Rapid Travel Chai

Posting from a sweeping view of Mexico City’s Parque Chapultepec from the Intercontinental Presidente Mexico City. One of my favorite cities in the world and happy to have a business trip after not visiting since 2011.

News:

• The Case for Free-Range Parenting (NYT). Not a fan of helicopter parenting, especially when I see the progeny of such on airplanes.
• China still No. 1 for US adoptions (Asia News Network). Important social force as these children come to age.
• Barbados plans to remove the Queen as head of state almost 400 years after British colonisation (The Independent). They are keeping their Concorde.
• Modern Explorers Seek a Place in a GPS World (NYT). The photos of the oddball members are worth the click.
• No Way But Nauru (Roads & Kingdoms). Almost was going to include a stop on my way to Iwo Jima. With no backup flights I didn’t want to risk getting stranded.

Travel:

• So How did a Company selling Rubber Tires become the World’s Authority on Restaurants? (Messy Nessy Chic). I always wondered, never researched.
• Indonesia Extends Visa Free Travel From 15 To 45 Countries In April, 2015 (LoyaltyLobby). Being able to skip the miserable visa on arrival lines in Indonesia’s airports will be a plus. My last time through there was connecting in Bali’s new airport, at the time only Garuda international to intenational connections were set up, I was coming in from East Timor on Sriwijaya, needing to get to Thai and nearly missed the flight because of the absurdly long and slow lines. I eventually found an airport employee, urged her to walk forward and used her as shield to get to the front.
• Egypt Postpones Visa Requirement Changes (One Mile at a Time). Good to hear.
• Shanghai’s Pudong Airport Adds Fourth Runway (Shanghai Daily). Air traffic control is the big issue in China and no resolution in sight as the military won’t release its grip on much of the airspace.
• Bet You Didn’t Know: The (only) two useful features of Google Hotels (The Frequent Miler). I like being able to drag to a specific area, didn’t know about the way to incorporate public transport.
• St. Helena Airport in 2016 ends centuries of South Atlantic island isolation (Loyalty Traveler). Never wanted to commit the month to the mail ship, though heard great things about the experience.
• Wagah visitors’ gallery to accommodate over 13000 by 2016-end (The Times of India). One of the world’s great geopolitical travel experiences from both sides, see here.
• Point Queen’s 5 Key Travel Tips (Point Princess). Principles to travel by.