Two years ago I spent Christmas in a burning airplane 36,000 feet above the Northern Pacific Ocean. The upside of the situation was that I got to miss the typical Christmas drama. The downside was I nearly died.
Here is a recap of the whole experience I wrote a few weeks later for my college paper, [...]
Posts under ‘travel tips’
A Christmas crash landing [retrospective]
Should New York try running negative ads?
The AP reports that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and London Mayor Boris Johnson have agreed to swap ad space on each city’s public transportation system in order to boost mutual tourism. London will be able to place a few dozen ads in MTA buses while New York will get poster locations in the Underground.
Of course, what [...]
Why Europe Sucks €. 7: Horrible mattresses
For the last month I’ve been sleeping on one of those foam IKEA mattresses. You know, the spring-free pads that look so alluring when placed on the sleek, low-profile bed frames in the showroom. I’ll let you in on a little secret, though: after about five minutes, IKEA mattresses suck. Their hard, unyielding foam and [...]
Programing note
Today I have a guest post up at the blog New New Yorkers. In it, I give my take on five cultural oddities about New York that make live here unique: like the fact that brunch here is not just for old ladies.
You don’t have to be old to do brunch. In the rest of [...]
Michigan to Manhattan: A cross-country scorecard of what makes America great (Part 2).
This is the second of a two-part series recapping my move to New York. If you missed part 1, you can read it here.
Eastern Pennsylvania
After refueling at the Flying J, things in Pennsylvania went pretty smoothly. That is, they went smoothly until about hour seven of my journey, when I decided to turn off [...]
Michigan to Manhattan: A cross-country scorecard of what makes America great (part 1)
This is the first in a two part series recapping my move to New York.
The Departure
Moving day was quite the odyssey.
When I arrived at the car rental place on Tuesday at 7 AM to pick up my rental, I was informed that they did not have a car for me. No apology, [...]
Travel Tips #.2 Where to pee in NYC
Years ago, in the dark ages of the early 1970s, New York City had a lot in common with its European counterparts. It was dirty, drug ridden and was suffering under a repressive pay-to-pee regime. But in the mid 70s a fearless band of patriots successfully fought to banish pay toilets from NYC forever. Today, [...]
Why we hate airports
We all hate going to the airport–the lines, the prices, the hassle, the stress and the general discomfort. Over the last decade, airports have become so unpleasant that the term no longer evokes images of modernity and mobility, but rather images of misery and incompetence.
But why do we hate airports so much?
Security, parking, and customer [...]
Travel Tips #1. So you’re going to Europe for Spring Break
So you’re trying to take advantage of the financial crisis for some dirt-cheap trips to Europe. Or maybe you’ve seen all there is to see in America and are looking for something new. Or perhaps you just figured this early in the spring is the time to go to Europe, since it is not too hot [...]
