Filed under: United States, Transportation, Airports, News

Most of my trips through airports go smoothly, but, without fail, I’ll always spot a fellow traveler who is upset for one reason or another. Canceled flights, lost luggage, missed connections, weather delays– these are unfortunately, though inevitably, what all of us must deal with at one time or another. When it’s not me, rather than feeling sympathy for the unlucky victim, I find myself thinking, “Thank God that’s not me.”

Some people are more altruistic than your humble correspondent. Most people. (All people?) This Christmas, hundreds of volunteers will work in airports across the country to make some of our flight-related problems a little more bearable. The volunteers are members of Travelers Aid International, a non-profit, social service institution that has been around since 1851 (when there were significantly fewer problems in airports).

They will be operating booths in 24 airports around the country, performing a wide range of services for distraught passengers. Quoted in a New York Times article, one volunteer stated, “It can be as mundane as, ‘Where is the restroom’ or ‘Where can I go smoke a cigarette?’ … But it can also be, ‘My mother was supposed to be on the plane from Peru and I can’t find out whether she was on it.’ And the airlines won’t tell people. But if I go to the airline counter, they might tell me because I’ve on the Travelers Aid badge.”

She added, “I love people. I have a ball out there.”

Full story here.

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Filed under: Business, Transportation, Airports

A $100 yearly fee might make the trip through those dreaded security lanes a lot smoother for some travelers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport (full story here). After TSA background checks, fliers would be issued a Clear card, which would allow them to make it through security in just four minutes. The program was first instituted in Orlando, where about 40,000 people have signed up, and it is under serious consideration at Atlanta’s airport.

This seems like a good idea to me, and I’m certain that some frequent fliers would find the $100 fee a small price to pay to ensure faster movement through security. Plus, it would mean there are that many fewer people in the regular security lines, where I’ll be, thinking of how to spend the $100 I’ll have saved by not buying into this program.

I wonder, would anyone like to see this program implemented more fully? Would you pay the $100 to be able to speed through security for a year?

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Filed under: Airlines, Transportation, Budget Travel

Well, it was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it, Maxjet?

This Christmas Eve, Maxjet, the budget airline flying among New York, London, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, filed for bankruptcy, ending a tumultuous four year journey through the uncharted realm of business-class-only jets.

It was a great idea, offering a low cost alternative to canonical first and business class tickets, but finding traction in a notoriously fickle and petty market is difficult — even without atrocious oil prices. Maxjet’s unfortunate entry into the airline world at this critical time proved to be a death sentence for their company. It’s too bad, I would have liked to fly business class on them some day.

Farewell Maxjet. I hope you gave all of your employees massive Christmas bonuses before you shut your doors.

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Filed under: Airlines, Transportation, News

If you’ve been following technology in the airline sector for the past few months, you’ve probably heard that a number of airlines are getting ready to integrate wireless internet into their fleets. Earlier this month, Jetblue launched service (albeit limited) in one of their jets, and Virgin America, American Airlines and others have similar plans for the first quarters of next year.

With added flexibility in the skies, however, comes a higher probability of abuse. Earlier in a discussion about cell phone usage in the sky I pointed out that with wireless world wide web will come the capability to Skype and VOIP from above. In such close confines, both world wide web phone calls and browsing create tons of privacy and etiquette issues. Is it possible for a businessperson to sit between two people and jabber about confidential company information at top volume? Sure. Is it ethical? Probably not. What about the kid looking at graphic world wide web content while sitting next to a family in the back of the plane?

To curb some of these issues, airlines are taking a variety of defensive steps. Some, like Qantas, are blocking questionable sites totally so that they can’t be visited from above. Others have chosen to let the populous govern itself, pointing out that they can’t control the magazines or books that people bring on the planes either. I like this idea a lot, but when I think about all of the numbskulls out there, I don’t think it will end up working. Maybe we’ll get lucky.

Me? I just want to check my gmail and get my reading done. I’m looking forward to the wifi, even if it is regulated.

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Filed under: Airlines, Transportation, Airports

We’ve all seen a variation of the same scene in movies or on television: an airplane is cruising along at 30,000 feet when, suddenly, the pilot is put out of commission- either due to terrorists, a heart attack, or, most often, snakes. Suddenly, a flight attendant or passenger is called upon to land the plane, aided by the patient voice of someone in a control tower. “See that red lever?” they’ll say. “Let it up gently.” Usually, the de facto pilot has nerves of steel and manages to make a safe, albeit bumpy, landing.

Because movies and television are always completely faithful to reality, and they never exaggerate for dramatic effect, it might seem as if this scene could actually happen in real life. Not so, says Patrick Smith in his newest “Ask the Pilot” column. If there’s a certified pilot sitting next to you, telling you just what to do and when, you might have some fighting chance, says Smith. But in any other circumstances, your future is a tiny more bleak:

“The chance of success: approximately zero percent. I reckon [you] would be highly fortunate just to locate a microphone switch and figure out how to communicate. Keeping the plane upright would in some ways be the easiest part. It’s the small stuff that presents the greatest challenge: working the radios, dialing in changes to the FMS (flight management system) and autoflight panels, changing speeds and altitudes. Dictating such tasks from afar would be difficult enough. For the hapless passenger pressed into duty, getting them right would be even more challenging.”

Take a look at what you’re up against here.

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Filed under: Russian Federation, Transportation

One of the longest stretches of time I’ve been without a shower was the seven days I spent on the Trans-Siberian traveling from Moscow to Beijing.

Although the train carriages were comfortable enough, each had only a single toilet, a horrible little sink, and totally no chance to shower–or so I thought.

Like most people on the Trans-Siberian, I slowly ripened over the course of the journey along with the three other passengers who shared my berth. But according to Vanessa Arrington writing for Lonely Planet, this simply wasn’t necessary.

The trick is to bring along a bigger water bucket. Passengers can fill this with boiling water from the samovar, mix it with cold water from the water closet sink and then toss it over their head while locked in the loo. The water will disappear through a hole in the floor and onto the tracks below.

While this seems a pretty decent idea, I see two immediate problems. Since there is only one restroom, there will be some pretty angry people on the other side of the door waiting for shower time to finish. Worse, however, is that the bathrooms are very small and very dirty. I would not want to get naked in one of these things while the train is rocking back and forth. Ugh!

Let’s face it; if you can’t go that long without a shower, get off in Irkutsk or somewhere else along the line and lather up. Just don’t get back on board and turn up your nose at fellow passengers who aren’t going to smell as fresh and rosy as yourself.

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Filed under: Gear, Transportation, Airports

In an earlier discussion about travel notebooks, I mentioned that I use an IBM Thinkpad X31, a light tiny laptop that’s good for bouncing around airports and cities across the world.

On a flight to San Francisco last week, I found another reason why I like these machines: takeapartability. On the first leg of my trip between Detroit and Houston I discovered that my machine wouldn’t boot — something about the hard drive media not being recognized by the BIOS. So using a broken pen cap and another pen I unscrewed the hard drive caddy, reseated the drive and reassembled the chassis. Problem fixed. I’d like to see you do that with your Mac Book.

I suppose one could project this metaphor to many travel-related things: Be flexible and crafty on the road and you can always keep yourself happy. Just make sure that your plans/hardware aren’t so complicated that you can’t fix them on your own.

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Filed under: Stories, Canada, United States, Transportation, News

When the black bear crossed the road in front of my automobile when I was on my way to Washington, D.C. this summer, I was astounded. He made his ambling dash across the six-lane highway near Cumberland, Maryland. I might have still been in West Virgina, but I do know I saw a bear.

Animals crossing roads is happening more and more frequently which is increasing the likelihood of hitting one. One reason is because of an increase of people driving on rural roads. As people move out of cities into suburbs or further out than that, they’re on these roads more.

My dad who lives on a mountain in upstate New York about 10 miles out of New Paltz has met two deer at least. His were more grazes, but there still was an impressive amount of damage. Each time I visit, when I’m driving, particularly at night, I pay close attention to any glint of eyes I may see that could warn me. The statistics of animals meeting up with cars or vice versa highlights why you might see so many carcasses on the side of the road in some places.

In Montana there has been such a problem lately that the say is looking for ways to use methods that have cut down on car and animal collisions in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Building overpasses and underpasses for animals to cross the highway safely has helped cut down accidents by at least 80 %.

The problem with cars and animals meeting, isn’t just the fact the animals get killed, but people don’t so so well either. In the past year, 200 folks have died in vehicle meets animal crashes. Then there is the cost of fixing a car which can range from $8,000 to $30,000. The most recent statistics cite 300,000 accidents a year. In Pennsylvania, the say with the highest incidences, there about 97,000 per year. Most involve deer.

A naturalist at Blacklick Woods, one of Columbus’s metroparks told me two weeks ago that black bear are on the move from West Virginia and are ending up in Ohio. Ohio already has a high deer population. The moral of this story is, when you see an animal crossing sign, wherever you’re, pay attention. The sign isn’t kidding. [via New York Times]

The photo by saiynte7777 and posted on Flickr was taken when he was on his way to Alaska. The bear originally was just on the side of the road and the vehicle was stopped.

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Filed under: History, Books, One for the Road, Transportation

Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, otherwise known as PPDA, is a well known French news anchor and author of France from the Air. In his latest travel-themed book, released earlier this year, the famous Frenchman finds himself back on land, celebrating the allure and romance of grand train journeys.

First Class: Legendary Train Journeys Around the World is packaged in an enticing luggage box designed to resemble a steamer trunk. Between the covers of this suitcase-style treat is a fitting tribute to train travel that calls us “All Aboard!”. There are 11 suggested journeys, including route maps for famous lines like the Trans-Siberian, the Orient Express, the Californian Zephyr, South Africa’s Blue Train and the Canadian. Descriptions of these famous expresses are decorated with pics and quotes from literary figures who have captured the joys of train travel in their own works. A fun gift to consider for those who love to ride the rails.

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Filed under: Arts and Culture, North Korea, Transportation, Infiltrating North Korea

Infiltrating North Korea is a 19-part series exploring the world’s most reclusive nation and its bizarre, anachronistic way of life. To begin reading at the beginning of the series, be sure to click here.

Travel within North Korea is tightly regulated; tourists pile into minivans and are carted from landmark to landmark without any chance to wander about on their own. This was the most frustrating aspect of my time in North Korea. I simply wanted to cease the minivan so I could get out and walk the streets, mingle with the pedestrians, poke my head into local shops, and wander off the beaten path to see for myself what our guides were keeping hidden from us.

Instead, I spent most of my time like a dog on a car ride, sticking my head out the window, tongue flapping in the wind as Pyongyang rushed by.

Such a method of travel, however, can still reveal quite a bit about North Korea’s mysterious capital; I could catch glimpses through the windows of poorly stocked stores, witness locals scrounging for seeds in the grass of city parks, and spy dilapidated buildings in the distance slowly falling apart. My state sponsored guided tour was intended to portray the city in a perfect light but unless they tinted the windows of our minivan, the real Pyongyang was going to shine through on occasions.

The video above is a six-minute, narrated vehicle ride through the center of Pyongyang. I began filming shortly after entering the city limits–photography is forbidden outside of Pyongyang–and continued sticking my camera out the window until we arrived at the Grand People’s Study House in the center of town. Along the way, we pass a number of landmarks mentioned earlier in these posts, thus providing the opportunity to see how these places are stitched into a larger Pyongyang.

The video should also provide a sense of Pyongyang and its scattered pedestrians, dearth of cars, bland storefronts, monumental architecture, ubiquitous propaganda, and immaculately dressed citizenry. Until the time comes when foreigners are granted to wander the city on their own, 40 mile-per-hour glances such as this one will continue to be the only window we have into this reclusive society.

Yesterday: More Song, Dance, and a little conundrum about chocolate
Tomorrow: Video Wrap-Up

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