The Intentional Travelers

TSA Beware That Cute Sequined Top

A Cautionary Tale

My wife has a sequined top that she has worn while traveling a few times. There isn’t anything really metallic in the sequins and it has made its way through a number of airport metal detectors. But on a recent trip all hell seemed to break out over this top.

While we have never paid for pre-clearance we usually get pre-cleared on our boarding passes (not really sure why). Last year while passing thru the TSA Pre Check line my wife was directed to go thru the scanner. Feet on the marks, hands above her head and wait – and wait and something’s gone wrong. It seemed the agent scanned her several times and now she is pulled aside for a thorough search. What happened?

She was wearing that sequined top!

After that day and with a little research we discovered that TSA screening devices have a lot of issues with some types of women’s clothes. That splash of gold print on a T-Shirt can contain enough metal to set off the metal detector. The same with some attached beads. It seems that sequins can literally blind a scanner. Since often these things are part of the fabric, passing a wand over you cannot determine if it is the top you’re wearing or something concealed under it. Time for the big search.

A comment Submitted by Cindy M was found on the TSA website from Jan 2018 – “When the scanners were introduced I believed they were an improvement. Now however, I see that the machines don’t spot real problems. Instead they seem to be confused by a variety of normal things such as sequins, metal inks, and more embellishments on clothing.”

Why is it we have to dress for the TSA?! Actually you don’t, but you can expect to be delayed and/or inconvenienced. Especially if you ignore some simple tips that help TSA do their job efficiently. They do post a lot of information online that can help avoid these sort of issues. Unfortunately right now sequins aren’t one of those TSA online tips.

Best Airports For Connecting Flights

The Worlds Best And Worst Airports For Making Connecting Flights

Calculating airport time is always a major part of travel planning. Arriving an hour before your flight can often not be nearly enough time. When booking flights that include connections what’s the minimum time you need to make it to the next departure gate? Trying to avoid a tight connection could leave you with extra hours in the airport but missing the connection can cost a whole day. When booking a cruise or package tour often you are dependent on their booking office unless you’re willing to pay an up-charge.

After you’ve missed enough connections you start paying attention to which airports are the worst and which are the best for making those connections. In looking at reviews of airports there are some common threads that help define the best and worst. The better airports for connections have a high rate of on-time departures and arrivals, good layouts and internal transportation, well staffed security and passport checkpoints and a reputation for assisting people with tight connections. Following are the results of a 2019 study of airports and their connecting times.

Worst Airports For Making a Connecting Flight

Madrid Adolfo Suarez – Barajas Airport (MAD) +1.75 Hours
Frankfurt International (FRA): +1.5 Hours
London Heathrow (LHR): +1.5 Hours
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG): +1.25 Hours
Shanghai Pudong International (PVG): +1.2 Hours
Los Angeles International (LAX): +1 Hour
Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD): +1 Hour
Tokyo Narita International (NRT): +1 Hour
Boston Logan International (BOS): +1 Hou

Best Airports for Making a Connecting Flight

Zurich Airport (ZRH): <10 minutes
Salt Lake City International (SLC): <15 minutes
Tampa International (TPA): <15 minutes
Orlando International (MCO): <15 minutes
Charlotte Douglas International (CLT): <20 minutes
Denver International (DEN): <20 minutes
London Stansted (STN): <20 minutes
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL): <25 minutes
Dubai International (DXB): <25 minutes
Hong Kong International (HKG): <25 minutes

This won’t guarantee you can avoid missing connections but it can go a long way when planning that trip.

Of course there had to be an App to help. If you fly a lot FlightConnections can be a real asset. So don’t waste hours searching airports, airlines, flights and connections. Download FlightConnections! On The App Store or Google Play.

FLIGHTCONNECTIONS FEATURES

Interactive Flight Route Map.
Plan a trip based on your preferred departure airport.
Find new, nearby airports on the map.
Filter by airline or travel alliance.
Discover airline routes and flight schedules / timetables.
Compare direct flights or connecting flights.
Show connecting flights with one or two stops.
Show connecting flights with different airlines, or the same airline only.
Find cheap flights and book flight tickets for the best price available.

More Great Florida Attractions

A Number Of Florida Attractions Really Worth Checking Out

Florida has always been a popular American vacation destination, especially when winter winds start blowing up north. Today when people think of Florida their thoughts turn to theme parks, beaches and destinations like the Florida Keys. While visiting Florida has a long history, back in the day Florida had more than its share of roadside attractions that drew crowds. Places like Cyprus Gardens, Weeky Wachee Springs, The Citrus Tower and Seaquarium were sought out on Florida vacations. While many of these famous attractions have faded away there is still plenty worth seeing on Florida’s back roads.

Welcome to Florida and some of our favorite out of the way sights. Each listing has a link where you can find out more.

Cedar Key Where Old Florida Lives On

Located way north on Florida’s West Coast is an island noted mostly for fishing with a touch of galleries and gift shops. Welcome to Old Florida.

Hillsborough River State Park

East of Tampa, north of I-4 is another piece of old Florida. A state park with a river running through it that’s perfect for canoeing and kayaking.

Florida’s Circus Town

The Winter home of Ringling Brothers circus, the town still celebrates the age of the circus at the Ringling Estate featuring museums and art galleries.

A Famous Restaurant And A Florida Spring

One of Florida’s major springs is a park with a famous restaurant where you cook your own pancakes at your table.

A Famous Mansion In DeLand

The hat tycoon Stetson built his home in DeLand Florida and funded a university that bears his name.

Florida Is Home To Some Amazing Wildlife

Find out about some of Florida’s great animal rescue programs. Visit sea turtles, birds of prey and manatees while seeing Florida.

Visiting A Historic Ship In Tampa

Building ships was one of America’s greatest achievements in World War Two. Visit one these American Liberty Ships.

Florida’s Roadside Museums and Parks

From A CCC Camp Museum to the Navy UDT – SEAL Museum there are dozens of fascinating collections worth spending some time looking into.

Glass Bottom Boats At Silver Springs

One of Florida’s original great attractions, Silver Springs is now preserved and operated by the Florida Park Service.

Florida’s Incredible Natural Springs

Florida has dozens of large natural springs perfect for canoeing or taking a cooling swim.

DeLand Florida, A Town Reborn

Deland is a remarkable town with a large revitalized downtown, a great zoo and a number of worthy attractions.

The circus still lives on – not a modern Cirque du Soleil, but an old fashion Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus style extravaganza! It is appropriately located in America’s circus home town, Sarasota, Florida.

The Amazing Howard Bros. Circus is a ¾-inch-to-the-foot scale replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus located on the Ringling Estate in Sarasota, Florida. It includes a complete reproduction of the entire circus as it existed in the 1920s).

Howard C. Tibbals asked Ringling management if he could use their name for his circus when he started building it, but they refused. So he called it The Howard Bros. Circus instead. There never was a full-scale Howard Brother’s Circus.

Tibbals began toying with circuses in 1943, at the age of 7. At 12 he was given a lathe and jigsaw, which greatly advanced his model building and Tibbals started working on the model in earnest in 1956. Much of the circus was completed by 1974, but it did not premiere until the 1982 World Fair in Knoxville, TN. In 2004, Tibbals set up the Circus at its current location in the Ringling Estate’s Tibbals Learning Center, which includes a full-scale replica of Tibbals’s workshop. It took Tibbals over one year to set up the circus in its current location.

It’s still The Greatest Miniature Show On Earth…

The Giants Causeway Ireland • Mingling Myth With Geology

The Legend

There are many stories in Irish Mythology of adventures, grudges, voyages, battles and gods and a key character in many of the early tales is the mythical Irish hero Fionn MacCool and his warriors of the Fianna. These were forest-dwelling warriors often referred to in myths dating back to the 3rd Century AD as the soldiers of destiny. Fionn Macumhaill (Finn McCool) was a chieftain in medieval Ireland. With his adventures documented in the Fenian Tales, said to have been recorded as poems by Finn McCool’s son, Oisín, and told and retold by the Irish people for centuries.

The legend says Finn McCool was a giant of a man and across the waters in Scotland was another giant named Benandonner, also known as the Red Man. Finn McCool and the Red Man exchanged insults from a distance and eventually Mac challenged this Scottish giant to a fight.

According to Irish legend, the Red man accepted the challenge and these two giants began building a causeway across the sea so they could fight. In one version of the story, Finn defeats Benandonner but in another, McCool hides from Benandonner after he realizes that the Red Man is much bigger than he is. To save him Finn’s wife, Oonagh, disguises him as a baby and tucks him into a giant cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the “baby” he realizes that its father, Finn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway. Remnants of the causeway are found today at Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa and The Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland adding confirmation to the legend.

The Giants Causeway – Up on the rugged coast of Northern Ireland about two hours north of Belfast is a geological wonder and a World Heritage Site named The Giants Causeway. The unusual formation was born of natural processes 65 million years ago, when Northern Ireland was subjected to major volcanic activity. During this period, molten basalt came into contact with chalk beds, forming a lava plateau. In this circumstance, the lava cracks and fractures. Cracks opening along the cooling surface get propagated downward, resulting in the long, well-defined columns known as columnar basalt. Some believe water like rain, lakes, or oceans play a role in the cooling and fracturing process. At The Giants Causeway the lava cooled, the plateau contracted and cracked, forming about 40,000 similar sized hexagonal columns of varying heights that look like giant stepping stones. The largest pilers stand over 35 feet tall.

The Giants Causeway and the other end of the formation in Scotland aren’t the only places you’ll find these unusual basalt columns around the world. They include;

The Cliff of Stone Plates – Ghenh Da Dia in Vietnam
Prismas Basalticos in Huasca de Ocampo, Hidalgo, Mexico
Akun island columnar basalt, Alaska
The Gangolfsberg, Rhön, Bavaria, Germany
Froðba, Faroe Islands
Columnar Basalt in High Island Reservoir, Hong Kong
The Devil’s Postpile in California
Symphony of Stones at Garni Gorge, Armenia
Hexagon pool, Golan, Israel

The site of the Giants Causeway is spectacular and includes a good visitors center, a well paved road down to the Causeway, a shuttle bus and a number of food and refreshment venues around the site that include the Causeway Inn with a cozy bar.

The ruins of Dunluce Castle, where a number of Game of Thrones episodes were filmed, are also not far from The Giants Causeway site.

The Map Room

Navigating on our cellphones is great but it does have shortcomings. Over the years we’ve collected a number of maps and marked them up with attractions and routes to follow. We have also combined and modified maps before our trip to simplify understanding a place. Here we provide a number of these modified maps that cover major cities, a number of metro transit systems, parks and hiking trails. They’re easy to download and print (pdf files) to help with your plans. Click on each map to set-up the download.

Seeing Budapest using public transportation – Budapest is a wonderful city with a remarkable public transportation system. Modern light rail and subways can take you all around the city.

The Trains of Metro Rome Rome is a large metropolitan area with commuter trains servicing the international airport, the historic center and the seaport of Civitavecchia. Using public transportation can save time and money.

Bus routes on Maui, Hawaii – This island has an incredible public bus system that will take you around the whole island (no service through the National Park).

Hiking Trails Near Old Faithful – A favorite destination in Yellowstone the area around Old Faithful Lodge has a number of fantastic hiking trails.

Key West Florida is an American original – Easy to get around on foot with the heart of this town being a joy to explore.

Public transportation Sydney Australia – A fantastic, modern city with a great public transportation system that includes regional trains, light rail and a fleet of ferries.

Driving Oahu and seeing the attractions – Oahu is an island you need to drive around to really see. Also there are a couple of worthwhile bus routes that service Honolulu and the Pearl Harbor area.

Walking tour of Florence – City walking tours are all the rage and this one lays out a self-guided tour of this city south of the Arno River.

Rome’s Metro System – A simplified guide to Rome’s Metro system from the port of Civitavecchia to the International Airport.

The Forum in Rome – A 3D map of this ancient Roman site.

One day tour of Rome – A guide to hitting the major attractions in Rome with just 8 hours on your own.

Savannah Georgia is one of America’s great cities and perfect for seeing on foot. This map as a quick pocket reference on what to see and how to get there.

Paris Metro – a simplified guide – The Paris Metro is world renowned and here we offer a simplified system map focused on the main tourist destinations.

Singapore Metro Map – Inexpensive, incredibly clean and efficient, this city’s metro is one of the best in the world.

Disney World Transportation Systems– Larger than New York’s Manhattan the Disney people have provided an efficient system to get you around that incorporates buses, boats, monorails and cable cars.

Tourist Guide to Singapore bus routes – In addition to the Metro there is a modern fleet of mostly double-decker buses that can take you around the central city, along the coastal Marine Parade area to the airport.

The Trails of Iguazu Falls Argentina This park has over 30 miles of trails and it’s important to know which ones are the most spectacular to help get the most from your visit.

The New York subways are a fast way to see Manhattan and this map eliminates everything but the Manhattan stops and the locations of major attractions.

Yellowstone National Park is the size of the state of Delaware and you need a plan before you get there. Here are 5 major attractions along with key driving routes.

Utah Driving Park Tour – Utah has the countries largest collections of National Parks along with some great state parks. This map is a guide to driving Utah to see the national Parks.

The Acropolis in Athens – A 3D map of this ancient site.

Mendenhall Glacier – Hiking trails around the glacier and the glacial lake.

Historic Williamsburg is a must visit if you’re an American history enthusiast. This map is a great guide to seeing the historic district.

Hiking Haleakalā National Park – Hiking trails on Maui’s great volcano.

Amsterdam has a great transit system and getting familiar with it is a great way to get a head start on seeing the city. Be sure and get multi-day tickets.

Hong Kong has one the world’s best metro systems. Plan your day ahead of time while you familiarize yourself with the city.

A Cautionary Tale

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Best Airports for Making a Connecting Flight

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