I was sitting next to a man who was travelling 13 hours by plane for a two-hour meeting and then back again- in the same week! We talked about the loneliness and hectic craziness that results from such a rough schedule. He admitted to eating most of his meals in his hotel room. We reflected on how many business people put on weight and feel unhealthy. Some thoughts on hacking our trips: Be clear on our travel goals- why are you travelling to your destination? Evaluate whether you are meeting those goals – was the trip really worth…
Travel Tips (Monday)
Category Archives for Travel Tips (Monday).
Preventing a Pickpocket Ruining Your Trip
Pickpockets have been around since the dawn of money. A skilled pickpocketer can have relieved their victim of money, watch, passport, identification and credit cards and have moved on, before that person has noticed anyone is close to them. Pickpockets have a large variety of ways of operating and are always coming up with new schemes, so it’s almost impossible to totally protect yourself. There are some things that can reduce your risk Assume you may be next. Many people travel thinking they will be exempt from losing stuff but experiments have shown that we…
Inside Voices Please
I have just endured two four hour journeys listening to people shout at each other in a confined space. The context was I was travelling on a train in an Asian country where people speak in very low volumes. When they take a mobile phone call, they carefully do all they can to minimise noise. In this space, we were assaulted by people from a different cultural background whose speech volume was in complete disregard to those around them. Oblivious to the glances, glares and smouldering stares, they spoke at this volume for the entire…
All about Embassies, Consulates and High Commissions
Thank you for the comments and feedback on last weeks’ post on how to prepare for a potential disaster when you are travelling (terror related or natural disaster). One of the things I encouraged you to do was to “Know the contact number(s) for the Embassy, High Commission or Consular office in the city you are visiting“. A few people indicated confusion over what an embassy is and what it can do. Like most people. I rarely encounter embassies, except for where I have friends working for one or I go to a Festival or…
What to do to prepare for a potential disaster while travelling
After the terrorist events across the world this past week, I think it is prudent to be prepared for a situation where you experience a natural or human emergency. (This is coming from someone who has lived in two war zones and travelled through multiple other war areas and disasters!) Check travel warnings for natural disaster warnings, violence, political unrest and wars before you travel. It amazes me that I talk to tourists who arrive in a country oblivious that only weeks before there was a coup or hurricane or earthquake! Check Your Perception: despite the…
Testing the Best Booking Engines for International Travel
Two weeks ago, Frommers announced the results of testing airfare booking sites. Frommer’s tested sites on last-minute flights which left within 72 hours) and APEX fares which are booked six weeks out. They used major routeings such as New York to Los Angeles and secondary ones such as Philadelphia to Rome. They also had some interesting routeings such as Denver to Delhi and London to Barcelona. Their weighted scoring system included negative points for finding the worst fares on each leg. The final ranking of ten sites roughly correlated with my experiences. Over the last six to twelve months,…
Be Careful with Your Hands – When your innocent Hand Gestures might be Rude (NB Rude Images)
We use our hands all the time to point, wave and express our feelings. It has been a source of amusement that what is okay in some cultures can be an offensive gesture in another. The first time I went to Disneyworld, one of my friends excitedly told me about the way Disney employees are trained to point. They are not allowed to point with one finger. One reason is that it is easier for kids to see when you pointing with two fingers and another is that in some cultures pointing with one finger…
Coping with Culture Shock
Following on yesterday’s post on least favourite cities, many people in the comments described symptoms of “culture shock”. There are many places that I will visit that I will love the whole time you I am there -possibly with some minor with occasional irritants or discomforts. There are other occasions where we can experience irritation and frustration on a regular pattern. People experiencing culture shock can appear angry, confused, frustrated or irritable. We cannot understand why people are enjoying the very things we are hating. These feelings will make us negative about our trip, the country…
Preventing Bed Bugs in your hotel bed in Paris, in New York or Your nearest Holiday city.
It has been three years since I last wrote on bed bugs. Last week Le Parisien reported that nearly every day a resident is forced to throw out their infested mattresses. Further RVIP a property management group told the publication that the bugs are coming from the United States. RIVP manager Oliver Perret said: “It’s been like this for two or three years,” RIVP group said that 20% of the 1,000 properties it oversees have dealt with bedbug infestations. The group told reporters that it had been deep-freezing infested furniture at -25C in order to get rid of…
Every Airport’s Wifi information is now available
Anil Polat has created a map with the wifi information for 231 airports across the globe including the passwords in Airline lounges within those airports. The map is regularly updated and is looking for accurate information on then latest developments. Click on an aeroplane symbol representing the airport you are visiting or search for it and up will pop all relevant wifi information. Very useful! Remember that you are operating on an unsecured network so guard your identity, privacy and data carefully! Anil is a blogger and a computer security engineer who is on a journey to visit every country…
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