Monday, 24 March 2008
Nonstop flights between Asia and Latin America
Paul Lukacs has an interesting recent post updating some of my earlier comments on the (lack of) nonstop flights between Latin America and Asia. For the sake of completeness, there are a few flights and details he missed, although they in no way alter his, or my, conclusions about the... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 16 March 2008
AP and Chicago Tribune review new edition of "The Practical Nomad"
It's always fun to get good news from back home while travelling. In my case, the news that's reached me here in Sana'a, Yemen (a delightful place to visit, if you ever get the chance, with the first high-speed Internet connection we've had in weeks) is of a couple of... (...Read Entire Entry)Monday, 11 February 2008
Money for travellers from class action lawsuit
If you are from the USA, and reading this blog, you are probably eligible to get some money from a class action lawsuit you might not have heard about. You can get at least $25 for the asking (and maybe many times more) if at any time between 1996 and... (...Read Entire Entry)Thursday, 20 December 2007
Back in Brussels
Six months into my current year-long trip around the world, I'm spending this week in Brussels (Belgium). Some of the high points of our trip so far include English House in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Potosi (Bolivia), driving across the Atacama Desert and down the desert coast of northern Chile, Brazilian... (...Read Entire Entry)Wednesday, 15 August 2007
Welcome to the students of English House, Buenos Aires
I've been too busy to write much since arriving in Buenos Aires almost a month ago. But today I must interrupt my own studies as a student of Spanish at ELEBAIRES (highly recommended for its excellent teachers), and my work for the Identity Project , to welcome the students of... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 12 August 2007
Air travel and global warming
Just before leaving the USA (on a jet plane) for my current trip around the world, I was interviewed at length for a story that has now been published in the Ottawa Citizen on the growing concern (more in the UK than, to date, in the USA) about the contribution... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 26 June 2007
We're off on a trip around the world!
I leave tomorrow with my partner Ruth Radetsky, who is taking a sabbatical from her job teaching high school, on a year-long trip around the world. We're headed for Silver Bay (New York, USA), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Recife (Brazil), Lisbon (Portugal), Aleppo (Syria), Istanbul (Turkey), Doha (Qatar), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Addis... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 24 June 2007
USA government refuses to learn from passport problems
From the day they went into effect in January of this year, the new USA government rules requiring passports for all travel by air between the USA and Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean (even for citizens of the USA returning home from abroad) have been a disaster. I told them... (...Read Entire Entry)Friday, 25 May 2007
Report from Iran
I've wanted to go to Isfahan for decades, ever since I first saw pictures of its architectural masterpieces, long before I'd ever set foot outside North America. As I've gotten to other places, Isfahan has been left near the top of my personal lifetime travel "wish list". Today I got... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 6 May 2007
The Amazing Race 11 (All-Star Edition), Episode 12
Fort Soledad (U.S. Territory of Guam) - Honolulu, HI (USA) - Lanai, HI (USA) - Oakland, CA (USA) - San Francisco, CA (USA) The All-Star season of The Amazing Race finished this week once again in my adopted home town of San Francisco. The decisive final task required one member... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 29 April 2007
The Amazing Race 11 (All-Star Edition), Episode 11
Macau SAR (China) - Andersen Air Force Base (U.S. Territory of Guam) - U.S. Naval Base Guam (U.S. Territory of Guam) - Fort Soledad (U.S. Territory of Guam) The growing popularity of The Amazing Race and its continued status as the only travel show on primetime national commercial broadcast television... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 22 April 2007
The Amazing Race 11 (All-Star Edition), Episode 10
Hong Kong SAR (China) - Macau SAR (China) This week's episode of The Amazing Race didn't cover much ground: it all took place within a small part of the Pearl River Delta region along the coast of China. It's an interesting region, with a hundred million or more people and... (...Read Entire Entry)Saturday, 21 April 2007
"Bottom Line Personal" on travel insurance
There's an interview with me on "Travel Insurance: What You Need -- and Don't Need" in the May 2007 issue of Bottom Line Personal magazine. If you are looking for more detailed advice and suggested providers of insurance for travellers, see my FAQ on Travel Insurance and the chapter and... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 25 March 2007
The Amazing Race 11 (All-Star Edition), Episode 6
Maputo (Mozambique) - Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) - Stone Town, Zanzibar (Tanzania) - Kikungwi, Zanzibar (Tanzania) - Stone Town, Zanzibar (Tanzania) I said last week that I'd talk about the markets of Maputo, Mozambique, before the teams on The Amazing Race moved on. I have fond memories of those markets... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 18 March 2007
The Amazing Race 11 (All-Star Edition), Episode 5
Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) - Ushuaia (Argentina) - Maputo (Mozambique) I'm tempted to reminisce about my experiences in the markets of Maputo, Mozambique, the scene of The Amazing Race this week. But I'll leave that for next week. First, I have to talk about this week's airline routing... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 11 March 2007
The Amazing Race 11 (All-Star Edition), Episode 4
Petrohué (Chile) - Puerto Montt (Chile) - Punta Arenas (Chile) - Ushuaia (Argentina) - Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) Navigation is one of the few major challenges that real-world travel around the world and The Amazing Race consistently have in common. This week, the racers were given a compass,... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 4 March 2007
The Amazing Race 11 (All-Star Edition), Episode 3
San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) - Puerto Montt (Chile) - Petrohué (Chile) When they plan their first trip around the world, most people imagine it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. By the time they get home, most of them are already thinking about doing it again. I'm no exception, and neither... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 25 February 2007
The Amazing Race 11 (All-Star Edition), Episode 2
Cotopaxi National Park (Ecuador) - Santiago (Chile) - Calama (Chile) - Chuquicamata (Chile) - San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) I had hoped that the All-Star Edition of The Amazing Race , with a cast selected from participants in previous seasons of the reality-television show, would provide useful lessons about how... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 23 January 2007
New USA passport rules frustrate last-minute travellers
Effective today, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) requires passports for all air travel between the USA, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Today the New York Times reports on the problems the new rules has caused for would-be last-minute travellers from the USA, especially business travellers, who find... (...Read Entire Entry)Friday, 15 December 2006
Congress, EU, and businesses question "targetting" of travellers
Questions are beginning to be asked by members of the U.S. Senate , the European Commission , the European Parliament , and business travellers about the illegal "Automated Targeting System" (ATS) that the USA Department of Homeland Security has already used to deny more than half a million people their... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 10 December 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 12
Barcelona (Spain) - Paris (France) - Caen (France) - Bayeux (France) - Paris (France) - New York, NY (USA) - Garrison, NY (USA) (Warning to readers: If you didn't like last week's column because you didn't think it had enough to do with The Amazing Race television show, you probably... (...Read Entire Entry)Half a million people denied their right to travel
As I noted in one of my previous articles about the USA Department of Homeland Security's "Automated Targeting System" (ATS): I find it somewhat strange that the assignment of scores or "risk assessments" seems to have gotten more attention than the earlier DHS announcement of its intention to require individualized... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 26 November 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 10
Kiev (Ukraine) - Ouarzazate (Morocco) - Idelssan (Morocco) - Ouarzazate (Morocco) This week the cast of travellers on The Amazing Race became the cast of a movie within the TV show, cheered on by a crowd of extras in a chariot race on a Moroccan movie studio's desert back lot.... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 19 November 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 9
Antananarivo (Madagascar) - Helsinki (Finland) - Tampere (Finland) - Turku (Finland) - Lohja (Finland) - Helsinki (Finland) - Kiev (Ukraine) - Oster (Ukraine) - Kiev (Ukraine) Over the course of the most recent two-part episode, The Amazing Race 10 made its way to Ukraine. This was the first ex-Soviet country... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 5 November 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 8
Bel Ombre (Mauritius) - Antananarivo (Madagascar) What do you do as a traveller when what you find doesn't match what you expect? That was the question faced by the contestants on The Amazing Race when they arrived in Antananarivo, the capital and sole international air gateway to the 1500 km... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 29 October 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 7
Kuwait City (Kuwait) - Plaine Magnien (Mauritius) - Grand Baie (Mauritius) - Case Noyale (Mauritius) - Bel Ombre (Mauritius) Viewers of the latest episode of The Amazing Race got a reprise of two travel lessons I talked about two weeks ago. The travellers set off from Kuwait City after midnight,... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 22 October 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 6
Chennai, Tamil Nadu (India) - Kuwait City (Kuwait) It's flattering to know that for several seasons, contestants on "The Amazing Race" have been reading my columns on previous seasons as part of their preparations for the race. But I hope I'm not to blame for some of what happened this... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 15 October 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 5
Halong Bay (Vietnam) - Haiphong (Vietnam) - Hanoi (Vietnam) - Chennai, Tamil Nadu (India) - Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu (India) - Chennai, Tamil Nadu (India) After returning to the mainland from the island in Halong Bay where they stayed during their "pit stop" for food and sleep, The Amazing Race 10... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 1 October 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 3
Gachurt (Mongolia) - Ulan Bator (Mongolia) - Hanoi (Vietnam) - Vac (Vietnam) The first destination for the teams on "The Amazing Race" this week was the "Hanoi Hilton", where prisoners of war including U.S. Senator John McCain were confined and tortured during the "American War". (That's what the war is... (...Read Entire Entry)Thursday, 28 September 2006
Governments prepare to log travellers' movements on passport chips
Earlier this month -- before being sidetracked with other deadlines , the start of a new season of The Amazing Race , and major electrical work on my house that made it hard to get any work done for the last week -- I attended a Symposium on Machine-Readable Travel... (...Read Entire Entry)Passports for travel between the USA, Canada, Mexico, etc.
If the USA government has its way, all citizens of the USA -- regardless of age, dual citizenship, etc. -- will need U.S. passports for air travel between the USA and all other countries in the Western Hemisphere, effective 8 January 2007. No more trips by air or sea across... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 24 September 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 2
Juyongguan (China) - Erenhot (China) - Ulan Bator (Mongolia) - Terelj National Park (Mongolia) - Gachurt (Mongolia) When they start to imagine their fantasy trip around the world, many people include a trip from Beijing to Moscow, by way of Mongolia, on the Trans-Siberian Railway. But it's typical of real-world... (...Read Entire Entry)Wednesday, 20 September 2006
Resources for solo travellers
Work & Family (by columnist Sue Shellenbarger, Wall Street Journal, 31 August 2006): Question: Regarding your column on couples traveling separately: Can you provide information for people who want to make solo trips, including adventure travel? Answer: The most comprehensive information on traveling alone can be found in books. "The... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 17 September 2006
The Amazing Race 10, Episode 1
Seattle, WA (USA) - Beijing (China) - Juyongguan (China) As the teams in the new season of The Amazing Race prepared for the start of the race at Gasworks Park in Seattle, host Phil Keoghan told them -- and us, the viewers -- that there would be some surprises. And... (...Read Entire Entry)Friday, 18 August 2006
Freedom to travel as a human right
Several students at my introductory talk on "Travel Writing and the Travel Industry" at the 15th annual Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference this weekend asked about the sources I quoted on freedom to travel as a human right. The U.S. Constitution only hints at travel in the First... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 1 August 2006
Interview with Eons.com on "Travel around the world"
A new Web site for people over 50 years old, "Eons.com" ("everything over 50...") launched today. I'm only 46, but I'm inteviewed at length on how to travel around the world, as one of their first features on how to achieve your goals in life.... (...Read Entire Entry)Monday, 26 June 2006
New York Times on changing money
Practical Traveler: How to Get the Best Exchange Rate (by David A. Kelly, New York Times, Sunday Travel Section, 26 June 2006): Make sure you check ahead to learn what bank cards or traveler's checks will be accepted at your destination, and have a backup plan. "The main thing is... (...Read Entire Entry)Saturday, 29 April 2006
Window of opportunity for travel to North Korea (DPRK) by USA citizens
Surprisingly many people from the USA would like to visit the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), as North Korea is officially called. Why? Because it's there, because it's unknown, because they have family ties there, or simply because nobody else they know has been there. For my own reasons... (...Read Entire Entry)Wednesday, 19 April 2006
The Amazing Race 9, Episode 7
Patras (Greece) - Athens (Greece) - Muscat (Oman) - Sur (Oman) - Al Hawiyah (Oman) - Nizwa (Oman) It's not clear that the Amazing Racers had thought about how they might look to local people in Oman -- whether the Arab majority or the 20% minority of Pakistani expatriate, mostly... (...Read Entire Entry)Wednesday, 12 April 2006
The Amazing Race 9, Episode 6
Siracusa (Italy) - Rome (Italy) - Athens (Greece) - Corinth (Greece) - Nemea (Greece) - Patras (Greece) Travelling couple Michelle and Lake, eliminated from The Amazing Race 9 this week, provide an object lesson in why it's useful whenever possible to learn how to recognize and pronounce (if it's more... (...Read Entire Entry)Wednesday, 5 April 2006
The Amazing Race 9, Episode 5
Segesta (Italy) - Catania (Italy) - Siracusa (Italy) Leaving the "pit stop" in Sicily at the start of this week's episode of The Amazing Race , Jeremy and Eric are surprised that the driver of the first passing car they flag down stops and helps them with directions. In the... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 28 March 2006
The Amazing Race 9, Episode 4
Munich (Germany) - Palermo (Italy) - Castellammare del Golfo (Italy) - Segesta (Italy) Could you find the flights that would get you from Munich to Palermo arriving as soon as possible, and make reservations for yourself and a travelling companion, on a German-language Web site? That's what made the difference... (...Read Entire Entry)Thursday, 23 March 2006
Jon Carroll on the educational value of a trip around the world
Endorsing a suggestion in an earlier article (available to paid subscribers only, unfortunately) by Nicholas Kristof, and endorsing what I've been saying for years, Jon Carroll devotes his column in the San Francisco Chronicle today to why every young person -- especially in the USA, where this happens less now... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 5 March 2006
Oregonian and Kansas City Star on "country collectors"
Country Collectors (by Dan Leeth, The [Portland] Oregonian, Sunday travel section, 5 March 2006; also in the Kansas City Star as The one with the most passport stamps wins ): Some people collect stamps. These people collect countries. Why? Because they're there. While some people collect postage stamps, travelers such... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 28 February 2006
The Amazing Race 9, Episode 1
Denver, CO (USA) - São Paulo (Brazil) The Amazing Race is back! Back in São Paulo for the second time. (Don't be surprised if you've forgotten their first visit four years ago -- they didn't actually do much in São Paulo.) Back to teams of two adults, instead of teams... (...Read Entire Entry)Wednesday, 1 February 2006
Downtown parking and land use priorities
Every day on my way from the BART train station to my office at Airtreks.com in a highrise building South of Market in downtown San Francisco (the most densely populated neighborhoood in the USA west of the Mississippi), I pass a 50-story residential condominium tower -- and included parking garage... (...Read Entire Entry)Monday, 30 January 2006
Encrypted RFID passport data intercepted and cracked
A Dutch television news program has commissioned experiments by security research firm Riscure in which radio communications between the RFID chip in a prototype Dutch passport (using the same technology and encryption scheme recently adopted as an international standard and being deployed in USA passports) were intercepted, stored for analysis... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 13 December 2005
The Amazing Race 8 (Family Edition), Episode 10
Absorokee, MT (USA) - Billings, MT (USA) - Montréal, Québec (Canada) - Toronto, Ontario (Canada) - Queenston, Ontario (Canada) - Lewiston, NY (USA) To the bitter end, tonight's final episode of the Family Edition of The Amazing Race was, like this whole season, a series of missed opportunities. Instead of... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 6 December 2005
The Amazing Race 8 (Family Edition), Episode 9
Salt Lake City, UT (USA) - Park City, UT (USA) - Heber City, UT (USA) - Bonneville Salt Flats, UT (USA) - Garden City, UT (USA) - Big Pine, WY (USA) - Yellowstone National Park, WY (USA) - Dubois, WY (USA) - Cody, WY (USA) - Red Lodge, MT (USA)... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 8 November 2005
The Amazing Race 8 (Family Edition), Episode 7
Quepos (Costa Rica) - Grecia (Costa Rica) - Phoenix, AZ (USA) - Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, AZ (USA) - Mesa, AZ (USA) - Grand Canyon National Park, AZ (USA) - Page, AZ (USA) Perhaps it would be too much to expect the Family Edition of The Amazing Race reality television... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 1 November 2005
The Amazing Race 8 (Family Edition), Episode 6
Panama City (Panama) - San José (Costa Rica) - Parque Nacional Volcan Poás (Costa Rica) - Doka Coffee Estate (Costa Rica) - Jacó (Costa Rica) - Quepos (Costa Rica) "You Can't Get There From Here" (Special guest column by By Erin Van Rheenen, author of Living Abroad in Costa Rica... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 25 October 2005
The Amazing Race 8 (Family Edition), Episode 5 (RFID passports)
New Orleans, LA (USA) - Panama City (Panama) Just when the families on The Amazing Race 8 finally left the USA in tonight's episode, the USA Department of State today took the latest in its recent series of regulatory actions to make it more difficult for other families like them... (...Read Entire Entry)Friday, 7 October 2005
"Spot the Terrorist"
USA-EU dual citizen and fellow CFP-er Wendy Grossman has more on the new demands for passenger information by the USA government and airlines, as well as the latest USA plans for a Ministry of Silly Walks , in her net.wars column here and here : Spot the Terrorist ... Some... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 27 September 2005
The Amazing Race 8 (Family Edition), Episode 1
New York, NY (USA) - Washington Crossing Historic Park, PA (USA) - Philadelphia, PA (USA) - Mount Joy, PA (USA) - Lancaster, PA (USA) The first episode of the first season of The Amazing Race took the teams of travellers from New York City all the way across the Atlantic... (...Read Entire Entry)Sunday, 25 September 2005
"The Amazing Race 8: Family Edition" broadcasts start this Tuesday; "The Amazing Race 1" on DVD
Broadcasts of The Amazing Race 8: Family Edition will begin this Tuesday night, 27 September 2005 (9-10 p.m. ET/PT, 8-9 p.m. CT/MT) on CBS-TV in the USA. I've posted a tentative broadcast schedule based on this starting date. Profiles of the cast members are on the CBS-TV Web site for... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 16 August 2005
Back from Africa
Cape Point, Cape Peninsula National Park and World Heritage Site, South Africa I'm back from two weeks vacation at Silver Bay and six weeks travelling in Africa, mostly in South Africa but also briefly in Swaziland, Mozambique, and Qatar. The trip was, above all, thought provoking. The slogan of the... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 26 April 2005
The Amazing Race 7, Episode 8
Jodhpur (India) - Istanbul (Turkey) Yet again in this episode of The Amazing Race the key to finishing first was finding "interline" connections between flights on different airlines (in this case, on Indian Airlines and Turkish Airlines from Delhi to Istanbul via Dubai) that arrived earlier than the sole direct... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 19 April 2005
The Amazing Race 7, Episode 7
Khwai (Botswana) - Francistown (Botswana) - Mumbai (India) - Lucknow (India) - Jodhpur (India) There were two major lessons in this two-part episode, which was broadcast on 12 April 2005 and 19 April 2005. The first lesson -- which, unfortunately, the television producers didn't choose to show us -- concerned... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 29 March 2005
Deadlines loom for RFID tracking chips in USA passports
There's still time for USA citizens to get a new passport without an embedded RFID remote tracking chip -- but if you want one, you should apply at once. The Department of State is moving as fast as it can (slowed down only by technical difficulties -- RFID chips are... (...Read Entire Entry)Friday, 18 March 2005
"Around the World in Eight Days"
No, the headline above is not a typo. Last month I arranged flights for a trip around the world in eight (8) days by USA Today travel reporter Laura Bly. She tells the story of her trip and how she planned it in today's Friday weekend travel section, concluding: While... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 8 February 2005
The Amazing Race 6, Episode 11
Shanghai (China) - Xi'an (China) - Mt. Hua (China) - Xi'an (China) - Honolulu, HI (USA) - Chicago, Il (USA) The final double episode of this season of The Amazing Race was dominated by the racers' continued difficulties with coping and communicating in China. Watching the racers in some of... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 1 February 2005
The Amazing Race 6, Episode 10
Sigiriya (Sri Lanka) - Shanghai (China) "We don't know how to communicate with them." That was the key problem for the contestants, none of whom appeared to speak or read any Chinese, throughout this episode of The Amazing Race in Shanghai. In cities, the racers have generally relied on taxis... (...Read Entire Entry)Tuesday, 25 January 2005
The Amazing Race 6, Episode 9 (travel advice and lessons from the tsunami in the Indian Ocean)
Lalibela (Ethiopia) - Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) - Colombo (Sri Lanka) - Galle (Sri Lanka) - Kandy (Sri Lanka) - Dambulla (Sri Lanka) - Sigiriya (Sri Lanka) This weeks's episode of The Amazing Race was dedicated to those affected by the tsunami, especially in Sri Lanka where the reality-TV show was... (...Read Entire Entry)Monday, 17 January 2005
Airport connections in Hong Kong
I might not otherwise have bothereed to mention it here, but after having previously complained about misleading advertising of the price of combined airport and city subway transit tickets in New York I feel obliged to report on my recent experience with very similarly misleading advertisements of the price of... (...Read Entire Entry)Thursday, 4 November 2004
Iran to join reciprocal fingerprinting of USA visitors
On the 25th anniversary of the takeover of the Embassy of the USA in Teheran, Iran , a bill to require fingerprinting of all USA citizens visiting Iran has been approved by a committee of Iran's parliament, and appears headed for enactment. Iran thus moves toward joining Brazil as the... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 4 November 2004, 08:19 ( 8:19 AM)
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