Travel - Stephan Segraves

How Bloomberg BusinessWeek Designed the Continental/United Cover

February 6, 2012 ssegraves

The cover takes a look at the airlines from a chemistry standpoint. Overall, the article is pretty good and gives a look at the merger from a perspective we as consumers aren’t necessarily used to seeing.

The cover still throws me off a bit, but the story behind how they design covers at BusinessWeek is very interesting.

When asked about being edgy, here is what the designers said –

It’s funny because I don’t think we are [edgy]. Everyone takes covers, interprets covers in a slightly different way. When you’re privy to the process, it demystifies it a bit. When you’re part of the process it loses the surprise value. So, I don’t see this one as particularly surprising. I think it’s fun. But, yah, it’s nice that everyone thinks that.

I think it’s an edgy cover and pretty much unnecessary.

Travel Backpacks – A Follow-Up

January 5, 2012 ssegraves

In November I started looking for a new backpack for my camera, a few lenses, and a laptop. A few suggestions were made and I looked into all of them. My criteria was a backpack that was lightweight, allowed easy access to the camera, and carried a laptop. To start my search I tried finding a store locally that had the backpacks in stock to try them out. This turned out to be an exercise in futility as many places do not carry this specific style of backpack. I found plenty that simply carried a camera and accessories but that was it.

A bit frustrated, I ended up ordering two backpacks from Amazon, which were both on sale, and was going to return the one I did not like. The first, the LowePro DSLR Video Pack 150 AW, I took on our recent trip to Germany and Poland. It’s a sturdy backpack with a great pocket for the camera and lenses. It can only fit a 13″ laptop, but that’s what I own so it works. The larger 250 AW was just a little too big for my tastes and I am glad I went with the 150. When wanting to take a picture I simply swung the strap off of my right shoulder, brought the bag around my left side, unzipped the camera pocket, took a picture and returned the camera to its space.

The upper pocket held my iPhone charger, the camera charger, a small U.S.-Euro converter, my Moleskine, and a few pens and pencils. It may not sound like a lot of stuff but in my mind, it forces me to think about what I pack and try to dwindle the amount of extra stuff I am carrying.

One downside of the bag is the side pocket for the tri-pod. It is a soft mesh and the tri-pod moves a little as you walk. While I was walking around the crowded Christmas markets in Dresden I was worried that turning too quickly would lead to me taking someone out.

Overall though, if you’re looking for a compact camera/laptop bag, the LowePro 150 AW is great, as long as you can keep the amount of extra stuff you carry to a minimum.

The other bag I tried out is the Kata DPS Digital Rucksack 467. It was recommended by a few of my friends and is a bit larger than the LowePro 150 but definitely not overwhelming. Now, I have not had a chance to use the backpack on trip but I like the amount of storage space it has and the fact that I could theoretically carry a single change of clothes as well as my camera and laptop.

I ended up keeping both backpacks since the sales price of both added up to the price of one bag. I see them as serving different purposes. The LowePro is a fantastic bag for a short trip or those outings where you do not need to carry a lot of stuff, whereas the Kata fills the longer trip niche for me. If I am going to need to carry more than a few days worth of stuff and am trying to stick to a carry-on only, the Kata is the way I am going.

This next week will see me using the Kata for a long work trip and a short vacation that are back to back, making it necessary for me to carry a lot of stuff. I’ll be sure and update this post when I return with my thoughts on using the Kata bag during an actual trip.

2011 in Review – Travel Statistics

January 2, 2012 ssegraves

Rather than break down my year in cities I thought I would post my 2011 travel statistics. Right now I use FlightMemory to track my flights and it gives a decent breakdown of all of my travel.

In 2011 I flew 96,429 miles, spending 242 hours in the air. That required 70 domestic flights, 6 intercontinental flights, and 9 intra-European flights.

Those numbers mean I circled the Earth 3.87 times and made it about halfway to the moon.

My most frequented route was Houston to Atlanta, which I did 14 times.

My domestic flights:

My intercontinental flights:

My intra-European Flights:

It was a lot of flying in 2011. I am hoping some new and fun destinations are in store for me in 2012.

Happy New Year!

Sometimes I Want Nothingness

February 8, 2011 ssegraves

There is something about visiting places with few inhabitants. Maybe I just get tired of city life and I’m simply drawn to the middle of nowhere but some of my favorite places in the world are far away from any kind of city. Sure, everyone wants to go see sites, eat the food, etc. in big cities, but I urge people to take some time to visit the less beaten path. Far west Texas and New Mexico, rural Alaska, Montana, and the Appalachians are just a few of the places in the United States that I recommend.

It’s hard to describe what it is. I just know I love it.

Salzburg

January 21, 2011 ssegraves

The airport is packed. This fact surprises me, I was expecting a quiet evening in a regional airport. Come to find out, Friday is London City Airport’s busiest day. Squeezing past the crowds I make my way to the departures area to look out the window. This is the airport of the regional airplane. Bombardier Q400s, BAe Avro RJ85s, and Fokker 50s sit on the tarmac waiting to take businessmen and women from Canary Wharf to places like Paris-Orly, Amsterdam, Zurich, and for me, Munich.

Boarding is called and I make my way across the tarmac to my waiting crane-tailed bird. The doors close and the pilot taxis to the runway. We hold, waiting for another aircraft to land. It howls by us and exits the runway as we enter. A jerk as the brakes are set. The engines roar to life and the pilot holds position while maximum thrust is achieved. Suddenly the plane leaps forward and we are off. 45 seconds later and we are in the air at an unbelievable angle. I look out the window to see London out the left side of the plane.

I can say I did all of this for the image above but I would be lying. I did a lot of it just to experience that take-off and it was well worth it.

Spokane to Seattle; The Long Way

December 6, 2010 ssegraves

A lot of people think I’m nuts. Maybe I am. Or maybe I’m crazy like a fox. My weekend was spent flying between Spokane, Washington and Seattle, Washington. Doesn’t sound crazy right? What’s crazy is that what should have been an hour flight on a lawnmower with wings was really a bunch of flights taking me from Spokane to Denver to San Francisco and finally to Seattle. Yeah, I guess I am crazy. That is, until I tell you it cost me $44 before taxes. See, crazy like a fox. The route looked something like below.

All told, I flew around 7,000 miles and rounded out my mileage balance on Continental Airlines. Why? A good friend and I stumbled across the fare a while back and decided it was too good of a deal to pass up. At first I bought a few of them, but ended up only keeping one, figuring I didn’t really have the time or energy to do a bunch of these back to back. The only hiccup in the whole trip was on our positioning flight to Spokane from San Francisco. The plane had a maintenance issue and was delayed, getting us into Spokane a little later than we had originally planned.

What did I do on the flights? Watched some television shows I had stored on my iPhone, caught up on a bunch of reading, wrote a little, and talked to other passengers. Flying is relaxing to me, so I actually got a little bit of rest as well. It was a fun trip that transited a lot of airports and got me the miles I wanted at a price point that is very, very reasonable. I guess I am better at “mileage running” than the guy in this video.

The Future of Air Travel Thanks to the TSA

November 1, 2010 ssegraves

There is no soft spot in my heart for the TSA, in fact, I have posted a lot about my disdain for their methods. After reading Jeffrey Goldberg’s latest piece on The Atlantic, I can’t say I’m holding out hope that things are going to get better any time soon.

Here’s a small excerpt from the article, though the whole thing deserves a read.

The pat-down at BWI was fairly vigorous, by the usual tame standards of the TSA, but it was nothing like the one I received the next day at T.F. Green in Providence. Apparently, I was the very first passenger to ask to opt-out of back-scatter imaging. Several TSA officers heard me choose the pat-down, and they reacted in a way meant to make the ordinary passenger feel very badly about his decision. One officer said to a colleague who was obviously going to be assigned to me, “Get new gloves, man, you’re going to need them where you’re going.”

The take-away from this single paragraph and really the whole article, is that the new pat-downs have little to do with security and a lot to do with intimidating people into using the backscatter machines. When a traveler opts-out of going through the x-ray machines, they will be subjected to a verbal demoralization as well as a pat-down that can be best described as borderline fondling.

Does any of this really increase security? After last week’s events in which explosive materials were found in ink cartridges being shipped to the United States, I would say it is all show and little substance. From what has been reported, the bomb plot was foiled thanks to information from a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner. That’s right, it wasn’t some TSA agent taking away your bottle of water while you got the frisking of a lifetime, it was information. Imagine that.

It may feel like there is not much we can do but I plan on making the TSA agents as uncomfortable as they make me in these situations. Maybe if their own employees complain enough, we’ll see some changes in these new pat-down procedures. Me, I’ll be opting-out of the backscatter every time I am at an airport that uses one. When they ask me why I opted out (had this happen the last couple of times) I am thinking about replying with an overtly sexual remark. Is that wrong? Probably. What’s worse is being groped so much that you finally submit to the backscatter machine.

In all seriousness, the TSA has the upper hand. You and I have destinations to get to and they are the gatekeepers. I have no problem taking out my laptop or taking off my shoes, but this is bordering on the ridiculous. Wait, it is ridiculous. I am sure we could do a much better job of making air travel safe by actually asking questions when people go through security and analyzing facial expressions, demeanor, etc. rather than taking naked pictures of everyone or worse, shaming them in front of others.

Let’s start sending notes to the men and women who work for us in government and ask that a serious look be taken at the procedures used at airports and oversight of the TSA. If someone in either House wants to make this their pet project, I’ll back them 100%.

For those of you who fly out of IAH, you can technically clear security at any checkpoint so long as your airline does not require you to go through a certain one (some international flights do). A number of the checkpoints do not have the backscatter machines, feel free to use those.

An Idiot Abroad

September 13, 2010 ssegraves

There is a new documentary coming out on Sky1 in the United Kingdom called “An Idiot Abroad”. Ricky Gervais has taken a non-traveler and sent him to explore the Seven Wonders of the World. Hilarity ensues.

In some of my travels I have encountered people like the subject of this show. They’re not really idiots, they just do not have the desire to travel or leave their comfort zone of their home country. I’m sure some of it has to do with self-preservation and not putting oneself in harm’s way. Going abroad is intimidating for a lot of people, so I don’t hold it against this guy. The show does look hilarious though.

[A warning – there is nudity and foul language in the previews below]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTH1coLIWE
An Idiot Abroad – Preview Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TChZa-GfAtA
An Idiot Abroad – Preview Part 2

Frequent Flyer

March 2, 2010 ssegraves

I occasionally get asked why I fly so much or why I go to Europe for the weekend. Well, a few months back a documentary was made about my slight obsessive compulsive behavior when it comes to flying. It is a hobby, just like any other, except it goes around the world at 600 mile per hour. Flight has always been an interest of mine, but it was not until college and then traveling for work that I became interested in doing it for fun. There is just something about knowing that the furthest points of the Earth are only a flight away that fascinates me.

On the scale of how much I fly, I am a lightweight compared to some of the people in the movie (and know a few of them). Just like the video says, there is a whole community devoted to mileage running and travel. Watch and enjoy, maybe you’ll learn a little about my obsessive compulsive desire to travel.

Ecuador – The Foot Race

October 22, 2009 ssegraves

Every once in a while, Continental Airlines will publish a fare that is just too good to pass up. A few weeks ago, they announced a weekend special to Quito, Ecuador, a city which usually carries a price tag of around $1,000 to fly to, was going for $299. Knowing that Jessica was not going to be able to take off work for the trip, I called a friend and we agreed to split a hotel room in the business center of Quito.

The city of Quito sits at 9,350 feet and is flanked by the active volcano, Pichincha. For travelers not used to the high altitudes, this makes walking around somewhat of a chore, in fact, for the first few hours in the city, my body was adjusting.

We arrived fairly late but clearing immigration was simple and the hotel had arranged a driver to pick us up.

The next morning we were on our feet bright and early and walking the city. Because it was a Sunday morning in a predominantly Catholic country, the streets were mostly deserted, giving us the run of the town. We ended up visiting all of the churches and most of the sights in Centro Histórico, the historic district of the city, which helped Quito become the first UNESCO World Heritage site.

Having more time than we thought, we arranged a driver to take us to the Pululahua volcano, thought to be one of the only active calderas with inhabitants. The view was breathtaking, even in the dry season with dust flying. The area is sustained completely on subsistence farming and now eco-tourism to the hot springs that are near the village. We also toured the equator, which even though has a real touristy feel, is extremely interesting.

We ended the day by attempting to take a ride on TeleferiQo, the aerial tramway that takes riders to around 13,400 feet on the side of Pichincha. Luck was not on our side however because we arrived at the ride area to find that it was closed for the day. That lead us to dinner where we enjoyed a good amount of Ecuadorian food and broken English conversation with our waitress.

Ecuador is a beautiful country and I highly recommend that everyone take a trip down there while they still can. The president, Rafael Correa is thought to be the Chavez of Ecuador, and this shows when coming back to the States, I was grilled for a good 30 minutes by the immigration officials on the reason for my visit.

Speaking Spanish is a plus, because as we found, not a lot of the locals speak English and those that do have a very limited understanding. Since both I and my friend have a little bit of a history with Spanish classes, we managed, but it would have been really difficult without the classes I took in high school.

So go. Find a cheap fare and enjoy the country of Ecuador. The weather is gorgeous all year round, with the wet season being what we would consider winter and spring.