Flightster

10 Flightster Favorites from 2010

• by Srinivas Rao
• on December 30th, 2010
• 3 Comments

As 2010 comes to a close,  I think it’s important to take a look back at what we’ve done in 2010. First I just want to say thanks to all the contributors and our writing staff for making my job fun, inspiring, and continually producing absolutely amazing content.  In a relatively short amount of time,  together we’ve created the Flightster brand and given it a unique voice.  In no particular order , here are 10 of my Flightster Favorites from 2010

1. The Frequent Travelers Guide to Travel: Just a few months back, I had an experience that opened my eyes to how frequent business travelers handle heightened TSA security, long lines, flight delays, and more. Having rushed to the airport after a client meeting that went too long, we hurriedly printed our boarding passes, went through security, and made it to our plane just before its doors were closed. If it had been just my boss, he actually would have made it with minutes to spare. Why? He travels so often that he’s figured out how to get through security as if he’s moving at light speed by only traveling with necessary items that are security friendly. With that, I give you the frequent traveler’s guide to traveling better. Read More

   

2. 40 Flightsters You Should Know About: So what exactly is a Flightster? It’s a question we’ve been trying to answer since the day we started the site. People have even come to us and said “dude, why is there nothing about the site itself in your about section?” So, I figured it was time to personify the brand. Flightsters seem to run the gamut ranging from travel addicts to adrenaline junkies to food fanatics. I can’t say there’s one thing that defines a Flightster. But from looking at the list below, I’d say if Flightsters have one thing in common, it’s that they love to travel so much that they make it a priority in their life. Read More

   

3. The Flight Attendant Lifestyle: Whether you’re looking in the newspaper, watching your local news, or picking up a magazine it seems everywhere you look nowadays you’re finding something related to a flight attendant.The media only started reporting about flight attendants and the various issues we face after Mr. Slater opened the door to realization that our jobs aren’t always easy. But whose job is easy all of the time? The usual push-back from the public has been “if you’re not happy in your job.. then quit.” Realistically, we’re in a recession and quitting a job that pays a livable wage isn’t very smart– and if you’ve ever spoken to a flight attendant you would find out that it’s hard to quit this job. Most people who do regret it or always consider coming back to it. Read More

   

4. The 10 Most Difficult Countries to Visit as U.S. Citizen: Americans are blessed in that they can skirt across most foreign borders without any significant hassle. The U.S. passport is one of the strongest world travel documents out there. For U.S. travelers, many countries don’t require paper visas, and many that do only charge a nominal fee. In Nepal, for example, a one-month multi-entry visa costs $40 and can be obtained on arrival. In Turkey, you can buy a 90-day visa for $20 after waiting in a short line in the Istanbul airport. I was surprised how easy it was. Most countries in Europe, Central and South America don’t even charge a fee for their visas. Of Africa’s fifty three countries, South Africa, Mauritius, Malawi, Namibia and Morocco don’t charge for entry. In total, there are about one hundred countries around the world that are relatively easy for Americans to visit. Read More

   

5. 7 of the Most Useless Things in the Skymall Catalog: Anytime you get on a flight, it’s likely you reach into the seatback pocket, thumb through the in-flight magazine and eventually make your way to the Skymall Catalog. The first thing that probably comes to mind for the average person is “Who actually buys this crap?” While it wasn’t in our marketing budget to purchase the most useless things in the catalog so we could review each one individually, we did manage to compile a list of what we thought were some of the most ridiculous things in Skymall. Read More

   

6. 10 Reasons You Should go to Burning Man: I've always been intrigued by the Burning Man Experience, so when one of my friends told me he had been I knew we had to ask him to write an article about the experience. Mark Lawrence from Lifestlye Ignition share some great reasons to attend Burning Man. Read More

   

7. 12 Tips for Cruise Virgins: Last year I lost my cruise virginity. I’m used to researching and planning trips but this was our first cruise and we did some things right and some…not. Here are some tips based on what we learned. Read More

   

8. 5 Gift Ideas for Travel Freaks: I am a fan of making gift suggestion lists and love traveling so this is a fun post for me. I hope you’ll get some ideas for people on your list or share some of your own thoughts. Here are five of my gift ideas for travel freaks this holiday season. Read more

   

9. A City of Strangers becomes a City of Friends: In the dead of winter, I flew from Chicago to California for work. The weather was going to be warm and sunny, and it was. While nice weather is a plus, traveling for work can get downright lonely. You travel to a new city where you don’t know anybody and spend your time in an empty hotel room or stale office. Before leaving for Irvine, California it was a city of strangers. It became a city of friends. How does a city of strangers become a city of friends so quickly? Couchsurfing. Read more

   

10. Financing Your Next Vacation: Bogged down with how much your next vacation is going to cost?While there are many resources for the budget traveler, the kind of advice most often needed—like how to save and budget for a trip—is often overlooked. It’s really quite easy to start saving, especially if you know proper strategy. Read More

    

Srinivas Rao

Srinivas is an avid surfer and personal development blogger at The Skool of Life. He's also the host and co-founder of BlogcastFM, a podcast for bloggers.