MSP has a fun game on Concourse F

by Annie Scott on


Traveling through MSP over the holidays, I came across a bunch of kids going nuts in the hall on the way from security to Concourse F. Kids usually know what’s fun, so I stopped to see what they were doing.

There was a series of moving posters on the wall, like the one you see above. All looked like red umbrellas, but when the kids touched them, the pieces of the umbrella would scatter like dry leaves. Naturally, kids had their coats off and were circling them overhead, whooping the poster panels cowboy-style.

The neatest thing was, if you touched just the bottom of the umbrella, or just the middle, only that part would break apart. The motion sensors integrated in the projection were that specific!

The whole thing is an advertisement for Travelers Insurance (note the red umbrella logo). Click through the gallery to watch the kids play, and next time you have an MSP layover, go check it out on Concourse F!
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German sweethearts hatch plan to elope to Africa

by Scott Carmichael on

Amongst all the depressing stories in the world, this one brought a big smile to my face. It’s the story of 2 German kids, Mika and Anna-Lena, aged 7 and 6.

The two are very much in love, and decided to skip all the expensive and time consuming work involved with a big wedding and just elope to Africa.

On the first day of 2009, the kids left with Anna-Lena’s little sister, Anna-Bell and walked to the tram station.

Once they arrived at Hanover central train station, their plans were foiled by police who were probably a little suspicious of 3 young kids waiting for a train to the airport.

Once the police officer managed to convince the lovers that air travel requires a passport, real money and a plane ticket, they were given a tour of the police headquarters while they waited for their parents to come pick them up.

I’m hoping these lovers keep their plans intact, and manage to take that romantic trip when they reach a more responsible age.

(Via: Straits Times)

Photo of the Day (1.5.09)

by Karen Walrond on

Have you figured out yet that I’m a sucker for a portrait of a happy child? And this lovely photograph by muzzman packs a quadruple punch: check out the great smiles on these four little ones, taken in Papua New Guinea. I was initially drawn to the image because it reminded me of an everyday scene in my homeland of Trinidad, but looking at it now, these really could be 4 children anywhere in the world, couldn’t they? Lovely shot.

If you’ve got some great travel shots you’d love to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day.

Galley Gossip: A question about traveling with kids and scoring an extra seat

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

I’ve written to you before and now I have another question. So I’ve told you that we’re traveling w/ our one-year old next month. No car seat, etc. Are there any sneaky ways to insure that we could get an ’empty’ seat for her???? I think currently we have it booked so my husband gets the window seat and I get the aisle. We thought that might work as nobody would want to sit in the middle of us. But, I’m sure they’ll have to put a single traveler in the middle. We’re leaving on the 26th of December w/ American Airlines. I’m sure it will be busy, but what do you think?

Thanks so much!
Marlo

Dear Marlo,

I remember your question, as my answer did get quite a rise out of many Gadling readers, especially those who do what I do for a living. Flight attendants everywhere scolded me for telling you that it was okay to travel without the car seat, even though I did point out that it was much safer to book the extra seat and take the car seat along with you. For those of you who missed that one, here’s a link to Galley Gossip: a question about traveling with car seats and strollers. If you’ll be traveling with kids during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, make sure to check it out, along with Galley Gossip: The best invention for kids on the airplane – CARES,

As for scoring a middle seat, Marlo, I think you did all that you can do, as that’s exactly what I would have told you to do – book the aisle and window and leave the middle seat open. Remember, you are traveling during one of the busiest holidays of the year, so if the flight is not full, it’s probably getting there. I have yet to work an empty flight this year. Since the back of the airplane is a lot less desirable than the front (and also bumpier if there’s turbulence) you could move your seats to the rear of the aircraft, cross your fingers, and pray no one wants to sit that close to the toilet. It’s your best bet. I’d also like to point out that there are going to be mostly other families traveling during the holiday season, so that single traveler sitting between you and your husband is probably not a single traveler at all, but a traveler displaced from their family, a traveler who is praying he or she can get you to move to another seat! So be patient. Be kind. And remember, holiday travel is never fun. Unless you can just relax and go with the flow.

Your question brought back a memory from long ago, so there’s one more thing I’d like to mention. If you do decide to book the aisle and window seats, leaving the middle seat open in an attempt to score the extra room, remember that middle seat passengers are people too. Please, do not talk over the unfortunate person who ends up getting stuck between the two of you. And please, do not pass things over the person, particularly food, even if you think that person is sleeping. Twice I’ve awoken to loud voices, crumbs in my lap, and my magazine gone after getting stuck between two people traveling together. For more information on what you should and should not do concerning the middle seat, check out my other post, Middle Seat Etiquette.

Happy Travels

Heather Poole

Have a tip when traveling with kids? Post a comment below. I’d love to hear from you.

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Photo courtesy of matth

Travel read: 101 Places You Gotta See Before You’re 12! Here are 10.

by Jamie Rhein on

If travel seems overwhelmingly expensive, or just plain overwhelming, turn it down a notch. That’s the message in the book 101 Places You Gotta See Before You’re 12! by Joanne O’sullivan. Plus there’s not the word “die” in the title. That’s uplifting.

Although this book is aimed towards children, it offers a fresh way to look at travel for adults as well. Each page touts a different wonder to tantalize ones fancy. Instead of specific places, there are themes so that no matter where you live, you may not have to travel far to check destinations off the list. Some don’t cost a dime.

Each offering is presented in eye candy pages complete with facts and details for finding out more. It’s like having all the best field trips in the world right at your fingertips.

First up, A Lighthouse. Did you know Michigan is the state with the most? There are 124. To find lighthouses in North America, check out this web site that features legendary lighthouses.

Here are are 10 more gotta see suggetions. See these, and there are only 90 more to go:

A Working Farm: Here’s a way to see where food comes from and get it fresh. “The closer your food is to where you came from, the, the better it is for you,” is one of the ideas behind this suggestion. To find working farms that are open to the public in the U.S., the book suggests checking with a county extension agent. Other countries have working farms open to the public as well. In New Zealand, staying on a working farm is a popular lodging option. At Offbeat Travel, there’s an account of one person’s 21-day farm stay tour. In case you can’t make it to a farm, here’s a virtual 4-H farm tour.

A Ghost Town: Head to one of these and wonder why everyone left. There are ghost towns to be found about everywhere, but particularly in the western part of the United States. Montana is filled with them. One I like in particular, because of its location up a long road in the Pintler Mountains, is Granite. To find other ghost towns, check out www.ghosttowns.com.

A Big Cave: This suggestion has a two-page spread that includes cave detail definitions. Sure you might know what a stalactite (hangs down) and a stalagmite (goes up) are but what about an anthodite and helicite? Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the largest cave in the world. To find others in the U.S., click here. To pep up cave travel, go to one that once was a salt mine. Several countries have them.

A Battlefield: It doesn’t matter which one you go to. The idea is to take time to ponder what events passed on the ground where you are standing. These are the places where lives and history were changed. Here’s a Web site to help you find Civil War battlefields.

A Great Estate: Head to where the rich, rich, rich people once lived before the word McMansion hit our vocabulary. The book suggests Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. Jeremy recently suggested mansions in the Hudson Valley of New York. In India, many mansions have been changed into hotels, and several are not particularly expensive. Check out Heritage Hotels to find one.

A Haunted Place: This is one of Gadlings favorite topics every October. Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana is described as being the most haunted home in America. Haunted Prisons, ships and hotels could keep you busy for awhile.

A Place of Worship: This is where you visit a religious place that is not your religion. If possible attend a service. The point is to learn about the symbols and belief systems of other religions and notice just how similar religions are. Here’s something I didn’t know. There are more than 200 Hindu temples in North America.

A Very Big Thing: This is a suggestion that says “road trip.” It doesn’t matter what big thing you look for, just make sure it’s big. One suggestion I have is the world’s largest penguin in Cut Back, Montana. The book gives locations for finding Paul Bunyan and his blue cow Babe and the largest catsup bottle in the world.

Backstage of a Theater: Here’s where you check out the secrets behind the magic of what happens when the curtain goes up. I recently toured the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield, Ohio. This gem of a theater has a history that started back in Vaudeville. My favorite part was seeing the dressing rooms where people get ready to perform. Jerry Lee Lewis was performing there the day after I toured. Along the walls leading up to the dressing rooms are black and white photos of the various performers like Jay Leno back when he was doing stand-up.

The Middle of Nowhere: This is a place that you’ll know it when you see it. It’s a place in the world that makes you say, “we’re in the middle of nowhere. Three summers ago when we were driving through Wyoming, my then 3 year-old son looked out the window and said, “We’re the only one here.”

The other 90 suggestions are also compelling. The Orlando Sentinel said that 101 Places You Gotta See Before Your 12 is “an odyssey for kids.” I say, forget what it does for kids. It sure makes me excited to get out in the world–plus it comes with a fold out map of the U.S. and stickers to mark where you’ve been.

I checked the book out from the library. It’s now overdue, and I can’t renew it. That means I’m just going to have to buy a copy. It’s terrific.

The photo is of Greenpoint Lighthouse in South Africa.