Travel safety: are swans dangerous?

by Sean McLachlan on


Mr. Asbo is not a nice swan.

He’s attacked numerous boaters on the River Cam at Cambridge, England, hissing and pecking at anyone who comes close. Back in 2009, he even attacked the Cambridge Rowing Team during their historic May Bumps race. The race had to appoint a special marshal to keep an eye on the naughty bird.

Swans are very territorial, especially when they have a nest full of cygnets (babies). Mr. Asbo and his lady friend have several cygnets a year and their nest is right on the main boating area of the river. This has led to numerous confrontations where Mr. Asbo hisses, snaps at oars, and tries to bat people with his wings. It’s even reported that he’s strong enough to capsize small boats.

His name refers to the Anti-Social Behavior Order, a punishment usually meted out to lager-soaked louts to ban them from playing loud music, being drunk in public, aggressively panhandling, or even stealing eggs. Now local residents have had enough and there are plans to move Mr. Asbo and his family to a rural area 50 miles away, where hopefully he won’t bother anyone.

Swans are one of the many attractions of the English countryside, especially at the popular riverside destinations of Cambridge and Oxford. They are strong, fast, wild animals and should be treated with caution. The Swan Sanctuary says they’re generally not a danger, but their peck can be painful and they can even break your arm or leg if they hit you with their wing.

Attacks are rare, however. Swans only get aggressive if you get near their young, enter their territory, or deliberately antagonize them, like the idiot in this video. Don’t be the idiot in this video.

Scotland tells collector: stop stealing our eggs!

by Sean McLachlan on


An obsessive collector of rare birds’ eggs has been banned from visiting Scotland during nesting season. The ban was slapped on Matthew Gonshaw, 49, and lasts from February 1 to August 31 of every year for the ten years. He’s also banned from visiting land owned by the Wildlife Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Gonshaw has been repeatedly arrested for stealing the eggs of rare birds and is currently serving his fourth prison term for the offense.

The ban came as an ASBO, an Anti-Social Behaviour Order. ASBOs ban individuals from certain activities that are annoying or potentially criminal. Public drunkenness, playing football in the street, and other minor offenses are often stopped through ASBOs. Some ASBOs are a bit odd, like banning a sixty year-old man from dressing as a schoolgirl, complete with plaid skirt. This guy was hanging around schools and making parents nervous. BBC has a list of some of the weirder ones here.

In Gonshaw’s case, the ASBO will hopefully keep him away from the rare bird’s eggs he’d rather stick on a shelf than let hatch. Scotland is one of the top destinations for bird watchers and if “collectors” like Gonshaw are allowed to steal eggs with impunity, Scotland’s wildlife could be seriously affected.

Photo courtesy Mr. T in DC via flickr.

Ten random observations about Greece

by Sean McLachlan on

While researching my travel series on Greece I noticed some interesting things that didn’t fit into any of the articles. Some of these observations may be obvious to those more familiar with Greece, but odd first impressions are one of the fun things about travel!

1. Flying low over the Aegean as we made our descent into Athens airport, I swear I saw dolphins playing in the blue waters. We were still high enough that they were only visible as dots, but there was a whole group of these dots appearing and reappearing in the water, as if they were coming up and diving. Has anyone else seen this?

2. Like many countries, Greece has a smoking ban in public buildings. It’s often ignored, especially in bars and cafes. Some places even have ash trays on the tables.

3. I always like hearing the local music, in my hotel I tuned into MAD TV, a music video station. I discovered lots of Greek stars I’d never heard of (is DEMY hot or what!?) and noticed a strange thing–cans of Red Bull appear in almost all their music videos. Even the lovely DEMY knocks one back in her latest video. Did Red Bull buy up Greek music or just MAD TV?

4. Greece is very visitor-friendly by having bilingual signs in all the touristy areas. This is a bit of a trap, however, because as soon as you get used to them and go someplace a bit out of the way, you’ll be staring at Greek-only signs.

5. Have no fear, you can always learn the Greek alphabet. Many of the letters are the same as our alphabet and you’re already familiar with some of the others. Learning the Greek alphabet takes less than an hour and you’ll discover so many words that are the same or close enough to English that the hour will be well spent.

6. Greek can still throw you some curve balls. For a while I thought “ne” meant “no” since it’s similar to so many other “no” words (nein, nyet, non). In fact it means yes.

7. Athens has a large and active Couchsurfing community. Get in touch before you go and they’ll show you some awesome nightlife!

8. Small Orthodox Christian shrines can be found everywhere. Some are the size of a mailbox with only room enough for a little icon and a candle. These are often found beside roads. Others are little buildings that can fit a dozen or so people. They’re tucked away wherever there’s room. Dealerships for these these ready-made churches look like mobile home lots.

9. I saw a lot of graffiti, especially in the smaller towns, that was actually advertising for local businesses. I’m not sure if the businesses themselves are tagging concrete bridges and blank walls or if it’s their loyal customers, but I suppose it’s a cheap way to advertise during times of financial cutbacks.

10. Speaking of graffiti, my neighborhood in Madrid is covered with the tag “farlopa”, which is slang for cocaine in Spanish. Walking through the Exarchia neighborhood in Athens one night I saw the “farlopa” tag. Same word, same style. I guess the tagger went on a road trip!

For something a bit more adventurous, check out my ten random observations about Ethiopia!

A funny letter of complaint to an airline with an unusual response from customer service

by Jessica Festa on

Apparently, Southwest Airlines’ passenger B.J. Schone had a rather unpleasant experience on his flight, or at least once he got off, as his brand new TravelPro suitcase had been damaged. Instead of taking the action that most people on a late-night flight home for Christmas would take (i.e. cursing out a staff member or writing a nasty letter to the company), Schone took a different approach and wrote the funniest letter of complaint I have ever seen, complete with animations, photos, jokes, and a polite ending asking for help.

While many people who have seen the letter, which you can read by clicking here, are skeptical of its validity, what’s even more shocking is the reply that Schone apparently received from a person named Verity from Southwest Airlines, which you can read by clicking here. Instead of just offering to solve the problem, the return letter is written in the same comedic and animated style of Schone’s original, with a happy ending awarding Schone a check for new luggage.

Are the letters real? On Southwest Airlines Twitter account they sent a message to Schone on January 5 saying “Hey BJ! We saw your web site. Someone from our customer relations team will be in touch today!” Then, on Schone’s Twitter account on January 12, he posted the response letter and tagged not only Southwest Airlines in the tweet but also Verity herself, followed by a message saying “Thank you very much. You guys rock!”

While the answer to the validity of these letters isn’t 100% confirmed, it does appear that it is possible. Either way, they’re definitely worth a read.

F.U. Knighted: The world’s worst airline

by Jessica Festa on




While most people have experienced some form of bad customer service in their lives, I’d be surprised if it topped the treatment these two honeymooners receive trying to get on board a flight for F.U. Knighted Airlines. Luckily, the clip isn’t a documentary of real life but a humorous skit directed and edited by Nathan “Party on Fifth Ave” Moore that pokes fun at bad customer service in the airline industry. The video was written by the actors who include Moore, Lana McKissack, and Paul Peglar. If you’ve ever had a bad experience on an airline, you will definitely appreciate this.

You can click the cast’s names above to find more entertaining videos on their YouTube channels, or follow them on Twitter:

Lana McKissack: https://twitter.com/#!/lanamckissack
Nathan Moore: https://twitter.com/#!/TheNathanMoore
Paul Peglar: https://twitter.com/#!/ppeglar