London starts bike hire scheme

by Sean McLachlan on

Transport for London is responsible for the arduous task of getting millions of Londoners around this giant city every day. Besides the Tube, bus, and Docklands Light Rail, they’ve added a new service–public bicycles.

Similar to public bike programs in other cities, people can get a bike at one of the self-service docking stations. You don’t have to be a UK resident to use one, but residents can buy an annual membership and get discounts. You can pay by cash, card, or online. You have to pay for an access fee as well as the bike itself. If, for example, you are in London for a day, you can buy a day’s access for £1 ($1.56) and hire the bike for up to six hours for £35 ($55), or a full day for £50 ($78). That’s expensive, but it wouldn’t take many taxi rides to equal that.

Actually the program is more designed for short rides. Journeys under half an hour are free and an hour only costs £1. You can cycle pretty much anywhere in central London in an hour. Users should be aware that London traffic is very busy and people who aren’t accustomed to cycling in big cities should probably give this a miss. The scheme is partially funded by Barclay’s bank and each bike sports an ad for Barclay’s.


Photo courtesy Transport for London.

Affordable Beachy Day Trips from NYC

by Amy Chen on

Memorial Day weekend in New York City is either an excuse to barbecue or to hit the beach. From Manhattan, reaching a decent beach can become quite the odyssey, especially if you don’t have a car.

Even if you’re not lucky enough to summer in the Hamptons, you can leave the city and lounge on a beach without spending a fortune. Not all beaches around New York City, however, are created equal. Depending on your mood, here are four beaches that are within a day trip from Manhattan and accessible by public transportation.

Coney Island
Good for: Nathan’s hot dogs, a boardwalk with carnival games and rides (the new Luna Park opens Saturday, May 29), the New York Aquarium (the sea lion show is surprisingly fun), and the bone-rattling Cyclone wooden roller coaster.
Beach quality: Expect cigarette butts in the sand, virtually no waves, and murky water that’s OK for dipping in your toes. Come to think of it, I don’t know anyone who has actually jumped all the way into that water.
Cost from Manhattan: $4.50 for a round-trip subway card. Give yourself at least an hour in travel time by subway.

Fire Island
Good for: Relaxing on (comparatively) uncrowded beaches.
Beach quality: Rougher waves (beware of swimsuit malfunctions — wear a suit that can take the beating), but don’t expect too much in the way of amenities. Bring a beach umbrella because there’s little to no shade.
Cost from Manhattan: Long Island Rail Road train from Penn Station to Bay Shore (from $21.50 for an off-peak round-trip ticket) then a ferry (from $10 for a round-trip pass). Check the train and ferry schedules carefully, and make sure you don’t miss the last ferry back. For one-way travel times, allot two hours for the train and at least 20 minutes for the ferry.

Jones Beach
Good for: Summer music concerts, lots of junk-food concession stands, some picnic tables, and decent waves.
Beach quality: Serviceable but crowded with families. Beach umbrella rentals are available.
Cost from Manhattan: $16.50 for the MTA’s Jones Beach package with discounted one-day round-trip LIRR tickets to Freeport and a bus connection to the beach. This year’s service is available on weekends May 29-Sept. 12 plus Memorial Day (May 31); weekdays June 28-Sept. 6.

Atlantic City, NJ
Good for: Gambling, strolling the boardwalk, and people-watching.
Beach quality: Obviously not the Caribbean, but not bad for a quick getaway. Keep in mind that you can easily sit in three hours of traffic trying to get to the Hamptons.
Cost from Manhattan: The Atlantic City Express Service train from New York’s Penn Station is the fastest route by public transit. One-way tickets start at $29 for the 2.5-hour trip.

Having visited each of these beaches and mostly by public transportation, I feel obligated to share these seven seemingly obvious tips. Feel free to add your own.

[Image Credits: Amy Chen]

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Check the schedule. When traveling by train, bus, or ferry, double-check the schedule for any service changes or delays. This is especially important if you need to connect by bus or ferry to reach the beach.

Have a Plan B. If you know you’re the type to dawdle, aim to catch the second-to-last departure on the way home. That way, in the event you lose track of time, you have a buffer and won’t have to stress about finding your way back.

Do the math. Depending on the size of your group or if you’re traveling with a lot of kids or gear, it may be more cost-effective and easier to rent a car. In the New York area, car-sharing companies such as Zipcar and Connect by Hertz offer hourly rentals with gas and insurance included. (Expect to pay a membership fee and familiarize yourself with any mileage limits — I once exceeded the daily mileage limit with my Zipcar rental and paid a penalty that effectively doubled the price of the rental). Don’t forget to factor in any parking fees or tolls.

Lighten your load. Can you rent chairs or umbrellas at the beach? Then don’t bother schlepping all that gear on the subway, train, bus, or ferry.

Know the rules. Does the train, bus, or ferry allow coolers or glass bottles? What about the beach? If certain items are prohibited, you could find yourself dragging unnecessary stuff and then being forced to dump all of it.

Bring a cover-up and a change of clothes. If it took you two hours to get there, you’ll want to be comfortable on the ride back.

Oh, and don’t forget to wear sunblock.

Seven ways to explore the world without leaving home

by Katie Hammel on

Travel can be an escape – a chance to get away from the stress of our daily lives – but it can also be much more. Travel is about exploring a destination (new or familiar), understanding and connecting with the local culture, and seeing how people in a different place live.

Even more than the physical act of moving to a new place, traveling is about discovery, and just because you can’t get away from home at a particular time doesn’t mean you can’t still embrace that philosophy of adventure. Here are seven ways to “travel” without leaving your hometown.
Movies
Movies can take us to other worlds – real or imagined, of this Earth or not. Next time you are suffering from serious wanderlust, pick up a movie set in a foreign land. Explore the sweeping grasslands of Kenya with Out of Africa, ride the back roads of South America with Che in The Motorcycle Diaries, wander the chaotic streets of Tokyo through Lost in Translation, or explore India by train on The Darjeeling Limited.
Public transportation roulette
Travel is all about exploring a foreign place. For most of us, that doesn’t mean we need to venture far to discover a place that is new to us. I’ve lived in Chicago for three years, but there are still pockets of the city I’ve yet to step foot on. It’s easy to fall into a routine and only visit the same reliable places in your hometown, but this can lead to a feeling of boredom. Spice up your daily life by seeking out new places in your own city.

If you live somewhere with a good train or bus system, pick a weekend to play what I like to call “public transportation roulette.” In Chicago, I hop on one of the El lines and get off at a stop I’ve never visited before. Then I spend the afternoon checking out the area’s restaurants and shops. If your city has an ethnic enclave, like a Chinatown or Greektown, spending an evening wandering the streets there can also feel like a mini cultural journey.

Books
Just like movies, books can take us places (see, that poster in the Library didn’t lie!). Whether you prefer to read creative nonfiction set in a specific place or places – explore the idiosyncrasies of the Chinese with J. Maarten Troust in Lost on Planet China, ride the rails through Asia with Paul Theroux in The Great Railway Bazaar, or return to the Paris of the 1920’s in Earnest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast – or to read more about the idea of wandering (try The Little Price by Antoine de Saint Exupery), books can help keep us in a traveling state of mind.

For a whirlwind tour of the world, try an anthology like the Best American Travel Writing series. Or for a mini shot of travel inspiration, I keep a copy of Make the Most of Your Time on Earth: A Rough Guide to the World on my coffee table and flip through it often.


TV
When I start to get itchy feet but know that I don’t have a trip scheduled for a few weeks, I start renting all my favorite travel shows. I explore the world through food with Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations, or laugh along with Ian Wright and the Globe Trekker crew as I learn about destinations I plan on visiting in the future.

Food and drink
Traveling through my taste buds is one of my favorite ways to “virtually” experience a destination. In most countries I visit, I try to schedule a cooking class to learn to make at least one local dish. When I get home, I can then make that meal any time I am feeling nostalgic for the country. I can’t make fresh pasta without being transported to my honeymoon in Tuscany. Empanadas and some Malbec wine take me back to Buenos Aires, and fresh paella recalls my days in Barcelona.

Even if you didn’t learn to make a special dish while you were in a country, you can try to recreate memorable meals at home, or just pick a local specialty from a country you’d like to visit, and make it with the help of a recipe found online. If you can’t cook more than a piece of toast, no worries – just head to your local ethnic restaurant. You might not be fooled into thinking you are really in Ethiopia as you spoon up stewed meats with spongy injera bread, but a little taste of a foreign country might satiate you until your next trip.

Theme nights
Remember that episode of the Gilmore Girls when, after Rory’s big trip to Asia was cancelled, Lorelei turned the living room into a tour of the continent with food and decorations from various Asian countries? Just like that, you can host a theme night to celebrate a destination you’ve been to or are planning a trip to. Heading to Japan? Host a Japanese night, complete with sake, anime movies, sushi and geisha costumes. If you have friends of various ethnicities, take turns hosting and ask each person to tell a story about their culture’s traditions.

Cultural centers and events
A large part of traveling is learning about another culture, and while nothing can really substitute for the experience of being there, a trip to a local cultural center can help you explore the history and traditions of a culture in your local area. Fore example, in Chicago, the Irish American Heritage Center hosts traditional Irish music at the onsite pub. When I sit there and drink a Guinness, I know I’m still in the US, but if I close my eyes and listen to the the proliferation of Irish accents around me, I almost feel like I’m back in Dublin.

Cultural festivals, which often feature food, music, and art from the home country, are another festive way to immerse yourself in a foreign culture.

Ten reasons why I dislike the airport

by Scott Carmichael on

I hate airports. It never used to be like this, because most of my travel used to take me abroad. I always looked forward to spending some time at the various major international Airports.

Most of my travel nowadays is between US airports, and it is obvious all my years of international travel spoiled me for life. There are just a handful of decent airports in the US, but the vast majority are just a disgrace. Even airports that act as the gateway to the nation greet tourists with dull and uninspired buildings, rude staff and confusing public transport.

Call me negative Nancy, but I’ve listed ten of the things that annoy me the most when I’m at the airport. Let me know in the comments whether you share any of these things.

Lines

Lets face it – unless you are an elite level flier (or you are flying out of a quiet airport), your trip is going to mean you’ll be standing in line, just so you can stand in line, so you can stand in line.

You’ll encounter lines at the check-in desk or check-in computer kiosk, you’ll be in line for security, you’ll be in line at the gate, you’ll be in line at the air bridge, and you’ll be in line on the plane waiting for someone to spend their first five minutes on board slowly getting comfortable. Lines suck, and unless you are really mellow, lines are a sure way to get your trip off to a bad start.

The “security” checkpoint

TSA staff rank up there with most other bureaucrats. There vast majority of them are good people out there, but plenty of them stand around the security area radiating total and utter contempt for the traveling public.

Basic help is rarely available, and any time the stress of travel makes you forget to empty your pockets or remove your laptop, you find yourself on the receiving end of a monkey in a blue shirt yelling at you. Sadly, all this harassment is done under the disguise of keeping us safe from terrorists, which is the magic word that allows people to be rude.

Poor seating

Airports spend millions on art, but when it comes to providing decent seats, they must shop at IKEA. Even though airports know they’ll often need to take care of you for several hours, the seating they provide is horrible. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if it is just done so they can force you into their overpriced restaurants, because spending $6 on a beer appears to be the only way you’ll get a decent place to sit.

Baggage fees

In the past, once you’d paid for your ticket, the only money the airline would get out of you would be for a decent drink on your flight. That has all changed with airlines demanding money for checked bags. A family of 4, each with 2 bags can easily find themselves parting with $200 at the airport.

Concession stands, restaurants and stores

Who doesn’t like paying $10 for a stale sandwich or a 2 day old bagel? Airport food sucks, is overpriced and is usually inedible. There are a couple of airports who managed to find a decent restaurant, but the vast majority consists of bad sandwich stores and greasy fast food.

With a couple of exceptions, US airports also offer a dull array of stores. Just how many people actually shop at the airport Brookstone? Would it hurt them to start offering some real choices? One quick look at Amsterdam, Dubai or Hong Kong shows how a real airport shopping center should be.

Public transportation

Very few US airports have the luxury of a decent public transportation system. When these places were designed, most architects forgot that not everyone would be traveling by car. Even some of the busiest airports in the world (like JFK in New York) didn’t get a decent public transit system till several years ago. Others, like LAX don’t have any direct connections (other than a poor bus service).

As usual, some of the airports outside the US show us how things should be – Hong Kong has a high speed rail service connecting the airport with downtown, Amsterdam has an underground train station linking the airport with most Dutch stations, and even Heathrow offers arriving and departing passengers multiple rail options.

The executive lounge

The “executive lounge” is where elite passengers and people traveling in first class can relax separated from the commoners. In the US, the lounge is a dark and poorly designed room, where you can trade a drink coupon for a beer.

Outside the US, the executive lounge is a completely different story – airports like Heathrow and Hong Kong offer lounge amenities from complimentary spa services to noodle and ice cream bars and an assortment of top shelf liquor. The contrast is amazing. Upscale in the US means grabbing a cracker before someone beats you to it. Upscale abroad means trying to pick which of the various freshly cooked meals you’d like.

Parking

Parking at the airport is a huge scam. There is no logical explanation why a parking spot should cost more than a couple of bucks a day. Arriving back home from a 2 week trip, and having to fork over a $210 to get your car back is a rip-off.

Even short term parking can be a nightmare – $10/hour is not unheard of, and a simple departure delay could mean you are out $20 just for the luxury of waving goodbye.

Drop-off lanes

Does anyone know when dropping people off at the airport became such a pain in the ass? Most airports now employ security staff equipped with whistles and bright orange vests who have been programmed to ensure nobody spends more than 20 seconds saying goodbye to their loved ones. Travel is stressful enough, but these bottom feeders make things far worse than it should be.

Gate lice and the boarding rush

We’ve all seen them (perhaps you are one of them) – the people who hang around the boardin
g door making sure they can get on board the plane before anyone else. They are called gate lice, and they make a sport out of completely ignoring all requests from the gate staff.

Even though they never seem to be in the first boarding group, they’ll still stay put, and as the people who are actually eligible for priority boarding make their way to the gate, they won’t budge. When people walk past them with “boarding group 1” in hand, they’ll stare them down. I hate them, and wish they’d all just stay home.

Five ways to get to the airport

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Your bags are sitting in the hallway, and you’re ready to go to the airport. How to get there involves a tradeoff between cost and hassle. A sacrifice is always necessary, and it’s significant: you’ll have to give up something important. But, this is the nature of travel, so the best you can do is understand the good and bad associated with each.

1. Drive
Take yourself to the airport, and you don’t have to rely on anyone else’s schedule. You own your time. But, you may have to deal with traffic, and parking can get expensive. Choose a long-term parking lot to trade convenience for savings.

2. Taxi
This is more an urban option. It’s cheaper than a town car but can still become costly, especially with tolls and tip. If it’s early in the morning or raining, you might have trouble finding a cab.

3. Public transportation
Public transportation is generally the cheapest alternative, but leave lots of time (especially if you live in the suburbs); it can take hours. How much is your time worth?

4. Town car/limo
You’ll pay to play with a town car or limousine, which can be the most expensive (unless you drive to an airport that charges a small fortune for parking … and you’re taking a long trip). But, your car should arrive early and be ready to wait for you (no honking or phone calls until you’re a little late), and it will be clean and comfortable.

5. Find a friend
Convince someone to drive you, and you save a fortune and win some convenience. Do this too often, though, and your friends will hate you.