Paul56

It drove me nuts in a manner of speaking.

At the time I was trying very hard to contain myself from bursting
out laughing which the potential passenger likely would have
considered rude given how serious she was.

I was behind an older gentleman up in Canada going through security
last week...

"Do I need to put my bag on the conveyor?"
"Do I need to take my belt off?
"Do I need to take items out of my pockets?"
"Do I need to take my jacket off?"
"Do I need to take my shoes off?"
"Do I need to take my glasses off?"

That one was really starting to drive me nuts. No barker up there
so I guess he was clueless.

mapleg

I can't tell you how many times I have heard that. I suppose I could reply with why do you go your cottage? Haven't you been there enough?

azooki

where's the bathroom?

Ben and Jerry

Yep, felt like I was the only western tourist there one month after the quake/tsunami.
Did the research: staying in Tokyo and only going west, 3 weeks there would give me less additional radiation than one flight from New York to Los Angeles. But try explaining that to people...after a while I just stopped telling anyone I was going on vacation to Japan.

expatbkk

"Are you American?" when asked by other Americans who are in a foreign country for the first time and looking for any opportunity to talk US supremacy and put down local culture with someone equally enlightened.

When I am foolish enough to answer the question with a 'yes', I am usually treated to some of the most provincial world views in existence. Then when I finally explain that while I am American, I haven't lived in the US for close to 30 years, don't consider it to be the 'best' place in the world, have little respect for its politics and tax system, and just consider it to be my nationality, not my identity, they look at me as if I've betrayed my country and everyone in it.

This isn't to say that by saying 'yes', I never meet other Americans who are genuinely interested in where they are and in sharing opinions and experiences, but it's rare. Guess I gotta get out of those Starwood hotel bars more often.

txflyer77

I was sitting in a cafe in Boulder, CO today and the woman next to me was talking about moving from California to Colorado due to radiation from Fukushima. I really should've pointed out that CO has naturally higher background radiation than has ever been measured in Tokyo.

Meanwhile I'm planning my forth trip to Japan since being in Tokyo *during* Fukushima.

Dadaluma83

Ha, wonder what this lady would say about me? I drive a car that rolled off the assembly line when Bill Clinton was still president almost 17 years ago.

A few months back it had a few problems. I noticed the serpentine belt was getting glazed and felt hard, if you leave a belt like that in long enough it could wear out your pulleys faster, so what did I do when my car had that problem? Went down to NAPA and bought a top of the line belt for 35 bucks and changed it out.

Also at the same time my car was misfiring and stumbling a bit when idling or accelerating on the highway. What did I do? Bought some new spark plugs and spark plug wires and now it runs like a charm.

I plan on keeping this up for the rest of my life. The less money spent on buying or leasing new cars = that much more for travel and retirement. ^

BuildingMyBento

But then she'd be closer to Three Mile Island!

HMO

phunc

Whilst I get what you're saying, I've been through some airports in Europe where I don't have to take my shoes and belt off. This is more of a TSA thing.

I was told not to take my shoes and belt off whilst flying through MUC once.

Sometime I haven't a clue what to take off! But with the TSA its pretty much a full monty.

BadgerBoi

I don't take my shoes or belt off anywhere through "Europe". Never a problem.

Dadaluma83

The post above about endless questions for security is possible even for experienced travelers. On all airlines I have flown about 40,000 miles in the last year and a half so much more than the average traveler, most have been domestic but one international to Europe.

Coming home from Dublin Ireland a few months back I went through security twice, first to get airside at Dublin airport and I didn't have to take off my shoes, then again to get airside for the part of the airport with US bound flights I had to take off my shoes. I understood what was going on as flights US bound had to meet TSA standards but I can understand how others might find it confusing, thinking "But I already went through security"

The only time I was confused was a few days earlier during this trip at LHR, I was puzzled by the camera things we have to look into when entering security. I had never seen anything like that before and felt like such a kettle until the person behind me in line pointed out that I had to stand still and face it so it will take my picture.

I was always used to having a security officer check ID and boarding pass, not look into this camera. What is the point of the camera anyway? I know you have to look into it again as you board your flight to make sure it matches, but seems kinda redundant to me.

stut

The camera is for domestic and CTA (Ireland, Isle of Man, Channel Islands) flights. As international and CTA passengers mix airside, and there's no ID requirement for domestic flights, and international-international connections don't require you to pass immigration, it's to ensure someone on an international-international connection doesn't do the old switcheroo with a domestic passenger and enter the country illegally.

burbuja0512

Worst and most frequent comment ever:

"How can you be a good mother when you travel so much?"



Ouch.. I've ended friendships over this one. I only do 100-150k per year and while yes I am gone internationally at least once a month, I don't know of anyone that says this to my male peers. Parenting and international business are only mutually exclusive if you're a woman

mmff

Well, unfortunately I can assure you that many people do.