Traveler of the Week

Mitad del Mundo

To find the Earth’s equator is now pretty easy. You stand around where you think it is with your handy GPS and the gadget tells you where to go and when you’ve arrived. Back when the equator was first mapped, it was the 1700s, and no one thought to bring along their GPS.

The story of the equator (well, equators, but we’ll get to that in a minute) in Ecuador starts in the 1700s when the first geodesic expedition took place, the French Geodesic Mission, whose goal was to find and mark the equator. The equator passes through 14 countries. The ones on major land masses were sort of uninviting, or at least seemed like a hassle to the French (present day Uganda, Somalia, places like that). So they turned to South America, and specifically it seemed like a nice Spanish controlled territory (now Ecuador) was traveler friendly, a nice colonial city, Quito, was already built nearby. So they asked the King of Spain if it was cool for them to go equator hunting and he said sure, provided you take a long these two Spanish scientists to share in the glory. So they all set off in 1735.

They got to Quito, met up with an Ecuadorian scientist, and started measuring the curvature of the Earth around Quito. They stood on tall hills (there are many around Quito), they walked around a lot, they measured. Through some math that I cannot admit I fully understand, they came up with the location of the equator. And that spot is called Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World in Spanish).

Kelly & Jacob on the equator

Ecuador’s Equator #1: French

Ecuador eventually became independent of Spain, and decided to commemorate the expedition and the equator, which they named their country after (yep, Ecuador is Spanish for equator), by erecting a monument. There’s a long walk up to the monument, the path flanked by big heads of all the scientists on the expedition.

The path culminates with a view of a stone building topped by a representation of the Earth (on its side for optimal equator viewing). Inside the stone building is an Ethnographic Museum, which houses some very worthwhile exhibits on the various cultures and peoples of Ecuador, both indigenous and not.

If you trek out to the Mitad del Mundo, I highly recommend a visit to the museum. And, of course, there’s a big line painted on the ground to represent the equator complete with compass markings.

The monument is great, there’s just one problem with it, its not actually on the equator. The French guys were good at math, but not perfect, they came in a mere 250 meters off.

Ecuador’s Equator #2: Actually at 0°0′0″ Lat.

Kelly & Jacob at actual equator

Located on the actual equator is the Inti Nan museum. Besides sitting atop the actual GPS calculated equator, the museum has hands on exhibits about indigenous Ecuadorian life (houses, food, stuff like that). The exhibits were interesting, but more interesting are the experiments you can participate in on the equator.

Try to walk the equator line straight with your eyes closed, its impossible, you feel like you’re falling. You can balance an egg on the head of a nail, gravity is straight down, so it becomes a much easier task. Watch the Coriolis effect in action as water spins down drains. All of it was fun in a sort of freaky and nerdy kind of way.

I highly recommend visiting at least one, if not both of the equators in Ecuador. I know it seems like a really touristy thing to do, but how often can you hop over a line and across a hemisphere?

– Kelly G

Following in the French Geodesic Mission’s footsteps and traveling to Ecuador? Browse Viator’s tours to Mitad del Mundo.

So what is Viator’s Traveler of the Month?

Before we answer that, let’s back up a little. Recently we started publishing photos over on the viator.com website. These are photos taken by actual Viator travelers, photos of themselves on elephant treks, helicopter tours, desert safaris, private tours of the Vatican — and on hundreds of the other 5,000+ tours and things to do available on Viator.

So we’ve started giving props each month to an individual Viator traveler who makes us laugh, makes us smile, or who inspires us to make that next trip. It might be the prettiest traveler photo, or the funniest, or most inspirational, or just most plain weird.

What do you win? A $100 gift certificate (or the equivalent in pounds or euros) to use on Viator.com! So get traveling, take photos and submit them to viator.com when you return. If you want to participate, simply submit your travel photos (see below for how this works) and you are eligible. Each month we will chose a new winner.

This month we’re pleased to honor James & Michelle for their Egypt trip photos.

April Travelers of the Month - James & Michelle, United Kingdom

Michelle and James went on a trip to Cairo, Egypt and had a wonderful time exploring the different pyramids on their private tour to the Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis and Sakkara. James submitted some really fun photos of their trip to the Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis and Sakkara in Cairo. This is a great tour to get the full pyramid experience in Egypt.

James said, “This was a great day out. We had a few laughs along the way. The guide was brilliant.”

March Traveler of the Month - Alexandra S, Australia

Alexandra S and her family recently went on a trip to Fiji and based on her photos and captions, they had a blast. The photo above is from the South Sea Island Day Cruise where they snorkeled and relaxed by the pool. Alexandra submitted some great photos of the South Sea Island Day Cruise in Fiji. If you’re looking to relax and have a fun trip with the kids in Fiji, Alexandra recommends this tour.

Alexandra says: “Kris has given his thumbs up for this experience. This is definitely a trip to take especially if you have kids.”

February Traveler of the Month - James A, UK

Here’s a shot taken by James A in Rome, on the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Rome Walking Tour. James submitted some great photos of Rome and the inside of the Vatican. And, according to James’ review he’s glad he booked ahead because the line to get into the Vatican was over 2.5 hours long!

James says: “We were enjoying our tour within 15 minutes, and the guide brought the Vatican alive. There is so much to see you simply would not enjoy any other way as it would not mean much without being explained. The headsets you are given for the tour are fab, and you can hear loud and clear what your guide is saying. We normally do our own thing on holiday; however, this is one of the rare places which the tour works very well.”

January Traveler of the Month - Sumit B, USA

Sumit B seems to be having a good time at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Las Vegas, which he visited after purchasing the Las Vegas Power Pass. Sumit, his wife and his two embarrassed children met Beyonce, the Terminator, Johnny Depp, George Bush and Jenna Jameson, among others. Hopefully his wife forgives him for all of the photos with other women.

–The Viator Travel Team

Editor’s Note: We’ve posted the photos submitted by our Travelers of the Month over on the Viator Flickr site. Hop on over for some inspiration for your next trip.

How can you submit photos to Viator’s Traveler of the Month contest? It’s simple: book a tour with Viator and, when you return, you will receive a “Welcome Back” email. This email will invite you to submit reviews and photos of the tours and things to do on your trip. Tell other travelers what you loved, what you hated and show them in a photo. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I’m sitting on a plane and we just passed Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. Snow-covered even in July. And at its foot, Lake Geneva. Beautiful. I’m on my way to Lisbon and I’ve just enjoyed delicious creamy veggie pasta to go with the view. Thanks Lufthansa!

Until 2004 I was too terrified to get on a plane. Even the sight of the airport was enough to break out the sweat, the twisted guts. I used to call planes ‘great silver deathbirds’, laugh that airports were called ‘terminals’, and declare that if I were meant to fly I’d have wings. What changed?

I Got Hypnotised

I had always been scared; I think it stemmed from flying from Sydney to Canberra on a smallish plane, through a thunderstorm - as if going to Canberra isn’t horrifying enough in itself. My sister also tells me that, when I was too young to remember, we flew to Sydney from Melbourne and my ears were so painful I screamed the entire way. Obviously not something the rest of the family was lucky enough to forget. Anyway, the psychological scars ran deep and planes became the enemy.

Bravely I soldiered on, even flying to Europe a couple of times after a short ‘training’ flight to Noumea for a holiday. Back in the olden days of the ’80s, the air hosties even took me into the cockpit of the plane to ease my fears! Imagine that. Me and a whole line of kids getting to peak out the front windows of the plane at the Middle Eastern desert far below. It did make me forget to be afraid for a while because it was so awesomely beautiful. But the image that haunted my mind longer was all those complex instruments… so much to go wrong at 30,000 feet. Mind you, I was able to panic in comfort because my extreme fear had got me an upgrade to business class. Ah, the good old days…

But despite all this, the fear built until in 1993 I panicked so badly on a flight from Perth to Melbourne that I swore it was over between me and flying. I was breaking up with planes.

For 10 years I stayed strong. No calls, no visits, no late-night flirtations. Then I got the job offer of a lifetime – in London. A couple of quick calls established it would be impossible to get there by ship. I’d have to fly.

I was brave. Did all my arranging, packed, hosted farewell drinks, then melted down. A friend suggested hypnotism. Did I say friend? I mean Saint. Because that one hour was the best thing I have ever done in my life. I got to London and now I have so many frequent-flyer points, I don’t know what to do with them all. Well, I do because there are still one or two places I haven’t been. I have no idea how the hypnotism works, what I do know is that as soon as I get on a plane, I feel relaxed and when that seat hits my bum, I start to nod off to sleep. Brilliant.

No Fears, No Worries

Sometimes the thoughts of all that could go wrong start buzzing around my mind but they don’t trigger off any physiological response, so, no panic. And there have been some memorable flights that would test anyone’s mettle:

• Vienna to Zagreb, Croatia. Another thunderstorm flight. The previous flight had been turned back by the weather so we were a bit of an experiment. The plane was full of Australians off to a sailing holiday and as it bucked and shook through the storm, I ended up comforting them with anecdotes about Neighbours, a popular TV show I used to work for. I heard myself lying: “Flying into Zagreb’s often like this, it’ll be fine.” I was the calm comforter? Bless that hypnotist.

• Munich to Bratislava, Slovakia. The greatest test because the plane was a tiny propeller job. If I hadn’t been with my boss I would have refused to get on board. As it was I had the humiliation of being in business class which was a single row facing the rest of the plane, and we were the only people being fed. Eating under all those eyes definitely took my mind off where I was.

• Frankfurt to Lisbon. The steward came to the person behind me: ‘It says here you are a doctor. Is that a medical doctor?’ Then the announcement you don’t want to hear: Is there a medical doctor on board? A woman across the row from me got up and headed down the back of the plane. At least she didn’t head into the cockpit.

• Melbourne to London the first time. Another medical incident. We took off through a building thunderstorm (what is it with me and flying through bad weather?), then the pilot announced: ‘Those of you who are observant will have noticed we have turned around.’ Yes, one of the plane’s staff had had a heart attack! We landed through the now fully unleashed thunderstorm. Any surprises I wasn’t too fond of flying after that?

• Berlin to London. Again terrible weather, this time fog. It was three days before Christmas so the passengers were restless, desperate. After a long delay we got there and landed suddenly, the ground erupting from the thick fog. Impressive. Everyone on board applauded. Until the hostie announced: ‘Please don’t encourage the pilots; they’re big-headed enough. And they had nothing to do with that landing, it’s all done automatically these days.’ The laughter got us over our terror.

• Moscow to St Petersburg, Aeroflot, a Friday night in winter. Getting to the airport was actually more terrifying than the flight. The traffic in Moscow has to be seen to be believed. Our first taxi didn’t turn up: too much traffic. Our second driver gave up after nearly half an hour in one street and took us to the nearest Metro. But that doesn’t go all the way to the airport so we found another taxi who drove like Schumacher on wet, dark, peak-hour Moscow roads. We sat in the back of that car, eyes closed, fateful. He got us there as our plane was boarding. The security woman took our passports and tickets and ran to the check-in for us as we were stripped of shoes, belts, jewelery and then ran sock footed to the plane. Where the air hosties resembled Rocky Balboa in size and determination. I dared not ask them for anything. The seats were a little broken, too…

LOVE to Fly

Flying is beautiful, if you don’t think about it too much

But it’s not all been that challenging. I once sat next to a British Airways pilot and he told me about his love of flying and all the beautiful things he has seen from the air. It made me suddenly see the whole experience in a different way; now I always ask for a window seat and have been rewarded by some of the best sights of my life. Top of the list – seeing the shadow of the plane encircled by a perfect rainbow against a background of fluffy clouds.

And on a flight within Croatia, sitting in the very seat which — according to a plaque — Pope John Paul II sat. I felt protected. And a final thought-provoking moment: during a recent landing at an airport which shall remain nameless there was a dog running alongside the runway, being exercised beside an official airport car. Hmmm…

I love flying now. Because it’s always an adventure and it takes me to amazing, interesting places. The world is so fantastic I will continue to brave weather and fate and keep flying in the relaxed world of the hypnotised. And be really, really grateful that fear didn’t keep me trapped in Melbourne forever.

–Philippa Burne

Cape Cod Dunes

Some may say that nominating oneself for traveler of the week is a bit tacky. I say, bite me. You have a better traveler of the week nomination? Leave a comment (minus points for you if you nominate the guy who flew with TB).

As you know from other posts, I’d rather travel than have a party to celebrate my birthday, and even though this birthday was a big one, it was no exception. I usually shy away from the beach vacation, but I really needed a break and some time doing nothing but staring at clouds and eating lobster rolls. So last weekend we headed out to Cape Cod.

I want to say we did a lot, saw a lot and have a ton of great pictures. The reality is we did very little, saw mostly sand and sky, and didn’t even take many pictures. Which was perfect. The highlight of the trip was taking a water taxi from Chatham to the small dune of South Beach. The boat drops you off and asks what time you want them to come back, then you’re on your own with the dunes, shells, sea lions and not much else. Given how crowded the Cape’s beaches get on the weekend, this was perfect. We weren’t the only ones there, but everyone was spaced so far apart you couldn’t hear a thing but the sea.

Captain Frosty’s wins for perfect lobster roll. Sundae School had the best ice cream. The salt water taffy I brought back did not last long in Viator’s San Francisco office. Anything that looks like a shack on Cape Cod has great food.

A whale painted ala Edward Gorey

We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast in Dennis, that had delightful owners. Scargo Manor sits on Lake Scargo, which is the picture of tranquility (no motorboats allowed!). Sitting in an adirondack chair by the lake reading was how I spent a good chunk of my birthday. The other half of the day was spent visiting Edward Gorey House. I’m a big fan of his artwork, so seeing his house, now a museum, was a treat. The most taxing activity of the weekend was the 18 holes of mini-golf we played. Exhausting.

Usually I think I’ll be bored by a beach vacation, how long can you do nothing for before it gets boring? The answer: apparently quite awhile as I wasn’t ready to leave after nearly four days of doing pretty much nothing. Reinvigorated, rejuvenated and a decade older, I reluctantly headed home. For giving into the urge to do nothing, and because it was my birthday, I nominate myself as traveler of the week.

– Kelly G

If you’re in Cape Cod, do like I did and spend a day visiting its noisy neighbor, Boston.

Jenny, working hard & loving it

When you think about the great jobs of the world, a few spring to mind. Travel journalist, roller-coaster tester, even candy taster – but I think my job is right up there with the best of them.

What I do is try out the tours and activities we sell on the Viator.com website. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all fun and games. There are contracts that need signing, hundreds of e-mails arriving in my inbox daily, flight delays in getting to your destination and lost luggage to contend with… arriving in Puerto Rico at 2am with no luggage, after a 36-hour journey, was no fun at all. But like the professional I try to be, I was on a walking tour of San Juan the next day in the same clothes! (Editor’s note: Jenny, did you at least take a shower first?)

What’s the most fun I’ve had? That’s a tough one to answer. Honestly, I have loved pretty much every tour I’ve done, along with the opportunity to visit new places and learn about different cultures. I’ve also met some pretty cool people along the way (both the locals and the operators of our tours).

Now I’m living in Las Vegas (for work), I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of the local activities: the Skywalk at the West Rim of the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas shows (The Rat Pack is Back and Spamalot are my two favourites), Horseriding, the Lake Las Vegas Serenity Tour and more. And of course, a good place to have a meeting is at a local nightclub! Only in Vegas…

Rafting on the Martha Brae

But aside from the ‘local’ tours, in the past 2 years I have been to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Aruba and more. I have been swimming with dolphins in both Key Largo and Jamaica, climbed Dunns River Falls (would be just like the movie Cocktail, but unfortunately I was alone at the time), and rafted down the Martha Brae River. I did Sub Bikes and the Powerboat Adventure in Nassau (LOVED feeding the iguanas), and discovered the seedy side of Hollywood on the Dearly Departed Tour (this one was especially cool given my obsession with Errol Flynn). Theme Parks are a must, of course: Disneyland, Disneyworld and Universal Studios (both coasts). The list goes on, and I can only hope will continue to!

I’m always looking for new and different experiences that we can bring to you, our loyal travelers, so that you can try these adventures for yourself. Honestly, it’s not the plane flight, or the hotel you remember from your vacation (unless they’re unbelievably good or bad), it’s what you do on your vacation that sticks in your mind. And it’s my job to ensure that you have the most unique, most fun and most memorable time ever!

–Jenny Crossling

Editor’s Note: We are nominating Jenny as Viator’s “Traveler of the Week” for taking her job seriously enough to have fun doing it!

Half Dome

There’s a tradition in my house that for your birthday you get to take a trip. You get to pick where and when, and the other person has to plan it. These rules aren’t hard and fast, my husband isn’t a great trip planner so I usually help him plan my trip, sometimes the choice is mutual. Usually we go for a three day weekend. I chose Cape Cod this year, the hubby went for Yosemite. His sister and her roomie flew in from New York City and we were joined by another friend. It’s hard to pick a traveler of the week from this crew. The birthday boy? The NYC duo for getting back to nature? Definitely not our nameless friend, he’s fired for being too lazy to find his own driving directions (how hard is that!?).

The nominees for traveler of the week

This is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but I haven’t been to Yosemite since I was a kid (and then only once). I was fairly excited about seeing Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan and all the other famous valley floor sights. I even brought along John Muir’s My First Summer in the Sierra to read. Yosemite is just as beautiful as it looks in all those Ansel Adams photos, but there was one thing I didn’t anticipate, the crowds. Yosemite is really crowded, and I heard it only gets worse in the summer. On Saturday we waited over twenty minutes to just enter the park. Mainly the crowds are around all the famous sites, once we got our fix of the falls and domes, and headed on some less popular trails (still gorgeous) we got a little more alone time with nature. So if you’re headed to Yosemite, beware of the crowds. Friday and Sunday were a lot less crowded, and I hear midweek is best.

But I digress. Yosemite is really amazingly gorgeous, and if you’re going to be in San Francisco, you really should try a day tour or overnight camping experience. It’s not to be missed. My favorite trail was the hike to Sentinel Dome: no crowds, and all the view of Half Dome without the killer hike.

The New Yorkers audibly gasped when they saw some deer, but to be fair they also got excited at the cows we saw driving up to Yosemite… yeah I think the birthday boy wins for traveler of the week.

– Kelly G

I am not the only Yosemite lover at Viator, Christine is training for the Yosemite Falls hike: 6 miles, but with over 3500 feet in elevation gain, so you won’t find me trying it!

Rosy H and the rubbery octopi

Congratulations to the winners of Viator’s Travel & Food photo contest.

The theme this time ’round was food. From elegant meals to humble roadside stalls, we asked for photos that captured the idea of eating and drinking on the road.

Have a look at our gallery of photo winners (or browse all the winners and notable entries in hi-res glory on Flickr). If you’re feeling photographically inspired, submit a photo to our new contest. The theme? Sign spotting. We’re looking for pictures of road signs and billboards that have caught your fancy while traveling.

Travel & Food Photos

Our 1st place photo was submitted by Rosy H from Australia. The story behind the image: “This photo was taken in Palermo, Sicily whilst we were visiting in October. We asked the waiter for a surprise dish - he didn’t disappoint with 2 very rubbery large octopuses which were tasty but difficult to eat.” Rosy what we loved about this photo - beside the octopi themselves - is your smile. Very Mona Lisa-esque.

The 2nd place photo was submitted by Chris R from New Zealand. The story behind the photo: “Roasting coffee beans in a coffee plantation in Bali. A picture of me and the old man that does it full time for a living, still done the old way, over a fire and the temp was about 30 degrees celsius. Then we got to have a cup of it, nice but very strong.” We appreciate your DIY approach to coffee making, and for finding a local to show you the ropes.

And in 3rd place it was a photo from Preema P in the USA. His story: “Enjoying ’see-food’ at a beach shack in Goa, India” Preema it was your smile that clinched 3rd place!

There was also a handful of notable entries that we really enjoyed. Top marks go to Luke C for his mouth-watering shot of pumpkin pie and ice cream in New York City; to Jordan D for the shot of his nephew eating a bug in Thailand; and to Vicki P for her shot of bugs on sticks in Beijing.

We’d also like thank people who submitted photos after the deadline. While we couldn’t include late submissions in our judging, some of the late entries are definitely worth sharing. So have a look.

Which reminds me to remind you not to let the current photo-submission deadline pass you by. Submit your photos in the current “Travel Signs Seen on the Road” contest to win one of three Viator.com gift certificates. The deadline is April 15, 2007. From street signs to bathroom signs to billboard ads, send us your best travel photos!

–Scott McNeely

Last fall my newly-retired mother announced that she’d be gone for five days in early December because she was heading out to San Antonio with a group of gals for five days of shopping, sightseeing and fun. While Mom likes a nice vacation, she wouldn’t have picked Texas in a million years, so I was curious to hear how things went, and I wanted to give her props as traveler of the week for giving into a whim to tag along and explore somewhere new! Read on for her take on San Antonio.

Mom is just behind the steering wheel.

My trip to San Antonio was carefree and enjoyable. I stayed at the Hyatt at the Riverwalk. This is a great location because it is two blocks from a nice shopping mall (note from Kelly: Mom appreciates a good Nordstrom’s) and right on the Riverwalk, which is a lovely area of shops and restaurants along the San Antonio River. The best dinner I had was at Ruths Chris Steakhouse. There is a van pick up and return at no charge, and the food was outstanding!

Do not buy a river taxi pass as it is very hard to find a taxi! But you should take a river taxi ride sometime during your trip, the taxi I was on gave the whole river tour and I recommend it. It gives you a good lay of the land and river shops and dining.

The day trip to Fredricksburgh was great. Eat at the Rather Sweet bakery and Cafe and browse in all the quaint little shops. The food was so good, I bought Rebecca Rather’s cookbook. The LBJ ranch tour was good for history buffs.

Overall, my five day stay was the perfect amount of time to enjoy San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country, I had a great time!

– Kelly G’s Mommy, Gerri G

Check out a complete listing of Viator’s San Antonio Tours and Activities.

Click here for a listing of events on the Riverwalk.

Is there anything worse than a flight that is delayed for hours and hours?

Actually yes, there is. It’s called a flight that is not just delayed, but canceled with no hope of being rescheduled for 18, 24 maybe even 36 hours. It’s only happened to me once, when I was trekking in Ladakh, India. The airport in Ladakh (LEH) is a one-terminal, one-gate affair. It sits at an altitude of something like 25,000 feet - OK I’m making that number up. But you get the picture, it’s high up in the Himalaya mountains, the air is thin and the weather in late November when I was there is c-c-c-c-cold.

Long story short: My flight was canceled because it’s not a good idea to land a plane on an icy runway (a small victory for aviation safety). Yet Air India had no idea when the next plane would be able to land, and thus, take off again with me on it. To make matters worse, there was no other way out of Ladakh. Literally. The only other route out was (and still is) a fear-inducing hair-pin road to Daramsala, which takes 2 days in a Jeep in good weather (fun fact: this road is the world’s second highest). And the weather was not good. Which meant the road was closed for the season. Not closed for the day, not even for the week or month. But for the season.

Put more simply: no planes landing + only road out closed for season = me sleeping in Ladakh airport for a long time.

Which is what I did. For three days. For three very long days. For three ‘please don’t ever let this happen to me again I’ll do whatever you ask just please don’t make me do this again ever and I really mean it’ long days. Ladakh and India were amazing, some of the best travel memories in my whole life. The coming and going bit was what traumatized me.

Fast-forward a few years, and I assumed this memory of sleeping in the Ladakh airport for three nights had been thoroughly suppressed (repressed?). I expected my complicit brain would have wiped ‘the Ladakh incident’ from memory. If you had asked me even last week if I had ever slept in an airport I would have said, um, nope, not me, never.

So what exactly was my Manchurian Candidate moment? What happened that triggered a rush of bitter LEH airport memories?

Oddly enough it was this very amusing list of the world’s best & worst airports to sleep in.

The #1 worst airport? Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

The #2 worst airport? Apparently the winner(s) is every single airport in the entire country of India! As it says on the site, “travellers beware: when sleeping in one of India’s ‘fine’ airports be sure you have your own bug spray, air freshener and disinfectant or just go to the nearest bar and drink the pain away.” And with that came a rush of old LEH memories: of me trying to flush a toilet where the plumbing had frozen solid (outcome? just think about it for a while). Of me eating packets of powdered condensed milk. Of me getting to know a half-dozen other travelers stuck in the same situation.

So in appreciation of the website sleepinginairports.net and its list of best & worst airports, the Traveler of the Week award goes to anybody who has ever slept overnight at an airport. Give yourself double points if that airport was Port Moresby or anywhere in India. Subtract 10 points if the airport was Singapore’s Changi airport, feted as the world’s #1 airport in which to sleep.

-Scott McNeely

Go grab a cup of tea or coffee and make yourself comfortable. This is going to take a while to explain. If you’re in a hurry, jump down to where it says If you’re in a hurry start reading here –>.

I have a friend who lives in London, we’ll call him “Mr X” to protect his identity. Mr X is one of these people who seems to be living about 40 years behind the rest of us. Example: Mr X once asked me how to ‘turn this TV thing on’, pointing at his desktop computer. Example: Mr X wears tweed coats with scarves, even though he’s in his 30s and is most definitely not a lecturer at Oxford.

So just the other day Mr X sent me an ‘electronic letter’, what the rest of us would call an email. It seems that Mr X’s mum is traveling to New York City for the upcoming holidays. Knowing that I work in the travel industry, he asked if I had any holiday travel advice for his mum. As a matter of fact, I did have some advice for his mum.

I sent Mr X a link to Viator’s New Year’s Eve and Holiday Tours page. There are some excellent holiday tours here, from Sydney Harbour Cruises to New Year’s Eve in London. And it just so happens that we have a few excellent (and extremely popular) New York cruises on New Year’s Eve that include dinner, drinks and front-row seats to the fireworks display at the Statue of Liberty. Sounds perfect for Mr X’s mum.

Thinking my work here is done, I was a bit surprised to receive another electronic letter from Mr X. He was not pleased. Apparently the link I sent him didn’t work. He couldn’t see anything on his television (computer) screen.

It turns out that Mr X was using the latest web browser from Microsoft. It’s called IE7 (Internet Explorer 7) and it was released just a few weeks ago. Now I am not in the habit of criticizing things in this blog. Nor do I want to join the ranks of the Microsoft bashers. (Can you sense a ‘however’ coming?) However, IE7 is really an awful browser and let’s not kid ourselves about it, sometimes the truth hurts but it’s important for Microsoft to hear the truth, similar to George Lucas being told that the last 3 Star Wars movies were terrible even if they made heaps of money, ditto with the last two Matrix films and season 1 of the US-version of The Office (OK, it did get a lot better). I’ll stop ranting now.

If you’re in a hurry start reading here –> To make a long story short, Mr X was having trouble using the new version of Internet Explorer. All of its buttons had been moved around and reorganized. For a technology neophyte like Mr X, this was just too much to cope with. He did what any of us would have done, he selected the “Start” menu in order to shut down his television.

After some frantic back and forth with Mr X, I was able to get him back online successfully navigating IE7. And within a few minutes we had booked his mum a lovely New Year’s Eve cruise in New York City.

So we’re nominating Mr X and his mum as our Traveler(s) of the Week, for not letting a little thing like Microsoft’s IE7 to stand between them and a happy, memorable New Year’s Eve.

-Scott McNeely