Safety and Health
Wednesday, 20 March 2024
The Amazing Race 36, Episode 2
Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) Like the season premiere last week, this second episode of The Amazing Race 36 took place entirely in Puerto Vallarta -- but in an even smaller area, with the cast members travelling from each checkpoint or challenge to the next entirely on foot. Without maps, or with... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 20 March 2024, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 30 November 2022
The Amazing Race 34, Episode 10
Malaga (Spain) - Keflavik (Iceland)- Sólheimajökull Glacier (Iceland) - Thingvellir National Park (Iceland) - Gullfoss (Iceland) The best decision made by any of cast members during this week's episode of The Amazing Race 34 in Iceland may have been the choice by David and Aubrey to take a two-hour penalty... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 30 November 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 9 November 2022
The Amazing Race 34, Episode 7
Domme (France) - Toulouse (France) A case study in COVID-19, travel, and insurance Master of ceremonies Phil Keoghan sends off the racers at the start of each season of The Amazing Race with the line, "Travel safe!" But what does that mean? And is it even possible? My previous couple... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 9 November 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (1)
Wednesday, 2 November 2022
The Amazing Race 34, Episode 6
Amman (Jordan) - Toulouse (France) - Château de Beynac (France) - Château de Commargue (France) - Domme (France) Face masks ("elastomeric respirators") for safer travel [On the Thalys high-speed train between Schiphol Airport and Brussels.] As I noted last week, one team of contestants on The Amazing Race 34 was... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 2 November 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (4)
Wednesday, 26 October 2022
The Amazing Race 34, Episode 5
Amman (Jordan) COVID-19 testing [Vending machine at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam. The top row, left to right, has either a pack of five FFP2 face masks (FFP2 is the European standard equivalent to N95 in the USA) or a COVID-19 fast antigen self-test, either for EUR2.99 (approximately US$3).] Will and Abby... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 26 October 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
The Amazing Race 34, Episode 4
Florence (Italy) - Aqaba (Jordan) - Wadi Rum (Jordan) - Petra (Jordan) [Ad for Royal Jordanian Airlines and travel to Jordan in a station on the new Elizabeth Line of the London Underground.] Phil Keoghan welcomed the cast of The Amazing Race 34 onto their chartered jet flight from Florence... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 19 October 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 12 October 2022
The Amazing Race 34, Episode 3
Innsbruck (Austria) - Bologna (Italy) - Florence (Italy) Travel, the autism spectrum, and the pandemic Have you ever been in the middle of a big trip and thought, "I just want to go home"? That's what happened to Sharik near the end of an especially long day of navigation, driving,... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 12 October 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (6)
Wednesday, 28 September 2022
The Amazing Race 34, Episode 2
Munich, Bavaria (Germany) - Innsbruck (Austria) Filming of The Amazing Race was interrupted by the outbreak of COVID-19 in the middle of the previous season of the reality-TV show about travel around the world, just as broadcasts of the first season of the show were interrupted, just days after the... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 28 September 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Thursday, 22 September 2022
Freedom to travel to get an abortion
I have a deep dive today on the Identity Project blog on the right to travel to get an abortion: [Arrows indicate populations of states where abortion is, or is likely to become, illegal, and directions and distances to the nearest states where abortion is legal. Note that some of... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 22 September 2022, 10:33 (10:33 AM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 21 September 2022
The Amazing Race 34, Episode 1
Los Angeles, CA (USA) - Munich, Bavaria (Germany) The "new normal" of post-pandemic, COVID-endemic travel [Claire and Derek, who finished first in the opening leg of The Amazing Race 34, assemble the puzzle pieces of a clue to their next destination on the roof of their rental car in Munich.]... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 21 September 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (1)
Wednesday, 2 March 2022
The Amazing Race 33, Episode 9
Thessaloniki, Macedonia (Greece) - Lisbon (Portugal) - Almada (Portugal) - Setúbal (Portugal) - Sesimbra (Portugal) - Lisbon (Portugal) - Portsmouth, NH (USA) - Los Angeles, CA (USA) - Carson, CA (USA) [Lisbon city center and port, as seen beyond the Ponte 25 de Abril from the Belem-Porto Brandão ferry. So... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 2 March 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 16 February 2022
The Amazing Race 33, Episode 7
Bonifacio, Corsica (France) - Thessaloniki, Macedonia (Greece) [The original tree-sitter: St. David the Dendrite (tree-dweller), patron saint of Thessaloniki for Orthodox Christians. Note the spelling of "David of Thessaloniki" in Greek in the upper right corner of the fresco. This episode of The Amazing Race 33 included a lecture and... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 16 February 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 9 February 2022
The Amazing Race 33, Episode 6
Corte, Corsica (France) - Zonza, Corsica (France) - Bonifacio, Corsica (France) I talked last week about the complications of getting to and from Corsica during the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, with The Amazing Race 33 still exploring this island in the Western Mediterranean, we got to see more of what... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 9 February 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 2 February 2022
The Amazing Race 33, Episode 5
Lugano (Switzerland) - Milan (Italy) - Bastia, Corsica (France) - Altiani, Corsica (France) - Corte, Corsica (France) If you are travelling around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, what places will you choose to visit? What health measures and related red tape will travel require? What will travel across international... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 2 February 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 26 January 2022
The Amazing Race 33, Episode 4
Altstätten (Switzerland) - Ticino (Switzerland) - Lugano (Switzerland) [Algérie Ferries trans-Mediterranean overnight ocean liner from Algiers steams past the Château d'If toward the entrance to the harbor at Marseille, France. There are surprisingly few direct flights between Marseilles and the Maghreb, and I think there's a viable market for more... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 26 January 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (1)
Wednesday, 12 January 2022
The Amazing Race 33, Episode 2
London, England (U.K.) - Glasgow, Scotland (U.K.) [Cross-border Passenger Rail Services (from New Action Plan: boosting long-distance and cross-border passenger rail, European Commission, 14 December 2021)] This week's episode of The Amazing Race 33 was filmed at the end of February 2020, just before the production was suspended and the... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 12 January 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (4)
Wednesday, 5 January 2022
The Amazing Race 33, Episode 1
USA - London, England (U.K.) Maybe you're not sure if you are ready for travel, much less for international travel, long-haul flights, or a trip around the world. But the new season of The Amazing Race is a chance to explore these ideas and clarify our own (revised) travel goals,... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 5 January 2022, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Saturday, 26 June 2021
Air travel, global warming, and the COVID-19 pandemic
I have a long feature today in the Sierra Club's online magazine, SIERRA, on air travel, global warming, and the COVID-19 pandemic: The Biden Administration Wants to "Build Back Better" -- What Could That Mean for Air Travel? In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced air travel and its climate footprint... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 26 June 2021, 05:47 ( 5:47 AM)
| Comments (1)
Saturday, 24 April 2021
The international standard for "vaccination passports"
There continues to be a lot of talk about smartphone apps that would "prove" that you (or the person whose smartphone you borrowed or stole or hacked) have been vaccinated for COVID-19. I talked about the problems with these in an earlier article. But what you need to know... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 24 April 2021, 06:13 ( 6:13 AM)
| Comments (4)
Sunday, 3 January 2021
Would a "vaccine passport" app make flying safer? No.
Travel advice columnist Christopher Elliott has already been taking flack from some travel companies and (sadly) some travelers for urging people tempted to travel to stay home until the COVID-19 pandemic is under control (as I've also urged). Now Chris has probably made some more enemies with his latest... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 3 January 2021, 14:16 ( 2:16 PM)
| Comments (1)
Wednesday, 16 December 2020
The Amazing Race 32, Episode 10
Manila (Philippines) - New Orleans, LA (USA) The Amazing Race 32 finished on the 50-yard line of the football field inside the New Orleans Superdome, with Will asking his partner James to marry him, and James saying, "Yes," immediately after they won the million-dollar prize for finishing first in this... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 16 December 2020, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (2)
Wednesday, 25 November 2020
The Amazing Race 32, Episode 7
Almaty (Qazakstan) - Hyderabad, Telangana (India) Visiting Friends and Relatives: Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Travel Trends and Predictions More than a million people a day went through TSA checkpoints in the run-up to Thanksgiving. This is less than half the daily number last year, but more than ten times that in... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 25 November 2020, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (4)
Wednesday, 14 October 2020
The Amazing Race 32, Episode 1 (Travel during the pandemic)
Los Angeles, CA (USA) - Port of Spain, Trinidad (Trinidad & Tobago) - Tobago (Trinidad & Tobago) Travel during the coronavirus pandemic Season 32 of The Amazing Race, which premiered today -- almost two years after it was filmed -- on CBS-TV in the USA, has both planned and unplanned... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 14 October 2020, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (1)
Friday, 10 July 2020
Travelling via Chicago
As if there weren't already enough complications and concerns for those who have to travel, a "self-quarantine" travel order issued a week ago by the Commissioner of Health of the City of Chicago has cast a cloud of uncertainty over what might happen to people who try to change planes,... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 10 July 2020, 18:19 ( 6:19 PM)
| Comments (1)
Tuesday, 24 March 2020
COVID-19 and travel company bailouts
I'm not a medical expert, so I've refrained from cluttering the Internet with more potentially confusing or erroneous advice about travel during a pandemic. My medical advice is to listen to medical experts. But with Congress debating financial proposals related to travel companies, and not health, it's time for me... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 24 March 2020, 20:40 ( 8:40 PM)
| Comments (7)
Tuesday, 29 August 2017
What would happen if a robot got hit by a train?
A couple of weeks ago, while waiting for a commuter train back to San Francisco from Redwood City, I had an unexpected and disturbing encounter with one of the "self-driving" motorized delivery robots that are currently being tested in Redwood City. The robot -- a knee-high wheeled box about the... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 29 August 2017, 12:39 (12:39 PM)
| Comments (12)
Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Chicago airport police attack passenger on Republic Airlines plane
[Schedule of "United Airlines" flights from Chicago O'Hare to Louisville on April 9th] Many of my readers, and NPR listeners who heard me interviewed on WBEZ in Chicago last week about air travel and class, have been asking for my take on the airline passenger dragged off a plane... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 19 April 2017, 08:23 ( 8:23 AM)
| Comments (37)
Thursday, 6 April 2017
The Amazing Race 29, Episode 2
Panama City (Panama) - São Paulo (Brazil) My feelings about São Paulo are considerably more mixed, and in some respects more favorable, than you might infer from some of my past mentions of the megalopolis. On the good side, São Paulo is one of those urban agglomerations that is so... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 6 April 2017, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (1)
Monday, 12 December 2016
Notes from Amsterdam, Brussels, and Istanbul
["Hasbrouck" is a French Huguenot name, presumably of Flemish etymology, meaning "Rabbit Marsh" or, as a Belgian customs man once told me, "Swamp of the Bunnies". It's spelled differently in France, South Africa, the USA, and the Netherlands. One evening on the way back to my hostel from a... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 12 December 2016, 20:13 ( 8:13 PM)
| Comments (3)
Friday, 22 April 2016
The Amazing Race 28, Episode 9
Dubai (U.A.E.) - Bali (Indonesia) For those who don't have a sense of comparative scale, the island of Bali in Indonesia is about four times as large as O'ahu (Honolulu), with a similar overall population density and development similarly concentrated in a coastal fringe around the volcano that dominates the... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 22 April 2016, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Wednesday, 20 April 2016
How safe is airline passenger data? Not secure at all.
[PNR data flows. Each node in the network is a point of vulnerability. Click image for larger version.] This week in the German IT news portal Golem and the German weekly news magazine Die Zeit, Hauke Gierow has a deep dive, based in substantial part on a long interview... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 20 April 2016, 12:03 (12:03 PM)
| Comments (0)
Friday, 25 March 2016
Places in the news: Brussels and Buenos Aires
[National Monument to the Victims of State Terrorism in Buenos Aires, visited yesterday by US President Obama] News and events, even on the other side of the world, have more impact when we can relate them to our own experiences. In the last few days, I've been thinking a... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 25 March 2016, 19:46 ( 7:46 PM)
| Comments (0)
Friday, 26 February 2016
The Amazing Race 28, Episode 3
Cartagena (Colombia) In this episode of The Amazing Race, the travellers got to work a job that is common around the world, but almost nonexistent in the USA: bus conductor. "Outside the First World," as I note in The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World, "All buses have... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 26 February 2016, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Saturday, 2 January 2016
Oakland incident highlights risks for absentee landlords
A couple who rented their Oakland home on Airbnb while they were out of town over New Year's Eve were called home early by neighbors alarmed at the large wild party going on in the house. Police arrived before the homeowners, who found garbage, blood, and damaged furniture and other... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 2 January 2016, 22:32 (10:32 PM)
| Comments (2)
Friday, 11 September 2015
Air travel predictions come true: luggage locks and interline ticketing
Two predictions I made a decade or longer ago have come true this week, one about the farcically insecure "TSA-approved" luggage locks, and the other marking a much more significant milestone in the anti-consumer balkanization of the airline industry. (1) Master keys for TSA-approved "Travel Sentry" luggage locks made public.... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 11 September 2015, 10:34 (10:34 AM)
| Comments (1)
Friday, 24 April 2015
The Amazing Race 26, Episode 8
[The line of people waiting to audition for The Amazing Race extended around the corner for two blocks.] Goanikontes (Namibia) - Windhoek (Namibia) - Johannesburg (South Africa) - Amsterdam (Netherlands) As soon as the contestants on The Amazing Race 26 got into taxis at Schiphol Airport (a waste of... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 24 April 2015, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Friday, 17 April 2015
The Amazing Race 26, Episode 7
Cap Ferrat (France) - Nice (France) - Windhoek (Namibia) - Erindi (Namibia) - Spitzkoppe (Namibia) - Swakopmund (Namibia) - Dorob National Park (Namibia) - Goanikontes (Namibia) Namibia, as host Phil Keoghan pointed out near the start of this week's episode of The Amazing Race 26, is the least densely populated... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 17 April 2015, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Friday, 24 October 2014
The Amazing Race 25, Episode 5
Copenhagen (Denmark) - Marrakesh (Morocco) Former bike messengers Alli and Kym finished first again in this leg of The Amazing Race 25 after yet another task that required making deliveries by bicycle. This week each racer had to secure several bundles of freshly-tanned goatskins with bungee cords on top of... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 24 October 2014, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Friday, 10 October 2014
The Amazing Race 25, Episode 3
Oxford, England (U.K.) - Aberdeen, Scotland (U.K.) - Shetland Islands, Scotland (U.K.) [National Cycle Network Route 1, Northumberland coast, England, U.K.] The first clue given to the teams in this leg of The Amazing Race 25 sent them north on an all-day train ride from Oxford, England, to Aberdeen, Scotland,... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 10 October 2014, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (1)
Sunday, 18 May 2014
The Amazing Race 24, Episode 12
Cheshire, England (UK) - Las Vegas, NV (USA) - Henderson, NV (USA) - Las Vegas, NV (USA) At the conclusion of The Amazing Race 24, one member of each pair of racers had to jump out of a helicopter and parachute (in tandem with an instructor/guide) onto the infield of... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 18 May 2014, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Sunday, 30 March 2014
The Amazing Race 24, Episode 6
Colombo (Sri Lanka) - Alawwa (Sri Lanka)- Rambukkana (Sri Lanka)- Ambepussa (Sri Lanka) - Mount Lavinia (Sri Lanka) In Europe, tourists are likely to think of Sri Lanka as a tropical beach destination that competes with places such as Thailand and Bali for their vacation business. There are nonstop scheduled... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 30 March 2014, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Sunday, 2 March 2014
The Amazing Race 24, Episode 2
Guangzhou (China) This season of The Amazing Race has an All-Star cast of racers on their second or third reality-TV trip around the world. So we expected to see the lessons of travel experience on display. At the starting line, however, one member of the cast failed the final medical... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 2 March 2014, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
Sunday, 17 November 2013
The Amazing Race 23, Episode 7 (FAQ: Riding Skills for Bicycle Travel)
Abu Dhabi (UAE) - Al Ain (UAE) FAQ: Riding Skills for Bicycle Travel This week the teams on The Amazing Race 23 "made their way" (in product-placement SUVs, fittingly for visitors to the oil sheikhdoms) from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain, and then to the mountaintop luxury resort hotel next... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 17 November 2013, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (1)
Tuesday, 11 January 2005
The Amazing Race 6, Episode 7
Budapest (Hungary) - Ajaccio, Corsica (France) - Calvi, Corsica (France) - l'Ile Rousse, Corsica (France) In this week's episode of The Amazing Race, Adam and Rebecca jump into first place (midway through the race around the world, although still in Europe despite a side trip to Africa) by completing a... (...Read Entire Entry)Link |
Posted by Edward, 11 January 2005, 23:59 (11:59 PM)
| Comments (0)
