Men don't like to admit it but our appearance is of great concern to most of us. Most men aren't into fashion in the same way that women are but we have similar hangups about our style and our appearance. One stylistic choice I was confronted with in Spain: Do I wear one of those money belts which people use tocarry passports and currency?


The money belt is a useful invention. It protects a travellers important posessions against theft. It is certainly harder for a pickpocket to reach into your crotch to steal your credit card then to slip his/her hand into your pocket. Their utility is undeniable but the fact still remains, they just don't look that cool. Money belts aren't as bad as fannypacks but one still can't escape looking like a goober sporting this travel accessory.

This is probably one of many conflicts between style and utiltiy which people have to decide between every day. Other examples are high heels, flip-flops, and thos impossibly skinny hipster jeans that have pockets wich are impossible to fit anything in.

Is looking cool as important to me as preserving my safety and general welfare...not quite. I opted to wear the money belt (not until I learned the hard way and was robbed of my credit card and driver's license). But living in Los Angeles, the city of surfaces and appearances, for four years made the decision more difficult.

The longer I live in LA the more distant I feel from my hippie influenced Oregonian past. Cargo shorts and tye-dye don't seem to cut it anymore. On my trip to Spain I visited a small mountain town called Granada. It is basically the Eugene of Spain. People dress in birkenstock style shoes, wear flowing sorts of linen pants and skirts, and sport dreadlocks no matter their ethnicity. In fact I even saw some dreadlock mullets. These particular hairstyles were short and neat in the front and long and locked in the back. It was a new level of groddy-granolaness that I honestly wasn't ready for.

The longer I stayed in Granada the greater my urge to sport some super trendy, yuppie, urban styles. I longed to spike my hair up and bleach the tips, or don one of those big leather strap things people wear to hold their watches. This is a sea change from my former self who dreamed of owning a merry-prankster style bus tricked out with furry carpet walls. The old me wanted dreadlocks so bad in high school that I rubbed my head for a day with a piece of wool, eventually giving myself a tangled knot of hair and a very irritated scalp. What has gotten into me? Now i'm closer to Abercrombie than Garfunkle.

I think one answer is the kinds of subcultures I relate to. Living in Los Angeles for four years and Brighton England for six months has made me accostomed to a fast paced form of life. I enjoy going out to clubs and dance parties more than chilling at home. I would rather go to a massive rave than an outdoor music festival. With that said I still enjoy an occasional hackey-sack session and once in a while you will see me at a drum circle. But I aint one of dem long-haired freeaks ya'll.