Hit the Road !

There are over 300 million Americans. Less than 30% of them have passports. That means Americans are not traveling abroad. And 50% of those who do leave the USA are traveling to either Canada or Mexico. So, why is it that Americans are not traveling overseas in larger numbers?

Realistically, money and time are the two biggest factors in our estimation as to why Americans don’t travel abroad. Airfare is costly and flying is a hassle. Meanwhile, Americans on average get around two weeks of vacation a year– not enough to get abroad, get over jet-lag and start enjoying another country. In reality, many of those vacation days are used here and there for extensions on Thanksgiving, for family birthdays or other small events, and that results in, usually, less than two weeks in one chunk for travel. Its not surprising that Asia or the Middle East seems out of reach to Americans who have around 7 days to travel, explore and return. That doesn’t sound like a vacation, it sounds like a gauntlet.

In contrast, the average worker in Europe gets around a month of vacation. By law, all countries in the European Union must allow all workers four weeks of paid vacation at a minimum. Even part-time workers who have worked more than 13 weeks are entitled to their month of paid vacation. This isn’t accrued, its a right. And that doesn’t count public holidays, which are paid days. Americans get 13 days, on average, though some companies have adopted even stricter vacation plans for entry-level employees, like the company Mike worked for in Minnesota. They told him his two weeks of vacation were “To ambitious for an entry level employee.” To which Mike said “audios!” (Chart above shows average PAID vacation days by country)

Meanwhile, workers in the USA have longer daily hours, on average, then their European counterparts. This is interesting because the average salary (even taking into account cost of living) is lower in the USA on average. For example, countries in Europe have a standard 40 hour work week and depending on the country there are laws in place to put a cap on how many hours of overtime per week and year an employee can log, according to the Federation of European Employees. And although the 8 hour day wasn’t always in place, it wasn’t until 1937 that the Fair Labor Standards Act was signed into law and the 8 hour work day (44 per week) in America became accepted as a baseline for a new standard. (Chart above shows average work week by country and gender).

Granted, there are social implications to these differences in Europe and the US. For example, Europeans are taxed at a much higher rate and companies have to sell products at higher prices to follow labor laws. However, the work-life balance in Europe does seem to be more balanced than in the USA, where success is more important that enjoyment to many. Still, the differences are drastic, and many health related problems in America are stress related, possibly stemming from overwork and lack of holiday time.

Along an entirely different chain of thought, perhaps one reason for the shortage of Americans traveling is fear. American movies constantly have foreigners as the ‘bad guys’ and a general lack of knowledge about other countries and their cultures in the US may lead many to think it isn’t safe anywhere abroad. When the media constantly cover problems abroad in uniquely terrifying language, its no wonder people think the entire world is dangerous. Meanwhile, Americans don’t speak a second language, and this limits their capacity to travel abroad with confidence. Luckily, English is the language of travel, but to many places (Africa and Asia) even English won’t suffice. The American education system should require students to learn a second language fluently by the time they graduate from High School. What language they learn should be their choice, naturally, but it holds people back from traveling, working abroad or even understanding a second worldview when they are limited to one language. Ideas are only as solid as the language in which they are expressed, so learning a whole new language is like learning a second culture, a second way of viewing the world. Americans (myself included) miss out on this when they don’t learn a second language as a child.

Traveling outside of earth

From Paper Article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9230801/Astronomers-find-new-planet-capable-of-supporting-life.html

The planet lies in what they describe as a 'habitable zone', neither too near its sun to dry out or too far away which freezes it.

And the discovery could help answer the question of whether we are alone in the universe, which has been plagued astronomers and alien fanatics for years.

Scientists found the planet, Gliese 667Cc, orbiting around a red dwarf star, 22 light years away from the earth.

Red dwarf stars are the most common stars in the neighbourhood of the sun, usually hosting planets called gas giants, which are not composed of rock matter.

Re-analysing data from the European Southern Observatory, the astronomers found Gliese 667Cc is a solid planet with roughly four and a half times the mass of Earth.

The University Göttingen and University of California scientists have calculated the planet recieves ten per cent less light from its red dwarf star than the Earth gets from the Sun.
As the light is in the infrared area, the planet still receives nearly the same amount of energy as the Earth, meaning water could be liquid and surface temperatures could be similar to ours.
Astronomers are hailing the plant as the 'Holy Grail' of discoveries, as 20 years ago scientists were still arguing about the existence of planets beyond our solar system.
Since the discovery of the first extrasolar planet in 1995, astronomers have confirmed the existence of more than 760 planets beyond the solar system, with only four believed to be in a habitable zone.
One of the most successful tools of planet hunters is the High Accuracy Radial Planetary Searcher (HARPS) telescope, which measures the radial velocity of a star.
Scientists using this telescope analyse the small wobbles in a stars motion caused by the gravitational response of a planet, determining the position and size of a planet indirectly.
Currently, they can detect planets which are 3-5 times the mass of the Earth but, in the future, they could detect planets which are smaller than twice the mass of Earth.
Steven Vogt, an astronomer from the University of California, said: "It´s the Holy Grail of exo-planet research to find a planet orbiting around a star at the right distance so it´s not too close where it would lose all its water and not too far where it would freeze.
"It´s right there in the habitable zone - there´s no question or discussion about it. It is not on the edge. It is right in there."
Guillem Anglada-Escudé, of University Göttingen, Germany, said: "With the advent of new generation of instruments, researchers will be able to survey many dwarf stars for similar planets and eventually look for spectroscopic signatures of life in one of these worlds."

Paying it forward

Im glad to say that in late August of this year I will be allowed to return the hospitality that was give to me by my dear friends Giampaolo, and possibly Stefano. It will be an honor to take the Italian dairy farmer to Vacaville, and to drink all the Toasted Head wine we can. Something I definitely have become aware in my new traveling experiences this is the part that becomes even more special. I have been lucky enough to see some amazing places in the world, and now it is my turn to show off some great places in our country. We wont be wandering too far away from this area, but I look forward to being an ambassador to Nor Cal and taking them to places all across this area. So if you see some dudes in speedos floating down sac river in August (I wont be one of them), you'll know why.

Hiking: the cheapest form of traveling

Look around you: while you are reading this, you are, in all probability, surrounded by walls and when you look out from your “little cell”, all you will be able to see is a bigger cell, one with more and higher walls, a network of thousands of little cells just like your own, stretching all the way to the horizon and beyond. This is what is called a town or a city. Towns and cities are where we eat, sleep, and raise our kids, where we are born and where we make our living. Isn’t that already enough time spent in cities? I don’t know about you, but the last thing in the world I need to see in my holidays is another city. In my holidays, I want to feel the sun on my back and the wind in my face. Fortunately, there is a perfect recipe for doing this: it’s called HIKING

I spent many of my “most precious days of my working years” in networks of prison cells that looked very much like the one I have at home: spa towns, shopping towns, museum towns. Or, worst of all, one of the soulless holiday toy towns on the Mediterranean Coast. (Benidorm: twinned with Mordor.) But I’m no Daniel Boone Much as I might want to, I do not know how to suck the sap out of a cactus once my water bottle is empty and which rodents will provide a tasty snack if I feel peckish but have finished my supply of sandwiches. Neither do I know how to fight a grizzly bear. I may want to break out of my natural habitat, but in the real wilderness, I would be a danger to myself, as much without a clue as a deer in the middle of Piccadilly Circus.

This is where the idea of Easy Hiking comes in Because, you see, you can really have it all: adventure without the existential risk, a taste of nature that does not involve painting yourself “red in tooth and claw”, a meaningful outdoor experience, which is nevertheless coupled with the experience of spending your nights sleeping between clean fresh linen. "Easy hiking is adventure for beginners"Easy hiking means sleeping in hotels, not trying to go one better on the snail, which carries its own house on its back, but, sensibly draws the line at pots, pans and cutlery. It means hiking in civilized portions of no more than three or four days at a time instead of trying to wolf down an entire mountain range in a single bite. It means taking the time to make a stopover wherever there is something interesting to see: a castle, a country church, a picturesque village. And all that on trails that have been designed for the very purpose of providing you with a pleasant and easy hiking experience. A good easy hiking trail is like a good detective story You never know what to find next except that it will surprise you – within a comfortable band of expectation. Much in the same way that, as you approach the denouement of an Agatha Christie novel, you can be sure that Hercule Poirot’s explanation will not involve ghosts, aliens or time travel, you can be sure that behind the next corner of your trail you will find something charming but not unsettling: a forest, a field, a heather-covered slope, a view of a winding river or a mountain. You will not discover the Victoria Falls. But neither will a band of hostile natives lie in wait for you – or a grizzly bear. And, just as importantly, the path ahead may be steep, it may be challenging, but it will not feature anything that you will not be able to master. That may be the best thing about easy hiking: everyone can do it. "Sprightly pensioner on an easy hike" On any easy hiking trail, you will meet sprightly pensioners in tank tops and short trousers, exposing acres of leathery skin, gentle elderly couples on a Sunday walk, groups of men with pot bellies celebrating somebody’s birthday or a stag night, and prim middle-aged women whose pale-skinned arms tell tales of sheltered lives behind the doors of offices, schools and public libraries. Believe it or not: not all hikers are Olympic athletes and, while we are at it, let us dispose of yet another hiking myth: not all of them are nature fanatics either. Many of them, I bet, could not tell you the names of the wild flowers and trees along the way any more than I could. Everybody gets something else out of hiking While some hikers love to read and study the book of nature, others simply enjoy the sounds of the forest and the smell of the leaves after a light summer rain, and yet others are there for the existentialist challenge of ploughing on through the heat, the dust, the rain, whatever nature throws at them, until they have reached their day’s destination where they can put up their feet, gulf down an ice-cold beer and perhaps light one their favourite cigars. So what do you think: does easy hiking have something in store for you, too? There is only one way to find out: pack your bags and have a go at it. It may change your life – or at least the way you will be spending your holidays from now on.

San Francisco is built on a series of hills and if your are going to explore San Francisco then you need to tackle some of these hills. As part of my test drive of the Ford Escape we took on some of those hills. My personal escape route to San Francisco starts at Ghirardelli Square near San Francisco’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf.

When Domingo Ghirardelli came to California it was to strike it rich in the 1849 gold fields. A failure at mining Ghirardelli instead is known for rich chocolate. Ghirardelli not only bears his name but still produces enough chocolate (and ice cream) to make a stop there nearly mandatory.

San Francisco is the city where “little cable cars climb halfway to the stars” according to the song. This picture shows a cable car climbing up the slope of Nob Hill where some of the most expensive houses in San Francisco were first built. A cable car has no motor. Its sole means of propulsion is a large pair of pliers. The way a cable car works is that each of the 3 surviving cable car lines are a single loop of moving cable. The cable car grabs on to pull it up the hill or to slow it down as it goes down the other side.

Not far from the top of Nob Hill is a point where all the cable car lines meet at the Cable Car Barn and Museum. Come to the free museum to learn how the cable cars work. Here you will see the enormous engines that move the cable and hence power the cable cars. Learn what the markings on the cable car track are. Learn which markings tell the operator to let go of the cable because they are crossing another cable car line. You can also try your hand at ringing a cable car bell.

At the top of Nob Hill is the Episcopal Cathedral for San Francisco – Grace Cathedral. Grace Cathedral is a Gothic style cathedral that would easily fit in in Europe if you added a few flying buttresses.

Grace Cathedral holds two surprises that are popular with tourists. Both inside and outside of the cathedral you will find a labyrinth that you can walk while you meditate. Don’t worry if you get lost in thought because you cannot get lost in a labyrinth. Unlike a maze there is only one very twisty path. Just keep going and you will come out the other side.

At the top of Telegraph Hill is a tower made to look like the nozzle of a fire hose. It was built as a monument to firefighters. The inside of the tower has murals painted during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal program: Public Works of Art Project. Coit Tower and Telegraph hill offer wonderful views of the Golden Gate Bridge but the parking lot is small and the traffic can be very heavy in the Summer so if you want to visit Coit Tower avoid the middle of the day. The most famous or infamous of San Francisco’s hills is Russian Hill which is where you will find the “crookedest street in the world” Lombard Street. While not the steepest street even in San Francisco it is a fun drive and a popular destination with tourists.

While in DC try to visit the International Spy Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of espionage artifacts. There is also places to visit like the Air and Space Museum, and other vein of geeky, techy adventures. WHY did you go there, exactly? Okay, what was so cool about it? If you are even slightly intrigued by spies, their gadgets, and their undercover adventures, you will love this place. When you arrive, you choose your “cover,” adopting a name and back story. The Boy took this task seriously, writing down all the details of Yuan Zheng, the 39-year old dentist he had become.

Travel in Europe is getting cheaper

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47396554 Travel just got cheaper