Different Directions

other stuff we're up to innit.

Word to your mothers.  Thought we'd let you know a little bit about us, because we're feeling a bit angsty and attention-seeking today. 

First up is our Webmaster and all-round technical Gandalf, Mr Dan Bower.  Dan is currently in his third year at Manchester University studying Politics and Economics, and just finished his dissertation about an hour ago.  Together with erstwhile genius Hugh McCallion, he is also the co-runner of infamous movie podcast Malking Tovies, regularly lapped up by irreverant film fans on both sides of the Atlantic.  Next year Dan will be working for Lateral, a small company based in London making exciting web applications.  Dan also has two heads.

Next is Mr Jack Saunders, the commander of our 'make things look ace' department.  Jack is currently in his second year at Leeds University studying Visual Communications, and plotting the assassination of Doug Ellis.  Opening its doors at the end of May, 'The Bunker' will be a Berlin squat-style artistic space nuzzled underneath Jack's house in Leeds, featuring a range of exhibits, screenings and installations to blow your goddamn pants off.  Website coming soon.  Jack also throws a mean frisbee.

Finally there's me, Benji Lanyado, edotor and communications type guy.  I'm currently in my third year at Manchester uni doing Modern Middle Eastern History.  Having travelled around most of Europe with my best bud Clint Zepho, I managed to blag a column in The Guardian wrtiting about budget travel.  Fools.  Benji's Balls is an online version of what I think about late at night. I am also currently 38th favourite for the England manager's job.

Youngin Europe behind the Decks

A very big thanks to DJ Aspire for donning a Youngin Europe t-shirt while playing at a club night in Birmingham, UK.  Another thanks to the photographer who braved the crowds and got us this up close and personal pic.

Excellent work both of you!

Hot in the Press

Hello you beautiful people. Here’s another quickie for those of you who might be a little confused as to what in Joe Cole’s name is going on here.

Whilst we might be less than two years old, you’ll probably be interested to know that a couple of those fancy broadsheet newspapers have written about us in their luminous pages. In fact, last April, The Times (yup, that Times) chose little old us as their ‘Web of the Week’. After a brief description of just how bloody marvellous we are, Mr Times described us as ‘growing all the time’.

Our mates at Student Direct, Britain’s largest student newspaper, wrote a little piece on us receiving the award, which can be found here. Because they love us so much, The Times also nominated us as one of the 90 best travel websites around.  In fact we're probably the best one out there, but we'll let that one roll.

And the unprecedented outpouring of Youngin Europe adoration didn’t stop there. Ros Taylor, the erstwhile online travel expert at The Guardian (yes, that Guardian) also included us in her last ever ‘Best of the Net’ column, which can be found here.  

Impressed? Well our mums are.

Update: The Times Online Travel section is as high tech as a donkey with a carrot in front of it, so I've had to pull the link.  Sorry.

YIE made of Sand

Cheers to Youngin Europe's good friends Nick and Helen for taking the time to mark youngineurope.com in the sands of Blackpool Pleasure Beech.

More where that came from please!

Being Young

I bore people to death talking about Youngin Europe, just ask my girlfriend. During one such example I got talking to my Dad about what it means to be young. He protested that despite turing 50 a few years ago that he was still undoubtedly young. Now while I don't wish to spout something cliched like, "being young is a state of mind," I did never-the-less begin to think that the age at which you are no longer young, is rising.

Rewind five hundred years [forgive my poor historical knowledge] and life expectency was around thirty. Children, particularly from poorer families has little or no education, and working to help the family would have been the norm. The average age of marriage was fourteen. Bloody hell kids would have had to grow up quickly, the thought of arguing over the state of current affairs or getting drunk 4 out 7 nights a week would have be blasphemous.

Skip forward two hundred years and life expectency hadn't changed much. According to my good buddy Hugh who is doing his History dissertation on the "culture of death," the average lifespan of someone living in Manchester during the early Victorian Era was still 30. Granted the horrible conditions of industrial Manchester would have done little to aid a long healthy life, but you get the picture. Being 'young' would have been a very short lived experience.

But now young people talk of gap years, before and after university. They talk of not taking out a mortgage until they're at least 30, not starting a family for a few years after that. We spend more time doing the things that excite us and less time doing the things that will help us to survive. We're more confident that we can spend years adventuring the globe and it will only enrich our lives.

This all sounds very wishy washy, and I fully accept it is the benefits of living in one of the richest countries in the world. But I can't help but smile when I think like this, it fills me with bags of optimism for the success of this community.

MySpace in ur Face

Like most things in this world we've had to sucome to the power of News Corp. and join MySpace.

So for all those of you with a hankering for some social networking head over to our MySpace Groups profile and join up. Our mate Kris is currently running the show so you better show him some love otherwise he'll moderate your ass.

There are currently 19 members of the group so this is your chance to get in one the ground level with some other stange people like this guy from Manchester. [Be warned do not visit if you are offened by Hans Solo, Phil Collins or Scousers.]

Tech Tech Tech Tech Boom! (Part 2)

Due to the overwhelling response for more information concerning YIE's new technical features; here's another post.

Pictures: Someone once said that "a picture says a thousand word." That saying gets on everyones nerves, but it's never-the-less very appropriate. If you take a snap of a hostel that you just have to tell the world about, we'll stick the photo up alongside your writing. But there's more. If you see yourself as a budding travel photographer, someone who could capture in a picture more than two hundred words ever could, we want your snaps.

Mobile: We're about 15 years late with this but YIE is finally getting a mobile phone. Send us photos via MMS, blurbs via txt and if you feel like it just leave us a message.

This isn't the end of my tech ramblings, but it is for now.

Youngin Air

Part of the redevelopment of Youngin includes the launch of our new fleet of budget airlines.

Servicing most of West and Eastern Europe Youngin Air will provide low cost budget travel with all the glmour of a 25 hour coach journey from Manchester to Hungary.

You can pre-order tickets for the maiden flights, which includes a champagne reception here.