What We’re Reading: The Strange Habits of Fellow Flyers and More

Need an excuse to gape at your computer screen for a few more hours? Of course you do. So grab a snack and peruse the most interesting travel stories we’ve spotted this week. On the docket: A roundup of the 12 weirdest air passengers, a look into the future of travel (cue the blinking strobe lights and futuristic techno music), a series of beautiful travel photos snapped from the sky, and more.

It’s Not Sci-Fi … It’s Travel in 10 Years

Planes that fly on solar power. Cars that drive themselves. Space tourism. It sounds like an Issac Asimov novel. But, according to Jason Wire’s post on the Matador Network, some 21st-century technological advancements that’ll blow your mind are just around the corner. Given that high fuel costs are partly responsible for driving up airfares, I’m particularly looking forward to the solar powered plane, which may take flight in just a few years. I presume Al Gore would agree with me.

Something to View on the Plane

As always, when a story that puts a positive spin on flying surfaces, it catches our attention. People are sneaking knives onto planes and airlines fees are still going crazy, but there is, perhaps, still some good in the world of air travel. See Budget Travel‘s gorgeous collection of photos of the earth taken from above. These pictures, which depict snow-capped mountains, snaking coastlines, and sparkling icebergs, were snapped from the seat of a plane. You’ll remember to stow your camera in your carry-on next time you fly after browing the photos.

What You Can Buy for $5 in Europe

A traveler touring Europe and following the advice in an old copy of Arthur Frommer’s Europe on Five Dollars a Day has come up with a list of what one can buy with five bucks on the Continent. His story is published on World Hum. The inventory features somewhat obvious purchases such as a knock-off pair of sunglasses and a pint, as well as a few unexpected buys. Turns out a ticket in the nosebleed seats at a bullfight in Madrid costs a fiver. Who would have thought?

Dazed and Confused (but Mostly Just Confused) by Fellow Passengers

I just caught this post hovering in the most-popular list on Everywhereist. It’s from way back in February, but it’s a classic. Blogger Geraldine lists the 12 most baffling airplane passengers she’s encountered: the guy who brings nothing on the plane with him, flyers who glare at those sitting in first class, those who watch Two and a Half Men on an iPad for the duration of the flight. This brings to mind the time I saw a couple playing Yatzee on a plane. You know, the game with the dice-rolling cup that resonates like obnoxious maracas each time someone takes a turn? That surely baffled me. Now it’s your turn: Tell us about the in-air behavior that makes you scratch your head.