New York City Apartment Living

Image: Apartment blocks overlooking the Hudson River, New York City

…

Many years ago I spent a year living in a small apartment in Adelaide, and from memory, I must say the experience wasn’t all that bad – if you discount the neighbors from hell who constantly fought and argued, and who eventually did a ‘runner’ after leaving their rental next door trashed.

I should say, at the outset that Australians are not big on apartment living. Most of us grow up on suburban quarter-acre blocks, with large back yards, covered with swathes of green lawn, numerous trees and shrubs and other vegetation. The idea of living in a multi-storied apartment block with neighbors potentially residing above, below and to both sides of us, does not cause the heart to beat with anticipation and excitement. So it was with a sense of some trepidation that I approached my two month apartment sitting appointment in New York over the summer months of July and August, 2010. However, I needn’t have worried.

While there are no doubt ‘neighbors from hell’ living in New York apartments, the building I was calling home for eight weeks in the upper Manhattan suburb of Washington Heights didn’t include them. In fact, if it wasn’t for the occasional meeting of fellow residents in the building’s foyer or basement laundry, I could have spent two months thinking I had the building to myself. I was aware of no screaming children, no barking dogs, no blaring televisions or music, and no domestic arguments from my neighbors – although from time to time the occupants of the apartment immediately above mine did sound like they were taking part in an exercise class, judging by the thumps and bumps on the floor/ceiling.

Most New York apartments are notoriously – umm, compact. Well, most of them are anyway. Having said that, apartments can range from tiny one bedroom studio units to plush penthouse accommodations that occupy whole floors of new or renovated buildings – as the following image shows.

... 

...

Yes, folks, that’s a three bedroom apartment each of which has its own en suite bathroom, with a spare fourth toilet for visitors. Needless to say, apartments like these are not for the average working Joe, and the place I stayed at was certainly on the modest size.

However, that doesn’t mean people spend their leisure time cooped up in cramped apartments, sweating away their evenings in front of their televisions. At least not all of them. I soon learnt that apartment dwellers – on Manhattan in particular – love to get out of their cramped digs whenever the opportunity allows to meet their neighbors in local parks, on sidewalks, to walk the dog, or to just rest on benches watching the world go by.

In deed, after going back through my blog entries I am surprised to see just how often I have written about my impressions of New York City park life, including Central Park, Shakespeare in the parks, my New York promenade, and others. Clearly, this notion of 'park life' made a big impression on me, but the popularity and utilization of New York City parks also testifies to the importance they play in the life the city’s residents.

...

Image: Streetscape of apartments in Washington Heights, New York City

…

I don’t know if all New York apartments have laundry facilities in their basements, but mine did, and it was a great convenience to not have to go down the road looking for the nearest launderette when washing day was due. In a previous post, I also wrote about the excellent collection of books that could be found in the basement ‘library’ of my apartment block.

Another thing our building contained – as do many other New York apartments – was a fallout shelter. I couldn’t tell if there was a separate space for the fallout shelter, or whether the basement did double duty as laundry and shelter facility. If the laundry does double as the fallout shelter, it is going to be very cramped and uncomfortable down there, as I assume many other similar shelters will be. Needless to say, I hope it never has to be used for the purpose for which it was intended.

…

Image: Typical fallout shelter signage… ”Duck – and cover!”

…

Another aspect of apartment living I found interesting was the number of pets that New Yorkers keep in their apartments. I myself was caring for two cats that never leave the confines of the apartment I was staying in, and I’m sure they are not the only house cats that spend virtually all their lives indoors. Dogs on the other hand need more space to run around in, and every evening a motley collection of canines, large and small took to the streets with their owners – or paid dog handlers – in tow to sniff trees and garden beds, and deposit their droppings wherever they saw fit.

Thankfully, most owners did the right thing and collected the droppings their pooches left behind, but some did not, and it was always worth paying attention to where you were walking in case you brought some of the poop back home with you. In deed, a New York aphorism has it that you can always tell the difference between New Yorkers and visitors, because the visitors are those who are constantly looking up at tall buildings, while the New Yorkers are always looking down at the pavement trying to avoid the dog poo!

After two months living in New York apartment I was sorry to go. It was a luxury most visitors will never get to experience, and I am delighted to have had the opportunity of living like a local. It’s an encounter I will treasure for many years.

Sunday Sunnies: George Carlin

…

WARNING: Adult Humor Ahead!

…

George Carlin was a stand-up comedian, social critic, actor, and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums. He was noted for his black humor as well as his thoughts on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects.

Here he is performing part of his routine about airplane announcements. The second part will appear in a future Sunday Sunnies entry. If you are offended by coarse language, you may want to give this video a miss.

…

…

Friday Photos: South Bank, London

Image: Salvador Dali sculpture on London’s South Bank of the Thames River

…

Three images taken during my visit to London in March 2008. Specifically, the shots were taken while walking along the South Bank of the Thames River.

The first photograph is of a sculpture by the surrealist artist, Salvador Dalí. This was part of an exhibition of Dali’s works taking place at the time, although I can’t tell you what the work is called. If any reader does know, please feel free to share the title of the work via the Comments section for this post.

Dali was a highly imaginative, Spanish Catalan painter who liked to take part in unusual and grandiose behavior, in order to draw attention to himself – the most obvious of which was the way he waxed and shaped his moustache to curve upwards towards the top of his head. This apparently irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork.

…

Image: Foot of light fitting on London’s South Bank of the Thames River

…

I am continually fascinated by the way art is incorporated into everyday objects – like the footings of the light fittings along the wall overlooking the Thames River. These objects were produced in an age when building projects often seemed to include an artistic element to them, despite the extra cost of construction that casting something as elaborate as this footing must have entailed. Today, everything seems to be built with eyes firmly fixed on keeping costs as low as possible, with the result that very little excites the eye, or fires the imagination once construction is completed.

…

Image: London Eye on the South Bank of the Thames

…

I didn’t get an opportunity to ride the London Eye, during my all too brief visit to London in 2008. Even in early March, when I was there, the queues were longer than I had the patience to line up for. From the ground it makes for a spectacular sight though, and if I find myself in the vicinity again with more time on my hands – and patience – I will make the journey to the top.

Schmap Guides

Image: Triumph of The Human Spirit monument in New York City

…

Nice to have one of my photographs chosen to help illustrate the City Hall page for the Sixteenth Edition of the Schmap New York Guide. The photograph (seen above) shows the Triumph of The Human Spirit monument located in front of the United States Court House.

Schmap Guides exist for dozens of cities across the United States and around the world, each of which can be downloaded to your computer or mobile device for offline referral. In addition, the guides - which are all free to download - are available in French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and German.

…

Image: Schmap website screenshot

…

Who’ll Stop The Rain?

Image: Residents in flood damaged Lockyer Valley wait for flood waters to recede

…

Long as I remember, the rain been comin' down,

Clouds of mystery pourin', confusion on the ground.

Good men through the ages, tryin' to find the sun,

And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain?

Who'll Stop The Rain? ~ John Fogerty

…

Image: Southbound traffic on the Bruce Highway grinds to a stop due to flooding

…

As I write this, I am keeping an eye on a live television stream from the Australian Broadcasting Commission reporting on the devastating floods that have swept across vast swathes of eastern Australia.

It is impossible to get your head around the massive volumes of water involved. Flood waters have not only covered hundreds of square miles of Queensland, but flood waters are slowly traveling along Australia’s river systems into New South Wales, Victoria, and eventually even into my home state of South Australia. To give you a sense of the distances involved, floodwaters from Queensland will take up to three months to reach South Australia, although heavy rainfalls in that state are already causing minor flooding along parts of the River Murray, one of the longest rivers in Australia.

…

Image: Cars piled up as a result of flash flooding in Toowoomba, Queensland

…

Image: Flash flooding roars down Herries Street, Toowoomba

…

While scenes of the devastation are reminiscent of those seen after Hurricane Katrina made landfall over New Orleans in August 2005, that is about the only comparison that can be made between the two events. Australian authorities, including various branches of the armed forces, have had plenty of time to prepare as best as possible for the flooding, as have non-government agencies like the Red Cross, Salvation Army and other charitable organizations.

Those readers wishing to make donations towards the flood relief effort will find a mass of agencies collecting clothing, goods and money for Australian’s affected by the flooding.

Some suggested websites…

The Queensland government’s official website is a good place to start.

Australian Red Cross…

The Salvation Army…

Australian Broadcasting Commission live television stream…

Bussers, Busboys and Busgirls

Image: Three T.G.I Fridays bussers. Source: the internet.

…

Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to spend a total of five months ‘living’ in New York City and travelling through other parts of America. I have lost count of the number of restaurant and café meals I have eaten during that time – not that I was keeping score – but it was a lot. More than a lot in fact. If there was one element of eating out that I never quite got a handle on, it was the concept of the busboy, although nowadays, the term busboy or busgirl has become desexed, and the generic term busser, is used instead.

According to Wikipedia, busser, busboy or busgirl are terms used in the United States for someone that works in the restaurant and catering industry assisting the waiting staff (that is, waiters and waitresses).

But what exactly does the busser do?

This apparently depends on the size of the restaurant, but generally if you are eating out in America, the busser is the person who brings water to your table, and keeps your glass topped up throughout your meal. They may also bring out the bread and other pre-dinner snacks, although your waiter/waitress will always be the person to serve your meal.

In a busy restaurant, the busser may also be responsible for all assistant activities in the dining hall like resetting tables, clearing away dirty dishes and cleaning up spilled items, shining cutlery, restocking waiter stations with water, bread and/or orange juice, etc. In smaller restaurants where there aren't a lot of employees, they may do additional duties in the kitchen like washing dishes, restocking, and taking out the trash.

One other aspect of eating out in America that confuses and stresses many international travelers is the practice of tipping. While I was a lot more familiar with the protocols of restaurant tipping on my 2010 visit to the US (than I was on my first visit in 2008), I was still confused about how tipping worked vis-à-vis the busser’s. That is, I knew that busser’s were not tipped separately from wait staff, but if waiter/waitresses rely so much on tips to supplement their minimum wages, how are the lowly busser’s meant to supplement their wages?

In researching this question online I was surprised (to say the least), to learn that busser’s are in fact paid from the total pool of tips that accumulates during a restaurant shift.

In effect, busser’s receive a percentage of the tips that wait staff are tipped! I don’t know if there is an accepted percentage at play here, or if the amount of money the busser’s are ‘tipped’ is at the discretion of the waiters, but clearly the concept of tipping in America becomes much more serious when you realize your 15 percent gratuity is being divided up between wait staff and busser’s.

Some Well Known Former Busboys

…

Image: Collage of famous former bus boys (bussers)

…

Among a list of former bussers on Wikipedia, I was surprised to see some very famous and well known faces. These include the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; and Jon Stewart, comedian, and host of The Daily Show (who has named his production company Busboy Productions). Then there are Langston Hughes (dubbed the "busboy poet"); Huey Morgan, musician; Dick Cavett, actor and host of The Dick Cavett Show; and the actors Johnny Depp, Alec Baldwin, Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, Andy Kaufman, and Al Pacino. Finally, Richard Feynman, American physicist and Nobel Laureate, worked as a busboy in his aunt's restaurant in New York in the 1930s; and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese revolutionary and President, was a busboy in Boston at the Parker House Hotel.

Pay Rates: Wait Staff Vs. Busser

Just when you begin to think the busser is at the bottom of the restaurant pecking order, you learn that busser’s – as employees – are in fact paid more than wait staff.

But how can this be possible? The answer lies in America’s labor laws.

In a January 2009 article published in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal and headlined, If a Half-Eaten Burrito Lingers, There May Be No Busboy to Blame, Janet Adamy writes: In many states, it's cheaper to keep servers [i.e., wait staff] on the clock than bussers because of a loophole that allows restaurants to pay servers who earn tips less than the minimum wage -- as little as $2.13 an hour. Bussers must be paid at least $6.55 an hour.

Interestingly, while Seek dot Com, 'Australia's #1 job site' did not list positions for bussers/bus boys anywhere across Australia when I searched the site, it did list dozens of jobs for male and female wait staff with wages that would make most American wait staff faint. For example, one ad from Dell Ugo's New Farm, in Brisbane had wait staff salaries ranging from AUD$15 - $24.99 per hour.

Of course, Australian wages for wait staff are much higher because waiters don’t rely on tips to make a living wage. Any tips they get are a bonus received for providing a genuinely great service throughout the dining experience.

More Information:

Wikipedia's Bus Boy entry...

The Wall Street Journal Online...

Stupid Ways To Cut Costs For Restaurants... 

Rockefeller Center, NYC

Image: The Rockefeller Center, New York City

…

It’s pretty much impossible to miss the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Located in midtown Manhattan, the complex consists of 19 major buildings, the largest of which is the GE Building. Directly in front of this building is a large sunken outdoor plaza which doubles as an ice skating rink in winter and restaurant during the summer months.

During my spring 2008 visit to New York I often found myself in the vicinity of the Rockefeller Center and enjoyed passing the time admiring the skaters, people watching in general, and stopping for something to eat at one of the many restaurants and cafés in the underground concourse beneath the GE building. For some reason I rarely went to the Center during my 2010 trip to New York City. Maybe it was because I had seen enough of the site previously to feel happy to overlook the area in favour of New York’s many other interesting locations.

Rockefeller Center, or Rockefeller Plaza covers an area encompassing 22 acres (89,000 m2), the borders of which are 48th and 51st streets, and Fifth Avenue to the east, and Sixth Avenue to the west (see map). It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

…

View Larger Map

…

Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the only son of his namesake and father, John D. Rockefeller Sr. the wealthy oil magnate. Rockefeller Jr., initially planned a syndicate to build an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera on the site, but changed his mind after the stock market crash of 1929 and the withdrawal of the Metropolitan from the project. Faced with the choice of abandoning the project completely or building and financing the Center himself, Rockefeller Jr., chose to build, turning the construction project into the largest private building project ever undertaken in modern history.

Of course, apart from ice skating and people watching and eating, one of the other reasons visitors flock to Rockefeller Center is to take the elevator rides to the ‘Top of The Rock’ as the visit to the observation decks is called. The views from the 70th floor are quite spectacular, as you might imagine, and you have the added advantage of getting great views (and photographs) of the Empire State Building which is near by.

…

Image: Looking straight up at ’30 Rock’

…

Unlike most other Art Deco towers built during the 1930s, the GE Building was constructed as a slab with a flat roof. This is where the Center's observation deck, the Top of the Rock is located.

In 2005, the Center’s owner completed a $75 million makeover of the observation area which now spans the 67th-70th floors and includes a multimedia exhibition exploring the history of the Center. On the 70th floor, there is a 20-foot (6.1 m) wide viewing area, allowing visitors an unobstructed 360-degree panoramic view of New York City.

Here is a minute or so of video footage I shot during my Top Of The Rock visit during March 2008.

…

…

Getting There:

The nearest subway station is the 47-50th St - Rockefeller Ctr. Station which can be reached by the B, D, F, and M trains (more info: http://www.mta.info/).

Tickets:

• Podcast $2.50     
• Adult $22.00     
• Child (6-12) $15.00     
• Senior (62+) $20.00     
• Sunrise Sunset $32.00     
• Sunrise Sunset Child $17.00 
• Note: a SUNRISE SUNSET ticket allows guests to visit twice in one day.

Online:

Rockefeller Center Official Site...

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Rockefeller Center [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...

Sunday Sunnies #1

…

If you have a fear of flying you may not want to watch this. Then again, it may just be the perfect antidote! A classic comedy sketch from Monty Python.

John Cleese - How to Irritate People - Airplane Sketch

…

One Ring To Scam Us All

Image: Exhibit A: The One Ring to scam us all…

…

One of the lessons of international travel is learning to be aware of – and deal with – the hundreds of potential scams and scammers waiting to con visitors and locals alike of their hard earned cash. Paris had scammers and con artists aplenty, and while I managed to avoid most of them, I have to admit I did get caught out by one particular scam. So in the interests of public education, and at risk of opening myself up to public ridicule, I have decided to outline the scam here.

I was walking through Place de la Concorde one day, when a pretty young thing suddenly approached me and showed me a large ‘gold’ ring (see image above), and ask in broken English if I had inadvertently dropped it in the snow. Of course I had not, and I told her so.

Since the ring had quite a large diameter, and could easily pass as a man’s ring, she insisted I take the ring, saying magnanimously that it was my “Lucky day”, as she had no use for such a large object. I tried to tell her that I didn’t want or need it, and that she should keep it for herself, but she insisted.

Somewhere in the back of my mind warning bells were ringing, but she was such a pretty young thing that I finally I thanked her and took the ring. And therefore – the bait!

I turned and started walking away, and no sooner had I gone half a dozen steps when suddenly, there she was again. Since it clearly was my ‘lucky day’, she said, could I return the favour and give her a little money in return for the ring?

Still holding the ring in my hand, I offered to give it back to her, but there was no way she would take it. She was more than happy for me to keep it, but asked again if I would be so kind as to offer her something in return. Of course, by now I knew I had been scammed and could have simply walked off with the ring, or simply dropped it in the snow and left her to pick it up. But I didn’t.

Now this may sound like a stupid thing to say, and looking at it on ‘paper’ it does seem completely illogical. But. I figured I had been caught out by my own gullibility and stupidity, and for that, she at least deserved to get something for her efforts, and for the lesson she taught me – which of course, is to not be so gullible and stupid.

I think in the end I ‘paid’ four euros for the useless ‘gold’ ring and I still carry it to remind me to be more aware the next time some pretty young thing approaches me and offers to give me something for nothing!

Postscript: Over the next day or so, I was approached by at least two other (much older) women trying to work the same scam on me. Eventually I got my revenge. Again, I happened to be walking near Place de la Concorde, and noticed one of those women working the scam on a young couple. I approached the group and said something to the effect of, “Ah, how about that. You’ve got one of these as well,” and showed them my gold ring, which was exactly the same as the one the elderly lady was trying to foist onto the couple. As it happens, they had in fact already given the woman some money, but as soon as they realized they had been conned, they took their money back and left the woman holding her useless gold ring.

As the young couple walked off I tut-tutted a few times, and wagged a finger in the old ducks face. The saying: If looks could kill… comes to mind here, and feeling quite smug and just a little self-satisfied with myself, I walked off, leaving the woman to curse her bad luck.

Friday Photos: Duck! Duck! Duck!

Image: Ducks practicing their synchronized preening routines

…

I captured the three ducks in the first photograph preening themselves on the banks of the Central Park model boat pond during the summer of 2010, and was lucky enough to get them in an almost perfectly synchronized cleaning session.

…

Image: The Alice H. and Edward A. Kerbs Memorial on Conservatory Water

…

The Alice H. and Edward A. Kerbs Memorial is the current ‘home’ of the Central Park Model Yacht Club (CPMYC). The Central Park Model Yacht Club was founded in 1916, but model sailing on Conservatory Water started about 40 years earlier.

After a wooden structure burned down in the early 1950's, a new home for club was established in 1954: The Kerbs Memorial Boathouse. The new building was sponsored by Jeanne E. Kerbs in memory of her parents Alice and Edward Kerbs, who enjoyed watching the boats sailing on the pond from their Fifth Avenue apartment window.

…

Image: The Jeanne E. Kerbs plaque on the Inventors Gatepost at East 72nd Street, NYC

Source: New York City Parks website…

…

You can see larger versions of these photographs and many others through my Flickr page here… or click here to watch a full screen slide show of all my photographs…

More Information

Central Park Model Yacht Club...

Central Park website...

PS: You can find previous Friday Photos by using the search box at the top left of the page.

First Flights

Image: First flights have come a long way since the Wright Brothers!

…

I must be getting old, because I have no recollection of my first flight – although it almost certainly took place when I embarked on my first overseas journey in April 1971. That was the year I set off on one of those rites of passage trips that thousands of young Australians undertook then – and still do – and I have no recollection of ever having flown before that.

I write about this now, because of an interesting incident that took place during the Denver to Tucson leg of my travels down to the American south in 2010. A young male passenger sitting in the seat behind me was travelling by air for the first time, and his general excitement as the plane prepared for take off got me thinking about first flights, and how they are totally different from what is depicted on television shows and movies.

In those media (unless used as part of the drama), the aircraft is always whisper quiet, take off always smooth, and the seating in Economy Class always spacious! You hear no engine noises, passengers never experience ear popping discomfort, and never have to sit through the safety demonstration or frequent announcements from stewards or pilots.

Since this passenger’s main reference points were the movies and television shows he would have seen, the actually experience of flying would have been quite different and even nerve-wracking. No doubt he would have had conversations with family members and friends who might have already flown in aircraft, but nothing prepares you for the experience like being there, strapped in your seat waiting for the plane to take to the air.

Watching movies, you miss the whine and roar of jet engines as they pick up revolutions that set the plane rolling slowly down the tarmac; and you miss the thumps and bumps that occur as the front landing wheel rolls over the runway lights helping guide the pilots. As the plane ramps up to maximum take off speed the roar of jet turbines becomes even louder until the aircraft finally severs the link with gravity and takes to the air. The list goes on: the thumps, as wheels are retracted into their wheel bays; the ritual of in-flight meals, the regular announcements, visiting the restroom for the first time, and making an effort to actually read the safety guide.

…

Image: Flaps down and speed brakes up as this plane lands once again

…

When you watch movies, you never get to experience those moments of tension as the aircraft begins to descend to your destination. Even I never get bored watching as the wing flaps are extended exposing hydraulic cables and other mysterious aircraft parts within the wing cavities. There are more thumps as the wheels are now lowered into place. Ears popping again, you watch as the plane skims over fields, houses, highways, and airport perimeters, the ground rushing by seemingly faster and faster until finally wheels hit the tarmac with a jolt and the flaps extend to their maximum length to create as much drag as possible to help slow the speeding aircraft down. Finally, adding even greater levels of noise to the whole landing experience, reverse thrusters on the engines roar into life as they too are brought into play to help slow the plane.

…

Video of thrust reverser being deployed on a 737

...

And to think, all these and more exciting moments are included free in the cost of your airline ticket!

…

Image: Sunset over Europe during my 2010 flight to Paris

…

Of course, there’s more: entertainment channels to play with; breaking through cloud cover into bright sunshine and blue sky; turbulence; flashing wing lights; golden sunsets; and traffic flowing down streets and highways at night lighting up cities and towns like flowing lava.

No wonder this young man was excited. Heck, I’m excited just writing about it!

I remember the Denver to Tucson flight took place at night, which makes me pose the question: What would be the best time to take a first flight – or any flight for that matter – during the day, or at night? Each has its own joys and delights, but each is quite different. Personally, I prefer day flights, but can get just as much enjoyment from night flying – especially when passing over large cities.

What about you? If you’ve read this far, why not take a few minutes to share your first flight experience or express your preference for day or night flying. I look forward to your contribution.

In-Flight Magazines

Image: Cover shot of December 2010, Air France magazine

…

There they are, jammed into the storage pocket located behind every airline passenger seat – generally between the vomit bag and the in-flight shopping catalogue.

I’m talking about in-flight magazines, those relentlessly cheerful, glossy publications produced by the world’s major airlines to keep bored passengers entertained with stories featuring exotic locales, illustrated with stunning sunset shots, and peopled by natives whose only pleasure in life seems to be administering to your every wish and whim.

Take the December 2010 issue of Air France Magazine. Come to think of it – following my return to Greece from Paris flying with Air France – I did take it. It’s lying open on the table in front of me generating a severe case of buyers remorse (see footnote).

Why is it that in-flight magazines always seem to feature gushing stories about locations you are not flying to? A case in point: the December issue of Air France Magazine. I mean, there I am, flying to Paris, one of the most romantic and idealized cities in the world, reading about the incredible kingdom of Bhutan, and sun drenched New Caledonia.

New Caledonia? What was I thinking? I could have been sunning myself in the South Pacific for the past two months. Instead, I spent ten days freezing my butt in Paris, and now here I am freezing my ears on the Aegean island of Ikaria!

…

Image: Screen shot of Air France magazine accommodation feature

…

Then there is the article about luxurious accommodations in Bali, Thailand, Shanghai and elsewhere which make my 35 euro budget hotel look like a flop house for vagrants.

I looked in vain for a guide to the prices charged by the hotels featured, but none was to be found anywhere – not in the magazine, anyway. Fearing this was a clear case of “If you have to ask the price – you can’t afford it,” I took a deep breath and headed online.

I was right. I couldn’t afford it. Even at the special internet rate of “from USD $245++” per night I was not going to be staying at the Alila Ubud Resort in Bali anytime soon. Clearly, my copy of the in-flight magazine had inadvertently strayed from First Class down to Economy.

How else do you account for the high priced advertisements for higher priced luxury goods and products, modeled by even higher priced Hollywood actors. Surely Penélope Cruz, Charlize Theron, and Leonardo DiCaprio are not so strapped for cash that they have to tout for watch makers and perfume companies. Surely! Leonardo – say it isn’t so.

The next time I take an airline flight I’m going to carry a good book to read and leave the in-flight magazine where it belongs, jammed between the in-flight shopping guide and the vomit bag.

…

Image: Screen shot of New Caledonia article including obligatory friendly native

…

Footnote: Buyer's remorse is the sense of regret some people have after purchasing big-ticket items such as a car or house [or in my case, I trip to Paris]. It may stem from a sense of not wishing to be wrong, of guilt over extravagance, or of suspecting you have been "snowed" by a salesperson. [Source: Wikipedia...]

Out With Old – In With The New

Image: Challenge: Always set the trail, never follow the path. (Image source: the Internet)
…

So this is Christmas, and what have we done?
Another year over, and a new one just begun.
~ John Lennon (Happy Christmas/War Is Over)

Whew! That’s it, another year done and dusted, and a new year now underway. The saying, Time flies when you’re having fun, comes to mind here, and I have certainly had a lot of fun travelling and relaxing, writing and contemplating, and plotting and planning.

The traditional thing to do at this time of the year is to draw up a list of New Year’s Resolutions, most of which are quickly forgotten or lost along the way as life, work, and the daily grind keep plans and dreams on hold until at best, the following year or at worst, indefinitely.

I’m pleased to say I have pretty much left work and the daily grind behind, but then – have I? Maybe I have simply swapped paid work with the unpaid work – and some days it does feel like work – of writing for this blog. And even when it doesn’t feel like work, it is definitely unpaid. Not only that, but I am currently researching and planning to launch this blog as a website in its own right. I have already secured the rights to the domain name www.compleattraveller.com, and I am now trying to get my head around the whole process and logistics of setting up and maintaining a regular website.

Since I am still travelling, and will be for another couple of months, this process may be completed later rather than sooner, but when the transformation finally takes place the Compleat Traveller will have entered a new phase in its short life.

As the image illustrating this entry suggests, it is going to be a real challenge for me to make the transition from blog to website, but then what is life if not a constant series of challenges?