The Best Comments Of March And April 2011
Due to the hectic March madness travel contest a few weeks back (congratulations again Porto), I wasn’t able to highlight the best comments from last month. So, today for this last post of April, I’m combining the last 8 weeks for a bonus look at the best comments from March…and April.
- Guilia who nominated Cairo in The Best City To Visit Travel Tournament tells us a bit about what the city was like in the aftermath of Egypt’s uprising.
- Those of you using a Windows desktop back at home for computer support should take this bit of Rich Polanco‘s advice.
- Betsey highlights one of the best aspects of a best city contest.
- Istanbul’s Basilica Cistern seems to be everywhere, even on an episode of The Bachelorette – thanks Sara Gabrakirstos!
- AirTreks Nico has a great wind-up car analogy for travel I think you’ll enjoy.
Turkey’s For Life brings up a good point – I wonder how many world adventure ideas came up over a few too many drinks?
- Barbara Weibel tells us to get lost (in a nice way) to enhance the travel experience whereas Nomadic Chick (and me included) simply can’t help it – either way it works!
- Tijmen asks and Jose answers – a good example of how blog comments bring foXnoMad, and all of you, together to travel smarter.
- Thanks Natalie for sparking the idea to do a live feed of the Iraq talk Wandering Earl and I will be doing in Vancouver at the beginning of June. (Anyone who will be around is invited to hear us chat about traveling in Iraq plus hang out with tea and shisha. We’ll also announce details about the video feed closer to the talk.)
- Skott and Shawna wanted to know where I get all of my contest prizes…here’s the answer.
My sincere thanks to everyone who left a comment over the past two months. Good conversation, advice, and laughs below each post so if you haven’t already, check out the comments from time to time or leave one yourself. If you’re shy, start by saying “hi” right on this very article to get things rolling 
[second photo by: !WOUW!]
2 To 4 Minutes In Dubai
Dubai, the concrete emirate on steroids in the United Arab Emirates, tends to get stretched out into 24, 48, 96 hours or longer when it comes to travel advice. In a city where everything is larger than normal (even the most inconsequential buildings seem 3 times the size required), why not do the opposite.
Overload your senses before you arrive in Dubai, only to have them shocked again on your 24, 48 hour, or however-long trip to the city that sees over 10 million tourists each year.
Really Big Buildings
Every piece of modern architecture in Dubai seems like it was built with the express purpose of outdoing another (now former) Dubai wonder. For many, the first image to come to mind is the Burj Al Arab – that iconic sailboat overlooking the popular Jumierah beach. Under the imposing luxury of the Burj Al Arab you can surf, get a tan, or simply relax from the steel intensity you tend to find everywhere else.
Dubai Beachwear For Women – Ladies, bikinis and swimsuits are acceptable when laying out to get a tan; however when up and about on the beach a sarong wrapped to cover top and bottom was the norm. (Gourmantic has good information on what to wear for women visiting Dubai.) I also wouldn’t recommend getting romantic in public if you know what I mean.
The Wild Wadi Water Park also happens to be right next to the Jumierah Hotel, of which I inadvertently got an extensive tour of. Having to use the bathroom somewhere, they let me in and a worker escorted me to the toilets on the other side of the park. The way back took around an hour though, as I got an unexpected (yet detailed) tour of over-the-top park by an employee who wasn’t too keen on getting back to work.
I never went in the Burj Al Arab myself; the least expensive way to visit (you must have an invitation) being to book a reservation at one of the hotel restaurants. Spending $50 for a cup of coffee to see a hotel I wouldn’t pay $1,100 a night to stay in didn’t appeal to me personally; though not to put you off, those of you interested will need to book any restaurant reservations an average of 5 days in advance.
The World’s Tallest Building (Soon To Be Third)
Although the Burj Al Arab might be the most famous building in Dubai, right across from the Address Downtown Building and the popular Dubai Mall, is the world’s largest building. The Burj Khalifa stands 828 meters (~2,700 feet) and there is a 3-5 day wait to get entry tickets. It costs about $50 to reach the top of the world’s largest building – a distinction that the Burj Khalifa won’t have for long. Kuwait is currently building the 1,001m Madinat al-Hareer and the Saudi’s plan to beat that several years later with the proposed 1,600m Mile-High Tower.
The park (yes, it’s concrete too) surrounding the Burj Khalifa, next to Dubai Mall, is full of bustling cafes active well into the weekend nights, with the occasional concert or other free event popping up as well.
Travelers with children might also want to check out the aquarium in Dubai Mall which has a number of hands on displays and plenty of sharks up close to keep things interesting.
Take A Ride To Dubai’s Spice Souk
Not quite as built up or obviously in a modern facade as Doha, Qatar’s Souk Waqif, Dubai’s Spice Souq comes as a refreshing reminder that there are layers of reality under the constructed tourism industry all around.
The shopkeepers were fairly subdued with the occasional “yes, please” you’ll find in this part of the world, and although the prices are hardly bargains, the boat ride over for the ambiance more than makes the trip worthwhile.
- Those of you reading via email will need to click here to view the video below.
Stuff Yourself Before You Digest
Dubai is a destination that comes at you…and fast. Literally a city designed for tourism from the bottom up, it has every tourist draw in abundance. Shopping in gold souks new and old, any cuisine on Earth, and adventure that lets you shoot desert sand into the skies with 4x4s of all shape and size. Dubai has it for you – pardon the cliche, but most of the tourist infrastructure is created to keep the city running on tourism. In fact, that’s why Dubai is there in a sense, to let you shop and drop while supporting its economy as it moves away from dwindling oil reserves.
How To Protect Your Laptop From Invasive Governments As You Travel Across Borders
As you learned yesterday, you don’t have to be traveling to China or Cuba to have your laptop inspected, downloaded, or confiscated without probable cause or justification. Many countries around the world leave your rights (digital and otherwise) in gray areas right outside of their borders. To even the odds however you can protect your privacy while traveling around the world with a few simple rules and tech tools.
And while you might not be worried about what governments will do with your data, you ought to be concerned with how they might lose store it.
Brush Up On The Rules
It’s important to understand your digital rights in the free world and beyond, because the truth of the matter is that most countries view your laptop, mobile phone, iPad, and other electronic devices as imports. This means both physically and digitally they can be inspected for virtually any reason or not; yet what might constitute a problem in one country might not be so in another. Bringing your porn to Australia isn’t a good idea and you probably don’t want these books on your Kindle depending on where you’re traveling.
- Those of you traveling to the US should remember that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees are not authorized to inspect the contents of your laptop or digital equipment. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can however. (Though their blue uniforms are difficult to differentiate at first glance.)
Governments don’t typically post their digital restrictions online so you’ll have to do some specific digging if you’re concerned or take the following advice to cover your tracks – using shotgun approach.
Change Your Folder And File Names
Lots of times at airport security you’re asked to fire up your laptop so a folder on your desktop labeled “My wild weekend in Cancun photos” isn’t the best idea. (Especially if you’re going to Australia.) Keeping your desktop clean, with any questionable files generically named elsewhere, is generally enough to get you past routine border scrutiny.
- Separate Your Passwords – This bit of computer security isn’t just good against invasive governments but for all of your online accounts as well. Having worked as a computer security consultant for years, I can tell you the first thing that happens when your (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Windows login, etc.) is compromised. That password will be tried on all of your other accounts and if you’re like more than 70% of the population; that same password means your email and other accounts are hacked too.
As you never know what may happen to your passwords if you’re forced to give them up (or the recordings of you doing so), keeping your accounts isolated and your personal files out of obvious sight are good computer common sense.
- Give Up Passwords And Still Maintain Privacy – The free program Truecrypt lets you create hidden, encrypted folders – protecting your files even if you have to give up a password. (Here’s a quick tutorial on setting up hidden folders.)
- USB Drive – Truecrypt also works on USB drives, yet another good place to stash away your files out of obvious sight.
Scientists Be Weary – There is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence to suggest that travelers who work or have backgrounds in the “hard” sciences (e.g. physics, biology, etc.) and engineers are scrutinized disproportionately more than other tourists at airports around the world.
Business travelers may also want to consider using encryption to protect trade or company secrets when traveling abroad. Although in the US, technically labeling something as “confidential” gives you some added protection, it’s a bit like keeping a jar on your kitchen counter labeled “do not eat these cookies”.
Leave It At Home
We keep quite a bit of lives on our hard drives but no border security can find what you’ve left behind. Sensitive company files, important photos, and anything else you’d like to protect can’t be confiscated if they’re not with you in the first place. When in doubt leave that data behind and access it later with some creative use of a desktop.
[photos by: TheGiantVermin (puppy on laptop), Chaymation (book monkey), a.funk (girl with cookie jar)]
Understanding Your Digital Rights As A Traveler In The Free World
When talking about Internet censorship or unwarranted laptop searches, most travelers’ greatest concerns are before heading to the Middle East, China, or parts of southeast Asia. Although many countries in these regions of the world (among others) are digitally restrictive to put it mildly, you might not know that the United States, most of the European Union, Australia are other democratic nations can leave your digital rights at the door border.
Maintaining your privacy isn’t about hiding things you shouldn’t be doing, it’s a fundamental human right that is often disregarded in the name of security. You might be thinking, “we’ll, I’ve got nothing to hide” but who watches the watchers – besides, wouldn’t you rather decide who sees your travel photos from Mexico?
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety”. – Benjamin Franklin
Why You Should Care
According to government figures, in the US alone, more than 6,800 electronics devices (mostly laptops and mobile phones) were confiscated, searched, or downloaded for further analysis upon entry into the country since 2009. Roughly half of those searched were US citizens, without probable cause nor authorized by a search warrant. However, all travelers entering the US and many other first-world democracies are subject to the same (lack) of restrictions. Though these are specific examples from the US, many other countries in the free world get around their legal privacy protections by using some version of the Supreme Court authorized “border search exception”.
Basically, this “allows searches of individuals and property entering the United States without probable cause or a warrant.” United States v. Ramsey, 431 U.S. 606 (1977).
You might be subject to a hard drive search the next time you land in London or Sydney and if you’re protecting computer before heading to Beijing, you’ll want to do the same for those places as well.
Your Passwords Don’t Mean A Thing
Even if you’re using one of these free programs to protect your data against thieves and governments, they won’t do you much good if you’re asked to give up a password. In places like New Zealand, Germany, the US and others you might not have expected, refusing to divulge your password can be equivalent to breaking the law and subject you to a fine, hassle, or a flight right back home.
This Friday I’ll teach you a number of ways to protect your (decent and those spring break college variety) travel photos – even within the 7 days some governments can legally confiscate your laptop…for no reason whatsoever.
Protecting Traveler Rights
Some of you may be reading this and thinking I’m helping terrorists and child molesters fly around the world freely while dismissing world governments’ efforts to protect their citizens. The problem is that often digital border searches and electronic confiscations are done without justification or quite questionably in the free world – much like in places digitally weary travelers tend to focus on like China or Russia for example.
The legal slopes not in your favor as a traveler – more of our lives are on digital devices, and it’s increasingly easy to have your laptop or mobile phone scanned for further analysis after you leave the airport. Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to even the odds against any government that might decide to take your hard drive out for an unwarranted spin.
[photos by: juicyrai (man on laptop in airport), binaryCoco (padlock), hans s (scales)]
