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Five Things to Do on Your Layover at: Detroit-Metro Airport

August 25, 2010 at 10:29 AM | by kjb | 2 Comments

We’ve all had layovers that were a little longer than initially expected. Mechanical delays, weather emergencies, and all kinds of other issues make that tight 45-minute connection turn into something extraordinary. We can’t get promise your flight will depart on time, but we can offer some time killers at the airport.

Five picks for spending a few extra hours within the McNamara terminal at Detroit-Metro Airport:

· Sushi Stop:
Delta uses Detroit as a gateway to the East, so it’s not surprising that you can start your vacation or business trip with a little sushi right in the terminal. Sora has all your sashimi favorites, but they also have plenty of noodle bowls for those long cold Michigan winters. Prices are somewhat reasonable, but the best thing is that the place isn’t gross. There’s no prepackaged fake crab rolls here, and we’d even say it’s actually pretty darn good considering its location. It’s near gate A35 near the gates typically used for Tokyo-bound flights.

· Work On Your Fitness:
DTW's McNamara terminal makes the airport one of our favorites, but you still might want to take a break from all the hustle and bustle of the terminal. During longer layovers make your way to the Westin hotel that’s right in the airport. It has its own entrance not too far from the center of Concourse A, and they’d be happy to have you inside to test out their treadmills, weights, and elliptical machines. Along with providing an escape from the terminal the hotel offers day passes to the gym for just $15. It’s worth it if you’re a little more ambitious than us—we’re usually the ones in line for a cookie and frappuccino.

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Which Of These Non-Prescription Sleep Aids Bags Jet Lag Best?

August 18, 2010 at 1:52 PM | by EricRosen | 0 Comments

IF only you could sleep this well in the middle seat

Question, hotshot: You’ve got a 14-hour flight ahead of you. Normally, you don’t sleep at all on the plane, but when you land, it’ll be 3:00am your time, and all you’ll want to do is check into your hotel and slip into sweet oblivion. But bam! You’ve got a full day of meetings planned. What do you do? What. Do. You. Do?

There’s always Ambien, or the glowing green butterfly of Lunesta, but for those of us who aren’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of indulging in prescription medications to preempt and combat jet lag, there are several non-prescription sleep aids that can help us feel well rested after some of those notorious long-haul flights. Here’s our rundown of a few tried and true sleep remedies.

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Why Renting an Automatic Car in Europe is One of Life's Great Mysteries

August 16, 2010 at 2:24 PM | by EricRosen | 1 Comment

We like to think of ourselves as intrepid international travelers, but in one respect, we are utterly, hopelessly North American: we only drive automatic cars. Ordinarily this doesn’t make renting a car too difficult, but while we were planning a recent summertime excursion in France, we discovered just what a handicap it is.

Not only was it nearly impossible to find an automatic car outside Paris (and even in the city, we had to query certain agency locations), but heaven forbid we had to make any changes to our reservation, because that would set us back another carload of either time or money. Here are some of the potential pitfalls we swerved to avoid during our recent reservation fiasco, but if you’ve got tips of your own, let us know!

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Neighborhoods to Know and Go: Encinitas, California

August 12, 2010 at 12:32 PM | by Jennifer Kester | 2 Comments

Encinitas, CA is a sleepy surf community a half-hour north of San Diego. Walk around the small downtown that centers around South Coast Highway 101, and the seemingly mandatory bathing-suit-and-flip-flops dress code tells you that this is a beach town. And that's why people come here—for the six gorgeous miles of Pacific coastline in North County (northern San Diego County).

You won't be overwhelmed by tourist attractions in Encinitas. There's not much here as far as shopping, mostly just tchotchke shops. This is a place to visit so you can kick back and enjoy the view. But between the sand, surf and picturesque places to unwind, you'll have plenty to do.

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Quick Tips for Making Business Travel Fun

August 11, 2010 at 1:42 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

If there's one thing we love almost as much as travel, it's the internet. Without it, this blog wouldn't even exist, and your life would have a small hole in it which nothing could fix. Thus, we're all about about in-flight WiFi, on-track WiFi, at-sea WiFi and plain old, plain old WiFi, which is where Boingo comes in.

Boingo wanted to tap our knowledge and ask a few question about making business travel more fun, and since Boingo's WiFi at places like Chicago-O'Hare Airport and the Intercontinental Dusseldorf has saved our butts too many times, we consented.

**Click here to read the entire "Making Business Trips More Enjoyable" article**

Got any tips of your own? Let us know in the comments!

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The Newbie Traveler's Top Ten Tips for Other First-Time Travelers

August 6, 2010 at 11:12 AM | by y1kes | 1 Comment

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today in the final installment, the Newbie Traveler shares some priceless insights.

For my last post, I thought it would be a good idea to share my top ten tips for other newbie international travelers. These are simply things I learned, observed, or thought would be important enough to share with you. Here we go...

· Get a passport. While I assume that most of Jaunted's loyal readers have valid passports, I did an informal poll amongst several of my friends and came to find that a shocking 80% of them don't have a passport! I'm making this my number one "tip" for newbie travelers because you can't do much without one. Get started.

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The Newbie Traveler Suffers Culture Shock

August 5, 2010 at 10:31 AM | by y1kes | 2 Comments

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today, the Newbie Traveler meets the locals and suffers a little culture shock.

"London, thou art the flower of Cities all." - William Dunbar

Here's what I already knew: The British Empire set up Thirteen Colonies along the Eastern Coast of North America. They thought, "Hey, this is really great." The Thirteen Colonies, however, were like, "Wait a minute, you guys. Can you really tax us while still providing us with true representation even all the way across the Atlantic?" The British Empire came back with, "Well, yeah." Then the colonies responded by attempting to make the world's largest cup of tea in Boston Harbor and everyone became great friends and lived happily ever after. The End. Right?

Somewhere in a classroom in Texas, my eighth-grade history teacher is crying. Clearly, I was ready to hop the pond and immerse myself in English culture, heritage, and varieties of deep fried fish.

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The Newbie Traveler Discovers (Vegetarian) Airline Food

August 4, 2010 at 10:41 AM | by y1kes | 1 Comment

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today, the Newbie Traveler discovers vegetarian airline food.

Like most kids, I was a picky eater and generally indifferent about food. My sustenance requirements were simple: pizza, candy, and fast food. But airplane food, oh, airplane food was different. Growing up, I would travel from Dallas to NYC to visit family a couple times a year. Back then, it was commonplace to find yourself sitting before a hot meal about an hour or so into the less than four-hour flight. After years of not receiving an actual meal on a plane, I was incredibly excited that I would be receiving not one, not two, but four total airplane meals over the course of my trip.

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The Top Five Travel Notebooks

August 3, 2010 at 11:41 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments


A state fair-edition Field Notes at left, a regular Field Notes at right

As irreparably attached to digital accessories like smartphones, e-readers and laptops as we are, there is still something to be said for setting pen or pencil to actual paper. In our laptop sleeve pocket, we've always got a notebook of some sorts, just poised to record odd thoughts and inspiration from our trips, thoughts that just don't seem as magical when entered into a Word or Notepad file. All praise be to the almighty travel notebook.

Here are our Top 5 Picks for the Best Travel Notebooks:

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The Newbie Traveler Takes on the TSA and US Customs

August 3, 2010 at 10:31 AM | by y1kes | 0 Comments

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today, the Newbie Traveler faces airport security and the TSA.

I do not envy anyone working for airport security; especially at such a large and high-traffic airport as San Francisco International Airport, where I begin my trip. This being my first time going through security at an international terminal, I was not exactly sure what to expect. Would me and my fellow, civilized world travelers be treated to a hot cup of tea upon our arrival at the security entry point?

With wide-eyed optimism I assumed that the queues leading to the metal detectors would be lined with red carpets and cordoned off, away from the envious glare of our domestic-traveling counterparts. But as it turns out, the job of an airport security agent is basically to say "I do not trust you" to random, shoeless strangers all day long.

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The Newbie Traveler Preps for a First International Trip

August 2, 2010 at 10:19 AM | by y1kes | 2 Comments


What Andy packed for a week in London

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today, the Newbie Traveler packs.

"OK, I have located my passport. Now what?" I had no idea that preparing for a simple overseas trip to one of the most frequently visited cities in the world could require so much effort. No, I did not need preventative vaccinations, nor did I have to spend hundreds of dollars on any RosettaStone language learning software. Thanks to my day job, the stars aligned and I was given the opportunity to head east. Way, way east. To London.

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Five Things to Do on Your Layover at: Minneapolis-St. Paul

July 28, 2010 at 10:04 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

We’ve all had layovers that were a little longer than initially expected. Mechanical delays, weather emergencies, and all kinds of other issues make that tight 45-minute connection turn into something extraordinary. We can’t get promise your flight will depart on time, but we can offer some time killers at the airport.

Five picks for spending a few extra hours at Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport, Terminal 1:

· Waking For Bacon:
For some reason we really enjoy breakfast at the airport, and it’s not just because there it’s more socially acceptable to drink a Blood Mary at 5:30am on a Tuesday. We’ve had our share of costly bacon and eggs, but one of our favorites is at French Meadow Bakery Café. Grab a seat facing airport traffic so you can watch people run to their gates and reunite with long lost business associates. Most of their options here are organic, so you can feel a little bit better about downing that order of eggs benedict.

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