New guidebook series: Eyes Open

by Jeremy Kressmann on

I love the idea behind the new guidebook series Eyes Open by design company Ideo. Rather than busy themselves with the rote regurgitation of sights of interest, restaurants and hotels, Eyes Open seeks to help travelers shift their attention towards really looking and immersing themselves in their surroundings. The series recently launched with its first two entries, New York and London, with additional cities to follow in the near future.

I had a chance to peruse the New York edition recently and came away with some interesting first impressions. The book is organized by four themes – ‘observer,’ ‘diner,’ ‘shopper’ and ‘mingler.’ Each theme is meant to represent a different “lens” by which we can view our destination. Within each category is a series of short travel narratives on a variety of topics, focusing on everything from secret eating clubs to unique small businesses to hidden earthwork art installations. As I resident of New York who is fairly well-versed in the city’s hidden amusements, I found the entries both surprising and informative. At the same time, this approach is sure to leave gaps for some travelers. Ideo makes no apology for the fact their Eyes Open guides are not comprehensive. Visitors looking for the basic practicalities of where to stay and a basic overview of neighborhoods will probably come away disappointed.

Then again, there is something to be said for curated guides like Eyes Open. As each of us travels, too often we get caught up in “checking off a list” of the must-see sights and locations. Eyes Open is the type of travel aid that can help us take a step back and experience a place through an entirely new perspective. Sometimes that’s worth the extra 20 bucks. Think of it as nice supplement to a more traditional guidebook.

Salvation: Newark and JFK airport flights capped

by Grant Martin on

Looks like New Yorkers are starting to see some results from last year’s suffocating loads — and subsequent complaints — out of and the Newark and JFK. If you remember the piece published in the New Yorker late last year and several of the subsequent articles that ran here at Gadling, you may know that the three airports suffer from terrible congestion, resulting in late flights all over the country, hours on the tarmac and general misery for anyone traveling through the area.

Much of the problem lies in the sheer demand out of the three airports. Passengers want to fly out at optimal times so airlines pack flights into certain times of the day. But FAA and Air Traffic Control requirements stipulate that only a certain amount of flights can leave within a particular window.

Until recently, there were more flights than there were take off slots, which kind of creates a problem even before one even exists. Mix some crummy weather and mechanical problems in and you have what’s known as today the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Now, the maximum number of outgoing flights will be changed from 100/hour to 83/hour, which should ease some of the congestion woes. Extra flights that were during peak hours will be spread throughout the day, with the net result of extra flights overall during the day. Recall however, that even at 100 flights/hour supply was still extremely tight during peak times. If that goes down, will ticket prices go up? My guess is yes.

[Via CNN]

Cities packed with billionaires

by Iva Skoch on

It has happened. Moscow has beat New York as the city most packed with billionaires, according to this Forbes research. Whereas New York has only 71, Moscow is now home to 74 billionaires (and probably also 740,000 starving people, but that is beside the point.)

  1. Moscow – 74
  2. New York – 71
  3. London – 36
  4. Istanbul – 34
  5. Hong Kong – 30
  6. Los Angeles – 24
  7. Mumbai 20
  8. San Francisco – 19
  9. Dallas – 15 (tie)
  10. Tokyo – 15 (tie)

The one that got me was Istanbul. Istanbul? What’s so lucrative going on in Istanbul? Why not Dubai?

What strange things have been found on planes?


Click the image to read the bizarre story…

Buffalo, New York, attempts to attract visitors with its crummy weather

by Catherine Bodry on

Only, the group of weather enthusiasts creating Buffalo’s interactive “Weather Experience Center” don’t consider blizzards “crummy.” Instead, they hope to capitalize on Buffalo’s changeable weather by feature it and other dramatic phenomena such as tornadoes and hurricanes in a museum-quality waterfront building.

One feature on the center’s drawing board is a “blizzard room,” where visitors can bundle into hats and gloves and experience the wind and snow of a blizzard. Also slated are an IMAX theater that will showcase tornado-chasing, and a glass-walled structure that will allow visitors to watch snow roll in off the lake while experts explain what is happening as it happens.

As a lover of extreme weather myself, I would be in to visiting an interactive weather center. It might not draw me to Buffalo, however, as I generally get a daily show 9 months out of the year from my living room window.

Dogs cracking down on bed bugs in New York hotels

by Anna Brones on

To avoid an infested hotel bed, the next time you visit New York, you might just want to ask if your hotel room has been inspected for bed bugs by… dogs??? Last year the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development received nearly 7,000 bed bug complaints. The Department’s answer? A team of six dogs to sniff out bed bugs in hotel rooms and apartments across the city.

Radar the beagle and Taz the Australian kelpie are part of a new team called Advanced K9 Detectives. These hounds aren’t out to find drugs, they’re around to make sure you have a good, bug-free, night’s sleep. Although it might seem strange to use dogs to track down bedbugs, business is going well; according to Carl Massicott, the company’s mastermind, a lot of the company’s clients are top-end hotels.

The best part about using dogs for hotel inspection is that you can be sure they will never sell out. “A dog’s nose is cutting-edge technology,” Massicott said. “Our animals are 100% honest, and trained to work for food and love instead of profits.”

Better ask for the canine cleared room next time you are doing your New York bookings.