Tweet Of The Week: What Drama It Is to Get a Passport Photo
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
We love Tuesdays. Why, you ask? Because the day brings many travel tips and quips as “Travel Tuesday” on Twitter, and we’re going to share our favorite with you. Got an avid travel twitterer we should follow? Let us know.
Late last week, we discovered in the NYT that one of the fashion industry’s biggest supermodels right now—Coco Rocha—is a daughter of a Canadian flight attendant, and that she practically grew up in cockpits and on long-haul flights. And yet, in such cramped quarters, she emerged as a 5′ 10″ stunner who now commands attention on fashion runway just as much as she once did as a toddler on airport runway (well, not literally down on the tarmac).
Since Paris Fashion Week is happening right now, we’ve also noticed that she not only tweets, but that she tweets about her travels regularly, and the latest focus is on the renewal of her Canadian passport during the height of the international fashion season. She says:
Marquesas Islands: Curried Goat and a Rainbow: Adventure Girl’s Marquesas Islands Fun Continues
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Have you ever wanted to venture way, way out to the islands around Tahiti? Sit back and then and daydream with us as we follow Twitter celeb Stefanie Michaels, aka Adventure Girl, as she goes island-hopping in the most exotic of places—the Marquesas Islands. Each day this week, she’ll reveal another adventure. Join her 1.5 million followers on Twitter for more Marquesas conversation @AdventureGirl, and don’t forget us @Jaunted!
LAND! The first stop of the Aranui ship brings passeners to Fakarava, an atoll in the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It’s a flat yet lush atoll only 40 miles in length and 13 miles wide, with a ring of white powdery beaches and crystaline waters. In fact, UNESCO has made it a bio-sphere reserve, preserving its endless reefs and local marine life. Thus I begin my adventure on land, versus the at-sea fun of yesterday’s story.
In Rotoava, the main city in the Tuamotu Islands, friendly locals greet passengers with flowers, and a hearty “Ia ora na,” which means hello in Tahitian. One side of the island is excellent for snorkeling and diving, and the other side is a mecca for shelling (collecting sea shells) and finding nature’s trinkets, such as pristine chunks of colorful dried coral.
Tuamotu’s islands also inside Fakarava, known for their black pearl farms. I suggest checking out the local’s small booths around town for the best pricing, and a small shop called Heipoe Boutique Rotoava for contemporary and high quality designs.
Adventure Girl gets seasick! After the jump
Airline Strike Watch: British Airways and American on the Ropes
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
It’s turning into a pretty rough month for the oneworld alliance. Founding members American Airlines and British Airways are both locked in labor disputes that threaten to escalate into full-blown airline strikes, with unions demanding benefits and managements insisting that the money just isn’t there. In both cases it’s pretty obvious that employees are playing a weak hand: what are they going to do, devastate the company and put themselves permanently out of work? But in both cases the unions seem intent on going right to the line of mutually assured destruction, which means lots of uncertainty for lots more time.
As if American Airlines wasn’t having enough problems with their flight attendants threatening a walkout, now they’ve got to deal with a potential pilot strike. The money quote being run this morning is that they’re “far apart” on a new contract, with the pilots asking to have their purchasing power restored to 1992 levels. The airline insists that’s a no-go since their labor costs are already higher than the industry average. A federal mediator is trying to bring the two sides together, which distinguishes this dispute in no way from the negotiations between American and its flight attendants. Or between American and its ground operators. Lots of fun for everyone.
Boston: Where to Look for Travel Deals for St. Patrick’s Day in Boston
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
It’s not simply a coincidence that Boston is this week’s featured destination on Travelzoo. With St. Patrick’s Day on March 17 and therefore only a week left to make frantic last-minute plans for the holiday, many are getting antsy for the excuse to drink green beer and wear giant, ridiculous hats out in public.
Last week, we detailed a great package for a tour around Ireland over the holiday. But if you prefer to keep it domestic, or you just can’t take enough days off of work to do Dublin, then Boston would be the the spot.
After the jump, where to find the right deal for St. Pat’s in Boston
Austin: What Will Be the Highlights at This Weekend’s SXSW Festival?
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
SXSW kicks off this week. Austin’s annual celebration of music, film and technology has become a must for fans of pop culture. Whether you’re a movie aficionado or a computer geek, there’s something on the schedule for everyone.
The highlight of this year’s fest will probably be the “first look” of Robert Rodriguez’s Predators at the Alamo Ritz Theater in downtown Austin on March 12. Predators, the latest chapter in the Predator universe, was shot on location at Rodriguez’s Austin-based Troublemaker Studios. The film stars Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, and Laurence Fishburne. The event is only open toSXSW Badge-holders on a first-come, first-served basis. An audience Q&A follows the screening.
Visit the Most Picturesque Streets in the UK Via Google Maps Streetview
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
According to the just-released list of winners of Google Maps’ Streetview Awards 2010, this little alley in York is the most picturesque streetview in all of the UK. Do you agree?
As Google Maps expands their coverage of Britain’s roads and alleys on Streetview, they decided to celebrate by launching this little contest. Fans of UK streetview voted and winners were chosen in three categories: Best Foodie Street, Best Fashion Street and Most Picturesque Street. As you can probably guess, the top-ranked ones all look like good old traditional British streets.
See the winners, after the jump!
Smaller West Coat Towns To Get Lei’d in Hawaii, Thanks to Allegiant Air
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
What did we just say about the news that Continental was expanding their service from the US mainland to Hawaii? Well, it went like this: “How are the skies above Hawaii not mega-crowded with new flights coming in from all over?” And we wonder the same thing again after hearing that budget airline Allegiant, which normally sticks to vacation destinations in the continental US, like Las Vegas or Orlando, will begin flying to Hawaii on 757s bought from a European carrier.
And why is this big news? Well, Allegiant’s plans for non-stops to Hawaii don’t include your usual big airports like LAX; they’ll instead be flying to the islands from smaller cities like Bellingham, Washington, Eugene, Oregon and Stockton and Monterey in California. These will bring a whole new traveler to Hawaii; the ones who maybe previously vacationed on the west coast, closer to home. But now with such convenient flights, Hawaii is totally an option. Will 2011 be the year that Hawaii reclaims the title of hottest vacation destination? Maybe, if Allegiant gets their bigger birds in the air by then.
Related Stories:
· Hawaii will be new destination for budget carrier Allegiant [HonoluluAdvertiser]
· United Gets Going to Ghana and More New Airline Routes [Jaunted]
· New Routes [Jaunted]
[Photo: Wavy1]
The Top Five Airports for Traveling with Children
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
At this point you should be an expert on the perks kids receive when flying the friendly skies, but there’s also some cool stuff for the little ones to do when they are stuck on the ground. We’ve seen a lot of plastic slides and toy airplanes while racing to our gates, and we’ve rounded up some of our favorite kid friendly play places across the country. Check them out!
· Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
American Airlines flights usually make a stop at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and that’s totally cool if kids are part of your carry-on luggage. Terminal D—that’s the new one with high ceilings and international departures—has a McDonald’s Play Area right by Gate 33. If you find yourself in Terminal E, there’s another play place with padded floor mats, toys, and plastic things to jump on. Terminal B has the best to offer with its Pepsi Junior Flyer’s Club. It features an air traffic control tower, runway, and airplanes for your little captain.
More plastic planes after the jump…
Escondido: How to Try Out the Trapeze Without Embarrassing Yourself
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Ever since seeing the circus’ graceful trapeze artists when we were little, we’ve always wanted to fly through the air on one. So we signed up for a class, despite our nightmares of breaking our legs. We figured that we’d spend at least a half hour of our 90-minute class learning the safety protocols, proper stances, and all of that important info. Imagine our surprise when, after about 15 minutes, we prepped for our first jump from about 23 feet in the air. Gulp.
What to expect when you trapeze and where to do it, after the jump.
On the Boeing Beat: Airplane Healthiness and More 787 News
Posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Boeing has a lot more going on than just testing out their newest airplane, and speaking of the the 787 Dreamliner, it is going on a little bit of vacation today. Instead of just sticking to the skies above Washington, the second test plane is taking its testing on a little bit of a road-trip. The plane is expected to land at a closed military base in Victorville, California—just outside Los Angeles.
It’s not time to test out Boeing’s newest tech-toy on the 787, but they are bringing some snazzy new stuff to some of the planes within British Airways’ fleet. Boeing Health Management will be used to monitor the status and condition of over 100 airplanes as they fly around the globe. Specifically 747s and 777s will be included in the new program, where important people over at British Airways can log into a special website to check on all things related to the flights.
