Tales of Seven

The Anatomy of a Plane Ticket

In a recent search for flights, I found that my ticket price was often 30% to 50% higher with taxes included. Never having seen prices so inflated, it seemed worth a closer look. What I found was a baffling and long list of fees and taxes including the:

• Travel Facilities Tax     $7.70
• U.S. Excise Tax     7.5%
• U.S. Federal Segment Fee $3.50
• Passenger Facility Charge (PFC)    $4.50
• September 11th Security Fee     $2.50
• U.S. International Transportation (Arrival/Departure) Tax     $15.40
• U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Fee  $5.00
• U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Fee     $7.00
• Foreign Taxes      Up to $299
• International Surcharges Up to $260 each way

While I do appreciate the Animal and Plant Inspection Fee as the only one that is self-explanatory (that covers the cost of the beagle that sniffs my luggage when I fly in from Florida with a suitcase of oranges), I wonder why the income taxes we pay our respective governments can't cover all the things they need to do (including buying food for the beagle)?

10 Minutes for 10 Days - A Trip Through Argentina

Video from a recent trip to Argentina

We made our way from the far south of Ushuaia and Patagonia, up through the majestic Glacier National Park, El Calafate and El Chalten, all the way north to Iguazu Falls....

10 Minutes for 10 Days

Solo Traveler Tips

A dear friend of mine is going on her very first solo trip in just a week. After having traveled solo a fair amount and having encountered a great variety of issues on the road, here is some advice I provided...

For safety and peace of mind, I:

• Scan my passport and send myself a copy in my own email. Then I can print it out no matter what happens, from any internet cafe.
• Get travel insurance. It's inexpensive and protects when there are flight problems, illness or lost luggage. Worst case, it also provides medical evacuations.
• Visit an internet cafe every couple of days to let someone know where I am and that everything is okay. (This is particularly important when traveling in a less predictable path. If there is a more predictable travel plan, sending an itinerary to friends is also a good idea. I pick a couple of people and designate them as my contact points!)
• Call my credit card company ahead of time so they don't block charges
• Get a traveler belt from REI . It's a web belt with a little inside zipper pouch. I store just emergency cash, a few phone numbers and a copy of my passport in there.

Squaw Valley

A few images from an impressive little point and shoot camera.

Last weekend's trip to Tahoe (Squaw Valley)

3 Minutes in South America

3 Minutes for two cities in two different countries.

Meet Buenos Aires, Argentina and Valparaiso, Chile!

Video clips from my recent trip.

And Then My Ship Sank

A few years ago, I headed down to Antarctica on a boat, for a 2 week adventure to the 7th continent. There was some real trepidation about the 3-day journey across Drake Passage. It was renowned for having some of the worst waters in the world, and our trip would take us far away from civilization and rescue boats.

The second day of our trip, a storm whipped in and brewed up 40+ foot seas. The water was ice-cold and prospects of rescue should anything go wrong weren't high. We all pushed that aside and focused on trying to just manage the day-to-day existence in this foreign and violently turbulent world.

Today I read an article about one of those ships going down. It struck something, and a small, football sized hole capsized the entire ship. All 150 passengers were put into lifeboats, with the good fortune that a nearby ship was able to rescue all of them successfully.

It turns out that the boat that went down was The Explorer owned by Gap Adventures and the very same boat I took to Antarctica. There's something to cause a moment of pause!

The Art of Flight Patterns

....fiber optics, torrential rain, neuron activity.... just a few things these unexpectedly beautiful depictions of flight patterns bring to mind...

Jordan Slideshow

A short slideshow with some of the highlights of my recent trip to Jordan!

The Whimsical: Burning Man Part IV

A handful of the whimsical creations we found while biking across the desert at Burning Man....

• Polar bear ponders pedestrian penguins
• Awesome ant attracts attention
• Thunderdome tells tales of the terrible
• Fun phone finds a friend

Burning Man: A Storm of Dust

The Black Rock dust storms lend a certain surreal feeling to Burning Man. They may come as tall, opaque tornados that swirl in, swallow up people, then pass quickly by, as wide walls that wash through like a wave, or as persistent and unrelenting storms.

On my second day I was caught far out of range of the campsites in a storm that lasted over an hour. With less than 20 feet of visibility, navigating back wasn't possible. Lesson learned: carry a mask, goggles, and extra water at all times!

(In order: Approaching dust storm, Dust storm arrived!, a dust tornado as seen from afar)