When I meet people who tell me they've never flown on an airplane or stepped foot outside their home state, I'm always a little taken aback. In this day and age when travel is so accessible, affordable and commonplace, it's amazing that there are still so many travel ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Travel Security
4 Big Travel Fears And How To Overcome Them
When I meet people who tell me they've never flown on an airplane or stepped foot outside their home state, I'm always a little taken aback. In this day and age when travel is so accessible, affordable and commonplace, it's amazing that there are still so many travel ...Carnival Triumph Being Towed To Shore After Engine Room Fire
Carnival Triumph was nearing the end of a four-night cruise when an engine room fire stopped the ship, about 150 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Without propulsion and running on only backup generator power, Carnival Triumph will be towed to closest port where ...Should Women Travel Alone? Of Course!
News of the death of an American woman vacationing in Turkey made headlines across the country, but her tragic death also raises an important question because the mother of two – who was missing for nearly two weeks before police found her body over the weekend – ...Intense National Geographic Series, 'Locked Up Abroad,' Documents Inept Travelers
Last week's arrest of diaper-wearing cocaine smugglers at JFK proved more laughable than horrifying to those not directly involved. Drug busts are in the media so often, we rarely pay attention to them. They're certainly not something I care about.
Yet, I've recently ...Hostel-Finding Travel App Shows Who Else Is Staying There Too
Browse, Book and Start Making Friends are the three steps needed to use WeHostels, a new iPhone travel app that is about as easy as it gets to book a no-frills place to sleep for the night. Like a HotelTonight for hostels, WeHostels has some unique features worth a look.
...Tourists Mistaken For Illegal Immigrants Beaten By Greek Police
Greek authorities have been cracking down on illegal immigrants to the country but a number of tourists have been detained as part of the sweep. Some of the travelers have even been beaten so badly by police that they ended up in the hospital, according to the BBC.
Greek ...Costa Concordia, A Year Later
Costa Concordia sailed aground off the coast of Italy one year ago this Sunday. Today, the ship sits off the coast of Italy where it ran aground on Friday, January 13, 2012, taking the lives of 32 passengers in the process. Ongoing work is underway to remove the grounded ...The TSA Tells You Not To Bring Bazookas On A Plane, Among Other Things
If you were making a list of things to take with you on a plane, chances are a World War II-era bazooka round would not be one of them. The TSA would like to keep it that way.
The security agency periodically issues memos to travelers via its blog about items found during ...Flying Is The Safest It Has Been In Years, Data Shows
New data show good news for panicky travelers: commercial flights in 2012 were safer than ever before. The Wall Street Journal published a large article detailing advances in flight safety and analyzing crash data, which shows that commercial flying is the safest it has been ...Cruise Ships Steer Clear Of Troubled Waters
Travel via cruise ship has a number of advantages. For one example, you can unpack once but visit multiple destinations on a floating hotel. Doing so safely is another, causing cruise lines to constantly consider life as it is at ports of call around the world. What was ...No Hassle Flying Act To Save Time, Safely, For Some
Cutting down on the hassle of flying internationally, the No-Hassle Flying Act of 2012 aims to eliminate excessive security screening of connecting baggage at U.S. airports. Currently, checked baggage on all inbound international flights has to be re-screened before being ...Visiting Iraq: The Practicalities
Will Iraq become the next big adventure travel destination?
Short answer: Not yet.
Long answer:
At the moment most of Iraq is closed to solo travel. The Iraqi government has authorized only a few group tour companies such as Hinterland Travel and Babel Tours. ...A Solo Stroll Through Baghdad
I am alone in Baghdad. After a farewell dinner and a visit to an Iraqi amusement park my travel companions have left for the airport. Our guards from the Interior Ministry have gone off to other duties and I'm staying unguarded in my hotel. I don't fly out until tomorrow. ...Kurdistan: The Other Iraq
Families out for an evening stroll, friends sipping coffee at sidewalk cafes, tourists seeing the sights without a police escort – am I still in Iraq?
Sort of.
I'm in Kurdistan, an autonomous region made up of Iraq's three northernmost provinces. The Kurds ...Mexico: Safer But Not Safe Says Travel Warning
Troubled with crime, Mexico has been on the bad list of places to visit for quite some time. But the situation is improving. Murders of U.S. citizens are down. Drug-related violence seems limited to isolated areas of the country. But a new warning issued by the U.S. ...Safety And Security When Traveling Takes More Than Common Sense Precautions
Safety and security tips for travelers often include common sense advice like not carrying a lot of cash, protecting valuable documents and not wearing expensive jewelry in public. But while taking precautions is good, knowing what scams or traps are set and waiting for ...Beer Run In Basra
We'd been on the road in Iraq for a week, and after inhaling ten pounds of desert sand each, we really needed a beer. Luckily we were in Basra, and our tour leader Geoff knew a good place to buy liquor under the counter. So after a day of seeing the historic quarter and ...Iraq Street Art: Beautifying The Blast Walls
One of the first things you notice when traveling in Iraq are the blast walls. These giant concrete barriers are everywhere – in front of government buildings, schools, mosques and dividing Shia from Sunni neighborhoods. They remind me of the "peace walls" put up in ...Iraq Road Trip: Who Takes The Ultimate Adventure Vacation And What's It Like?
We heard our first gunshots a week into our trip. We were resting after a long drive in our Baghdad hotel when shots crackled through the night. Anyone who was sleeping immediately got up. Nothing wakes you up quicker than gunshots in Iraq.
Insurgency? Sectarian ...A Run-In With The Iraqi Police
All I wanted was to buy an Iraq National Football Team uniform for my son, a perfectly normal thing for a father to do on his first day in Baghdad. The problem is, doing something normal in Baghdad can land you in serious trouble.
We were in one of the city's many ...
