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The Thinking Traveller

The Thinking Traveller

Simply ask questions

Are you shy?  Maybe out of "the game"?  Have you recently moved to a new location and finding it hard to connect with others? These three strategies can help if you’re looking to make new and meaningful connections. If you check out your social media feeds, you’ll see that you’re probably connected to a lot…

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Are you out of your Vulcan mind?

On some days, you just want to say, “Beam me up, Scotty! There’s no intelligent life here.” And when those days arrive, Scotty’s transporter is waiting in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, halfway between Calgary and Lethbridge. The Canadian Pacific originally named the town for the Roman god of fire, but the citizens had a better idea. …

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Yotel!

If you've been to London (or the Republic of Ireland, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Australia) you'll likely know Yo Sushi. A restaurant chain first started in London, Yo Sushi took the popular Asia-originated conveyor belt concept (you grab the plate you want as it passes) and tweaked it a bit…

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At €29 per flight, how does Ryanair even make any money?

If you've flown Ryanair, you'll know that it can be a mixed bag.  On the plus side, the prices are almost unbelievable:  how can anyone operate a jet aircraft (and all of its associated costs) with a €29 fare? On the more questionable side, some passengers feel like cattle (with the same amount of "love"…

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La Jetée

As of this writing, Covid 19 still continues to confuse, confound and destroy mankind, with chequered survival success rates, disbelievers, and countries that simply cannot rise above it.  Horrible, sad and terrifying does not describe the situation. But, it recently reminded us of a film from 1962 that, in some ways, predicted such events.  That film…

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A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

We're sure that everyone who frequents our site knows of The Vatican, even if you're not a believer.  But despite the openness of the Vatican (nowadays, anyway) there is still so much to learn and understand. The video below attempts to shed some light on this most venerated of institutions. Trust OMIO for your European…

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A live-in legend

If you frequent our site, you'll know how much we love architecture:  it's a part of life, especially when it is executed with creativity, originality and love.  We especially like the Bauhaus and modern movements from the start of the twentieth century. It is often almost impossible to visit, let alone stay in some of…

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FailItalia

Pity poor Alitalia.  For years, they've been the underdog, constantly chided and teetering on the brink of disappearing.  They've had their problems, but we've flown many times on the airline and had good experiences. (We even sat near Peter Gabriel on one flight.) But, it looks like the future is bleak. On September 10th, 2021 the European…

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Brave soldier, man of letters, publisher, first Grand Master of Neapolitan Masonry

Raimondo di Sangro Prince of Sansevero (Torremaggiore 1710 – Naples 1771) was an original exponent of the first European Enlightenment. A brave soldier, man of letters, publisher, first Grand Master of Neapolitan Masonry, he was – more than anything else – a prolific and enterprising inventor and patron. In the underground laboratories of his palace,…

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Plead the Fifth (freedom)

You might have heard (recently) of the concept of Fifth Freedom flights.  It may sound like a bad action film, but its principles are fairly straightforward and, to be honest, a bit boring.  But, as you'll see in the video, below, in practice it can bring some benefits. Click here to see part one. In…

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Fire up the engines

Slowly, but surely, travel is gaining speed.  More aircraft are flying, with more people on board.  Borders are opening, albeit with an air of caution.  One of the most anticipated restarts is cruising. But how do you actually restart such a monstrous travel industry, as well as firing up the ships themselves? Well, Norwegian (one…

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I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid you can’t write that

Machine-written literature might offend your tastes but until the dawn of Romanticism most writers were just as formulaic. Since its inception in 2015, the research laboratory OpenAI – an Elon Musk-backed initiative that seeks to build human-friendly artificial intelligence – has developed a series of powerful ‘language models’, the latest being GPT-3 (third-generation Generative Pre-trained…

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The sunlight zone

Do you consider yourself as deep?  Full of meaning?  Sometimes unfathomable? Well, you have nothing on the Mariana Trench.  Most of us have heard of it, but probably know very little about it.  And is worth knowing about. The Trench sits like a crescent-shaped dent in the floor of the Pacific Ocean, extending over 1500…

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The green mosque

Gratifyingly, people are starting to understand that climate change is real.  Turn on the television every day and a new horrifying example of our changing world appears. On a very positive note, though, Dubai just got the world's first ‘green’ mosque. As per the reports, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) inaugurated the world's first…

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India’s golden triangle

Surprise! We kind of tricked you here.  Yes, this article is about India, and one of India's glorious contributions to the world are samosas, but this is about a Golden Triangle of a different kind. Here, we're talking about a glorious tour through India’s Golden Triangle - with Ranthambore National Park via our affiliate friends,…

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Trains explained

Trains are everywhere in Europe. Some of the trains travel at high speed across the continent, while others move around leisurely, either by day or by night. Find out about the different European trains like sleeper trains, chocolate trains, high speed trains and the provided facilities for a clear idea of what train travel in…

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Scenes of Queens

Where you can escape to nature close to the city, more than 130 languages are spoken, and NYC’s only surf culture thrives... As one of the five boroughs of New York City, Queens is not only the largest and second-most populated—with over two million people—but it can be a world unto itself. While tourists often…

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Jet ‘a Petra

Our affiliate friends easyJet have announced the launch of a new route and holidays from Manchester Airport UK to Aqaba in Jordan this winter. Flights and holidays are on sale from Manchester Airport to the scenic Jordanian city, a perfect destination for a splash of year-round sunshine and Middle Eastern culture. Read more here from…

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Fantastic new island property. Buy now! Won’t last!

Scientists have discovered a new island off the coast of Greenland, which they say is the world’s northernmost point of land and was revealed by shifting pack ice. “It was not our intention to discover a new island,” polar explorer and head of the Arctic station research facility in Greenland, Morten Rasch, said of the find last month.…

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