Egyptian children join the protests.

It seems wrong to ignore what’s going on in Egypt in favor of lighter travel fare. It’s still too early to tell how this attempt by Egyptian citizens at a revolution will end, and everyone is hoping for a peaceful solution. Here’s a short collection of some of the better coverage of Egypt’s unrest:

-The mood in Egypt remained tense this morning, and in the words of New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell, it felt “less like the day after a protest, and more like a brief pause.” He takes a video snapshot of a city in chaos, and finds that tourists, incredibly, can still be seen on the streets of Cairo.

-There’s also a powerful slideshow of photos from the Times’ coverage here.

-The Washington Post reports that Egyptian troops seem to be taking a hands-off approach to protesters.

-The Wall Street Journal reports on a small rally in support of the protesters in Astoria, Queens.

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Along with robots, maid cafes, and individual behavior within the anonymity of crowds, slides are among those things that are better in Japan than they are here in the U.S.

Witness this slide in Jagatani Park, in Tamana. I just took a trip to Japan this summer and now I want to go back immediately. I would plan a day around this slide.

Video by YouTube user tslammah has been around a while, but it’s too good not to share here.

If you see something, say something.

TSA officials must be breathing a sigh of relief that for once, headline-making bone-headed security overreaches can’t be tied to them. Airport security drones in Gatwick, England, stopped Canadian Ken Lloyd at the checkpoint when he tried to board with a toy soldier he had just purchased at a museum in Blandford. It seems the officials considered the soldier’s three-inch toy gun to be a “firearm,” and forced Lloyd and his wife to ship the toy back home, or not board the plane.

People, if we continue to live in fear and not allow three-inch toy guns on planes, then Cobra has already won.

Timothy John at the Bournemouth Echo has the full story here.

Arrival and Luquillo

Photo copyright Puerto Rico Day Trips.com

There was a point well after I arrived in Puerto Rico where I felt like I had finally left the United States behind and arrived in the Caribbean.

It might have been in the rental car after we left the highway to Luquillo and began the twisty drive up into the El Yunque rain forest, or maybe it was after we’d arrived at our guest house in the mountains, and sat on the small deck to watch the sun set over waves of tropical treetops.

That’s not to say that modern San Juan and its familiar avenues, chain stores and access to the island’s extensive highway system are somehow less Puerto Rican, but they’re more familiar. And it’s that blend of the culturally distinct and those elements that are indelibly American that makes a trip to Puerto Rico so rewarding. It’s a constant reminder of the island’s historical and cultural ties to the mainland, and on my first visit, it felt a little like meeting a cousin I’d never taken the time to get to know.

I aimed to make up for lost time, and my travel partner, Hilary, and I had a little over a week to do so. Our itinerary was packed – Luquillo in the east; the El Yunque rainforest; the port city of Fajardo; the recently-turbulent island of Vieques; then double-back around the northern half of the main island toward the Arecibo observatory for a geekout pause; on to Rincon for swimming and jetskiing; and finally to San Juan in time for New Year’s Eve in town. With all that ahead of us, we saved the big city luxury for the end, and headed straight to the beach.

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Photo copyright John Giuffo

The desktop tropical daydream – we’re all guilty of it.

It’s a winter afternoon near the end of the workday, the sun is setting while we’re still at our desks, the clock slows in that fluid way it tends to at these times, and we somehow find our browsers pointed to Lonely Planet and Orbitz. There are beaches in other parts of the world where people are swimming and jetskiing, taunting smiles painted on their faces, tropical drinks in hand, and your fingers are reminding you that you want to be one of them.

Winter can be an oppressive mistress. While the forced time indoors can be good for creativity and productivity, coaxing us to stay in and work, the lack of sunlight can be too much to bear after a while. When the glow of the holidays fades away, and there are still months of cold ahead, the warm, clear waters of the islands to the south call to us.

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