Travel Essentials: iPad

This is the first part of a series of posts detailing items on the Travel Essentials list.

Everyone knows to pack a set of clothes and some basic toiletries in their carry on, but this list of Travel Essentials will make your travel experience easier.  If you don't travel that frequently or for long periods of time, not all items on the JetLogger Travel Essentials list are "must-haves," but for any traveler who expects to take several trips should strongly consider investing in the following:

1. iPad.  An iPad is expensive, but well worth the investment as a portable library, DVD collection, jukebox, and computer rolled into a light and easily transportable package.  The battery life is sufficient for any long flight (just be sure to adhere to tips to maximize battery life) and your iPad can be loaded with many helpful apps to make your travel more efficient.  Its also much easier to handle in a busy airport terminal or cramped seat on the plane.  Listed below are some of my travel-essential apps:

iBooks loaded with your favorite books.  You can download bestsellers for about the price of a paperback or pick from Project Gutenberg's library of over 39,000 classics for free.

Newsstand is similar to iBooks, but can be filled with your favorite newspapers and magazines - for a price.

Videos will enable you to watch full-length HD quality movies and TV shows from your iPad.  Prices are less than purchasing a DVD, but be sure you plan ahead and download what you want to watch in advance.

Music links up with your iTunes account and puts your favorite jams or podcasts in your seatback pocket.

Games will enable you to sharpen your chess skills, practice your Blackjack strategy en route to Vegas, or fight your enemies in Command & Conquer.  Thousands of other games are available for download.

Intellicast HD will allow you to monitor the weather at your destination before departure and while you're there (as long as you have an internet connection).

Flight Track is one of the most critical apps for the frequent traveler.  Load your flight in advance and use the airport's wi-fi to keep tabs on the scheduled takeoff, scheduled arrival, gate and baggage claim information, to find alternate flights in the event of a cancellation, and even check out the embedded "Seat Guru" information to find out whether or not you have a power outlet at your seat in case your battery runs low and you remembered to pack your iPad car charger.

And if you needed any more evidence, my iPad truly does travel with me everywhere I go; pictured below is a snapshot of my personal quarters in Kabul, Afghanistan - iPad and all.

The Kabul Quarters

I've been in Kabul now for a little over a week.  I have to admit that it is not at all what I was expecting.  The security environment is much more permissive than what I had been told (we are still vigilant), the work is nothing like that for which I've spent weeks preparing, but the living quarters are far better than I expected.

Below are a few pictures of our living/work areas:

 A view of Kabul (the domed building is a mosque).

My bedroom - one of several bedrooms in our guest house.  Bathrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, and the kitchens are shared by all of the residents.

One of the (almost) daily incoming dust storms.

 Nikki - one of the guard dogs.  

My office. 

Kabul's "TV Hill."  If you look closely, you can see the hundreds of adobe-type houses built on the hill and the many broadcasting antennas perched on top. 

Decadence in the Desert - Dubai

I am off to another adventure.  Despite the excitement, anticipation, and a bit of apprehension, I pushed into the chaos of the giant queue for United Airline’s international flight check-in at Dulles International Airport, just outside of our nation’s capital.  After weeks of preparation, training, and mounds of paperwork, I finally cleared security and eventually made it to my flight.

As I settled into my seat – one of United’s "Economy Plus" seats offering an extra 4-inches of leg room for about 150 bucks – I thought of only two things: 1. How much I would miss my girlfriend, family, and friends back home, and 2. How glad I was that I coughed up 150 bucks for the extra space during the 13-hour flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The food (some sort of beef curry for dinner and a poor excuse for a turkey sandwich at lunch) was barely edible, but the one Bloody Mary (yes, just one) I had was sufficient to help a couple of melatonin caplets put me into a somewhat restful snooze.  Upon finally fully waking a few hours later and after passing the time with United’s personal in-flight entertainment, we touched down in Dubai – a shimmering city in the desert (airport terminal pictured below left).

 

Unlike its slightly less commercial sister city and seat of government Abu Dhabi, Dubai is the Middle East’s answer to New York, Las Vegas, and the Bahamas rolled into one.  Home to massive shopping malls (one of which hosts an indoor ski resort), the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa (pictured above - not an original pic - copyright unknown), and the world’s only 7-star hotel, Dubai’s luxuriousness and opulence is only amplified by the countless royal palaces, the super-exclusive Palm Island, and plans for the world’s first underwater hotel.

Although I wasn’t able to explore much of the city before queuing up for my flight to Kabul, the little taste I experienced has put this man-made oasis at the top of my Desired Destinations list; however, I think I'll pass on an evening at the 7-star hotel...I don't think I'll be coughing up $1,000/night for a room.  I'll just stay at the Hilton.

Gas - Petrol - Benzin

I went to get gas for the first time (here). Like many mundane tasks we preform all the time, fueling my vehicle was an interesting exercise since A) the Germans don't call it gas, they call it Benzin, and B) putting diesel or leaded fuel into an unleaded-only car will make bad things happen. Complicating matters even more, they don't just call it benzin, they call it "verbleites Benzin" (leaded gasoline), "normalbenzin" (regular gasoline), and "bleifreies Benzin" (unleaded gasoline). Using my powers of deduction, I figured "normalbenzin" was not actually normal gas - or why would they call it "normal" and not just "benzin." I also know that "alkoholfreies bier" (alcohol-free beer) is something I want no part of since it is free of alcohol, so I took a chance on the "bleifreies Benzin" and my car continues to run.

After I overcame that hurdle, I watched as the counter kept displaying larger and larger numbers. I knew gas was expensive in Europe, but until you actually have to pay it, you don't really get it. I filled up the tank in my little Honda CRV and the bill came out to an astounding 67 EUROS. That's $86.75 if you're doing the math. And I really haven't driven that much. I don't want to hear anyone complain about gas prices.

Germany, I have found your flaw.

Regensburg - St. Peter's Cathedral

What started out as an expedition to procure a few necessities turned into a morning of disappointment - everything closes on Sundays in Germany. Only some restaurants, a few gas stations, and chruches remain open. No hotpot. No clothes hamper. No pillow (the hotels are not good). Nothing.

Instead of moping, I decided to explore Regensburg - a city which traces its founding settlements back to the Stone Age - to see what sights I could explore. The city itself has blossomed into a beautiful patchwork of modernity elegantly colliding with the Medieval. Home to approximately 135,000 inhabitants, Regensburg (pronounced Reagan's Burg - I love it!) escaped the bombings during the World Wars and has maintained its historic architecture, narrow stone streets, and Medieval heritage.

The centerpiece of Regensburg's history is the majectic St. Peter's Cathedral nestled between shops, homes, and at least 5 other churches in the city's center. The gothic design of the building envisioned in 1280 betrays the site's true history - the first church on the site was founded about 600 years earlier in c. 700 A.D. Nonetheless, the current structure is awe-inspiring, inspirational, a testament to the Gothic Period, and quite chilly. Inside the massive stone structure, the temperature was probably 20-degrees colder than the ambient outside - I could see my breath inside, but not out.

Adorned with reliefs, massive gargoyles, and intricate stonework, the building itself is a work of art. I was lucky enough to arrive just as a Solemn Mass, replete with the cathedral's choir, the "Regensburger Domspatzen," was beginning. Though I can't yet understand German, the mass sung by the priests was artful. Outshined by only the 700-year-old stained glass windows, the choir performed to a caliber one would expect from one of Catholicism's oldest cathedrals.

My little venture to Regensburg turned out to be not so bad after all.

The Autobahn!

With my brand new rental car (courtesy of Veronica), I struck out upon Germany's fabled Autobahn. Like most any freeway systems one would find in the States (but better maintained), an American could, if suffering from tunnel vision and ignoring the blur of quaint villages whizzing by, think he was back home...except for the other cars rocketing by at upwards of 100 mph.

I, on the other hand, prefer to maintain a comfortable speed of 130 kph (80 mph), though I've already caught myself going about 119 mph. I can't help but be amazed at the efficiency and superiority of the Autobahn system here in Germany in comparison to other roadways on which I've driven. Driving on the Autobahn is a blast...and much moreso when fueled by some good road music - Rammstein's "Du Hast" is my favorite so far.

Who's got a Ferrari I can borrow?

Eurotrip 2011 - The Beginning

Lunch in Washington, D.C. Dinner in New York. Breakfast in London. Lunch somewhere over France. Dinner in Munich. That's how the great 2011 Eurotrip began.

Well, not really. After spending countless hours of packing and cleaning and preparing my apartment for an extended absence, I shared dinner with family and then flew to DC for two days of meetings (and way too many olive-less martinis with friends and colleagues). But that's mostly boring and certainly not sexy. This, however, might be.

I stepped onto the shiny (and tiny) American Eagle Embrarer ERJ-135 like I've done dozens of times before, but this time was a bit different. My second-longest trip was about to begin. This 37-passenger aircraft was ferrying me to New York's JFK Airport to link up with one of its bigger brothers - a British Airways Boeing 747 that I would eventually share, without air conditioning, with about 350 fellow travellers. And if you're thinking air conditioning isn't necessary in January, you go sit in an airplane for 2 hours while the flight crew tries to close an overhead bin...trust me it gets hot.

After takeoff, I settled in as best I could. I didn't sleep during the entire seven hour overnight flight. Maybe it was the excitement. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the fight with a British woman for my assigned seat who, subsequently, would not stop giving me dirty looks. Or maybe it was the fact that my body mass was crammed into an area in such a manner that multiple laws of kinesiology - and probably Newtonian physics itself - were violated. But I made it. I caught a fleeting glimpse of the London Eye, Whitehall, Big Ben, and the River Thames before the pilots glided our 875,000 pound hunk of flying aluminum and plastic to a ginger touchdown on British soil.

And then the fun began. I got searched. In all fairness, so did everyone else. Apparently, the Brits (at least at Heathrow) require everyone who flies into the country to be searched again despite obviously enduring security searches prior to boarding the plane that brought them there. That was a fun 2-hour wait, but then I was free to roam the isolated yet bustling Terminal 5, to peruse the duty free shops, and to enjoy a tasty fish and chips lunch with a beer or two (though not until one of my carry-ons was seized and subsequently "sent down to the aircraft's hold" by an overzealous BA staffer - I was shocked when I saw it on the luggage carousel at the end of the trip).

After much wandering and a venti Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks, it was time to board yet another plane for the final leg of my journey to Munich. Terrified that I would discover another overcrowded flight, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the flight was only booked at about 30% capacity - so almost everyone got three seats instead of the usual .689% of a seat usually alloted per passenger. The flight was uneventful, and I started to think my travel experience just might be starting to turn around, but then I encountered Veronica.

Veronica, the sophisticated, polite, gorgeous, impeccable English-speaking, young brick wall-impervious-to-logic of a woman at the Munich Airport's Hertz rental car desk was, for a few hours, the bane of my existence. To make matters worse, I was tired and hungry, but she was just too polite (and attractive) for me to get angry. Long story short, after several very expensive phone calls back to the States, some hard work by my colleagues in D.C., and apparently a miracle, my rental car needs were met (if you're wondering, a Honda CRV with heated leather seats and a 6-disc CD changer).

Oh yeah, and Veronica also slipped me her number and told me to call her the next time I was in Munich. At least she has good taste.