Good Deed Travel: Building houses in Mexico. The why factor

by Jamie Rhein on

When I told some people I was heading to Mexico to build houses there was a mixed reaction.

  • Some people wanted to know how they could go along.
  • Some thought that this was the greatest idea since sliced bread.
  • Some gave money to help fund our endeavor
  • Some were wary of the value of a bunch of high schoolers and adults descending into Mexico across from Tijuana to build houses in order to make the world a better place.
  • Some thought it was a good idea that we build houses in Mexico to help keep Mexicans in Mexico.
  • One person thought it ironic that I was going to Mexico to build houses when there are so many Mexican immigrants building houses here.

Such are the types of comments people make to those who are embarking on do good travel. Even Rick Steves has something to say.

Rick Steves is wary of groups, such as churches, who go to Mexico to build houses. (See post) In a nutshell, if I’m interpreting him correctly, he thinks these trips are feel good experiences for the participants, but don’t do much to help the world. He likes do good travel, but he doesn’t think this type of trip is it.

“Oh, that’s just great,” I thought as I was watching the video of his philosophical musings. I had already plopped down my deposit money for such a venture.

What was my motivation? Am I just a do-gooder at heart? Or was there something else?

I like the idea of doing good. Sometimes, I do do good, I think. But, being the curious sort who looks at most of life as a grand sociological experiment, I wanted to see what such a trip would be like–and I thought it would be a way to spend some time with my 9th grade daughter. Most of our days are spent flying about our lives at such a speed that we rarely settle down to see what’s going on with either of us. Those of you who have 9th graders know that sometimes getting info from them about their inner workings is like getting gold from Ft. Knox.

I also thought this trip to Mexico would be good for her to learn more about herself and see part of the world she hasn’t been before. Plus, she could see the value of being a do good traveler. She’s a traveler, but doing good has not been part of the focus.

The other truth is, I really, really, really wanted a trip where I could see something new. Seeing something new is how I stay sane. If it meant I had to do something good, so be it.

In all seriousness, because I was in the Peace Corps, I’m careful when it comes to do-good travel. I want to make sure that the organization offering help is not disrupting life in the country where the “good” is to occur. As far as I can tell, Amor Ministries is doing good. It works within the local communities where the houses are built.

This is not meant to push Amor Ministries or a church sponsored trip. This is just what I did. It was an easy fit. Sometimes in life, one just needs an easy fit. No fuss, no muss. There are many sectarian organizations that also do good work.

Although Rick Steves is not too enamored with groups that trot across the Mexican border for a week, I have a different take. It’s been a month since I returened from my journey to Mexico, so I’ve had time to sift through my thoughts.

What I have come up with so far is that because of our trip to Mexico:

  • 12 families have a better house to live in than they did before
  • a number of Mexican kids and American adolescents have great memories of each other
  • several high schoolers from predominately well-off backgrounds had a week where they could just be themselves without cell phones, distractions or mirrors to look into and fret over their appearance
  • adults had a chance to talk to each other about themselves and their lives without interruptions
  • adolescents and adults had a chance to work side-by-side which gave numerous opportunities to just be with each other on equal footing
  • in a pinch, I can build a house that at least puts a roof over my head, a floor under my feet and walls that should withstand wind.
  • because our church has repeated this trip for years, several people have developed a relationship with this part of Mexico and this has had an impact on subsequent work. (More on this in another post.)
  • I’d rather be building a house on a Mexican hillside than sitting out on a beach somewhere, although that beach is tempting, so I’m not opposed to those trips either.
  • Do good travel can be hell on sneakers. (Notice the sole is almost gone.)

Stay tuned for more on this do good travel in Mexico experience. I’ll even share the steps on home buildling.

Big in Dubai: 5 awesome things you can do in Dubai right now

by Matthew Firestone on

This week, Big in Japan is on vacation in the Middle East, and will be bringing you travel news and happenings from this often misunderstood region.

Read the news on any given day, and you’ll mostly likely hear about the biggest, tallest, and most expensive something or other in Dubai, that crazy oil-rich Emirate that makes Las Vegas look about as glamorous as a county fair in Nebraska. Then again, you have to give credit where credit is due. Although the oil tap is predicted to run dry sometime in the next several decades, the rulers of Dubai are on a campaign to make their tiny Persian Gulf state into one of the world’s leading tourist attractions.

Of course, these days Dubai is something of a glorified construction site, especially since the city is rumored to contain something crazy like 15% of all the cranes in the world! And, while it’s still going to be another five to ten years before Dubai can rest on its laurels as the top destination in the Middle East, there are still plenty of mind-blowing attractions that are currently open and eagerly waiting for your tourist dollar.

On that note, I present to you ‘5 awesome things you can do in Dubai right now.’

1) Mall of the Emirates – I hail originally from the great state of New Jersey, so it’s kinda hard to shake my innate desire to be a mallrat regardless of where I am in the world. Then again, this isn’t such a terrible curse to have when you can kick it in the Mall of the Emirates, one of the largest malls in the world, which is home to no less than 6.5 million square feet of commercial space.

2) Ski Dubai – While you’re at the Mall of the Emirates, take a break from your retail therapy for a little powder action. Although skiing and Middle East climes are an incongruous match (to say the least!), the Mall of the Emirates is home to Ski Dubai, one of the world’s largest indoor ski slopes. The key to this absurdity is an extremely efficient insulation system, which helps maintain a daytime temperature of 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

3) Burj al-Arab – Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep, especially when it’s at the world’s only 7-star hotel. Situated on an artificial island floating in the Persian Gulf, the Burj-al Arab is the new pinnacle of luxury in Dubai, especially since the cheapest rooms here cost thousands and thousands of dollars a night. But, can you really put a price on having a gold-rimmed toilet bowl?

4) Bab al Shams Desert Resort – If you can’t afford to bed down at the Burj al-Arab, consider peeling a few Benjamins out of your wallet for a night at Bab al Shams in the middle of the Arabian Desert. Of course, we’re not talking about some dusty old canvas tents and stinky camel hair carpets, but rather a boutique resort hotel that blends 5-star amenities with a stunningly beautiful natural setting.

5) Burj Dubai – Although it’s technically still a work in progress, the Burj Dubai makes the list simply because it’s already the world’s tallest building even though it’s not yet completed! At this point in time, all you can really do here is crane your neck up to the heavens at stare at a super skyscraper reminiscent of the Eye of Sauron, but it’s still bad-ass experience nevertheless.

** Special thanks to my super suave and sophisticated hosts, Alan and Olga, for showing me what it’s like to party with Dubai’s rich and beautiful **

New photos of the Singapore Airlines A380 emerge

by Justin Glow on

Some new (to me) photos of the elaborate, sophisticated, luxurious, jealousy-inducing Singapore Airlines A380 emerged recently, and I’ve got the whole lot in a convenient gallery below. Feast your eyes on the amenities most of us will never have the chance to experience, like in-flight chess games and video monitors the size of my television at home.

Some of these are repeats, but some are new. Have a look:

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Cockpit Chronicles: Domestic Duties

by Kent Wien on

I can’t wait for our one European destination to come back to Boston in May. These crack of dawn departures don’t fit my circadian rhythm at all. I’m convinced in fact, that when I retire I may never again see the sun rise.

That said, it’s just so amazing to walk down the jet bridge and out the side door to start the preflight inspection and see the sunrise shining down the polished fuselage just as the light breaks through the horizon. Even after so many years it’s still enough to get you excited to climb once more into the sky, turn left to one-four-zero and pop through a thin cloud layer into the bright sun. For me, this is the best part of the job. Not the layovers or the diminished travel benefits, but the ability to fly an airplane I could never afford, to places I never thought of seeing with other pilots and flight attendants that I enjoy working with.

This morning’s flight down to Chicago was completely full. The captain, Roland, was someone who I hadn’t flown with before and we had two American Eagle pilots in the cockpit jumpseats. The 757 has two seats located just behind the pilots that are used for FAA checkrides or for extra relief pilots who sit there for takeoff and landing. But they’re most often used by pilots who are trying to get to or from work. Often these pilots work for a different airline.

%Gallery-21627%After passing through a series of checks with the gate agents, jumpseating pilots make their way into the cockpit and introduce themselves where the captain will look over their paperwork and I.D.’s. Most of these pilots are apologetic for crowding into our workspace for their flight to or from home, but I actually enjoy having them along. It’s nice to catch up with what’s happening at other companies, and since I’ve used the jumpseat at FedEx and other airlines so many times, I’m happy that we can return the favor.

The two Eagle captains filled us in on some of the details at their airline such as how much time it’s taking to upgrade to captain, where the senior bases are and some interesting rumors.

I’m pretty sure I haven’t flown into Chicago since 2005. Not much has changed, except for the renumbering of a few of the runways. A new east/west runway on the north side of the airport is being built, which meant they’d have to rename the two parallel runways from 27 Left and 27 Right to 27 Left, 27 Right and 28. It’s not nearly as confusing as it sounds.

The weather was clear and calm, which allowed for a relatively quick turnaround of about an hour in Chicago. I didn’t even go into the terminal, since I had just enough time to do another preflight inspection and the cockpit setup tasks. The next leg was to Miami and just like the first one, it was a full flight, with two more jumpseaters.

We have a normal power setting and a maximum power setting that we use for each takeoff. Maximum power is used only when the runway is short, there’s any tailwind or if the winds are shifting significantly. Today, we had a slight tailwind, so a max power takeoff was required. Even with every seat full, the 757 was a rocket–climbing over 6000 feet per minute at a deck angle of 20 degrees and still accelerating.

One of our jumpseaters, Brett, was an Eagle co-pilot and the other was a 737 pilot for us. They were both commuting to work. We enjoyed chatting with Brett who was finishing up his first year at the airline flying the Embraer regional jet. His enthusiasm was infectious and when we found out that he’d be staying at the same hotel in Miami that we were, we insisted he come with us for dinner.

He was genuinely surprised when we covered his meal, but really, who’s going to let a first year Eagle pilot pay? The dinner at Norman’s (a shrimp BLT sandwich) at north Miami Beach was excellent.

Back at the Miami Beach hotel I went to my room and spent a relaxing night writing up a Plane Answers post for Friday. When I’m at home, I usually watch the kids while my wife gets some work done after I’ve been gone for the past few days. So I can only write in the late evenings after everyone’s asleep or during the layovers. Occasionally I can write while deadheading.

The next morning we met the van outside the hotel while it was still dark. Roland and I flew the early morning flight from Miami to San Francisco. Our flight attendants were based in Miami, so we met up with them at the airplane.

My favorite thing about these domestic transcon flights are the beautiful opportunities for pictures above the Rocky Mountains, Bryce Canyon and the Sierra Nevada mountain range. We were kept lower than usual, due to the headwinds that were stronger up above us, so the view turned out to be perfect for a few pictures. Allow me to take you across the country, over New Orleans, Dallas, the Rockies, Bryce Canyon, Utah, Yosemite, and into San Francisco with this gallery:

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I’ve never had any intention of writing a blog. I just started out sharing these kind of pictures, and the captions began to grow into blog posts. My English teacher would always say, don’t tell me, SHOW me! Well Mr. Park, here you go–I’ve got my camera right here.

The wind was really howling at the San Francisco airport, up to about 40 m.p.h., but it was pointed down the runway. Of course Roland rolled it onto runway 28 nicely.

Here’s where this trip started to look ugly. We arrived in San Francisco before noon, but we’d be leaving for Boston at 11 p.m. With just a bite to eat, and some well-needed sleep, we’d be flying all night to Boston.

Roland had a favorite restaurant that turned out to to be a bit of a hike, especially with the wind blowing from the bay right at us. I broke one of my self-imposed layover rules and didn’t bring my camera. I had no idea it would be such a scenic walk. The low res iPhone camera was all I could use to give you an idea where we walked.

When we made it back to the hotel three hours later, it wasn’t hard to sleep–even though it was in the middle of the day. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have more time there, since this was one of the best hotels in our system. More and more hotels are getting flat screen televisions, but this was the first I’ve seen with actual HD content. Not only that, but they included a panel where you can plug in your iPod, computer or mp3 player. Finally a hotel that isn’t clinging to the idea that guests are only interested in outrageously priced ‘on demand’ movies.

I enjoy flying at night. It’s usually smoother, and there’s far less chatter on the radio. After taking off from San Francisco, we were given a direct route to Albany, N.Y. which is the first point on our approach into Boston. This direct routing shaved off twelve miles from our original flight plan. That only amounts to a saving of three minutes but we were happy to take whatever they would give us.

Halfway through our last leg, I agreed with Roland that this trip was really much better than it looked on paper. No one likes to fly the all-nighter trips, but this one really wasn’t that bad. In fact, I prefer this flying over the early morning flights we have to Miami and then to the islands. But I just couldn’t see switching to domestic, since I’d miss the Caribbean and European flying.

Everyone has different priorities though, and that’s one of the benefits of working for such a large company. My brother is also a pilot here, and he prefers domestic flying for the most part. Recently the 777 captain position has become within his reach and he’s seriously considering flying from Chicago to our 777 destinations of Shanghai, New Delhi, Moscow and London. This would be a dream for me since it would at least give me something new to write about and it would also pay more, but Kurt’s really having to think it over. I may just have to jumpseat with him on one of those trips if he decides to take the plunge. Ten years ago I rode with him from Seattle to Tokyo when he was flying as a co-pilot on the MD-11.

I thanked Roland for a great trip as we waited for the bus to the parking lot. I then jumped in my car for the hour-long drive north to New Hampshire. My wife was just getting up with the kids and after a nice welcome home, I went upstairs for some sleep.

I was completely exhausted and delighted to finally fall into my own bed for a much needed rest…

Then crew scheduling called.

They let me know that I’d be needed for another trip in the morning. And of course, it left at o’dark-thirty.

Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent’s trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

Continental Airlines and United won’t be bed fellows after all

by Jamie Rhein on

Continental Airlines has decided to stay single after all–sort of. United Airlines’ parent company UAL had been wooing Continental looking for a merger hook up, but since United hasn’t had great luck financially as of late, (see Grant’s post), Continental has said, “See ya later, toots,” to the merger deal.

According to this article in today’s New York Time’s, Continental Airlines is still casting its gaze towards American Airlines and British Airways for some sort of alliance deal. In the meantime, United is looking for another bed pal.

U.S. Airways may be it, but that’s not clear either. With all the trying out the beds, it’s hard to keep up. What is clear is that ticket prices are going to keep rising. The economy is not being particularly kind to the airline business, although, since the New York Times article was written, the shares of Continental have gone up. The article said at the end of the week, shares were $15.21. Now a share is at $17.25.

As the airlines are looking to swing deals, I’m hoping someone will look at those old Skybus routes. I’m still recovering from that airline’s shutdown.