Fun with Airport Codes
(A silly little article with no offence intended to any of the destinations involved.) So! I’ve decided that I need to fly into Massawa, Eritrea, Africa because its three lettered IATA airport code (MSW) matches my initials and I want the personalised luggage tags as the ultimate travel accessory that would accompany any flight there. This got me thinking of alternative airport codes that...
Read MoreThe Green Light Walk
My friend, ReallySmartGuy and I have this thing that we do whenever we get together; I call it our Green Light Walk. The premise is simple. We meet up, we start walking, we start talking and we don’t stop … for anything. When we come up to a traffic light at an intersection we take the path of least resistance. We don’t stop, we don’t hesitate but without thinking we adjust our path to...
Read MoreMost Colourful Flight Ever
… and the plane hadn’t even left the tarmac yet. There’s something exciting about flying the national carrier of your destination from your home country – what with the foreign accents of the flight crew, the different food etc. it’s like starting your holiday early; like you’ve already arrived when you haven’t yet departed. Then there’s something even more exciting which is...
Read MoreThe Honour of Voting
Today I had the honour of voting in the Australian Federal Election. It’s an experience worth writing about for the simple matter that I am lucky enough to be part of a country whose citizens have a say in choosing their government. It’s an interesting election. Aside from the general talk over better hospitals and schools etc, the contentious issues have circled around immigration,...
Read MoreFree Hugs
Perhaps you’ve seen them on city street corners or standing in the middle of public squares, these seemingly crazy people with cardboard placards advertising their wares: Free Hugs. Free? The very word induces scepticism. Nothing is ever free right? Are these people starved of affection? What’s the catch? There’s always one, isn’t there? Yesterday, I was downtown Vancouver to watch a...
Read MoreHop with dohop
As a travel journalist who plans and coordinates his own trips abroad there’s been one website that has proven invaluable over the years: www.dohop.com At its most basic function the website is an up to date database of the world’s airline routes and schedules and as such, finds every possible permutation of how to get from A to B. And all you have to do is plug in the two...
Read MoreFeedback Please
It’s funny, but in all my years as a journalist I can count on one hand how often I’ve had feedback from readers on my work. (Travel writing, you see, is rarely contentious enough to illicit reader response.) As a freelancer I have a pretty solitary office life, just me and my laptop. It’s an odd existence that never quite feels complete. Plucking away at the computer keyboard I watch a...
Read MorePeople are fascinating
Today I was on a colourful bus ride from East Vancouver into the city. The bus was already packed with a cast of characters when a working girl tottered aboard in her 3 inch clear plastic platform heels and her barely there skirt. If the way she was dressed didn’t have the entire bus’s attention, her high-pitched plea to the bus driver that she was going to be thrown in jail if she didn’t...
Read MoreM&M’s Excellent Adventure
First up, I have to ask: Who has missed a flight or conversely gone to the airport one day early simply because you didn’t properly look at your flight itinerary and thought your departure day/time was something entirely different from what it was? (Please share.) This was the case yesterday for a friend who was certain that he was flying to Europe that evening – having taken the day off in...
Read MoreBest Flight EVER
My best flight ever. Hands down, absolutely ever! I had been in Hong Kong with a good friend of mine, CherryPop (this is truly his nickname). We’d even extended our stay by one day we were having such a great time. Having gone through customs & security at the airport in preparation for our return flight to Sydney we were just about to walk up the stairs to the Virgin Atlantic (another...
Read MoreHelicopter your Hometown
There is nothing like seeing the world from above, particularly if you recognise what’s below! Recently I’ve had a couple of flights with American Airlines where I’ve been treated to the most amazing views from above. A few weeks ago I flew from New York (LaGuardia, my new favourite NYC airport – small, manageable and easy & inexpensive to get to via public transport – see how...
Read MoreRats & a Laundered T-shirt
It’s 1am in the morning and I am spending the night at YYZ (Toronto Airport) – by choice – because I couldn’t impose on anyone to get up in the middle of the night to deliver me the required two hours before my 6:30am flight. (“4:30am? Are you kidding!?”, was the exact response I think.) I’ve been here since midnight but I’m happy enough because I’ve found a quiet place...
Read MorePhoto of the day
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