Starling Travel

The excellent Aliza Sherman wrote a great article about iPhone applications that are helpful when you’re traveling.

• AK Tech Girl : iPhone Apps for Travelers | adn.com

Here is her list with iTunes links to the applications. Click through to AK Tech Girl for more information.

• Maps – Free application included with iPhone – Use the locate button to find where you are. Type in what you are looking for and it will give you directions.

• Call a Taxi – $1.99 – Instantly find a taxi whenever you need it, wherever you are.

• Currency Converter (by Phlogistic Apps) – $1.99 – Provides up-to-date foreign exchange information for over 150 different currencies and products.

• iCall Free VoIP (by iCall, Inc.) – Free – iCall allows you to make and receive phone calls over WiFi – even when you don’t have a cell signal. Calls don’t count towards your cell calling plan.

• Find My Phone (by CLO Software) – $0.99 – If you lose your phone, those who find it can easily get in touch with you right from the app’s main screen. If your phone is stolen, your phone can email (or call) you when the application is launched.

• Lonely Planet Phrasebooks (by Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd) – $9.99 each – Want to never be at a loss for words, no matter where you are in the world? With your iPhone, and a little help from Lonely Planet, you’ll have the local lingo cracked.

• Travelto (by Molinker, Inc.) – $0.99 each – Offline guidebooks for travelers by travelers in your pocket, anytime, anywhere.

• HearPlanet Free (by HearPlanet) – Free – Use HearPlanet to learn about places you go, as well as what’s around you every day. It’s a great way to learn about your surroundings and you’ll be amazed at what you find.

I had never hear of Call a Taxi, iCall or Find My Phone, so I immediately downloaded all three on Aliza’s recommendations. I can’t wait to play with them!

Our first foray into Yellowstone this spring was greeted with snow and baby buffalo.

With the snow piled higher than our ears, we waited for Old Faithful to erupt.

For more photos:

• Yellowstone Park 04-20-08 on Flickr

I have never been one to pack light. I’m always the one who has aspirin and band-aids in her purse just in case, so you can imagine what I’m like when I pack for a week. Zen Habits, on the other hand is packing light for his trip to Thailand.

• 36 Great Tips for Keeping Travel as Simple as Possible (and Two Poems) | Zen Habits

Here is his list for his backpack:

• Travel docs (passport, credit card, ID)
• deodorant
• 2 pairs of shorts
• 2 T-shirts
• 2 pairs underwear
• swim trunks
• 1 book
• journal and pen
• camera, charger

He says anything else he needs, he’ll buy in Thailand. I really don’t want to have to worry about washing clothes every night after I wear them, so I can’t imagine packing this light.

If all you could bring to your next trip was a small backpack, what would you put in it?

When you go on a road trip, so much of the travel is… well… on the road. Our drive to San Diego from Salt Lake City last month was quite a harrowing experience. Not only did we leave in a horrible snow storm, we took a back route through the mining roads of California. Here is a glimpse of our 14 hour drive.

Download this video for your iPod

When a drive to your destination is as harrowing as this one, it makes you start to wonder if leaving town is really all that worth it. It was sheer stubbornness that drove us to leave that morning with the huge flakes falling. My mom called in a panic when we were on the road, “It’s snowing like crazy here. You’re not really driving out today are you?!” I assured her that we were already on the road and well past the point of the mountain (we weren’t) and that the weather was much better in Provo than in Salt Lake (it WASN’T).

Of course, we’re fools.

If you are planning on leaving town and the snow is as bad as this video, don’t be stupid like us. Call your hotel and see if you can delay your travel for a day without a fee (fat chance, but it can’t hurt to try). A nervous and anxious drive to your vacation is the polar opposite of what a relaxing trip should be.

I’m sure Delta Airlines created these videos to show us how we are supposed to act politely on an airplane, but it just fell short for me. Each video tells me why I HATE to fly.

Planeguage: LavDance – A woman comes out of the lavatory to find a line of people waiting. The aisle is so small that she can’t get past them without some jostling. Who’s the rude one? The lady in the lavatory? The line of people blocking her way? How about the airline who designed a plane that can’t accommodate two people in the aisle.

Planeguage: Kidtastrophe – A man is assaulted by a boy kicking his chair while the parent does nothing to stop him. Anyone who has taken a flight to Salt Lake City has encountered this exact scenario.

Planeguage: Shady Lady – Everyone is watching the in-flight movie and they are surprised by a lady opening her shade so she can read her magazine. Later, a child is pointing at the Empire State Building, but the shade suddenly closes under the hand of the Shady Lady.

Planeguage: Middleman – A man hogs the armrests in the middle seat. The problem here is that there are no rules. A simple line down the middle of the armrest would solve ninety percent of this problem.

Planeguage: Miracle – A couple in love are destined to sit apart from each other, but a Miracle on 34th Row happens that allows them to sit together. This actually happened to Mike and me when we were flying to Hawaii, except without the miracle. Snow delayed our plan from SLC, so we missed our planned flight to Hawaii. The only other plane for 12 hours had us sitting so far apart and no one was willing to trade. SEVEN hours apart on our ROMANTIC Hawaii getaway. Thanks, Delta.

Instead of solving the logistical problems that cause LavDances and Middlemen and the need for Miracles, Delta spent a ton of money on an advertising agency to “train” us to be better travelers.

Bad form, Delta Airlines, bad form.

Tara Hunt travels a lot. No, I travel alot. Tara LIVES on the road. Here is her experience with Expedia and why she believes they are no longer good for setting your travel plans.

• Why Smart Travelers Should NEVER Book With Expedia | ::HorsePigCow:: marketing uncommon

Expedia charged her credit card for a hotel room that never came to be and it will be WEEKS before she can get a refund.

We showed up at a hotel the other night that had no record of our reservation. We understand that mistakes happen. This hotel receives their reservations via fax machine (yep, old skool), so perhaps there was a paper jam that day? Either way, I just wanted options as the hotel was fully booked. I got on the phone with Expedia, who refused to take any responsibility for the mishap. “But ma’am,” I said, “I booked at Expedia.com, giving you my credit card and trusting this to be taken care of, yet you say you can’t rectify it now? You can’t put us in a similar hotel?” Nope. In fact, she indicated that it would take a couple of weeks to refund the money I paid for this hotel room and I would have to pay for whichever replacement hotel room I could find.”

I don’t know about you, but there have been times in this last year when I’ve had to travel because of family emergencies. If Expedia had taken my money and left me high and dry like that, we would have been sleeping in our car. We barely had the money to go there, but pay TWICE and wait for weeks for a refund?

Completely unacceptable!

Here is a site with links to the problems that Expedia has been having:

• expedianews.com

Me? I use Expedia to find out what hotels are where I need to be and then I book with the hotels directly. I’ve had my own issues with Expedia and I refuse to use them any longer.

Plus, Tara is right. Booking with the hotel, car rental or airline directly is usually cheaper.

They’re my running shoes. I wear them when I fly because there are times when I have to run to catch a plane connection. I once saw a girl trying to catch a plane wearing flip flops. I passed her up wearing my running shoes despite the fact that I was lugging my huge laptop and outweighed her by twenty pounds. I don’t know if she caught her flight, but I KNOW I caught mine. I’ve worn running shoes on the airplane ever since.

Only problem is, my running shoes set off a security flag and I had to go through the additional swipe and swab because of them:

This little Nike+ gadget has been a godsend to my running because it can track how far I’ve run. It’s better than any other exercise gadget I’ve ever owned, but it set off airport security.

Ironically, the same gadget in my purse was completely ignored, but when it was in my shoes, I had to go through the additional security screen. Since both my shoes and my purse are x-rayed, I thought it wouldn’t be an issue. Since the sensor in my shoe says Nike+ right on it, I didn’t think there would be a problem, but I spent an extra five minutes getting wanded and watching my shoes get swabbed in isolation while my husband wondered where I went.

If you wear Nike+ shoes, make sure you take your sensor out of your shoe and put it in your carry-on luggage when you go through security. Don’t forget to turn it off so that it doesn’t send the wireless signal when you move your feet. It is required by federal law.

To turn off your sensor, remove it from your shoe and with a pen, hold down the button for three seconds. To turn it back on, just press the button once very quickly.

The Nike+ is an awesome tool for measuring how far you’ve run, but it can set off airport security, so make sure you take the proper precautions when the TSA x-rays your shoes.

I watch JetSet every week mostly just to see Zadi. She’s energetic and I love to see what she comes up with for me. Imagine my surprise when she does a big segment on travel on the cheap. Enjoy the dancing Darth Vader, but stay for the tips on travel.

They highlighted these sites:

• megabus.com – low cost, daily, express bus service in the US: Sure, they can get you low fares, but only from 21 cities. Unless you live in a MAJOR metropolitan area, you won’t find it very useful.

• CouchSurfing: I’ve talked about this site before here: Starling Travel » CouchSurfing: Travel On The CHEAP

• TripUp – Travel Planning and Travel Reviews: You supposedly can look at other people’s vacations in the area, but after a little looking, I found lots of trips logged, but no information other than a map and the dates they went. I didn’t find anything here worth signing up for.

Thanks, Zadi for showing us what’s new in travel on the cheap! Keep up the good work!

On the sixth anniversary of September 11, 2001, I wonder if anyone is still superstitious about traveling today. I wonder if there is a discount on airfare on September 11.

We flew out of Salt Lake City on the opening day of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Because of September 11th, we bought plane tickets for outrageously low prices. Because of the Olympics, however, we endured pat down searches and had to remove our shoes. Back then, it felt like an outrage to be asked to remove our shoes.

Now, we’re all used to it.

I hope things are quiet and pleasant today with no tragedies or attacks. I hope all we do is remember the past and no one is foolish enough to repeat it.

The Wall Street Journal was kind enough to offer some travel and exercise advice. After a little research, however, it was obviously very bad advice. I wrote about it here:

• Starling Fitness » Bad Advice Never Ceases To Amaze Me

“It was shoddy reporting because a two minute search of their website would have shown that very few cities have this program at their hotels and the cost for the rooms that do, end up being so overpriced that you could BUY a year-long gym membership if you stayed at a cheaper hotel.”

The Wall Street Journal doesn’t seem to understand that paying $350 for a hotel room when there is one down the street for $110 isn’t worth the amenity of a trainer-lead run around the town.

Bad form, Wall Street Journal, bad form.