Posted by Seth on March 11, 2010 under News, media coverage | 
Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine held a party in New York City last night to celebrate their 100th issue going to press. Unlike many other publication parties, however, the folks at BT decided to invite their readers to the event, not just others in media circles. The result was an eclectic mix of travelers, marketing folks and editors, sharing tales of travel and the history of the magazine and planning future trips, all in the comfort of the 3rd floor reception area of the magazine’s offices.
Standing in the corner, surveying the room I was somewhat surprised to hear an English accent over my shoulder, “Hey, you’re the Wandering Aramean, right? I recognize you from your photos.” That was a bit surprising to me but quite welcome. We chatted for most of the evening, trading stories of best hotels, meals and most overpriced indulgences around the world.
Being the attention seeking media glutton that I am, I was quite happy to spend a few minutes chatting with Kelly Samardak, a writer from MediaPost.com. And my unnamed “stalker” was apparently working overtime as a publicist at this point, trying to convince Kelly that, while I may be crazy, it is the good kind of crazy. It seemed to work well enough as I earned a mention in her write-up of the event.
Overall, a rather enjoyable couple hours of travel talk with a new group of friends. And some decent munchies to help absorb the open bar. I’m glad I came home a bit early from Burlington to make it to the event.
Posted by Seth on February 3, 2010 under News, media coverage |
It turns out that the folks who love flying so much don’t only enjoy those experiences in the air. Folks fly to hang out and party together on the ground, too.
As a follow-up to the article in the February issue of Conde Nast Traveler, the magazine, Lufthansa and Boarding Area sponsored a reception in New York City earlier this week. More than 50 folks showed up, many of them coming in from across the country for a quick evening of revelry before heading back to the real world, work and other obligations. It was a lot of fun.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a frequent flyer event without plenty of discussion of travel and deals. That was magnified in this case by the fact that there were a couple great deals on offer briefly Monday evening. The number of flights booked to Mexico City via Panama in the bar that night was rather significant. Good times!
More on the party here.
Posted by Seth on January 27, 2010 under News, Trip Reports, frequent flyer, media coverage |
Back in November when me and 220 other aerophiles were jetting around in a chartered Boeing 757-300 there were a couple reporters along for the ride. They each focused on different aspects of why all all of us were there and what motivates us to travel as much as we do. Some of them got it and some of them most certainly did not. But none of them managed to relay the story quite as eloquently as Greg Lindsay, writing in the February 2010 issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine.
His article, Triumph of the Air Warriors captures the spirit of that specific trip as well as the joy that many frequent flyers find in hunting down deals, identifying loopholes and otherwise fighting back just a little bit against a system that is decidedly stacked against the customer.
"I call it Airworld," Bingham says in the novel by Walter Kirn on which [Up in the Air] is based. "The scene, the place, the style. . . . Airworld is a nation within a nation, with its own language, architecture, mood, and even its own currency—the token economy of airline bonus miles that I’ve come to value more than dollars. Inflation doesn’t degrade them. They’re not taxed. They’re private property in its purest form."
For you, Airworld is the nowhere you pass through on your way to a meeting or a vacation. It’s the series of tubes from security to your gate, and to the rental car lots, chain hotels, and fast-casual restaurants. At every stop, if you’re savvy, you earn precious miles. American Airlines launched the first frequent-flier program almost 30 years ago on a lark; United followed suit a week later. Therein lies the tale—and many free trips to Hawaii. These led to real-life Clooneys endlessly chasing miles—and who knows what else.
And that’s what it is for me. The chase of the miles. The hunt for bargains. The chase for new cities, airlines, aircraft or just random trips that I’m just crazy enough to take. Lindsay spoke with a couple dozen “Air Warriors” – residents of AirWorld – about their adventures. And the stories we tell are full of frivolity, challenges and conquests. From one guy’s tale of his earliest memory – falling down the stairs of a 747 as a three year old – to a story of a mass revolution against an airline’s declining product quality, the stories are great reads.
Plus, I’m quoted a few times in the article; I’m sure that contributes to my appreciation of it.
You can read it here (http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/502250) or pick up a copy on the newsstands. The print version has a pretty awesome photo, too.
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Posted by Seth on January 12, 2010 under News, media coverage |
Medical solutions for jetlag have been featured quite a bit in the news lately. Another article came out this morning from ABCNews.com. The story is pretty much the same: Nuvigil, a drug from pharmaceutical company Cephalon, has been submitted to the FDA to “treat” jetlag and they’re hopeful that it will receive approval soon. And the story behind the story is almost as entertaining as the actual news.
It turns out that testing the effects of a drug against jetlag means inducing jetlag and that means flying across an ocean. The testing experience was some fun and some not so fun to be certain, but the end result is the same: it is a great story. Plus, the drug seemed to work pretty well for me. Perhaps too well. Taking it for multiple days was more than I think I really needed, but it definitely kept me up and more alert than I think I otherwise would have been.
Oh, and there’s a great picture of me on page two of the story.
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Posted by Seth on January 7, 2010 under News, media coverage |
Is there such a thing, and does it really work? The folks at Cephalon, a mid-size player in the pharmaceutical industry seem to think so and they’ve got the medical test results to back up their findings. Plus, I’ve got the first hand experience to back it up, too.
A year ago this week I was locked in a medical lab in rural France participating in a study for the drug Nuvigil. And the drug was supposed to be approved by the US Food & Drug Administration shortly before the new year but that decision has been delayed now a few months “to allow more time to analyze the data,” according to Cephalon.
The drug works by preventing users from feeling sleepy, not by actually changing the circadian rhythms of the body. And it works pretty well in my experience, maybe too well. On days two and three of the trial I was somewhat jittery with the dosage I was on. The easy answer to that is simply to not take it for as many days as the trial required but it is worth being aware of.
Another potential limiting factor in the drug’s acceptance is the price. It is expected to cost at least $9 per pill. That’s a lot for a drug but not so bad when you consider that most folks will only use a couple pills per year. For the cost of a couple extra large coffees on arrival a medical solution is possible. Not too shabby.
There’s some coverage of the drug in today’s New York Times, including a couple quotes from me at the end. Yes, the food really was that bad.
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