What’s in Your Carry-on, Chris Wang?
Posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
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Travel voyeurs, every last one of us! It’s time for a new series wherein you show off what you’re working with. That is, what necessities make it into your carry-on bag. Want to be featured? It’s crazy simple. Shoot us an email with a nice big photo of your bag contents and a little bit about why they have pride of place in your carry-on. And of course include your Twitter handle if you so desire.
Next up in the series after peeking into the bags of illustrious travelers, we’ve got yet another: Chris Wang of Pictouring.
In October 2010, I set out to travel the world for a year. I packed as little as I could without sacrificing safety, and over the course of my travels I ended up in places that ranged from -40F in the winter (Mongolia) to 120F in the summer (India). Everything worked out. I bought extra layers really cheaply—usually around $25 for a thick jacket—and donated them when I no longer needed them.
Everything fits into a carry-on sized backpack and weighs ~25lbs, including the camera, which alone weighs 6.5 lbs.
Believe It Or Not, JetBlue Now Offers Concierge Services
Posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Browsing winter vacation deals yet? Drooling over JetBlue Getaways offers like $359 per person for a 4-day escape to St. Lucia? Then you’ll need to know that, if you go through with booking that trip, you have access to JetBlue‘s newest feature: a Concierge On Call.
The Concierge On Call service is super new (just announced yesterday), super rare (this from a lost-cost carrier?!), and super limited (only for JetBlue Getaways travelers). After booking a package deal with JetBlue, you’ll receive the Concierge On Call contact phone number. Use it before and all throughout your trip to any of JetBlue’s cities—even international. The service itself is free, but of course anything you book or arrange through it, you’ll be paying for.
So what exactly can the JetBlue Concierge do?
This Week in TSA Slip-ups: Sex Toys and Loaded Guns
Posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Oh TSA. It seems like just yesterday when we were talking about how we don’t like to pile on the organization, partly because we say that a lot but mostly because it really was just yesterday. But this week is turning into a rough one for the agency in charge of protecting the nation’s airport security, and we’d be remiss as travel bloggers if we didn’t cover the latest news.
Plus we let a whole month go by before posting this morning’s Halloween sex travel story, and we’d like to make that up to you by posting a second one.
Los Angeles: How To Get Tickets To Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion Halloween Party
Posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Kandy events is gearing up for their 5th annual Halloween Party at the Playboy Mansion, and it’s not too late to be a part of it…if you’re into that sort of thing. *wink
On October 28 & 29, the mansion grounds will be transformed into a haunted forest, haunted houses and graveyards. The Halloween party is notorious for being one of the biggest events held at the mansion all year and it never fails to bring out VIPs and celebrities in their sexiest costumes.
And, just in case a haunted mansion, celebs, playmates, and booze flowing all night long weren’t enough to create the perfect LA party scene, LMFAO and DJ ATB will be providing the soundtrack.
Cairns: Winter in the Northern Hemisphere Means Fun in the Sun, South of the Equator
Posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Quicksilver floating pontoon at Agincourt Reef
As the weather begins to turn a bit colder and a bit gloomier in the US, we’re already seeking out a winter “light at the end of the tunnel.” While doing some wanderlust brainstorming, along with a wide variety of flight searches, we recently came upon the option of escaping the blustery Northern Hemisphere for a little—or a lot—of sunny, summery Southern Hemisphere.
What screams Middle-of-January escape more than a diving trip to some of the most beautiful coral reefs on the planet? We knew that would get your attention. Celebrating its 30th anniversary as being named a World Heritage Site, the Great Barrier Reef lies just off the coast of Northern Queensland in Australia. Don’t worry, this is no where near the floods from last year and, we mean, it’s more than 600 miles away.
Atlanta: 10,000 Free Tickets from Megabus’ Newest Hub in Atlanta
Posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Big news for travelers in the south! Budget traveler favorite Megabus has just expanded their US route network to include a new hub in Atlanta, Georgia. From the ATL, Megabus will run to 11 cities, of course with all routes and all seats starting from their usual $1 (plus 50 cents reservation fee).
The 11 cities from Atlanta are: Birmingham, AL; Mobile, AL; Montgomery, AL; Charlotte, NC; Chattanooga, TN; Knoxville, TN; Memphis, TN; Nashville, TN; Gainesville, FL; Jacksonville, FL; and Orlando, FL.
That’s a lot of Alabama and Florida! With the news comes a giveaway, naturally. Megabus has 10,000 free seats on the new routes, for travel from November 16 to December 16. Enter promo code ATL10K to knock the cheap fares down to FREE.
Mexico’s Tourism Brainstorm: One Part ‘Cash-Cab,’ One Part Reality Show
Posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
If you don’t have a standing date with Brian Williams each evening then you might have missed that there’s some bad stuff going down south of the border. In a nutshell, there are some pockets of pretty violent drug-related crimes, and this alone is keeping away would-be tourists from checking out typical hot spots like Acapulco, Cancun, and beyond. Mexico is trying to clean up its image—at least with the tourists—and they’re doing so by throwing a lot of pesos at the problem.
In total the tourism board is looking to shell out around $30 million to create commercials and other advertisements to encourage plenty of travel—especially from Americans—to the fun in the sun that’s only a quick flight away. Some of the commercials are still a couple weeks away, but we do have an idea of what they’ll be all about. Of course they aren’t just going to show stunning beaches and crystal clear water, and that’s because it’s way better to create a mini reality show!
The Early Stages of the Current Thailand Flooding: Photos from Ayutthaya
Posted on Monday, October 24th, 2011
It’s as we feared would happen. The rising floodwaters of the Chao Phraya River near Bangkok, Thailand have reached the city’s secondary airport, Don Mueang. DMK was the focus of one of our recent stories on great places to go plane spotting, owing to the existence of a golf course in between the airport runways.
Well, it’s safe to say that the entire place is in danger of becoming one giant water trap.
Although central Bangkok and the main tourist areas remain high and dry, the UNESCO historical sites in nearby Ayutthaya can’t say the same. Although we aren’t there now to show you some of the damaging floods (thank god), we were there as recent as a few weeks ago, when the waters of the river had already begun seeping into the first floors of riverside homes.
Detroit: TSA’s New ‘Chat-down’ Security Expands to Detroit Airport
Posted on Monday, October 24th, 2011
We really don’t want to be those travel bloggers. The ones who reflexively complain about everything TSA does just because it’s really easy to pick on TSA. We try to be fair about moron passengers, we take pains to explain why TSA agents sometimes have to conduct intrusive inspections, and we give the agency credit when they improve their security protocols.
But the more we read about TSA’s shift to Israel-style airport security inspections—which are now being called “chat-downs” by journalists and politicians, because naming things is fun—the more worried we get. This is the agency’s new SPOT program, where agents ask you personal questions while you wait in line, and then they try to read your body language to determine whether you’re making things up. We haven’t quite figured out what’s wrong but we’re pretty sure we don’t like it.
How Much Are Thanksgiving Holiday Flights Going For Right Now?
Posted on Monday, October 24th, 2011
Holiday rush security line crowding at Delta’s LaGuardia terminal
It’s widely said that the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year, but really some summer days can be just as hectic. Still, with Americans scrambling to get home to eat a feast of turkey/tofurkey and stuffing, the airports aren’t exactly a picnic in late November.
Curious to see exactly how high roundtrip prices for Thanksgiving flights have gotten, we headed over to place some sample trips into Hipmunk.
Here’s the cheapest fares we found:
