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guides, blogs, tall tales, news, information, satire and stories from the stoke world of oktoberfest, barcelona, san sebastian surf, spanish festivals, sail croatia, backpacking europe, the world’s best festivals and beyond.

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    Stokepedia

    Travel knowledge, stories and insights from fellow wanderers and vagabonds. Here’s where you’ll find the collective travel knowledge of the Stoke family, advice on the goings on at our destinations and festivals, and general rants from our time spent travelling around Europe and beyond.

    Stokepedia is where you’ll find real life stories about travel and roaming and everything in between.

    Get ready for OKTOBERFEST

    Information before inebriation, Oktoberfest guides, stories, news and blogs

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    Eight things that WILL happen to you at Oktoberfest.

    Yeah, you’ll drink beer at Oktoberfest. But plenty of other things will happen to your sorry arse too… Europe boasts a frightening amount of festivals throughout the year. Some celebrate…

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    The stages of being Oktoberfest drunk.

    Our step-by-step walkthrough of what happens while getting absolutely sloshed (or sloshed-on) at Oktoberfest. While you don’t have to be drunk at Oktoberfest in Munich, when you go to a…

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    Eight Tips For Surviving Oktoberfest

    Oktoberfest is so close you can pretty much smell the pretzels and almost hear the drinking chants somewhere way off in the distance. But you’re a little Oktoberfest virgin, and…

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    Budget Accommodation Oktoberfest

    You want to find the best place to stay at Munich’s Oktoberfest, because your accommodation will make all the difference to your German cultural experience. There are a lot of…

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    How Much Does Oktoberfest Cost? Is It Worth It?

    Oktoberfest is the world’s biggest beer festival, and the original beer fest and so it rightfully has a cemented position on almost everybody’s travel bucket list. We all want to…

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    Fun Oktoberfest Facts

    You already know the Oktoberfest basics – big beers at the world’s biggest beer festival; German culture, or better still Bavarian culture, on display; more than seven million people in…

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    German Purity Laws: Do Oktoberfest Beers Give You Less Of A Hangover?

    Oktoberfest is almost upon us, and with it the season that we again start hearing things about the “purity laws” relating to German beers. The purity laws are often wheeled out…

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    Some Weird And Wonderful Oktoberfest Traditions

    Far from being a tourist-focused beer-a-thon, Oktoberfest Munich is a deeply traditional event. An almost sacred occasion to the local Bavarians and Muncheners, they eagerly await September and October each…

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    Oktoberfest is a big gay celebration and these are the reasons why

    Oktoberfest, not your obvious gay event.  Munich’s Oktoberfest might not be the first event that comes to mind when you think of a gay event or holiday but there are…

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    Travelling To Oktoberfest Alone

    Six reasons why travelling solo to Munich’s Oktoberfest is an awesome idea. It’s on your bucket list, but for some reason you can’t convince the homies to join you at…

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    How to travel to Oktoberfest from around Europe

    For a guide on how to get to Oktoberfest from within Munich, you’re going to want to read this. Getting to Oktoberfest in Munich is easy from anywhere in Europe….

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    How To Do Oktoberfest On A Budget

    We know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking that we’re just going to say, Camping with Stoke Travel at Oktoberfest is the best budget option, and you’re right, we could say…

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    Can You Do Drugs At Oktoberfest? 

    While we don’t recommend doing drugs at Oktoberfest, we do recommend having as much fun as is physically possible, and to help with that we’re opening our bar to you…

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    The OKTs of Oktoberfest

    As the Jackson Four once said, “O-K-T,  it’s as easy as S-T-O-K-E”, and we gotta agree. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who has spent more time at the…

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    It’s always a good time for BARCELONA

    Places to eat and drink, things to do, sights to see, the best parties – insider knowledge with stories from locals and travellers

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    7 Ways to Get Ripped Off in Barcelona

    If you’ve had friends who’ve travelled to Barcelona, they’ve probably come home from an insane week-long bender with tales about chucking caution to the wind, devouring the best food of…

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    Best Bars In Central Barcelona (Born and Gothic Areas)

    Barcelona’s bar scene is renowned for its cheap drinks, funky music and sexy occupants. But between the gems there are lots of lemons – particularly in the more touristy centre…

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    Barcelona’s Best Curries (Indian and Thai)

    By KP, Stoke’s resident Barcelona food critic When you think of Barcelona you don’t think of curry… or do you? With thriving Indian, Pakistani and Thai communities, there are plenty…

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    Best Italian Food In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident food critic Italian food is a classic favourite amongst the masses. To be fair, I don’t think I have ever met a soul that didn’t enjoy…

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    Best Burgers In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident foodie Up there with kebabs and curries as the ultimate hangover food, there’s nothing quite like chewing away the previous night’s sins – or doubling down…

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    Best Coffee Spots In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident food critic Us Stokies know good coffee (comes with being so regularly hungover/busy), and while Spain has always had a coffee drinking culture of some sort,…

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    The Best Brunch In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident food critic Surely you know that StokeTravel do a bottomless brunch with unlimited mimosas at all of our destinations, because we know that nothing beats a…

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    Best Tapas In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident food critic Now we’re talking, good old authentic tapas, shared plates of deliciousness – Spanish specialities done in Barcelona with a particularly Catalan flair. These little…

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    The Best Places To Eat Paella In Barcelona

    By K.P. our resident food critic Paella is one of Spain’s national joys (as you probably know) and is hands down the one dish you HAVE to wrap your mouth…

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    Let’s go SURFING

    Surfing San Sebastian, Spain, France, Europe and the world, we’ve got you covered

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    Learning To Surf In San Sebastian

    Learning to surf in San Sebastian is high on everybody’s bucket lists. We’ve got the run down of the best spots to learn to surf, and the people to do…

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    Why You Should Go To Zarautz Beach Camp

    We spend a lot of time singing the praises of the San Sebastian Surf House, and rightfully so because it is amazing, but let us tell you a thing or…

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    REPORT: San Sebastian Surf Camp Actually In Real House

    Reports have come out of San Sebastian, in Spain’s Basque Country, claiming that Stoke Travel’s Surf Camp there isn’t in tents, but in a real-life house with really real beds….

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    How To Choose The Perfect Surf Camp

    Of course the perfect surf camp for us is our San Sebastian Surf House, with the best waves in Europe easily accessed from our converted Basque farmhouse in the mountains….

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    How to Make the Most of San Sebastian’s “La Semana Grande”

    Who said culture had to be boring?  Get the dates right  San Sebastian’s La Semana Grande, or, The Big Week for us English speakers, is a week-long fiesta throughout the…

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    The Cider House Rules – the Stoke Travel Guide to Navigating a Basque Sidra House

    If you’re searching for information on the late 90s Tobey Maguire Oscar-winning film, then I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere. But if you’re wanting to find out what exactly…

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    Best Pintxo Bars in San Sebastián

    San Sebastián has often been hailed as the gastronomical capital of Europe – that is until our froggy friends over in Paris nicked the title off them a couple of…

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    Reasons Our San Sebastian Surf House Is A Safe Haven For Solo Female Travellers

    Calling All Adventurous Women During this pandemic it seems like we’ve all spent a lifetime in our comfort zones. We’ve watched every series on Netflix (twice), consumed dangerous amounts of…

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    Need to Know San Sebastián Information

    This is where you can find anything and everything about one of our absolute favourite cities San Sebastián and its surrounding regions. Come and get amongst it in 2021 for…

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    Thinking about STUDYING ABROAD in Europe?

    Study abroad hints, tips, stories and offers for current and future students

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    THE BEST PLACES TO STUDY ABROAD IN EUROPE 

    Everyone knows Europe is the place to study abroad, but it can be hard to decide what country, let alone city, you should spend the next few months in. To…

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    Top Seven European Cities For A Weekend Getaway 

    Balling on a budget? Here are a few places that make a perfect weekend trip for study abroaders There’s nothing quite like studying abroad in Europe. Calling a new city…

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    Is Studying Abroad In Europe Expensive?

    One of the greatest deterrents when deciding to start studying abroad in Europe is that it can seem expensive. Costs can be a major factor in deciding which program to…

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    Dealing With Homesickness While Studying Abroad

    Your first week or two abroad in Europe is a whirlwind. Everything is new and exciting, and you find yourself wanting to do everything all at once. Jam-packed days of …

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    How to stay in touch with friends and family back home while abroad 

    As you begin your study abroad experience you may find it difficult to keep in touch with the people back home, and that’s understandable. Busy travel and school schedules mixed…

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    So you wanna Backpack Europe?

    We’ve got the ultimate guide to backpacking Europe.

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    Ways To Save Money For Your Travels

    Saving your pennies isn’t easy – everything is so fun, and seemingly expensive, but it’s not impossible, and if you follow our tips you’ll come in hot with a pocket full of change.

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    Cheap flights to Europe

    So you saved your pennies, but you don’t want to blow them all on the first part of your trip. Well, lucky for you we’ve booked thousands, and we’re going to show you how to do it.

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    The Ultimate Travel Checklist

    Print it out and put it on your wall. Cross it off as you go. Don’t go until it’s all crossed off, or at least make sure you have a good go at it. This is your guide to packing your backpack before you go backpacking.

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    Travel Advice Learned From Our Past Mistakes

    We got in all kinds of troubles just so you don’t have to.

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    European Visas: Explained

    Everything you need to know about your European visa, as well as some tested ways to stay for longer.

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    How To Find Cheap Accommodation

    From hostels to hotels, using the sharing economy, relying on the kindness of strangers, and more.

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    How To Survive Backpacker Hostel Life

    It might not be what you’re used to. Maybe because of the noise, the grossness, the lack of privacy. Well, hostel life is an inevitability of backpacking life, but we’re…

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    How to get the best mobile plan

    How to get the best mobile plan. One with lots of data because Google Maps and Tinder are more important than mumsy’s twice-daily checkup calls. Also, Europe has no roaming charges as of 2018, so you can travel the continent and swipe right like a legend.

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    Advice For The Broke Traveler – How To Save Money On Your Trip

    You’ve done all the saving and you’re enjoying backpacker life, but with these tried and tested techniques you can make those euros go a little further. Spend the money on fun stuff, by saving on these essentials.

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    How to Rent a Car in Europe

    Oh the freedom! If you’re above a certain age and have a valid credit card and an international driver’s license and… but if you can tick the boxes this is the only way to roll.

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    Why you should get travel insurance

    Because you really should get travel insurance.

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    European Working Holiday Visas

    The absolute best way to turn that 90-day Schengen visa into a year and sometimes more of continental goodtimes.

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    European Campervan Life

    Live like a turtle! Moving slowly with your house on your back. Pooping in bushes. Going wherever you want. Making friends with grey nomads in a similar situation. Campervan life is the life for us, here’s how to get it done.

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    The Best Way To Travel Around Europe

    Planes, trains, automobiles… Europe has them all! But how are you going to move around the continent during your ultimate backpacking superduper trip-of-a-lifetime? The answer is: a little bit of everything.

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    Driving in Europe

    It’s totally easy, but maybe a little intimidating. You can do it, we have faith in you, just remember which side of the road we drive on, and get ready for some pretty big tolls.

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    Budget Flights In Europe

    The nature of the European Union means that flying between countries is as big a hassle, and a similar price, to flying interstate at home. Sometimes you’ve got to jump in that big bird and get somewhere in a matter of hours, not days, and you’re going to need to do that on the cheap.

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    Is It Worth Your While To Backpack On A Eurail Pass?

    Is it worth your while getting a Eurail Pass? There’s no more romantic way to travel across Europe than by train. They go everywhere, and they do so at a frighteningly rapid rate. They stop in the city centre. You can walk about and cavort with cute strangers. But sometimes the passes are expensive.

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    A Brief Guide To European Bus Travel

    It’s not ideal, but it is cheap, and that’s sometimes all that matters. The highways in Europe are spectacular and so the buses get to where they’re going with ease. Sometimes you’ve got to suck it up and save some cash.

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    How To Avoid Pickpockets In Europe

    While relatively free of violent crime, some cities are often seen as being a haven for pickpockets, thieves and other petty criminals. Don’t let them ruin your trip, know their tricks and how to avoid being robbed.

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    Average Dinner Time In Europe

    The evening meal might be the most important to backpackers, a time to chat, pre-drink and, obviously, fill the belly with fuel. Across the continent meal times can vary greatly, so here’s a guide to average dinner times in Europe, so you don’t get caught hungry.

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    Eating Cheap Meals While Travelling

    Eating and drinking is one of the most pleasurable things we can do while backpacking – and also one of the most expensive. Learn how to lessen the blow with our guide to eating cheap meals while travelling.

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    Vegetarian and Vegan Backpacking In Europe

    Don’t eat meat? Dairy? Eggs? Don’t let your diet hold you back with our hints and tips for vegan and vegetarian backpacking in Europe.

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    The Best European Food By Country

    One of the best things about travelling is discovering new places and then eating all their food. Make sure you eat the right things in each place, with our guide to best European food, a country by country guide to the continent’s weird, delicious and typical dishes.

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    Eating Healthy On A Budget

    Europe is home to some delicious food, delicious, fatty, salty food. Eating well while backpacking is difficult, but not impossible if you follow our simple guide to eating healthy on a budget.

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    Boozeletters

    The OKTs of Oktoberfest

    As the Jackson Four once said, “O-K-T,  it’s as easy as S-T-O-K-E”, and we gotta agree. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who has spent more time at the…

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    June 2016: Stoketoberfest

    Stoketoberfest: a brief history It was almost a decade ago that the weary Stoke caravan limped into a Munich campsite with delusions of festive grandeur, Stoketoberfest. The caravan was loaded…

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    Stoke Travel Is Looking For Creative Interns

    To live, laugh, love, pray, eat, drink and sometimes pass out in Barcelona Have you got a passion for words? For the moving picture? For likes? Stoke Travel, Europe’s —…

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    Boozeletter: Five Oktoberfest Beer Facts

    This list was initially “it’s beer” five times, but a little digging gave us five real things about Munich’s Oktoberfest beer that’ll put saliva on your tongue and a sway…

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    The Most Extraordinary Ordinary Job In The World: A Competition

    The Most Extraordinary Ordinary Job In The World competition is back, and this year we’re looking for two chosen ones. Do you love writing, shooting videos and photos, bragging to your…

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    The New And Improved Stoke Travel Passport

    Introducing the Stoke Travel Passport   Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas! Zalig Kerstfeest! Joyeux Noël! Buon Natale! Nizhonigo Keshmish! Bon Nadal! Eguberri on!   Or Bah humbug, whatever floats your boat….

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    Five Items Every Traveller Carries But Never Uses

    At the bottom of everyone’s bag is a collection of items that haven’t been used once, but your inner hoarder refuses to get rid of as you’re convinced at some point they’ll be absolutely essential and you’ll be kicking yourself if you’ve thrown them out.

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    May 2016: Grannies

    People think Stoke is for young people, but there are so many reasons why not just young people travel with Stoke. We accept everyone of all ages, races, faces, and…

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    The Boozeletter: Tomato, is it a Fruit or Vegetable?

    The question is: tomato: fruit or vegetable? They say that the world is divided between those who say tomató and others who say tomáto, but that point of difference barely…

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    March 2016: Flexibility Poses

    Hello, and welcome the new edition of Stoke News of March 2016 It would be remiss of us not to mention the tragedy in Belgium and Pakistan this past week…

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    Boozeletter: Most Ordinary Extraordinary Job In The World Edition

    We see these “Best Job In The World” promotions popping up often, offering lucky punters a job that isn’t really a job, a glorified galavanting around the globe, sampling all…

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    Stoke’s Euro Summer 2017 Picks

    5 Places That Are Better In Summer Spring has well and truly sprung here in Europe. The bees are making love to the birds and they’re doing it on top…

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    Stoke Travel Boozeletter: The Resolutions Are All Broken

    The Resolutions Are All Broken It’s that time of the year when we come to terms with who we really are. Less than a week out from the revelry of…

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    Happy New Year Boozeletter

    New Year, new you! Are your resolutions in order? Have you deluded yourself into thinking you’ll miraculously become a new person once the clock ticks over into 2017? We haven’t!…

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    Letter to the President

    Dear Mr. President, The Stoke Travel Co. team would like to formally invite you and your family to join us here in Pamplona for San Fermin, Running of the Bullsand…

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    January 2016: Christmas

    Hey Stokies of 2015! Thanks and Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for coming and seeing us this year Thanks for once again letting us put on the kinds of…

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    April 2016

    We’re getting pumped here at Stoke Towers in April 2016 Because the weather is heating up, summer is on its way and nothing but good times await… Yes, it really…

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    February 2016

    The Stoke Boozeletter February 2016: the who’s who letter, the better check your news better, when you get unlimited booze your poos get wetter Are you hot or are you…

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    Trump Goes On Surfari With Stoke Travel

    Media Release Donald Trump hangs ten on Stoke Travel Surfari and demands an ongoing and unrelenting search for best surf The Stoke Travel Co. will be expanding their summer Van…

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    Boozeletter: Spring Has Sprung

    Don’t get us wrong, winter’s alright. But there’s just a je ne sais quoi about spring that makes us all warm in the bowels of our bellies (that is the scientific term for one’s loins)

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    Too many options

    Why in the Kaiser am I receiving this email? Because somewhere down the line we’ve crossed paths. You might have been surfing with us, or thrown up on one of our pub-crawls.

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    Blackmail & Bumming Around The World

    Stoke Travel’s After-Grog-Blog-Blackmail around the world   “You think of travelers as bold, but our guilty secret is that travel is one of the laziest ways on earth of passing…

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    Chicken or beef?

    No vocation for location, just a good ol’ time It’s always good to have a few choices in life: salty or sweet, chicken or beef, margarine or butter, underwear or…

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    Boozeletter: King’s Day in Amsterdam

    From 11 am we are taking a bunch of crazy cats out on the canals on 
an open deck party boat. 3-4 hours cruising the canals with unlimited beer and sangria for only 10€!!

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