See, you do have to put your seat in the upright position!

I was just reading a Gadling blog post this morning where Heather Poole reviews Betty in the Sky With a Suitcase - the book, and in the blog it is revealed why you must put your seat in the upright position.  Since I posted about that recently, I thought I would let you all find out for yourselves from the blog post.

http://www.gadling.com/2010/08/09/galley-gossip-a-funny-flight-attendant-book-betty-in-the-sky/

I also feel the need to add that I have not read the book, but I do listen to Betty's podcast and if the book is anywhere as good as the podcast you should run out and buy it now!  Why haven't I read it if I say you should?  I've been terrible at reading books lately (they take me months to read), so I'm being extremely selective about what books I buy, let along read.

Photo of the Week: New York City

New York City, the top of the Empire State Building

British Airways, you just don't make sense...

I booked my flights to the UK for September with British Airways and am considering upgrading my ticket.  However, when I view my tickets on the website it says that I can't upgrade online that I have to call.  I called, they said that I purchased too cheap of a ticket to upgrade and that I can only upgrade to economy plus (or whatever BA calls it.)  I asked what the cost of upgrading the ticket to be upgradable, but from what he said I think he told me how much it was with the upgrade - $600 and change, but there were no upgrades available.  That would bring my ticket price to the range of $1500

Interesting...  I checked online and you can purchase economy plus on that route for $1600 or you could purchase the flexible economy ticket for $2000.

What I don't like about the BA.com website is that it doesn't tell you what fare bucket your ticket is, and doesn't give you the option when you book.  Basically, it doesn't let you make a choice between a cheap ticket and a slightly more flexible ticket.

I have bad timing

I sitting around pondering life while I recover from surgery and I had a thought - I have bad timing.  I'm going to England and Scotland in September and at one time I had a couple friends there, I think now I may still have 1 or 2.  Well I know I have one, but the rest of them might have moved on.  I haven't gotten overseas much in the past few years so that is my excuse as good or bad as it is.

But as I think about my "big" trip - probably late 2011 or early 2012 and the places on my short list I'm wondering how I should pick my destination.  Ideally, I will be gone at least 3 weeks.

The African Safari
SE Asia
Australia
New Zealand

I don't have any friends working an African Safari so my theory doesn't hold for that.  I don't have any friends in SE Asia, but I do think the area is going to change more quickly then the last 2 places on my list.  Oz and NZ - I know some people in both, though don't have any close friends.  I'm sure I could meet up for a dinner or drinks or something there with the people I know.  And well Contiki has an 18 day tour of NZ that sounds nice.  And well, I'm sure I'll make some new friends from down under on my next Contiki tour.  Maybe it will work out well to hit NZ or Oz first - SE Asia might start installing more "western" toilets by the time I make it there.  Ahhh, dreams.  But I do think I should give a little more consideration to where I know people when I plan this next trip, meeting up with locals/friends might make the place come to life.

Photo of the Week: Washington Monument

The Washington Monument with the sun behind it.

Please place your seat in the upright position

I'm sure there is a reason you need to have your seat in the upright position for takeoff and landing, I'm guessing it's safety, so why can't people place their seat in the upright position?

It hasn't happened recently, but it has happened more then once - people reclining their seats for takeoff.  This really annoys me, not so much because it gives me less space- I'm small and fit ok in the seat, even with a seat reclined.  But, I can't imagine bashing my head into the seat in front of me during a failed takeoff would feel very good. 

Yet, on at least 2 flights I have had this happen, and while I do travel more then the average person, I don't travel THAT much.  The first time was on a Virgin Atlatic flight, and the seat back was mostly plastic, I think it would have hurt if I hit it with my head.  A flight attendant did not notice this and so it was not corrected.  Then it happened again last year.  The flight attendant did tell the person to put their seat in the upright position, they pretended and then didn't do it. 

In both cases I really should have said something to the person, but I was a wimp and I didn't.  I figured they would learn their lesson better if I sued them for my injuries.  Yes, I did actually think that in my head.  Going ahead I will say something - why should I risk bashing my head for someone elses comfort?

Sorry for the rant, but I had to get it off my chest.

Pennsylvania feels like home

Last Sunday and Monday I was out in Pennsylvania visiting a friend and the Hershey Spa (more on that another day), I miss Pennsylvania.  I went to college out there for 4 and a half years and for years after I was visiting friends there frequently.  Times change and 11 and a half years later I don't get out there too much, but this time I really felt a sense of missing it.

I was driving down a "typical" (and I use that term loosely) PA road and my heart just started to break.  The road was two lanes (one in each direction) and surrounded by grass, which wasn't too green since there hasn't been much rain lately.  I bet last year the grass was bright green.  In some areas there was corn lining the roads.  This is all very Souteastern PA to me.  As I drove down this road I thought, I could live here. 

I attended the Penn State Berks campus for 2 years and on two sides of the campus was corn fields.  With friends living all over Southeastern PA, or "outside Philly" as they all say - I wonder how so many people can live outside Philly but live nowhere near each other, but that's another story - I drove a lot of these two lane roads lined with grass and maybe a house in the distance.  Long Island is nothing like this, it has houses with little patches of grass in front and strip malls everywhere.
Two lane roads lined with grass, farms and maybe trees are primary roads, sure there are some wider roads where there is shopping and restaurants, and there are highways.  But the majority of roads seem to be these 2 lane roads. 

I don't find them to be as common in the Scranton area or the Pittsburg area, two other areas of PA I haven spent a good amount of time in.  It's like Southeaster PA is stuck in a rural time warp inspite of the urban sprall from Philly.  I miss that, you're close to Philly but it feels more countryish then suburban. 

Then there are my friends who live here, the place is so great that one of my friends from high school even moved there.  And as much as I love and miss my friends, times have changed since our days in college.  Most of my friends are married, many have kids adn houses.  While we're not as much "fun," it's nice to know when you wake up with a hangover you'll be in a bed instead of on the floor.  The memories I had on my drive home on Monday were great, I had a good laugh at those times together. 

I'll keep the memories to myself, it's not as funny if you weren't there.  Instead, think of your own memories of the fun times, the weird times and the goofy things you did somewhere and the people you were with.  In the meantime I'll keep wondering where the perfect place to live is.  Maybe it's PA, or maybe it's somewhere I haven't been yet.

Photo of the Week: Venice

Venice from a Gondola, too bad it was a rainy day.

Almost Fearless - 30 Day Ebook - Review

Not too long about I read the 30 Day Ebook by Christine at Almost Fearless and I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to write a review.  The book is great if you're looking to make a change in your life, this book is for you!  Even if you haven't considered a change, this book will make you.   While it's geared around travel, it's not only about travel and it has a lot of valuable information.  It's also very action oriented.

The book starts with changing your way of thinking - set a time frame.  Then asking the hard questions - you know, the ones with the easy excuses but hard answers.  But the answers are there, and this book will help you find them. 

I've read a lot and seen a lot about saving money but this book takes a different look at saving money then most others do - do you really need someone else to tell you to stop going to Starbucks?  This topic is covered in a couple different sections, so if you don't see any pearls of wisdom at the start, keep reading, it's there. 

Christine then goes into turning your job digital.  I have mixed feelings about this because my job is 90% being at work, but I know for a lot of people that's not the case.  For a lot of people working at home might seem like a stretch, but really isn't, they just have to figure out how to make it happen. 

What types of careers are out there for digital nomads?  The list is endless and only restricted by your own imagination.  But the book goes into much more detail on this.

The rest of the book is about travel - planning, accomodations, budgeting, homeschooling, airfare, paying bills on the road, health insurance, dealing with family and friends - it's all there.  The section on budgeting is another place where a lot of the same concepts are put out by everyone, but Christine uses a totally different method thats simple and easy.  And even though Christine only has a baby now she talks about educating children in great depth. 

I highly recommend this book to everyone, it's well written and full of great information.  And at $10 it's a steal!

And no, I'm not making any money from this book, I just think it's that good.

Hollywood and Vine - lunch with the Little Einsteins

One of the things I always liked at Disney World is the charaters.  I don't make a big effort to see characters, but I enjoy a sit down meal with them and if I see a short line for one I'll jump on and get my picture.  That might make me a Disney geek.  Aside from that I always like to see how kids react, and was curious how Alex as a 4 year old would react to them.  I was disappointed...

On our Hollywood Studios day we had lunch at Hollywood and Vine with charcters for Little Einsteins, a good meal and experience for those in the 2-5 year old range.  However, Alex didn't seem impressed.  If he was younger I would have thought that he didn't get it.  Matty at 9 months seemed baffled by these funny looking people with the big heads.  Alex didn't want to dance with them or get pictures with them or talk to them.  He actually refused to go into some of the pictures.  Meanwhile other kids in the restaurant around the same age were running up the characters excited to see them.

Later on we went to Block Party Bash and had the same experience.  He watched the parade, didn't seem to dislike it, but just kinda stared as Mr. Potato Head danced in front of him.  And when he got pulled up to dance, he just stood there.  I have seen the kid dance at parties, so I know it wasn't that.

After that day we didn't bother with any other character meals.  I have a couple theories on why he wasn't into them.  First, he doesn't like his picture taken and when characters show up, cameras come out.  The other thing is that he has a very vivid imagination (don't all kids) and sees a lot of real and fake animals and dinosaurs and the like.  I wonder if he knew they weren't real and wasn't sure why they were there or what to do with them.

Photo of the Week: Paris

A different angle on the Eiffel Tower

Copenhagen and back home

Day 33: Copenhagen: Farewell to Copenhagen, as our tour ends after breakfast. (Breakfast included)

Today I fly out of Copenhagen to London on British Airways at 2pm, then out of London at 4:20pm for home, arriving at 6:45.
Breakfast: 7:30

I got up at 7:15, threw on some clothes and headed to breakfast. Everyone had a nice breakfast and then it was time to say goodbye to more people. Ash was doing 2 shuttles today to the airport, the first was after breakfast the other was in the afternoon, isn't that nice of him. Tania, my roommate from the Russian half of the trip was leaving and although we didn't spend a lot of time together we did have some nice chats at night in the room. James, who was a a really nice guy and was sometimes off the beaten track, was also leaving. Marie and Kearan, who I had spent a lot of time with during the trip, were leaving. They were continuing on there adventure around the world, I was jealous. Marie was like the mom of the trip, and also the trip nurse - she took care of everyone.

After breakfast I waited in line to use the internet, I wanted to do on-line check in, which would make my check-in at the airport easier. Last night I had made arrangements to take a Taxi with Jilly, AJ and Ben since our flights were all around the same time. While waiting I found out that AJ was actually on my flight, cool. After that I showered and packed up since we had to be out of our rooms by 10am. After 10am everyone just hung around the hostel spending our last bit of time together. At 11am our Taxi showed up and it was time to say goodbye to Lis, Renae, Caroline, Leah, Patrick, Eliza and the rest. I was going to miss Lis, who I had spent so many nights playing Uno with, days in cities, nights gossiping. She's a cool girl and now I have an excuse to go to the really big mall in Canada.

After checking in at the airport AJ, Ben, Jilly and I had lunch together. This was much nicer, having people to spend the time in the airport with. After lunch we did some shopping, we all seemed to have money left over. Ben was the first to leave our little group for his flight, bye Ben! We often sat together on the bus and he always put up with me and all my stuff, I think he deserves a medal. After that we ran into James, who had gotten bumped to a later flight and was looking for ways to spend the money the airline gave him.
Then they called Jilly's flight, bye Jilly! Shortly after that they called mine and AJ's flight. While waiting to board the flight we ran Corey (who had taken the early bus to the airport), apparently he was on our flight too. We had a little chat until we boarded. AJ and I had gotten seats together so I had a buddy for the flight. At flight connections I said my final goodbyes of the trip to AJ and Corey. I was sad, it meant that the trip was officially over for me, and I was on my own the rest of the way home.  This is the worst part of a trip, the first time you're alone, it's the lonliest feeling in the world.  Then I got on my last flight home, it was uneventful and eventually got me back to JFK. When I got off the plane I got my luggage and went through customs. With all the people who looked at my passport today no one noticed it was my birthday, hmmm, I guess they didn't look that closely. That's sad.  When I got though customs my Dad was waiting for me, Yea, I was home! But I knew I was also ready to go back and start all over again, tours always end like that.

The End

The problem with hotel taxes

No, this is not a post about how I hate hotel fees and taxes.  This post is about the problem hotel fees and taxes are for the governments that enact them. 

I was listening to Peter Greenberg radio show/podcast from last week where he mentions that Alabama has assessed a tax to hotel rooms to fund their schools.  I wont go into the fact that Alabama's public school system is #43 in the country, other then to mention that it's not one of the best in the country.

It got me thinking about how governments often use hotel taxes to fund local projects.  On the surface it makes sense - you're not taxing your own constituents (keeping them happy) and as long as the taxes aren't too high it's unlikely to affect tourism, it's like free money!  Except the money might not always be there...

If you're New York Ctiy it takes a lot to really hurt tourism.  Short of the massive hurricane they say we're due to have hit the area or another terrorist attack people are still going to come to visit.  But even New York City has a potential to lose out on hotel taxes - people are now trying to rent hotel rooms for their stay instead of staying at hotels (obviously a problem if the government is trying to ban this practice.)

But what if you're a lesser known location and run into tourism problems?  The Gulf Coast now and after Hurricane Katrina, or if you have a lot of national parks and they are closed due to budget cuts.  What if your "free money" from hotels dries up?  What happens when the money to fund your schools and other essential services dries up?  It's a question that all governments and their residents should be asking before enacting these hotel taxes.

Photo of the Week: Norwegian Epic

Last week I had an opportunity to sneak a peak of the Norwegian Epic.  The quality isn't the best, but I did take it with my Iphone 3Gs - the best camera is the one you have with you!