(From Road Trips for Families) A Schengen Visa is a short-stay visa allowing its holder to circulate in the Schengen area, which covers 26 countries without border controls between them. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. When you get a Schengen visa, you get a short-stay visa to 26 European countries. (I have been to countries in italics). A Schengen visa lets its holder stay in any of the “Schengen States” for 90 days. You can travel freely between the 26 Sc... read more

Admittedly, I have not been to a college fraternity reunion since the late 70s. But as we have all aged, I figured it was time to go, and see the fraternity brothers one more time. But no more flag football games! I lived in our fraternity house on the University of Pacific campus for 2.5 years, including my last semester before graduating. And I will be the first to tell you that whatever success I had in school was due to the fraternity. Why? My fraternity is a professional fraternity but had a big social element back in the late 60s. The plethora of test files (a vast collection of previous exams) and lecture notes pretty much ensured a passing grade or better on almost all exams. Our fraternity was founded back in 1883 at the ... read more

I forgot to send this back in November. I was golfing in Portugal back in 2002. Not long after 9-11, my buddy Mike and I went golfing in Spain and Portugal. We decided we were not going to let a bunch of terrorists dictate our lives and travel plans. We spent a week in Spain, on the Costa del Sol (Puerto Banus), and a week on the Algarve, with side trips, including Seville and Lisboa. Since then, I have returned to Spain, but not Portugal. Why has it taken so long to return? First, why is Lisbon called Lisboa by some people, me included? Many think it is just the translation from another language. Why is Christopher Columbus called Cristobal Colon in Spanish, Cristoforo Colombo in Italian, and Christophorus Columbus in Latin? In French, Lisbon is ... read more

What is the real truth about jet lag? Well, I know it is real, as I have suffered greatly over the years. And for a while, it got worse with age. One secret, which is not really a secret, is to time your flights to fit your sleep schedule. This, of course, assumes you can sleep on a plane or train. A red eye to the east coast was my normal flight for many years. I would have a nice dinner at home, take a little nap, shower, then head to the airport for a late night/early morning flight to Washington, DC, Boston, New York, or Hotlanta. But truth be known, I was not always at my best the next day, often falling asleep before, during, or after dinner! Another secret is that I am really ... read more

From the AP: Home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, Nepal has a history of air crashes. According to the Safety Matters Foundation's data, there have been 42 fatal plane crashes in Nepal since 1946. Six-eight died yesterday in the crash of the Yeti Air lfight. The country’s “hostile topography” and “diverse weather patterns” were the major challenges, according to a 2019 safety report from Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority, also resulting in a “number of accidents” to small aircraft. The report said such accidents happened at airports that had short strips of runway for takeoff and landing and most were due to pilot error. Yesterday's crash is yet another chapter in Nepal's poor track record. Their planes are not allowed to fly into the EU!!! Here are some brief notes I made when we ... read more