Glamorous in Retrospect - Musings

Check your bags and keep your fingers crossed

2006-03-24T16:04:00.000-08:00

Recently I was talking with a friend of mine about a two-week trip he'll be taking this fall. To shave off a decent chunk of the flight cost, he'll likely be flying a 3 leg journey instead of direct. While this is a huge advantage, it has also raised some concerns with him. Mainly, 'what if I get there and my bag doesn't?'.

It's every flyer's biggest fear. Well, actually probably second biggest, after crashing. Millions of people get on a plane every day, and many of them will need to check at least one of their bags. For a lot of travellers, arriving at their destination and finding that their things have been casualties of the flight can put a big damper on the trip. This can be especially worrisome when baggage has gone missing on a connecting flight. How long could it take to find the bags? When they do find them, how long will it take them to deliver them to my final destination? Or worse, what if they just don't find them?

Obviously there can be nothing good about having the airline lose your luggage, and once you've handed it over, all you can do is hope that it makes it. But how often does this actually happen? What are your actual odds of having your bags lost?

Apparently, you have a one per cent chance of panicking at the conveyor belt. At least, that's according to the industry. Major airlines are anticipating an approximate loss of 30 million bags this year. The bad news is that one per cent is a pretty good chance of having something go missing. The good news is that all but 204,000 pieces will be returned, most within an average of 31 hours. This puts your actual odds of permanently losing your luggage at 0.000068%. This I'm sure is not much comfort to those whose bags go missing at the start of their trip, but it is pretty impressive considering the process that takes place to ship people and their belongings around the world every day.

So how to combat this situation? If you're travelling with others, cross-pack - put some of each other's things in each bag, so if one gets lost, you'll still have a few essentials. Travelling alone? Pack a change of clothes in your carry-on. Or, the best solution, don't check at all. If you can get away with bringing a small amount of items, just bring a carry-on and avoid the whole mess.

Planes, trains and automobiles

2006-03-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

Don't fly!

Strange words to hear in the context of travel.

Even stranger coming from the founders of two of the industry's biggest guide book companys.

Mark Ellingham of Rough Guide fame and the infamous Tony Wheeler of Lonely Planet have made the rare move of coming together to promote a change in current travel trends. With the emergence of so many budget airlines including Ryanair, EasyJet, and Kulula, people are finding it much more convenient and softer on the wallet to fly to far-flung destinations. The great thing about this is that these airlines are mking the world much more accessible, allowing more people than other to get out of their bubbles and push their limits. It also helps people stay connected, because it can be so much faster to get somewhere by plane than through other forms of transportation. For many people, this new trend has been life-changing.

So what's the problem? Well, the increase in travel accessibility means an increase of planes. Which means an increase in carbon emissions. Which means a decrease in global air quality. The concern of these two men is that casual flights will cause major damage to the environment, and that in a few decades time this will really effect even the experience of travel. Because of this, the two men have decided to be proactive and join together to ask people not to fly if they don't have to.

So what does this mean for the travel industry? Well, both have said that they're not asking people to travel less. Instead, they're asking people not to take unnecessary flights. Go to a destination and stay their longer. Skip flying to another city just to go to a party. Take alternate forms of transportation, like the bus. While the bus isn't terribly good for the environment, either, it does have less of an impact than a flight.

The bottom line is that we're all becoming too comfortable in the quick and easy travel routine, and it is beginning to cost us. Personally, I prefer taking the bus or train on long treks when possible. In the past I've done it mainly because of cost, but some of my more random travel experiences have emerged from taking land-based travel. Never would I have had experiences like accidentally getting a private car on a train to Prague for $2.00, or driving through the Kalihari and finding out just how cold the desert gets at night. In an upcoming trek through Asia I'm thrilled that I'll be able to spend much of it in ground travel, only flying when leaping to islands no longer easily reachable by boat.

Yes, it takes much longer to travel this way, but it also has another added benefit. When we get used to flying and getting to distant places so quickly, we forget how big this world really is. When I travel, I like to feel as though I've really gone somewhere, gotten far away from where I was before. Ground travel helps you feel the distance, so you can get real perspective on the enormity of this planet.

There's an old saying in travel: take only pictures, leave only footprints. This is a golden rule, allowing each person to come after you to have as rich of an experience as you did and preserving destinations for everyone. Moral of the story? Consider the type of footprint you'd like to leave behind for the next generation, and use ground travel to gain more photo opportunities. It really is win-win.

Why people who travel should be a little more careful about what they write on the internet

2006-03-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

The beauty of the internet is that you can read about almost anything you want. The trouble sometimes is that you can also write about anything you want. For a lot of people, this concept is still fairly new. Because the internet is so big, it appears to give you the freedom to say anything you want, while maintaining an element of anonymity.

People write about their hobbies, their pets, their kids, that trip last year to Mexico, and anything else that is of particular interest to them. Often, what people are writing on the internet is harmless, so that it doesn't matter what they say or who reads it (if anyone, when they're writing about their pets).

Other times, though, people making use of their freedom of expression can actually cause real problems for them. We've all heard of that girl from New York who got fired for blogging about her job. Apparently a co-worker found out about it and she was reported to the execs for her conduct. She believed that she was free to express her opinions about her job without consequences. She was wrong.

Some people publish details and opinions on sensitive matters like politics and religion, both of which can come back to kick you in the ass under the wrong circumstances. Like visa applications.

Recently an American man attempted to obtain a visa to Myanmar (formerly Burma) and was denied. On a public forum for a major travel guide company he began posting about his disappointment in not being able to visit this country, and his frustration at having been refused with no further explanation from the consulate. He simply could not understand why he was not granted a visa.

A quick search of this man's name reveals that he actively and frequently publishes articles about the negative actions of many counties' governments. The bigger mistake here is that he recently published his thoughts about Myanmar's current regime - under the same name that he has on his passport. Not only does this make him a critic of their government, it makes him a journalist who makes his criticisms known. It would have taken the consulate about 30 seconds to decide that this is not someone they want coming to their country, and this man should not really be surprised.

In fact, this man's hobby of calling out governments online has probably put him in a position to be refused entry to a lot of countries, and he might want to get used to that idea.

Moral of the story: when you very publicly and under your real name criticize someone, they probably won't like you.

Politics and travel news, together at last

2006-01-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

For those of you who either a) aren't Canadian or b) live under a rock, our country will be ending an 8 week election this Monday, January 23rd. This one has been particularly nasty, and many of us are nervous about the uninformed masses tossing us in to a terribly right-wing five-year government, ending the progressive movements we've seen in the past 12 years.

To lighten things up a little, WestJet Airlines, a little Canadian company based out of Calgary, will be offering free flights on January 24th to anyone who shares a last name with any of the federal party leaders; in order of their pictures shown above, Martin, Harper, Layton, Duceppe, and Harris.

Some people have complained over the promotion, stating that with only the use of such English and French names they are discriminating against Canada's very multiethnic society. Personally, I just think it's a great way to get a free flight if you're lucky enough to have one of those names, and if people are so concerned about this contest not being representative enough, maybe they should instead focus their attention on the government and the names of our national leaders not being representative enough. Just a thought.

Now I could use a free flight after this election period. How long does it take to change your last name?

Dumbest. Kid. Ever.

2005-12-30T12:28:00.002-08:00

Meet Farris Hassan. He's 16, lives in Florida, and would like to be a journalist. He is particularly fond of a technique called 'immersion journalism', where the reporter literally immerses himself in a situation to get the best information.

Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, it would be if he was interested in the life of kittens. Cute, fluffy little kittens, who like to eat and bat string around. Unfortunately, our young Farris is interested in something a little less cute and fluffy than kittens. Farris is interested in the war in Iraq.

For his journalism class a few weeks ago, Farris decided to take his research assignment a little further. Using his parents' heritage to his advantage (they're Iraqis by birth, but have been U.S. citizens for 35 years), he was able to obtain an entrance visa to Iraq. After getting to Kuwait and attempting to cross in to Iraq by taxi he was unable to get through due to the December 15th elections and the increased security surrounding the situation. He then went to Beirut for a week and was able to get a flight directly in to Baghdad. He was there a few days, catching a lot of attention as an English-speaking American teenager strolling around unescorted. He eventually wandered in to the offices of the Associated Press, who immediately contacted the U.S. embassy.

Some of the things that happened to little Farris:

He objected to steep cab fairs and tried to skip out. The driver threatened to kill him.
He pulled a dictionary out to try to translate his request for a menu. Everyone stared at him like they wanted to kill him.
He got dumped in the middle of the desert by a cab driver at the Kuwait-Iraqi border, where if he weren't so lucky, someone probably would have killed him. Or if he was even less lucky, he'd have made it across the border and been killed on his way to Baghdad.

Basically, Farris is the dumbest kid ever. This is a teenager who believes that even though there's a horrible situation going on in Iraq right now, where 25% of all kidnapped Americans have been killed and 15 are still missing, and - let's be honest - the Iraqis don't really love Americans on the best of days, he believes that he will be able to not only survive, but get enough undercover information to join the ranks of the Associated Press.

One would hope that this kid learned his lesson on his little trip, though I have a feeling that he likely didn't. He probably thinks he's a rock star and will be one of the great 'immersion journalists'. I think he should give more serious thought to kittens.

The lesson to the rest of us is that just as this kid should have known better (especially if he's such an Iraq specialist), then so should we. Too many people believe they're invincible when they're travelling (see 'Don't Feed the Animals' from August archive) and get themselves in to life-threatening trouble. Aesop would tell us to think before we do something stupid like that. Though Aesop would probably say it more eloquently.

Sometimes even if you're a jerk you get to go to Porto Santo

2005-12-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

I feel like there may be worse places to be dumped by a plane

We've all seen them. Awful plane passengers. Sometimes it's the giant smelly French woman who is angry that you showed up and want to sit in your seat, because she didn't buy one for her screaming toddler. Then she aims screaming toddler at you for the full 8 hours.

Sometimes it's the giant Russian man who falls asleep both on you and your tv screen control buttons, so that you can't even ignore him because the volume and channel changing go nuts for the whole 12 hours.

Sometimes it's the drunken fool who gets more drunk and abuses the plane staff and other passengers, to the point that it disrupts the entire flight. One of those awful passengers apparently happened earlier today on a Monarch flight from Manchester to Tenerife. An unnamed 53-year-old caused so many drunken problems that the 200-passenger flight had to make an unscheduled stop at Porto Santo, an island off the coast of Madeira. The man was escorted from the plane and taken in to custody on charges of disruptive behaviour. Pretty crappy if you have plans in Tenerife, but after checking in to pictures of Porto Santo, I think there are worse places to get stranded. Even still, let this be a lesson to all passengers. Just because you got on the plane, it doesn't mean you're guaranteed the full trip if you're a jackass.

No, there won't be snow in Africa, but yes, they do know it's Christmas

2005-12-23T06:43:00.000-08:00

A nativity scene in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Creepy, but Christmas nonetheless.

Last year at this time I was just returning from my time in Africa. Around the beginning of November, your classic Christmas push started to emerge in the stores, the only real difference being that the radio would play songs like 'Let It Snow' and 'White Christmas' with most people never actually having experienced these things.

Then the song that many Africans hate came out. The 1985 charity piece 'Do They Know It's Christmas' by Band Aid. Those featured on the track include Bob Geldof (who I've strangely been getting email from), Bono, Boy George, George Michael, and a host of others who I am sure were famous then but are definitely unrecognizable now.

Now don't get me wrong. This was extremely well-intentioned, and brought a lot of attention to the wide-spread poverty in Africa. However, having lived in a city of three million, where ADT, satellite, and cell phones are the norm - even for some people living in the townships - it became quite clear that the picture that is painted of Africa is over-simplified and generalized.

Here's a sample of the lyrics:

There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clangingchimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them
instead of you

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Now I'm sorry, but come on. The clangingchimes of doom? The greatest gift they'll get this year is life? I know there are many places in Africa where the situation is dire, to say the least, and there were a lot of places like that in 1985, too. But walking in the streets of Durban, Cape Town, Bulawayo, Livingstone, Swakopmund, Windhoek, and many, many other cities, it wasn't tolling death bells you would hear, it was Jingle Bell Rock. And the gifts a lot of people were looking for were new cell phones.

Now I will not make the same mistake these songwriters did. Africa is a giant continent. It has 49 countries, hundreds of different languages, and thousands of unique problems. For this reason I don't agree with painting the whole land mass with the same brush just because most people don't know about the incredibly diverse landscapes and people. Yes, many, many Africans are poor, but many, many others are doing fine. You wouldn't generalize the French and the Czechs just because they're both part of Europe, and it's a mistake to do the same in Africa.

Sidebar: South Africa has incredible forests, Mozambique has dense coconut groves, and the Chobe and the Zambezi are some of the biggest rivers I've ever seen.

And no, there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas, as it is currently summer time in the southern hemisphere, but if you visit in June and July (their winter) you are likely to see some snowfall in the Drakensburg.

Who really needs more than they can carry on their back?

2005-12-12T04:34:00.000-08:00

My best friend on the road

When I was backpacking in southern Africa last year, I met all kinds of great people along the way, both locals and fellow travellers. Most of these people tended to have little more than an adventurous spirit and an open mind in common, which really seem to be the only things you need to pick up and go. Beyond that, it was amazing how different everyone was.

While the majority of backpackers tend to be younger - university grads and gap year kids - there are also quite a few people these days who are older and heading out with nothing more than what they can carry on their backs. Earlier this year I had a conversation with a friend about how now that he's turning in to a real person (real job, two weeks vacation, etc.) he doesn't think he's as likely to head out for this type of trip anymore, opting instead for the more 'vacationy' experiences where there are fewer challenges and more opportunities to just kick back. While I can see how some people get to that point, I'm not sure I ever will. I love tossing the essentials in to my pack, hopping on a plane or a sketchy old bus, and just seeing where I end up. Some of my best memories (and stories!) have come not from the destination, but the journey. For example, we could have dropped a few hundred extra dollars and flown directly from Durban to Victoria Falls, but we would have missed the 'joys' of the Beitbridge customs, the repeated searches crossing in to Zimbabwe, the entire city of Bulawayo, and countless other random things along the way. Comparing our trip with a friend's after, she had a great time, but didn't have anywhere near the ridiculous experiences we had. Sometimes getting there is the best part of the trip, and taking things as they come is what really makes leaving worth it. That's what I would hate to miss out on, and so I hope that I'll never feel like I'm too old to backpack, or past the point of wanting to travel this way.

Gone... and with the black cabs also on the chopping block

2005-12-11T06:13:00.000-08:00

On Friday at the end of the day the streets of London changed forever. It might seem like a small thing, but after 51 years of adding a splash of colour and character to the city's landscape, the infamous bright red double decker buses have been relieved of their duty.

Due to the difficulty of the hop on hop off style of transportation for passengers with disabilities, the buses will be replaced with a more compact style of two-level in some cases and the long bendy buses in others. While the reasoning behind this switch makes perfect sense, it is still sad to see these icons go. Along with Big Ben, the red phone booths, the Thames, and the Eye of London, these buses have become widely recognized as symbols of the city, and somehow the new bendy buses probably won't convey the same feeling of London as the double deckers always did. This is particularly sad as the city is also considering scrapping the classic black cabs in favour of slightly larger and newer vehicles. If this happens, the streets of London will begin to become unrecognizable.

While it really won't change anything in the city, and everything will go on as it always has, I feel like the next time I visit London it will probably feel tangibly different. Of course it will be the same great city, but something will definitely be missing.

If you don't want your plane ticket... can I have it?

2005-12-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

(Jackass Penguins at Boulders Beach - yeah, penguins in Africa)

While checking out the Thorn Tree Forums on Lonely Planet, I came across a post by a guy who has airfare for a trip to South Africa to visit his girlfriend's family, but something fell through. (Dumped?) Anyway, although he's spent quite a bit of time travelling around south-east asia and India, he has no desire to see South Africa because of its 'history'. Apparently he missed the lessons on India...

Anyway, I find it amazing to come across travellers who are upset about a travel opportunity. Even if this is not something that was at the top of his list, how could he now complain about the chance to see an entirely new country in a continent he's never visited? There are a number of countries that are not a high priority for me to see, and I likely won't make any great effort to visit these places in the near future. That said, if I had the chance to go visit one of these places, I wouldn't sneeze at it. Even if it's not something you've always wanted to do, it does not mean it won't be amazing. Every country has something unique to offer, and who knows what kind of experiences you could have there?

The idea that this particular traveller seems frustrated at the idea of spending two weeks in South Africa is entertaining. He whines about having no idea how to pass this short amount of time. Unbelievable. South Africa, like so many countries, is full of surprises, but if you show up with a negative attitude about a location, you're likely to miss out on so much when you arrive.

Anyway, if this guy's really upset about spending two weeks in SA, I'll be more than happy to help him out by taking his airfare off his hands.

Maybe my Nalgene is in Alabama

2005-11-24T04:08:00.000-08:00

When I arrived at the airport in Joburg last year I had a moment of panic after passing through customs. I went to the conveyor belt that was supposed to have our luggage and realized that mine was not there. This was particularly nerve-wracking as I was one of the last from my flight to get through the long lines (it takes longer not being an EU or African citizen, especially with my poorly printed study visa). A number of possibilities ran through my head. Had it not been transferred properly at Heathrow? Had it been stolen? (This was, after all, Johannesburg International - beautiful, but not the world's most secure airport.) Or the final thought that occurs to every traveller at some point - had it been lost?

Luckily, after some of us had been straggling looking for our luggage and worrying, we noticed that our flight number had been posted on two screens and the next conveyor belt over was producing the last of our bags. I've never been so happy to see my pack and my giant beat-up old black suitcase, as the last thing I wanted to do when I arrived was run around trying to replace much of the five months worth of stuff that I had packed for my stay in the RSA.

Many travellers are not so lucky, though. This summer my boss returned from a 3 week stint in Eastern Europe with his and his wife's luggage having been lost. Fortunately it had been returned to them by the airline not long in to their vacation, and in about 90% of cases this is what happens when belongings go missing on airlines. However, there will always be bags that cannot be returned for whatever reason, usually because the airline has mis-marked the destination, the luggage tags are incorrect or non-existent, or something has broken and some of the contents have gone missing. But where does it all go?

Apparently, any unreturnable lost items on airlines route their way to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scotsboro, Alabama, where they are eventually sold off. The airlines reportedly keep the bags and attempt to find the owners for 90 days after they are discovered. After 100 days, orphaned belongings are sent to Scotsboro, and apparently there have been a number of bizarre discoveries there, including a full suit of armour, an original Muppet, and a mummified eagle. One of the more bizarre stories involves one man stopping in to purchase some replacement ski boots for his wife who had lost hers on a flight - only to get home and realize that they were her ski boots, with her initials still clearly marked inside.

So if you've recently had luggage lost, try swinging by Scotsboro, because it may actually be there.

How long must we sing this song...

2005-10-05T05:04:00.000-07:00

Last night in Belfast the former leader of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a large protestant force in Northern Ireland's troubled political forum was killed outside his home. Jim Gray, who had been previously ousted from the party, is reported to have been shot by two gunmen who came to his door.

This action follows the increased tension and violence taking place in the city in the past weeks despite the IRA's commitment to laying down arms. Belfast had been experiencing less rioting and fewer problems for quite some time and the city's reputation was beginnng to improve. Real estate, business, and tourism were all on the rise until the situation exploded (quite literally) on September 10. Days of rioting and explosions were a major blow to the booming city, and many people who had never felt fear living there before were beginning to lose faith in Belfast. To them, the renewed violence and involvement of a younger generation (sometimes even children) demonstrated that the troubles were far from being over, and would only continue on, seemingly even more bitterly and violently. After so many years of problems, it is clear that a new generation stepping in and taking over will only escalate and renew the issues.

With this in mind, it is easy to see why many, including those living in the Republic of Ireland, are afraid to venture north to Belfast. While we were travelling through Ireland, we heard time and again that we should re-think our plans to visit the northern six counties, but we'd booked our backpackers and were enchanted by stories of Derry's Bogside murals, the Giant's Causeway, and everything Belfast, and so we drove on. We rolled in to Belfast on September 15, and after getting lost, managed to drive straight in to the riots taking place in town that day. Luckily, this actually helped us find our bearings in the city and found our way. Later that night we were out at a pub near the university and spent some time speaking with locals, which was much more telling than watching the news. While the troubles are ongoing, they are not as all-affecting as they seem. Most of the people we spent time with, though living their entire lives in Belfast, had never encountered any of the troubles, and one guy's biggest concern was that his sister, who does PR for the city, would have a more difficult time at work because of this.

I guess what it comes down to is that Belfast, and in fact all six counties of Northern Ireland, have a lot to overcome. Rather than becoming safer, the violence and terrorism persists. However, I would not pass up vising Northern Ireland because of this. If we had listened to everyone in the Republic telling us not to go, we would have missed a ton of incredible experiences. The north is incredible, but it's a shame that it is still tarnished by the troubles. Hopefully one day some sort of agreement will be reached, and the people of Northern Ireland will be able to begin looking towards the future, rather than dwelling so intently on the past.

Don't Feed the Animals

2005-08-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the Lion and Cheetah Park at Norton, about 40 kilometres west of Harare, Zimbabwe, a 50-year-old woman was attacked and killed by a pride of lions. The woman was visiting with five others from the Japanese embassy and they were accompanied by park officials, but for some reason the group was within the park limits on foot. As they were leaving, the woman was attacked by a lion, and after that several more joined in. The rest of the group tried to stop the lions by throwing rocks at them, and they eventually left the woman alone, but she died soon after being rushed to hospital.

Game parks are dangerous places. They're full of wild animals in their natural habitat, doing what they do. Lions eat things. It seems like a no-brainer that you would at least want a car protecting you in a park, and at this point no one seems to know why these people were in the park on foot, but this is not something that animals like. Even those that aren't normally viscious will react badly if there is something in the park they don't like (see pictures of elephant charging our car on the Africa page) and it was foolish of these people to think they should see the park this way, and careless of the park officials to allow it to happen.

Another One Bites the Dust

2005-08-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

Around 1am this morning (or 12 hours earlier in our timezone), a Qantas jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Osaka after signs of smoke in the cargo hold. The 178 passengers and 13 crew members were evacuated on the slides and nine were injured. The jet was intended to fly from Tokyo to Perth. At this point in the investigation, it appears that only an equipment reading was faulty, and not the plane itself, but it's still early to tell.

So far August has been a bad month for plane crashes. Soon after Air France 358 skidded in to Pearson on August 3rd, amazingly with no casualties, three more crashes followed. These were not as fortunate, however. On August 7th a small plane crashed in to the Mediterranean near Palermo, with approximately 23 of the 38 on board surviving. On August 14th a Cypriot jet crashed into a mountainous area north of Athens. There were no survivors and preliminary evidence suggests that most of the 121 on board were dead before the crash, though major investigations continue. Finally, on August 16th a Colombian West Caribbean airliner crashed in Venezuela killing all 152 passengers and 8 crew members on board. According to officials, the craft's pilots had reported engine problems not long before the crash and had asked to descend, but that was the last communication.

So five major incidents in August. The crash at Pearson was an example of incredible training and skills on the part of the crew, and luckily no one was killed this morning in Osaka, but the other three crashes were tragic, and one can only hope that this is a short-lived fluke in the airline industry. Although flying is still statistically the safest way to travel, the high number of problems does little to ease the mind. And despite having flown many times before, all these crashes are still making me a little nervous for my six flights in September. Let's hope that will be a safer month.

British Airways - Cancelled

2005-08-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

Coming home from South Africa in December took two full-day bus rides, three flights, and a three-hour drive. It was absolutely exhausting. Sitting in Heathrow during a six-hour layover waiting for my last flight to take me to Toronto, I sat with dozens of other travellers nervously watching the flight screens. Do to increasingly bad snow storms (and evidence of one brewing right outside the window at our terminal), we were all extremely concerned that we would not be making it home as scheduled. This fear intensified as one flight to North America after another was cancelled. Due to weather, we were told. Normally I don't mind waiting, but quite a bit of planning had gone in to picking me up in Toronto, and I really didn't want to start inconveniencing everyone at home by making them wait longer. Luckily, our flight to Toronto was one of the few that made it out (almost) as scheduled, but many others weren't quite as lucky.

Yesterday thousands of travellers at Heathrow experienced this same problem as British Airways grounded all flights, not due to the weather, but because of 'industrial action by its staff in support of sub-contracted caterers'. Sounds like a very wordy way to say, 'sorry, you're all screwed'. The conflict is between British Airways and their food supplier 'Gate Gourmet', but there is apparently nothing being done in the meantime to solve the dispute. While BA is issuing food and flight vouchers to many stranded passengers, there are still thousands left with no way out, and the situation at the airport is being described as chaotic. This is a chilling thought as I've never thought airports were particularly peaceful in the first place, and especially not Heathrow.

Hopefully, for the sake of all those who are trying to fly British Airways, the dispute with the suppliers will be resolved sooner rather than later so that everyone flying through Heathrow will be able to get back to business as usual. This seems especially important now as London tourism is already experiencing enough trouble.

Plane Crash Ettiquette and Maintaining Your Karma

2005-08-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

On August 2 Air France's Flight 358 crashed at Pearson, skidding in to a ditch past the runway. Everyone braced themselves for bad news, but amazingly all 309 people on the plane (including 297 passengers) survived, with only 43 injured. The crew was able to get everyone off the plane in under two minutes. All I know is that if I'm ever in that type of situation, I hope it goes as smoothly as that and the crew is as well trained.

One would think that after surviving such an incident those 309 people would be grateful and have a new lease on life, but instead several survivors have launced a class-action lawsuit in the amount of $320 million (climbing from the original $75 million) against Air France for 'negligence' while landing the plane. Many are complaining of psychological problems ("now it's even hard to ride the bus because every time it stops I remember the plane crash"), and their struggles with 'minor back and neck injuries'. While there is no doubt that these people are quite rightly suffering from some post-traumatic stress, I find it absolutely amazing that they are lucky enough to live another day so that they can sue the people who saved their lives.

Something about this situation strikes me as wrong. If you believe in karma, I can't imagine this doing these people any favours in the grand cosmic scheme of things. In fact, after suing an airline that kept me alive during a freak crash, I wouldn't try getting on a plane again. You escape once and then slap a miracle in the face. That's it, you're screwed. Hope you like North America, cause you shouldn't bother trying to fly out again. Better to stay grounded and hope things don't get evened out in some other way.

It seems unfortunate that this is how many are choosing to react to this life-altering event, but at the same time, I guess we can never know until we're in other people's shoes. Here's hoping that if I ever end up in a plane crash, I survive so I can decide whether or not to pursue my dream of suing someone and getting rich.

Experimental Travel - Yellow Arrow

2005-08-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

Lately there's been a lot of buzz about experimental travel. People are inventing games, Lonely Planet's publishing books, and it can be pretty entertaining to read about what can happen. The idea is to create rules and guidelines for your trip, and while this may seem restrictive, experimental travel actually produces trips that free you from the same-old landmark tourism.

Some activities have you take a set of theme pictures from different towns (fountains, fire stations, etc.), some have you determine destinations through random means such as a roll of the dice or map grids, and some have you do something bizarre such as wearing a horsehead mask to see what kind of reaction you'll get while travelling in other countries.

One, called 'Yellow Arrow', has participants place coded yellow arrow stickers in significant places during their travels. They then sms their significance to the website, where details are published, and if a traveller familiar with the project sees an arrow, they can sms the code and have the description sent back to them in a text. This seemed like an interesting concept, so I checked out the
website, but I'm not sure I love this idea. First, there's the obvious problem with the fact that people are putting stickers on places that for some reason or another seems worthy. Some of these places were chosen because they're 'beautiful', but I feel like this project will detract from whatever beauty is in that site. Second, stickers? All over cities? If there are any rules of travel ettiquette, I'll bet the first one is 'take only pictures, leave only footprints'. Travellers shouldn't leave their marks on the places they visit, they should just go and enjoy, then leave for the next wanderer to enjoy.

Finally, some of the places people are putting these things just seem stupid. Like on about 15 trees in Central Park where they had interesting conversations. Or on a c.d. player. Makes no sense.

Anyway, while the whole idea of experimental travel seems awesome, I really don't like the idea of leaving tacky reminders behind in great places I've been. Let travellers discover their own significance where they go.