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November 27, 2006

Food Trip: The Tastes of Home

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South, come the pilgrim and guest,
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before.
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

-- John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

Umm, pumpkin pie.

My work suffers when I'm deprived of Thanksgiving leftovers and re-heated holiday fare smothered in micro-waved gravy. Scoff not; I know you secretly relish the trappings and the trimmings of a homemade holiday feast.

For me, a trip home would be rewarded with Velvet Lime Salad (contents happily unknown), green bean casserole crowned with canned crispy-fried onion rings and pecan pie so dense, syrupy and sweet that my pancreas demanded an apology the following day.

This year's holiday travel horror stories have yet to be written, as my Christmas itinerary looms just a few weeks out. That doesn't mean I haven't already heard an earful of seasonal travel tales -- all dispensed within nanoseconds of my query, "How was your trip?" (Danger Will Robinson, danger!)

From this point on, I'm proposing we answer that question one of three ways: 1) fine, 2) challenging or 3) I'll fill you in later. That way should you wish to pursue the details, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Of course when I travel in the coming weeks, I'll be happy to relay every last detail of my transcontinental, multiple-stop, red-eye flights.

Posted by Tom at 10:54 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 16, 2006

Who Moved My Cheese?

Just recently, I had a traveler ask me  the following question: "When did packaged cheese become a prohibited item? TSA took my wrapped cheese sections recently! Is there no end to this? " — Bill W.

Sorry to say Bill, I see no end in sight. I liken it to Andy Warhol's remark that in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. In this case, everything will be included on the TSA prohibited list for 15 minutes.

The days of rolling a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano onboard or toting a brick of Velveeta in your briefcase are over. The danger of Cheese Whiz is not to be underestimated. Though nary enough to top your Triscuit, Bill, you are allowed cheese, as long as it doesn't exceed three ounces, oh, and it can be pressurized, oddly.

Buying in bulk has no advantages in the realm of air travel. So, in this season of sausage logs and cheese treats, I say shop online and let someone else do the shipping.

Here's the never-ending list of TSA Prohibited items for future reference, and expect it to change often. See the Food and Drinks section for more details. And yes, you can bring a pudding cup onboard, but only three ounces.

Posted by Tom at 10:27 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You Say Direct, I Say Nonstop

I work with some great people, and one my favorite "Expedians" is Willy O.  In working directly with travelers, he suggested I write about the use of the term direct flight when travelers actually mean to say nonstop flight. He said he's has travelers calling in to ask why their itineraries show a stop when they've requested a direct flight.

Willy, has a great point and as someone with whom I'd trust all of my bookings, he knows of what he speaks. Travelers often use the words nonstop and direct interchangeably. Well, that has got to stop; it's for your own good and here's why.

Nonstop means just that: no stopping along the way. You are going from Point A to Point B. You take off and you land only once.

On a direct flight, you don't change planes but you may have multiple stops. You go from Point A to Point B and land at your destination, Point C. While you stay on the same plane the entire flight, it is by no means a nonstop flight.

The distinction can have a huge impact on the traveler.

For instance, Willy recently traveled on a Honolulu - Seattle flight which continued on to Chicago. A passenger on the flight had a mid-trip meltdown upon learning that the flight stopped in Seattle.
He declared to the flight attendant, "They said this is a direct flight to Chicago." She replied, "It is, and it has a stop in Seattle." (You can see where this is going.)

The poor guy had changed his original nonstop Honolulu- Chicago reservation to catch this earlier flight. Even though this new flight left earlier, he would arrive in Chicago later because of the Seattle stop.

Here's what I propose. Place a rubber band around your wrist. Newspaper roll strength is fine. Now every time you say direct when you really mean nonstop, I want you to pull and release the rubber band. Remove the rubber band when you have removed direct flight from your travel vernacular.

This is tough travel love, but the next time you skip an unwanted Cleveland, Seattle or Denver stop, you'll thank me. (Though, lovely cities they are.)

Posted by Tom at 10:15 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 3, 2006

It's in the Bag

I was heading to work today, navigating the many mazes of mass transit in my fair city, when I spied a fellow commuter with suitcase in tow. suffice it to say this intrepid soul was taking the bus to the airport. Riding the bus is a fine precursor to airline travel, seems to soften the expectation of the latter.

Anyway, the man lumbered with one of the largest wheeled duffle bags that I'd ever tripped over. If it had contained food, a family of four could have survived a winter in the Sierra Madres with this rolling cache of consumables. I felt sorry for him, knowing all to well the bag would be battered, bruised and damaged in some way before its return home.

Stay away from giant pieces of luggage. Here's my geometry-based reasoning. Remember the movie "The Blob", the 1958 sci-fi thriller that starred Steve McQueen? If not look here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051418/

In reality any time you double the surface area of something, whether Blob or suitcase, you more than triple its volume.

So a huge suitcase, like the Blob, really can't support itself or retain any structural strength. The bigger the suitcase, the more likely the damage to contents and its exterior. The Blob really couldn't have supported itself, let alone have eaten Cincinnati; and that goes double for the over-sized duffle bag.

Posted by Tom at 2:07 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 1, 2006

The First Leg of the Trip

Welcome to Overheard Bin!

When it comes to travel, everyone has a story, some good, some bad, some excruciatingly long, others perfectly to the point. Whether a tip, a tale or a did-you-know-that, we hope our blog will be one of the layovers on your next itinerary.

For me, I suppose I have travel in my blood. At six months old I was diapered, dazed and destined to board a flight with my parents and sis from San Francisco to Tokyo. A mere 33 hours and Honolulu fueling stop later, we touched down in the Land of the Rising Sun. Three years later we made our return flight and I haven't stopped traveling since.

To this day I prefer the drone of a prop engine to that of cricket's call to put me to sleep. Yep, travel consumed (read warped) my formative years, but I suspect or at least wish to believe I'm a better person for it. Travel made me adapt and gave me a perspective I'd otherwise not enjoy; understanding that it's a small world and I have it pretty good, and no matter how much I travel, there's really no place like home. (Why am I clicking my heels?)

 

Posted by Tom at 2:05 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)