Jaunted

Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / Hawaii Travel / Northwest Flight 253 / → All Tags

Obama Says 'Mele Kalikimaka' From His Holidays In Hawaii

You know what we love most about Christmastime? The fact that most of the country gets to enjoy a long weekend, including the president and his family. On Christmas Even, President Obama, Michelle, and his two daughters hopped Air Force One to Hawaii for their traditional holiday family vacation.

Since they come to Hawaii every year, they don't go about doing the touristy sightseeing anymore, but instead hole up in a rented vacation home in Kailua on Oahu, conveniently neighboring an Air Force base. He plays golf, he plays basketball, and he swims at one of Hawaii's highest rated beaches.

But he is not to be completely envied, since he is the President of the United States after all, and duty calls even when he's on a much-needed island vacation. The news of the attempted terrorist incident onboard Northwest Flight 253 kept Obama chained to his desk for most of Christmas day as he upped the security threat level to orange and issued reviews of security procedure and of the terrorist watch list. We hope, for everyone's sake, that the rest of his vacation will be uneventful.

Related Stories:
· Obamas in Hawaii: First Family Arrives In Oahu for Vacation [HuffPost]
· News interrupts Obama's Hawaii vacation [CBS News]
· Presidential Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Huffington Post]

Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / Copenhagen Travel / Oslo Travel / Nobel Peace Prize / → All Tags

Obama Gasses Up Air Force One For Visits To Oslo And Copenhagen

It hasn't even been a month yet since President Obama took Asia by storm, hitting up South Korea, China, and Japan, but already the traveler-in-chief is back onboard Air Force One for a quick trip to Scandinavia to pick up his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway and then address the climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Obama will arrive early tomorrow morning in Oslo, where he'll stop by Oslo City Hall for the ceremony, but he'll miss the guided tour of the Nobel Peace Centre in favor of getting over jetlag at the city's Grand Hotel. This is notable because the exhibition currently on display at the museum is about President Obama. He's effectively missing out on his own party. But with good reason...

more ›

Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / South Korea Travel / Seoul Travel / → All Tags

No Soju And Karaoke For Obama In South Korea

After some tense days in China, President Obama puddle-jumped up to South Korea, opening the flood gates to jokes about how Obama's got Seoul.

But, like in China and Tokyo, Obama wasn't about to hit the karaoke bars or down soju (rice wine); no, he had business to do and soldiers to visit. After meeting with the South Korean president at the historical "Blue House," Obama headed to Osan Air Base to addressed 1,500 US and Korean men in uniform. There would be no trips to the border with North Korea with Barack, since tensions run so high this year. Too bad though; we enjoyed looking at the little barbed wire souvenirs you can buy at the border base at Panmunjom.

Although Obama's first trip to Asia as president was focused on China, he had to give some attention to South Korea. It's a good thing he didn't bring the family though, since we doubt Malia and Sasha would have liked eating living, wriggling octopus tentacles.

Related Stories:
· Commander-in-Chief Obama shares stories with U.S. troops in Korea [LA Times]
· Obama's S. Korea visit free of major protests [Washington Times]
· Obama Around The World [Jaunted]

[Photo: AP/WashingtonTimes]

Tags: Barack Obama / History Travel / Political Travel / Walking Tours / → All Tags

Discover President Obama's Lost Years on a Tour of His New York Haunts

President Obama is most closely associated with the city of Chicago, but he spent five years in New York as a student and community organizer, and a local actor has created a walking tour that shines a light on what he calls Obama's "lost years" here. The AP introduces us to Jeremiah Miller, whose two-hour "Obama's New York" tour takes visitors to some of the places the 44th president spent time during his 1981-1985 stint in the city.

more ›

Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / China Travel / Shanghai Travel / Beijing Travel / → All Tags

Visit To China Brings Out The Business Traveler In Obama

Whereas Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie might be our Super World Travelers, there's no doubt that President Obama is our Super Business Traveler. After wrapping up a summer of whirlwind around-the-world meetings and appearances with his family in tow, autumn is marked by his huge solo visit this week to China.

Over the weekend, Obama landed in Shanghai after a quick visit to Japan and Singapore. Already in China, he has hosted a town hall-style meeting with Chinese students to discuss freedom of information—with a small nod to Twitter, saying: "Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter...my thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone." This came in response to China's past ban on Twitter, although access to the website was re-opened at university campuses for this special event.

more ›

Tags: Travel Health / Travel News / Barack Obama / → All Tags

'With Liberty And Travel For All'; Obama Lifts HIV Travel Ban

Although the travel health focus right now is on the Swine Flu, it's nonetheless important to remember that Swine Flu isn't the end-all, be-all of dangerous diseases right now. After all, millions of people in the world don't have it, unlike HIV and AIDS. Up until this weekend, those with HIV were banned from traveling to the United States due to an archaic law which was just lifted by Obama in response to a UNAIDS request for all countries to end such discriminatory travel bans: "Placing travel restrictions on people living with HIV has no public health justification. It is also a violation of human rights," said UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe.

Although the ban won't be fully lifted until next year, those who have HIV and haven't been able to visit the US and make their dreams come true of going to Graceland and eating a slice of New York pizza now can start booking their flights.

more ›

Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / Martha's Vineyard / New York City / Food Travel / Michelle Obama / Pittsburgh Travel / → All Tags

Michelle Obama Begins Locavore Crusade at NYC's Gramercy Tavern

President Obama might be making his first presidential visit to Pittsburgh today for the G20 Summits, but before heading off for some serious work-time, Mr. and Mrs. Obama hit up New York again for a couple days, creating mass traffic confusion, but some actual excitement when Michelle lunched at the famed Gramercy Tavern restaurant.

In all fairness, Michelle had to eat alone since Barack was not in town for tourist activities like usual, but instead addressing the United Nations. Gramercy Tavern is an excellent choice for the First Lady, even if she may have gone because the chef behind the restaurant also catered the UN activities. It is upscale, rather exclusive and hard to get reservations for, and is known for being a cheerleader of American cuisine.

She didn't make reservations...

more ›

Tags: Holiday Travel / Barack Obama / Presidential Travel / Political Travel / → All Tags

How To Get Tickets For The White House Holiday Tour

Washington D.C.-bound travelers hoping to celebrate Christmas with the Obamas may already be out of luck. With its twinkling lights and a new family occupying the world's most famous address this year, snagging holiday tour tickets to the White House is a feat that rivals landing floor seats to a Springsteen concert.

As the Richmond Times Dispatch reports, tour requests are accepted up to six months in advance, but whether you're the lucky winner of tickets isn't disclosed until three weeks before the scheduled date, or thereabouts.

The formal request process and the lottery-like submission for tickets are a result of post-September 11th security measures. Before then, tourists could show up the morning of and fall in line to get same-day admission. Now, ticket requests must be made "through the office of a member of the House of Representatives or Senate."

more ›

Tags: Literary Travel / National Book Festival / Reading / Barack Obama / → All Tags

Book It To D.C.'s National Book Festival WIth Our Top Event Picks

Bibliophiles will want to book it to the National Mall in Washington DC to hang with co-hosts President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the ninth annual National Book Festival. Big-name authors are scheduled to come out as well for the free festival, set for 10 am to 5:30 pm on September 26.

Since we want you to have enough time to make it to your favorite events while still having a chance to sight-see around the city, we've consolidated a nice list of the biggest highlights to hit in the Book Festival.

Jaunted's favorite highlights, all on September 26:

more ›

Tags: Literary Travel / Barack Obama / Kindle / Events / → All Tags

All The Travel That's Fit To Read: E-Book News And Obama's Reading List

Read East Coast, read West Coast, or read without books at all: Here's all the reading news intrepid travelers need to know from this week:

· Good news for flashpackers? Sony unveiled its latest e-book reader this week and before you could say "Kindle killer," reviewers rushed to express the fervent desire that it could improve on Apple's very '80s-colored category leader. The $400 touchscreen Sony "Daily Edition" will allow readers to go online with a blazing 3G network and, among other options, check out library books electronically.

The budget option for digital page-turners on Sony's line is still the $200 Reader Pocket (a 6" touchscreen with no wireless)—but can it compete with the Kindle's stranglehold over both publisher selection and the iPhone?

more ›

Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / Martha's Vineyard / Massachusetts Travel / Vacation Homes / → All Tags

Everyone And Obama Kicking Back On Martha's Vineyard This Week

We have truly entered the family vacation portion of summer, what with last week's National Parks free day and the anxiety of squeezing in trips before Labor Day. Although President Obama, Michelle, Malia and Sasha have spent their summer traveling around the world and taking in various tourist sites, they have also been working all the while. Thus, it's even time for the first family to call it quits for a bit and head to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts for some deserved rest and relaxation.

They'll even be renting a summer vacation home for the week-long break, but this isn't some cottage with a leaky canoe; it's the 28-acre, $35,000-a-week Blue Heron Farm on the island's southern edge. With the arrival of the Obamas, Martha's Vineyard has become the late summer celebrity vacation hotspot, as it's reported that the likes of Jay-Z, Beyonce, Oprah, Spike Lee, Pele (the Brazilion soccer star) and even the Clintons are also in town.

more ›

Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / National Parks / Arizona Travel / Grand Canyon / → All Tags

The Obamas Show Us How A National Parks Vacation Is Done

With vacation destinations like Miami Beach or Las Vegas, one wonder if American families are still game to take in natural sights at the once-popular National Parks. Well, there's at least one family that kicked off their summer vacation with little good old road tripping out west, and that's the Obamas. Before they head to Martha's Vineyard for some well-deserved down time, the first family spent this last weekend admiring the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park.

Alright, so it wasn't exactly a road trip in the traditional sense, since the family took the Marine One helicopter from the White House to Air Force One to reach the west, but they did hop from one park to another in one weekend, and Obama even brought along his half-sister and her family.

more ›