In Episode 5, we warn people not to travel to Bali, Look at Charlottesville and Williamsburg Virginia, go on a treasure hunt in Rome, take a virtual tour of Terminal 5 by JetBlue at JFK, stay at the 10 best airport hotels, drink at the 10 best traditional pubs in Ireland and learn how to do Paris.
In Episode 004, we apologize for mispronouncing Greenwich, packing in one bag, sleeping on the plane, doing expensive cities on the cheap, 20 things to do in Italy, smoke a cigar and drink absinthe, ride a zeppelin, take some road trips out of Rome, learn about the cost of extended travel and talk airport security.
As everyone knows, after 9/11, the United States went into an ultra secure mode increasing security at Airports, rail stations, ship yards…wait, okay, just at airports. We pumped a lot of money into improving the security at all of our airports.
Some will argue that it has worked as there hasn’t been an airplane related terrorist act since then. I’m not here to argue politics on either side of the case, what I am here to do is to compare security between the US and Europe. So, I’ll be looking at my recent experience flying to Europe and back and how security is going each way.
In Episode 003 we look at damaged 757 engines, places to roll in the hay in Germany, Mona Lisa condoms, where to stay in Paris, what to do while you’re in Paris, check out British Airways magazine Highlife on the web, Southwest Airlines first quarterly loss since 1991, the future of travel blogging and 50 luxuries for our next vacation.
Hi all, just wanted to let you know that I have started producing a new podcast called Travel Bits. It is available via iTunes here. If you prefer to just listen to it, you can also go to the “Blog Postings” link above and it’ll be listed in our feed.
The concept of the podcast is to review some of the stories that were posted over the past week.
Given that, I’m not promising that this is the best ever podcast you’ll ever listen to, but it’s a start and things can only get better, right?
The podcast is in AAC format because I’ve integrated screenshots and links to the stories as I talk about them, so use iTunes to listen to it.
Other than that, give us some feedback and what we can do to improve it!
[EDIT: Fixed space on end of episode]
In retrospect, this article probably should have been named: Armpitty. In this episode, I look at TSA Security, Rick Steves latest blog posting, Morocco, Bus Tours, Haunted Places, Disney California Adventure, New Zealand, Sydney, Oktoberfest Post-Mortum and Google Maps. Still not sure how well this is going, may start tweaking what I’m doing in the next episode. Visit Travel Off The Cuff and leave me some comments on how to improve what I’m doing!
The first episode of Travel Bits by Travel Off The Cuff. We highlight some great travel stories that came out this past week.
In this episode, we make sure everything is set up correctly and layout our vision for the podcast.
If you’ve ever been to or planning on going to France you’re certain to hear the question or comment about how rude the French people are to visitors. I recently got back from a couple of days in France and there were a couple of people who’ve asked me if I encountered any rude French people. This wasn’t my first trip to Paris. But I have to say, the rudest people I saw while there were two old American women!
At this point, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, he probably speaks French good enough to get by.” Nope. I hardly speak any French. Oh, I know a couple of words: Merci, parlez-vous anglais, bon jour, and au revoir. That’s about it. I’ve listed those in order of importance. If you don’t know what they say, they are: Thank you, do you speak English, hello, and goodbye.
Travel requires understanding and respect.
The people who have the biggest problems while traveling are those who go to places and bring their own cultures and norms with them. You can’t. What we do and expect in the United States is completely different then what is done in England, Germany, France, or India.
It is important to understand that. When I took a group tour through Europe, our tour guide often repeated, “Just because it is different, doesn’t mean it is wrong.” If you are the type of person who can’t handle it when things change, travel probably isn’t for you. Sorry, don’t even think about going to Italy. You’ll be flooding your senses on a minute by minute basis with a culture that is so different then what you’re used to. So much so that you probably would not enjoy the experience.
Understand and accept that everyday things just work differently in another country. Don’t stomp into a place and demand that people do things the way you expect them to. When I first enter a large store or restaurant, I always take a moment to look around, see how people are acting, and get a feel for how things are flowing.
I don’t travel to stand out. I travel to fit in.
When I was at the airport waiting for my flight back home, we stopped in at a food court area. I’m walking around, looking for a quick snack. At one of the food areas, an older American lady is standing at the glass. “Is anyone working here?” she blares behind the counter, “I just want to get something to eat!”
I get in line to pay and she gets behind me with her friend. In her hand, a package of pita slices. “These are stone cold,” she blathers to her friend. “I wanted to get them warmed up, but I just couldn’t communicate to her.”
“We’re in France!” her friend says with a smile.
I’m willing to bet that the lady behind the counter understood exactly what was asked, but she wasn’t willing to comprehend because of the intolerable actions of the American. I was close to turning around and telling them to just shut up.
The problem is that they didn’t show respect to those who were serving them.
I have found that the French people are very proud of their country, their history and their language. Especially their Language. If you’ve never been to Paris, alone theSeine River, there’s a department whose sole purpose is to protect the French language. Imagine that. English tends to adopt foreign words into its own.
When I had to interact with a Parisian, I always started out with bon jour and ended with merci. I wanted to show that I respected their language first, then ask them if they spoke English (parlez-vous anglais). Most of the time, the people I was speaking to spoke English good enough for me. Sometimes, it took a little work to get my meaning across.
For example, we stopped for lunch at a café. The menu was in French. I knew I was looking at sandwiches and one read: “quatre fromages.” Okay, I knew fromages meant cheese. I quickly worked through every French word I’d ever heard in my life to figure out that quatre meant four. So a four cheese sandwhich. I confirmed with the waiter that it meant what I thought it did (I pointed at the word and held up four fingers) and had a great Panini sandwich.
Do I get upset and demand an English menu? No. In some places, once the waiter (or waitress) learned that we spoke English, they quickly provided an English menu. But you know, there’s some fun in trying to figure out the menu. I’ll give you an example.
Two years ago, I was walking around Paris by myself. I stopped in a restaurant to have lunch before making my way to the Eiffel Tower to meet the tour group I was with. I was seated inside and ordered a Pepsi (a word I understood!) while I looked at the menu, completely in French. There were only two phrases on that menu that I understood: tartare and Bolognese. Okay, I knew I didn’t like raw meat and the other is my mom’s favorite Italian sauce, so I was in business for lunch. Sure, I could have experimented and tried tartare, especially since you can’t get it in the U.S. any more, but that’s more of a group thing to do where everyone shares the plate.
Thinking back, I wonder what kind of trip those ladies had. I know their trip was finished because I saw them in line at customs. I’m sure they enjoyed the sights and all, but I’m sure their stories are littered with side snipes about how rude the people are over there.
It’s a shame really. Because if they would have taken a little time to develop an understanding of the culture and had the common decency to show some respect to people they met, their trip would have been unbelievably great.
Merci beaucoup!
