After two million+ kilometres (1.4 million miles) of flying, I have developed a list of what not to pack. Not being a fan of checking in a suitcase, I have refined my list again and again. Now, I check a suitcase once every 30 flights. These are invariably flights home to Australia with items bought as holiday gifts! 1. Every Electronic Gizmo I don’t really need a camera, two phones, an ipad, a kindle and a laptop. Travelling with multiple gadgets creates more possibilities to lose or forget things and increases the possibility of target…
Travel Tips (Monday)
Category Archives for Travel Tips (Monday).
The Man in Seat 61
As someone who is wild about travel, I love the opportunity I get to ride trains. I have now ridden the rails in four continents from the high speed TGVs to the outback trains of Queensland, Australia! For me, the Bible of train travel is a website called the Man in Seat 61. The site is run by Englishman: Mark Smith and is named after his favourite seat in the first class carriage of the Eurostar. Mark and his seat are pictured below. Mark has three ams for the site and the site performs…
Where is this? Cool Tool
Where is this? or this place? Ever seen a picture on the net or uploaded an old pic from your collection and wondered: “Where is this? Website: Where is this? allows people to upload a picture and then gives others the opportunity to suggest where it might be! Its free. The site owners prefer people did not add photos of places if they know where they have been taken: “ This site is not for riddles!” The first location is unknown but the second one is at the University of Bremen in Germany. Know where these ones are?…
Replacing the Concierge?
“A hotel employee whose job is to assist guests by booking tours, making theatre and restaurant reservations, etc.” While some people swear by them, I rarely utilise concierges. If I am going back to the same hotel time after time, then I may build a relationship with the concierge. Over time, they can do my work for me. Stories abound about concierges who can get guests into “that restaurant” or a “seat at the sell out show”. But I am often only in a place for one or two nights or I visit a city once.…
Fixing the Tricky Visa issues
Sometimes our business or personal travel takes us to places which are technically at war with each other or have no diplomatic relations e.g. Iran and Israel (see below). This means if you visit one and have visa stamps in your passport, you may not be allowed to visit the other. Or face some very awkwardly questioning. Options: 1. Ask the agent to not stamp your passport Cuba and Israeli immigration agents will hand you a separate piece of paper with the visa stamp which sits in your passport. 2. Find your Dual Nationality Some…
No Visa? No Entry?
For some people, the first they think of a visa is when they arrive at the airline check in and are asked if they have a visa for their destination. That’s the last place you want to be working that out because in many cases: no visa, no arrival. I was on a bus in South America when one passenger, found to his horror he would need a visa to enter the next country. He protested: I am a US citizen -why do I need a visa? A visa is a document or mark showing…
Travel insurance Rocks!
Falling off a temple in Cambodia was not on my list of things to do. Nor was the emergency attention and bed and breakfast at the Angkor International hospital in Siam Reap I got after my fall. The hospital was great. Efficient, caring and competent. As was my travel insurance company. It reminded me of why I have travel insurance. For me, it is essential as clean underwear. Yet it is estimated that a very high percentage of travellers have no insurance. In a survey conducted in 2012 for the US Travel Insurance Association found that one in…
All about Feet and Travel
A little bit of an unusual post this week. This is an important one, however. Love your comments/feedback. Before Travel Consider what shoes you will need. Are you going to be sitting around the pool? Exploring cities on foot? Attending dinners and functions? Practice walking in your shoes before you travel. Wearing your new sneakers on day one of a Paris walk is not a good idea! In the air Don’t take your shoes off during take off and landing. Wear closed in shoes that will protect your feet if you need to evacuate Avoid…
Yell No
In 40+ years of travel, I have only had one incident where I felt I could have been mugged. As I changed money at a Paris railway station, I realised I was being observed. Worse, the group of three followed me onto the metro and into my carriage. They then carefully watched me at each station to see when I got off the train. I spontaneously hopped off the train at a busy station just as the doors were closing. They jumped off too and trailed me down the platform to the exit. I turned…
Free Facebook on 7 US airlines
From January 1 to January 30 passengers on AirTran, American, Alaska Airlines, Delta, Frontier, United, and US Airways flights can use Gogo’s inflight Internet access to log onto Facebook for free. Air Canada passengers can also access the service. According to Gogo, after accessing the Gogo portal on an Internet browser, it is a matter of following a set of simple instructions to connect to Facebook. Related Posts US Airlines switch on PED devices
Recent Comments