2013 › July

Greece Plans To Keep Rowdy Tourists Out Of Town

by Reena Ganga on

Disrespect the locals a few too many times and they may decide to shun you from the local enclaves and relegate you to tacky tourist ghettos. Unfortunately, that may be exactly what’s in store for visitors headed to the Greek islands.

Locals there say they’ve had enough of debauched tourists who have been wreaking havoc in the otherwise beautiful and peaceful Mediterranean region. Their solution? Set up segregated tourist zones to keep the riffraff out.The drastic plan is under consideration after a recent spate of incidents involving bar brawls, rowdy behavior and the stabbing of a British teenager on the island of Crete. The Greek islands attract huge numbers of young pleasure-seekers who are eager to party, much to the unhappiness of locals. To get around the problem, they’re looking at establishing “tourist strips” far from town where foreigners can go wild without bothering anyone.

If the Greeks do agree on the plan, it’ll be a sad day for travelers who actually want to experience everything the islands have to offer. Visiting a city that’s split in half — with locals on one side and tourists on another — is not really visiting the city at all. Think of the tourist strip in Cancun, which is nothing like the real Mexico, or Times Square in New York, which is far from representative of the Big Apple. Do we really want all of our travels to feel like a trip to the Vegas Strip? If we want to continue having authentic travel experiences, it’s time to step up and treat the locals and their way of life with respect.

Shocking Things The TSA Gets Away With

by Reena Ganga on


To many people, airport security is something of a necessary evil — a royal pain in the behind that they tolerate because ultimately, it’s designed to keep us safer. But a new study into the Transportation Security Administration raises questions about just how well the agency actually protects us. Airport screeners have been accused of everything from sleeping on the job to stealing and accepting bribes. And many are not really penalized for their actions.

An audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed some shocking behavior by TSA agents stationed at airports around the country. In several instances, agents were found sleeping while on duty. Other agents might as well have been asleep given that they allegedly let people pass through to the secure zone of the airport without actually going through the screening process.According to the report, the agency has processed 56 cases of theft by TSA agents over the past three years. That included one agent at Orlando Airport who confessed to swiping more than 80 laptops from passengers. (These neglected to make an appearance on the agency’s new Instagram feed of confiscated goods.) Other disciplinary issues involve things like “neglect of duty,” credit card abuse and even bribery. In one such case last year, TSA agents were accused of pocketing bribes from drug traffickers in Los Angeles.

The number of allegations against TSA employees runs well into the thousands, but the GAO says few of the agents were adequately punished for their behavior. In some cases, TSA agents were disciplined by their superiors after very little investigation, while in others, agents guilty of misconduct barely received a slap on the wrist.

The findings of the audit are unfortunate for an agency already facing public scrutiny. Just recently, the TSA came under fire for telling a 15-year-old girl that her clothes were too revealing. They have also been criticized for racially profiling passengers, and aggressively screening young children.

Man’s Response To $1,400 Overweight Baggage Fee Prompts Police Action

by Sean McLachlan on

Police in New York and Seattle were called in to investigate when a man ditched his luggage in order to avoid overweight baggage fees, NBC reports.

The unidentified traveler was going to take Delta Air Lines Flight 1452 from Seattle to JFK when he was told his baggage was overweight and he would have to pay $1,400 in fees. The man decided that whatever he was lugging across the continent wasn’t worth that much money and left it behind. When the abandoned bags were spotted it sparked a security alert and the check-in area was closed for two hours.

The passenger, blissfully unaware, flew to JFK only to find police waiting for him. He was questioned and released after police decided that he hadn’t intended on causing a panic.

It’s unclear how many bags this guy had or where he was going, but a look at Delta’s overweight fees show that he was probably carrying his prize antique brick collection to display at the London Brick Fair this summer. No, that doesn’t really exist.

Worried about getting slapped with extra fees? Check out our guide to packing your luggage efficiently. Or you can simply wear 70 items of clothing to avoid overweight baggage fees.

Gadling Gear Review: Travel Pants And Shirt From Clothing Art

by Kraig Becker on

Awhile back we reviewed a pair of pants from a company called Clothing Arts that were specifically designed to keep your valuables safe and secure while traveling. At the time, we were impressed with their pickpocket proof pants, giving them high marks for security, comfort and style. Since then, the company has continued to evolve its line of travel clothing making subtle improvements to their designs and expanding their offerings. The result is a new generation of apparel that improves on previous offerings in just about every way.

P-Cubed Adventure Pants ($109.95)
The core product in the Clothing Arts line-up remains the P-Cubed travel pants which have seen some nice upgrades since we first took a look at them. For instance, the pants are now available in your choice of two fabrics, the original cotton-nylon blend and the new “nature-like” nylon. The latter of those options is soft and feels a bit like cotton, but has all the benefits of modern high-tech materials. It is lightweight and breathable, dries quickly and is comfortable to wear. It also resists wrinkling and is very durable. In short, it is the perfect fabric from which to make a pair of travel pants.

This new fabric is a fantastic addition to the P-Cubed design but the product hasn’t lost its focus on security in any way. The pants feature six pockets: two on the front, two on the back and two cargo style pockets on the legs. Each of them is deep and spacious, allowing them to safely carry plenty of small items such as keys, a passport and a wallet. There is even plenty of room for a mobile phone, a small camera or just about anything else you may want to take with you on a walk about town or on a trek through the Himalaya.Travel pants with plenty of pockets are nothing new, however, and what sets these apart from the competition is the level of security that Clothing Arts has built into them. Each of the pockets – including the two on the front – have two methods for sealing them shut, making it extremely difficult for would-be pick pockets to actually gain access to the valuables inside. The front and back pockets have zippers and snapping flaps, while the cargo pockets forgo the zippers in favor of traditional buttons. A would-be thief has to be able to penetrate two layers of defense if he hopes to lift something from any of the pockets on these pants.

In addition to the six pockets already mentioned, Clothing Arts has also built in two hidden pockets as well. These compartments are useful for holding your extremely valuable items, the ones that you absolutely can’t afford to lose. For instance, they are excellent for holding a smartphone, mp3 player or a point-and-shoot camera, keeping those devices both out of sight and out of reach from thieves. While these pockets aren’t particularly large they are still very useful. It is a bit like having a small safe installed inside an already secure vault.

Put to practical use, the P-Cubed pants are comfortable, durable and certainly provide good piece of mind while traveling. There is a lot of comfort in knowing that your personal items are secure when visiting places that have less than savory characters looking to separate you from your valuables. But I will admit there were times while wearing these pants that I was a little frustrated with having to hop through hoops just to get to the interior of the pockets. It wasn’t so bad unzipping and unsnapping the rear pocket to get to my wallet, but getting coins in or out of your front pockets can be an exercise in frustration when you have to do it multiple times per day. This is a small price to pay for the level of performance that these pants deliver, but it is certainly worth mentioning nonetheless.

These pants are a piece of clothing that every traveler should have in their closet. They are available for adventure and business travelers alike and Clothing Arts even offers P-Cubed shorts and a pair for women as well. With a price tag of $110, they are admittedly a bit of an investment but that seems a small price to pay for what could be the last pair of travel pants you ever buy.

P-Cubed Travel Shirt ($69.95)
Clothing Arts had so much success with their line of travel pants that they decided to expand their offerings to include shirts as well. The company’s designers have created a product that fits in nicely with their approach to travel-specific apparel by developing a shirt that is comfortable and highly packable, while still offering options for keeping your valuables safe. The result is the P-Cubed travel shirt, an article of clothing that is the perfect compliment to the P-Cubed pants.

Made from the same “nature-like” nylon as the P-Cubed pants, this shirt is lightweight, attractive and extremely comfortable to wear. The fabric delivers the same level of performance as the pants in terms of drying quickly, resisting wrinkles and keeping the wearer cool and dry in warm conditions. Those qualities are even more greatly appreciated in a shirt, however, as I’d argue it plays a more direct role in keeping us comfortable when in a difficult environment.

The P-Cubed shirt features two generously sized breast pockets for keeping a few personal items very close at hand. They are large enough for a passport, smartphone or similar small items. But again, this is a characteristic of many travel shirts and really doesn’t set it apart from the competition. What’s different is that Clothing Arts has cleverly hidden two additional zippered pockets behind these traditional pockets, creating secure places to hold valuable items. Like the P-Cubed pants, these pockets are nearly impossible for someone to gain access to and the contents are extremely safe inside.

When paired with one another, the shirt and pants look smart together. Clothing Arts has designed a set of clothes that look great out and about in town or traveling to the ends of the Earth. No matter where you go, the P-Cubed shirt and pants will see you through your adventure and keep you looking good in the process. What more could you ask for from your travel apparel?

Archaeologists Find Mystery Coffin At Richard III Burial Site

by Sean McLachlan on

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester in England have discovered a strange coffin at the same site where they discovered the remains of King Richard III earlier this year.

The team was digging in the foundations of the Franciscan friary of the Grey Friars, where Richard was buried in 1485 after being killed at the Battle of Bosworth. They were hoping to find other historic burials and especially wanted to complete the excavation of a stone sarcophagus that had been partially revealed in the initial excavation.

Once they cleared away the dirt and opened the coffin, they were shocked to find a lead coffin inside the stone one. This may be the first medieval burial of its kind and now scholars are puzzling over what it means, and how to open it without damaging the contents.

They know there’s a body inside because the bottom part has been damaged by time enough to reveal a pair of skeletal feet. Church records suggest it may be one of three people–two leaders of the English Grey Friars order named Peter Swynsfeld (died 1272) and William of Nottingham (died 1330). It may also be a knight named Sir William de Moton of Peckleton, who died between 1356 and 1362.

Richard III’s remains will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral early next year. A permanent exhibition about Richard III and the excavation will open in town at about the same time, hopefully with this new burial as part of the exhibit. The university has also launched a Richard III website.