OK, so we’re all excited to be opening our advent calendars this week as Christmas fast approaches, but before we go chocolate crazy, let’s look at some of the exciting and crazy things that were happening in the world of travel in November. From classic travel mix-ups to letting the folks back home know exactly what our holiday looks like within seconds of arrival at our destination, we’ve got some travel news gems for you this month.
Couple mistakenly fly to San Jose, California, instead of San Jose, Mexico
Dionne Warwick’s once sang the hit song “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?” and last month a Yorkshire couple were left asking the same question – only they were already in San Jose, unfortunately just the wrong one. A matter of weeks after 62-year-old Lamenda Kingdon ended up in on the Caribbean island of Grenada instead of the Spanish resort of Granada following an unfortunate booking mix-up on the phone, Andrew and Julie Kelham found themselves in San Jose, California rather than San Jose, Mexico, some 2,500 km away. The couple were disappointed to have to spend a night in the airport in California before travelling on to meet their daughter the next day.
Forget the ‘selfie’: holidaymakers go for ‘braggie’ photos
We go on holiday to get away from it all, right? To forget about everything back home, be it work, family stresses or energy bills? Well, apparently for many of us, our first thought on arriving somewhere sunny is the folks back home – though not necessarily in a selfless manner. According to reports, 25 per cent of us share a bragging photo online within an hour of arriving at our destination while 5.4 million of us were uploading a pic within 10 minutes. As selfie was crowned the Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of 2013, it appears that the “braggie” is soon going to be knocking on the dictionary’s door as well. What next? The Kim Kardashian-inspired “belfie”?
Chinese confuse Sweden with Switzerland
One is home to Abba and the other specialises in cuckoo clocks and chocolates – what exactly is there to confuse Sweden and Switzerland? Well, quite a lot from a Chinese point of view. Indeed, so much confusion in China surrounds the two countries that the Swedish and Swiss consulates in Shanghai have joined together to ask people online to come up with the best way of differentiating the countries. Apparently, the confusion stems not from a similarity in the countries themselves (come on, Sweden have won twice the number of Eurovision Song Contests!) but from the Chinese words for the nations themselves. In Mandarin, Sweden is Ruidian while Switzerland is the relatively similar Ruishi. It’s Grenada and Granada all over again!
What do you think of this month’s news stories? Share your views with us in the comments!
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