by Loti | Oct 31, 2013 | Portugal, Travel
Madeira, Portugal. Little did I know that we were landing on one of the most dangerous runways in the world as our last stop on our around the world trip. Actually I am glad I didn’t know until after we arrived in Madeira. I learned over dinner in Madeira the first night, all 3 of our pilots had to receive special training just to land our plane on the single runway that is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on 3 sides (you can see the ocean at the end of the runway in the photo) and a mountain with thermal winds on the 4th side. Yikes! But our pilots executed a perfect landing. So what are the other most dangerous places to land? Well according to The History Channel, Nepal is the number #1 with San Diego the 10th. Madeira is 9th with St Bart’s and Hong Kong in the top 10. So I have landed at 2 of the most dangerous (San Diego and Madeira). I think I’ll stop with that record! Overall, I was amazed at how smooth all of our flights were on the trip. Not one scary moment except maybe the landing in Australia. It was an amazing experience, but I am glad to be home. And where is our plane going next? Whisking Prince Charles and Camilla off to India for a 9 day trip. I bet they won’t be as fun as our...
by Loti | Oct 21, 2013 | Indonesia, Travel
Indonesia. Breathtakingly beautiful. At least at the Four Seasons in Bali where we stayed. So beautiful (as seen from my villa in the photo), I didn’t leave the hotel property for the short 48 hours we were in the country. And Indonesia, it turns out, is the 33rd country I have visited around the world. So how many more countries do I need to see in order to have been to every country? And who even keeps track of what defines a country? According to the United Nations, who seems to be the main authority, there are 193. The US State department says 195. England and Scotland are not considered countries since they are part of Great Britain, Greenland is part of Denmark (news to me) yet Vatican City is a country. Ask the Olympic Committee, the World Soccer League, the World Atlas folks and you come up with different answers. But whatever the number, I have a lot to go (about 160 by my reckoning). Yet, as you read this, I will have added India to my list of places visited. So one more my country under my belt. 34 and...
by Loti | Oct 7, 2013 | Africa, Australia, Conquering Fear, Easter Island, Fiji, Food, Indonesia, Panama, Portugal, Travel, United States
Miami/FT Lauderdale . Arriving at our kicking off spot for the jet trip around the world, I am vacillating between being totally terrified (I mean what was I thinking about signing up for a trip with 23 people I don’t know) and feeling completely exhilarated (what an adventure). We visit 8 countries in just 22 days on our Airbus (which hold 24 travelers plus 3 pilots, one engineer, 4 flight attendants, a full time chef and 4 tour guides, plus an IPad to use). So just how far is it around the world? I was guessing 50,000 but it turns out it’s just under 25,000 miles, barely enough to get Silver medallion status on Delta. So if you have any minimal status on any airline, you have probably flown the equivalent of around the world. I just happen to be doing it all at one time. And which way do you want to travel? East to west or the opposite, west to east? As with so many things, I never really thought about it. Our pilots feel flying from East to West is much easier on jet lag. You generally arrive during daylight and then can go to bed at a normal time. Which is great as our entire trip is east to west. We leave for Panama in the morning for a short 2.5 hour trip with no time change so I think we will be safe from jet lag for a couple more days. By this time tomorrow, we will have traversed one of the largest locks in the world (the largest is in Belgium). The journey...
by Loti | Jul 9, 2013 | Africa, Australia, Easter Island, Fiji, Indonesia, Panama, Portugal, Time, Travel
Palm Beach, FL. Having just committed to a 3 week trip around the world beginning in Oct, I now find I need yellow fever shots, extra pages added to my passport, country visas. Yikes! We start in Florida traveling west to Panama, then Easter Island, Fiji, Australia, Bali, India, Kenya, Portugal and then back to Boston. So how do I keep up with the changing time zones? How many time zones even exist in the world and what is a zone? Well, there are 40 time zones according to one website (37 according to another). With a time zone referring to the Earth’s surface loosely divided by 15 degrees of longitude (not even sure what that means) there are 24 standard zones (see map) with another 16 zones that use 30-45 minute increments after the hour. The U.S. actually has 9 time zones (yep 9, including Alaska, Hawaii and Samoa). Ok, really? Yet, China has only one time zone for the entire country and then throw in daylight savings time. And how about outer space? The common practice is to use the time zone of the launch site. Wow, this is way too complicated. I am just glad I start and end in the same zone, 40 zones later (or is it 37?). >...
