The way I travel has changed significantly with my New Year’s career change. Moving from consulting to the corporate world, I no longer bounce across the country. Instead, I spend a week in one of my company’s three offices. This has required a bit of an attitude adjustment with regards to travel. The new job also drove me to reexamine my airline and hotel loyalties. Looks like my air mileage and hotel nights will be  Read More →

Coming to you today from the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago. In this episode, listeners add to our list of “Road Warrior 201″ tips for this holiday travel season, I give my impressions of the new George Clooney movie Up in the Air ,and gather up some stories about airport security into a Jeopardy-like topic I call “Security Potpourri”. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file or you can listen to it right... 

Coming to you today from the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago. In this episode, listeners add to our list of “Road Warrior 201″ tips for this holiday travel season, I give my impressions of the new George Clooney movie Up in the Air ,and gather up some stories about airport security into a Jeopardy-like topic I call “Security Potpourri”. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file or you can listen to it right... 

Last Friday night, my wife and I found the one theater in Chicago showing Up in the Air (it’s in very limited release until Christmas).  Ever since the preview trailers hit the Web , people have been asking me — “Is this what your life is like?” Watching the opening sequence — a montage of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) going through his well-practiced drill of packing…  Read More →

Coming to you today from the Courtyard Hotel just across from Philadelphia’s City Hall in the midst of a last quick trip before leaving the airports to the Thanksgiving traveling crush. In this episode, we talk about ways of keeping track of travel receipts and an airport theft ring that targeted black luggage bags. I update last year’s “Road Warrior 201″ tips for this holiday travel season, and have an interview with the... 

Coming to you today from the Courtyard Hotel just across from Philadelphia’s City Hall in the midst of a last quick trip before leaving the airports to the Thanksgiving traveling crush. In this episode, we talk about ways of keeping track of travel receipts and an airport theft ring that targeted black luggage bags. I update last year’s “Road Warrior…  Read More →

Coming to you today from the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago, Illinois at the end of one of those travel weeks where I lost control of my schedule – DC to Dallas to Houston to LA. In this episode, we talk about the problems with LAX security, my choices for white noise when I’m trying to sleep on an airplane, and the reasons why I’m skipping rental cars. I also talk with Boingo WiFi about the choices frequent travelers are... 

Coming to you today from the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago, Illinois at the end of one of those travel weeks where I lost control of my schedule – DC to Dallas to Houston to LA. In this episode, we talk about the problems with LAX security, my choices for white noise when I’m trying to sleep on an airplane, and the reasons why I’m skipping rental cars. I also talk with Boingo WiFi about the choices frequent travelers are... 

Last week, I had to get from downtown Washington DC to a Northern Virginia suburb for a client dinner. I looked at the Metro map , rang up some car services, but finally gritted my teeth and rented a car.  That’s pretty much my attitude toward car rentals these days — the choice of last resort.  It wasn’t always this way.  But with cost and fee increases, shrinking fleets, and more inconvenient locations, I work hard to skip... 

Coming to you today from the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago, Illinois at the start of what’s looking like 6 weeks of straight travel. In this episode, we talk about the need to have a place to blow off steam after a frustrating day of travel, and how the distractions of cell phone calls have caused me to leave a trail of personal belongings behind in hotel and airplanes across the country. Finally, while getting a knowing chuckle... 

Coming to you today from the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago, Illinois at the start of what’s looking like 6 weeks of straight travel. In this episode, we talk about the need to have a place to blow off steam after a frustrating day of travel, and how the distractions of cell phone calls have caused me to leave a trail of personal belongings behind in hotel and airplanes across the country. Finally, while getting a knowing chuckle... 

Again in Washington, DC, I’m back on the road after two weeks at home. As my Twitter followers know, this trip didn’t get off to the best start — a 2 hour delay caused by yet another broken United Airlines plane. Listener comments continue the threads on in-flight bans on smartphones and falling prices of in-flight Wi-Fi. The collapse of the Clear Registered Traveler program makes me nervous about who has my fingerprints and iris... 

Again in Washington, DC, I’m back on the road after two weeks at home. As my Twitter followers know, this trip didn’t get off to the best start — a 2 hour delay caused by yet another broken United Airlines plane. Listener comments continue the threads on in-flight bans on smartphones and falling prices of in-flight Wi-Fi.  Read More →

Recorded in the Washington, DC Marriott as I wrap up a week of business travel before heading out for a week’s vacation. My recent trip back down to Johannesburg, South Africa provides a good bit of content — on-plane security in Dakar, South Africa Airways’ unique ban on in-flight use of iPhones and Blackberries, and good luck with Skype. Experiences on the flight back home illustrate the benefits of being a “super elite”... 

Recorded in the Washington, DC Marriott as I wrap up a week of business travel before heading out for a week’s vacation. My recent trip back down to Johannesburg, South Africa provides a good bit of content — on-plane security in Dakar, South Africa Airways’ unique ban on in-flight use of iPhones and Blackberries, and good luck with Skype. Experiences on the flight back home illustrate the benefits of being a “super elite”...