Welcome Aboard
vonschmitt.com is still under construction.
But soon we’ll be taking flight to the best gay destinations in the American Southwest… and beyond.
With featured cities, spa and hotel reviews, global travel news and in-depth looks at gay-owned businesses and notable figures, vonschmitt.com promises to be your virtual airline to exciting, real-life destinations of interest to gay travelers the world over!
We’ll never lose your luggage and everyone flies First Class.
In the meantime, you can contact us at JSTRAVEL@ME.com
Avoid Stupid Charges on Your Smart Phone When Traveling
NYTimes.com has some great tips for avoiding sky-high phone bills while traveling internationally.
Check Out Your Travel Horoscope
The Travel Horoscope feature over at Tripbase offers some stellar advice for travelers open to astrological influences. While Tripbase claims to use artificial intelligence to steer you to the right destination, reading your monthly travel horoscope could, in theory, could save you headaches and heartbreaks.
Bed Bugs Becoming an Epidemic – CBS News Video
Many years ago while traveling through Europe on a college budget, I had my first experience with bed bugs at a hostel in Greece. With nearly a dozen bites on one hand alone, I decided to skip meals and stay at budget hotels from there on. Flash forward a couple decades, I can tell you bed bugs know no boundaries. Recently, while in Egypt, I awoke one morning at a 5-Star luxury hotel, dotted with red bites down the left side of my body. Bed bugs, it seems, have become a global nuisance. Having nothing to do with class or cleanliness, bed bugs can appear in the nicest of places, from hotel rooms and cruise cabins, even retail stores.
A few things travelers should do when checking into a hotel room or cabin is inspect the bedding and take some basic precautions. From here on I’ll be traveling with a small magnifying glass, as these critters are hard to spot. Secondly, I’ll never again let my clothes touch the bedding. We’re safer hanging our clothes in the closet, or leaving them in our luggage on the luggage rack. Lastly, watch the CBS News Video, Bed Bugs Becoming an Epidemic. Good luck, and sleep tight. Don’ t let those bed bugs bite.
Bike-Sharing is Coming to London!
Bike-Sharing is Coming to London! London’s bike-sharing program is scheduled to open to the public on July 30, 2010. As far as bike-sharing goes, it will be a pretty big launch (bigger than Washington DC’s bike-share, for example): There will be about 400 bicycle docking stations, 10,200 docking spaces and 6,000 bicycles available at launch in central London.
Virgin Galactic’s Historic Day
For the first time, Virgin Galactic’s VSS Enterprise flew with crew on board. As planned, the spaceship remained attached to VMS Eve (captive) for the duration of the flight and numerous combined vehicle systems tests were conducted. In addition and for the first time, the two crew members on board VSS Enterprise, evaluated all of the spaceship’s systems and functions from end to end in the air. Sub-orbital space is at hand, for 200,000 USD.
Cargo to Finally Get Checked
Airlines are buying giant X-ray machines and other machinery to meet an Aug. 1st deadline to begin screening all cargo that goes on passenger planes. Federal officials say the new rules will close a large security gap. Just four years ago, only half of all cargo was inspected.
But the system to guard against terrorists getting a bomb on a plane is far from airtight. Cargo coming into the U.S. from other countries is still often not inspected.
Greener Cities in 2030 on Display in NYC
Artist Rendering - BudiPradono Architects
An exhibit on environmentally friendly transportation of the future opens today in New York City . The exhibit, titled “Our Cities Ourselves,” will be at the Center for Architecture in Greenwich Village through Sept. 11 before traveling to the other cities, which include Buenos Aires, Argentina, Budapest, Hungary, and Johannesburg, organizers said.”We hired 10 architects from cities all over the world to help us imagine what their cities might look like in 2030 if we made the cities more human scale, more environmentally sustainable,” said Walter Hook, the executive director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, which organized the exhibit with funding from the San Francisco-based ClimateWorks Foundation.
“Were essentially trying to send the message that if cities dont move in this direction were going to be faced with cataclysmic climate change, because in the developing world the use of private automobiles is escalating at double-digit rates,” Hook said.
Mind Over Matter, Downward Doggie Style
Doctors in India say that after fasting for two weeks, Yogi Jani is healthier than the average 40-year-old.
Considering he claims to have abstained from all food or drink since childhood, two weeks must seem like nothing.
Go Yogi!
Earthquake Reminder, Be Prepared
“There are two kinds of people in Southern California: those who think they’ve experienced a major earthquake, and those of us who know we haven’t,” says Susan E. Hough, Scientist-in-Charge of the U.S. Geological Survey.
She went on to write in a Los Angeles Times article that, “seismologists consider Northridge (1994) to be only a strong temblor, two steps below the dreaded magnitude 8 Big One. But here’s the reality: A Big One on the southern San Andreas fault will be the result of a lurch along a swath of a fault. A long swath. What seismologists call the earthquake rupture will extend 10 to 15 miles deep and 200 to 250 miles long. Maybe more. It will be the size of 20 Northridge earthquakes laid end to end.”
Everyone in California should know, it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when. The recent small quakes in Southern California serve as a good reminder that all Californians need to be prepared. That means more than an extra bottle of vodka in the freezer.
Disaster Supplies you should have on hand year-round.
Flashlight and extra batteries. An extra bag of charcoal, sterno, and/or talk of gas for your grill.
Portable battery-operated radio and extra batteries. Non-electric can opener.
First aid kit and manual, and essential medicines.
Emergency food and water. Including canned food, dried fruit, and nuts. Keep bleach on hand to use for sterilizing toilet basin water or contaminated tap water.
Cash and credit cards. Remember, ATM machines may run out of money, or may not work at all. Cash will be king.
Sturdy shoes, a bike, and always keep your car at least 1/2 full of gas.
For more information on what to do before, during and after an earthquake, visit FEMA online.
LAX Poised for Hollywood-Size Comeback
LAX, the world’s sixth-busiest airport, has consistently ranked near the bottom of U.S. airports, for its crowded old terminals and poor food and retail options.
New improvements to LAX include a high-tech baggage screening system to eliminate long lines at check-in, new boarding gates to accommodate the next generation of bigger jumbo jets, more efficient baggage carousels, new flooring, art and food courts.
The iconic Theme Building which houses Encounter restaurant has had a much-needed facelift and is once again welcoming visitors to the “City of the Future.” Click here to continue reading about LAX’s turnaround.
Celebrate LA Pride with Bears in Space, or Spaced-Out Bears (depends what time you arrive)
Happy Pride Los Angeles! There’s fun Party at AKBAR in Silverlake this Sunday. Have two or three for me!
Gay Pride Parade (Parada Gay) in São Paulo Draws Record Crowds… Again!
Click on the link for some highlights of Parada Gay 2010 in São Paulo. In case you don’t speak Portuguese, I can tell you the hetero couple being interviewed were very kind and curious about the event. Curious yourself about what’s likely the largest Gay Pride celebration in the world? Check out this site for more information (in English) and start your planning for 2011. www.gaypridebrazil.org/sao-paulo
iPhone Travel Apps For Thrifty Jetsetters
The Huffington Post has a slideshow of the Best iPhone Travel Apps For Thrifty Jetsetters, including exchange rates, cheap gas and hotel deals. Wondering if you’ll get arrested for smoking a joint in public in Belgium? Yep, there’s an App for that.
Two-Year-Old Toddler Hooked on Smoking
This is for reals… I swear! CNN Online says the Indonesian Mother of this smoking toddle is hoping he’ll “cut down.” As I watch the video, I can’t help thinking he reminds me of a bookie I once met in Vegas. Kinda funny to watch if you block out from your mind how truly sad it is.
Peruvian Takes Surfing Lessons Too Far
It’s all fun and surf until an Alpaca looses a leg!
