After writing my most recent blog post about an actual travel destination and nothing else, I feel the need to get back to my roots and write about some of my recent thoughts and observations. Here goes:
What is the point of online check-in for air travel when you still have to wait in line at the airport to check your bags? I thought the whole point of this online check in system was to avoid standing in lines at the airport. Although I am occasionally wrong, this is not one of those times. Some airports have actually gotten with the 21st century and devised this fancy system of erecting plastic poles with these seat belt like retractable fabric straps so that an entire line can be devoted to those of us who only need to drop our bags off. Ingenious I tell you. Absolutely ingenious. Just yesterday, I had a flight from Quito-Cusco by way of Lima. The airport in Quito, which only has about 4 airlines fly out of it and maybe 5-6 departure gates, had a separate line for baggage drop. The airport in Lima with about 60 check in lines couldn't devote a separate line for baggage drop. So...when I left Quito, my bags had tags which said they would go all the way to through to Cusco. But when I got to Lima, I had to get my bag at baggage claim, and then wait about 30min in the check in line for my next flight, despite already having my boarding pass, so that the luggage tags with Cusco already printed as it's final destination could be removed and replaced by new tags stating Cusco as my final destination. I've had to reclaim my bags at stopover points before and then send them through to the next destination, but usually there is a desk near baggage claim that just takes the bags and then you can continue on to your next gate. Not in Lima though. These airports need to get their acts together and always have a baggage drop line, no questions asked.
Airplane etiquette: If you have bad gas, and you absolutely can't hold it in, let out a tester. If it smells, "For the love of everything good and pure, please don't continue to let out any further gas for the next 5hrs of the flight." Stale cabin air is better than smelly cabin air every day of the week.
Is there a reason why airplanes can't be built an extra foot or two longer? I recently had a flight where I sat in the very last row of the plane and was unable to recline my seat. Build the plane a bit longer so that all passengers can recline, or sell those seats at a discounted price. Either everyone can recline or no one should recline. I may preach good posture to my patients in the PT clinic, but good posture on a plane is unnecessary and highly uncomfortable.
I used to be one of these people that had to be first on the plane and now I laugh at that type of person. We have assigned seats people, so what in the world is the rush to go sit in a claustrophobic plane? First of all, you end up standing in a line of more than 50 people, once boarding is announced, just to get onto the plane...silly. And then once you get on the plane, you sit on a far more uncomfortable seat than the one you just left while sitting in the waiting area...even sillier. (First Class passengers who get to ride in thrones from one destination to the next are excused). NEWS FLASH: "That plane ain't takin' off until my butt is in my seat, and I'm gonna be the last one on the plane whenever possible." As a well traveled American told me earlier in my trip: If the gates shut behind you and you know you're the last one on the plane, you can spot potential empty seats anywhere on the aircraft and sit in any one of them regardless if it's your assigned seat or not. Pretty clever.
Speaking of assigned seats. I can somewhat understand the point of having them for airplane travel. Some people want window seats. Others want to stretch their legs in the aisle. No one wants a middle seat, so book your travel earlier and avoid that disaster. What I don't understand is having assigned seats on bus travel. Windows are huge, so whether you sit right next to window or by the aisle, you can see the passing scenery. And if I get on a relatively empty bus a few stops and a few hours before another passenger boards, but i'm not in my assigned seat, why does this person then have to be a nuisance and ask me to move when obviously there will be another open seat on the bus on which he can sit? We are all going to get to our desired destination whether we are in our assigned seats or not. So suck it up, leave me alone, and sit anywhere else but where my butt is currently planted.
What is it about that mysterious (un)fasten seat belt tone on a plane, that causes people to immediately have to use the toilet the second it goes off a few minutes after takeoff? Did these people not have to use the toilet 5 min ago while still in the waiting area of the airport or do they just really love going #1 or #2 in the smallest bathrooms known to mankind? I'll refer you back to that whole 'rushing to get on a plane' rant. Instead of standing in line and then sitting on the plane waiting for me to board, use the toilet in the airport. I'm pretty sure your assigned seat will still be assigned to you even if you're not first on the plane.
You know how you are always told to fasten your seat belt when sitting on a plane? Well the other day, when staying on the plane during a stopover on my way back to Quito from the Galapagos Islands, I was actually told to take my seat belt off while they were re-fueling the plane. Who knew that keeping my seat belt fastened could actually blow up the plane during the re-fueling process? Next time all of you are at the gas station with passengers in tow, make sure they take their seat belts off so your cars don't blow up in front of your eyes. Don't say I didn't warn you.
What is the point of having 'Airplane Mode' on electronic devices if they still want you to keep your devices turned off during take off and landing? Just make 'Airplane Mode' good enough so that it can't interfere with the pilot-air traffic controller relationship. If a dude can successfully skydive from space back down to Earth, surely we can develop this technology.
I understand I'm traveling in countries with speakers of all languages, but please don't spend 5min telling me in 2 or 3 different languages that my on-board entertainment is going to end in 5min. By the time you're done telling me, so is my entertainment.
I just left the Galapagos Islands: Home of The Theory of Evolution. Perhaps some day screaming, crying babies will evolve to a point where they neither scream nor cry on planes.
Whatever happened to good old fashioned begging? Not that I'm complaining, but I've seen fire breathers and jugglers the past few days, trying to make a buck in the middle of the street, while traffic is stopped. I'd be a bit concerned if I was driving the first car in line at the light though. What if the dudes juggling bowling pins with each other drop one and it bounces off the ground and dents my car. Or worse yet, a big gust of wind happens to blow the fire breather's flames in the direction of my car engine or gas tank. Wonder if insurance policies cover accidents by jugglers or fire breathers? Perhaps they should in Peru and Ecuador.
Was standing in line the airport a few weeks ago and saw two gentleman who each had awnings for eyebrows. Never have I ever seen such thick bushy eyebrows. These things seriously will keep all raindrops from ever reaching their eyeballs. I may have inherited, thinning head hair, crazy triceps hair, and a red dot of blood vessels on my left pec (which also is the source of all my powers), but thankfully, awning eyebrows avoided my DNA.
Many of you already know my stance on ladies wearing high heels on cobblestone ancient sites, but have you all seen this hair style lately. Men are the typical offenders. They have this braid of hair coming out of the side of their head. It's not a pony tail off the back of their head. It's a thin french braided strand of hair typically found just behind the ear and coming down their shoulder. Seriously. What idiots come up with these fashion trends. Too bad it is probably considered assault to just walk up to these guys and cut their braids off with a pair of dull, rusty scissors.
How is it that gasoline prices on the remote Galapagos Islands are $1.45 per gallon (3.7 litres), when it is nearly 2-3 times that amount just about everywhere else in the world?
I can't take credit for this last rant, as a friend of mine just recently wrote about it on her blog, but it bears repeating. Why aren't there more hostels out there for the young successful business professional? I realize that at my advanced age of 33, perhaps the hostel community isn't catering to my age bracket, but they should. I would prefer not to spend every waking evening with the typical late teen-early 20's immature "I'm only traveling around the world to go on a bar crawl every night" crowd. But very rarely do I have such choices. Anymore, if a hostel wants business, they have to offer such activities. Because if they don't, the 'cooler' hostel down the street will, and they will soon be out of business. There need to be more hostels, that instead of promoting a club like atmosphere, promote a wine bar/cozy hole-in-the-wall pub atmosphere. I can understood the appeal of deafening loud music in a club (although I hate it). But why does it have to exist in a hostel? There is no appeal in sitting in a hostel's common area having to scream into someone's ear in order to carry on a conversation. Go to the club brats and let the hostel be a place for using free wifi, meeting new friends, and maybe sharing a beverage or three.
That's all for now. I leave in the morning to start hiking on the Inca Trail. Hoping for good weather and no altitude related issues. Cheers.
What is the point of online check-in for air travel when you still have to wait in line at the airport to check your bags? I thought the whole point of this online check in system was to avoid standing in lines at the airport. Although I am occasionally wrong, this is not one of those times. Some airports have actually gotten with the 21st century and devised this fancy system of erecting plastic poles with these seat belt like retractable fabric straps so that an entire line can be devoted to those of us who only need to drop our bags off. Ingenious I tell you. Absolutely ingenious. Just yesterday, I had a flight from Quito-Cusco by way of Lima. The airport in Quito, which only has about 4 airlines fly out of it and maybe 5-6 departure gates, had a separate line for baggage drop. The airport in Lima with about 60 check in lines couldn't devote a separate line for baggage drop. So...when I left Quito, my bags had tags which said they would go all the way to through to Cusco. But when I got to Lima, I had to get my bag at baggage claim, and then wait about 30min in the check in line for my next flight, despite already having my boarding pass, so that the luggage tags with Cusco already printed as it's final destination could be removed and replaced by new tags stating Cusco as my final destination. I've had to reclaim my bags at stopover points before and then send them through to the next destination, but usually there is a desk near baggage claim that just takes the bags and then you can continue on to your next gate. Not in Lima though. These airports need to get their acts together and always have a baggage drop line, no questions asked.
Airplane etiquette: If you have bad gas, and you absolutely can't hold it in, let out a tester. If it smells, "For the love of everything good and pure, please don't continue to let out any further gas for the next 5hrs of the flight." Stale cabin air is better than smelly cabin air every day of the week.
Is there a reason why airplanes can't be built an extra foot or two longer? I recently had a flight where I sat in the very last row of the plane and was unable to recline my seat. Build the plane a bit longer so that all passengers can recline, or sell those seats at a discounted price. Either everyone can recline or no one should recline. I may preach good posture to my patients in the PT clinic, but good posture on a plane is unnecessary and highly uncomfortable.
I used to be one of these people that had to be first on the plane and now I laugh at that type of person. We have assigned seats people, so what in the world is the rush to go sit in a claustrophobic plane? First of all, you end up standing in a line of more than 50 people, once boarding is announced, just to get onto the plane...silly. And then once you get on the plane, you sit on a far more uncomfortable seat than the one you just left while sitting in the waiting area...even sillier. (First Class passengers who get to ride in thrones from one destination to the next are excused). NEWS FLASH: "That plane ain't takin' off until my butt is in my seat, and I'm gonna be the last one on the plane whenever possible." As a well traveled American told me earlier in my trip: If the gates shut behind you and you know you're the last one on the plane, you can spot potential empty seats anywhere on the aircraft and sit in any one of them regardless if it's your assigned seat or not. Pretty clever.
Speaking of assigned seats. I can somewhat understand the point of having them for airplane travel. Some people want window seats. Others want to stretch their legs in the aisle. No one wants a middle seat, so book your travel earlier and avoid that disaster. What I don't understand is having assigned seats on bus travel. Windows are huge, so whether you sit right next to window or by the aisle, you can see the passing scenery. And if I get on a relatively empty bus a few stops and a few hours before another passenger boards, but i'm not in my assigned seat, why does this person then have to be a nuisance and ask me to move when obviously there will be another open seat on the bus on which he can sit? We are all going to get to our desired destination whether we are in our assigned seats or not. So suck it up, leave me alone, and sit anywhere else but where my butt is currently planted.
What is it about that mysterious (un)fasten seat belt tone on a plane, that causes people to immediately have to use the toilet the second it goes off a few minutes after takeoff? Did these people not have to use the toilet 5 min ago while still in the waiting area of the airport or do they just really love going #1 or #2 in the smallest bathrooms known to mankind? I'll refer you back to that whole 'rushing to get on a plane' rant. Instead of standing in line and then sitting on the plane waiting for me to board, use the toilet in the airport. I'm pretty sure your assigned seat will still be assigned to you even if you're not first on the plane.
You know how you are always told to fasten your seat belt when sitting on a plane? Well the other day, when staying on the plane during a stopover on my way back to Quito from the Galapagos Islands, I was actually told to take my seat belt off while they were re-fueling the plane. Who knew that keeping my seat belt fastened could actually blow up the plane during the re-fueling process? Next time all of you are at the gas station with passengers in tow, make sure they take their seat belts off so your cars don't blow up in front of your eyes. Don't say I didn't warn you.
What is the point of having 'Airplane Mode' on electronic devices if they still want you to keep your devices turned off during take off and landing? Just make 'Airplane Mode' good enough so that it can't interfere with the pilot-air traffic controller relationship. If a dude can successfully skydive from space back down to Earth, surely we can develop this technology.
I understand I'm traveling in countries with speakers of all languages, but please don't spend 5min telling me in 2 or 3 different languages that my on-board entertainment is going to end in 5min. By the time you're done telling me, so is my entertainment.
I just left the Galapagos Islands: Home of The Theory of Evolution. Perhaps some day screaming, crying babies will evolve to a point where they neither scream nor cry on planes.
Whatever happened to good old fashioned begging? Not that I'm complaining, but I've seen fire breathers and jugglers the past few days, trying to make a buck in the middle of the street, while traffic is stopped. I'd be a bit concerned if I was driving the first car in line at the light though. What if the dudes juggling bowling pins with each other drop one and it bounces off the ground and dents my car. Or worse yet, a big gust of wind happens to blow the fire breather's flames in the direction of my car engine or gas tank. Wonder if insurance policies cover accidents by jugglers or fire breathers? Perhaps they should in Peru and Ecuador.
Was standing in line the airport a few weeks ago and saw two gentleman who each had awnings for eyebrows. Never have I ever seen such thick bushy eyebrows. These things seriously will keep all raindrops from ever reaching their eyeballs. I may have inherited, thinning head hair, crazy triceps hair, and a red dot of blood vessels on my left pec (which also is the source of all my powers), but thankfully, awning eyebrows avoided my DNA.
Many of you already know my stance on ladies wearing high heels on cobblestone ancient sites, but have you all seen this hair style lately. Men are the typical offenders. They have this braid of hair coming out of the side of their head. It's not a pony tail off the back of their head. It's a thin french braided strand of hair typically found just behind the ear and coming down their shoulder. Seriously. What idiots come up with these fashion trends. Too bad it is probably considered assault to just walk up to these guys and cut their braids off with a pair of dull, rusty scissors.
How is it that gasoline prices on the remote Galapagos Islands are $1.45 per gallon (3.7 litres), when it is nearly 2-3 times that amount just about everywhere else in the world?
I can't take credit for this last rant, as a friend of mine just recently wrote about it on her blog, but it bears repeating. Why aren't there more hostels out there for the young successful business professional? I realize that at my advanced age of 33, perhaps the hostel community isn't catering to my age bracket, but they should. I would prefer not to spend every waking evening with the typical late teen-early 20's immature "I'm only traveling around the world to go on a bar crawl every night" crowd. But very rarely do I have such choices. Anymore, if a hostel wants business, they have to offer such activities. Because if they don't, the 'cooler' hostel down the street will, and they will soon be out of business. There need to be more hostels, that instead of promoting a club like atmosphere, promote a wine bar/cozy hole-in-the-wall pub atmosphere. I can understood the appeal of deafening loud music in a club (although I hate it). But why does it have to exist in a hostel? There is no appeal in sitting in a hostel's common area having to scream into someone's ear in order to carry on a conversation. Go to the club brats and let the hostel be a place for using free wifi, meeting new friends, and maybe sharing a beverage or three.
That's all for now. I leave in the morning to start hiking on the Inca Trail. Hoping for good weather and no altitude related issues. Cheers.
Yes, it wasn't easy speaking to you today at your hostel with the loud noise in the background.
ReplyDeleteHave a great hike; hope you don't have problems with the altitude.
Happy Travels,
MomG
Yeah, you totally took the words out of my mouth on the whole online check in, I mean come on guys!
ReplyDelete