La Carmina

What will travel look like in fifty years? Will heavy suitcases and lineups be annoyances of the past? It is hard to know, but we can speculate.

In this new "Travel SOS" video, Mat Devine of alternative rock band Kill Hannah helps me paint a picture...

"The Japanese government's lack of response regarding helping animals and people after March 11th has been is a disgrace," says Elizabeth Oliver, founder of Animal Rescue Kansai (ARK).

Days after the disaster, Fukushima's animals were starving. Rescue groups rushed to Tohoku to care for abandoned pets. Their...

Every year, Mexicans celebrate Day of the Dead to honor those who have passed and what sounds like a morbid holiday is quite the opposite. All of the imagery, from the skeleton facepaint to orange marigolds, conveys that "the dead can dance."

I had the pleasure of celebrating Halloween...

Whenever I went on family trips as a child, we stayed in chain hotels. My relatives chose big-name accommodations because the standard was reliable. Unfortunately, the "safe choice" tends to be the boring one. I remember these rooms as a single beige blur.

Nowadays, I rest my head in...

The Amazing Race spooky kids, Kent Kaliber and Vyxsin Fiala, know all about packing light. On two seasons of the hit show, they raced around the world with their belongings in a single backpack without leaving behind the black eyeliner and glitter polish.

The reality TV...

If Alex Jordan were alive today, he’d be on the TV show "Hoarders".

The Wisconsin eccentric wasn’t happy with a single tea set. He had to own a dozen. Instead of two creepy dolls, he amassed two hundred. Three medical vials? Try three thousand.

You get the picture.

Jordan’s knickknacks...

Wisconsin cheesemakers like to play Frankenstein, churning out products in bizarre forms and flavors.

Some of the wildest dairy experiments are sold under the turrets of Mars’ Cheese Castle (2800 120th Ave, Kenosha WI; 800-655-6147).

Just 30 minutes from downtown Milwaukee, the 24,000 square foot stronghold looks like...

My name’s La Carmina, and I’m a coolhunter.

I like to think of myself as a pirate. Someone who sails in uncharted waters, searching for an elusive treasure -- the ever-changing concept of “cool.”

I’ve been described as a “passionate coolhunter" and I believe scouts should...

About the author: La Carmina is a TV host and fixer, coolhunter, author & blogger. Her company, La Carmina & The Pirates, makes arrangements for TV crews that wish to shoot in Japan and worldwide.

Ah, Japanese host boys. "Rent-a-boyfriends" with sky-high hair, who proffer champagne...

Ashley Purdy and Jake Pitts of Black Veil Brides, outside the Hollywood Guitar Center. Photo by La Carmina.

About the author: This exclusive interview was contributed to The Huffington Post by La Carmina: TV host, coolhunter, author & blogger at LaCarmina.com....

At a Japanese maid cafe, customers pay good money to be pampered by cute, young girls in frilly costumes.

The role-play goes pretty far. Waitresses will get on hand and knees to take orders from "Master." Some even offer ear-cleaning and spoon-feeding. *SEE PHOTOS BELOW*

There are dozens of...

Nothing ravages a complexion faster than a long-haul flight. I'd know. My work puts me on ten-hour plane rides, several times a year. Too often, I've left America with a smooth face -- and arrived in Asia looking like sandpaper.

Unfortunately, when you're a travel TV host, having...

About the author: This exclusive interview was contributed to The Huffington Post by La Carmina: TV host, coolhunter, author & blogger at LaCarmina.com.

Crispin Hellion Glover is best known as an eccentric character actor, with devilish turns in Willard, Charlie's Angels (The Thin Man) and Alice...