Brazil.Brigadeiros: These sprinkle-covered chocolate truffles are filled with a gooey combination of condensed milk, chocolate powder, and butter. It tastes like a crunchy ball filled with Nutella.

SEE ALSO: 28 Gorgeous Photos Of The Brazilian Cities That Will Host The World Cup

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When you first arrive at a "flavor tripping party" you'll either be handed a red berry or a tablet to dissolve on your tongue. Soon you'll be able to eat lemons without wincing and throwing back shots of vinegar with ease, but first you need to let the miracle fruit work its magic.

Synsepalum ducificum, commonly known the miracle fruit, originated in West Africa and has been used by people since at least the 18th century to make acidic foods taste sweet.

One of the earliest accounts of people eating the miracle fruit came from a European explorer named Chevalier des Marchais, who discovered in 1725 that West African tribes ate the berries before consuming traditional dishes of bland oatmeal gruel and sour palm wine.

In 1968, scientists isolated the protein in the berry that causes the reaction and named it "miraculin." Miraculin binds to the receptors on your taste buds and rewires how they usually work. Generally, sour foods taste sour because of how the acid reacts with specific receptors on your tongue. When you eat acidic foods after eating the miracle berry, however, the protein creates an ultra-sweet sensation that drowns out any sour taste.

Several companies — including one called mBerry— have started selling tablets of the condensed protein. The tablet form creates an experience that lasts about 20 minutes. If you eat the actually berry, the effect can last up to an hour.

Hosting flavor tripping parties has become more of a trend since "The New York Times" wrote about the phenomenon in 2008. (Busines Insider recently challenged its own employees to try the mBerry at its headquarters in New York). But my friend Megan Corbet and I wanted to check a real one out.

We found an event co-hosted by Fiestah and Eventurously and each shelled out $10 for two mBerry tablets and roughly 40 minutes of flavor tripping fun.

When we arrived, the hosts gave us our tablets and instructed us to let one dissolve in our mouths while swishing it around slightly to make sure that our tongues were entirely coated with the magic protein. It took about five minutes for each tablet to fully dissolve.

We then got to pick and choose from a table full of food samples. Most of the items were things you would never normally chow down on plain, including slices of onion, lemon, and lime, and small cups of pure vinegar. There were also plates full of Sour Patch Kids, grapefruit, and salt-and-vinegar chips.

We loaded up our plates and each grabbed a shot of vinegar:

We decided to start with the least threatening food items first. The Sour Patch Kids, for example, didn't taste very different. They simply lost some of their signature tang. The green apples still tasted like apples, though definitely sweeter than usual. If you closed your eyes, you felt like you were crunching on a ripe red apple, instead of a usually more tart green one.

The salt and vinegar chips were the first dramatically different flavor experience. The tasted like they were dusted with sugar, instead of salt. The flavor reminded us of candy corn.

We had the most fun with the lemons and limes. They tasted absolutely delicious. The first nibble of an ordinarily wince-inducing lemon wedge tasted like an extra sugary glass of lemonade. If anything, it was a little too sweet. The limes tasted like they had been candied.

The grapefruit tasted largely the same, but there was zero need to pucker as you might usually after a big bite. We both easily could have eaten several of each type of fruit, since it was pretty much like eating candy.

The scariest part of the taste test was taking the shot of vinegar. As we brought the cups close, the acidic smell was nearly enough to discourage us from trying it. But everything else had tasted okay, right? Bottoms up!

Sure enough, the vinegar wasn't bad, and almost tasted like apple juice. It felt a little strange going down our throats and we both realized that we could do a better job of coating our entire tongues when we ate our second berries, since we got a tiny hint of real vinegar where it touched the sides of our tongues.

By the time we had gone through both berries, we had consumed plenty of lemons, limes, chips, and vinegar. We had definitely had enough of the over-the-top sweetness that the miracle fruit produces, but it was an overall fun experience and pretty mind-boggling to try.

Although everything that we tried tasted sweet and for the most part pretty good, my stomach definitely felt the after-effects that night of having a dinner composed of tangy fruit and vinegar shots. Our tongues also tingled slightly, probably from licking all the acidic foods.

If you can't find a flavor tripping party in your area, you can buy the mBerry tablets that we ate for $15 for ten tabs.

SEE ALSO: Here's What It's Really Like Cooking With Blue Apron — The NYC Food Startup That's Worth Half-A-Billion Dollars

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Old photos are a great way to look back on days gone by. But what if it was possible to recreate some of your most nostalgic moments later in life?

This is what Argentinian photographer Irina Werning tried to do with her photo series "Back to the Future." Werning's series captures adults returning to the same poses, places, and even outfits from their vintage childhood photographs.

When Werning's photos first hit the internet a few years back they went viral, and now she's returned with more for an upcoming book, which is available to order on her website. She shared some of these photos with us below.

"I love old photos. I admit being a nosey photographer. As soon as I step into someone else’s house, I start sniffing for them. I like to imagine how people would feel and look like if they were to reenact them today …" Werning writes on her website. "Back to the Future" took her to 32 countries over four years.Werning's images are incredibly precise replicas of the original prints.That's right down to the clothing. Though in some cases, there's not much clothing involved.The subjects of Werning's photographs even share the same facial expressions as their younger counterparts.The British band Riff Raff posed for Werning. Here they are  in 1976 and 2011.This guy's mustache got significantly more bushy.Werning's photos show that as much as things change over the years, some things do remain the same.The limited edition hardcover book is available on her website.

SEE ALSO: Here's What People Would Look Like If Their Faces Were Symmetrical

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The cocktails of yesteryear were strong, delicious, and all-around classy.

NeoMan Studios, a design agency, created an awesome infographic of some of the best retro cocktails that are worth bringing back, from A to Z. They also gave a history of when these drinks were popular and fun facts about each cocktail.

Some of them may be familiar to anyone who's ever frequented a modern speakeasy, but others like the citrusy XYZ, boozy Yorsh (made with beer and vodka), or the complicated Common Market are definitely worth a sip.

SEE ALSO: The Weird Story Of How The Tom Collins Cocktail Was Named After A Lame 1800s Prank

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A beautiful smart home has hit the market in London, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Nearly everything in this home can be controlled by tablet or smartphone, from the alarm system to built-in speakers.

This home doesn't sacrifice style for technology, however.

The owner told the WSJ hat her goal was to create "a cozy, relaxing and family-orientated environment, but with all the high-end appliances and furnishings synonymous with a prime London property."

It's listed with Savills for 16 million pounds, or $26.8 million. 

The 9,559-square-foot home is located on a large lot overlooking Hurlingham Park, in London's Fulham neighborhood. Even the front gates can be secured with a tablet or smartphone.

The house is one of only three properties in the park.

Inside, the home has gorgeous tile floors and a swooping staircase.

Belts have just been taken up another notch.

New York City surgeon Andrew Heffernan and his girlfriend, Anna Lundberg, think belts are the next big menswear accessory and recently launched Beltology, an online retailer, to cater to men's waists.

They told the Wall Street Journal that menswear is outpacing womenswear by nearly double, and men's accessory "mono-brands" like Happy Socks and Havaianas are particularly successful.

"We looked at the numbers, which were just staggering," Heffernan told the WSJ. "Socks, particularly colored socks, were up, gloves were up, scarves were up, even ties were up. We thought, surely this is a sleeping giant." 

The couple officially launched Beltology in January, "to do for belts what Swatch did for the wristwatch back in [1983]," Heffernan said. 

Beltology's belts fit practically anyone because they have no holes, stretch up to 25%, and they're reasonably priced at $45 to $65. 

The roughly one-inch-wide belts are available in 50 different variations of colors and patterns.

SEE ALSO: Take A Look At This Fantastic New Condom Funded By Bill Gates

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He's usually known for his biting wit and sarcastic take on current events, but Stephen Colbert sat down with CNN's Jake Tapper — out of character — to tell the serious tale of his uncle's heroism on D-Day during World War II.

Colbert's uncle, Andrew Edward Tuck III, served in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne, and was one of the 150,000 Allied soldiers to drop into enemy territory in Normandy the night before the beach landings on June 6, 1944.

"He's looking eastward over the channel at the hedgerows of France that he knows he has to drop into," Colbert told CNN of his uncle, while showing an album filled with letters Tuck sent home to his parents.

"There are letters in here that say, 'Dad, thanks for the stiletto you gave me,' because at night what they were doing was going into enemy camps and killing German officers in their sleep, and then coming back without getting caught," Colbert said. "Those letters went to his dad, 'Sorry, could you send me another? I left it in a German...' My grandmother would get 'Thank you so much for the socks.'"

His entire story is pretty remarkable. Watch:

SEE ALSO: Here's the famous letter General Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote the day before D-Day

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Sweetgreen is a fast-growing salad chain with some serious support from tech. 

In December, the chain received $22 million in funding from Revolution Growth, an investment fund from AOL cofounder Steve Case and fellow former AOL execs Ted Leonsis and Donn Davis.

Founded in 2007 by Georgetown grads Nicolas Jammet, Jonathan Neman, and Nathaniel Ru, the brand focuses on sourcing ingredients from local farms to create salads that are healthy, quick, and affordable.

Sweetgreen currently operates 27 locations on the East Coast, and it plans to open more soon. 

We recently visited a Sweetgreen restaurant in New York City to see if it lived up to the hype.

We visited the chain's brand-new location in Tribeca, which just opened in May.

By 1 p.m., the line to get food stretched down the block.

For the most part, the crowd seemed to be made up of young professionals on their lunch break.

Startup and Tech Mixer is not your typical, boring, grab-a-bunch-of-business-cards and make small talk networking function.

Held on three floors at San Francisco's W Hotel, the barely year-old event is part conference with a dash of networking, an exhibition for new startups, with lots of alcohol thrown in. And, it's also a lot of fun.

"It's important to create an all-inclusive vibe," said Ari Kalfayan, who helped start the mixer a year ago with a few friends, having just 75 people showing up to the first event.

Now the event has certainly grown up, with Kalfayan telling Business Insider that the mixer on Friday hosted roughly 4,500 attendees, all mingling between speakers, bars, games, and yes, even a bounce house.

Just a short walk from Business Insider's West Coast offices is the W Hotel in the South of Market (SoMa) area.

It's in a pretty nice spot, right across the street from the Museum of Modern Art.

After a quick check-in and ticket scan — no paper here, it's EventBrite QR codes — we're in. Here's what people could expect.

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Amazon has come out with its latest batch of editors' picks for summer beach reads. 

As usual, the books span genres, from military crime thrillers to a poignant story of two teens with cancer falling in love. There’s truly something for everyone on this list.

You won't be able to put these books down.

“All Fall Down: A Novel” by Jennifer Weiner: A poignant story that follows an ordinary woman who sinks into addiction, Allison struggles to be a wife, mother, and daughter while her dependence on prescription pills worsens beyond her control.

“And the Mountains Echoed” by Khaled Hosseini: From the author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" comes the tale of an Afghanistan family torn apart. After a father sells his daughter, she and her brother struggle for half a century to reunite across Kabul, Paris, San Francisco, and Greece.

“I Am Pilgrim: A Thriller” by Terry Hayes: This book tells the story of a former head of a secret U.S. government organization trying to stop a terrorist attack that is only all-too-believable in this day in age. It races across Paris, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Syria, and Turkey for a twisting, smart, and nail-biting chase.

“Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery” by Robert Kolker: The true-life search for a serial killer that targeted call girls on Long Island, this book explores the unsolved murders, the underbelly of the Internet, and gives empathetic and detailed portraits of the victims based on hundreds of hours of interviews with their family and friends. 

“My Salinger Year” by Joanna Rakoff: Rakoff’s beautifully written memoir recounts her post-graduate year in the late ‘90s working at a literary agency in New York that represented J.D. Salinger. After she starts responding to the author’s fan mail, she finds herself being drawn more into their devotion and discovers her own artistic voice by acting as Salinger’s.

“One Plus One: A Novel” by Jojo Moyes: Jess is a single parent struggling to take care of her 10-year-old daughter and her teenage stepson. But on their way to a Math Olympiad that could change her daughter’s future, Jess’s car breaks down. After a chance meeting, she is forced to rely on Ed, an ex-software engineer who has been accused of insider trading, to take them the rest of the way.

“One Summer: America, 1927” by Bill Bryson: 1927 was the year of Charles Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic, the beginnings of Babe Ruth’s home run record, a sensational murder trial, a massive flood, and Al Capone tightening his grip on the illegal booze trade. This book captures the personalities and events of 1927. 

“The Blessings” by Elise Juska: The Blessings are a close-knit Irish Catholic family living in Philadelphia. Told from the perspectives of multiple family members, readers jump back and forth through the four generations of the extended family after the tragic death of one of its members rocks the large clan to its core.

“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green: 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster is a three-year stage IV-cancer survivor. When she meets Augustus Waters in a cancer survivor support group, her perspective on life and all that she can accomplish changes dramatically. Prepare to laugh and cry as you read this bittersweet novel about their falling in love.

“The Lowland (Vintage Contemporaries)” by Jhumpa Lahiri: Two brothers living in Calcutta could not be more different: Udayan is idealistic and involved in India’s 1960s rebellion, whereas Subhash is cautious, reliable, and serious. But when Udayan dies due to political violence, Subhash steps in and marries his dead brother’s pregnant wife — an act that will reverberate through the family for the next 70 years.

"The Matchmaker” by Elin Hilderbrand: 48-year-old Dabney Kimball Beech is a matchmaker who has never been wrong about romance, except when it comes to herself. When reporter Clendenin Hughes returns to Nantucket after 27 years away, Dabney is forced to share some painful secrets with her husband and daughter, and try to find the perfect match for the ones she loves.

“The One & Only: A Novel” by Emily Giffin: Shea Rigsby loves football, and her career at a sports writer. But after the unexpected death of someone close to her, she starts questioning everything about her job, boyfriend, and friendships — even falling for an unexpected father figure in the process.

“The Queen of the Tearling: A Novel” by Erika Johansen: 19-year-old Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn sets out with her Queen’s Guard back to the castle of her birth to ascend the throne with the Tearling sapphire — a jewel of magical power. Though she is not alone in vying for the throne of Tearling, she must reclaim the kingdom to bring an end to the Red Queen’s dark magic and a vicious slave trade.

“The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra” by Helen Rappaport: Perhaps the most photographed and talked about young royals of the 20th century, the Romanov sisters — Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia — had a tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918. This book looks at their diaries and letters to capture their young lives against the backdrop of Imperial Russia.

“The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair: A Novel” by Joël Dicker: Trying to save his career as an author, Marcus Goldman visits his literary hero Harry Quebert. But when the corpse of a girl who disappeared 33 years ago is discovered on Quebert’s property, he becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Goldman tasks himself with discovering what really happened that fateful summer of 1975.

“The Vacationers: A Novel” by Emma Straub: A two-week family vacation to Mallorca, Spain promises tapas and relaxation. Instead, the dysfunctional Post family and their friends bring along their secrets — all of which come to a head over the course of 14 days.

“Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel” by Janet Evanovich: The next installment of the Stephanie Plum series, Plum is struggling to bring in a used-car dealer after he jumps bail, but bodies are mysteriously piling up in his wake. To make matters worse, her friend (sometimes with benefits) Ranger is the target of an assassination plot. 

“War of the Whales: A True Story” by J. Horwitz: A real-life thriller, this is the story of the legal drama that waged between the U.S. military and two activists who stood up to the U.S. Navy's use of a submarine detection system that flooded the ocean basins with high-intensity sound, driving whales in masses onto beaches. It’s a gripping story of the struggle between American national security and safeguarding our environment.

“We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart: Cadence Sinclair Easton is a part of an old-money family that spends every summer on a private island off of Cape Cod. But after Cadence mysteriously washes up on shore with amnesia, she spends the next two years and the course of the book trying to piece together what happened to her, her cousins, and her family. Even the most jaded readers will be shocked by the ending.

“Written in My Own Heart's Blood: A Novel” by Diana Gabaldon: A new installment in the Outlander series, the novel jumps back and forth between 1778 and twentieth-century Scotland. Kidnappings, war, and family secrets rage on as the Fraser family struggles to pull itself back together.

To see additional Amazon picks for summer reading, click here.

SEE ALSO: Even More New Books You Need To Read This Summer

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A study recently conducted by the Evolution & Ecology Research Centre has taken the guessing game out of what beard style women prefer. We visited Astor Place Hairstylists to get some tips on how to keep up the popular yet subtly maintained 10-day beard.

To learn more about the story behind this popular downtown Manhattan barber where celebrities like Alec Baldwin, Stephen Colbert, and Channing Tatum are regulars, check out the feature length documentary by Karen Gehres, "Astor Barber All Stars."

Produced by Alana Kakoyiannis. Originally published in November 2013.

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Even a Renaissance man is occasionally on the job hunt.

Such was the case back in the 1480s, when a young Leonardo da Vinci was coming up in Florence.

Born the lowly son of a notary, da Vinci couldn't enter the "higher professions" of the city, like lawyer or statesman. Instead, his lot was that of a craftperson — a painter, to be exact. 

Under the tutelage of Verrochio, an established artist and goldsmith, da Vinci honed the powers of observation that would drive his illustrious career.

But Florence, he realized, was crowded with artists. If da Vinci was to make a name for himself, he'd have to try another town.

So he turned his sights toward Milan, then ruled by Ludovico Sforza, who hoped to make Milan a cultural capital on par with Florence and Venice. He also had a habit of getting into wars, as one did back in the day. 

Da Vinci applied to work for him, and knowing his potential patron's penchant for war, he wrote a cover letter positioning himself as a military engineer. As the best cover letters do, it tailored his career history to his employer's needs. 

Here are a few of the inventions da Vinci proposed:

• "Very light, strong and easily portable bridges with which to pursue and, on some occasions, flee the enemy"
• "Covered vehicles, safe and unassailable, which will penetrate the enemy and their artillery"
• "Where the use of cannon is impracticable, I will assemble catapults, mangonels, trebuckets and other instruments of wonderful efficiency not in general use." 

Beyond weapons, da Vinci promised innovations, like tunneling beneath castle walls, redirecting the waters of moats, and methods for destroying fortresses. 

"In short," he humbly proclaims, "as the variety of circumstances dictate, I will make an infinite number of items for attack and defence."

Surprisingly, the legendary artist doesn't mention his ability as an architect, painter, or sculptor until the close of the letter, and, by today's standards, it's a bit long-winded. 

Regardless, the letter worked: Da Vinci worked for the duke for 16 years, completing some of his most memorable work, including "The Last Supper."

Care of blog-based archive Letters of Note, here's the cover letter in full: 

SEE ALSO: Here's How To Write The Perfect Cover Letter

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With airfare rising more than 10% in the past five years and hotel rooms going for exorbitant prices, conventional tourism has become more challenging to do affordably.

But what if you could travel and not spend a dime? What if you could even get paid?

Many would jump at the opportunity to experience new cultures, traverse through beautiful landscapes, and satisfy their insatiable wanderlust. 

We’ve compiled 12 ways for just about anyone to get their golden ticket to spending weeks, or years, in exotic lands while earning some cash. 

1. Become A Tour Guide

Leading tours through some of the world's most iconic and historic places sounds like a dream come true. It can offer tons of variety, depending on how you approach it. Do you become a tour guide in one dream place — say, Paris! — and lead hordes of American tourists through the Louvre, the Bastille, and the Eiffel Tower? Or do you lead groups on longer trips that go through a series of destinations? 

Either one can be a solid way to make a living and see new cultures. There are a few cons, though. Guides who stay in one location will likely be working freelance, which may mean uneven paydays and a lack of job security. Some guides give free tours and try to use their personalities to get tips from generous tourists.

Longer-term guides may be lucky enough to get a contract or a full-time gig from a touring company, which adds stability but means they will be the one dealing with all the logistics, planning, and headaches that come with trying to manage a group of cranky tourists for weeks at a time. 

Be prepared to be extroverted and friendly at all times, even when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

2. Go WWOOF'ing

WWOOF, or Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, is not a traditional business. Volunteers go for a set period to work on a farm with like-minded travelers in exchange for accommodation and home-cooked meals. The terms are flexible with WWOOFers staying as long or little as they want, and the opportunities are plentiful. While you'll have to pay your own way to fly to the farm, once you are there, there are plenty of people who can offer a ride to the next destination. 

WWOOF'ing isn't quite a career choice, but it is an excellent way to see the world while keeping your bank account (mostly) even.

3. Teach English

If you're looking for adventure in a foreign land, one of the most accessible and lucrative ways to get there is by taking up a job teaching English. Jobs in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America are abundant, and most of them do not require that you speak the native language.

Schools are looking for native English speakers with bachelor degrees who can teach the "direct method," by which students learn through concepts, pantomiming, and the target language exclusively.

While not all schools require it, a certification for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) can make you a more desirable candidate. Salaries can be as high as $36,000 a year in Japan or $45,000 in the United Arab Emirates.

4. Trade Specialty, Foreign Goods

Looking to travel and have a little capital to start with? Consider getting in the import-export trade and head out to exotic countries to find local, specialty, and handmade goods that will appeal to travel-hungry consumers back home. Pick up goods that areas are known for (examples include Italian leather, Mexican hammocks, and Turkish ceramics) as well as one-of-a-kind pieces that can't be purchased by the truck full. Once you are back in the U.S., sell them to stores, collectors, and even eBay for a handsome profit.

You'll have to figure out how to navigate customs regulations, but when you can sell goods for many times their original worth, the hassle pays for itself.

5. Research For A Travel Guidebook 

There aren't many professions as romanticized and misunderstood as researching and writing for travel guidebooks such as Lonely Planet and Fodor's. While the job is exhilarating — jetting you off to hundreds of places to try the local culture, food, and hotels — the reality of the work is a grind. Most guidebook researchers and writers report having to meet unrealistic deadlines that require them to work 12-to-14-hour days. In addition, seeing the sights is a small part of the job. Researchers and writers must crank out reports and articles, make maps of the areas they visit, and engage in extensive, tedious data entry.

Because of tightening budgets and an abundance of 20-somethings willing to do the job for next to nothing, guide writing is hardly a lucrative profession. But you can earn enough to make a living.

In an illuminating New York Times' feature about the lives of guidebook writers, Warren St. John reveals the cardinal tenet of the job: "Most who do it quickly learn the one hard-and-fast rule of the trade: travel-guide writing is no vacation."

6. Become A Flight Attendant

If you don't mind taking your travel with a side of 9-to-5, a great option could be applying to become a flight attendant. Flight attendants make between $25,000 and $50,000 a year, and they get free travel benefits for not just themselves but also their families. The pay might sound low, but consider that the average schedule has attendants working 80 hours a month.

7. Work For A Cruise Line

Working on a cruise ship similarly sends you to exotic locales for pay, yet there are a few key differences. The job comes with long hours for comparably poor pay, but with all expenses paid and free travel. Crew members have their own dining halls, shops, Internet cafes, gyms, party areas, and even organized activities, which creates a fun culture. There are numerous jobs on a ship, with certain ones better than others. Washing dishes just doesn't sound as good as chaperoning passengers on exotic excursions.

8. Start A Travel Blog

Being a professional travel blogger is a tough gig. While traveling to every sight imaginable is a tantalizing part of the job, it takes a lot of work to make it happen. Most travel bloggers spend a year building their sites, churning out several posts a day and building up a following on social-media before they ever see any money from their sites.

Almost all travel bloggers start out by spending their savings just to get up and running. Even once you've built a following, a network, and ad partnerships, you are running your own business, which means that in addition to traveling and writing, you must handle all the marketing, site growth, and financials. As you can imagine, it's a job that never ends. To make it all work, you have to truly love travel and blogging.

9. Work As An Au Pair

An au pair, or an extra pair of hands, is an international nanny who lives with a family for a set period, taking care of their children in exchange for travel, room, board, and pocket money. It can be a fantastic way to see a new culture from the locals' perspective and make some money. Most au pairs are students or recent graduates, so get in before it's too late.

Many families don't require au pairs to speak the native language, and many even prefer it if you speak to their children in English so that they can improve their fluency. There are websites, such as Au Pair World, that help match people with families. 

10. Become A Destination Wedding Photographer

This one requires a bit of skill, but for those with the artistic temperament a wedding-photography business can offer free travel and an outlet for creative expression. It goes without saying that you will have to be a talented photographer, or at least a well-practiced one.

The wedding business is a competitive one with high entry costs (think computer, camera, lenses, editing software, portfolio, website, and, possibly, training), but it pays well. Many destination wedding photographers charge up to $10,000 a wedding, plus airfare, meals, and incidentals. While you'll be working hard during the wedding, extend your stay for a few hundred dollars and you are well paid and traveling free. 

11. Join The Peace Corps

Joining the Peace Corps is not a decision to be taken lightly. It requires a 27-month commitment in a developing country with few modern conveniences and not much opportunity to see friends or family. If you're still on board, and have a desire to make a difference in the lives of others, the Peace Corps can be a life-changing and rewarding experience.

Few opportunities immerse travelers in a culture as thoroughly as the Peace Corps. Expect to choose from an array of assignments, including teaching English, working in disease prevention, and building infrastructure. There is also an extensive application and interview process. The Peace Corps pays for travel expenses, living expenses, certain student-loan benefits, and it offers a $7,425 readjustment allowance upon completing your service.

12. Write A Literary Account Of Your Travels

If all else fails (or you are an incredible wordsmith), take a crack at writing the next "Green Hills of Africa," "Homage to Catalonia," or "The Sun Also Rises." If the book does well, you could have a cash cow on your hands in the form of royalties and advance checks. Of course, most would-be authors will never see a cent from their travels or literary hard work. If you have the courage to try, you could end up with the traveling lifestyle and your pick of publications to print your essays and stories. 

SEE ALSO: The 10 Destinations Americans Dream About Visiting

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Recently, we wrote about an experiment showing that most people can't taste the difference between cheap and expensive wine, and it got us thinking: What are the best inexpensive wines?

So we asked an expert: Sommelier Jörn Kleinhans, the owner of the Wine Elite Sommelier Company.

"We've found that appreciation of wine usually comes with deeper knowledge, which you can gain when a specific wine is a good representation of its grape varietal," Kleinhans says. He explains that such a wine must marry varietal (that's categories like Cabernets, Pinot Noirs, and Rieslings) with a region in which it grows best. 

"The wines here are typical examples of their kind," he says. "If you buy one, that's great, and if you buy all of them, you basically have a box of all the important wine styles in the world."

Here, Kleinhans presents his top 10 wine picks for $16 and under, broken down by varietal and region. While they may be available in your local wine store, we've also provided links to where you can purchase them online.

1. Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand

Such as: 2013 Giesen Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, $10.99

"This is perhaps the most drastic example of Sauvignon Blanc because it shows strong grapefruit, lemon, and grass notes, which is the clearest taste profile of this wine," says Kleinhans.

2. Riesling from Germany

Such as: 2009 S. A. Prum "Urziger Wurzgarten" Riesling Kabinett, $12.99

"Germany is where Riesling should belong," explains Kleinhans. "This wine has a sweetness, high aroma, and high acidity that you look for in every Riesling."

3. Chardonnay from Burgundy, France

Such as: 2011 Château de la Charrière Bourgogne Chardonnay Domaine Yves Girardin, $14.99

"This is the ultimate expression of a Burgundy," says Kleinhans. "It's clean, mineralic, and made to be consumed with food."