10 days around the world? It can be done!

I love videos like this....

Wanted to share a pretty well constructed video montage of a guy who did a RTW in 10 days...and even stopped in Doha!

http://youtu.be/WxfZkMm3wcg

Make it count!

Dialects as you travel

A friend shared this site/map with me recently, and since a fair majority of my travel is North America, I thought I would share it here as well:

English Dialect Map

I love how specific it is by region, and includes audio examples so you can hear differences.  Give it a try!

When the writing is done...

There's a lot I have to figure out once I've officially wrapped up my PhD (defense and graduation), but one thing is becoming clearer the closer I get to being done: I'm going to need a break. 

I haven't decided yet what that break will be, but in talking with other colleagues who attained their doctorates, every person has taken time away for a break (in one case, four weeks!). I don't think I'll have enough vacation time saved up to do something long, but I would like to treat myself to at least a week somewhere that doesn't require me to get up early or need much brain power.

Any suggestions? 

It pays to be 1K

I was so excited at the end of last year to reach 1K status on United, knowing that I was probably going to be doing a lot of flying between here and Doha for school.  And I haven't regretted getting the complimentary upgrades to First for many of the flights I've been on.

But I was thankful to have the status after a recent issue flying back from a short trip to Miami, where I ran into a delayed flight, missed connections, and a forced overnight in Denver.

Frustration #1: Flight pushed back "early".  Now, to clarify, the flight had already been delayed by 30 minutes to a specified time, but when a time is set, what are the rules?  Can you just leave ahead of the time listed?  In my case, deciding to leave 10 minutes before the stated time meant I missed my connection.  And forced an overnight in Denver.  When I asked the gate agents about it (after pounding on the door to try and get their attention), they were extremely flippant and offered no help.  "You'll just have to wait" was the response.  How terrible.  When I pointed out that it left 'early', all they said was that it had already been delayed - but then, the next question was if I had been on a delayed Dulles flight.  When I said no, it was "too bad".  Since when do other flight delay locations matter???

Frustration #2: Staying the overnight. United, please understand that it's NOT helpful to post a sign with the 800 number for hotel options just outside of the customer service area saying "call and you will be able to get a room".  Instead, it was really "do you have a code?  If not, too bad - you need to get one" which is code for "you need to stand in a line 3 miles long and wait".  After being in the 45 minute line, though, I was glad to have waited since my 1K status afforded me a free hotel night (a big thank you to my agent for checking with a supervisor).  I wasn't happy about missing, but happy I didn't have to pay for gate agent stupidity.

The moral of the story is that if you have an option to fly enough to get airline status, get it.  You will not regret the perks when you are in a delayed or cancelled flight situation and need assistance with hotels or rebooking.

Place of the Day: The Bay of Kotor

I love going to Italy (Rome, especially), but there are so many other places to visit around the area that it's almost hard to choose where to start.  After seeing a few pictures, though, I think this may be my next:

Kotor - Montenegro

Known for being the southern-most fjord in Europe, the Bay itself has many small towns dotting its coast, and has become of the the most noted places to visit in Montenegro.  The Crkva Gospa od Zdravlja Church is just one location to see, and I would look forward to a very peaceful and stressfree experience walking the old town (Stari Grad).  

Your best bet would be to fly in to Dubrovnik (DBV) and drive down to Kotor, or possibly snag a flight into Tivat (TIV).  More information is available here.  

Enjoy!