A Mexico City layover - 3 stories

So cows do fly... at Mexico City Airport
creative commons image shifted on Flickr

Mexico City – All the Fun You Can Have in 10 Hours - Jack and Jill Travel
Heading to the main city square is a great starting point if you don't know much about your surprise stopover/layover city.

Long layover sucks. On the way to New York from South America, we had a 10 hour layover in Mexico City. We decided to get out of the airport to enjoy a little bit of the city since it definitely beats moping around at the airport. In Latin America, a lot of fun things can be found around the main plaza. So naturally, we took a taxi to Zocalo – the main plaza in Mexico City... [read their story].

5 Things I Learned From My 18 Hour Layover in Mexico City - Points Summary
To get the feel of a city, start your layover by travelling like a local, on pubic transit!

This past week, I was in Mexico City for 18 hours as part of my Mexico City and Santiago mileage run vacation. When I arrived at Mexico City Airport, I said screw the 280 MXN (~$21 USD) taxi and took the subway from the airport instead. The subway from Mexico City Airport to the city-center only cost 3 pesos ~ $0.23 USD with unlimited transfers... [read the story]

Long Layover in Mexico City - Money Left for Travel
It's a great way to see more of the world: taking a cheaper airfare with long stopovers in cities you might not otherwise visit...

In order to save quite a bit of money on airfare, we took a very long layover in Mexico City. We decided to go out and see another city for essentially no travel expenses. I did quite a bit of reading about Mexico City which started to make me question my decision of going out and exploring the city. I kept reading about kidnappings and violence. Luckily there were some travel blogs that made me feel comfortable with our initial decision to venture out. In the end... [read the story].

Quotable quotes
"I recommend sleeping in jail before sleeping in Mexico City's airport" - Sleeping in Airports

Related resources
Mexico City: An Insider's Guide - Wendy Perrin
Seven reasons to visit Mexico City - Everyday Tourist
Mexico City Layover Ideas and Things to Do in Mexico City
Mexico City Benito Juárez International Airport transportation guide

Travel gear: bug off!

If you're travelling, or planning to do so soon, you may be thinking about the Zika warnings, and wondering what you can do to protect yourself from the bugs.

HuffPost Travel offers a helpful overview, What to Pack if You're Traveling to a Zika Virus Zone. It even has a net hood that they try to make look sporting. All kidding aside, it's a good overview, so start there.

For fashion and function, here are a few product reviews of bug un-unfriendly gear from around the web:

ExOfficio BugsAway Shirts for Men

Perhaps the best known of bug-resistant clothing, ExOfficio is the first place many are turning to of late.

Johnny Jet reviews the ExOfficio BugsAway Collection, and shares his 3 top picks for men's shirts...   [read more on Johnny Jet]

ExOfficio Bugs Away Products for Women

Practical Travel Gear has detailed reviews of several BugsAway products, including 2 for women:

ExOfficio BugsAway Leilani Multi-Way Dress and Lumen Wrap

ExOfficio BugsAway Ziwa Convertible Pants for Women

Columbia Sportswear Bug Resistant Gear
This field-test and review of the Columbia Sportswear Bug Shield Jacket, featuring its Insect Blocker technology (today's version is just called Insect Blocker) was done complete with "stupefying quantities of Minnesota’s nonofficial state bird, the blood-sucking mosquito" [read more on Gear Junkie]


Repellents, Traps, Tarps and more

Mosquito Repellents That Best Protect Against Zika - Consumer Reports
Mosquito Repellent Reviews
Mosquito Trap Reviews
Mesh-Wall Tarp Gives ‘Oasis’ From Bugs While Camping


Related resources
Pope suggests contraception can be condoned in Zika crisis
What You Need to Know About the Zika Virus
Zika Virus: Prevention - CDC
Medical concerns while travelling
8 travel gear blogs you should be reading

A Portland layover - 3 stories

Beautiful Portland Oregon
creative commons image tonymoore on Flickr

The best 6 hour layover - Shannon Brown
The MAX train from Portland Airport makes a layover in this funky time a breeze. Why not on the way to Hawaii?

One of the coolest parts of our recent trip to Maui was that we were able to fit in a stop to Portland, courtesy of a 6 hour layover in our itinerary. It was like two trips in one! We made plans to meet up with our dear friends in downtown Portland for lunch. Scott and I hopped on the MAX at the airport and enjoyed the 40 minute ride into downtown. Can I just tell you . . . being back in that city just puts a huge smile on my face and fills my heart... [read Shannon's story]

Love the layover: at play in Portland, Oregon - Stuck at the Airport
Harriet Baskas writes about airports and layovers all over the USA, but this time it's a coming home of sorts, when she stops by Portland...

It’s always a bit strange for me to spend time in Portland, Oregon. It’s the first city I lived in when I moved out west and it’s the city now portrayed in a fun and fractured way in the IFC show Portlandia and in Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors, a book that claims to describe “all that this magical, dreamy city has to offer.” This visit I was a guest of Travel Portland – and most definitely a tourist.. [read Harriet's story].

Layover in Portland, Oregon - Kaleidoscope Flux
Granted Ionatan's layover in Portland was on a Greyhound bus journey, but who said all layovers have to be associated with airport travel?

I was fortunate enough to experience a 5-hour layover in what has been routinely called America's greenest city. One of the world's most environmentally-conscious cities in terms of land-use planning, Portland represents a fascinating blend of traditional port-based industry with alternative lifestyles and liberal politics. As the third most populous city in the Pacific Northwest, Portland provides everything from historical landmarks to world-renown rose gardens. As a town built on port industry, it provides all the right grunge. Below are some photos from my layover; never have I been so happy to have to wait for a bus... [read Ionatan's story]. 

Related resources
12 hours in Portland - 12 Hour Guides
The Layover List: Portland, Oregon - Flight Attendant Joe
'Portlandia' tour of Portland
The 420 from PDX
Portland Layover Ideas and Things to do in Portland
Portland OR International Airport (PDX) transportation guide

Romantic layover ideas

Buenos Aires: Aeropuerto Internacional
Ministro Pistarini - Corazones Argentinos
"Corazones Argentinos", part of
 Corazones Vivos 2006,
designed by artist Daniel Ontiveros. EZE

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we've scoured the planet for tours and activities with a romantic twist. So, whether you are inspired, horrified or just amused, here's what we found:
Best Private Tour: Bologna In Love Walking Tour
Private Romantic Gold Coast Gondola Dinner Cruise for Two
Private Tour to Tunnel of Love from Kiev
Paris Hotel Romantic Set-Up
Moonlight ride by Ninebot - New generation of Segway - Rome
Overnight Private Tour: Romantic Kumarakom and Alleppey Houseboat Tour with Candlelight Dinner - Kochi, India
9-Night Romantic Private Tour of Athens, Santorini and Peloponnese Coast
Win Your Heart Picnic on the Beach in Phuket
Proposal in Paris
Proposal in Quito
Western Style Wedding Ceremony in Phuket
Get Married on Vacation (Gulf of Mexico beach, Tampa)
Civil Wedding Ceremony on a Miami Beach
Private Wedding Cruise on Monterey Bay
Married Over Manhattan: Helicopter Wedding in New York City
World Famous Drive-Up Wedding in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Wedding at the Graceland Wedding Chapel
Elvis Wedding at Graceland Wedding Chapel
Elvis Wedding Ceremony Package
Las Vegas Wedding at A Special Memory Wedding Chapel
Las Vegas Limousine Wedding Ceremony
Las Vegas Limousine Wedding Package
City of Lights Wedding or Vow Renewal
Helicopter Wedding Ceremony Over the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Night Flight Helicopter Wedding Ceremony
Grand Canyon Wedding or Vow Renewal
Grand Canyon Helicopter Wedding
Grand Canyon Helicopter Wedding or Vow Renewal
Valley of Fire Wedding or Vow Renewal
Valley of Fire Wedding by Private Limousine
Destination Wedding: Valley of Fire Ceremony
Destination Wedding: Red Rock Canyon Ceremony
Paris Eiffel Tower Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony with Photo-shoot
Paris Eiffel Tower Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony with Photo-shoot and Video-shoot
Paris Luxembourg Gardens Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony with Photo-shoot
Paris Luxembourg Gardens Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony with Photo-shoot and Video-shoot
Vows Renewal Package in Cancun
Renew Your Wedding Vows in Florence
Renew Your Wedding Vows in Paris

Related resources
Looking for love on a layover
Pilots Do Hook Up With Flight Attendants, Say Flight Attendants
How to Field Marriage Proposals while Traveling - Love at First Layover

A New York City layover - 3 stories

The Manhattan skyline from the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg
creative commons image, Travel Junction on Flickr

A hipster's extended layover in New York City - Curiosity Travels
On Jessica Wray's 30 hour NYC layover with friends, the 3 managed to fit in beverages on more than one open air rooftop bar with a view.

After a short but scenic ferry ride, we arrived in Williamsburg to check out the rooftop bar at the Wythe Hotel. Housed in a refurbished historic factory, the hotel itself is a hip place to be and the rooftop even more so. We spent a couple of hours enjoying IPAs on the outside patio with the NY skyline just across the water... [read Jessica's article]

24 Hours: New York City - Nicholas Andriani
A confessed introvert, writer Nicholas Andriani, more inclined to wilderness than cities, describes the appeal of New York City during a short visit.

Take a taxicab or Uber, your choice, to the Jane Hotel. Built in 1908 for sailors docking in Manhattan, the Jane Hotel offers historic, cabin-like berths for single and double occupancy... [read Nicholas' story]

What to do on an 11 hour layover in NYC - Adam Atmtx
Lots of lessons learned, inspiration and incredible photographs in Adam's timeless blog post about his 2012 New York layover. From JFK, he fit in both a trip to Manhattan and the transit museum in Brooklyn.

I took the Air Train from the Airport to the Howard Beach subway station. There I waited 30+ minutes until the A train arrived. Surprisingly, it was nearly 9am until I got the World Trade Center station in lower Manhattan. Chalk it up to a couple of detours and transfers to get around some subway maintenance... [read Adam's story]

Related resources
Layover Ideas and Things to Do in New York City
New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) transportation guide
New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) transportation guide
New York Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) transportation guide
New NYC Airports blog for aviation buffs

Layover idea: crude oil bath

Baku old domed roof tops on the "Haji banu" (Bath House)
creative commons image, good_day on Flickr

Azerbaijan luxury spa treatment: crude oil bath.

While the treatment may sound odd to Westerners, the treatment has long considered to be therapeutic. Having performed ablutions in oil since the 6th century BC, Azeris claim the ritual heals everything from impotence to skin complaints.

While Naftalan crude oil is too heavy for normal export uses (unlike Azerbaijan's plentiful Caspian Sea oil), it contains about 50 percent naphthalene, a hydrocarbon that is the active ingredient in coal tar soaps, which are used to treat psoriasis. As such, it is only used for medicinal purposes. People using the oil generally sit in a bath and are covered in oil up to their necks. There are numerous petroleum spas in the city of Naftalan itself. While the naphthalene in the oil is claimed to give it therapeutic properties, Western experts say it, and bathing in crude oil in general, might actually be carcinogenic.

Listed as #4 on the Telegraph Travel's list of the city's 10 weirdest tourist attractions, Baku, Azerbaijan is a good place to try it. "It’s a popular therapy amongst the oil-igarchs and their wives, and the carcinogens are overlooked," points out the Telegraph.

Want to take the oily dip? Here are some options:

• So You Wanna Do the Oil Baths? Shani Backstrom shares her experience, along with do-it-yourself tips, in her blog, The Iceberg Mosaics
• Private Tour: 2 Day Baku Tour with World's Unique Crude Oil Spa
• Private Tour: 3 Day Baku Tour with World's Unique Crude Oil Spa and Cooking Class
• Private Tour: 4 day Baku and Shemakha Tour with World's Unique Crude Oil Spa and Azerbaijan Cuisine Cooking Class

A little history:
Archaeological findings in the region date to the 12th century AD. The qualities of Naftalan oil has been known since early times; Marco Polo noted them. The oil in the area was known to people as far as China and India, and was traded by caravans throughout countries of the Near East. Modern use of the oil has dated to the 1870s under Czarist Russia. Oh, the baths have also been featured on The Amazing Race.

Travel tip: Baku is home to the Museum of the Dwarf Book, and the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum.

Related resources
Bathe Like An Oligarch At Azerbaijan’s Oil Spas - Travel + Leisure
Take a crude bath in Baku - Men's Journal
Crude Oil Spas of Naftalan, Azerbaijan - Amusing Planet
Things to do in Azerbaijan
Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport transportation guide

Christmas layover cheer

Perchance you find yourself travelling over the holidays, with a layover on Christmas, we are sending along this little bit of cheer. Make the most of whatever you have, wherever you are.

Merry Christmas!

creative commons image, click for source info