Heathrow is the worst airport in the world according to a poll of airline lounge loving business travelers. This is then reported as people who fly all the time hate Heathrow. I think this is bull. Heathrow isn’t even the worst airport in London, that distinction clearly goes to Luton. It’s tiny and impossible to get to. But the folks who are flying on business likely aren’t using Luton, so they wouldn’t know.

Also, I’d wager that the folks that are paying up to £259 a year to use airport lounges aren’t super concerned with public transit access to the airport. With the tube and Heathrow express running to Heathrow, it is undoubtedly the most accessible airport in London. If you compare that to something like DC’s Dulles you realise just how nice we have it:

That’s a map of the 30 mile drive to Dulles. Or you can take a train and change to a bus. Any way you slice it, it’s a hard airport to. And once you’re there you have to deal the ridiculous security and the strange vehicles that drive you from the terminal to the gates.

So for us mere mortals that don’t have town cars that take us too and from the airport or a lounge to relax in before the flight, I’d say there are far worse airports than Heathrow. I’d put Luton near the top of that list. What’s your least favourite airport?

In the twilight hours of his administration, Bush is making it legal to carry loaded, concealed firearms in national parks. From the AP story:

Under a rule to take effect in January, visitors will be able to carry a loaded gun into a park or wildlife refuge – but only if the person has a permit for a concealed weapon and if the state where the park or refuge is located also allows concealed firearms.

The new rule goes further than a draft proposal issued last spring and would allow concealed weapons even in parks located in states that explicitly ban the carrying of guns in state parks. Some states allow concealed weapons but also ban guns from parks.

I grew up playing around in the national parks of the American Southwest, and the escape they offer seems somehow soiled by concealed weapons. Thankfully I imagine not many people going backcountry will carry a gun. That’s a lot of weight, probably more than your camp stove.

I felt a little guilty that I ended my short look on volunteering holidays advising against them. I feel a bit more validated in this ad on Facebook. Is that seriously the picture they meant to have with that ad? That’s not volunteering, that’s dancing in a club. Obviously I love meeting new folks and going nuts in a cheap club. But call the trip what it is. if you’re there to party, then don’t call it a volunteer trip.

It seems that I’m not the only person musing about great places disappearing as sea levels rise. Yesterday the news came out that the newly elected President of the Maldives is going to go shopping for a new homeland for his people. Makes a lot of sense. I’d also think that industrialized nations who are the biggest contributors to global climate change should set up a multi-lateral funding system to help small nations like the Maldives. We caused the problem, seems we should at least buy people new homes if we destroy them.

In the mean time, if you were thinking about waiting for retirement to kick back on your favorite atoll, you might want to consider moving that up your priority list. Sad, but scarily true.

Photo: Flickr user Merlin_1 under Creative Commons license.

I am about to commit what many may consider a cardinal sin. I plan on going on an inclusive holiday (hence the corny all inclusive resort image above).

It’s cheap! I can’t help it. I want to go skiing this winter. I only went one day last season. So I started looking around for various trip options. Pretty much everything I found was significantly more expensive. Also, I generally love traveling alone, but skiing is one of those times where a group really counts for something. It’s just more fun to ski with other people and then hang out in a bar or hot tub after a long day on the slopes.

I think the reason I’m opposed to all inclusive trips is their association in my mind with US spring break trips, where college students destroy their livers, a couple of hotel rooms, and the resorts manicured beach for a few days. Hopefully this all inclusive ski trip will be a bit different from that, and I’ll have a good time skiing and exploring the French Alps.

I apologize here and now to my fellow adventurers and the adventure gods for this tragic transgression.