Travel and Safety Tips

Written early in the last century, Emily Post’s Etiquette covered decorum and manners to be demonstrated in all sorts of everyday situations as well as etiquette to be displayed when attending a special event such as a wedding.  Emily’s ideas were written before airlines existed in the numbers they now do,  and before air travel...

In the kitchen, you hear crashing sounds and smell burning onions as your nervous brother and sister-in-law host their first Thanksgiving dinner. Grandma stands in pearl-clutching horror as she observes the latest tattoos of the younger generations. Grandpa, still too stubborn to get hearing aids, complains that everyone mumbles. Your mother runs around the house... 

U. S. Airways, its merger with American Airlines nearly complete, took its last flight—ever—on Friday, 10/16. When airlines merge and transition, travelers will notice an extra layer of stress superimposed on the existing stress of air travel. Airline policies may change. Airline employees need the training to get up to speed. And often the airline employees can... 

If hotel room walls could talk, there’d be no shortage of juicy material for a best seller; ask a housekeeper sometime. Hotels are full of history. They’re also full of the “stranger” element.  And there’s something creepy about that.  Movie makers know this and have long exploited it, with the infamous Bates Motel in Psycho... 

The holiday travel season is coming, and airports will be teeming with heavier crowds. If only there were a way to transport your body Star Trek style– to get someplace in a flash—and bypass airport security, lines, delays, cramped planes, cabin crew members who think they’re Grace Kelly or seatmates you wish were riding in... 

What is RFID? A radio frequency identification device (RFID) is like an electronic homing pigeon.  Used in everything from passports to pets, RFIDs are smaller than a grain of rice yet mighty locating devices.  Originally used to track military aircraft in the 1950s, RFIDs were tracking livestock by the 1980s, and, by the 1990s, RFIDs... 

After a long flight, all you want to do is go to the Baggage Claim carousel, pick up your checked luggage and head off to your vacation destination or home.  You arrive at Baggage Claim and stand patiently at the spot of the carousel where the luggage comes out of the shoot but, for some... 

Your European River cruise is canceled because rivers are flooded. Your parent is hospitalized after a stroke, and you must cancel your Peruvian tour. You break your leg while adventure traveling in a remote Brazilian jungle far away from medical help. Travel Insurance typically covers such things as the cost of lost baggage and canceled... 

IATA (International Air Transport Association) recently had the brilliant idea to further restrict the size of carry-on luggage passengers are allowed to bring aboard the plane.  They were recommending, what they aptly called, the “Cabin OK” ‘guideline’ dimensions of 21.5 x 13.5 x 7.5 inches.  Amazingly (not at all!), passengers revolted en masse – particularly... 

Gustave Flaubert said Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. Should your luggage likewise occupy a small, modest place in the world? Most experienced travelers would raise one eyebrow and then recite the first commandment of travel: thou shalt NEVER check thy bag. Unfortunately, you can’t always... 

When we travel, we become captivated by the culture, food and customs of our vacation destination.  We desperately want to capture some of the wonderful experiences we’ve enjoyed, in more ways than with mere photos taken on our cellular phone! Like Carol Burnett in her famous Gone With the Wind skit, we see souvenirs “hanging in... 

If you’re planning on flying domestically via economy class this summer, the last thing you want to worry about is your health. With those darned shrinking seats, air travel is becoming a legitimate health risk–especially for certain travelers.  What types of travel gear can help protect your health and safety? And what about those darned...