It used to be that when a restaurant found that a restaurant critic was coming or when a hotel found out that a hotel reviewer would be staying they could make an extra effort to give the best possible experience. One of the changes that the Internet has made is that everyone eating at a restaurant and anyone staying at the hotel might be a critic. With the advent of sites like TripAdvisor.com the power that used to be held by the press is now held by the everyday consumer.

Many or most people who write reviews on travel review sites are honestly intending to help the people that will travel after them. They write honest reviews about real experiences. Granted what they think is dirty you may think is acceptable and what they think is wonderful food you may find uninspiring, but an honest review tells you some valuable information when put in the correct context. A thoughtful well written review is of particular value.

But, as Lord Acton once told us, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Stories are starting to come back from hotel and restaurant owners of a darker side of TripAdvisor and other review sites.

We stayed at a wonderful hotel in Santorini called Villa Mathios. Our host was accommodating, gregarious and helpful. He told us stories of guests who he let use his personal computer to check their email. He let them check in before the official check in time. But when they went to leave they asked for a ride to the airport at 6:30 AM. That is not part of the service he provides. He runs a hotel, restaurant and even a travel agency but not a free taxi service. So even though they had had a wonderful stay they threaten to write a bad review of the hotel (and did so when he does not relent).

I love user contributed content, community and social networks. My day job is running online communities for many well known companies. But these sort of dark side of community stories show that there is still value in editorial opinion. There is still value in the opinion of trusted friends or trusted bloggers / podcasters.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Don’t do the math. I just woke up in my hotel room in London when the alarm went off at 8:00 AM after flying in last night. My watch says it is 8:00 AM and my body needs to get used to the idea. Whatever I do, don’t do the math and figure out that it is… ugh… midnight in California. If you have traveled internationally then you have had to deal with those days where you head is in one time zone and your body is in another. Here are some tips for combating jet lag.

1. Decaffeinate - Especially if you are flying somewhere like Europe on a night flight, I recommend not trying to have your last Starbucks in the airport and then trying to sleep on the plane. Friday we took a night flight from San Francisco to JFK and then on to London. Knowing that I would want to sleep on the plane I had my last caffeine (Diet Coke being my delivery mechanism of choice) in the morning so that I would be tired by the time of my 10 PM flight. It does help if you like me are often one Dient Coke away from unconsciousness.
2. Set You Watch - As soon as you get on a plane set your watch to the time in your destination. Your goal is now to adjust your body until it matches your watch.
3. Eye Shade - You will often need to sleep to adjust your schedule and it might be daylight outside. If it is daylight then you will want to have an eye shade to make it easier to sleep. You can wrap a towel around your head as one Australian did on our flight to London… but then you look particularly silly.
4. Noise Canceling Headphones - I have bought myself two sets of noise canceling headphones to drown out the background noise of the airplane. I most recently bought a pair from Sony. Bose has a particularly well regarded pairs as well. My head phones work so well that other immediate family members have stolen them from me.
5. Ear Plugs - A less expensive option than noise canceling headphones is cheap foam ear plugs (which people are much less likely to take from you in my experience). I carry a bag of them as I lose on average one per flight.
6. Drugs - Many people recommend chemical solutions from a glass of wine to prescription drugs to induce drowsiness. I have had mixed success with this kind of approach. Two Summers ago I went to Tanzania which involved two night flights in a row. I had thrown out my back just before and brought Flexidril which is a muscle relaxant to knock me out. I combined that with a glass of red wine (which I later learned was against the instructions on the label) which turns out to be a bad idea. I woke up on the flight nauseated and faint because I think my blood pressure had been dangerously lowered. Since then I generally avoid more than a glass of wine.
7. Nap - When you arrive at your destination take a nap if necessary but if you do, decide of how much sleep you will allow yourself and set an alarm.
8. Shower- A refreshing shower can sometimes keep me awake for another hour or so and feels good after a long plane flight.
9. Stay Up - If at all possible try and stay up to your normal bed time. You will adjust quicker if you can.
10. Relax - You might not make it up to your normal bed time or you might not be able to get to sleep at that time. Cut yourself some slack. You may just need to decide that in this time zone your bed time is 2 hours sooner or 2 hours later. For some reason, in Africa I could not sleep past 5 AM. That just gave me more time to work on my blog.

Popularity: 37% [?]

It is a rare thing for a U.S. Ambassador to write an open letter to travelers urging them to consider visiting a country, but that is what the US ambassador to Kenya, Michael E.Ranneberger did this week. In light of the unrest Kenya and the resulting drop in tourism to the country Ranneberger’s remarks should be seen as a green light to travel to that country again.

I urge you to look again at Kenya as an exciting destination for tourism and for doing business, be it trade or investment. In 2007, a record 102,000 Americans visited Kenya, many to enjoy the richness of the country’s culture and the majesty of its landscapes and unparalleled wildlife.

Popularity: 65% [?]

If you have every had the experience, as I had, of arguing with a ticket agent in JFK for 15 minutes that he is about to send you bags to SJO (San Jose, Costa Rica) and not SJC (San Jose, California) then you understand the benefits of knowing the 3 letter abbreviation for the airports you are traveling from/to. But how do airports get their designations and why do some of them seem to make no sense at all?

I found a great in depth article titled Airport ABCs: An Explanation of Airport Identifier Codes that explains the history of these cryptic codes.

From ABE (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, Pennsylvania) to ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland), airports around the world are universally known by a unique three-letter code: the “International Air Transport Association (IATA) Location Identifier” in aviation-speak. It’s obviously much easier for pilots, controllers, travel agents, frequent flyers, computers and baggage handlers to say and write ORD than the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois—but how did this practice start, and why are some airport codes easy to understand (ABE and ZRH) while others seem to make absolutely no sense (ORD)? Well once upon a time, before the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Colonel Robert McCormick suggested a name change as tribute to pilot Lt. Cmdr. Edward “Butch” O’Hare, United States Navy, there was an airstrip well to the northwest of Chicago with a quaint, peaceful name—Orchard Field.

Popularity: 73% [?]

As someone who is 6 foot 3 inches tall but too cheap to buy a first or business class airline ticket i was very interested to read an article on GeekAbout.com for The 10 Most Comfortable Airline Economy Seats

Their winner was Virgin America which is consistent with other reports I have heard. My only quibble is that they list United Airlines, but be aware that they are talking about the more expensive economy plus ticket. One of the worst experiences I have had with an airline seat with no leg room was in an economy seat on United from Hawaii to California.

Popularity: 71% [?]