• Japan, specifically Kyoto and the Higashiyama district. While I think it’s likely that that she’s one of the many who dress for the day rather than a true geisha, things like this are still a stunning site. I don’t think you can get an idea of just how different Japan is until you see sites like this near Kiyomizudera. I didn’t have much of an interest in Japan prior to my first trip in 2001, but now it has its claws in me and won’t let go.

• Europe – all of it. The history. When in Prague for the first class last summer, a friend and I were on a cruise on the Vltava River for a different look at Prague. We ended up speaking Spanish with a Catalan speaking couple from outside Barcelona. They asked if we found the small cities a challenge compared with New York and my response was no, for their sheer history. I also like the closeness of the different cultures. Over a month in Prague, I spent each weekend in a different country: Poland, Italy, Germany and Switzerland (plus England if you count the day in London on the way to Prague). It was easy, convenient and a walking history book.

You walk down from the Piazza Venezia and there it is. I took a number of photos that weekend and they all jut spoke to the history of the city yet mixed with modern Rome. It’s something that we can’t even imagine in the US or Australia.

• Australia – yep another all of it. The natural landscape, the relative lack of pollution, the open spaces. Unfortunately most of my photos are off line but this picture of Darwin’s Mindil Beach covers most of it. I adored Australia and for natural beauty, I can’t imagine anything ever topping it:

• Inconvenient “convenience” fees – I think this one bothers me the most. That said, I experienced the fees far more in Japan and Australaia than I did here, so it’s yet another case of the US catching up with the rest of the world. The “convenience” fee that I don’t mind is the exit row and other extended legroom options as Virgin America charges for them. I don’t agree with the airlines that make these available only to elite level, they should be available to those willing to pay. It’s interesting to see how it’s going to shake out with booking fees, as I’ve mentioned before.
• Gridlock on the ground: the sequel – I agree with Christopher here, Mass Transit. Last school year I was commuting 80+ miles a day on school days from Nyack -> Suffern -> Midtown or Astor Place. I was killing my car and my sanity. Now with the internship in Manhattan, I take the TZ Express from Nyack to Tarrytown, where I pick up MetroNorth. Someone else fights the traffic and I get to read or sleep, sounds like a win win to me.

So maybe it’s not the end of the world…

My personal favorite:

A fracas involving 20 passengers erupted in June on a flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to London. It was touched off when a passenger took exception to the reclining seat in front of him. Fliers duked it out with fists, bottles and belts, causing the captain to make an emergency landing.

Namely because I’ve never understood the huge kerfuffle re: reclining airline seats, yet it’s a frequent topic of conversation on FlyerTalk. Some favorite threads:

• Just Get Rid of Reclining Seats in Coach
• Passenger reclined the seat to my knees- so I grabbed and pulled the seat often

I guess because I’m only 5’3, someone reclining doesn’t get in too much of my space. Unless, of course, I can’t see my RED screen on VX, and then it’s war!

A 64-year-old man was hospitalized earlier this month after chugging a liter of vodka rather than surrendering it at a checkpoint in Germany’s Nuremberg airport. (Full story: Man chugs vodka in airport line)

Well I suppose that’s one way to get around the 3 oz/100 mL regulations. I’m still waiting for better toothpastes to be available in the smaller sizes.

Coming from my own background in tourism development, but this makes me chuckle:

Royal Nepal Airlines for using a photo of the Incan ruins at Machu Picchu in Peru to illustrate a poster that asked, “Have you seen Nepal?”

You would really hope that a country/airline would know its own product well enough to market it.

Sure, the information about Kenya is valid:

The Department continues to recommend that private American citizens in Kenya evaluate their personal security situation in light of continuing terrorist threats and increasing incidents of violent crime.

But is anyone travelling today, especially travelling on such a long flight, not paying attention to the news? Sure, Kenya may not be such an exotic destination to some, but if they’re familiar with the country — they’d be aware of the current situation.

Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan… none of these are surprises. Nor should most of the others be to someone who is paying any attention to world events. Now I know that the major news networks here in the US would like us to believe that the only thing of any importance is the presidential elections but I can’t imagine travellers unaware of what’s going on in their destinations.

On the other hand, I can’t help but think of when I read Bad Lands, where Tony Wheeler comments on the reality of the destinations vs. their perceived image. I think both stress the point that education about your intended destination is crucial.

ETA: Christopher Elliott has an interesting post guiding readers through the new page.

Easier than it sounds, but I’m going to try. No set travel plans yet for 2008 because I have no idea what vacation time a full-time job will present, so we’ll see. I’d love to do a graduation trip but I don’t think that’s viable.

As for the recent trip? LA again. I posted most of the photos, but here are a few favorites:

it’s so wrong to see him in Dodger blue but that was a nice billboard on Hollywood Blvd. This was on the way to see Wicked.

Coming up through the Tejon Pass* from LA to Bakersfield. Made me chuckle to no end.

Mmm. Yummy. That’s at the Crystal Palace.

Coming back down the Tejon Pass. Pyramid Lake. I need to work out how to upload the video so you can hear the wind.

*I swear I find Wiki articles noted as unreferenced and feel compelled to clean them up!

Out of all the options discussed in the article, this is by fav my favorite:

Even individual spas and resorts are creating packages for solo travelers. The Westin St. John Resort and Villas is offering a three-night, $2,550 “solo-cation,” which includes a villa with a private pool, a private Jeep tour and a poolside cabana with butler.

While I’ll be able to afford it at a quarter past never (and think it’s a fairly obscene amount for a three-night vacation) it sounds positively decadent. It’s a good effort to capture the sole traveler market, especially since they’re considered to have a higher disposable income.

That does remind me that I need to finish my thoughts on the Vegas spas. Summary: Excalibur wins.

According to The Telegraph:

“It was billed as an epic trip across the continents which would make an unforgettable alternative to jetting to the other side of the world. “

Well I certainly say it lives up to the goal of being unforgettable.  I can’t imagine that it was billed as an easy or cushy trip – nothing I’ve read suggested that – and delays and unexpected events are a part of travel.

I think the overall tone is more… dramatic than it is. As with a recent Nova article that interviewed those living on crumbs rather than those who were more prepared, the Telegraph interviewed someone who would capture people’s attention:

“…where on earth are they going get anything decent in Iran? Mutiny is in the air and everyone is so angry it’s unbelievable. …”

Mutiny? If you’re that unhappy, find another way out of Iran and seek a refund from Ozbus.  I’d be disappointed by unplanned itinerary changes, but I don’t think they’re the end of the world. Are the places scheduled to disappear soon? Overall, it seems as if the group might not have been prepared for travel through a series of lesser developed countries, a thought echoed by other comments. I wonder if the reports that the controversy was stirred up by an on-board journalist are true…and whether it was for publicity for Ozbus?

Related Posts:
Ozbus

definitely not this site. I think it’s crazy!

Visual pollution, above all. I love the views from the plane. I doubt I’ll ever forget the photo I took flying back from Spain in 1996 of the clouds and their shadows over Portugal, the Australian coastline Northeast of Darwin or the view of Seoul en route back to Osaka. I certainly don’t want to see ads.

Ad-Air said it had secured regulatory and planning approval to set up ad sites near more than a dozen major airports, including Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle near Paris, Hartsfield-Jackson near Atlanta, Denver International, Los Angeles International, Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok, Haneda in Tokyo and Dubai International. It said it was still negotiating with others to create a network of ad sites near 30 airports over all.

I suppose it’s a small favor that it’s not going to be in New York. At least at Haneda, and I suppose a lot of SE Asia, more visual pollution might just be invisible given how much ‘noise’ already exists.

I really want to see when more people pick this up apart from the mention that Ad-Air is in existence. I want to know who, beyond the company itself, thinks it’s a good idea.

I’ve read a lot of books about the overland trip, including Moore’s own The Wrong Way Home, Farewell Hippie Heaven and For Love and a Beetle and I’ve loved them all. The overland trip is something I’d love to do one day but it’s not very practical to do it independently given today’s political climate and I don’t know if I’d enjoy it in a group. The week in WA with Red Earth Safaris was about my limit for a tour. Maybe one day.

In the mean time, I’m trying to decide what to do for my birthday. Have decided to do something interesting but it’s only a long weekend. Someone suggested Rio/Buenos Aires as the flights are over night but I think I’m going to stick a bit closer. Maybe The Caribbean, or one of the European islands. Suggestions?

Much like For Love and a Beetle, Unlikely Destinations/Once While Travelling tells the story of travel in days long gone. I’m finding it interesting to see how Tony and Maureen Wheeler got the idea to start up Lonely Planet and what their own early days of travel entailed. It’s also causing me to get LP some slack. I was a long-time LP devotee until I get fed up. I still find it frustrating that their guides are under-update, but I understand it isn’t easy to find someone to research and update the books. I no longer automatically reach for Lonely Planet, though I still end up reaching for them more often than not. I wasn’t wowed with Rick Steves’ Guides this summer when I tried them and was never overly thrilled with dk/Eyewitness either. I guess I just see LP as being good but would love to see them be great. There’s something to be said for their continued success over the last thirty years.

Also like this book and some others I’ve read, I find them interesting in that they cover some areas where I have very little interest in travelling. I’ve heard wonderful things about SE Asia and know many friends and coworkers who travelled there from Japan. There are some places I would like to see: Angkor Wat is the one that comes to mind first, however I don’t do heat and humidity well. I know that I’d be highly unlikely to enjoy these places, but they’re wonderful to read about. There’s also the other side of the backpacker culture that I don’t find to be much fun, the partying to excess. I think that’s part of the reason I have little to no desire to visit Bali, some of the Thai islands, etc. Nothing wrong with it, I just wouldn’t enjoy it. I remember looking hard to choose a Whitsunday trip where the focus wasn’t drinking to excess and in the end, I enjoyed the Port Douglas reef trip far more, although the views in the Whitsundays couldn’t be beat.

But I think that’s the best thing about independent travel and, along the same lines, the Lonely Planet guides. They allow you to pick and choose among activities that you would like and still have an amazing trip. A better trip, I tend to think, than being herded around. But that’s me…

Unlikely Destinations,  although billed as being written by both Tony and Maureen, is written primarily from Tony’s point of view, much in the same way that For Love and a Beetle was. Maybe I’m strange, but I’d like to hear more from the woman’s point of view, to see what their takes on the trips would be.  The interesting thing, having just read Bad Lands also about Tony’s recent trips, is seeing where the two converge: in both he reflects on missing the Buddhas of Bamiyan in the 1972 trips and consequently never having the chance to see them.
I’d love to one day meet the Wheelers and just have the chance to pick their brains, but for now this book is a good start. Can’t wait to read more tomorrow.