7 Days; 7 Travel Stories

1. Slow Down You Might Be Moving To Fast

It may not be feasible for business travelers to take a slow boat to their next business meeting but there are other ways to embrace the movement known as “Slow Travel”, like eating in locally-owned restaurants, carbon offsetting and being a responsible traveler. Indeed, slow business travel may not just be good for life-work balance. It may also improve relations between countries and cultures. In the United States, the non-profit group Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA) wants to create civilian ambassadors in its business travelers. BDA has drawn up a free, downloadable World Citizen's Guide for American executives who travel, offering sixteen practical tips -- including talking slower, eating slower and...well you get the idea.

Starting in October, BDA is launching a crash course for business travelers on global corporate diplomacy, called 'CultureSpan'. It is part of an entirely new industry, with consultants in cross-cultural negotiation training and cultural intelligence. CNN

Slow Down Tips

1. Unplug and find moments in the day to switch off all electronic devices. Use the time to sleep, get a massage or go for a walk.

2. Don't over-schedule. Plan to do fewer things. That is also true for your free time.

3. Get a slow hobby like reading, yoga, sketching instead of reaching for the TV or your laptop, have a slow ritual.

4. Check your speedometer throughout the day, stop and pause to see if you are doing something too quickly.

5. Don't forget human contact. Try to chat to hotel staff or go to the hotel's social 'Cocktail Hour'.

2. Eight Ways to Avoid Airport Delays

These days it may feel like a miracle if your flight arrives on time, but the truth is flights have always been subject to delays—whether they're caused by stormy weather, mechanical problems, or something else entirely. For example, at JFK in NY, the airlines have scheduled more than 50 flights to depart in one hour's time on weekday mornings. Yet the airport can only safely depart 45 aircraft when the weather's good. The resulting overflow of delayed aircraft spills into the next hour, and the next, and so on. Throw in pilots reaching their maximum work-hour limits, and other crew and employee shortage problems ... and you have the summer of 2007. USA Today

Tips

1. Avoid delay-prone flights.

2. Avoid airlines that are known for labor disruptions and major incidents of flight cancellations and delays.

3. Book a non-stop so you won’t get stuck in a connecting city.

4. Fly mornings before the delays get worse. The busiest times to travel are Mondays through Fridays from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., traveling on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays may improve your odds.

5. Leave enough time for connections.

6. Use small airports which are usually less congested and less prone to delays.

7. Know the rules: Familiarize yourself with your airline's rules for identification, baggage limitations, and check-in and gate times. 8. Be early: Arrive at the airport with plenty of time to park, check in, and pass through security.

3. The Dark Side of Cruising

Passengers on cruise ships run nearly double the risk of being sexually assaulted that they do in normal life, a researcher claims. Professor Ross Klein told a conference at the Auckland University of Technology that the cruise ship industry has tried to cover up incidences of rape and sexual assault to avoid negative publicity.

He studied figures submitted to the US Congress by the industry last year and found that the rate of sexual assault on cruise ships was 59 per 100,000 compared with a norm in the US of 32 per 100,000. There were an additional 53 cases per 100,000 of sexual harassment. Nearly 70 per cent of sexual assaults were carried out by crew on guests, and 10 per cent by crew against fellow crew members.

The reasons for the higher incidence of sexual assault on ships, he said, included the easy availability of alcohol, passengers letting down their guard and the predatory behavior of some onboard staff.The Seattle-based International Cruise Victims Organization, formed by several families with similar cruise ship horror stories, lists dozens of alleged crimes at sea, including the disappearance of 18 people. The organization says many assaults go unreported because passengers "often feel alone and frustrated by jurisdictional uncertainties and poor treatment by cruise companies.” nzherald.com

4. From Russia With or Without Love

Maria Smirnova runs an adventure tour company on the Solovetsky Islands, an archipelago in the White Sea of northwestern Russia, about 100 miles from the Arctic Circle. Though growing in popularity, her business has roiled the monks and some residents, who accuse her of sullying the island’s religious traditions and ignoring its bloody past.

The islands, also known as Solovki, are one of the holiest sites in Russian Orthodox Christianity, and the 40 or so monks who reside here consider the land their own. Their predecessors settled here in the 15th century, creating a monastic dynasty that lasted nearly 500 years. When the Soviets came to power, they imprisoned or killed most of the clergy members and lopped off the cupolas on the churches they built. Buried beneath the wild blueberry fields and gangly forests of knotted dancing birches are the bones of thousands of inmates who perished at one of the first and most notorious Soviet prison camps: the Solovetsky Camp of Special Purpose, described by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as the harbinger of the gulag.

Despite the monks opposition, many of Solovki’s residents see tourism as a chance to emerge from the poverty endemic to many remote Russian regions. Among the dilapidated shacks and crumbling apartment blocs — some of which are former prison barracks — quaint wooden cottages and hotels with relatively expensive restaurants have appeared. “Solovki is more than a monastery,” Smiranova said. NY Times

5. Chill Outs

An LA spa offers a 30-minute road rage recovery treatment for $75. China’s spas, sensing the potential of the relaxation market and the upcoming Olympics, are giving themselves a makeover, upgrading their services so they can compete with the finest health resorts in Asia.

Blame it on global warming or just the varies of nature. Whatever the cause the beaches of South Florida are losing their sand and the communities at risk are evaluating ways to keep their beaches wide and welcoming. Broward Country, which completed a $44.5 million renourishment project in 06, is considering using recycled glass bottles.

6. Can Buy Me Love

Luxury travel has arrived in India in a big way. Owning a private jet, yacht or speedboat is the ultimate in luxury travel for the Indian millionaires, reports the India Times. Indian corporate houses—Reliance Industries , Videocon, UB Group, Raymond, GMR, Bharat Hotels, Taj Air, Oberoi et alare—are all buying private jets such as Falcons, Cessnas, Bombardiers, Beech Kings and Gulfstreams in large numbers. The new-age Indian traveler wants to travel not only in comfort but also save time, and at his convenience. With money not being the deciding factor, orders for private jets shot up to more than 45 last year while nearly 100 new yachts are expected to enter the India market this year. Industry experts say marketing is an important tool to make luxury travel a countrywide phenomenon. “At present the demand is high in metro cities. It will percolate down but it depends how the marketing is done,” says one expert. He estimates that there are between 8,000 and 10 ,000 people today who can buy their own aircraft, but they are not aware that it’s not an expensive affair to buy one.

7. Airport Watch

A former business consultant who longed for a decent glass of wine between flights to celebrate a deal with some colleagues, just opened his fifth wine bar at a US airport. Vino Volo is a growing chain that offer a respite for oenophiles, with wines by the glass or bottle, small plates of cheese and cured meats, leather chairs and outlets for laptops.

Also in growth mode is stemware (wine glasses) specially designed for particular wines. The theory holds that the design of the wine glass—from the shape of the bowl and degree of tapering at the rim, to the design of the rim itself—can affect the way someone experiences the aroma, taste and harmony of a wine. NY Times

Bonus...Congrats to the new US resorts that reached 5 star status in the Mobil Travel Guide’s 07 edition: The Tower Suites in Las Vegas; St. Regis Resort at Monarch Beach in Dana Point, California; the Mandarin Oriental in New York; St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco; and The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville. Only 35 hotels are on the five-star list. Seventy-five percent of a hotel's score is based on service, 25 percent on facilities. To earn a fifth star, properties must score in the 90th percentile. AP

A five-star resort should have all the amenities of a four-star, plus some of the following:

1. a well-informed staff that is "extremely well spoken, polite and clear, avoids slang and phrase-fragments"
2. a choice of at least two complimentary newspapers
3. 24-hour room service
4. cloth towels and fresh plants or flowers in public washrooms
5. three phones per guest room, including one in the bathroom
6. CD player/stereo
7. high-quality ice bucket and glasses with sterile tongs
8. fresh flowers in guest rooms
9. separate shower and tub
10. proactive service at pools, with towel and chair assistance and complimentary refreshments when the weather is warm


Rich’s Weekend Reader is published by AndTyler222 Communications. All rights reserved. Information from various sources and mostly rewritten. andtyler222@verizon.net