Travel Archives - Blowing It

February 15, 2020February 15, 2020

Beating The Back Of A Passenger’s Seat Because They Reclined On A Flight. Avoiding Blowing It #249

It’s Frustrating, It’s Annoying, You Can Silently Rage In Your Head, But You Can Never Lay Your Hand On Another Passenger’s Seat. You Are Effectively Hitting Them In The Process.

Seats recline on planes it’s how they are built, use it. And if you weren’t allowed to recline your seat on a flight, they wouldn’t make them that way. Just like how they took the cigarette ash tray out of the seats after you could no longer smoke on planes.

But they do recline and you have every right to use that recline. If you purchased a seat on a plane you have that space. You do not own a 6 foot radius around that seat.

If you booked the back row and your seat doesn’t recline that is on you. The seats in front of you don’t have to accommodate you. They paid for their seat as well and they were fortunate enough to buy the ones that actually recline. And it’s within their right to do so.

Just because the back row can’t, doesn’t mean they rest of the plane has to sacrifice. buy a better seat if you can’t handle it. So if the back row can’t recline and they want the person in front of them not to recline does that require the row in front of them to do the same and so on and so forth. It is a flaw in design that makes it so the back row can’t recline it. The seats only recline about two inches anyway not sure why they couldn’t add that.

A lady recently video tapped a man beating the back of her seat aggressively because she chose to recline her seat. Now she is looking to press charges against the man. And I think good for her. I’m not one to support abuse of the system the claims she is making are a bit over exaggerated but he should be made an example of. You can not hit someone in the back of the seat, it is an assault. Just like if you didn’t like the back pack I was wearing and you ran and gave me a flying kick in my back pack while I was wearing it. It’s not an assault on the chair or the backpack it’s an assault on the person.

There are all these fictitious made up flight etiquette rules that no one seems to actually know. Like middle seat gets both arm rest. In my experience middle usually gets the shaft on both. Unless you take it before anyone else and never move your arms off. This no recline thing is outrageous. If you want to recline, recline. It’s about making yourself as comfortable as possible within the tight confines of the seat you paid for. Can’t stand it, buy a first class ticket.

May 9, 2019July 17, 2019

Don’t Put Your Feet Up On A French Train #193.

If you forgot to read the French etiquette handbook (doesn’t exist, to my knowledge) I will enlighten you on an offense that incurs a monetary fine.

Picture riding through the gorgeous French country side. The gentle repetitive sound of your train chugging along the tracks, carrying you to your next destination. Legs weary and feet tired from the over exertion you have placed upon them to sight see through this beautiful country. As the train hums along half full of other peaceful travelers.

In the moment, you decide those tired and weary feet could use a break and since no one is sitting across from you, you think to yourself, my feet are clean let’s kick them up for a bit on this enjoyable ride. Possibly slightly rebelling against common decency in that decision.

Not too long after you get yourself into maximum comfort, your ride becomes interrupted by four train security guards demanding payment of 50 Euros for breaking train rules by placing your feet where they lay. Immediately you begin to look around for some confirmation that rules were clearly posted because you after all you are a foreigner and a guest in their country and the last thing you want to do is break the rules. But to your surprise, no rules are posted anywhere, no signs exclaiming immediate fines for lounging.

The Cost To Put Your Feet Up On A French Train

Quickly you are left with 50 euro less in your bank account, only to wonder how would I ever know that this is a punishable offense. Common sense may tell you that you should have never put your feet up in the first place. While your craving for comfort may at times override this with opposite urges. You never think it would bestow such a hefty fine upon you. But take my word for it, it does and now you know too future travelers. Keep your feet on the floor while on the trains and avoid the wrath of the train security guards.

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March 11, 2019July 17, 2019

Selling A Plane That Crashes #186.

A Second Boeing 737-Max 8 Plane Has Crashed, Killing All On Board. It Seems Highly Likely It’s The Same Scenario As The First Crash.

Yet, the brand new Boeing 737-Max 8 has two to it’s name in so many months. And from the sound of it it might be the exact same problem that took the first plane down, happened to the second. It’s a bit scary when it’s not strictly operator error we have to worry about. The human element of aviation has been quite efficiently tuned to correct mistakes. But what happens when it’s a mechanical malfunction on a brand new plane that effectively forces the plane into a crash? Human correction might not have the tools to counter the effects of a doomed machine.

What Should They Do With This Plane?

If I’m Boeing I would pull ever single one of the new jets out of service, have my very best engineers work out the problems, correct every single jet, change the name of the new corrected jet. For me if I see 737-max 8 painted on the side of a jet I’m flying on, I’m reluctant to board that flight.

Boeing Created This New Efficient, Albeit Problematic Plane.

This is a Boeing problem and that is highly concerning because they haven’t much competition when it comes to manufacturing aircrafts. The purchaser of the planes can’t simply go elsewhere for a better model. They have to hope and trust that the plane they bought. The one that left the factory brand new, that new plane is going to be in good working order when they start flying passengers all over the world. And if it isn’t, it should never leave the factory. If it’s not in perfect working condition, don’t ship. Many more test need to be done, this plane is not air ready. All planes should be grounded until further repair. However Boeing wouldn’t be a 100 plus year company if it didn’t correct it’s failures. This failure will most likely make aviation even safer in the end.

November 5, 2018August 29, 2019

Dying For Image #155.

Image Is Everything Is What We’re Instructed To Believe. It’s Simply Not True And We Need Not Give Up Everything In Order Obtain It.

All that truly matters is how we view ourselves and are we living up to that view. We needn’t worry how others view us but history has shown us that is a forced concern placed upon at every turn. We feel the need to show the external world how much better off we are then anyone else.

We’ll sometimes get locked into an image we simply can’t remove ourselves from without losing those around us that cling to that image. For the alcoholic or the drug user those closest to you will view you as that and in doing so make it so much harder for you to escape it. Sometimes death is the only way out from such a image.

Holding On To Old Images.

Health can take a hit while maintaining image. Jolly fat man with the poor diet. The skinny model with a diet on the opposite spectrum. The bodybuilder who over works there heart in order to obtain the biggest muscles. Is your youthful beauty declining in old age? Well we have plastic surgery and Botox injections for that. Many will go under the knife to maintain that image. Some might not wake up from it.

It’s so much worse now with the advent of social media. We create these images of ourselves online for the world to see but it’s really all just smoke and mirrors. Those who use those services are all culprits of it. The doting husband, the perfect family, the best body, the world travelers. Just the best possible image without any backstory.

The Lies We Tell Through Imagery.

I’ve been a purveyor of such lies myself. And in our quest to display our best possible image, we trash all the mediocre images of ourselves. Ones that we deem not good enough. Maybe that’s part of the problem, that action of throwing out our own images so often, might cause some self loathing. I’m no psychologist but it seems logical to me to assume if we look at an image of our self and constantly tell ourselves it isn’t good enough. We may run into some problems with how we perceive our own image down the road, psychologically speaking.

The Good Old Days Of Photography.

Not too long ago the pictures we took were the ones we were stuck with and we learned to be happy with the final product. Even if we didn’t look our best. Now we feel we must always up the ante in order to keep up with all the noise and content already out there. So we’ll take riskier photos, travel to exotic locales more for the photo op and less for the experience. Or, to show others you have better experiences than they do. It’s so addictive too.

Just last week a young couple perished attempting to convey there image of travel bloggers to the world. In the process of obtaining more content for there Instagram they fell from a cliff side while attempting to take a photo at a cliff edge in Yosemite.

This Is Not A One Off Thing.

Many have sacrificed everything for that elusive perfect image. It’s simply not worth it. Maybe you’ll get more followers but that should not be tied to self worth. Never tie image to that which might harm. Just enjoy life, make great memories through experiences. Just stay safe while doing it.

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August 14, 2018July 2, 2019

Airport Security (Blowing It Scenario #134)

It’s Becoming More Difficult And Taking Far More Time Than Any Other Form Of Transportation Just To Take A Short Flight Anywhere. Now It’s About To Only Get Worse.

Gone are the good ole days when going to the airport was an event. An enjoyable one at that. You could walk your loved one all the way to their flight to see them off. Or you could stand at their gate to patiently await their arrival to welcome them in with open arms. All it took was a simple metal detector check point crossing and away you went. You could spend the whole day together just enjoying each others company in the airport. Taking in a meal at a restaurant while watching the planes take off and land. And when it was their time to leave you said your goodbyes at the very last possible second when the airline employee took their tickets and wished them a good flight. Now a days a root canal could be more enjoyable than what it takes to get through an airport. Not to mention all the time it now takes away from your life.

If you want to take a short flight to the next state over. It nearly takes an entire day to get there. First you must get to the airport and unless you live right next door, tack on roughly an hour. Airport security suggest arriving two to three hours prior to flight just so you can hurry up and wait to eventually get objectified by an x-ray machine that blast you with radiation in order to scan and expose your entire body. Seeing everything beyond your clothing. Manned by some random stranger behind closed doors. And if they find an anomally or choose you randomly. Get ready to be physically violated by another stranger laying hands upon your body. Once you get through that madhouse. You get to patiently await news that you are one of the lucky few that your flight will be leaving on time today. However if your on the end of a delay. Congratulations you get to spend your day trapped in an airport till the company causing your delay finds you an alternative solution. Who cares that you could have spent your day enjoying your vacation or slept in. Maybe even got a little more time with your loved ones. Nope, your stuck now because you already crossed the security check point. No more coming and going as you please. Now you get to spend double what you usually would on food and drinks to provided much needed sustainance and to pass the time. Once your flight is ready to go, you get to enjoy the hour long boarding process hopefully the lugguge is loaded and the plane refueled quickly. So you can join the wait in the que of other planes taxing to your runway to take off as well. This can also take hours to get through. Now your locked in a stationary, highly confined box just waiting. No food or refreshments served at this time. And try to hold that pee till after take off. Once you finally get to your destination a better part of your day has passed. A one hour flight easily could turn into a twelve hour process. If this destination is a layover, better hope to goodness you didn’t miss your connecting flight due to these delays. That could open a whole new can of worms that could decimate your entire vacation altogether. Especially since you are only given a brief repreave from work to enjoy that one week out of the year you get free.

Now even the airport staff is losing it. Over the weekend an airport employee took it upon himself to steal a commercial plane from from Sea-Tac airport near Seattle Washington. With no flight training what so ever he managed to take off do some pretty incredible manuvers of a commercial jetliner including entire loops while inflight. After about an hour in the air and with the air Force hot on his trail he than crash landed on a secluded part of ketron island in the Puget sound killing just himself. It’s a wild story that will most likely introduce a whole new security protocol for airline employees that will most likely transend into the common travelers lives. Travelling the world is still one of the best things you can do in life. Seeing and experiencing different cultures is an incredible education in exceptance, emotional intelligence and it’s tremendously fulfilling. But is it too much to ask to make it a better, more enjoyable process along the way? Maybe that means airports create a better entainment area, one that allows everyone and only has security to just get to the gates. In that entertainment area they could have a timer on how long it will take to get through security and to your gate and have constantly updated flight info. So you no longer have to be trapped beyond security if you don’t want to be. Maybe a little more leg room and shoulder room on the planes while we’re at it. Scratch that a lot more room. And arm rest for all.

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May 2, 2018June 1, 2018

Blowing It Scenario #87-Setting Goals That Directly Require Someone Else To Accomplish.

Many Goals Can Be Accomplished With Other People Involved But Make Sure They Are Monetary In Nature Or An Exchange In Some Way.

The most important thing to know is, what will you give in order to get back. When goals are completely out of your control and they rely one hundred percent on another individual, wipe them from your list. Those are no longer your goals. Recently I was shifting through goals I had set for myself in years past. On that list, one of those goals glaringly stood out to me. I had accomplished a third of it but nature and another persons body were in control of the rest. Two things that are very much outside of my complete control. You also have to understand that when it comes to an exchange of good and services, even if you’re willing to give someone the world (if it’s yours to give) it does not mean it will be reciprocated. And rightfully so, you should not expect it to be either.

If you are relying on someone else to accomplish your goal, before you set out on it. Make sure your goals align and you are both willing to do whatever it takes to see it through to the end. Don’t fall into my mistake and get half way there and realize the other party involved has different plans or agendas. Most goals do require others but they don’t rely on them one hundred percent and their is always an exchange.

If you want to start a business you must first provide value that someone else needs. If you want to travel you will have to exchange something for that right, usually in our society, it’s monetary value. In order to get those monetary value units, you must give something in return. Be it a service or product that is needed. If you want big things out of life you must give big things in return.

However, for the traveler or the business person also take into account some places in the world are closed to foreigners, so that is something that could fall out of your control. Some business ideas might have zero value to others. And in that instant, once you discover that, it will be time to change course. These are things you will find out when you set out to accomplish most goals. Set them knowing you’re fully in control, be flexible and adjust accordingly along the way. Often they will require others involvement, when they do, you must have an answer of what you’ll give in return.

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April 22, 2018June 1, 2018

Blowing It Scenario #80-Woman Fined $500 By Customs For An Apple She Received In Flight.

Don’t accept Food Midflight And Not Eat It.

Or at least if you choose not to eat it, be sure you claim it on your customs forms. A woman learned the hard way that if you bring outside agricultural products in to the US and forget to claim them you can be charged upwards of $500.

However in this case the woman was simply hungry on a flight and asked the flight attendant for a snack. Upon request the considerate flight attendant gave her an apple. And unbeknownst to this woman saving the apple for later was a big mistake. If you bring in fruit or any other agricultural products from other countries into the states you must claim them on your customs paperwork.

Yet this lady didn’t think a harmless apple received in US airspace would warrant a fine. Most of us wouldn’t think it to be a big deal and probably wouldn’t give it a second thought. But this story shows we must give it a second thought. I guess the lesson to be learned here is. Either finish your food in flight or claim it on your customs paperwork.

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March 5, 2018June 1, 2018

Blowing It Scenario #44-United Airlines Replacing It’s Performance Based Bonus With A Lottery

Now You Can Work Your Butt Off And Hope To Get Lucky.

This is so indicative of our economy and state of employment. Performance pay based on luck. United is essentially saying we don’t want to pay you for working hard, but we’re going to incentivize you with the idea that if you do work hard we just might pay you. It’s the same concept as an internship. Work hard for free so the employer can benefit from your hard work at zero cost. And just maybe at the end of it we’ll give you a job.

It’s a genius racket and one we all buy into, yes it does work out in the end for a select few. But many more will fail or worse yet greatly benefit the company it “works” for and receive no compensation at all ever. Maybe I’m just crazy to think our time is valuable and if we’re putting in time for another we should compensated for that time. We only have so much of it on this earth why would we want to waste it advancing some companies agenda while never receiving anything in return. It would be a beautiful system if we were all altruistic and groceries were free, housing was free, labor was free, gas was free and health care was free and we all just worked supporting one another at no cost. But that isn’t how our society is setup. We work to get paid so we can pay for housing, groceries, health care, gas and in some cases labor working for us.

We as patrons of United should all be able to fly for free right? We’ll just setup a lottery that will insure the airlines might get paid for travel cost. See how that works when the shoe is on the other foot? It simply doesn’t. Now if the fact is that their is just no money to pay bonuses that is a different story. However if we examine the executives pay and it’s 50 times the average earnings of the employees then their is money in the budget. It may be a crazy concept but I think we should pay the people that help our companies most, the workers.

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February 20, 2018May 10, 2018

Blowing It Scenario #33-Couple Spends Life Savings To Buy A Sailboat, Only To Sink Boat Within Two Days

Never Set Sail Without Being Fully Prepared.

This is interesting article because I feel for the couple and I admire them for following their dreams. The issue of them blowing it comes in when you realize just how incredibly unprepared they were. They sold everything they had to buy a 28 foot sail boat, which isn’t much to begin with. They would then move to Florida with the intent that they would attempt to sail around the world. I assume their plan was to live off the abundance of the sea and work in different ports because they left with nearly no money to their names.

They spent a few months living on the boat and stocking up on food and supplies. However only two days after they set sail, they ran ground on shifting sand bars in a Florida straight. Leaving the boat to fend off the full power of the waves and incoming tides. Eventually the boat capsized taking with it nearly all of their belongings. It’s a frustrating and upsetting circumstance but this is where I begin to question really how prepared these two were for world travel. So these individuals who seem to be under prepared in life let alone at sea. Left with nearly no money as a safety net. Nor did they carry any insurance on their only life possession. Absolutely no insurance on what they just used their entire life saving to purchase. I get going off the grid but that’s a pretty big red flag. These two might want to thank their lucky stars that this happened early on in their adventure and not far from rescue.

Now the couple is trying to rely on the generosity of others hard earned living’s to bail them out of the situation they put themselves in. This seems to me like a metaphor for the life they had already built around themselves. Under paid, under prepared, under achieving. I know sailing is difficult, you’re at the mercy of the sea, that is why you have to be beyond prepared. It’s also more work then any remedial job you pick up here and there. You have to be constantly vigilant, constantly in control. I once read a book about the first men to circumnavigate the globe solo, without stopping. The book was called “Voyage Of Madmen.” It was a race in the 60’s before all the fancy GPS and navigational tools we have today. The winner of the race said after victory, “I wonder how many hardened criminals we would have if they we’re subjected to sail solo around the world, It’s hard labor with solitary confinement.” Some men never made it back from that race. Sailing is difficult and if you want to sail around the world you can’t treat it like you listlessly treat life. You have to be beyond prepared and be ready to put in the work. It is my belief that these two will be much better off if they don’t receive any money from their gofundme page. It will only enable them to make similar mistakes down the road. In life you going to fail you have to learn how to fall and pick yourself back up again. You can learn from others mistakes but when your the one that put yourself in any given situation and others bail you out. You’re doomed to make the same mistakes. You’ll never learn and you’ll never grow if others are always doing the work for you.

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January 29, 2018April 25, 2018

Blowing It Scenario #11-Cambodia Blowing It By Arresting Travelers For Dancing

5 Brits Arrested For Inappropriate Dancing.

I’m not much of a dancer myself so if I were to ever visit Cambodia, I don’t think I’d be much at risk of imprisonment. Maybe this is a marketing ploy to reduce tourism to the country. That’s the best answer I can come up with. I understand everyone has their own cultures and rules they abide by. But many forms of dancing are close and intimate by nature. Cambodia should just have an all out ban on dancing and make travelers very aware of this rule. With signs everywhere. This seems as if it could be a poor sequel to the classic 80’s hit Footloose.

Now these kids are facing up to a year in a Cambodian jail. A jail with all kinds of convicts. And British kids who will be completely lost in translation. This could ruin these kids lives and at worst, end it. Who knows what could happen in a Cambodian jail cell. All because a couple of kids wanted to travel the world and have a little fun while doing it. I get it, if you’re fully in the act of coitus on the middle of a dance floor. That could be deserving of a punishment but I still don’t believe one as harsh as a year in prison. Maybe give them a fine and a boot from the country but not imprisonment. I just feel it’s an extreme measure for a very common act. The punishment just doesn’t fit the “crime.

However, I don’t make the rules and that’s always a risk you take when you travel to other countries. I think the lesson here is before you travel. Learn as much as you possibly can about the culture and customs and the country you’re visiting. And be completely respectful of their rules and way of life. We may not always agree with their ways but if you can’t respect them, you may not want to travel.

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