Thursday, February 25, 2021 Greetings from warm and sunny Southern California! It's been unseasonably warm here so we've gone to the beach a few times this week because the kids absolutely love it and it's become our happy place during the pandemic. Note: We always go during off-peak hours so there's usually no one anywhere near us.
Another crazy and busy week has gone by and there's some really good news for once. I’m going to change things up a little bit. Instead of just compiling all the travel news like I usually do I’m going to create a post with what I think are the top 12 most important travel news stories of the past week (they can be found in the link above along with some of my commentary).
If you want to see all the travel news I’ve compiled, then click this link for the Daily Travel News Round-Up. I update this every morning and will keep all the stories I post from the week before deleting them.
And if you want even more travel news stories, then scroll to the bottom of this page.
Below are stories and tips I wrote for the week, which I hope you will find useful.
Everything You Need To Know About Global Entry During COVID-19
Arguably the best thing to happen to international travel is Global Entry. The program, created by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service, allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to receive expedited clearance upon arrival into the United States so you can clear customs/immigration within minutes instead of sometimes hours. Seriously, I can go from the plane to the curb in five minutes so it’s well worth the $100 for five years. Well, a reader just sent me this email asking: “What’s the deal with getting new GOES interviews. Mine expired during Covid and I’m screwed.” Just to be sure, I emailed U.S. Customs and Border Protection and they responded in less than an hour. Here’s the answer and more.
How to Survive if You Fall Through the Ice
I was watching Good Morning America recently on ABC and they aired a segment about dramatic rescues of people who’d fallen through the ice. The most important part is the last half where an expert gives tips on how to survive if you fall through the ice. I think this is valuable and timely information since much of the country is experiencing below freezing temperatures. Details here.
How To Always Have Clean Water
It’s always smart to carry a LifeStraw water filter since it filters up to 1,000 gallons (4,000 liters) of contaminated water without iodine, chlorine or other chemicals. It doesn’t require batteries and has no moving parts. A friend of mine who travels a lot uses this wherever he goes in the world. He claims he’s never drunk bottled water before. RELATED: 10 Items to Always Have in Case of Emergency
11 Great Travel Shows for Kids
I never imagined I’d be writing about the best kids travel TV shows but then I had two kids and now that we’ve been in lockdown for almost a year, I’ll admit – they’re watching more TV than they did pre-pandemic.. Our toddler is no longer in preschool but he's been learning so much from some really educational shows, especially travel shows that he loves. Here's the story.
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