Live and Let’s Fly
Introduction: A Dark Trip To Germany With A Detour To The City Of Lights
Welcome to my next trip report, a brief series that will recount my autumn trip to Germany and France, with flights on Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue and a nice stay at Hôtel du Louvre in Paris. Autumn Trip To Germany, Switzerland, France On Virgin Atlantic, Eurowings, JetBlue A very dear...
The Gate with Brian Cohen
My First Time Aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and As a Passenger of LATAM Airlines in 2019
I will be flying as a passenger aboard airplanes that are operated by LATAM Airlines in Ecuador later in 2025, which evoked this trip report of my experience from 2019. Ever since the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” airplane embarked on its first flight on Tuesday, December 15, 2009, I had traveled...
The Gate with Brian Cohen
Why Tangle Creek Falls in Canada is So Easy to Visit
Some waterfalls in Jasper National Park and Banff National Park are easier to visit than others. For example — although the trail is not really all that difficult — you still have to maneuver over roots, loose pebbles and embedded boulders while simultaneously ascending up a grade for part of...
Point Me to the Plane
A Park Hyatt Oasis Lives Up To Its Motto
This gem offers the high level service and charm you'd expect from a Park Hyatt property. I'm glad I gave it another try!
2PAXfly
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The reborn Dusit Thani Hotel, Bangkok
Dusit Thani is a name eternally tied to its history as one of the first five-star hotels in Bangkok. The original hotel opened in 1970. It was Thailand’s tallest building and the first property of Dusit International. The now-outdated hotel was demolished in 2019, and a new hotel using the...
The Gate with Brian Cohen
Why Did the Elusive Black Rhinoceros Cross the Road in Kenya?
The elusive black rhinoceros is a critically endangered species native to Kenya and other countries in eastern and southern Africa — so much so that the Western Black Rhinoceros was officially declared extinct in 2011 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Despite that statistic... The post Why...
The Gate with Brian Cohen
My Visit to N Seoul Tower in South Korea
The sun shone strongly on me from an intensely azure sky on that warm autumn day as I trudged up the wooded hill known as Namsan Mountain from the bus stop to visit the observation deck of the N Seoul Tower, which is part of the YTN Seoul Tower complex...
Traveling For Miles
Review: ITA Airways Airbus A220-100 Economy Class
Having never before flown on an Airbus A220, a very good Economy Class fare for travel between London City Airport and Milan's Linate Airport finally gave me the opportunity to see what this (relatively) new aircraft is like and to review an ITA Airways flight for the first time. The post...
View from the Wing
American Airlines Flagship First Class Is Ending—My Flights Reveal How Bad It’s Gotten
American Airlines is eliminating Flagship First Class in favor of more business and premium economy seats on its fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The end of first class on the last U.S. carrier to offer it internationally is sad to me, but the project has been pushed back. As...
You Are Travel
Trip Report Introduction: A Two for One in Latin America – Adventures in Costa Rica and Panama
Tl;dr – A trip report recounting some fun travels to two of Latin America’s most vibrant countries.  Greetings!…
The Gate with Brian Cohen
Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica: My Visit
Even though the sun was shining, the air was rather steamy; and despite my wearing a T-shirt and jeans, I was sweating because I had been walking much of the day — including along the fortress walls of Intramuros — ever since the flight on which I was a passenger...
Altitude Yes
Tokyo Trains: How Packed Are They During Rush Hour?
Visitors to the city are unlikely to encounter ultra-packed trains unless they choose to venture out into the suburbs during peak periods. The post Tokyo Trains: How Packed Are They During Rush Hour? first appeared on Altitude Yes.
Travel With Grant
My 2025 Travel Predictions Midyear Review: Hits, Misses & Lots of Wild Guesses
Explore my midyear review of 2025 travel predictions where I assess which forecasts for airlines, hotels, and credit cards were hits or misses. Discover the unexpected outcomes and intriguing developments that have unfolded so far. The post My 2025 Travel Predictions Midyear Review: Hits, Misses & Lots of Wild Guesses first...
The Gate with Brian Cohen
Where Life Began? Matsieng Footprints in Botswana
Matsieng is one of the well-known “Creation Sites” in southern Africa — another one is the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa, which I also visited and will document in a future article — where followers of folklore believe that life began when Matsieng emerged from a hole in the...
The Gate with Brian Cohen
Mauthausen Ljubelj Nazi Extermination Camp in Slovenia
We had just crossed the border from Austria into Slovenia through the Karawanks Tunnel — named for the Karawanks mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps through which cars can pass through — and as the sun was setting while we were winding our way down the curving mountain road...