I’ve been on a list binge lately, and Lonely Planet released their Best cities of 2012 List a little while back, and I can no longer refrain from commenting. First of all, I’m a huge LP fan. For nearly every trip I would recommend purchasing a LP country guide if possible. But rather than gearing up and planning ahead for 2012 visit to some of the cities below, may I recommend saving instead for a couple late deal holidays?

The Lonely Planet Best Cities of 2012

1. London, UK
2. Muscat, Oman
3. Bangalore, India
4. Cadiz, Spain
5. Stockholm, Sweden
6. Guimarães, Portugal
7. Santiago, Chile
8. Hong Kong
9. Orlando, FL
10. Darwin, Oz

Now, LP knows their stuff and likes to keep things fresh, but of all the cities in the world, these are the top 10 for 2012?

Questionable Top Cities

#2 Muscat:
I live here. Right now. I’ve been here for a month. Now, the city is fine, and a lot of people like aspects of living and traveling here. But I really do not get it. The weather leaves a lot to be desired, the infrastructure is not traveler friendly, and after a blistering day on the beach and a tour of Old Muscat, there’s not much else to do in the city. When I think of city, I think of something explorable. Muscat is a good launching point to nearby Wadis, Wahiba Sands, and Emirates. Maybe a launching point of 2012, but not city. If not for work, I would’ve left for more lovable destinations after 3 days of exploring.

#3 Bangalore
Again, Bangalore seems to be a fine city for IT professionals with some cash. Probably great place to work given India’s economic boom, but Bangalore isn’t even a top 10 city in India, let alone the world for 2012. Pushkar, Agra, Mumbai, Delhi, Jaisalmer, Jodphur, Varanassi…..

#8 Hong Kong
I love love love Hong Kong. It deserves to be on the list. But I can’t help but laugh at LP’s reasoning. Lonely Planet recommends a visit because of potential protests relating to the movement for more democracy. Perhaps New York and Oakland should be on here for the Occupy Wall Street protests.

#9 Orlando Florida.
LP tells us to visit Orlando…becaaaauuuuseee…..(drumroll)…of the NBA all-star game. The NBA. The same NBA which almost did not have a season this year due to a lockout.

Personal Recommendations

UEFA Euro Cup - Poland & Ukraine
The Euro Cup happens every four years, and is arguably the world’s 3rd most popular sporting event after the World Cup and Summer Olympics. Plus, it’s in Poland and the Ukraine. What better time to visit Poland and Ukraine, no?

Africa Cup of Nations
Better yet, visit a city in the Africa Cup in 2012.

Are there no other events going on in 2012?

Returning from my 6 months abroad in Asia, I was quickly reminded of the joys of Airport security, especially in regard to US bound flights. Excessive, annoying, pointless, humorous, time consuming, inefficient are a few adjectives my jet lagged delerious self thought of.

My experience, Flying Bangkok - Minnesota:

Leaving Bangkok: United personnel acted as security agents during checking asking ridiculous questions that I did little more than prolong the already painfully slow process at 4:00 am.

Arriving in Tokyo: After a full security check in Bangkok and leaving the plane in Tokyo, travelers continuing on must go through another security check. Not sure where during the flight I found a bomb, but whatever. An hour later of standing in snaking lines, I cleared. Who’da guessed?

Boarding in Tokyo: Before boarding my flight Tokyo-Seattle, you guessed it. Another security check, mandated by the US Government due to heightened terror threats. So not only might have I found a bomb on the Bangkok-Tokyo plane, but also in the waiting area for my flight to the US. Interesting.

After the flight was already delayed 30 minutes, before boarding the plan a 18 second pat down and bag search, serious questioning ensued:

United agent: “Do you have a knife?”

Me: um, no (trying to think of somewhere i could’ve got a knife)

United agent: Okay that’s all.

While I realize my experience was nothing excessive, time consuming, or annoying as many travelers face in the US, it is a ridiculous process that really questions the greater underlying purpose and need for everything.

A recent Wall Street Journal article Undressing the Terror Threat addresses the issue best. In short, he shows the irrationality of our overreaction to the threat of terrorism (especially in travel) when compared to the homicide and traffic fatalities rates, amongst others.

Is our constant beefing up of travel and airport security necessary? Is it justified? Are we wasting funds? Should we be concerned about other more likely threats?

Travelers - ask yourself:

Okay world globetrotters and tax paying travelers. What do you think?

• Do we need full body scans?
• Are you okay with a more cumbersome airport security process?
• Do you feel safe traveling now or is more security needed?
• Would $100 billion more for tighter security be needed or justified?

Whether you’ve been directly affected by the economic problems in the US or not, you’re probably concerned about the situation.  With every major media outlet focusing on the ‘crisis’ it’s impossible not to take your uncertain future into consideration when making your future plans and personal budget.

So making that impulse decision to jump on a flight for a week to escape the frigid cold this winter is all that more unlikely (or just more guilt filled) for most Americans. Whether it’s Super Bowl weekend in Tampa, Cancun beaches, or Hawaiian resorts, they’re all struggling even with this terribly cold winter.

Namely, Las Vegas profits are down a whopping 69%, to a level of that 7 years ago.  (And you thought your portfolio’s returns were bad.) Fortunately for the budget traveler, the pain Vegas is feeling has lead to major travel promotions all over the place in Vegas to lure in visitors. Currently, some Las Vegas Promotions peg the Mirage at $72, MGM Grand at $55, and the Luxur at $42.  Some other Excalibur Promotions start at only $31.

You won’t find a more promo filled period of time for awhile.  With large varieties of show packages available to see highly touted entertainment like Cirque Du Soleil, Neil Diamond, and Billy Joel, this might just be the best time to visit if your comfortable spending the money. Besides, it is really cold out

(This post does contained paid links, but I accept these at my discretion based on an advertiser’s relevancy and legitimacy.)

As I’m planning a little jaunt to somewhere in Latin America to be covered extensively here later, I ran across a very interesting and possibly free travel opportunity to Central America, and it is actually legitimate.  The travel opportunity is the Trek Research Study Program.  The program offers research participants up to $1500, depending on trip duration and completion, to travel to almost anywhere in Mexico or Guatemala.

So Free travel to Mexico or Guatemala. Got your attention yet? (more…)

We’ve heard about the economy, taxes, the war, change, and change from the Obama camp for the last several months, but now that he’s officially the President elect, inquiries are being made on the other issues still out there - like travel.

Not much has really been said about anything regarding travel, obviously, so don’t really expect too drastic of changes. However, there has been some recent discussion. Here’s a roundup of news and ideas involving the Obama camp and the travel industry.

Obama to remove travel restrictions on Cuba?

Recent rumors about Obama and Cuba state that the travel restrictions, along with the embargo on Cuba, will probably be removed under the Obama administration. The US seems to be the last country in the world supporting the embargo against Cuba - Jamaica, a country who’s tourism would suffer if Cuba’s travel ban was lifted, even supports an end to the embargo.

I’ve predicted this for some time now because globalization makes the elimination of such archaic policies inevitable. The Cold War is over, we trade with many other communist nations (China??), and their our very close neighbor who could provide many benefits for Americans through trade and travel.

Obama more realistic travel security measures

Easing travel restrictions to promote travel will be part of Obama’s change in philosophy to US tourism. (more…)

As the rest of the world’s growth is finally starting to outpace the US economy’s growth, most of the new huge building projects are happening overseas and we tend not to hear about them, at all. Well these projects are massive, elaborate, beautiful, gaudy, and seem to be a fixture in future urban landscapes and urban tourism internationally.

So are these projects sustainable? And will they be budget friendly? Well probably not too nice on the pocket book, but that is yet to really be determined. But for theses massive building projects going on…

Kazakhstan - Entertainment Center

Norman Foster is bringing Kazakhstan (yes, the Borat kazakhstan) up to speed amongst it’s Asian neighbors with this entertainment center meant to show off the country a bit. Featuring retail space, a massive park, and some “entertainment center” Kazakhstan is looking to tap into some high end tourism. Maybe they’ll have some budget hostels in the normal part of the city so a day trip wouldn’t be too impossible.

(more…)