Food Poisoning: Meet the Bugs

by Iva Skoch on

There is nothing like an episode of food poisoning that can wreck one’s trip, change priorities, or–if it takes more than two days–even reconsider one’s view on euthanasia. I have been there many times, either myself or in spirit with other people. Yes, there was the cheap sushi in New York, the grocery store pre-cut water melon in Portland, the chicken satay in Amsterdam, the sandwich at Arby’s, and the Lord-knows-what in Egypt (this one lasted for weeks and I contemplated death several times).

Because I like to know my enemy, I enjoyed this article on ivillage.co.uk entitled “How to avoid food poisoning while travelling”. Most of the tips are quite obvious, although often hard to fully control: washing your hands, avoiding tap water (ice, fresh vegetables washed in fresh water), avoiding uncooked meat and unpasteurized milk, etc. The piece I found interesting is the description of the different “bugs” and their symptoms: Norovirus, E-coli (see picture), Salmonella, Campylobacter and Bacillus cereus. The little buggers look so harmless on screen…

World’s Most Aggressive “Queue Jumpers”

by Iva Skoch on

One of the things that annoy me to no end when traveling are people who cut in front of you when waiting in line or as the British say “Queue Jumpers“.

Part of the problem is that I never know whether I should just relax, ignore it and let everyone get ahead of me (I am on vacation, after all… no rush to get any place) OR whether I should “do as the Romans do”, assimilate and become a champion queue jumper myself. I have a feeling I would be pretty good at it, too. What I do know is that most countries in the world could use an elementary school subject called “The Art of Forming a Line”. It would make the world seem a lot more civilized.

Every time I travel from the US back home to Prague I notice how much more aggressive people are in Europe about their spot in line (The UK is an obvious exception here). Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin airports…I swear sometimes you feel like if you don’t squeeze into the front, they would not let you board. The further east you go, the worst it gets.

I just read a piece in the December 23 “The Economist” about the airports in Russia which really made me laugh. The author is describing the various species of the Moscow airport queue jumper: “the brazen hoodlum, the incremental babushka and the queue-surfing clans who relocate in groups when one of their number reaches the front.” It reminded me of my trip to China where elbow-wrestling with 70-year old women in lines was a norm. The Darwinism of the 21st century is quite sad, really.

Long-Distance Relationships

by Iva Skoch on

Long Distance Relationships, or as experienced romantics say “LDR”, are side effects of traveling which a lot of people find difficult to deal with. The romance, that seemed so perfect in Thailand, looks decidedly less reasonable in Oklahoma City. Is it worth it to keep it alive?

According to the earth-shattering resources online, it is quite easy. The number one tip is: visit each other frequently. Yeah. Thanks, that’s helpful. Number 2 says: Take pictures of everyday activities and send them to your mate. (Unless, of course, it is something that could make him/her jealous…which is–after weeks of not seeing each other–pretty much everything). Number 3: Send gifts. Here we come. Welcome to capitalism! Longdistancerelationships.com offers gifts for every LDR situation ranging from “Missing you keepsakes” to “Table top photo boxes”. The one thing I couldn’t locate on their website is the “Let’s just be friends” stationary set. I am sure it would be a hit.

Askmen.com says that there are three basic options when dealing with long distance relationships:

A) the couple can remain faithful to each other;

B) they can date other people and see what happens; or

C) they can call it quits and start dating other people right away.

That all makes sense. The unfortunate part is that agreeing on A, B or C is the hardest thing.

Travel Photo Tours

by Erik Olsen on

I switched to digital photography years ago, having purchased one of the old Nikon CoolPix cameras and I have since upgraded to one of the superb Nikon D70 XLRs. As happy as I am with this camera and its 6 megapixel images, the newest Nikons shoot in 10 megapixels and more. What can you do? Well, I suppose one thing you can do is improve your shooting overall. Even ten-plus megapixel images don’t do you any good if they suck. So why not consider a trip dedicated entirely to learning how to shoot.

I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do this. While I have shot my share of photos from all over the world, I know that there is plenty of room for improvement in my own travel photography skill repertoire. And so I was looking around for Photography Expeditions, trips where you go out and get the hands-on knowledge and skill from a bona-fide professional photographer. Turns out, there are LOTS of trips and packages available.

Travelimages.com for example, offers a selection of U.S. based and international tours in 2007 including destinations like the Galapagos, Scotland, the European Alps, New Zealand, Venice, Yellowstone and Vermont (where I am now!). Another possibility is Joe Englander’s Landscape and Travel Photography Workshops and Tours. With Englander, you’ll head to far-off places like Bhutan, Norway, Tibet and Burma. Along the way, professional photographers will take a look at your work and critique your composition and technique. It ain’t cheap, however. The trip runs $3,000, but would be the perfect way to kick your shutterbug skills up to professional levels. And who knows, if you take enough great shots, you might be able to sell them to magazines and cover your costs. .

(via Frommers)

iPod Listening When U Travel

by Erik Olsen on

Like a lot of people, I have fallen so in love with my ipod that, after my wallet, it’s the one thing I HAVE to carry with me when I leave the house. And before I go, I always make sure that it is loaded up with the most recent podcasts from NPR, as well as my Charlie Rose subscription on Audible.com AND many audio books from audible. I was happy to see Iva blog about audible’s content, especially about Rory Stewart’s The Places in Between, which I actually have in its atom-based, tree-pulp form and am enjoying immensely.

But for those who travel and are looking for walking tours and such to put on their ipods and other listening devices, here are a couple of ideas.

A company called AudioSteps offers audio walking tours of various cities around the country including New Orleans, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. For the internationally-inclined, especially those traveling to London, a company called BlueBrolly has a fine selection of audio walks for areas including Westminster, Soho, Chinatown, Greenwich, Covent Garden, St Paul’s and other spots around the English capital. Finally, PodGuides takes a step further and offers digital maps and small pictures, along with the audio tracks. A fine idea, and one I’m sure we’ll be seeing a LOT more of.