Happy Holidays! Hope everyone has a great couple of days with family and friends. Bottom line is that no matter how far you travel, coming home is still one of the best places to be. Here are some images of Christmas around the world. Check back tomorrow for even more shots from holiday season celebrations.
Well yesterday’s article was pretty revealing. I mean we had some very sinful travel experts get a lot off their chest. In fact it got so bad that I needed to close down the confession booth for 24-hours. But I am back with even MORE travel confessions.
I will try to keep it a little cleaner today I promise. When most travelers confessed to me, one topic seemed to come up quite a bit and that was “I have never been to…”. Below are some places that these vagabonds have yet to mark off on their “to see” list.
Johnny Jet, a man you would think has touched every inch of this planet, has yet to make his presence felt at the Grand Canyon.
Nomadic Matt is another globe-trotting individual that has also seen most of the world. He also runs one hell of a travel blog. But Matt confesses that he has not yet rolled the dice in “Sin City” Las Vegas.
Stephanie Yoder of Twenty-Something Travel visited Amsterdam, but skipped the Red Light District. That is like going all the way to New York and not trying pizza! Stephanie also mentions here why she has yet to walk the streets of Paris.
Have you ever visited a popular destination and wound up being extremely disappointed? You’re not alone. Two such travelers shared their dismay with a certain Italian destination that millions of vacationers flock to each year.
Andy Murdock of Lonely Planet told me, “I’ve only been to Venice once, and all I wanted to do was leave as quickly as possible. It was the height of summer so it was hot, filthy, smelly and just crammed full of tourists and hawkers selling tacky trinkets at every turn, and the geography makes it really difficult to escape the hordes. I hate telling this to people because they’ve either been and loved it and try to convince me to go back and give it a second shot, or they haven’t been and hold romantic notions of the city that I don’t especially want to dash because of my one bad experience. Maybe one day I’ll return off-season, but for me it’s like an expensive restaurant that everyone else loves but gave me food-poisoning: why should I spend the money and effort to go back when there are so many new places to try, not to mention places I would love to return to?”
Gary Arndt ,who runs the extremely popular travel blog Everything-Everywhere.com,also did not enjoy his time in Venice. Arndt confessed, “My first reaction when I arrived in Venice was ‘Wow. This looks just like EPCOT Center!’.”
Spendthrift Shoestring’s Alex Robertson Textor fessed up and told me, “I’ve been to 98 countries/territories, but I’ve never visited Sydney, Tokyo, Mexico City, or Orlando — or a cruise ship.”
The Elite Travel Gal herself Stacy Small has been to many great cities around the world, but one seems to keep getting away from her. Small told me that she has never been to New Orleans. “I had a few trips planned,” Small stated. “But I always had to cancel due to inclement weather!”
Mike Barish, contributing travel writer to Gadling.com, expressed that, “It took me 30 years to get to Paris. Still haven’t been to London. Yet I’ve been to India twice.”
Sarah Schlichter from IndependentTraveler.com told me that she likes to keep it simple for accommodations and that, “I never stay at luxury hotels. They’re too pretentious, and I don’t feel like I belong there. Give me a B&B or a mid-priced guesthouse any day.”
Wow! The confessional’s line is out the door. I am going to have to shut it down for today. Check back tomorrow for part 3/3 of travel confessions.
It is an enormous, double-deck, four-engine piece of aviation machinery. Yes the Airbus A380 is truly something that makes even the bravest flyer cringe just a little bit when first laying eyes on it. Of course I want to try it out…but alas I can not afford a ticket on this amazing airplane.
But if you are able fork over the big bucks for a ride, then why not also spend the cash on a good cause. According to the Press Association of Britain, Air France is going to auction off 380 of the 538 seats on each of its two inaugural flights this fall and give the money to charity. Sounds like a good idea…just wish I had saved some extra charity cash to fly the world’s biggest passenger plane. Sigh.
The first flight will depart November 20 from Paris, France and arrive in New York. The second flight will then leave “The Big Apple” and return back to “The City of Lights” on November 21. Air France has plans to expand A380 service to other cities like Dubai, Johannesburg, and Tokyo sometime in 2010.
To check out how cool the Airbus A380 truly is, check out this video courtesy of CBS News:
The peloton (which is French for large group in a bicycle race) passes an aqueduct on stage three of the Tour de France. The phenomenal 26-year-old Alberto Contador of Spain won this this year's race which saw cyclist venture through such countries as Monaco, France, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy. Making his return to the Tour de France was the seven-time winner of the prestigious event Lance Armstrong. The 37-year old American rider finished in an impressive third-place.
Well when you gotta go…you gotta go. So the next time you are traveling in a city like Amsterdam, Belfast, and London, be careful when walking down certain streets at night. That seemingly innocent looking manhole cover might start to slowly rise up from the ground to reveal…a bathroom?!
One of the most ingenious ideas in public restrooms to come down the pipe (sorry) since the porta-potty is the Urilift. This “pop-up urinal” is placed under sidewalks in very busy European cities that suffer from public urination issues.
Yes many of these locales noticed that men, after a few pints in the pubs, were wandering home or to the next watering hole with some seriously full bladders. So instead of holding it in until they got to the little boys room, they instead whipped it out and did their “business” on storefronts, homes, and other unacceptable places.
The smell of urine throughout town is not one that many locals enjoyed, so many cities started to invest in a little company called Urilift. The underground outhouse is only available after 10pm in most places and is basically set up for the hectic nightlife in these popular cities. During the day workers, tourists, and locals have no idea that the manhole they are walking over is actually the top of a hidden restroom. So it keeps the area looking, and more importantly, smelling clean.
To all of the females out there reading this that feel their public restroom needs have been ignored, rejoice! Since the introduction of the Urilift in 2000, the company unveiled a unisex solution in 2004 called the UriGienic. Yup now you can access a toilet (with a locking door) when you “gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now” ladies.
Urilift International BV brags that, “The entire toilet is made from stainless steel and is cylindrical in shape. It is so ingeniously designed that it disappears completely from view during the day by means of a clever hydraulic system.”
Urilifts and UriGienics are currently located in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, France, and Germany with plans to expand elsewhere soon. So if you need a bathroom break when visiting these countries, don’t fret, look down you are probably standing on a lavatory.
