Travel Tips

What are the consequences of getting a positive drug result when your bags are swabbed at the airport?

12/7/2021 5:19:15 PM I don’t know the specifics for Turkey, but let’s start from the beginning… First, in most countries, people are not swabbed for drugs at random (and even less systematically). Random swabs for explosives at security (on departure) are common, but not for drugs at customs (on arrival). Sniffer dogs in the baggage […]

Why doesn't British Airways sell six seats in the rear of the plane?

7/18/2013 12:56:16 PM On long haul flights there are often seats reserved for crew rest. One crew works 5 hours or so then changes clothes and goes to those seats to eat, read, gossip and possibly sleep. The other crew, who was in those seats, changes and takes over duties. They use the very back […]

Hard Brexit and travel for UK citizens into Schengen countries in 2019

12/30/2018 10:26:30 PM You will certainly¹ not need a visa. The UK has declared it will not require visas for any EU nationals for short stays, and the EU has declared the same for the UK (see European Commission press release and Brexit preparedness document). However, from 2021 you will most likely need to apply […]

How to get a Turkmen transit visa in Iran?

How to get a Turkmen transit visa in Iran?

12/25/2014 10:57:54 AM I ended up applying for the visa at the embassy in Tehran and picked it up 7 days later in Mashhad. A few points: it was not ready after six days it wasn’t even ready on the morning of the 7th day, but after some phone calls from the guy at the […]

Did the international regulation for electronic devices during takeoff/landing of airplanes change?

5/12/2014 9:12:11 AM Yes, the regulations did change both in the US and in Europe. There is an older question about using a Kindle on flights, where I recently added an answer explaining the change of rules of both the FAA and the EASA. For your specific case with Swiss, the change by the EASA […]

How to find coworker space in Berlin as a tourist?

7/18/2013 10:27:30 AM Betahaus has a cafe, which is open to everyone, just like any other cafe. It’s a great place to go, hang out, and just meet random people. At the top of the building, they also have a big room with a bar that I have been once at an event. According to […]

Where (in Germany) is the landscape behind this newsreader, with a gazebo on a small, lush steep hill surrounded by higher, broader forested hills?

Where (in Germany) is the landscape behind this newsreader, with a gazebo on a small, lush steep hill surrounded by higher, broader forested hills?

11/22/2021 8:39:27 PM This is Are Castle (Burg Are) at Altenahr. Camera position is NE of the Castle. I’m not sure about the exact camera position, but the place is Are Castle for sure: Source: Axel Hindemith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons What happens behind the scenes when a EU COVID-19 vaccine certificate gets scanned? […]

Where to find out more about "ライダーハウス" / "riders' houses" in Japan?

Where to find out more about "ライダーハウス" / "riders' houses" in Japan?

4/17/2019 11:41:56 AM Riders’ houses are super-budget dorms, often run on a non-commercial hobbyist or community-supported basis, and not uncommonly entirely free. As the name says, the primary audience is bikers, both motorized and pedal-powered, but anybody is welcome. However, as they’ve often located in places that are hard to impossible to reach by public […]

What happens behind the scenes when a EU COVID-19 vaccine certificate gets scanned?

9/16/2021 8:21:59 PM The Certificate functions as follows: The EU Digital COVID Certificate contains a QR code with a digital signature to protect it against falsification. When the certificate is checked, the QR code is scanned and the signature verified. Each issuing body (e.g. a hospital, a test centre, a health authority) has its own […]

How can I tell if this Polish villa for rent is a scam?

How can I tell if this Polish villa for rent is a scam?

3/9/2018 2:22:23 PM I live in the Czech Republic, and using bank transfers to rent out a villa is pretty normal here. One idea I haven’t seen in the above answers is to find out who owns the property being rented. If you know someone who speaks Polish, a quick Google search found this website, […]

What is the procedure with people at CBP who cannot speak english

5/7/2014 8:01:17 PM Nothing to worry about, usually CBP staff will not need to speak a lot with the passengers (especially ones from EU), if they do, they will ask simple stuff like “Ticket” or something like this. Anyway, in case the CBP agent wants to speak with the passenger and the language was a […]

Text message delivery time from Europe to Asia

7/16/2013 3:28:24 PM If you are asking how much time international sms’s can take, I’d say about the same as local sms’s (provided of course both sender and receiver have network coverage). I have used free sms providers on the internet who have their base/servers/providers in the US and messages to countries like Tunisia, India […]

Why does London have 6 international airports?

Why does London have 6 international airports?

7/26/2021 12:10:57 PM The reason is history. Basically, when airports were built around London, the airplanes were still small enough that all you needed was a grass field and a barn as a hangar. When longer runways became necessary, there was little room left. So London is served by six smaller international airports with a […]

Swimwear customs on Côte d'Azur?

5/7/2014 3:04:22 PM I think that is very subjective as it is up to everyone to choose their style. Living on the Côte d’Azur, when I go to the beach, usually it is the older people that wear speedo-style swimwear, most of the young people wear shorts. The population is mixed so there are several […]

Road trip planning tool

7/20/2013 5:01:09 AM If you go to maps.google.com you have the options to make maps and collaborate with others. After you are logged in just click on “My Places” on the left column and then you can create a the map you want. If you are using the new google maps then you have to […]

Why do Prague streets use double street addresses?

7/4/2017 8:53:30 PM The upper number is the “descriptive number” (Czech: číslo popisné or č. p.) and is unique within each municipal part (in this case, Nové Město, Praha 1). Since descriptive numbers can be fairly large and since they’re generally assigned based on age (i.e. newer houses have higher numbers), they’re hard to use […]

Are there any retrocomputing museums in the former Eastern Bloc countries?

4/17/2022 12:28:40 PM Today I learned that the world lost such a museum in the destruction of Mariupol during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is a 2019 Gizmodo article and video on the museum, Club 8-bit Are there countries that bar nationals from traveling to certain countries? (Outbound travel ban) 4/24/2021 6:45:11 PM In […]

Are there countries that bar nationals from traveling to certain countries? (Outbound travel ban)

Are there countries that bar nationals from traveling to certain countries? (Outbound travel ban)

1/14/2021 6:09:07 PM India has an "Emigration Certificate" system that bars its nationals from travelling on work visas to certain countries, unless pre-approval has been granted. The background to this is that less-educated Indian citizens have been enticed to work abroad in menial jobs in countries with lax labour laws. Due to the pay differential […]

What does this traffic sign with a crossed-out black octagon mean?

What does this traffic sign with a crossed-out black octagon mean?

1/11/2017 4:53:58 PM This is the 5th sign on the “regulatory signs” section of the Ontario Drivers Handbook. As it says there: Do not stop in the area between the signs. This means you may not stop your vehicle in this area, even for a moment. (Used in pairs or groups.) This is far stricter […]

Calling USA from Schiphol (Amsterdam)

8/20/2016 8:32:17 PM You can call free of charge using Morse code. Neither side then answers the phone, you just let the phone ring. If the phone rings one time that’s a dot, if it rings twice that’s a dash. Now, as Zach Lipton points out in the comments, there may be a problem with […]

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