Last we heard, naked vacations were the newest hotness. Now The New York Times says at least one beach town isn't getting in on the latest vacation "trend." So if the idea of cavorting nekkid with other tourists isn't your idea of fun, perhaps you'll be more comfortable in Long Beach, New Jersey.
The beach town has just passed an ordinance outlawing:
The change of clothes in any public area or public street unless within a permanent enclosed structure.
Doesn't sound too draconian, really, until you realize that just about everyone in town--locals and visitors alike--hit the beach as often as possible. And since wet suits and swim trunks don't mix, that means, yep, some people change on the beach.
Locals are split on the new rule, as it satisfies some tourists (the prudes) while causing headaches for others (the surfers). But while other people have mixed feelings on the ordinance, Surfrider Foundation manager John Weber has his mind made up on how important it is:
I'd like to fight the polluters and doers of evil, but we've got to fight about people changing their wet suits.
If you didn't know by now, girlfriend getaways are the hottest thing going in the travel world. The trend has already spawned a magazine and a website and now, clearly, it's time for the TV show.
Host Stephanie Oswald's All-Girl Getaways debuts tonight on the Fine Living Network, so we wanted to ask her: Is it just gonna be spas and pampering? And is this whole trend contrived? Her answers, and the bonus story of the last crazy meal she ate on camera, are after the jump.
Earlier this month, on our field trip to Puerto Rico, we ran into the Flip Video camera for the first time. A fellow traveller raved about their tiny, utilitarian video machine. It is the size of a small digital camera, but you hold it vertically when shooting.
We were confused. How was this little Flip different from every other digital camera with the ability to shoot video? The answer seemed to be its simplicity. No stills, a tiny 1.5 inch screen, no memory card, no menus, or settings, just this neat little USB jack that pops out right from the camera. The owner of this particular Flip camera was most impressed with this built in jack. "No wires or connection issues", she almost shouted. Hmm.
We certainly have an obsession with interviewing travel trendwatchers like Peter Greenberg and airline CEOs like Fred Reid. Sadly, we can't score all the gets. But we can tell you what Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly had to say in a recent interview with The Dallas Morning News.
Most importantly for his company, Kelly says Southwest is ready for high fuel prices and an economic slowdown--both definite possibilities for next year:
We've got a great fuel hedge this year. It's not quite as good next year, but it's still very good and certainly provides us tremendous protection. We're 70 percent hedged next year at about $50 a barrel...We've slowed down our growth to be prepared for a more difficult economic environment next year...In terms of the fleet, that will be a net of between five to 10 airplanes.
That puts Southwest at odds with European low cost carriers--and the newest point-to-point LCC in the States, Skybus, who's busy adding lots of new routes and new planes. While Kelly doesn't name names, he does say:
We are not going in a direction like some of our European counterparts who, they don't capitalize "C" in customer, I assure you. It's just a very different approach. It's a desire to be cheap at all costs. And that's not who we are or where we're coming from.
With ruthless competition between price point and customer service, looks like Kelly could be right when he says, "It'll be an interesting 2008." If you wanna talk travel with us, Gary, be in touch!
Tuesday night Virgin America threw its holiday party and the airline toasted CEO Fred Reid by naming its very first aircraft in his honor: The A320 in question will now be known as Fred, White and Blue.
The current chief is riding off into the sunset soon, but we couldn't let him escape before asking his thoughts on the Department of Transportations plans to regulate takeoff and landing slots at JFK--something that could have a profound effect on new airlines like Virgin America.
Late last week we sat down with Tim and Nina Zagat, former lawyers who were dealing in user-generated content before anyone dreamed of YouTube. Their guides to restaurants, nightlife, hotels and attractions (and more) rely on the first-hand reviews of people around the world--which explains those quotation marks you'll always find in their guides. As Tim says, "We're giving anybody who really cares about something the opportunity to be heard."
Late last week we got a chance to sit down with Today Show travel editor Peter Greenberg to chat about airlines, hotels, Kyla and his new book, The Complete Travel Detective Bible. This is one serious travel tome: It appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list just one week after it went on sale. Peter's mission is to keep travelers from getting abused on the road, something we definitely wanted to know more about since, as he says, "There are about 47 different points of abuse from the time you decide to go somewhere until the time you limp back home."
True, podcasts and narrated tours have been on the travel radar for awhile now. But it would take more patience than we have on an average vacation to listen to all of them, good and bad. Fortunately, New York Times writer Seth Kugel digs up gems for a living and found some of the best podcast tours of the Big Apple.
He's particularly fond of a series called Soundwalk, with its multiple tours of the city's neighborhoods. The Chinatown walking tour is particularly cool:
Jami Gong, activist, comedian and Chinatown native, leads you on a refreshingly disorienting jaunt to semihidden shops, into alleys and through Doyers Street, a jagged block no Chinatown visitor should miss but most do.
He'll guide you into a teahouse and tell you to look for the owner, Mr. Wong, reading the newspaper. "He's been sitting there and reading the newspaper forever," Mr. Gong says into your ear. And there's Mr. Wong reading the newspaper in front of your eyes.
We also have to mention the MoMA Audio Guides that Seth name checks, too. Created by college students tired of wonky art museum audio guides, you'll be chuckling while learning about modern art with these tours. And iPod's a lot easier to listen to in the museum than your cell phone.
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