Critters/Insects of the world

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Things That Go Squish in the Night

Have you ever found a hairy tarantula under the toilet seat? Or a cane toad behind the refrigerator? Or a palmetto bug inside your bathing suit? These are just a few of the creepy critters that the experienced traveler might encounter while out on the road.

Tarantulas are very common in warmer climates, particularly in Central American countries like Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. Although a very docile and non-aggressive spider, it is still an unpleasant experience to find one nestled between the toilet seat and the toilet bowl when one is just inches away. Regardless of the general shock of such run-in, a tarantula bite is not something one would want to have on the posterior!

Planes, Trains or Recreational Vehicles: The Good, the Bad and the Assassination-Level Irritating

Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

Throw Momma From The Train.

Airport. And its many sequels.

Much has been said about transportation, but it takes personal experience - or listening to someone who has had personal experience - to be able to decide whether, the next time you go on vacation, you should fly, drive, ride, float or walk.

Taming Tel Aviv

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Tel Aviv-Yafo, the White City, is the second largest city in Israel and was founded in 1909. Lying on the Mediterranean coastline, it stretches over 20 square miles - which is not THAT large when compared to some European cities - and is home to 3.15 million people. That number became 3.15 million and one when I visited the city several years ago.

After an interesting flight to Tel Aviv on Israeli airline El Al - interesting as in "couldn't at least SOME of the in-flight announcements be in English, please?" - we landed at the Ben Gurion International Airport (where I had to wait for six hours for my tour guide to fetch me...good start!) Once I had finally escaped the airport's clutches, I was taken to my hotel, which was located in a nice middle-class area of the city. As far as hotels go, this one was great and it proved that choosing inexpensive accommodation in Tel Aviv had been a good idea. Never one to languish in a hotel room, though, I immediately set off to explore, among other places, the trendy Dizengoff Street and its internationally famous Dizengoff Center shopping mall, which is visited by an estimated 140,000 people per week.

The Hotels I've Stayed In. The Good, The Bad, The Quirky

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Being a family man and a salesman at the same time can be extremely challenging. My family comes first, but I can’t support them without travelling. My wife isn’t happy about it, but she wouldn’t be happy about being broke, either. She constantly says I should find a sales position in my field locally. To be honest, she has a point. It’s just that we’d be losing about $15,000 of income per year, and that’s not a situation we can currently afford. Well, enough about my problems (for now). What I’d like to go over are a few of the hotels I’ve been to around the country. To keep things simple, I have only included three of them: the best, the worst, and the quirkiest.

I’ll stick with the whole ‘save the best for last’ theme and begin with the worst. Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to disclose the exact location of this hotel because my friend is a high up for this chain -- Comfort Inn -- and gets me discounts all the time. I realize I already gave up the name, but not the location. Without getting into further details, it makes a difference. All I’ll say is that it’s located outside a medium-sized city in the south.