My Tweet - What are your Travel Phobias ?

I posted a tweet this morning that went like this:


"What are your travel phobias? Here are the top 5 http://bit.ly/4EmPx #travel"




It was related to an article that I came across on MSN Travel.


It says that the top 5 travel phobias are these:

1. Fear of flying.
2. Fear of Being away from home, family and work.
3. Fear of illness.
4. Fear of a bad flight (they actually call it an annoyance instead of a fear).
5. Fear of losing your luggage.

It made me think what my travel phobias are...hmmm... These seemed a little tame.
The one I am most worried about is someone putting something in my bag and I get arrested in a foreign country (like the movie Brokedown Palace). Apparently I am not the only one.
These are some of the great responses I got:
From @LiteratiLisa
"Bed bugs, getting mugged, getting stranded in a foreign country, having drugs thrown in my suitcase (brokedown palace)" - just like me!
From @travel_x_4
"mine is waking up with a bad back!"
From @Jeff_Johnson
"My top travel phobia is getting hit on the "oversized bags" charge for my golf clubs - airline baggage charges have to go!"
From @newenglandgirl
"My travel phobia is forgetting to pack underwear after having to buy granny panties in a remote Vermont drug store once. :-)"
What are your travel phobias? Comment below - I would love to hear them. Remember the first step is to admit you have the fear!
Overall whatever your travel fears are, I hope they aren't stopping you from traveling!

Fear of Flying?

I fly a lot. More than the average person that doesn't need to fly for business. And I am amazed at how many people are afraid to fly. I end up running into one on almost every leg of every trip these days.

On my way home from Las Vegas in Feburary, there was a girl that was crying and freaking out as we took off. Her friend was trying to calm her. I also tried to help out as I have done so much flying. She was fine after take off and didn't flinch during landing.

The way I look at is the stats. Chances are I will be hit by a car then be in an airplane accident. That is good enough for me.

Besides that I know that what is at the other end, whether it be a new destination to explore, or home, that it is worth it to fly. I used to be a nervous flyer.

Now I really enjoy it. I enjoy take off, landing, and everything in between - with one condition - I have an aisle seat. I still like the freedom to get up and down! (and flying business class whenever I can also makes it fun!)

I just found this awesome article from Tip Diva about how to make flying better. I think she has some great ideas. I always say that the more information you have the less you can make up.

Fear is just:

False

Expectations

Appearing

Real

Thank you to @whereivebeen from http://www.whereivebeen.com/ for bringing this article to my attention on Twitter

What About a Different Type of Family Vacation this Year?

Do you take a family vacation each year? What do you usually do?

Go to the beach?
Rent a cottage?
Go to Florida?

What about something a little different. Take a Family Learning Vacation?

Take a vacation where you all learn a skill like scuba diving or skiing?

What about a vacation where your kids will learn about a new culture – maybe a culture they learned in school?

Do your kids love dinosaurs? Take them on a dig for fossils in the American badlands or Alberta Canada.

Whatever you choose it can be a very rewarding experience for you and your kids. Imagine the family bonding as you learn about something together?

I know…I can hear your kids now – I don’t want to learn! I want to have fun! I learn at school why would I want to do it on vacation? This is why it is important to keep the following points in mind while planning your learning vacation.

1. Make sure you plan a balance between fun and learning – remember you are on vacation – it should be fun!
2. Make sure the whole family is interested in the activities, destinations and experiences.
3. Before you go, show the kids where they are going. This will get them excited about the holiday. Rent movies or read books about the destination or experience.
4. Take your kids on a sample activity before you go to make sure everyone will enjoy it. For example go to the museum or take a sample scuba diving class.
5. Keep your expectations in check – not all kids will love what you plan – so don’t get your hopes up or expect your kids to love it, you may be disappointed.
6. Learning may come from simple places, like interacting with locals, or eating local food.
7. Look to experts for advice or ideas – look for tour operators that offer these types of holidays for inspiration or to organize your vacation.
8. Be creative or do it yourself, look for learning opportunities everywhere. Who knows what your kids can learn, even on a drive to Grandma’s house. Are there places you can stop so your kids have the chance to learn?

Make your next vacation something a little different. Do some research, see what is out there.

If a learning vacation doesn’t fit with your plans, what about a themed vacation – Are you kids big fans of Harry Potter or Twilight? What about a movie location tour.

For more inspiration on a different type of vacation with your family - check out Themed Vacations for Kids.

Earth Hour A Success!

Earth Hour took place this past weekend around the world. I think it is incredible when you can take a concept and a statement and enroll a big chunk of the world in it - including Las Vegas the city of Lights.

As I am sure you know we are big Vegas fans and were stunned when we saw how the strip took part (it's the last photo of this link)

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/earth_hour_2009.html

Make sure you check out Toronto too - Our hometown! We had a 15% decrease on the Grid that night - I was so proud. But I know we can do better next year!

Congratulations world! I can't wait to see after a whole year how many more will participate.
Thanks to Joanna Haugen for bringing this web page to my attentiong through twitter @joanna_haugen and her site is http://joannahaugen.com/home/91/the-latest

http://www.earthhour.org/home/

What is your Scariest Travel Experience?

This morning I was reading something somewhere on the Internet about scary travel experiences. It's interesting because I have been to every continent except Antarctica, and my scariest travel moment was as I was flying into Moscow in February of 2000.

My sister and her husband had adopted a baby from Kazakhstan. She had to spend a few days in Moscow to get approvals from the Canadian Consulate for my niece to be admitted into Canada. My parents and I were in Europe on business (back when I worked for the family business) so we decided to detour to Moscow to spend it with them and to meet the new member of our family.

Yes we had to eat at McDonald's - It was a Canadian initiative after all!

I grew up in the 70's and 80's. Even though I grew up in Canada we were still "concerned" about the USSR. We had heard stories about how people were treated and how they would have to line up for hours to get bread and food. And of course the "nuclear" threat.

The flight from London to Moscow was on BA. They showed a movie called "East/West". It was nominated for an Academy Award for best Foreign Film, and it was a really well made movie. It told a story that should be told, just not a great idea to show it while flying into Moscow.

The movie was about a Russian Expat Doctor who was asked to come back to Russia to live and practice. Stalin asked many soviets that left the USSR after WWI to return and help to "rebuild" the USSR with no repercussions for fleeing in the first place. Well of course Stalin lied and killed some as soon as they arrived, or in the case of this family took the French wife's passport as soon as they arrived and then pretty much treated them like prisoners.

As we landed my heart started racing, I was shaking and my face was flushed. My dad actually asked if I was OK.... He didn't watch the movie - he was safe!

My logical mind said - don't be silly...this doesn't happen anymore - it's the year 2000 - the new millennium - the wall fell ages ago...People visit here safely all the time...my my emotions said - "What are you Crazy????"

I was so flustered I left my laptop ON THE PLANE!. I rushed back to get it and 2 very stern security personnel (with guns I might add) told me in Russian (at least I think this is what they meant) - that I had to turn around and go back - I couldn't go back onto the plane! I knew it - this was a plot to steal my stuff like they did in that movie. Well OK I am exaggerating a bit!

I stood in the very long immigration line up...with my papers in hand...still fearful....who knows what might happen once we get past that line.

We then got to the baggage claim and low and behold a flight attendant had taken my bag off for me. Whew!

We went through customs and found a taxi...The rest of the trip was AWESOME and we got to meet my beautiful niece for the first time later that night.

In my 4 days and touring around in the cold. They only time I got "hassled" by the authorities was when I was in a taxi going back to the airport - they wanted to see my papers - I happily obliged.

So it was just my mind that made it all up! I guess that is the power of the mind.

The lesson I learned - Don't make up what isn't there .. stay present while traveling. Assess what is actually going on..Not what you think might happen!.

I asked on Twitter today "What was your scariest travel experience?" I got some great responses...

From children and parents being hassled in Jamaica to have their hair braided...To a smoke filled plane from Jakarta to Bandung .... To trying to vacation in Tahiti while a huge and violent protest was going on over a French Nuclear Testing program nearby. (thank you on twitter to those that responded!)

So what is your scariest travel experience? Please comment below!