Last week I was flying home from Calgary, Canada and sat next to a passenger who took it upon herself to take her shoes off for the entire flight.
Her feet smelled.
I posted my disgust of this selfish act on my personal facebook page and was met with quite a backlash. Apparently, my circle of friends thinks that it is perfectly acceptable to odorize an aluminum tube for 3 hours with complete disregard for the comfort of others.
Now, I will admit that when I fly business class I remove my shoes. But…
I live close to the airport. How close you may be asking? Close enough that when your plane touches down, you can call me from the taxiway and I’ll get to the terminal just before your bag reaches baggage claim. I think I’m going to use this as a selling point when I sell my home.
In any event, I sometimes take a taxi home from the airport because it works out to be cheaper than parking my car for 3 days. But every time I take a taxi, I am faced with an ethical dilemma. I’ll explain in a moment…
My adventure list originally included hiking up Uluru, Australia’s iconic landmark of The Outback. But a fellow traveler educated my then-ignorance of this sacred spot by sharing that climbing Uluru is insensitive and controversial.
Climbing Uluru
It is possible to climb Uluru. Weather permitting, visitors can park at the Mala Car Park on the western side of the rock and follow the trail to the summit. It is physically demanding, hot and slightly dangerous. It will close during high winds and hot temperatures. The sheer challenge of the climb begs you to try it out. At least until you learn why it’s inadvisable…
The first time I was alone at a hotel in South Africa, it was downright frightening. But this time, it was downright fun, and maybe hilarious. You have to understand that the Palace of the Lost City Hotel in Sun City, South Africa is a 5-star kind of place. Presumably, there are rules of etiquette to follow when you are in these kinds of establishments. Having never stayed at a fancy-schmancy hotel before, I asked myself the question, what’s the most low-brow, inappropriate thing I could get away with? I wanted to do the opposite of what you were supposed to do when you stay at a fine hotel.
I’m sure the title of today’s post got you all uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t. Haulover Beach in Ft. Lauderdale, FL is known for a small stretch that allows nudity. If you’ve never been nude at a nude beach, add it to your adventure list. It’s an adventure worth having once – and you’ll probably enjoy it enough you’ll go back again.
I love wine. Pinotage, Cabernet, Shiraz and Merlot. You’re an instant friend if you bring a bottle over to the house. So naturally when I travel, I seek out delicious wines. And if you’re in Cape Town, wine country is just a short drive away.
There’s plenty of wine estates and vineyards in the cape, and most offer free tours and sampling. But for a decent afternoon of tasting, check out the Spier Wine Estate in the Stellenbosch region. It’s easy to make your trip to Spier a full half-day. There’s a Cheetah Sanctuary, full-service restaurant and more.
With all the controversy surrounding the vuvuzela being played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Games, I thought it would be appropriate to defend this defenseless plastic horn. Please watch this YouTube Video explaining why I am pro-vuvuzela.
So in short, the sound the vuvuzela makes is not annoying, loud or distracting, but instead, it’s the sound of a nation coming together, against all odds to show the world they can do it. They are South Africa and they are ready.
So what do you think? Should the vuvuzela be played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer Matches? Take this poll and share your feedback by commenting.
Other parts of Africa are notorious for Police and other Government Officials accepting bribes, but I forget that sometimes South Africa, for all it’s first-world advances, is just as susceptible. Take for instance what happened to us last week.
Our driver was driving us home from work and going about 120 km/hr on the highway. I believe the speed limit was 120 km/hr, but I can’t be entirely sure. I wasn’t paying that close of attention. Off in the distance was a speed trap.
Today’s post was another avenue to involve our readers in our travels to Thailand. The goal was to show them what they wanted to see. With the hectic schedule we had, we weren’t able to create a singular post that answered our readers comments – but we did try to incorporate them into other posts.
This was a big experiment that worked to some extent. But that was the point. To use this platform to try new things. Blogging is fantastic!
It’s a horn that’s played at Football (Soccer) matches in South Africa. I bought one today and have been puckering up all day long. Take a look in this YouTube video.
Bringing Controversy to the 2010 World Cup
As I was researching more about the Vuvuzela I discovered it’s divided some soccer fans. Those pro-Vuvuzela credit it’s African roots and widespread acceptance at football games. Those on the other team contest that they are distracting, loud, annoying and do nothing to add to the game. Representatives from FIFA wanted to ban them from the World Cup Competition, but ultimately gave in to the growing public pressure to add African character to the 2010 games. As of this writing, the Vuvuzela will be allowed in the stadiums.
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