How I did it: I've been to Amsterdam on three separate occasions now. The first two visits took place during my semester abroad at the University of Leicester in the UK. The first trip I booked with a large group and pretty much all I had to do was hand the organizer enough money.

My second trip was organized with myself and two of my good friends. We booked the trip through BMIbaby.com. We simply googled the term "Amsterdam hostel" and did some comparisons for the one that had a reasonable nightly rate, good comments, and was in the center of Amsterdam. We stayed for 5 Days and I honestly don't remember most of it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9zv6dd5C6g

My third trip I booked a flight with Virgin Atlantic to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). I then took a bus to Leicester, UK and stayed the night with friends. We took a flight from the Birmingham Airport with BMIbaby to Amsterdam for a relatively good deal. The hostel was booked literally days before we got there and wasn't awful, but it wasn't great. We stayed for three days.

Lessons & tips:

1. Come PREPARED! Bring interesting things to do or plan things you want to see. The worst thing that can happen to you is going into caveman mode, "me need water, me need food, me need smoke."
2. Smoke Grass - It's legal why not.
3. Take Magic Mushrooms, but not too many. Your mind will expand and it will make the trip a far more personal experience.
4. Rent bikes! These allow you to get places and when you're riding them stoned there's nothing like it.
5. Stay longer than 2 days. After day two you realize you should be there for at least 5 days to make it absolutely worth it.
6. Who cares if people are staring, laughing, or even judging you because you look lost, stoned, wasted, or all three. The sooner you stop caring what people think of you the better off you are and the more open you'll be to new activities.
7. When shrooming take everything as it comes, my favorite saying is "....well this happening." Don't get self conscious and if you feel like it's too intense drink lots of sugar water, get some vitamin c,  and relax!
8. Go to the red light district. It's cheap, it's amusing, and relatively safe. Just don't take pictures of videos of hookers.
9. BUY a MAP! We finally got a map for third trip and realized that it was totally worth it. Because wondering aimlessly is great until it's time to go to sleep. If you do get a map make a few random spots that you plan to visit. We arbitrarily put a "you are here" spot on our map and made it an adventure to find on our second day in the Dam.
10. You're there to have fun. So do it?! How often do you really get to be there. Spend that time wisely.
11. Take picture, make a video, because I really have difficulty remembering all the crazy stuff we saw and everything we did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jZdFVay5t0

Resources: BMIbaby.com
VirginAtlantic.com

Nov 10, 2008, 01:36PM PST | 0 comments | 4 cheers