Tag: USA Travel

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Why Tornado Preparedness is Something Travelers Should Learn

May 21, 2013 at 10:49 AM | by | Comment (1)

Oklahoma's huge tornado hit this week is a painful reminder that the sun isn't always shining when you plan to travel. Luckily for the United States' tornado alley, 2013 has been relatively quiet. USA Today reports that "as of Sunday, 304 tornadoes had been reported across the nation, far below the typical average of 714." Still, the threat isn't quite over for the summer.

Some kids grow up with earthquake preparation classes, or even tsunami alert prep. We were the ones who had to duck under our school desks twice a month for tornado drills and we've seen trees ripped from the ground and waterspouts chasing boat traffic off of lakes. Tornadoes are not fun like a good rainstorm; the less you have to do with one, the better.

Sometimes even the best laid travel plans are foiled by manic weather, and so we've compiled a few tips to help stay clear of trouble when a tornado is in town:

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Five More New Foursquare City Badges Remember Where They Came From

March 5, 2012 at 11:25 AM | by | Comments (0)

In the midst of a major rollout of international city badges the last several weeks, location-based social network Foursquare has managed to remember the little guys, and by that we mean regular US cities. After a nationwide contest to see what Foursquare users could make the most compelling recommend venue lists for their towns, five were chosen to receive badges.

The winners, and newest city badges go to Des Moines, IA; Baltimore, MD; Richmond, VA; Oklahoma City, OK; and Stamford, CT.

How to get the badges: First, follow 4sqCities, and just to be safe, it wouldn't hurt to also follow the individual city lists for Des Moines (here), Baltimore (here), Richmond (here), Oklahoma City (here) and Stamford (here). Then travel to the cities and clickety-click to check-in to the places on the recommended lists. Five places earns the badge.

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The Newest Foursquare City Badges: Baltimore, Richmond, Des Moines, Oklahoma City and Stamford

February 8, 2012 at 2:56 PM | by | Comments (0)

So, while Foursquare was churning out all those shiny new international city badges, they were also thinking about good ol' America, and the fact that there are plenty of towns with awesome venues that would benefit from the exposure and tourism that comes with a special badge. A contest pitted individual Foursquare user-created lists against each other, and the winners were named today.

These winners, and therefore the next cities to have their own Foursquare badges, are: Baltimore, MD; Richmond, VA; Des Moines, IA; Oklahoma City, OK; and Stamford, CT.

Some pretty random choices in there, but they must pack a punch considering other cities in the running were Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Portland and Nashville. Personally we're all about a Detroit badge, but it seems we'll be waiting a little longer.

Now, How to get the city badges:

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Speaking of...Passport Day Will Happen After All! Mark Your Calendars for September 17

July 25, 2011 at 3:34 PM | by | Comments (0)

Okay let's try this again. After spring's Passport Day was cancelled due to threat of government shutdown, the annual event was postponed. And now we have a new date! National Passport Day will be back for a third year, lines and all, on Saturday, September 17.

Passport Day was created by the State Department to give working men, women and families—who otherwise can't make Passport offices' limited weekday business hours—a chance to turn in their paperwork and deal with passport-related issues. Apply for a new passport, renew one, get extra pages added...whatever.

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Gross. 'Travel + Leisure' Delves Into America's Filthiest Cities

June 20, 2011 at 11:41 AM | by | Comments (0)

One of the biggest travel turn-offs is a filthy city. Having to walk through stanky, trash-strewn streets really puts a damper on the whole sightseeing experience. Travel + Leisure compiled a list of America's dirtiest cities, and a number of popular party places topped the charts, with New Orleans grabbing the No. 1 award for grossness.

It's not a big surprise that the Big Easy is a Big Hot Mess; tourists flood places like Bourbon Street for Mardi Gras and leave loads of garbage, beads, alcohol and other undesirable leftovers all over the place. The mag put Philly in the No. 2 sloppy slot, and apparently it narrowly missed winning the dirty champion title.

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Remnants of the World Trade Center Will Be Displayed at Wichita Airport

June 20, 2011 at 10:39 AM | by | Comments (0)

Bits and pieces of the former World Trade Center have found their place all over the country at local fire departments, government buildings, and police stations as part of memorials to remember the events of September 11, 2001. The latest piece of the towers—an I-beam—is on its way to Wichita, Kansas where it will be used as part of the country’s first airport sculpture using materials from the World Trade Center.

The unique art installation should be in place in time for the tenth anniversary of the attacks later this year, and it will greet travelers right inside the airport terminal. Airport officials worked to acquire the beam from ground zero for about two years, and have been working with artists to turn the beam into a sculpture and memorial suitable for display.

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Want a Passport? Get Ready to Answer Some Insane Questions

April 29, 2011 at 2:19 PM | by | Comments (0)

The State Department is developing something of a habit of making it harder to get passports. First they cancelled Passport Day because of a government shutdown that never happened. We can look past that, since no one knew how the budget deadline would play out until literally the last minute.

But now they're publishing a revamped biographical questionnaire that seems almost impossible to fill out. We've got more details on the new form below but—just to give you a preview of the punchline—State is insisting that it shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to fill out. Keep that in mind as you read what they're asking for.

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Update: Tomorrow's Passport Day Has Been Cancelled

April 8, 2011 at 11:16 AM | by | Comments (2)

Update 2pm, April 8: The State Department announced only 30 minutes ago that Passport Day 2011 will no happen because of the pending government shutdown. There is currently no word on a rescheduled date, but we'll keep our ears open for more news.

What are you doing this weekend? Aside from running on a runway, of course. Hopefully if you're reading this, you've already got a passport and just need a slew of extra pages inserted, or perhaps an entirely new passport if yours is inching up on its expiration date. We won't give you a dirty look if you've never had a passport, but only if you promise to hit tomorrow's Passport Day and correct that.

Passport Day returns this year as a way to give working men, women and families—who otherwise can't make Passport offices' limited weekday business hours—a chance to turn in their paperwork and deal with passport-related issues. Offices around the country—check out the full list of participating branches HERE—will stay open from 10am to 3pm and will not require appointments.

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Get Your Documents in Order: Passport Day is April 9

March 16, 2011 at 8:16 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's baaaack! National Passport Day will for a third year, after the successes that had lines going around the block to do official passport business on a Saturday. Mark you calendars and cancel any fun weekend plans you had, because this second annual Passport Day will be April 9.

Passport Day was created by the State Department to give working men, women and families—who otherwise can't make Passport offices' limited weekday business hours—a chance to turn in their paperwork and deal with passport-related issues. Apply for a new passport, renew one, get extra pages added...whatever.

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Foursquare Has a List, Checked It Twice, Found Out What Cities are Naughty or Nice

March 3, 2011 at 12:16 PM | by | Comments (0)

Yo, Travel + Leisure, go suck an egg. Remember your January report on the Rudest Cities in the USAFoursquare.

Foursquare has released their own list of the rudest cities, but they're the Rudest Cities in the World, based on the percentage of time tips left by Foursquare users contained cuss words. Surely that's a better modern factor for judging a city's rudeness than, say, how many romantic-ambience restaurants are in the city.

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Who Will Pay Now That The Travel Promotion Act is a Law?

March 4, 2010 at 5:13 PM | by | Comments (2)

Today, President Barack Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act into law, which means that many international tourists heading into the States will have to fork over an extra $10 just to set foot in the land of liberty. The idea is pretty straightforward, but the word "promotion" is deceiving, since it's not like the USA is going to be tempting tourists to come over by asking them for a little extra money. Here's what we can expect from this new law:

Once signed into law, the Travel Promotion Act will create a public-private partnership with a budget of up to $200 million annually—funded by a $10 fee on foreign travelers from countries that do not pay for a visa to enter the United States—for the purpose of attracting international travelers to the United States.

It will also create a corporation that "will promote the United States as a travel destination and explain travel and security policies to international visitors." That's right—we're storing up those $10-a-head fees so that the United States can better attract more to come over, pay their $10 and then dump more money in the country. The goal? More money all around, from restaurants to hotels to every industry that gets a pieces of tourism dollars. We just wish that it would go towards building a decent rail system. We're anxious to see how the EU reacts to this; heck, we're anxious to see how any other country that doesn't pay for visas to visit the US reacts to this. It might only be an extra $10 per person, but that adds up pretty quickly.

Related Stories:
· US Travel Promotion Bill Signed Into Law [CNN]
· TIME Tries to Explain Congress' Desire to Tax Foreign Tourists [Jaunted]
· US Senate Passes Bill Fining Tourists in the Name of Tourism [Jaunted]
· Political Travel [Jaunted]

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