Too Soon? Jacksonville, Florida, Already Reopening Beaches
Posted on 04/17/2020, 4:00 PM
Jacksonville, Florida, is among the first locations in the United States to loosen social distancing restrictions—the city's beaches reopened to the public Friday at 5pm. According to an announcement on Jacksonville's government website, only "essential activities" will be allowed, such as "walking, biking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming, taking care of pets, and surfing." Few of those acti...
Samantha Brown Just Made Some Terrific New Study Guides
Posted on 04/17/2020, 2:00 AM
Travel television star and all-around lovely person Samantha Brown is schooling her kids at home right now, like so many of us. So she gets it. She knows that 23 minutes off-duty time can be an incredible gift when you're not only your kids' parent, but also the teacher, the companion, the cook, the cleaner, and the candlestick maker. Or whatever the contemporary equivalent is. To help out, Sam h...
Emirates Airlines' Boarding Procedure Now Includes a Coronavirus Test
Posted on 04/16/2020, 10:00 AM
Though testing is not widespread in the United Arab Emirates yet, the country's flagship airline rolled out testing for passengers at its Dubai hub yesterday. Before boarding a flight to Tunisia, each traveler was administered a finger-prick blood test by the Dubai Health Authority. The results were available 10 minutes later. The airline did not announce whether any passengers were denied boardi...
How to Celebrate Massachusetts Patriots' Day Events Online
Posted on 04/16/2020, 4:00 AM
Each year on the third Monday of April, Massachusetts commemorates the start of the American Revolutionary War with Patriots' Day. The statewide celebration includes a parade in Boston as well as reenactments of Paul Revere's Midnight Ride (his Boston statue is pictured above) and the battles in Lexington and Concord that kicked off the war with the British in 1775. The holiday culminates in the r...
Delta Air Lines Changes Boarding Procedure
Posted on 04/15/2020, 6:00 AM
To accommodate social distancing recommendations, Delta Air Lines has temporarily adjusted its method of boarding passengers onto planes. As of April 10, the carrier has been filling the back of aircraft first, working toward the front. That way, customers on their way to seats toward the rear of the cabin won't need to pass already-seated flyers, exchanging clouds of germs along the way. In a s...
Faroe Islands Launch Wild Idea: Control a Live Guide Like a Video Game
Posted on 04/14/2020, 8:00 PM
The Faroe Islands has come up with a new way to let people explore this isolated and starkly beautiful destination that has been gaining popularity as an alternative to Iceland. Each day, a local straps on a camera and stands in a new spot somewhere in the 18-island chain. Over the course of each one-hour session, viewers at home are given the ability to tell the guide where to go and what to do. ...
Team Claims to Have Set a New "Cannonball Run" Record
Posted on 04/13/2020, 6:30 PM
Earning a title that will surely go down in the annals of idiocy, a team of drivers has apparently set a new record for the so-called "Cannonball Run." The feat, based on the 1970s Burt Reynolds comedy in which lunkheads speed across the continental United States to claim the best time, supposedly took place on April 4, at the height of stay-at-home orders for most of the country. The team claims...
Airbnb Launches Online Experiences You Pay For
Posted on 04/10/2020, 6:30 PM
Airbnb has introduced an all-digital version of its Experiences platform for tours and activities. With the company's new Online Experiences, experts around the world can teach you how to do magic tricks, make the perfect cup of coffee, meditate like a Buddhist monk, and stomp like an Irish step dancer—all without leaving your home, thanks to audio-visual technology connecting the laptops or phon...
CDC Extends No-Sail Order for Cruise Ships Using American Ports
Posted on 04/10/2020, 8:45 AM
Late last night the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended by 100 days its prohibition on cruises using American ports. The original order was supposed to end in mid-April. The new timetable extends the ban until July 19. That's a blow to the industry—most major cruise lines had hoped to suspend operations only through the end of May. The order does not affect all cruises, o...
Delta Promises You Won't Have to Take a Middle Seat
Posted on 04/08/2020, 8:00 PM
Delta Air Lines has announced a new set of measures designed to conform to the world's current standards for social distancing—or at least to nod to them. From April 13 to May 31, the airline will block the middle seat from all reservations in Economy and Premium Economy sections. By default, middle seats will now fly empty. The concession has been made possible by the reduced number of people fl...
