Having Best Job in World Risks Best Job in World Contest

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We all know about “the best job in the world” contest. Well, it seems as though one entry could be, um, tainted. Tourism Queensland is digging into claims by London newspaper The Sun that one candidate for the Hamilton Island gig spread her legs for an illegal Russian porn studio.

All we know so far is that someone will get screwed.

Julia Yalovitsyna, one of the top 50 in the contest worked as both a model and a “coach” for other performers, according to reports from The Sun. She plied her trade in her hometown of Petrazavodsk. Allegedly, of course. Yalovitsyna is being prepared as a witness against her husband, Alexei, who is being prosecuted. Yet, she denies this, too, saying she is “shocked” by the news.

Clearly, she’s done something that resonates with fans, as her entry has garnered 42,319 votes – putting her in second place behind a Taiwanese woman named Clare (who, at least so far, does not have any clear connections to the porn business).

Thankfully, a spokeswoman from Tourism Queenland has said that Yalovitsyna will be permitted to continue in the contest. Thankfully? If work in porn (SFW) were a disqualifier, Gadling would have me out on the street.

Catch her entry video after the jump! Sorry, it’s got none of her previous “work” in it. Hell, vote for her anyway.

[Via Sydney Morning Herald]

More sexy women from the travel world


tripwolf and Footprint Handbooks team up

by Brenda Yun on

There are definitely some crazy partnerships popping up across the world wide web, but this one doesn’t really surprise me too much. The up-and-coming social travel guide tripwolf.com teamed up with the fabulous Footprint Handbooks to provide even more travel information at your fingertips.

The idea here is to merge tripwolf’s user-generated content with the professional tips from Footprint. The beginning phase will begin by integrating Footprint’s Peru Handbook on the tripwolf site. Both European-based companies are hoping to develop increased readership and interest in travel destinations that are jointly covered.

What’s even cooler is that tripwolf, which is already available in English and German, will soon be accessible for Spanish, Italian, and French speaking travelers in a few months. While I find tripwolf only somewhat useful, the Footprint Handbooks are great travel resources particularly for people traveling in Europe.

This kind of partnership, which comes a year on the heels of the mega merge between BBC and Lonely Planet, appears to be a sign of the times: that the world is flattening, and traveling will become that much easier with a consolidation of worthy travel tips and information.

Bare butt (flight) bargains in Britain

by Tom Johansmeyer on

You’ll do anything for a free flight, right? You’ll stand at the counter and yell and scream at some gate agent for half an hour while a line that stretches back to the next terminal wait with looks of increasing contempt. You’ll get up in the middle of the night to enter every online contest you can find first. But, would you strip to your skin – in the company of 998 other non-professional strippers?

That’s right. An airline – which isn’t revealing itself yet – is offering free flights from London to eight destinations for the 999 people willing to show it all (except the “rude bits,” according to the website). On March 15, all those who register will be invited to come to a central location in London and shed their threads.

There is no trace of the airline responsible. A WHOIS look up and a hunt through the website’s source code only turned up Hotcow, a marketing company that specializes in coordinating these types of stunt. So, you now have two choices: (1) read the news on March 15 or (2) register to be one of the 999!

[Via Jaunted]

Travel resources start exposing airline fees

by Scott Carmichael on

We’ve covered sneaky airlines fees in the past, and as airlines learn the tricks to adding more and more fees to your trip, some online resources are starting to fight back.

In the past, your ticket would consist of a base price, with some airport taxes, and a 9/11 security fee. Then airlines started whining about rising gas prices, so they added fuel surcharges. Then when gas prices went down again, they conveniently forgot to remove the fuel surcharge.

What we are left with nowadays is ticket prices where up to 65% of the fare is actually for fees, taxes, surcharges and other additional stuff.

The worst part of all these fees is that it is often impossible to get a clear picture what you are paying for. Your e-ticket will usually only show some cryptic codes, and most third party booking sites don’t let you view a price breakdown at all.

Then, to make matters worse, some airlines have started adding fees for things that used to be free – checked baggage, snacks, drinks and even preferred seating.

The tide is turning though – and several online services are helping you battle fee creep. The first of these services is FlyingFees.com, where you can find the add-on fees for most major US airlines, and several foreign carriers.

The site is pretty smart, and even lets you find the cheapest carrier sorted by additional fees. In addition to the basic fees, you’ll also find an overview of virtually every other fee airlines have come up with, including “telephone booking fees”, “ticket change fees” and even the price of a snack or headset once on board. It isn’t the prettiest site, but it is an extremely comprehensive resource.

The next new resource is TripAdvisor – they have been around for several years, but recently added airline price searches. In addition to showing the cheapest airline, they also claim to be the first to show exactly what your flight will cost, but I did not really find any fee information I couldn’t find on any of the other booking resources.

Bottom line is to do your homework before booking your ticket. It makes no sense to save $50 on your ticket, only to be charged $100 for checking a couple of bags.

View air traffic like nothing you’ve ever seen before

by Scott Carmichael on

This photo is not a closeup of your DNA, nor is it the latest work of art at the local gallery. It is in fact, a representation of every single flight in the domestic US airspace over a 24 hour period.

The picture is part of a map built by Aaron Koblin, on display at Wired.com. The portion you see above is of air traffic into Chicago’s 2 airports, and if you look closely, you’ll clearly see planes headed for O’Hare, and those going to Midway.

The map is zoomable and scrollable, and can be sorted by make, model and altitude of the plane. The real time flight data was provided by FlightView. I can highly recommend wasting a couple of minutes of your busy day to play around with the map!