TRAVEL ON YOUR MIND?

This is Sunday, so I'll avoid Donald Trump and his shenanigans.  We leave in two weeks for the Osaka Expo, then catch a cruise on the Oceania Riviera from Yokohama to Vancouver.  This is a test whether I can travel much anymore.  Our gargantuan Fall/Winter 2024 journey worried me because I had trouble sleeping on the road, especially on cruise ships.

So today, a potpourri of travel info:

• This is a matter that will keep changing, and then, maybe not, so keep up-to-date on travel advisories for those wanting to visit the USA.  Here are two examples.

Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney had been traveling between her home country and the US on a work visa for years without issue—but a few weeks ago, she was detained by US border authorities after attempting to renew her documentation at the US-Mexico border. During a 12-day ordeal, she says she was held in cold and crowded jail cells and even put in chains at points.

Mooney is just one of several people who have attempted to travel to the US recently who have faced challenges at the border, including a researcher who French officials say was denied entry after his phone was searched and immigration officers found messages that were critical of the Trump administration.

• What is happening is that the Trump administration has tightened border policies to check immigration.
• But you got wonder if you are transgender, or a person known to be a Trump-hater.  And who isn't, these days?
• Some countries like Uruguay and Japan warn their citizens of hate crimes if they travel to America.
• France and many other European nations Denmark and Germany strongly recommend travelers to consult their embassy for the latest adjustments.  Transgenders have had problems entering the U.S.
• In 2024 20.4 million visitors came from Canada, generating $20.5 billion in spending.  One change is that Canadians staying for longer than 30 days are now required to register with the U.S. government, which is to file a Form G-325R or I-94.  You don't do this, you could be fined.
• All this brouhaha will means that tourists to the U.S. will most definitely drop this year, a pain for the travel industry.

How safe is flying today?

• From USA Today.

Statistically speaking, it is, but those statistics themselves can be a little confusing. A cursory glance at numbers from the National Transportation Safety Board will show 67 deaths in commercial plane crashes this year – a huge upward surge after zero deaths last year and very out of line with the 10-year trend in which commercial aviation deaths have generally been measured in the single digits.  However, it’s important to remember that flying remains safe, and there’s context to the number of accidents recorded by aviation professionals. 

This has been an anomalous year in the U.S.

Time magazine wrote about the 100 World's Greatest Places of 2025.  I've only been to a few of them.  I'll show some photos and the reference so you can get details.  

Mbano Manor Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Shebara Resort, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.  Opened late last year.  I wrote about this location yesterday.

The Ghan, Adelaide and Darwin, Australia.  I mentioned this train three years ago.

QT, Singapore.  This is a boutique hotel that only costs $250/night.

Waldorf Astoria, New York.  This is a Hilton, where a room now costs $2,000/night.  Stayed there once for much less, a long ago.  Here is my story, and this photo to the left is one I think I took.  The photo below is from the article.

I stayed there once, and remember seeing a Broadway show.  It was 10:30PM when I began walking back to the hotel.  It was only a couple of blocks away.  I should have caught a cab anyway, for one block, it turned out, was dark, with strewn waste disposal containers, and no one but me.  I made it the hotel okay. 

The Waldorf Astoria closed in 2017, but after $1 billion of renovations, reopened in November of 2019.  It is now owned by an insurance company from China, which was taken over by the central government for insurmountable problems.

I just rechecked, and the Anbang Insurance Company of China purchased this hotel in 2014 for $1.95 billion, the most expensive hotel ever sold.  However, has had financial problems, and was taken over by the Chinese government.

Nintendo Museum, Uji, Japan.

Niue Blue, Tamakautoga, Niue.

Notre Dame, Paris, France.  I again have a story.  It was 15April2019. 

Lunch at Tour d'Argent was heavenly.  We got what we felt was the best table in the house. The view of the Seine (which is a river, 483 miles long, flowing into the English Channel at Le Havre) and Notre-Dame:

Had quite a wine list.  We had three bottles.

Anyway, the whole point to this story is that two months later, on 15April2019, the cathedral had a serious fire.  Took almost a billion dollars to repair.

I'll stop here, but next, the Ho Chi Minh City Metro.  Once known as Saigon, Vietnam, a city now of 9 million, this mass transit system finally opened last year.  I've been to this city several times, and there was always talk of something to ease the traffic of 7 million motorbikes.  After $1.7 billion mostly loans from Japan, the 12.2-mile line has 14 stops.  They hope to have six additional lines before 2025.  When I posted on this city 16 years ago, I indicated that the biggest freshwater fish was caught in the Mekong River, which wanders past.  The largest catfish in the U.S. is 121 pounds.

To close, Saturday Night Live last night opened with the hapless Hegseth, Vance and Rubio mistakenly involving three high school girls in a group chat.  Watch the video.

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