Posted by Samantha Evans on July 14th 2008 in Travel Fun, Samantha Smiles
At first glance, airport layovers can be a brutally boring experience, but with a little imagination and perspective there’s some fun to be had at the airport! As I sit here waiting for my flight, I decided to put together a collection of some of the funniest and most interesting airport videos on the net to give you a chuckle and maybe relieve some of the layover doldrums.
World’s Longest Waiting Line
Coolest Airport Videos - Beat Those “Layover Boredom Blues”
Posted by Samantha Evans on June 24th 2008 in Travel Tips, Samantha Smiles
Travelers are inherently fascinated with the unusual. We willfully seek it out by opening ourselves to foreign cultures and customs, getting lost in exotic places, and chasing adventure wherever it runs. We ultimately learn that the superficially unfamiliar is actually familiar, that common values such as family and celebration are shared across all cultures in some form. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some wonderfully weird festivities held across the globe:
Holi Festival of Colors - India
Image courtesy of M. Raghu
The Holi Festival of Colors is a traditional Hindu holiday celebrated in several countries. Rooted in Hindu mythology, Holi is an exuberant celebration of the triumph of good over evil. The festivities take place over two days, generally in February or March based on the Hindu calendar. The first night kicks off with a towering bonfire of logs and dried brush, symbolizing the burning of the demoness Holika. On the second day, known as Dhuleti, the color free-for-all begins! People of all ages congregate in the streets in a playful melee of sprayed multicolored dyes, Bollywood singalongs, gift exchanges, and family get-togethers to celebrate the coming Spring and victory over evil. Six Sensationally Strange Celebrations From Around the World
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on June 13th 2008 in Travel Tips
So yesterday I was on the shuttlebus from Midway Airport parking to the airport to get back to New York, and I chatted up this guy in the seat next to me, who was just leaving for a golfing tour to Indonesia. Who knew people did such a thing? So nosey girl that I am, I wanted to know: how far would people travel for a golf game? How extreme do the courses get? Here are a sampling of some extreme golf courses and some links to golf course reviews:
Ice Golfing in Greenland
Extreme Golf Courses: Living the Wild Links Life
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on June 9th 2008 in Travel Tips, Food Fun
Yet another fun thing about traveling to another country is seeing bad English translations. Japan leads the category (again) in this one! The category has its own name: “Engrish” and there’s no shortage of examples of it online. Here are some of my own pictures of Engrish from my trip to Japan, along with some links to additional endless “Engrish!” Do You Speak Engrish? When Good Products Have Bad Names
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on May 30th 2008 in Travel Tips
One of the things I love about traveling to new destinations is encountering new cultural oddities used in daily life. I’ve collected some things my friends and I found in our travels to Japan. See if you can guess what they are! Japanese Customs, Quirks & Other Fascinating Oddities
Posted by Samantha Evans on May 23rd 2008 in Samantha Smiles
Yay!, A couple of my rowdy girlfriends and I are off to Atlantic City for Memorial Day Weekend! Spending a weekend at an Atlantic City Hotel is an awesome treat because there is SO much more to do in the east coast version of “SinCity” than just sit at a table throwing your money away in hopes of just breaking even. Samantha & the Girls in Atlantic City for the Weekend!
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on May 23rd 2008 in Travel Tips
Here’s 9 more utterly fascinating gestures and behaviors from around the world to tickle your fancy: International Body Language & Manners: The Sequel
Posted by Samantha Evans on May 19th 2008 in Travel Blogs
There’s plenty of buzz in the blogosphere regarding Guy Kawasaki’s latest venture Alltop, a free site which aggregates posts from best and brightest blogs by an intuitive category system. Listings are segmented by “Work, living, culture, interests, geekery, people, good, news and Geos” Visit Alltop and you’re in for a RSS feed bookmarking party of monumental proportions. Alltop Assembles Definitive List of Kick Ass Travel Blogs
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on May 9th 2008 in Travel Tips, Travel Blogs
Quick: which sounds like a better vacation to you:
* Plan out infinite details, take a tour bus, rush from site to site, have a tour guide tell you where to go, stay in an American-style hotel, eat in regular restaurants
* Rent a local house, hang out with locals, buy local groceries, have lazy unplanned days of randomness
If you liked the second option, you’ll fit right in with the “slow travel” movement. The “Slow” Travel Movement: Pretend To Be A Local
Posted by Samantha Evans on May 6th 2008 in Samantha Smiles
Fact #1: There’s tremendous fun to be had by meeting new and interesting love interests online and well documented success stories, even including marriage.
Fact #2: These days airport layovers can be extremely long and annoying affairs.
Combine with a liberal dash of social media and you have the makings for a perfect blind date! Use Government TSA airport security (Transportation Security Administration) to screen your blind dates for free!
Absent a personal security force, the risks inherint with meeting strangers by way of social media sites like Craigslist outweigh the thrill for most. Though the vast majority of social media dating connections probably do not stem from murderous motivations, one certainly has to be wary.
Prearrange exciting social liaisons on Craigslist, Yahoo Personals and other dating sites, even with strangers during long layovers, knowing full well that they have been screened for weapons and subject to eyewitness scrutiny including federal marshals, state police and even military personnel. Use American Government to Screen Craigslist Blind Dates During Airport Layovers
