My parents and I depart today for Baja California. A month long driving adventure taking the ferry over to Mazatlan from the Peninsula.
This is not the first time we’ve driven to Mexico. New … I’m taking my mountain bike.
Adios.
Category: travel
overcoming inertia – Rick on the ROAD again
…I got a fast car
and I wanna a ticket to anywhere … ♬♬
Here’s my new-to-me 1996 Honda Civic hatchback. My first vehicle in 11yrs.
I asked an expert to test drive. Just to make sure it’s road worthy.
Departing for Couer d’Alene, Idaho today.
Leave a comment if you want to speculate on how long I’ll last with a motor vehicle.
new Canadian airline security rules
Funny.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Thanks George.
Gymnast Kyle Shewfelt will be on the Mercer Report this coming Tuesday.
too fat to fly?
The airlines are back peddling on regulations requiring obese passengers to purchase two seats.
The backlash was:
That’s so UNFAIR. They are PREJUDICED against fat chicks!
Here’s how Air France reacted to the bad press:
… Overweight passengers can already buy an extra one with a 25% discount, but from 1 February, this will be refunded if their flight is not full.
It also confirmed that, in common with other airlines, an obese traveller could be prevented from flying.
This was to ensure a flight can be evacuated within 90 seconds …
beautiful Vancouver time lapse
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(via BluePeak)
used Honda Civic hatchback ??
Finally getting on the vehicle search.
Looking first at my favourite vehicle, used, for less than $2000. … Something like this:
Anne tells me to buy in Canada so I can get it quickly licensed and insured. For a vehicle this long in the tooth, I’ll need to test drive in Calgary.
sick of airline baggage fees? … FedEx your luggage
My buddy Andy routinely ships his mountain bike box by FedEx. He was astonished how much easier and cost effective it was than trying to send it as luggage.
… Consider: a single 25-pound suitcase or shipment from Boston to San Francisco by FedEx Ground costs about $31 vs. $23-$25 on Delta or nothing on Southwest.
But once that suitcase weighs over 50 pounds, excess charges kick in on the airlines, even on Southwest: you’d pay $56 for a 55-lb. bag using USPS on that same Boston-San Francisco trip, but twice that on Delta, which adds an extra $90 fee each way for bags weighing over 50 pounds. Even Southwest will charge you $50 each way.
And if your bag is both heavy and oversized (larger than 61-62 linear inches), you’ll get hit with triple jeopardy on some airlines: a fee for the first bag, plus an overweight fee, plus an oversized fee. Such a bag might cost nearly $300 on Delta on a trip from Los Angeles to Seattle vs. under $40 via FedEx Ground. …
airfarewatchdog – Airline baggage fees chart, updated
more – Trick, repack and rethink your way around the new luggage fees
=== UPDATE from Dana:
When I came back to Vegas after 4.5 months in Canada, I used Canada post to send my extra bags. It cost me $170 CAD. Had I flown with the bags (5 extra) it would have cost me $725 on ScAir Canada/United. They also charged me an extra $10 per bag that I was traveling with, because I didn’t check in on line. Which you are not able to do when traveling with an infant. What a crock.
ps – my bags arrived in 8 days
Backpacker Travel Insurance
Top 5 companies as rated by WikidTravel:
Direct Travel (Option 4)
Insure and Go (Gold)
Direct Line
Down Under
World Nomads
I’ve bought from World Nomads. … But they are the most expensive option.
I’ll shop around next time.
fastest way to learn a new language
Masons got Rosetta Stone software for Christmas. We’ve been learning French every day since.
Here’s one of their TV commercials.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rosetta Stone is interactive language learning software that teaches a new language by immersion, rather than translation and memorization drills. Learn more …
It works. It’s painless. Easy. Almost fun.
But it’s not cheap. Over $200 just to get started. Almost $500 for the complete French kit.
searching for a used vehicle – CHEAP
It doesn’t have to be great. But I need to drive it to Mexico.
Leave a comment if you know of something that might suit me.
Rick McCharles 
