Pack Up Your Booze, Bikini, and Tourism Dollars – Let’s Go to Egypt: How Muslim Countries are Addressing Alcohol

Tags

alcohol, bikinis, booze, egypt, iran, islam, muslim, tehran, tourism, tourism industry

When I think of a vacation during which all I want to do is wear a swimsuit and be rude to my liver, I typically think of Mexico, the Bahamas, or perhaps even Spain. I think of sunny, warm locales where you can run around half-clothed, party with abandon, and dance on the bar while the locals cheer you on between tequila shots.

I most certainly do not think of Egypt.

Now, I’m sure the Egyptians don’t quite want a bunch of American college student spring-breakers running around Cairo yelling “Chug! Chug! Chug!” They do, however, want our business. Egypt’s tourism minister, Hisham Zaazou (which I would like to point out is the name of the bird from the Lion King, although that really has nothing to do with this particular topic), recently held a press conference about his desire to increase tourism in Egypt in the coming year.

Due to rioting and general unrest following the 2011 overthrow of Mubarak’s government, Egypt has seen a lull in its otherwise blossoming tourism industry; tourism is an important part of Egypt’s economy. Afraid of violence against foreigners and lack of access to key sites, tourists have turned to other Middle Eastern countries for their vacations. Zaazou aims to change this. Egypt’s long-term target for the tourism industry is to reach 30 million tourists and $25 billion in revenue by 2022. It is ambitious, but changes in local attitudes and international stereotypes might do the trick.

In order to increase revenue, bring back the tourists, and bolster the economy, Egypt plans to use one of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to bringing people together:

Alcohol.

“Bikinis are welcome and booze is still being served,” said Zaazou in his statement to the press earlier this week.

Well, party on, Egypt.

Local groups and religious organizations protesting the presence of foreigners in Egypt have exacerbated much of the decrease in tourism. It has long been a tradition in Islam to reject alcohol, although it is unclear when this became the case. Historians believe that alcohol actually originated in the Middle East, and the word alcohol might actually be based on the Arabic word ‘al-kohl,’ which refers to an eyeliner made of powder and alcoholic substances. Alcohol is mentioned in many old Middle Eastern writings, and wild parties were apparently held in the home of the Islamic caliphates.

Although Islam has several tenets that call upon followers to respect their body and not to ingest toxins, alcohol was regularly referenced in Islamic texts. It is likely that the political Islam movements in the 1970s led some countries to ban alcohol and implement severe punishments for Muslims found with any sort of intoxicating substances. It is generally agreed upon that this move reflected the anti-West movement in Islamic countries during this time period.

Despite the implied ban on alcohol in Islam, recent estimates claim that at least 5% of all Muslims consume alcohol regularly, usually behind closed doors in the privacy of their own homes. In certain areas, some alcohol is permitted, as long as it is not made from grapes or dates, two ingredients that the Qur’an mentions; a common ingredient used by Muslims to produce alcohol is raisins. Generally, though, the Muslim world tries to stay away from intoxicating substances.

America tried that once too, during the Prohibition years of the early 1900s, and we all know how well that worked out.

It seems that Muslim countries are experiencing similar issues. Last year, Iran’s health minister released a statement addressing the country’s burgeoning issues of drunk driving and alcoholism. Iran, one of the strictest Islamic countries, reportedly has over 200,000 diagnosed alcoholics and estimates claim that nearly $75 million American dollars worth of liquor are smuggled into Iran each year. According to the BBC, sobriety tests over a one-month period in Tehran had a 26% fail rate, which is nearly three times more than that found in cities of similar size in other countries.

Iran, where women are both legally and culturally discriminated in the country’s strict patriarchal society, is unlikely to change its attitude on alcohol. I highly doubt that they will be hosting a wet t-shirt contest or inviting scantily-clad women to resorts and beaches anytime soon. Perhaps, though, they’ll soon have to face the elephant, or shall we say the tequila bottle, in the room.

Sources

http://news.yahoo.com/booze-bikinis-welcome-egypt-says-tourism-minister-075741719.html

http://www.economist.com/node/21560543

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18504268

Keep Calm and Pack a Good Carry-On: The Best Packing and Travel Advice From the Worst Source

Tags

airplanes, airports, etiquette, how to pack, international travel, packing advice, politeness, travel, travel advice, travel research

If I had to write a famous travel book, it would probably start off with the line, “So here I find myself on foreign land, with only my impetuous spirit and a badly packed suitcase.”

From this line, I would proceed to embark on a laundry list of ill-advised adventures involving hitchhiking, seedy motels, and learning to do a rain dance. I would arrive back at the airport just in time for my return flight, with hair askew, disheveled clothing bedecked with randomly tacky souvenir jewelry, and a serious itch to do it all again.

Before I embark on a Quixotic journey to write the next American travel novel, though, I thought I might suggest a few travel tips of my own, in order to prevent such a trip as the one described above. Through trials and tribulations I’ve learned a decent amount, which does little to no good if I don’t share it. Here is my wisdom; I hope that it leads you to all the world’s most thrilling adventures – and with a more properly packed suitcase.

Five Things About Travel You Should Probably Know But Probably Don’t

1. Be nice to everyone.

Every time I travel I am astounded at how rude people can be – and not just to TSA agents, flight attendants, or wait staff. I’ve seen people be rude to fellow travellers, bartenders, and taxi drivers, just to name a few. Yes, traveling can be stressful, expensive, and tiring; this doesn’t mean that being mean or inconsiderate is acceptable. The nicer you are to everyone around you, the better your trip will be – and the easier it’ll be to get a seat upgrade, a specialty order at a restaurant, or advice about sights to see.

2. Don’t pack like an idiot.

I’d like to say first and foremost that I am unbelievably bad at packing a suitcase, no matter if the trip is a short weekend at the lake or a month in Europe. Once, I headed home to my parents’ house for a few days, only to discover that I packed everything I needed – except for underwear. Considering the number and variety of trips I’ve taken, you’d think I’d be really good at planning outfits, judging weather, and knowing how to best mix and match pieces to fit in with the locals.

Sorry to disappoint, but none of those are true. However, I am extremely good at cramming an excessive amount of clothing, shoes, and accessories into a suitcase, likely as a result of my inability to pack lightly. Ever.

Regardless, I do have a few foolproof (even for me) tips for packing:

• Start a week ahead of time, especially so for a longer trip.
• Lay all your items out on your bed and try to figure out which outfit you’ll wear for what and which pieces you can combine and wear multiple times.
• Take clothes that you wear all the time in your normal life – buying a lot of new clothes for a trip is stupid, because you don’t know how much you’ll really like them or how practical they are for travel.
• Roll your items instead of folding them! For some odd reason, this makes for more room (which you can use for shoes!).
• Black is always in style. Everywhere.

3. There really is no such thing as planning ahead too much.

I have taken one trip too many that was fun but could’ve been so much cooler if I had done more research. You don’t need to plan an itinerary down to the half hour, but look into the history of your destination, possible tourist attractions that you might need to buy tickets for in advance, and good places to eat. You’ll be glad you did – it will make your trip much more relaxed and enjoyable.

4. When in doubt, take the photograph.

I have a friend who really enjoys taking ridiculous pictures – while we were in Zurich, much to my embarrassment, he waltzed up to two rather heavily armed police officers and asked if he could take a photograph with them. They turned him down.

This has never been my style, and probably never will be. My friend, however, has hundreds of pictures in ridiculous poses, with people from all over the world; he spent last summer in China, where he made a hobby of politely asking couples taking wedding photographs if he might snap a quick photo with him – they usually agreed.

My point is, when you have a chance for a funny or meaningful photograph, take it! You’ll probably never see any of those locals ever again, so who cares how touristy you are? Respect historical sites, natural wonders, and other people’s property, but have fun! That picture will last a lot longer than the embarrassment will.

5. Dress to impress.   

For the millionth time, I beg you to leave the white tennis shoes and the khaki cargo shorts at home. Don’t take your beloved baseball hat along, and really, sweatpants should be reserved for the gym. Dress comfortably when you travel, but don’t try so hard to dress for your day of hiking around tourist sites that you look like you should be speed-walking around your local mall on your lunch break instead.

Do a little research into the local styles and social norms, and try to base your clothing choices on that. Europeans love skinny jeans, boots, and scarves, while African countries can appreciate a linen shirt or a colorful, lightweight maxi skirt.

Don’t go all out in your attempt to dress fashionably, but show some respect – you are a visitor in a foreign land, the least you can do is dress for the occasion.

For more rambling advice and thoughts, check out some older posts of mine.

A Lot of What You Need to Know About Travel and Perspective You Can Probably Learn From Pinterest – and Why That’s Not Necessarily a Terrible Thing

Tags

adventure, destinations, inspiration, journey, manterest, pinterest, travel, travel quotes

Author Henry Miller once wrote, “One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things.” Miller was referring to life on Big Sur in northern California and to the characters he encountered during his 15 years as a resident there. Although Miller wrote this thought while staying at home in one region and was most likely referring to the journey of life and its ultimate destination, I’ve always taken this quote and applied it to travel.

Nearly everyone who has encouraged me to travel has rambled on about the life lessons travel teaches you and the benefits of experiencing other cultures. It makes you more mature; it exposes you to new ideas. Travel will enhance your education; it will force you to step out of your comfort zone. Travel, as the well-known saying goes, is the only thing you can buy that will make you richer.

I am perhaps unique in that I began traveling at a young age, during a time in my life where I was not aware that travel was supposed to teach me lessons or enhance any sort of understanding; I just thought airplanes were fun and I was excited to have new places to explore and cool new foods to eat. I did not see it as an emotional or philosophical journey; it was a physical one, from point A to point B, with the point being to go from home to a new place where we would visit friends, see sights, and explore, and then to travel home again.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve grown to appreciate the values and lessons travel has given me. I’ve discovered that it is not necessarily where you are going that matters the most, but how you embrace the experience. I have found that nothing defines an individual more than how they deal with cancelled flights, lost luggage, or a crying child on an intercontinental flight.

Travel, I have found, is not always everything it is cracked up to be. Sometimes a vacation destination can be tedious, a historical sight not all that awe-inspiring. Occasionally the food is awful or the locals are rude, and every once in a while, a trip that was supposed to be romantic, exciting, or life-changing just doesn’t turn out as planned. Sometimes the most exciting part of a trip is the final few steps to your own front door.

I am well aware of the fact that I have been lucky to learn these lessons on my own, and lucky to realize the gifts travel has given me. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have the opportunity to learn from travel firsthand, or wise enough to grasp the chance when it does present itself.

Luckily, there’s Pinterest.

Pinterest, a social networking site on which users ‘pin’ photographs and links to digital bulletin boards with different themes, is one of the newest social media trends and seems to be growing with no end in sight. The site is so popular that numerous spin-offs have emerged. Males are the group most excluded from the Pinterest target audiences, but web entrepreneurs have jumped at the resulting business opportunity. A new site, Manterest, allows users to ‘nail,’ ‘bump,’ or ‘talk’ about items; the site’s content is almost entirely composed of scantily clad women, muscle-building tips, and manly pop culture items.

When I first got a Pinterest a few years ago, I was overwhelmed with choices. I could ‘pin’ pictures of puppies, infographics about healthy eating, and links to sites promising the Best. Crafting. Ideas. Ever. Oh-em-gee! I, like many 20-something females, quickly became a Pinterest addict. The more time I spent on Pinterest, the more I realized its power. It served as an online cookbook, inspiration for stylish outfits, and an encyclopedia of workout tips. I could find ideas for a Halloween costume, pick out birthday presents for friends, and waste time scrolling through a million and a half pictures of adorable puppies.

Naturally, Pinterest has things about travel. Although it may not taken you on a trip or teach you life lessons firsthand, it certainly offers a plethora of advice, photographs, and thoughts on seeing the world. Pinterest gives suggestions on how to best pack for two weeks in just one small carry-on, or how to find deals on hotels in Dubai. There are photographs of expansive African plains and of pubs in Dublin. Everything from good travel outfits to suggestions on the best guidebooks is at your fingertips.

Pinterest, of course, has quotes about travel. Pinterest actually has quotes and sayings about just about everything, from life to love to nerdy lines from cult television shows I don’t watch. Although I’ve always loved a good quote (I quoted Benjamin Disraeli in my high school graduation speech – “I feel a very unusual sensation –if it’s not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude.”), I’ve found it is the one’s about travel that have pulled me in the most.

For me, as with most people, travel has always been a romantic thing. It is an adventure, a journey, and a route to discovery. It may not always be fun, but it is always illuminating. And while I’m not sure that Pinterest can teach you everything you can learn from travel, it starts you down the correct path.

Pinterest may not put you in the exact moment of watching an Alaskan sunset or of arriving on foreign land for the first time, but it might have a quote for that. Pinterest can’t show you the eight wonders of the world or mimic the feeling of flying in a massive Boeing 747, but it probably has a picture of it. Pinterest might not be able to give you the feeling of seeing rare wildlife or visiting an ancient Roman ruin, but…

Well, you know.

I’m not saying that if you can’t travel, turn to Pinterest. I’m not saying that something inanimate and digital can replace the true lessons and experiences learned from time spent in a foreign locale. The truth is, though, that travel, like any adventure, stems from an inspiration. It takes a flame to build a fire, and a thought to spark a movement. Plan your trip, stretch your comfort zone, and embrace the lessons. And when the time goes that digital dreaming can turn to reality – go.

*All photographs can be found on my personal Pinterest page. Visit http://pinterest.com/anniecutler/the-world-is-a-book-and-those-who-do-not-travel-re/ to see more and for proper sources.

Alps, Edelweiss, and Assault Rifles: How a Neutral Switzerland Is Addressing Its Love for Guns in an Increasingly Violent Society

Tags

adam lanza, assault rifles, gun, gun control, gun violence, sandy hook, Swiss, swiss military, switzerland, zurich

On December 14^th, 2012, I was curled up on the couch in my grandparents’ apartment in Zurich. Recently arrived from Kansas, I was jetlagged, exhausted from my final exams, and looking forward to my family’s upcoming trip to Vienna. With infrequent Internet connection, I wasn’t getting much news from back home in America. This didn’t bother me much; it was nice to have a break from the constant deluge of information.

On December 14^th, 2012, twenty-year-old Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 26 people before turning the gun on himself. The worst shooting to occur at a public school in American history and second only to the Virginia Tech massacre in number of deaths, the Sandy Hook shootings devastated the community and grabbed the attention of a horrified and grieving America. Of the 26 killed, 20 of the victims were young children. Their photographs, home videos, and names would be all over the news, social media, and radio for weeks to come as new details emerged and the mourning began.

I wouldn’t find out about Sandy Hook until I picked up a Swiss daily newspaper at the train station the next morning. Little did I know at the time, but I was in a country where such tragedies, albeit on a smaller scale, often reinvigorated the gun control debate the very same way we would see in America in the weeks following Sandy Hook.

Switzerland, with its neutrality and small military, isn’t traditionally known for its guns. You wouldn’t think that a country known for chocolate, cheese, and fine watches would also be a land of gun aficionados. But you’d be wrong.

Swiss marksmen practice at a shooting range. | Source: REUTERS/Michael Buholzer

A small nation of only 8 million residents, Switzerland ranks third in the world when it comes to per capita gun ownership; only Yemen and the United States rank higher. The Global Reporting Fund estimates that there are between 2.3 and 4.5 million guns in Switzerland, with the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey placing the number at 46 guns per 100 Swiss citizens.

Gun advocates in the United States often point to Switzerland as a model of a nation where guns are commonplace, but gun violence is not. Switzerland, it has been said, is the perfect example to support the saying, “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” If Switzerland can maintain relative peace and prosperity with a gun culture and a higher per capita rate of weapon ownership, why can’t the United States?

This assertion infuriates experts such as Professor Martin Killias, director of criminology at Zurich University. In an interview with BBC, Killias said, “I’m always amazed how the National Rifle Association points to Switzerland – they make it sound as if it was part of southern Texas!”

Swiss officials and gun experts are absolutely horrified by the use of Switzerland as an example of what the United States could do in terms of gun control. It is not that we have a gun culture, they say, but that our gun tradition can support this proliferation of guns in a safe manner. In one interview, an expert expressed that the U.S. gun tradition is to have a gun to protect your home and loved ones, while the Swiss tradition is one of national security and community protection.

Switzerland has a conscripted military; men between the ages of 18 and 34 are required to serve time in the military or perform national service. Women can enlist if they choose to do so. After serving their military duty, soldiers are issued their service weapon to keep in their home. Some claim this Swiss tradition of allowing the military to keep weapons at home kept the Nazis from trying to invade during World War II.

Gun culture in Switzerland revolves around the military structure and gun education. Many children learn to shoot as young as age 10 at their local shooting club; gun safety education begins early on as well. 600,000 Swiss citizens belong to some sort of shooting association or gun club, where they can go for target practice and socializing.

Although Switzerland might be home to a large quantity of guns, these weapons are closely monitored and regulated. Heavy machine guns, automatic weapons, and suppressors are banned. When purchasing a weapon, the buyer must have a purchasing permit, which has to be approved by and issued from the local police. Stringent theoretical and practical exams are required for those wanting to carry a gun in public, and are typically only issued to those working in security-related fields.

Due to increasing strict gun control, ammunition is no longer issued along with military weapons. New regulations restricting the sale and ownership of ammunition have resulted in a noticeable decrease in gun violence and a dramatic decrease in gun suicides. A recent statistic showed that firearm deaths in the United States occur at 7 times the rate they do in Switzerland, a country nearly equally well-armed per capita. According to BBC, there is just one gun-related murder per every 200,000 Swiss citizens each year in Switzerland; this statistic is a much lower rate than in the United States. Generally, education and training, along with safety and regulatory precautions such as local weapons registries, have kept gun violence in Switzerland mind-boggling low.

Officials have expressed their thoughts that the general lack of gun violence in Switzerland has nothing to do with regulation, but instead is due to Switzerland’s healthcare system, which allows fewer individuals to fall through the cracks in society and into criminal activities or violence.

However, numerous tragedies over the past few years have led to Switzerland pushing for a steady increase in gun control. In September 2001, Freidrich Leibacher entered the Zug Parliament in eastern central Switzerland, opening fire on legislators. Killing 14 and injuring 18 more, Leibacher then turned the gun on himself.

In 2006, champion skier Corinne Rey-Bellet and her brother were killed by Rey-Bellet’s estranged husband. He later committed suicide, using the same weapon, in a nearby forest. The weapon used had been issued to him during his military service.

In early January 2013, as I was departing Switzerland for a trip to London, and the night before children at Sandy Hook Elementary were to return to school for the first time, a gunman who had previously been treated for psychiatric problems killed three people and injured two more in Daillon, a village near Geneva. Police had previously confiscated weapons from said gunman, and his mental issues were well-known.

Most recently, a lumber plant employee opened fire on his co-workers, killing three and injuring several more. He, too, took his own life as first responders arrived at the scene. The weapon used was not military-issued, and police do not know how the man acquired it. There is no national weapons registry in Switzerland; information-sharing between local registries is not always efficiently done.

As Swiss gun control advocates push for a more unified registration system and data-sharing, Switzerland seems to have accepted that their weapons policies must adapt to modern times. However, despite tragedies involving gun violence, Swiss citizens stand firmly behind their gun culture. In a referendum in February 2011, 57% voted against storing guns in military armories; many stated they thought passing the referendum would show a lack of trust in the military and its members.

Switzerland has yet to experience a tragedy on the scale of Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, or the Aurora movie theater shootings. Hopefully they will never have to do so. However, if they do, it will be a test of the success of their gun culture, education, and more than anything, it will set an example for gun policy everywhere.

Sources

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/19/174758723/facing-switzerland-gun-culture

http://www.pri.org/stories/politics-society/as-gun-control-debate-rages-switzerland-offers-interesting-correlation-but-is-it-real-12842.html

http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-9.pdf

http://guncite.com/swissgun-kopel.html

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/27/world/europe/switzerland-shooting

How To Properly Terrify Your Parents: A Primer’s Guide On Prepping Your Family for Your Upcoming International Travels

Tags

advice, eurotrip, humor, international travel, parody, sarcasm, taken, travel humor

As a result of being an only child, I have a fairly close relationship with my parents. For years, they have been my cheerleaders, role models, and consultants on everything from relationships to running shoes. It is because of this close relationship that I have little to no qualms about playing the occasional prank or three.

Nothing terrifies a parent as thoroughly as the thought of something bad happening to their precious offspring. Obviously, nothing entertains said precious offspring more than doing everything in their power to terrify their doting parents. Below are some suggestions for preparing your family for your upcoming international travel, with maximum scare factor.

• Make jokes about being on the No-Fly List due to having taken too many Arabic classes or because of that one time you drunkenly cursed out a campus police officer – which you hadn’t told your parents about. Until now.
• Watch movies like Taken or EuroTrip for family movie night, and utter phrases such as, “Oh boy, I can’t wait!” or “I just don’t understand how those girls got kidnapped, they didn’t really do anything wrong…”
• Email your Mom links to relevant crime stories that occurred at your destination with subject lines such “See, six tourists have already gotten kidnapped there this year, they don’t have time to come after me!”
• Notify them of your trip at short notice – or not until it’s over, and preferably in front of family friends or relatives for maximized parent terror, i.e. “So we did sake bombs and went bungee jumping while we were in Tokyo and… What’s wrong, Uncle Carl?”
• Boast about your travel companion’s knack for getting into “interesting” (read: troublesome) situations and how they (almost) always escape with life, limb, and wallet intact
• Not-so-subtly mention that Couchsurfing.org is going to be how you find your sleeping accommodations for the whole trip – and that you didn’t pack pajamas because they’re too constraining for your personal comfort
• Excitedly share that you’ll be participating in the latest fad of econ-tourism; similar but totally different from the well-known eco-tourism, econ-tourism is a practice in which you travel to a foreign country, preferably one where you know no one and can’t speak the language, and then attempt to navigate your way back home on less money than you realistically would need, a la The Amazing Race
• Show them your plane tickets to Amsterdam and the newest book you’re reading on the Zen effects of hashish and then proceed to ramble along about wanting to experience a ‘higher’ standard of living

And if those methods aren’t terrifying enough, you can always continue this torment while abroad, with those words that no parent ever wants to hear their child utter:

• “I really like it here, I think I might just stay.”

The Four Kinds of People You’ll Travel With – And Maybe Wish You Hadn’t: How to Identify and Deal With Some of the Most Obnoxious Types of Travelers

Tags

characteristics, college, companions, cultures, group travel, obnoxious, personalities, project, travel

To date, I have traveled to 13 countries and roughly half the states; I have spent an obscene amount of time in cars, trains, busses, and airplanes on the way to or from my destinations; I have learned to sleep just about anywhere, regardless of comfort or noise level. From an expertise standpoint, I believe I have gained the right to snobbishly babble on about how best to travel – although there is a solid chance that I’m probably not all that educated on the matter at all. One thing, however, I know for certain: I have probably traveled with some of the world’s most obnoxious, frustrating, wonderful people.

You may not always get to choose your travel companions when traveling in groups; in fact, I’ve found that I often haven’t had any say in the matter. Nevertheless, you still want to enjoy your travels, and so it is best to come as prepared as possible. Therefore, I present to you this list, in hopes that regardless of whatever sort of whining, snoring, overeager travelers you might encounter, they result in a great story and not a ruined trip.

I would like to add a totally useless disclaimer that the examples given below don’t reference anyone I actually know, that any resemblance to real individuals is purely coincidental, and that the names have been changed to protect the innocent – but we both know that wouldn’t quite be the truth.

The Four Most Obnoxious Types of Travelers – And How to Survive Them

1. The Overenthusiast

This type of traveler is generally someone with little to no prior travel experience or exposure to foreign cultures. They want to see EVERYTHING, go EVERYWHERE, and take photographs absolutely ALL THE TIME. They probably wear khaki shorts and white tennis shoes, carry a backpack, and spend at least ten minutes picking out what they want to eat. “Yes, let’s do THAT!” is a common phrase, as is “This is SO COOL!” and “Wow, I love ______ (insert name of country or city here)!” Possessing unbridled enthusiasm and childlike wonder, they tend to tire out any and all of their travel companions by mid-morning.

People like this make me tired just being in proximity to them, and I’ve spent a day or five trying to chase travelers like this across cities, up mountains, and through crowded airports. In tandem with the enthusiasm, this type of traveler also tends to have lessened organizational or planning skills, which makes traveling from one EXCITING destination to another THRILLING location even more taxing.

How to Deal With It: There are a variety of ways to approach The Overenthusiast. One option is to match their enthusiasm, either in a sarcastic or legitimate way. The unfortunate downside to this method is that unless you have been training relentlessly (key exercise: Smile. Point. Photograph. Gasp. Smile. Repeat.) to prepare for this, it is exhausting. I’ve tried and failed, but maybe you are more adept at sprinting through an entire metropolis of tourist sights in a morning than I. While smiling. Don’t forget the smiling.

The second option for facing down the Overenthusiast is creating structure, as in building them a playground of sorts. The great thing about museums, for instance, is that I can meander through in an hour or two, see everything I want to, and probably take the time to relax and buy an overpriced cappuccino in the museum’s coffee shop while the Overenthusiast bounds (and photographs) their way through every single exhibit, past every art piece, and comes to an enthusiastic, panting halt at the museum exit just as I finish my coffee. This sort of situation allows for both parties to be happy and for me to survive with energy and patience intact.

2. The Pessimist

This type of traveler is probably not very excited about traveling, for any of several reasons. It might be that the trip was not their idea, or perhaps the wear-and-tear of travel is starting to affect them. Regardless, they aren’t very fun to be around. They will complain about the food, the accommodations, and if you’re doing it right, their fellow travelers. They are the opposite of the Overenthusiast, and have little appreciation for medieval architecture or historical landmarks. The Pessimist is a big fan of the word ‘so,’ as in “So what? Who cares?” or “So, are we done yet?” They probably stick to Americanized foods such as pizza, didn’t pack any proper walking shoes, and potentially have an irritating-sounding voice just to truly get their point across.

How to Deal With It: Stick the Overenthusiast and the Pessimist on a sightseeing bus tour together and see how long it takes for them to ‘drive’ each other insane. Just kidding.

A more humane option would be to either 1) distance yourself from the pessimist – there’s no travel rule saying that you have to stick together ALL THE TIME. Some alone time, doing your own thing, could do wonders for both your moods; or 2) figure out what is bothering the pessimist and try to address it. Homesick for America? Abandon your cultural sensitivity and take a trip to McDonald’s. Brought the wrong shoes? Hit the area’s shopping district to prove that shopping can, in fact, turn your whole mood around.

3. The Obnoxiously Seasoned Traveler

“Oh I remember when I was in Rome and having wine with the locals…” is a typical phrase you might hear from the obnoxiously seasoned traveler. This type has been everywhere, seen everything, and experienced all there is to see in the world – or at least that’s how they come across. They potentially have a penchant for black turtlenecks, own a camera with enough fancy buttons and functions to confuse a rocket scientist, and are annoyingly informed about the local cultural traditions. Their excessive knowledge makes everyone around them feel like total tourists – and the rest of the group generally begins plotting ways to lose, strangle, or otherwise dispose of the Obnoxiously Seasoned Traveler by around day 3.

How to Deal With It: Surprisingly, this is an easy one. Because the Obnoxiously Seasoned Traveler is so obnoxiously well traveled, it’s likely that they’ve spent a fair amount of time traveling by themselves and are able to independently navigate nearly any foreign city or countryside by themselves. All you have to do, as a responsible travel companion, is let them do it. Just don’t wander too off the beaten path by yourself – it would add insult to injury to having the Obnoxiously Seasoned Traveler reminding you relentlessly about the time you got lost in London or stranded in Singapore and how that would nevvvvvver happen to them.

4. That Guy (or Girl)

No matter the size, demographics, or background of any travel group, there is always that guy. Or girl. That guy (because let’s be honest, it’s usually a dude) tends to have an opinion on everything and have some sort of obnoxious personal habit such as a weird laugh or love of onions. They probably ruin perfectly good photographs by making disgusting faces, wear the typical tourist uniform, and say “bro,” “dude,” or “home slice” on a freakishly regular basis.

How to Deal With It: The best possible situation with That Guy is to sit back, keep an open mind, and save it as a good story (or blog post) later on. Getting annoyed or irritated with That Guy is useless – this type of traveler is unlikely to change his or her ways, or even notice your annoyance unless a full-blown confrontation occurs, which probably would create more drama and tension than it would be worth. Patience, the ability to laugh it off, and an open mind are probably the three most important things to bring on a trip with That Guy. 

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, at the conclusion of your trip, and at every moment in between, the reality is this: you are traveling, which is a luxury a large majority of the world cannot afford. You are probably seeing living history, internationally known landmarks, and interacting with cultures and people that your ancestors didn’t ever encounter. It should not at all be about whom you are traveling with, but about the experience. Put your annoyances aside, lose your travel companion every once in a while (don’t seriously lose them, that doesn’t work out well for anyone), and enjoy the adventure.

Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’: Carnival Cruise Line’s Public Relations Crisis

Tags

carnival, crisis, crisis management, cruises, gulf of mexico, image, mexico, news, public relations, reputation, spring break, travel, vacation

A year ago this week, I was in New Orleans with my roommate and her mom. We were sipping coffee and eating beignets at the Café du Monde, strolling down Bourbon Street, and eagerly awaiting the time when we would board our cruise ship for the spring break cruise we had impulsively booked just a few weeks before. We were happy, carefree, and looking forward to a whole week of sun, sand, and relaxation.

The infamous Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

I have been incessantly trying to talk my parents into taking me on a cruise since I was in middle school. I loved the idea of being on a giant floating hotel in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, with as much food as I could eat, stage performances every night, and day trips spent laying in the sun on Mexican beaches.

My parents, on the other hand, couldn’t have possibly been less interested. They fall solidly into the “churches and museums” category of tourists; they enjoy historic sites, learning about the local culture, and staying as far away from the tacky tourist crowd as possible.

Needless to say, I never quite managed to drag my parents on a cruise. However, when my roommate and I’s original spring break plans fell through last year, we probably couldn’t have been quicker to settle on a cruise as our backup plan. Sun, sand, and Mexican señors? Yes, please!

All in all, we had a great time. We drank, we danced, we laid in the sun, and when we got bored of that, we just started all over again. We met great friends, including some we keep in touch with to this day. We ran on the beach in Progresso, danced on a bar in Cozumel, and participated in a 100-person conga line one night at dinner. We came back tired, thoroughly hungover, and happy.

Spending my 21st birthday in a hammock in Cozumel, on a day excursion from our cruise.

A year later, wrapped in layers and waiting on tonight’s snowfall in my hometown in Kansas, I couldn’t be happier (albeit a little chilly) to have both feet planted firmly on solid ground and nowhere near a cruise ship. In the past few weeks, Carnival Cruise Lines has been all over the headlines – and not in a positive way. In fact, they are arguably experiencing their worst public relations crisis ever.

Like many other Americans, I was equal parts fascinated and horrified by the story of the Carnival Triumph. As more details emerged about the electrical fire that stranded the ship, about the traumatized passengers, and about the public backlash via social media, the situation turned from bad to worse to a full-blown public relations nightmare.

Early in the morning on February 10, a fire erupted in the engine room of the Triumph; the fire was so severe that the crew was unable to open the door to survey the damage for several hours. The fire resulted severe damages, setting the Triumph afloat 150 miles off the coast of Mexico, with no propulsion and only operating on an emergency backup generator. All the rest of the power, including the engines that powered the ship’s air conditioning, sewage, and electricity systems, was out. Aboard the ship were 3,143 guests and 1,086 crew members.

Another Carnival cruise ship was close enough to give emergency help, providing provisions and fresh water to the stranded passengers and crew. Ironically, this ship was the Elation – the same boat I had been on less than a year ago.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, Carnival isn’t all that new to situations such as this. Over the years, Carnival ships have had a laundry list of issues, ranging from failed generator to fires to running aground on sandbars. To add another nail to the proverbial coffin, Carnival Cruise Lines is owned by the same parents company as Costa Cruises – as in the Costa Concordia, which struck a reef and capsized off the coast of Italy last year, killing 32 people. Italian prosecutors are in the midst of sentencing the ship’s captain, 5 other members of the crew, and 3 members of a crisis unit set up by Costa to facilitate the rescue effort. Francesco Schettino, the ship’s captain, is charged with causing a shipwreck, abandoning the ship, and manslaughter.

The Costa Concordia after its short-lived and ill-fated voyage. Source: Business Insider

Needless to say, issues with faulty construction, human error, or failing engine parts are nothing new for Carnival. You’d think they would have an extremely capable crisis management plan in place for all situations, and while Carnival arguably did better in the situation than the worst-case scenario, they were painfully slow in getting information to the people who mattered most – the passengers and crew.

When the passengers and crew aboard the Triumph finally regained cell phone service and Internet access in the days following the engine fire, they discovered that the outside world knew more about the situation than they themselves did – and they weren’t too happy.

Unfortunately for Carnival, social media, smart phones, and nearly worldwide Internet access has created an environment in which the 24/7 news cycle is more in the hands of the people than under the control of established news sources. Using social media such as Twitter and Instagram, passengers were able to give live updates and photographs to friends, family, and anyone else who would care to listen.

Carnival, of course, also took to social media to address the issue. This didn’t always work out so well.

Carnival’s post regarding the bathrobes, and one of the many critical responses. Source: Twitter.

On February 15, Carnival posted to Twitter, saying: “Of course the bathrobes for the Carnival Triumph are complimentary.”

This naturally inspired a host of tweets, all along the lines of, “Of course the bathrobes are complimentary, you idiot!”

I’m paraphrasing, of course.

Ironically enough, the bathrobes – worn by many passengers as an unofficial uniform in the days following the fire – became the largest walking, talking message from the crisis. Passengers used the robes to express outrage, fear, and even thanks.

A Triumph passenger displays a message on her ‘complimentary’ bathrobe. Source: Twitter.

Although Carnival executives and public relations representatives seemed to constantly be playing defense in the days following the crisis, they reacted with honesty. Passengers aboard the Triumph received free flights home, refunds on their cruise expenses, and vouchers for a future cruise – if they ever decided setting foot on another Carnival Cruise ship sounded like a good idea for a relaxing vacation.

Ironically, the whole situation will likely have little effect on Carnival’s reputation in the long run – because of technical and mechanical issues on all sorts of cruise ships in the past, we as travelers have lowered expectations for our cruise experience. Carnival may be literally and metaphorically paying the price for the Triumph situation for a while, but in the long-run? I’m guessing they’ll cruise along just fine.

[I sympathize dearly with all those who were aboard the Triumph and endured the terrible experience, and I in no way would want to be in their shoes. Or bathrobes. However, I just keep thinking, “Man, if I had been aboard that ship, it would’ve made for one hell of a blog post…]

*Photos are my own unless otherwise noted.

Sources 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/10/carnival-triumph-fire-cruise-ship-mexico_n_2659651.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/20/us-italy-ship-idUSBRE8BJ10320121220

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/carnival-mexico-disaster_n_2690277.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/carnival-disaster-timeline-in-photos-2013-3?op=1

So You Want to Go to Morocco?: An Idiot’s Guide On the Weather, the Religion, and How Not To Be the Girl From “Taken”

Tags

advice, africa, culture, idiot's guide, islam, morocco, muslim, religion, safety, summer, tradition, travel, weather

Since returning from Morocco last August, I’ve received several emails about my time there, mostly from people who read my blog or from students who visited the International Studies Abroad (ISA) website and saw my name and email as a Returned Student Contact. The questions have varied from typical (“What’s the weather like?”) to rambling (“So I was thinking about doing this or possibly this but it all really depends on this and what do you think about…?”) to strange (“What did you think of the vibe in Morocco? Was it good?”).

I generally direct them to my blog, hoping that my own typical, rambling, strange stories and thoughts will help them get a feel for my experience and for the Morocco that I loved. However, the more I dole out advice and try to calm fears of anxious or overeager travelers, I start to realize that my blog doesn’t hardly help at all.

Sure, I wrote plenty about awkward encounters, odd experiences, and culinary disasters. I told story after story about culture shock and language barriers, and I certainly did not fail to mention being homesick. However, I never once wrote anything concise about what you really need to know about Morocco.

So, here you have it: An Idiot’s Guide to Morocco. It won’t tell you everything you need to know, nor will it totally fail you either. Whether you’ve been there, want to study abroad there, or simply are curious, I hope this guide enlightens you a little to the real Morocco – or at least the one that I knew.

A traditional Moroccan door in Tangier, in northern Morocco.

Safety
The biggest concern I hear in every email and in nearly every conversation I have with someone considering visiting Morocco is safety. They worry about the safety of being in an African country, in a Muslim state. Is it safe at night? Will they bother me because I’m American?

In all honesty, I felt safer in Morocco than I probably ever have while traveling anywhere else, and possibly even safer than I often feel at home in the Midwest. People are generally friendly, willing to help, and wanting to make you feel at home. Although my family, friends, and even complete strangers often joked about it, I never once felt as if I was about to wind up like the girl from the movie “Taken,” in which Liam Neeson plays a former CIA agent whose daughter is travelling in France and gets kidnapped by a group of human traffickers.

Having said that, that girl is also an idiot, and I’m not, so I always had that going for me. But that’s not the point.

We were told several times that the punishment for harming a foreigner was three times as bad as the punishment for the same crime against a Moroccan; because of the repercussions, it wasn’t worth it to harm us even if the opportunity presented itself. Also, we rarely ventured truly off the beaten path, as we knew little French and even less Arabic, making the scarier regions of Morocco completely impossible to navigate. Even if we had the requisite language skills, we weren’t tempted to wander off; Morocco presents enough sights, sounds, and cultural experiences in accessible and safe areas to keep even the most restless traveler (aka: me) entertained for a summer.

Generally, the biggest safety concerns in Morocco revolve around the safety of your possessions. Because the standard of living in Morocco is decidedly lower than that in the United States or European nations, stealing from tourists is highly profitable – especially when tourists aren’t paying attention to their bag or purse. If you are aware of your surroundings, do your best to be respectful and not be the typical ‘obnoxious tourist,’ and keep an eye on your belongings at all times, you should be able to navigate life in Morocco just fine.

Weather
Morocco is an African country. By all accounts, it is supposed to be burning hot all day every day and we are supposed to be gallivanting around with giraffes on a safari. Unfortunately, only half of that is true.

Morocco in the summer is HOT. Not humid, like many of us in the States are used to, but dry, desert heat. During the later weeks of July, stepping outside was like stepping in front of a huge hair dryer, turned up on high and at full blast.

It certainly didn’t help that basically all public transportation and public places don’t have air conditioning and rarely even a fan – I found it highly ironic that in a country whose social culture dictated that you cover as much of your body as possible, all I wanted to do was lay around in my underwear and not much else.

I experienced a Moroccan summer – hot, dry, and sunny.  However, had I been there over the winter, I would’ve had a wholly different experience. Morocco has a desert climate, and in the winter it can get downright frigid. Ifrane, one of the mountain towns we visited several times, is where the coldest temperature in Africa to date was recorded; in 1935, it hit a low of -11 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrr! That doesn’t mean, however, that central heating is a common thing; Moroccans would tell us that in winter months, huddling around a space heater in the kitchen or some other central room of the home was a fact of life.

Overall, the weather on the coast is more Mediterranean, with lots of sun but also a little less brutal than in the interior of the country. The southern region, where Morocco meets the Sahara desert, is much less hospitable. Like with any country, checking the weather report obsessively before you go is key – layers, neutral-colored clothing, and good shoes are good packing guidelines to start with.

Paradise Beach in Assilah, a beach town in northern Morocco – a quiet place to escape the summer heat.

Religion
Born and raised in a Christian country, knowing very few people who practiced any other religion, I knew going to Morocco would be a huge change, and I looked forward to it. I wanted to see what it was like in a country whose entire government, social structure, and culture are based around a religion that I knew almost nothing about. As a political science major, I was ravenously curious about the religion that was at the center of the wars, attacks, and violence I had seen on the news and in textbooks.

I could probably write a book on my Islam-related cultural encounters. As a female visiting a country where the women are treated much differently than the men, I certainly had to adjust. Additionally, I had to learn that Friday was the holy day of the week, not Sunday. When I returned to the States, it seemed odd to me that people went to work and class on Fridays; I was used to having that day off!

I think the best way to approach the Muslim culture shock is to go in completely open-minded. You must set aside your own religion views and preconceived notions and let yourself observe for a while before you try to form your own opinions or even try to understand it all. Islam is a beautiful, misunderstood religion – if you wait long enough, you might begin to realize that this religion, and the people who observe it, aren’t so different after all.

If you’re worried about ‘losing’ any of your religious convictions or having them challenged, don’t – I found that I returned to America with even stronger convictions and a greater desire to learn about my own religion because I encountered Muslim believers so passionate and knowledgeable about their own beliefs that I felt a heightened need to learn more about my own.

I would recommend learning as much as possible about Islam before you go – it’ll help you understand the culture and traditions much easier and more quickly. Any sort of “Basics of Islam” type book will do, and if you want to get really ambitious, there are hundreds of books explaining everything from the traditional architecture of mosques to why women wear the hijab.

A tiled wall outside a Moroccan mosque – the script reads “Allah,” or the Arabic word for God.

Sources

http://wmo.asu.edu/#continental

On Being An International Mutt: Why I Might Never Be Able to Believe In American Exceptionalism

Tags

america, american exceptionalism, atlas mountains, azrou, bilingual, citizenship, culture, iceland, international, language, morocco, tradition, travel

On a summery Moroccan day last July, I was wandering around Azrou with some of my fellow study abroad students. Azrou, a quaint mountain town in the Atlas Mountains, is known for rock climbing and Berber culture. We were in search of lunch; Azrou has great fish, which is practically a delicacy in a country that loves chicken and lamb.

We were nearing the end of our time in Morocco, knowing that we would soon return to the real world, where peanut butter, air conditioning, and good beer were all easily accessible. In a lot of ways we were nostalgic and not ready to leave, but in a lot more ways we were getting homesick; the light at the end of the tunnel was finally visible, and we were all but sprinting towards it.

As we wandered through the city, we stopped to read a restaurant menu (and by read, I mean attempt to decipher the half-Arabic/half-French food descriptions). It was then we heard the most unusual thing…

“Hey, are you guys American?”

There a lot of things you might hear and see in central Moroccan mountain towns, but a New Jersey accent is certainly not one of them.

The New Jersey accent belonged to a lanky man in his late 20s; he had shaggy brown hair and Jay-Z sunglasses. He wore a thin cotton t-shirt, and his brown skin spoke of hours outside. Around my hometown, he would’ve been regarded as a ‘hipster’ or someone you’d see frequenting coffee shops and poetry slams; around Azrou, he blended in well – at least until he started talking.

I never learned his name; for the purpose of this post let’s call him Chad. Chad waved us over and introduced his friends, who were decidedly more Moroccan and less chatty than he was. Chad asked us what we were looking for, and when we replied that we were in search of a good fish lunch, he and a friend ushered us off to small fried fish shop around the corner.

Chad, it turns out, blended in well for a reason; born to an American father and a Moroccan mother, he had grown up in New Jersey but traveled obsessively; he had lived in various countries in South America, in Europe, and was now whiling away a few months in Morocco. He traveled until he ran out of money, at which point he would simply return home and begin saving again; he either taught yoga or did odd jobs until he could move on. Chad, it seems, was a modern day nomad.

An opinionated nomad, as it turns out.

“You know,” he said at one point in our two-hour-long talk, “I guess I’ve never really identified with one country or another. I travel too much for that. With parents from two countries and hardly a permanent home, I’m kind of an international mutt.”

Nearly 8 months later, that comment still sticks with me. If Chad, born of an American father and a foreign mother, considers himself a mutt, what does that make me?

My parents met in Mexico; my mom was on a soul-searching vacation of sorts after ending an 8-year-long relationship, and my dad was taking a break from juggling three girlfriends back home to meander around Mexico with his parents. My mom grew up the oldest of three girls in Zurich, Switzerland; she studied history, worked on archeological digs, and played the flute. My dad grew up in various places, but mostly St. Louis. He attended the University of Kansas, where he found that he wasn’t the only college guy interested in pranks and inventive ways to keep his beer cold.

After their fateful encounter in Mexico, my dad chased my mom down in Costa Rica, and she eventually followed him back to Kansas. Some wedding vows and a few years later, I came along. Annie Cutler, international mutt.

Born into two citizenships, raised bilingually, and given a long and fancy foreign name (No offense, Mom, but it is cruel and unusual punishment to name a child “Antoinette” and expect her to be able to then sign her kindergarten artwork with anything intelligible), I definitely never was and never could be your typical all-American blonde-haired, blue-eyed child.

This situation rarely bothered me. I traveled more before I was ten years old than most people will in their lifetime. I may have never been to Disneyworld, but I ate foods from nearly every culture, got extra holidays to celebrate, and saw the world through an international lens. I was consistently a cultural mess, raised equal parts Swiss and American, but I was content and happy. I was, and still am, an international mutt.

It is only lately, as I’ve been preparing to graduate from college while still trying to transition back into the American lifestyle after a summer and a holiday season abroad, that I’ve really begun to think about what it means to be an international mutt. Luckily, I am not alone in this question. When I was young, my mom reached out to other mothers who were either foreign themselves or married to a foreigner. Because of this, I grew up knowing lots of international mutts, and it was this motley crew that I reached out to when I began to consider my cultural citizenship clash. If I didn’t quite understand what being an international mutt meant, maybe they would.

I certainly got some interesting responses.

One friend wrote that she would never truly feel at home anywhere because she didn’t fully belong; at the same time, she reasoned, she never truly felt alienated or like an outsider. Being an international mutt, for her, meant being at home nowhere and anywhere at the same time. In a lot of ways, being a mutt gave her citizenship in any nation.

A second friend claimed that being an international mutt meant nothing but good things. You get introduced to multiple cultures, languages, and ways of thinking without even trying. You don’t grow up stuck in one mindset or another because you are raised equally by two ways of thinking. Being an international mutt, she said, meant getting the best of two worlds.

A third friend wrote a lengthy response, at times rambling but eventually settling on the idea that I had been harboring all along: that being a citizen of two countries meant that he could never truly believe in American exceptionalism.

Born to Icelandic parents who moved to the United States to pursue job opportunities, he and his sister faced an entirely different challenge of the entire family trying to assimilate to a new culture while still embracing and encouraging their own. Managing to put my feelings into words, he wrote: “I’m a ship on the water that’s been built mostly in America, but my anchor was made in Iceland.”

Although I’m as patriotic as anyone I know, and certainly more passionate about voting, baseball, and apple pie than a lot of people, I will never be able to truly believe that America is the best country in the world. I do love it here, and I’m not sure I’d ever want to make my home anywhere else. I love it for its food, its pride, and mostly for its people. I love America, but this international mutt has loved other nations too, and because of that I’ll always see America as the country I love, that I prefer, but never as the only one.

Photo credit: Kylan McDowell

Bringing a Knife to a Bomb Fight: How Will a Change in TSA Security Regulations Change the Way We Fight Terrorism?

Tags

administration, air marshals, air safety, flight attendants, international, laws, pistole, regulations, rules, schumer, security, september 11, small knives, sporting equipment, transportation, travel, TSA

After the terrorist hijackings on September 11^th, 2001, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created to address concerns about the safety of American air travel. Over the years, TSA regulations have at times ranged from practical to questionable to downright obnoxious, but the agency’s record is a solid one; 12 years into the job, we have yet to see another major terrorist attack on U.S. soil. For all the TSA’s shoe-removing, shampoo-size-reducing, full-body-scanning rules, they have done the one thing we asked them to do: they have kept us safe.

On March 5^th, TSA Chief Administrator John Pistole announced that an internal review of the TSA safety regulations proposed an update to the current rules; starting April 25^th, small knives and a variety of sporting equipment that had previously been banned would now be allowed in carry-on luggage.

Needless to say, there has been some criticism of this policy change.

Although travelers often seem to have the most complaints about TSA policies, they are almost the least vocal of any group in this particular debate. One of the strongest oppositions has come from two groups who are reasonably the most affected by this new policy: flight attendants and air marshals.

The Flight Attendants Union Coalition, with nearly 90,000 members, has vocalized its opposition, arguing that this policy change is unnecessary and creates a dangerous working environment for flight attendants, who are the last line of defense in air transportation security. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, a group with 26,000 members from 65 different agencies, has also spoken out. An online petition asking the White House to block the TSA policy revisions, created on March 6^th, already has 34,000 signatures.

TSA’s argument for the policy change is that removing some types of small knives and sporting equipment (see the detailed new regulations here) from the “no-fly” list of carry-on items allows overworked TSA agents more time to search for items that could actually be used in an successful terrorist attack, namely improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Liquid IEDs, which can easily be concealed in toiletries and similar containers, are still the primary terrorist threat, according to TSA officials.

The policy revision will place TSA regulations in alignment with international standards concerning air safety, as other international travel allows for small, non-weapons grade knives and various sporting equipment such as lacrosse sticks, golf clubs, and pool cues to be carried onboard.

Like with all nationally debated issues, the change in TSA policy has led to criticism by organized groups, but also attention from Congress.

Senator Charles Schumer of New York recently held a press conference during which he addressed the issue, especially the part regarding small knives. During this press conference, he held up a ‘slender bladed object,’ and argued that such items would now be allowed on planes and could feasibly be used as a weapon. The item, later identified by CNN reporters as “a knife similar to ones made by office supply companies,” actually would not be allowed on flights, as it has a locking function, which is against TSA policy.

Congressmen dramatically waving around fancy ‘weapons’ that look strikingly like letter-openers aren’t the only ones commenting on the TSA’s policy change. The TSA recently received a vote of confidence from the National Arbitrariness Association (NAA), a group whose stated mission is to “enhance the randomness, disorder, and confusion of American life.”

The group sarcastically applauded the TSA’s decision, commenting, “It combines the virtues of making no sense and being impossible to remember. Knives, bats, golf clubs, billiard cues—it’s like they made this list using refrigerator-poetry magnets.”

Source: New Yorker (online)

All jokes (or shall we say jabs?) aside, the TSA’s decision to allow more items in carry-on luggage instead of banning more items marks a turn in our national security; this policy change is a direct acknowledgement that we have created an entirely new environment in which to fight terrorism in our skies. Terrorists attempting a hijacking on U.S. airlines now face not only advanced screening processes, but also reinforced cockpit doors and better-trained airline staff.

More than anything, however, they would face an entirely new and likely unexpected hurdle: emboldened and alert passengers. Inspired by the stories of United Airlines Flight 93, passengers are now more aware of their surroundings and more willing to step into the literal line of fire to protect one another. In a war waged on those that stand against us, we have become each other’s strongest allies.

While the battle lines have been clearly drawn in the debate over the new TSA regulations, the results of the policy change will be the deciding factor. Will the presence of small knives (along with golf clubs, ski poles, and other miscellaneous and pointy sporting equipment) on airplanes lead to more incidents? Or will it simply mean travelers have one less thing to toss into the TSA’s confiscated items bin?

Sources 

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/16/2752673/new-tsa-rules-allow-the-knives.html

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/03/new-tsa-rules-draw-praise-of-national-arbitrariness-association.html

http://www.kgwn.tv/story/21656513/passengers-react-to-new-tsa-regulations

http://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/assets/pdf/tsa_permitted_items_update.pdf

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/10/travel/tsa-knives/index.html

http://www.myfoxwausau.com/story/21536850/2013/03/06/travelers-torn-over-new-tsa-regulations

http://www.dhs.gov/john-s-pistole

http://www.tsa.gov/about-tsa

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2013/03/09/tsa-to-allow-pocket-knives-on-board-flight-attendants-and-air-marshals-are-not-happy/