Time for airlines to throw in the towel on seatback screens. Our tablets are more flexible, more personal, and way easier to use. And we can load them up with the (uncensored) movies and music we* want to enjoy.
Category: traveling
Airlines — please let us book Premium Economy from flight aggregators!
Dear airlines: please settle on some standard naming for seat classes. It’d make it a whole lot easier to compare and purchase tickets online. United has Economy Plus. Delta has recently unveiled Economy Comfort (does this suggest that the other seats in that cabin are Economy Discomfort, or is that just my take? :p). Virgin America… Continue reading Airlines — please let us book Premium Economy from flight aggregators!
Hotels: Here’s how you can win us over with the little things
Dear hotels, I’ve stayed in you a lot. Over the last few years, I’ve traveled over a quarter million miles and stayed many, many nights away from home, sometimes feeling a bit like that rudderless and sad character in Up in the Air. But, hotels, you can do little things to make me feel more… Continue reading Hotels: Here’s how you can win us over with the little things
A heartwarming story about bridging the culture gap
A gaggle of giggling young teens — pre-Facebook — pesters this cranky, lonely guy, and asks him… everything. Luxembourg, 1998. On a whim and with zero preparation, I’d decided to spend a weekend there, only to face crappy weather and a lack of available nearby hostels. After much schlepping, I wearily ended up in Echternacht at a… Continue reading A heartwarming story about bridging the culture gap
A handy spreadsheet for calculating foreign currency values
I decided to take a bit of this long weekend to prep for yet another overseas trip (this time to Sydney, which I really like!). Digging into my Travel (real-space, not electronic) folder, I found a plethora of Australian bills and coins from my last trip, along with a ton of other bills and coins… Continue reading A handy spreadsheet for calculating foreign currency values
Another crazy international work trip… and my thoughts on work travel
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be traveling internationally for work once again. And boy, I certainly do have a love-hate relationship with work travel! Why work travel rocks:– Get to know colleagues better.– Much easier to get collaborative projects moving when in person than over VC or e-mail!– Frequent flyer miles!– Experience little fascinating pieces of foreign… Continue reading Another crazy international work trip… and my thoughts on work travel
Two Brazil short stories – The Galloping Vendors and the Patient Kindness of Strangers
The Galloping Vendors There had just been again weeks of violent unrest in the world, but I was quite a few countries away, together in a sprawling São Paulo street market with a colleague and our big happy-but-guarded driver. The three of us were amiably ambling amidst a big, colorful, confusing, and crowded set of… Continue reading Two Brazil short stories – The Galloping Vendors and the Patient Kindness of Strangers
Airlines charging by the pound (including your personal weight); good idea?
My friend Greg and I just had a fascinating and extensive discussion about the concept of airlines charging their customers by the weight of their bodies + luggage. The way we envisioned it, all airlines tickets would be composed of exactly two fees: a seat fee (fixed) and a weight fee (variable). This is hardly… Continue reading Airlines charging by the pound (including your personal weight); good idea?
Where the hell is Matt? — Huge smiles guaranteed!
Today’s entry is short and wonderful. Behold, in the video below, Matt Harding… “dancing” around the world, one city at a time. At the 54 second mark, watch the video really come alive when he delights countless locales who join in the dancing… and, i guarantee, charms all of you watching, too :-D. For more… Continue reading Where the hell is Matt? — Huge smiles guaranteed!
Adventures in flying, part 13
Once again, I was off to Germany… home of good friends, heavy food, wacky long sentences, and Lufthansa, the airline whose plane I was unceremoniously squished into not like a sardine, but wurst. I had the foot-munching-tray aisle to my right, and a stupendously larger-than-life and dumber-than-devil-fossils young fella to my left. To his left… Continue reading Adventures in flying, part 13