Give Me Your Brutally Honest Opinion About This Blog
I hope that you enjoy reading my posts and fishing around foXnoMad. I’m always looking to improve this site, from the content to the look and feel of the design. I would especially like to hear your brutally honest criticism about my writing.
So, even if you’ve never commented or are feeling lazy I would really appreciate your feedback.
I’ll take all of your advice to heart, including what topics you’d like to see more or less of, whether you’d prefer more personal or shorter posts, or anything else that’s on your mind. Of course, if you’ve got compliments, you can add them too.
I appreciate all of your feedback to help foXnoMad improve and reach more readers. Thanks!
[photo by: Clover_1]
The 5 Row Rule and 5 Expert Ways To Survive A Plane Crash
The tragic crash of Air France Flight 447 and apparent death of all aboard may have you feeling apprehensive and somewhat disappointed in air travel. Despite what the media portrays, 76.6% of people survive serious plane crashes and there are some simple ways you can increase your chances of survival if you are ever in one.
There isn’t much you can do if you’re on a jumbo jet that completely fails and you plummet to the ground from a high altitude like Flight 447. Luckily for us this isn’t how most crashes happen and expert research from air tragedies can teach us a lot about how to make it out of a disaster.
The 5 Row Rule
According to Ben Sherman, the author of The Survivors Guide: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life, research shows that passengers usually move an average of 5 rows before they can get off a burning aircraft. Sitting any further away than 5 rows from any exit row greatly reduces your chances of surviving. You can also slightly improve your chances by sitting at the back of the plane.
Be Alert When Crashes Are Likeliest To Happen
Plane crash from statistics PlaneCrashInfo.com show that 68% of plane crashes occur with in 30 minutes of takeoff and 30 minutes of landing. In fact, 79% of all crashes happen when the plane isn’t cruising. Ben Sherman suggests that those are the times when most of us are buried in our books, deafened by iPods, and ignoring the safety directions. (Reading them, by the way increases your chance of survival too, even for frequent fliers.)
Keep Your Seat Belt On
Sudden losses of altitude and turbulence are rare but more common than plane crashes. A steep drop in altitude due to a strong downdraft, or computer error as happened on Qantas flight in 2008 can cause serious injuries. If you do survive the initial impact you don’t want to be hindered by a broken leg or head laceration because you were tossed about the cabin on the way down. A mere 20 second steep dive on that Qantas flight caused a number of serious injuries and while there was no crash, the injuries could have prevented those passengers from evacuating.
Dress For Success
Avoid wearing highly flammable clothing like nylon stockings and footwear that’s difficult to run in like flip-flops. Comfort is important but take a moment to think about how practical your clothing is before you head to the airport. It’s also a good idea to keep your shoes on during the critical times of takeoff and landing.
Put The Most Important Things In Your Pocket
Experts say that the single biggest factor to slow down an airplane evacuation are people trying to grab things out of their carry-on luggage. Anything that is sentimentally important or valuable enough to you that you’d risk your life to save should be in your pockets. If it can’t fit forget it. You can always by a new one and I’m sure your wife will forgive you for leaving behind that pen she gave you. Your loved ones would rather have you.
500 Feet (150 Meters)
Get at least 500 feet away from the aircraft’s wreckage to avoid explosions and fire from the plane but don’t get so far away that you’ll get lost or can’t be found. (Both are easy to do in a tense situation.) For water landings, get as far from the wreckage as possible to avoid strong waves and getting pulled under as the craft sinks.
Some More Survival Tips
- Stay Sober – Even though drinking is one of 3 fun things to do if your flight gets canceled being drunk won’t help you in any disaster, aerial or not. Getting drunk right before your flight is the worst time to be inebriated.
- Relieve Your Anxiety Without Relying On The Statistics – The further you are from being calm and assertive the less clearly you’ll be able to think and do the best things to survive. Relax while on any flight because your odds of being in a crash are extraordinarily small. Stress and blood clots from flying are more likely to kill you.
Be Prepare But Not Scared
Your chances of being involved in a plane crash are very, very small. While these precautions are sound advice, don’t preoccupy yourself by worrying too much about them. Use common sense and be aware when it counts, get a seat close to the exit, dress practically, and enjoy your flight.
[photos by: eperales, Ti.mo, Peter Gerdes]
Travel Bloggers Send Their Best Links [Part 4 of 4] – Eva Dawalibi
I often include links from fellow travel bloggers in my posts, but wanted to highlight several who sent me their best articles. These are some of the travel blogs are I read regularly, and it’s a pleasure to showcase their great writing you’ll enjoy reading. Here’s Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 in case you missed them.
Eva Dawalibi, who has hitchhiked 20,000 kilometers across Australia and is currently hitchhiking from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Copenhagen dropped a few great links to her travels on my post about Thumbs Up Australia. They are great reads, especially for female travelers.
Some of her posts are originally in Eva’s native French but she’s also contributed her translating skills to these entries.
- Guide to Hitchhiking for Girls
- Hitching Through Siberia
- Hitchhiking in Australia (French)
- From Ulaanbaatar to the Border
- China Pictures
Eva’s blog is more of a series of diary entries on the publishing tool Get Jealous. It’s a bit difficult to navigate but Eva’s blog is full of pictures (like the one above) and posts from the road are fun, informative, and inspirational.
About My Name
June 1, 2009 by Anil P.
Filed under Site News, Travel Journal
I often get confused for being Indian, primarily due to my name, Anil. Several months ago after my post from the Shiva Temple in Bangalore, India the conversation came up and I thought I’d bring the conversation up here. Although Anil is a very common name in India, it is also used in Turkey. It’s not as widespread and can be given to either boys or girls.
Its meaning, in Turkish comes from the verb ‘anilmak’ which means to be remembered. I had always wondered about the origin of the name in India, especially after my first trip to Bangalore. It seems that I’d get a different answer, anything from “fire” to “flame” – basically heat related.
Priyank was able to clear things up for me and have found Anil is a Sanskrit word, meaning ‘air’.
‘Air’ is a metaphor used to denote speed, sublimity, omnipresence etc, is name of the God of Wind, but all those are interpretations only (and not the meaning itself!)
Many in India find it confusing that a ‘Muslim’ (assumed since I’m Turkish) has a Hindi name. As far as I can tell the origin of the name in Turkish is murky at best and may have been brought over with one of the waves of Mongol conquerors of India. My name has influenced how people see me on my travel numerous times as do all of our names.
Finally, I got an email a while back from a reader congratulating me on my Lonely Planet award. Unfortunately, it’s not me. The author of that travel blog Windy Skies (the winner of the 2009 Lonely Planet Best Travelogue), Anil P., is consequently Indian.
[photo by: drtchock]
