After a little hesitation, I think it’s time for me to address one of the hottest topics in travel: reclining seats on aircraft (and buses).
Some people judge a seat’s comfort by the amount of recline it allows. Other people have been taking devices on to planes to ensure that the person in front of them can’t recline at all.
Who’s right, and who’s wrong? Or is there no single correct answer to that question?
Continue reading When you recline, are you stealing somebody’s space?
Dejav vu, as any fan of Monty Python knows, is that strange feeling we sometimes get that we’ve lived through something before.
I often get it when I travel.
Continue reading Nostalgia is better than it used to be
The worst thing a traveller can do is to pack expectations about your destination before you even leave home.
That’s especially true if you’re determined to see everything through your own perception of what is “normal”.
Read more
I should know better than to buy cheap headphones. The earbuds that come with most devices never work properly, and the big, expensive ones are, well, big and expensive.
On a recent bus trip in Thailand, only one channel on my cheapies worked, which severely impeded my listening pleasure. However, keeping them both in drowned out the discomforting groans and rattles emanating from the ageing vehicle.
Continue reading Let’s hear it for better headphones
As a child, I was lucky enough to enjoy annual holidays at the beach. So, while I’m not a great swimmer, I’m very aware of the pleasures — and dangers — of swimming in the sea.
Sadly, many people who visit beaches have never been taught about the challenges of the surf. And that can be fatal.
Continue reading Don’t let a trip to the seaside end in tragedy
“Summer fling don’t mean a thing. But, ah, oh, those summer nights.”
(Summer Lovin’, Grease, Jacobs/ Casey, 1978)
Many of us have had a holiday romance, but how many of those love affairs ever last? Maybe more than you’d think.
Continue reading Romance: should what happens on holiday stay on holiday?
We all know that any product is worth whatever somebody is prepared to pay for it. But sometimes, especially as a traveller in a strange place, the customer doesn’t have a choice.
Social media and the web are full of stories about people who believe they have been ripped off when it comes to paying for food and beverages..
Recent examples include a man who was charged €43 (US$50 or nearly A$70) for two coffees and two bottles of water at a cafe in St Mark’s Square, Venice.
Continue reading Is it ever OK for a restaurant to charge over the odds?
Have you heard the one about the Ugly Australian abroad? I was reminded of this when a friend told me that he could never live in Thailand because of the way the expatriate community behaves.
Having spent a lot of time in Thailand — and in other places where expats dwell — I have to say that I understand what he means. And it’s not just Aussies who are behaving badly.
Continue reading What to do about expats behaving badly?
Update: Boracay reopened on October 26, 2018, but some venues remain closed, tourism numbers have been limited and infrastructure work is ongoing. Details here.
There’s an old saying that birds don’t [defecate] in their own nests. Having recently allowed pigeons to take up residence on my balcony, I know that that’s a crock of ….
Continue reading Boracay: can paradise be regained?
I like Melbourne — for the lifestyle, the coffee, the culture, the food, even the weather (though not so much the football code they follow ) — so I was a bit disappointed to read that it has been displaced as the “world’s most liveable city” by Vienna.
But then I thought: What the hell is a “liveable” city? And why does this matter?
Continue reading What makes Vienna more liveable than Melbourne? Or anywhere else?
It is well known that a cruise ship’s captain can marry a couple at sea (under certain circumstance). It is perhaps less well known that he or she can also make, and enforce, the law of the high seas.
People who commit offences on board a ship can be confined to their cabin, “jailed” in the brig and expelled from the ship at the next port, with little or no comeback. The captain is the judge, jury and enforcer of the punishment.
Continue reading Why cruise-ship captains have the last call
In common with many, many others, I like a drink. But, these days at least, I don’t drink at home alone. To me, drinking is wound up with socialising and discovery.
I know some people prefer the familiar comforts of their “local” — and I admit that I have a few favourites myself — but part of the appeal of travel and life in general is exploration, be it of your own backyard or the big wide world.
Continue reading What makes a great pub?Eighteen hours and 45 minutes on a plane. Sounds like hell, eh? But maybe not so much if you’re flying in premium economy or business class — which is what Singapore Airlines will be offering on the new world’s longest flight, from Singapore to New York, starting on October 11.
The flight will cover the 16,700-kilometre route in one hop from Changi to Newark thanks to the capabilities of the new Airbus A350-900 ULR (“ultra long range”) aircraft.
Continue reading Do premium-only flights diminish the magic?
A little while ago I wrote a post titled Five reasons why Airbnb is not really for me. As I write this, I am staying in an apartment on a beach in Thailand that I booked through Airbnb.
Things have been going so well, so far at least, that it seems that I have some explaining to do.
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Thailand, and that I’d urge anybody who hasn’t visited to seriously consider doing so. However, as with every travel destination, there are risks that you should keep in mind.
As I’ve said before, I tend to choose brand-name hotels when I travel, because I figure there’ll be less hassle when I’m dealing with a reputable provider*.
One downside, though, is that many hotels in the same brand — and even across brands — tend to look and feel the same. Whether you’re in Brisbane or Barcelona, Singapore or Seattle, a hotel is a hotel is a hotel.
Continue reading All cities are different, yet so many hotels are the same
Maybe I’m not wired like everybody else, but I sometimes have difficulty following maps, whether they be old-fashioned printed ones or on websites and apps.
Take this map posted on Twitter by New Scientist magazine to demonstrate some early form of tourism — the evolution and movement of different hominids who existed before modern humans.
Continue reading How maps sometimes make travel more difficult
Because of changes in my life — more on that later — I may soon need to take a quick trip out of Thailand.
So I went to Google to see if I could find a cheap business-class seat, as you can sometimes pick one up for not a lot more than an economy flight.
Over on Quora.com, I answered this question: What would you change about the cruise industry or experience?
I gave a short response, which I’d like to expand on here. Continue reading Cruise ships can do better for solo travellers
