The Travel Thief

Home from another whirlwind trip to Asia - this time Myanmar with some time in Singapore.  It was originally planned as an extension to my trip to Sri Lanka Here is the summary of my time on the road: 9 Days in 5 cities 4 different airline carriers: United Airline, Jetstar Asia, Myanmar National Airlines and KBZ 7 different airports: Newark, San Francisco, Singapore, Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Heho 9 flights totaling 51.5 hours of flying.  (OMG) Longest flight San Francisco to Singapore: 17 hours Meals eaten in a day: Breakfast, 2nd Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, dinner, Dinner, Sandwich, Brunch, Snack Most expensive meal was buying snacks in Newark Airport pre-flight: $26 Highest temperature: 107 F with a "feels like" temp of 122 F.  I was singing Midnight Oil's "Beds Are Burning" in my head a lot It was an absolutely brutal trip, but worthwhile.

Always a treat when you see the exact plane/flight you were on 2 days prior had an "alternate" landing... https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-pilot-safely-lands-plane-nose-landing-gear-failure.html/amp Ironically, I remember thinking that it was an unnecessarily bumpy landing on the runway when we did it considering it there were no weather issues to contend with. I rolled my eyes to myself and thought 3rd World country carrier on a short route...not the cream of the pilot crop.

2 weeks ago I woke up early on a Sunday morning as I normally do.  I didn't immediately get up and go for my usual run and instead sat down with a cup of coffee at my computer to quietly relax.  Scrolling through Facebook, I was catching up on what people had been doing on Saturday night when I saw a friend shared a news article from that morning. Bombings in Sri Lanka. My entire day changed. The place I had visited only 4 months ago was subjected to a massive act of terror. Churches and major tourist hotels they targeted and I was set to leave on a business trip there in 2 weeks. For the first time in my travel career, I was scared. I get asked the question a lot: Aren't you worried about xyz? Whether it be the destination, the state of the world in general or something else, there's always a perception people have when it is something they are unfamiliar with.  I normally laugh it off, explain safety statistics or that things can happen anywhere.  I think t...

I was watching Hallmark Channel last night (don't judge! I had a hard week!) and the strangest TV ad for a destination came on: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/I0Dw/china-national-tourism-administration-nansha Nansha. Having never heard of it and having only just gone to Hong Kong 6 months ago I had to look it up.  What I found is that it is a giant port that is part of Guangzhou China where a pilot free trade zone has been established.  There really isn't anything there unique to speak of other than perhaps it's location near other heavy hitters (Hong Kong, Macau).  My serious question is: If the goal of the 'city of the future' (watch the ad!) is to attract businesses to register there and increase port traffic, why the heck are you advertising on Hallmark Channel during "A Royal Christmas" or whatever garbage I was watching?  You would think that part of the marketing strategy would be to know your audience.  It's not like anyone will plan a vacatio...