Nashville Airport has advice for spring travelers

With spring break fast approaching and road construction in progress at Nashville International Airport (BNA), the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority wants to ensure that all travelers are prepared for takeoff. The following tips will help passengers and guests enjoy the Nashville Airports Experience this spring break travel season.

Watch for Roadway Construction: Phase I of the Terminal Access Roadway Improvements (TARI) Project is underway. TARI is designed to improve traffic conditions on Terminal Ring Road, the one-way thoroughfare that surrounds the airport’s short- and long-term parking lots and provides access to the terminal.

-Temporarily, no cell phone/waiting area is available.

---If waiting for arriving passengers, drivers may use either the 10-minute waiting area outside the baggage claim area or the short-term parking garage, where the first 30 minutes of parking are free.

- All existing parking lots remain open. An additional Remote Holiday Parking Lot will be available if needed. Rates are as follows: Short-term: $22/day; Long-term: $10/day; Economy: $8/day; Overflow: $8/day; and Valet: $20/day.

A complete list of travel tips is available at FlyNashville.com

Electronic cigarette that is geared to travelers comes to Nashville

Ruyan America, Inc., Minneapolis, announced that it will introduce its newest E-cigarette smoking substitute/cigarette alternative, the Ruyan Jazz, at the 2009 National Association for Truck Stop Operators (NATSO) to be held January 24th to 28th in Nashville, TN, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. The Company and its distributor, Nashville-based Nathan & James Group, will be at Booth 822 during the exhibit hours.

The Jazz is Ruyan's latest addition to its line and was developed specifically for the convenience store/travel center market. Like the Company's award-winning Vegas E-cigar, the Jazz is a completely disposable product that does not require that its battery be charged or that its cartridges be changed. The Jazz resembles a slightly larger traditional cigarette, 134 mm in length and 11mm in diameter and has the equivalent mouthfuls of vapor found in four to five packs of conventional cigarettes. It carries a MSRP of $24.99. Like other Ruyan cigarette alternatives, the Jazz does not contain tobacco and is not subject to smoking restrictions or tobacco taxes.

William P. Bartkowski, President of Ruyan America, Inc., stated, "The Jazz certainly raises the bar with respect to the product category in terms of convenience, aesthetics and value. It was designed and manufactured specifically to be sold in those venues where smokers most often purchase traditional tobacco products -- retail environments such as tobacco outlets, convenience stores, truck stops and travel centers and hospitality venues like casinos and hotels."

The Jazz is available in four styles -- the Classic, which contains 16 mg of nicotine; the Classic menthol, also with 16 mg of nicotine and menthol flavoring; the Freestyle, with 0 mg of nicotine, but all the flavor of the Classic; and the Freestyle Menthol, another nicotine free product.

Corey talks about how American Airlines has started charging for all checked baggage

Air travellers hear Nashville sound with regular performances at airport

Members of the audience dash off suddenly during his show. Others talk on cell phones, read novels or wolf down sandwiches.

John Bontempi takes it all in stride. He strums his guitar and sings another tune near the clanking baggage carousel at Nashville International Airport.

"It took all of history just to make you mine," he warbles from under a dark cowboy hat.

Bontempi is among the 90 or so professional musicians who perform at the airport in its push to add "local flavour," a break from the chain gift shops and restaurants in airports from Miami to Seattle.

"We're the best gig in town," proclaimed Cathy Holland, the airport's director of community affairs and customer service.

Read the entire story at MSNBC.

The Secret Thoughts of Travelers Have Been Revealed to Frank Warren

By FRANK WARREN

ABOUT 10 years ago I was sitting next to a young woman in the window seat on a flight to Washington. During the flight, I noticed she was writing postcards. I peeked at the words she was writing and discovered she was an author on a book tour sending notes to her friends.

It seemed so romantic and exciting to me. Even though I never spoke to her, I have to believe that serendipitous encounter is one reason I started a community art project called PostSecret and why I am now traveling on my fourth book tour.

It should be noted that I don’t actually write books; I compose them from the postcards that are mailed to me. I essentially invite strangers to anonymously send me untold secrets written on homemade postcards. So far, I have received more than 150,000 inspiring, remorseful, funny, hopeful and even sexual secrets from around the world on every topic imaginable.

Not surprisingly, travel experiences were one of the secrets that people felt they needed to share. And now, when I travel to talk about the PostSecret Project, I never feel alone. The secrets I read stay with me, like baggage. When I enter a shuttle bus, wait by my gate or sit on a plane, I am reminded of the anonymous voices sharing with me their latent animosities, soulful confessions or the hidden acts of kindness that happened to them while traveling.

One postcard I received had a hilarious picture of two pilots jauntily walking through an airport in crisp suits. We all have seen these people. We have all been annoyed by these people. The secret on the card read, “Stop walking through the airport like you own the place!”

Another secret that arrived on a baggage claim ticket read: “You called me an idiot so I sent your bags to the wrong destination. WHOOPS! I guess you were right.”

The homemade cards can be just as creative as the deep secrets they carry. Written on an unused airsickness bag: “Sometimes when I fly I wish the plane would crash and I would be the only survivor. Then I would make money on the book or movie.”

On a photograph of empty terminal seats, I received the very sad missive: “Airports make me the most suicidal.” On a boarding pass, I read a secret of love lost, “I would have left home and flown 2430 miles with you if only you had asked.”

Read the entire article in the NewYorkTimes-Business Section

“There are no strangers?”

Robino Around The World is a cool blog which covers the wandering and travels around the world. His name is Robin and he is from Holland but currently resides in Istanbul. I enjoy stopping in for a visit every once in a while to see what he is up to and where he is.


Here is one of his posts...
~~~~~~~
“There are no strangers.” It is one of my favourite sayings. Have you ever been on your own wondering around a town, a city or countryside? Imagine being lost, and someone walking up to you and helping you out, telling you how to walk or maybe giving you some water or even a ride.
Imagine how this may feel. You’re lost, unsure, uncertain, maybe even stressed out, not knowing if you will find your way again, unsure if you will have a place to sleep tonight. It is getting dark already and suddenly out of the blue a stranger appears and helps you out.

Imagine the wonderful feeling. You are being helped by a complete stranger, who is totally willing to get out of the way just to make sure you will be fine.


Read the rest of this entry »