Each Friday, we’re going to provide you with links to some of the best and most interesting travel and health stories of the week.
The travel story of the week was obviously the capsizing of the Italian cruise ship the Costa Concordia. As a traveler, there isn’t a whole lot you can do to plan for such a calamity. Odds are, this will never happen to you, so there’s no reason to be overly concerned about an epidemic of ships capsizing. However, it is a reminder that you always want to be as prepared as possible when you travel internationally (something we believe strongly in!).
There’s been a ton of news coverage of the catastrophe, and we’ll assume you have had your fill. One story you may have missed is at CNN, where they have a good article on what the protocol is supposed to be when a ship capsizes.
Here’s a vacation spot you may not have considered – Mogadishu, Somalia
For travelers headed to Dubai – perhaps business travelers who’ll be staying for an extended period of time – Dubai has taken a significant step forward to ensure greater health among its populace. Gulfnews.com has the details on Dubai’s increased standards that will unify and better monitor vaccination standards in the emirate.
If you have any concerns about influenza when you’re traveling – or if you’re just curious – Google Flu Trends is an interesting tool. As you know, when something is top of mind for people, they tend to head to the Internet to try to learn what’s going on. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have determined that Google queries for the search term “flu” (or a variation of it) are an accurate indication of people suffering from the flu. So, if you’re headed to say, France, you can take a look a Google Flu Trends and get a good idea if you’re heading into a sick zone.
Finally, what are the best seats for that long international flight? Bing Travel has a slide show detailing the most comfortable seats in the air (and the worst). Our favorites are the “spaceseats” on Air New Zealand.
Author: John Miller
John Miller is the president of Miller Media Group. He is an avid traveler and web-surfing junkie.
