Planning on braving the airport tomorrow? Sure, the day before Thanksgiving is hands down the busiest travel day of the year and yes, there's not a shadow of a doubt that your airport will be more calamitous than usual. But Bing Travel just may be able to help make your holiday travels a little bit more bearable.
Bing Travel Fareologists will be staked out at the Boston and Seattle airports tomorrow. Travelers with questions can get expert advice on how to travel during this über stressful time of the year. To boot, 1,000 travelers will be randomly selected to be reimbursed for their baggage fees (up to $15).
Cancel any upcoming flight you have. Renege on that pending cruise you booked. Thinking about taking a scenic train ride? Well stop. Why? Because I have found a new mode of transportation that is sure to blow you out of the water and change the face of travel as the world knows it. What is it you ask? Cupcakes.
A couple weeks ago I attended a reception celebrating the relaunch of the new Kodak Gallery, the film company's online service that allows members to store, organize, and print photos. Now, let me first say that my interest in attending this event was piqued by my fascination with reality television. (I know, I know...) See, the host of the event was none other than Jill Zarin, one of the Real Housewives of New York City stars.
Pitter patter went my heart. And then I watched as others from the New York City cast showed up. Then my heart stopped. I'm not even going to go into details when I saw that Bravo was there filming for an upcoming episode.
There has been a bit of a fluster in the blogosphere in response to a video released yesterday by TMZ, showing Britney Spears passing through airport security at Los Angeles' LAX with a 7-Eleven Big Gulp in hand—and it wasn't confiscated by security, I might add.
The accusations were aplenty, most assuming the pop princess was granted special permission that allowed her to bypass common folk security regulations.
If you ask any of my closest friends, they'll tell you that, while I may be a spontaneous, even adventurous, person, I'm not much of an extreme thrill seeker. You won't catch me on any of the frightening rides we reported on last summer. Think you can convince me to jump out of a plane? Not a chance. And tethering myself to a bridge and hurtling myself off? You can't be serious.
That being said, I'm a little shocked by my intense fascination with a certain natural attraction: "The Devil's Pool" in Zambia. You can't even begin to fathom the magnitude of scariness/awesomeness that comes from this naturally formed pool of water. Enter YouTube:
With Hollywood, the Walk of Fame, and red carpet events galore, Los Angeles is an obvious mecca of all things celebrity—and as such, is without a doubt my favorite U.S. city (sorry New York!). You can hardly hit up a Starbucks in L.A. without tripping over someone who's had their 15 minutes or more. Suffice it to say, tracking down this handful of celebs—with a little help from my West Coast accomplice—was like a walk in the park.
10/2: During an event at Sonny McLean's—a Santa Monica Irish pub with an affinity for all Boston-based sports teams—a few patrons were lucky enough to be waited on by none other than Megan Fox. She was the surprise celebrity bartender. The celeb that was actually scheduled to be there? Brian Austin Green.
Mickey’s ears must be burning; Universal has unveiled new details about a brand new section inside its Islands of Adventure theme park. Working closely with gazillionaire author J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros., the theme park giant will soon help the fantasy world of Harry Potter come to life.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, set to open in spring 2010, will make Hogwarts and the magical town of Hogsmeade a reality for countless fans around the world. So what can you expect when the park opens? Here are just a few of the many attractions to look forward to:
Remember this summer when we reported on Jet Blue's Unlimited Flight Pass? Well now another airline, Brazil-based Azul, is offering a similar deal. (Is it really any surprise that Azul is owned by David Neeleman, who is also responsible for the creation of Jet Blue?)
The Passaporte Azul is up for grabs for the shockingly low price of $285. Granted, you'll first have to pick up the tab for a flight from your home turf to Brazil and back ($830 from NYC; $1,010 from Chicago; $660 from Miami; all to São Paulo), but once you arrive, there's nothing stopping you from sleeping in São Paulo or waking up in Manaus, the gateway to the Amazon, or any one of the 12 other Brazilian cities—Beleo Horizonte, Campo Grande, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Maceió, Maringá, Navegantes, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and Vitória—Azul services.
Anyone who knows me can attest to my having a healthy and, er, perfectly natural fascination with celeb culture, so I was more than happy to take on the role as the go-to person for celebrity coverage on TravelandLeisure.com.
As a part of that beat, I’d like to introduce a new series: Star Mapper. I’ll let you know where the A-Listers go (and hey, I’m not too proud to go after some D-Listers too. *ahem* Kathy Griffin *cough*), along with a little info about their fave haunts and destinations.
Our first installment? Celeb spottings in Travel + Leisure’s own star-studded backyard: New York City.
We’ve all heard of Oktoberfest, that annual two-week-long beer- and wurst-fueled party—though party seems a bit of an understatement, no?—held in Munich, Germany. But what some of you may not know about is that the U.S. has its own pint-sized version of the celebration in Cincinnati, OH—renamed "Zinzinnati" for the event.
Mickey’s ears must be burning; 
