Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone!

We are getting very close to Christmas and the New Year and that means we all soon get a break from the stressful life of work and school. I have been marking down the days until the end of the semester and I can just relax. After this last week of school I finally get to have a small vacation. I will be going to Cadillac, MI, for my cousin's wedding and then going to Traverse City with some friends for a few days. It isn't much of a vacation compared to going to the nice Sunshine state of Florida. However after writing papers and stressing over exams, I'll take it! I usually go on a cruise every year but I haven't had the time in a while so it has been two years since my last cruise. This is the longest I have ever gone without being at sea in over a decade! I almost had a ten day cruise booked on Holland America for next week a few months ago. Then I realized my cousin's wedding fell on the weekend it departed! It was the only cruise that was a ten day, all of the others were seven and were far more expensive.

So starting December 21st, we have about two and a half weeks until the next semester starts. The time is going to fly by and unfortunately it will be over in a flash. If you plan on going on a vacation of any kind for those couple of weeks, the time will go by even faster! Regardless of how you plan to spend your break, just make sure you enjoy every minute of it! This will be my last blog for the semester, I hope you have enjoyed reading them. Keep on traveling and I hope you all have a fun and safe winter break!

Winter Wonderland!

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all staying warm as the snow starts to fall and the temperatures continue to get colder. It looks like the Midwest has been getting hit hard with the snow. The snow is just now starting to fall in my area. The Dallas area really seems to be getting hit hard with the snow and the flight cancellations keep growing in numbers. In Philadelphia the snow fell hard at the Lions/Eagles game. For those of you who saw the game, you know what I'm talking about. The field was virtually blinded by snow during parts of the game and the players had to run through about 8" of snow. If you missed this game, you will want to see the pictures below!

I am traveling to Cadillac, MI next week for my cousin's wedding and I am really hoping the snow stays away for the weekend. I really don't want to travel on the road in a blizzard or ice. After driving through it a week ago on the way to Chicago, I think I have had enough. I love snow as much as the next person however, when it comes to driving in it I can say I hate the snow! The town I live in usually gets more than its fair share of snow every season anyway. So going up north will probably be even worse. I'll be hoping for the best though and hopefully the heavy snow will stay away for a little bit longer. For those of who are traveling right now in the snow, please be safe!

In other travel related news, a 16 year old boy was pronounced dead on Saturday while traveling on a Delta flight from Seattle to Atlanta. The flight carrying 268 passengers was diverted to Spokane shortly after takeoff. It is believed the boy died of natural causes and there will be an autopsy conducted on Monday.

Thanksgiving in Chicago

 

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! This is my favorite week of the year, I love being able to eat all I want and share laughs with the family. I also enjoy going out on Black Friday but it wasn’t as much fun having to go out on Thanksgiving night this year. I wanted to go during the early morning hours on Friday but unfortunately the stores decided to end a majority of their sales by 6 a.m. I went to the Gurnee Mills Mall in Gurnee, IL and I could not believe how packed the place was! I have never seen so many people in my life and people literally had to create their own parking spots. I am not one of those people who will fight someone for a T.V. or an Xbox like those seen on the news. I enjoyed just walking around and getting a few good deals and watching all of the activity. I felt very bad for everyone who had to work through the whole night. While I was talking to one of the employees, they told me the mall was going to stay open for 36 consecutive hours!

 

The day after Black Friday was a day I will never forget. I had tickets to see Elton John and his band perform at the Allstate Arena in Chicago! He performed all of his hits as well as a couple songs from his new album Diving Board. The sold out concert was phenomenal, he played for three consecutive hours without an intermission. Everyone was on their feet and singing along and just having a great time. I haven’t seen him in fourteen years, but his concert was

just as great as I remember. I have no idea how much longer he will be performing on tours and he rarely comes to the Chicago/Detroit area so seeing him is rare. His performance was so much better than listening to his albums on an iPod. I would highly recommend going to his concert if he is ever in a town near you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

It's finally that time of year again when we get to stuff our faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and of course, the pumpkin pie! This is my favorite time of year because it means getting to hang out with my entire family while eating all I want. Of course the infamous Black Friday is also one of my favorite parts of the holiday. Going out to the stores at four a.m. to get those insanely great deals always gets me excited. Thanksgiving is one of the most traveled times of the year. There are approximately 43.4 million people that will be traveling this Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving. About 38.9 million people will be traveling by car.

In other travel related news, a Boeing 747 cargo Dreamlifter was scheduled to land at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas. However, the aircraft mistakenly landed nine miles north at Col James Jabara Airport which is much smaller and has a much shorter runway. The aircraft was able to land safely however the next problem would be getting the aircraft back into the air. The runway length was the close to the minimum requirement a 747 needs to take off. To get the plane airborne, the weight had to be lightened. The amount of fuel the aircraft still had on board had to be reduced. Luckily, the aircraft was able to take off the next day and land at the appropriate airport. A different crew was assigned to flying the massive jet to the Air Force Base.

It turns out this aircraft does a routine flight from Italy to Kansas. I don't understand how an experienced crew could make a mistake like that. Weather conditions were ideal so the aircraft should've had no problem flying to the correct airport. As it turns out, while the controller and the pilot tried to figure out what airport they were at, the pilot couldn't read his own handwriting and mixed up East and West.

That's it for this week, have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Reach for the Sky!

Hello everyone,

This week in travel news, the One World Trade Center in New York City has claimed the title as the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The new tower stands at 1,776 feet counting the 408 foot antenna that stands on top of the building. The Willis Tower (previously Sears Tower) in Chicago has now been moved down to the second Tallest Building in the Western Hemisphere standing at 1,729 feet. There as always been a great debate over which of the two cities is better. Who has the better food, tallest buildings, best sports teams, etc.,  I personally am all about Chicago. I love the deep dish and thin crust pizza. In my opinion it is the best pizza in the world. As for the best buildings, I love the Willis Tower. There's nothing like getting out of an elevator and being able to see the city for miles. For those who are brave enough and looking for a thrill, the Wills Tower has four glass boxes called The Ledge that hang out four feet over the street. The only thing keeping people from falling 103 stories, is one and a half inches of glass! People often have pictures taken of them lying down on the glass with people who look like ants below them.

I often take trips to Chicago and it's very eerie sometimes driving through the city on a cloudy day and seeing half of the tower missing in the clouds. Though it wouldn't provide a very nice view from the top floors, I think it would be a little freaky to be working in an office that is so high up that it's in the clouds. When the city experiences high winds the tower will actually sway back and forth. It isn't enough to be visibly seen however the walls inside actually make a creaking sound like an old house or a boat in rough seas. Even though the massive tower is built out of steel and can survive the extreme weather conditions, it sounds as if it's ready to topple over! So if you're ever in the Chicago area, I would definitely recommend taking a ride up to the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower!






Willis Tower (Left) One World Trade Center (Right)

Staycation

Whenever I go on vacation, I record the whole trip. I enjoy making videos of the flights and exciting highlights from the trip and then uploading them to websites like Facebook and YouTube. A few days ago I was browsing through YouTube and exploring all of the different kinds of videos on there. I knew YouTube had just about every video known to man but what I didn't know was you can watch the equivalent of a week long vacation from your own home. I was browsing videos that people had uploaded from their flights, cruises, and just hilarious moments from vacations gone wrong. It's amazing how many videos people have uploaded from their trips and what kinds of things they have done.

I enjoy watching the videos of people sky diving on their trips and what kinds of crazy flights people have been on. For those of you who are afraid of rollercoasters, you can experience the same thrill from the comfort of your couch! Here is a passenger's point of view on board the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point.

Thanksgiving is coming up quickly and is the busiest travel time of the year. For those of you who are traveling this Thanksgiving and are afraid of flying, you can watch videos of planes taking off and landing from a passengers view to help build your courage. Here is one of my videos taking off from MBS intl. airport in Saginaw, Michigan.

There are thousands of different travel related videos out there. They are great for getting ideas on where to plan your next vacation or what to do while on vacation. Or if you can't afford to take off work or school at the moment, you can always just watch travel videos and pretend you're on vacation.

Gumballs on a Plane

I love sharing funny travel stories with people and I don't think anyone has better stories than my uncle. I have already shared a few stories from my uncle's experience with traveling but he recently shared with me a story that I think takes the cake! He was flying home on a Delta flight from Detroit to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He was sitting in his seat waiting for the plane to push back from the gate when a family traveling with a small boy sat in the row behind them. The boy had an unopened bag of gumballs and repeatedly asked his mother if he could have one. The mother consistently denied him and told him to put them away. As the aircraft turned onto the runway to takeoff the mother told the boy he could open the package and take a gumball. Upon trying to open the bag, the package exploded and gumballs went flying against the overhead compartments and throughout the cabin. My uncle had gumballs running down his shirt and the rest were rolling to the back of the cabin as the aircraft barreled down the runway. The flight attendant notified the captain that they needed to abort the takeoff. As the aircraft quickly slowed down all of the gumballs rolled under the seats to the front of the plane.

The aircraft taxied to a holding tarmac where it parked for about twenty five minutes. The flight attendants asked all of the passengers to help pick up all of the gumballs on the ground. The flight attendants were finding gumballs in the rails that hold the seats to the floor. As my uncle was crawling on the floor picking up gumballs he said to the flight attendant "I bet the captain was pretty pissed about this." Unbeknownst to him, the captain was standing right behind him also picking up gum balls and replied, "You bet he was!" 

Too Scared to Travel?

Hello everyone,

Throughout the month of October as I have been driving around I have been listening to 102.5 WIOG, a pop hits radio station. They frequently talk about haunted locations tourism locations and are even sponsoring contests to various haunted destinations. They talk about giving away tickets to these locations and as I was listening one day I heard them discussing the Queen Mary in California. For those of you who don't know the Queen Mary is a ship that was used throughout the mid 1900's. I thought to myself is the Queen Mary really haunted? I did a little research and sure enough the almost eighty year old ship appears to be haunted.

After the Queen Mary was decommissioned in 1967, it was permanently moored in Long Beach, California where it was then turned into a restaurant, museum, and hotel. It appears that some of the souls that once sailed the great ship never disembarked. Room B340 said to be the most haunted room on the ship where there have been multiple occasions of strange phenomenon. Everything from weird orbs of light, to voices being heard inside the room. It is said the engine room is a also hot spot for ghosts to hang out. Tours are offered for those who want to see every creepy part of the ship. For those who are really brave, can stay inside one of the haunted rooms and experience the it for themselves.

I honestly don't think I could work up the courage to stay in one of these haunted rooms but I would like to take a tour and visit the ship myself. It looks like it would be a lot of fun to actually walk through and see what an eighty year old ship looks like from the inside. I have never experienced a ghost encounter so I'm not sure where I stand yet if I ever do.

View the link below, would you stay here?

Queen Mary Haunting 2013

Need A Scare?

We are getting close to Halloween and I have been hearing more and more stories about people visiting haunted houses. So this past weekend my cousin, a few of his friends, and I decided to travel down to Pontiac, Michigan, and visit the world's largest haunted house. Erebus, a four story indoor haunted house, holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest walk through Haunted House.  It was about an hour and ten minute drive and a little pricy at $28 but I would say it was well worth it. When we walked inside to purchase our tickets, the first thing that caught my eye was a screen that said 7,600 people had wimped out since it opened. On top of that, it also said they have had 19 people wet themselves since it opened this month!

 Walking through the path was a rush! People jumping out of every corner, props that looked incredibly real were constantly grabbing me and pushing me. The craziest part in my opinion was being crammed into a room the size of a coat closet with ten other people. Once we were all inside, the door slammed shut and the next thing I knew, thousands of little plastic balls similar to the ones found in the play pens at Chuck E Cheese's, were falling from everywhere. It lasted for about thirty seconds and I remember not being able to move an inch. We kept climbing through them until we reached the ceiling but then a door opened and they fell through hidden trap doors. From start to finish, the walk through took about forty-five minutes. This was my first time ever visiting a haunted house this size and I can say I will definitely be going again next year. For those of you who have never been I would recommend visiting Erebus this month before it shuts down in November.

There wasn't any major travel news this week, good or bad, so I'll jump to the question of the day. What kinds of scary things do you enjoy during the Halloween season?

Pet Peeves

Hello everyone,

Question of the day: What are your pet peeves when flying?

Have you ever been on a flight and there's a crying baby on board, or some stranger is drooling on your shoulder? Though these stories can seem a bit far fetched, they actually aren't that rare with my family. I don't know anyone who has better stories than my uncle. Almost every flight he's on turns into an adventure. He used to be a private pilot flying small twin engine aircraft. He no longer flies as a pilot but his stories as a passenger are unique.

A few years ago he was on a Northwest flight flying home to Ft. Lauderdale from Detroit. With my uncle's luck, he'd be happy if the worst thing that happened on a flight was severe turbulence. That was not the case on this flight. Though he did have abundant turbulence, his seat was next to a guy that smelled like he hadn't showered in a week! For 2 1/2 hours he had to try to fight the urge to vomit. If that wasn't bad enough my uncle started smelling an even more nauseating smell. He couldn't figure out where it was coming from. He discovered the passengers sitting in the row behind him had brought their dog with them and his cage was stowed beneath his seat! The dog developed  diarrhea in-flight and my uncle's loss of appetite prevented him from even enjoying the pretzels he was given!

This flight just kept getting worse and occurred within the first hour of flying too! The add to the drama of this flight, as the aircraft approached Florida and began its descend it plowed into stormy weather. My uncle loves flying and enjoys flying through the storms, however,  as they were getting through the heart of the storm, the aircraft actually got struck by lightning! Today's aircraft are designed to withstand a lightning strike but my uncle couldn't help but laugh about this flight. This is just one of the several bizarre flight experiences my uncle has experienced. If you should see my uncle as you board the plane, I highly recommend getting off and booking another flight!

Like my uncle,  too love flying and everything about it. I love flying through storms and turbulence etc. However I draw the line with diarrhea dogs and smelly people. Here is a video I made two year ago when I was on a Delta flight flying from Detroit to Ft. Lauderdale. This was the worst take off I have ever experienced and I could feel the plane flying all over the runway. If you watch closely you can see the wing tilt up over the tree line as the plane banked to the left just before takeoff. It's a little scary to be banking while you're still on the runway!

Cuising the Seas

Hi everybody,

Question of the day: What is your opinion of airport security?

I would first like to start off this week with the top travel news. Just today a nine year old boy was able to pass three levels of security and sneak onto a flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. I was shocked when I first heard about this. I don't understand how someone can sneak past every form of security and actually manage to board a plane unnoticed. The flight attendants became suspicious of the kid during the flight and had him taken into child protective services after landing. The boy was returned to Minneapolis.

Being the avid cruiser I am, I am always keeping up with a website called Cruise Critic. The website connects people who love to cruise and post updates of the latest news stories with everything cruising. I recently came across a list of the future cruise ships coming out in the next four years. Currently Royal Caribbean owns the worlds two largest cruise ships with Oasis and Allure of the Seas. They are now building three new identical ships Quantum, Anthem, and one still to be named. They will be smaller in size but will have the first bumper cars at see, skydiving simulator, and a jewel shaped capsule that carries passengers 300 feet above sea level and gives a 360 degree view.

It never ceases to amaze me what kinds of things cruise lines are coming up with to put on their ships. The ships have entertainment for everyone. While I was browsing through the list of ships, I happened to stumble across the name Titanic II. Curious, clicked on the link and looked into it. Apparently a multi billionaire from Australia has announced plans to build an exact replica model of the infamous ship Titanic. Aside from being equipped with modern navigation equipment, this ship will have everything the original had and will voyage the exact route from Southampton to New York. The ship is expected to be launched in 2016.

Bon Voyage!

Travel Bucket List

Hi everyone,

Here is the latest update of this week's travel related news. On Thursday September 26th, a United Airline's Boeing 737 flying from Houston to Seattle was carrying a 161 passengers when the Captain, Henry Skillern,  suffered a heart attack. The Aircraft declared an emergency and was diverted to Boise, Idaho. Among the passengers were two Army medical doctors and also an off duty United pilot who aided the co-pilot in landing the aircraft. The doctors were performing chest compressions on the captain but the captain was pronounced dead shortly after reaching the hospital, he had flown for United for 26 years.

In other news the two bodies that have been missing since the night that the Costa Concordia sank in January of 2012 have been found. They are believed to be the bodies of a passenger and a crew member. They were found nearby the Concordia and are  the last two unaccounted for of the 32 dead.

For the question of the day, what travel destination is on your bucket list? What places do you see on television or the movies that make you wish you were there? The place I've always wanted to visit is Australia. I have always wanted to see wild Kangaroos and see the Sydney Opera House with my own eyes. I have never been that far on the globe before so I think it would be a cool experience. My ultimate goal is to take a cruise around the world so I can visit places like Europe, New Zealand, and Tahiti. Its going to be a long time before that happens though. Comment below with what destination is on your bucket list and what you want to do at that destination.

Need a Vacation?

As we enter the fourth week of school the stress is beginning to set in. We start seeing papers due and out come the quizzes and tests. This can certainly feel overwhelming but all we need to have is a goal to get us through it. The main goal for me to help me get through is having a vacation planned. Knowing I have a vacation coming up is the light at the end of the tunnel. Regardless of how difficult the work starts to get or how overwhelmed I feel with all of the homework, there will be a trip at the end of it.
Currently the only vacation I have planned right now is to go to Chicago to see Elton John. It's not a major trip but its a nice getaway where I can forget about the stresses at home. Being the cruise addict I am dying to get back out on the open ocean. I haven't been on a ship in almost two years so I have been watching the cruising websites for deals. As each week passes, I see myself needing a cruise more and more. My favorite cruise line is the Holland America Line, they have the best service and by far the best crew. They do whatever it takes to make sure your cruise is the best cruise possible. I would highly recommend going on one of their ships!

In the latest travel news, the Costa Concordia was successfully raised on Tuesday after laying on its side for 20 months. The process took about 19 hours to bring the ship to a full up-right position. Here is a video of the raising of the Concordia.
Costa Concordia Raising

I'd love to hear other cruise stories from you or if you aren't a cruiser where do you like to travel and how do you spend your vacation?

Week 1

This is the first blog that I have ever done so my blogs should become more interesting as I progress through the semester. I plan to write my blogs about traveling hence the title "Travel" whether it's from my personal experiences, or news stories. I have done a lot of traveling in my life and I would say it's my favorite hobby. My family and I are avid cruisers and just love everything about the ocean. I recorded several videos while on my trips and I plan on tagging some of them onto my blog. I am also an aviation geek as well so some of those videos may even be from one of my flights taking off or landing.

 While I plan to talk about places I have been and experiences I have had, I would like to hear where you have been or plan on going. I have always enjoyed sharing vacation stories with others. It is interesting to discuss what other people enjoy doing on their vacations and where they like to go. It seems there isn't ever a trip that goes exactly as planned, sometimes they can be for the better or worse.  Something always goes wrong or the most hilarious and bizarre things occur. I want to hear all about those trips so throughout this semester please feel free to comment on my blog with your stories and share some of your photos or videos.

 To finish off my first blog here is an update with the latest travel related news stories for September 2013.

The Costa Concordia, which rolled on its side and sank off the coast of an Italian island in January of 2012, is set to undergo the raising process on Monday, September 16th. This will be one of the largest maritime operations ever conducted.  

United Airlines accidentally set a fare price of $0 on its website yesterday September 12th. The mistake went unnoticed for nearly two hours before it was corrected. United still plans to honor the reservations that were booked for that fare price. (Sure wish I had gotten one of those!)

Here is a link to one of my cruise videos.
Bon Voyage!

Holland America Horn Battle