Gadling previews Locked Up Abroad, Season 3

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Just last year, Gadling brought you a first look at a new show on the National Geographic Channel called Locked Up Abroad. The show profiles the harrowing true stories of foreigners who have been arrested or kidnapped while abroad, telling the stories with first person interviews with the victims.

A new season of Locked Up Abroad kicks off on April 1st at 10pm, and Gadling recently had a chance to preview the first episode of the new season. Much like seasons past, it makes for some of the most intense, high-drama television you’ll find anywhere on the dial. The inaugural episode kicks off in Peru, with Locked Up Abroad Cuzco.

Sarah and Simon are fast friends from the UK, agreeing to head to Peru for week of fun and relaxation. But little does Simon know that he’s being conned by his friend Sarah. Sarah is in deep with a loan shark and has agreed to smuggle cocaine back to Europe in exchange for the payoff of her debts. In one of the more callous displays of human deceit ever on television, she invites her friend Simon to come along without telling him anything about the drugs. Things get ugly when the two are apprehended at the airport. Despite total innocence to the whole smuggling plan Simon spent over a year in a horrific Peruvian prison trying to clear his name.

Don’t get me wrong, Locked Up Abroad can be tough to watch. These are certainly emotionally charged stories of individuals forced into bad situations. But much like a train wreck, it can be hard to turn away. You simply want to know how things turn out.

Definitely tune in for the first episode next Wednesday and keep watching Gadling for the latest Locked Up Abroad news.

Venice is totally flooded. How about a cheap hotel and some boots?

by Jeremy Kressmann on

You kind of expect a visit to Venice will include some water. This uniquely Italian city, first settled by the Romans along a chain of islands on the Adriatic Sea, has always been inextricably tied to its watery origins. The city rose to prominence due to its wealthy seafaring merchants, and most iconic images of the town inevitably include a canal vista complete with gondolier, happily serenading lovestruck passengers.

Unfortunately, water-loving Venice is for once longing for some much needed dryness. The liquid-loving capital has been plagued for the past two weeks by unusually high tides, leaving many parts of the city like the famous Piazza San Marco submerged under as much as three feet of filthy water. Though the floods are beginning to recede, the municipality of Venice has been coping by erecting tall wooden platforms along heavily trafficked paths and many businesses and cafes are closed or have limited hours.

The city’s floods don’t seem to have dampened the spirits of its hotel owners, however. Ever the entrepreneurs, visitor packages have recently been announced offering special “flood discounts” as well as a free pair of rubber boots for tramping around in the muck. How’s that for hospitality? Room service and a pair of waders.

It’s an ingenious, albeit curious, solution to keep the city’s tourist lifeblood flowing during an obviously difficult time. Flooding is a fact of life in Venice – but the current waters warn of far-more grave issues for this historically aquatic metropolis. As the forces of global warming exacerbate the damage of rising water and cause further harm to the city’s businesses and architecture, Venice is facing some hard choices about the city’s sustainability and its tourist future.

Argentine cruise ship runs aground on iceberg near Antarctica

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Imagine you are an entrepreneur who runs a cruise ship company offering tours of Antarctica. You ferry people down to one of the world’s last remote continents, running your vessel and its passengers through some of the roughest waters on earth.

Now imagine that your Antarctica-bound cruise ship encounters a freakishly out of place iceberg (icebergs near the South Pole? No way!) and suddenly runs aground, stranding the vessel and 89 of its passengers in the middle of the ocean.

This exact scenario came to pass on the Argentine cruise ship Ushuaia this past Thursday just off the Antarctic peninsula of Wilhelmina Bay, according to the BBC. Though no passengers were hurt by the collision, the ship was said to be leaking fuel into the surrounding ocean. Passengers were eventually rescued by a ship from the Chilean Navy.

According to the piece, tourism to Antarctica has risen five-fold in the last 15 years, as travelers look to get that increasingly exotic “notch in their belt” and visit one of the world’s last unspoiled destinations. However, the sort of iceberg collision that plagued the Ushuaia is a “chilling” reminder that a visit to Antarctica is not without its hazards, both for tourists and for the environment of Antarctica itself. Ships and passengers are confronted with rough seas, chilling temperatures and a shifting obstacle course of icebergs. Not to mention the fragile environment and wildlife that calls Antarctica home which is threatened by the increasing tourism to the continent.

As more and more visitors head south to check out Antarctica, these sorts of environmental concerns are increasingly aggravated. Make sure if you’re considering a visit you investigate your vessel/tour company thoroughly before booking, and that they are taking care to ensure a safe and environmentally responsible visit.