Flightster

Travel

When Things Go Wrong

I’m sitting in my second taxi cab of the day, doing my best not to hit my head on the lower-than-usual interior and trying (with much futility) to unfurrow my brow.

The only thing keeping my head up is a heap of frustration, a dash of anger and a dose of Red Bull. I’ve just been kicked off a train with two friends who are visiting me from overseas, and our travel plans have been abruptly cancelled, leaving us with a double-handful of phone call rain checks to take and about 12,000 rupees less in our pockets.

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How They Get Around

In the United States, we place a great deal of significance in the cars we drive. Our sense of independence and focus on standing out as individuals pushes us toward having the freedom and prestige that comes with owning a car, and owning one that says something about the person driving it. Even those who don’t own cars tend to do so in a way that expresses something about them: “I’m riding this bike because I’m such-and-such,” or “I’m walking because I’m a so-and-so.”

This yardstick translates well from country to country.

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Don’t Mess with Kolkata

Litter in Kolkata, India

I had never seen unabashed littering until I moved to Argentina.

Sure, I had seen people throw candy bar wrappers on the ground. Maybe they’d leave their styrofoam cup on the park bench when they left. And smokers, well, smokers just toss their spent butts wherever they like.

But until I landed in Buenos Aires, all the litterers I had seen at least had the conscience to look ashamed for what they were doing. A quick glance around to see if they were being judged by other pedestrians. A slight grimace as they committed their crime, as they got a little pat on on the head from their shoulder devil (while the shoulder angel gently wept over their actions).

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Photos with Locals

You’re walking around your new digs — a relatively-clean hotel, or maybe a flat you’re renting for a few weeks near the center of town — and you see it.

The perfect photo opportunity.

You run up to the group of locals who make up the composition and lean in next to them, stretch out your arm to its full length and snap a photo with them. Or you hand off the camera to a friend or bystander and have them take the photo for you. Either way, you may have just stolen someone’s soul.

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Airline Profile: American Airlines

Recently I flew American Airlines as a paid passenger for the very first time. You would have figured that at some point over the past nine years of me traveling bi-coastally that the airline, which not too long ago was the country’s largest, would have had the cheapest fare and had me booking a ticket.

Luckily on this particular trip I had the ability to fly AA both domestically and internationally as I made my way from Los Angeles through Miami and onto Aruba to stay with the new IGATA member the Aruba Marriott.

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An Exploration of 4 of the Most Inspiring Quotes for Travelers

We all know that when we’re traveling it can be hard to put everything it is that we see and do and experience into words. And so, with the help of some people like Robert Louis Stevenson, Lin Yutang, and a few others, I’ve captured all that travel is in their words and then expanded upon them in my own.

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My 8 Tips for Better Road Trips

Colin Wright on a road trip

It’s been a little while since I talked about road trips, but seeing as how I just returned from a small one around Missouri, it seems like a good time to touch on some things that one should keep in mind before, during and after trekking around those long, unforgiving highways.

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A Dilemma: People Who Haven’t Traveled but Talk Like They Have

A few days ago I had a conversation with some friends of mine that turned into an exchange of ideas about culture, international relations, government, being proud to be where you’re from, and opinions and beliefs about why things are the way they are in this world.

I have to admit that as the conversation carried on I respected everything that they had to say but the only thing holding me back from truly appreciating it was the fact that neither of them had ever crossed the border of the country from which we were sitting in and having this conversation from.

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4 Fun Ways To Ignite The World Traveler In You

Well it is August of 2011 which means that I’ve been back in the US for 10 months. WOW. I’m not going to be traveling again for another 6 months so what’s a travler to do?! Well, you get inspired! You get pumped! You find ways to dive into culture even when you’re not walking through it!

Check these out:

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Flight Attendant Layover: Las Vegas

Close your eyes. Now, imagine you’re a flight attendant who wakes up on the morning that you start a trip and you realize that at the end of the day you’re going to layover in Las Vegas, with free accommodations! Now, imagine having to work flights from Los Angeles to Seattle, then Seattle back to Los Angeles, from Los Angeles, up to San Francisco, and then finally San Francisco over to Las Vegas all before laying over with your free accommodations. Not looking so glamorous right? Oh, did I forget to mention that your layover is only 9 hours and 55 minutes? Uh huh. Yup.

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