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Tags: Airport Restaurants / Airport Food / LAX / Pinkberry / Airport News / Airports / → All Tags

Load Up on Pinkberry Before Your Southwest Flight

It was only a matter of time before the faux fro-yo craze that is Pinkberry would hit the airports and we were oh so privileged to see it in action last night at LAX's Terminal 1, known to locals as The Southwest Terminal (although US Airways does have some presence here.)

Wedged in between a Starbucks, a California Pizza Kitchen ASAP and a Gordon Biesch brewery, the Pinkberry seemed to hold its own. We saw many a customer in our 45-minute wait in this airport fast food haven that solely came in to get some Pinkberry.

The bonus? You can also get Pinkberry as soon as you deplane as the location is right before the escalators down to the baggage claim.

Related Stories:
· Pinkberry Coverage [Jaunted]
· An Injection of Frozen Yogurt for Terminal 1 at LAX [Jaunted]

Tags: Travel Contests / Design Travel / Australia Travel / → All Tags

If You Can Design A T-Shirt, You Can Win 11 Days In Australia

Tired of the colder temperatures and all the leaves to be raked already? It's spring in Australia! But of course, heading Down Under costs a pretty penny, and for creatives it most likely remains a dream destination. That's where Threadless and STA Travel step in with their "Threadless Loves Travel II" contest. Last year's winner got a trip to Iceland, $2,000 in cash, and slew of other perks. This year they're looking to a warmer destination by giving away an 11-day trip to Australia, new luggage, headphones, a $500 Threadless gift card, and the $2,000 in cash.

So how do you enter and win? Break out your best graphic design, drawing, or photoshopping skills to create a T-shirt inspired by travel. If it wins the most votes, it's Australia here you come. So far only six designs have been submitted, so the odds are good. Here's the design that won last year, for a little inspiration, but we know you can do better with Australia at stake. Submissions are accepted until December 2, so get brainstorming!

Related Stories:
· Threadless Loves Travel II [Threadless]
· Threadless Loves Travel I (Winner) [Threadless]
· Travel Contests coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: winning design for Threadless Loves Travel I]

Tags: Travel Gear / Green Travel / Travel Products / Lists / → All Tags

Five Travel Gear Companies That Give Back To The World

We talk about Travel Gear a lot here at Jaunted, and issues like Green Travel just as much. Merging the two are some innovative companies, who specialize not only in producing eco-friendly travel products, but also giving back to their communities and promoting a positive image of a global citizen. Perhaps when you're looking for your next piece of luggage, a new swim coverup, or even a full-size tent for that camping trip, you'll remember that there are options out there doing good for the world while they help you enjoy your trip.

Without further ado, here are a few of those companies: Five Travel Gear Companies That Give Back To The World:

Matt & Nat
In case you didn’t know, this uber-hip Vegan handbag line out of Montreal makes fashionable bags and wallets and totes from recycled water bottles. In addition to being environmentally smart, designer Inder Bedi gives back to various charities throughout Europe, Canada and the United States. From battered women’s shelters to animal rights, Bedi cares. He also sees that hundreds of homeless people eat a vegetarian meal twice annually in their home base of Montreal.

Additionally, a dollar for every bag sold goes to the charity of your choice. Within the first quarter, the line has accumulated charitable contribution dollars exceeding $16,000. Our favorite item? A little perfect-for-your-passport Men’s Murse.

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Tags: Audio Tours / Chicago Travel / iPods / Technology / → All Tags

How To Make Your Own Tour Of Chicago On Your iPod, For Free

The London Guarantee Building is the tour’s starting point.

In this craptastic economy, you may not have the extra bucks to buy one of those expensive tours where a guide shows you the ins and outs of a city. So we decided to try out a recession-friendly, iPod self-walking "Loop to Loop" tour of Chicago. And it's totally FREE.

Just visit the Chicago Loop Alliance's website and decide whether you want to take a theater, an art or a landmarks tour; we opted for the latter, which takes you throughout the Loop. Download the appropriate tour and add it to your iPod. But for a seamless experience you will have to do some work. The site provides you with a map of all of the landmarks, but it just lists the names of the buildings. We recommend writing down all of addresses so that you know where the heck you’re going. Click on all 23 landmark points on the website to get the addresses.

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Tags: National Parks / Delaware Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags

Coming Soon To Delaware: A National Park?

Besides working on health care reform and extending the housing credit, members of Congress are working on another pressing issue. Those from Delaware’s congressional district are looking to get the ball rolling on the creation of the state’s first national park. We’re all for more national parks, but we’ve been through Delaware, and park isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, we hear the Delaware Water Gap is pretty nice and it’s already a National Recreation Area—too bad it's not in Delaware.

Senator Thomas Carper is the one pushing hard for the First State National Historical Park, and he wants $5 million to preserve land near New Castle and to probably build a cool gift shop. Things at the park would focus on the state’s early settlers from Europe as well as other stuff perfect for an elementary school field trip. Besides the attractions in New Castle, there will also be sites outside of town like the Old Swedes Church in Wilmington.

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Tags: AirTran / Airlines / Airline News / Livery / Airplanes / Airplane News / Sports Travel / → All Tags

AirTran Paints Its Planes To Celebrate The Birds Of The NFL

Fans of the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons now have an easy pick when it comes to choosing their favorite airline—it has to be AirTran. The airline that loves in-flight WiFi has just released a Boeing 717 dubbed Ravens One from the hangar, and the plane is ready to shuttle fans to away games around the country.

Just a couple weeks ago, the airline pulled the masking tape off another plane dedicated to the Atlanta Falcons. It’s fitting that AirTran has a thing for football teams named after birds. However, the airline is also planning to release a plane with an Indianapolis Colts livery in just a few weeks. From what we’ve seen of Peyton Manning’s acting skills in commercials, we have little doubt that he’ll be the featured pitchman for the Colts’ new plane.

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Tags: Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / St Lucia Field Trip / St Lucia Travel / Caribbean Travel / Islands / Island Travel / → All Tags

A Beach, A Banana, And A Flight From Britain: Plane Spotting In St. Lucia

Seeing as how it's been a little bit since last we focused on the lovely pastime of plane spotting, we decided to turn our recent Saint Lucia island experience into some useful (not to mention scenic) plane spotting advice for when you too are on the island.

Whether you're heading down on the new Jetblue flight from New York-JFK like we did, or coming all the way from London-Gatwick on the direct Virgin Atlantic flight, you'll want to get a load of the air traffic that sporadically makes its way into St. Lucia's Hewanorra airport at the very southernmost tip of the island, and here's how...

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Tags: Camping / Rich Travel / Luxury Travel / First Class Travel / Travel Gear / → All Tags

Would You Camp In A Tent Shaped Like The Sydney Opera House?

There's a certain class of people who enjoy the idea of being in nature but are less than enthusiastic about the "dirt" and "sleeping on the ground" and "being outside" parts of the experience. Their idea of roughing it involves a covered caravan, a $750 credit card bill at REI, and a case of white wine. Not red wine, because that would be too luxurious. Within that group, there's a certain subclass of folks who also have something of an nouveau riche air about them. In addition to actually "camping" in decadent comfort, they need to look like they're camping in decadent comfort. The new Opera capsule caravan, styled after the Sydney Opera House, is designed with them in mind:

We can't believe we're saying this, but this "tent" has a wine cabinet and more. Find out what else after the jump.

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Tags: Cirque du Soleil / Circus / Santa Monica Pier / Santa Monica Travel / → All Tags

Koozin' It Up In Santa Monica: The Kooza Cirque Du Soleil Show

While VegasChatter is all a-tizzy about the new Viva Elvis Cirque du Soleil show that is set to hit The Strip next month, the folks in Los Angeles are getting a chance to experience Kooza in their own backyard at the Santa Monica Pier.

Kooza is the story of a little boy who's trying to find his place in the world. Called The Innocent, he's guided by The Trickster who shows him all sorts of things in the world of Kooza from a bumbling king and his clown sycophants to a loudmouth pickpocket, pretty female contortionists, jugglers, dancers, tightrope walkers (and cyclists) and tumblers extraordinaire.

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Tags: Airline News / Britain Travel / Ryanair / British Airways / Airlines / LCCs / → All Tags

Ryanair Taunts British Airways: 'We're (About To Be) #1!'

It's no secret that Ryanair has translated their "Customers Suck" philosophy into one quarter of breakout profits after another.

It's also no secret that we kind of loathe them and everything they stand for (excepting low airfare), which makes this particular story, about how the low cost carrier is poised to pass British Airways as the largest airline in the UK, as predictable as it is aggravating. Try to contain your shock when we tell you that they're being obnoxiously smug about the whole thing:

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Tags: Top Chef Travel / San Francisco Travel / California Travel / Top Chef / Food Travel / Restaurant Travel / → All Tags

Laurine Wickett Of 'Top Chef' Gives Left Coast Some Market-Fresh Options

This week's cheftestant profile involves travel to you, rather than a self-initiated jaunt to a cast member's restaurant. Laurine Wickett, whose tenure on Top Chef effectively ended after what is arguably the show's most difficult challenge, "Restaurant Wars," has since returned to San Francisco where she runs Left Coast Catering.

New York born, but Northern California bred—at least in the culinary sense—Laurine incorporates the Bay Area's various cultural influences into market-fresh menus for her clients. Whether left coast parents planning a Bat Mitzvah or bride-to-be hosting a dessert reception, Laurine will provide you with options galore. We perused some of her sample menus online, which reflect a flavorful Californian approach to cooking while turning to other regions of the world for inspiration. She does everything from sushi stations to steak and french fries, on the same menu if you'd like guests to have multiple options. Her ill-fated Pork Rillette (or, as Dana Cowin punishingly put it, "cat food") made no appearance on any of the menus we saw.

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Tags: Flash Mobs / Crowds / Berlin Travel / Historical Travel / Events / → All Tags

Join 33,000 Others To Recreate The Fall Of The Berlin Wall On Its 20th Anniversary

Here at Jaunted, we love us some flash mobs and all of the fun and city exploration that come with them. But this upcoming Monday, November 9 in Berlin, a flash mob will take on a somber note as up to 33,000 people gather to recreate the Berlin Wall on the 20th anniversary of the night it came down.

The "Mauer Mob"—know that "mauer" means "wall" in German— will happen at approximately 8:15pm on Monday, lasting for about 15 minutes so that visitors, Berliners, and even those who were there for the original tearing down of the wall can commemorate the date and capture photos of the scene. Already almost 6,000 people have registered to participate on the event's official site, and if you're in the vicinity, you should not miss this opportunity.

For tips on what to see and what to skip while you're not becoming part of a human Berlin wall in the city, be sure to check out our Berlin Field Trip series.

Related Stories:
· Temporarily Recreating The Berlin Wall [Kottke]
· Mauer Mob [Official Site]
· Walk The Path Of The Berlin Wall And Crash Into A Starbucks [Jaunted]
· Berlin coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]