Fellow travel writer Doug Lansky sent an email asking if I’d be willing do an interview for his new website: TitanicAwards.com. Of course, I would and what an honor to be placed in a section called Famous Writers. I don’t think I’m worthy but I will take it as it’s a privilege to be counted among legends and gurus like Peter Greenberg, Tim Cahill, Tony Wheeler, Robert Young Pelton and Keith Bellows, among others.
TitanicAwards.com is not your typical travel website. They seek to take a different approach to the often-spectacular under-achievements in the travel industry… by celebrating them. There are tons of critical reviews of books, movies and plays in the media, but not many in the travel industry. TitanicAwards.com is not attempting to fulfill the accountability gap in the travel industry; it’s more like a shot across the bow. Besides, some of the strange and unflattering aspects of travel are the most interesting and entertaining. One of my favorite aspects of the website, besides reading about the legends’ top five worst experiences, are the travel videos. They have some posted on the most crowded train, a cruise pool just getting walloped by rough water and a desert driving tour gone bad. There are sections where you can submit videos or nominate your worst experiences.
I always mention my favorite newsletters that I receive in my inbox and one that’s been around for a while is Bottom Line Secrets. It’s free and they email it three times a week but I only read their Sunday issue since I don’t care for stock tips. Sunday’s newsletter is always packed with useful information from the country's leading experts. The two articles are not always about travel but more often than not they are (it was last week). I actually get more out of the non-travel-related ones, which can range in subject from lawn work to the latest health breakthroughs or tax secrets. Let me know if you find it as helpful as I do.
You have to give the folks over at Air New Zealand credit for their creativity, outgoing personalities and boldness. To see what I mean, here’s a behind-the-scenes video of their staff (pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers, gate agents …) getting their naked bodies painted to look like uniforms for a nothing-to-hide TV commercial. BTW: Air New Zealand is one of my favorite airlines and I did a feature of their incredible business class a couple years ago.
Here in southern California I rarely use an umbrella. But when I travel, especially to Seattle, New York, Asia and Europe, I always make sure I pack a small one. The folks over at Davek sent me one of their fancy travel umbrellas to try. I’d read about them in a magazine that claimed it was one of the best umbrellas around. What makes it so special is that it has a super-strong frame, an extremely thin and extremely strong water-repellent microweave fabric, a three-action button system: push to automatically open, close, or to make the ribs automatically correct themselves if the umbrella ever inverts in the wind.
For sure it’s stylish, as it comes in array of colors including fuchsia pink, kiwi, royal blue and classic black and comes with a genuine leather wrist strap. My problem is that it costs $95, which is crazy steep for an umbrella. Usually the ones I get are $5 or less but then again, those aren’t very sturdy. One I got in Chinatown leaked dye all over my beige jacket, ruining it … which cost a lot more than $95. So if you travel a lot and want a good looking, sturdy, reliable umbrella, then Davek might be for you. I definitely would carry one around all the time but Davek made us return it after a couple weeks trying it out and if umbrellas weren’t the only things I tend to misplace, I would purchase one myself.
