Europe is awesome. The history, the style, the food, the globalness… anytime we travel to Europe it’s an eye-opening experience. However, American business travel to Europe had pretty much dried up since the recession hit five years ago. That dry spell appears to be over. Skift’s Greg Oates reports that American business travel to Europe is surging and is almost at pre-2008 levels… but there are some differences.
Paris is very much a “grown up city” – a place for romance, museums, and hanging out drinking wine. Visiting the big tourist attractions requires patience to stand in long lines, as well as a certain maturity to appreciate exactly what you’re looking at. So it isn’t the ideal vacation destination for children. Or is it? At the New York Times, Pamela Druckerman offers up a travel guide to Paris for kids, helping you to build a kid-friendly itinerary in the City of Light.
Let’s cover trains and planes (you’re on your own for automobiles). Trains, especially in Europe, have had a rough couple of months. There have been numerous deadly wrecks, and the train industry is giving the accident-prone cruise industry a run for its money. Last week, 79 people died in a Spanish train wreck, and this week details emerged that put the wreck squarely at the feet of the driver. CNN reports the driver was talking on the phone when the train took a curve at twice the legal speed limit.
If the spate of train crashes doesn’t scare you off, you’ll love this slide show from Conde Nast Traveler – the world’s most beautiful train stations.
We’ve said it before – traveling is awesome, except for the traveling part. Once you get to your destination, things are frequently awesome, but hopping on a plane to get there can be arduous. First, there are the ridiculously long lines snaking their way through the airport. But wait! There’s a solution – at USA Today George Hobica writes about the Global Entry program, which enables you to reenter the States without all of the standing around waiting.
Then, of course, there’s the torture of being on the plane in an uncomfortable seat for hours on end. This is a particular problem for the big and tall among us, but the New York Times Stephanie Rosenbloom has some solutions for finding a more comfortable seat.
And not all airline food is dreadful. At Jaunted, there’s the story of a healthy, tasty airline meal. Not fiction!
See? Flying isn’t so bad.
China is a spectacular travel destination – filled with history, mystery and a lot to see and do. But right now, it’s just really freaking hot, reports Gwynn Guilford at Quartz.
At the Wall Street Journal, Jemima Sissons offers a foodie tour of Hong Kong. Some of her stops are even healthy!
Lastly, bedbugs – not as bad as you think!
Photo by Wally Gobetz.
