Month: August 2022

Around 4,000 years ago, this pale, hard-packed spit of Iraqi desert was the center of civilisation. Today the ruins of the great city of Ur, once an administrative capital of Mesopotamia, now sit in a barren wasteland near Iraq’s most notorious prison. In the shadow of the towering prison fences, Abo Ashraf, the self-proclaimed caretaker of the archaeological site, and a handful of tourists are the only signs of life for miles. At the end of a long wooden walkway, an impressive ziggurat is nearly all that remains of the ancient Sumerian metropolis.

To get here, I’d been packed into the backseat of a taxi hurtling through the desert for hours, until I began to see the city’s famed monument looming in the distance: the Ziggurat of Ur, a 4,100-year-old massive, tiered shrine lined with giant staircases. A tall chain link fence barricading the entrance and a paved parking lot

As you count down the days to your end-of-summer trip, you might find your pre-vacation giddiness is actually overshadowed by stress. There’s a heap of chores to manage before traveling: After you arrange your time out of officeyou’ll have to prepare your home for your absence and make sure it’s secure. Then there’s figuring out what to packnot to mention fitting it all into your suitcase.

But all those tricky logistics are so much easier to tackle once you’ve put together a comprehensive set of to-dos, along with a smart packing list.

The tips below will make your vacation a walk in the park. Or, preferably, a walk on the beach.

Packing list essentials most people don’t think about

A few small additions to your suitcase can minimize hassle and maximize comfort when you’re traveling. Here are some essentials you probably already have in your home.

(CNN) — The future of environmentally friendly travel might just be here — and it’s Germany that’s leading the charge, with the first ever rail line to be entirely run on hydrogen-powered trains, starting from Wednesday.

Fourteen hydrogen trains powered by fuel cell propulsion will exclusively run on the route in Bremervörde, Lower Saxony. The 93 million euro ($92.3 million) deal has been struck by state subsidiary Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Lower Saxony (LVNG), the owners of the railway, and Alstom, builders of the Coradia iLint trains. The Elbe-Weser Railways and Transport Company (EVB), which will operate the trains, and gas and engineering company Linde, are also part of the project.

The trains, five of which which debut Wednesday, will gradually replace the 15 diesel trains that currently run on the route, with all 14 running exclusively by the end of the year. Just 1 kilo of hydrogen fuel can do the same

No. 1 happiest travel destination: Bali, Indonesia

(CNN) — On an average day, more than 200,000 flights take off and land across the world. That includes commercial, cargo and charter planes — which account for about half of the total — as well as business jets, private aircraft, helicopters, air ambulances, government and military aircraft, drones, hot air balloons and gliders.

Most of them are equipped with a transponder, a device that communicates the aircraft’s position and other flight data to air traffic control, and that signal can be captured with inexpensive receivers based on a technology called ADS-B, for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast. That’s what flight-tracking websites do in a nutshell, providing users with a real-time snapshot of everything that’s in the sky (minus a few exceptions).

An ADS-B receiver manufactured by Flightradar24.

Courtesy Flightradar24

The US government has issued another travel warning about multiple areas in Mexico.

Americans are urged by the Department of State to avoid travel to Baja California and the nearby Mexican towns of Tijuana, Ensenada, and Rosarito. They also share that the US government will not be able to assist American citizens if they experience crime while traveling in Mexico.

The advisory states: “Violent crime — such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery — is widespread and common in Mexico. The US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens in many areas of Mexico.”

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador says in a statement about the recent increase in crime, that cartel and gang members “attacked the civilian, innocent population like a sort of revenge. It wasn’t just a clash between two groups, but it got to the point

While some workers return to the office this year, many others continue to work remotely indefinitely. This seismic shift has changed where people live and work and, increasing, how they travel.

In the first quarter of 2022, nearly 25% of job postings at the 50,000 largest companies in the US and Canada were for permanently remote positions, according to the job listing service Ladders. That’s up from a mere 4% before the pandemic.

“It has enabled us to extend trips, leave early and work different hours,” says Kirsten Reckman, a credit risk manager based in Tampa, Florida, who works remotely. “My boss is very accommodating as long as the work gets done.”

Reckmen’s experience reflects a larger trend. One in five travelers this summer plan to do work on the road, according to a report from Deloitte, an international professional services network. Of these so-called “laptop luggers,” 4 in