A First Day on O'ahu

Renting a car and exploring at your own pace is the best way to see any of the main islands in Hawai'i. The aloha spirit isn't the polished clockwork of a German village. Behind the tourist facade, many countryside residences are rustic and a little bit weatherbeaten, much like the islands' ancient volcanoes themselves. This is a place where people actually live and pay taxes, not just play in a Disneyfied paradise. And, scheduled excursions are the antithesis of island life. Still, a little planning can maximize your adventure and comfort. 

Honolulu on O'ahu is sprawling, and traffic can be congested. There are a lot of one-way streets, so a GPS or your mobile phone map app will be invaluable. I'll swear the freeway lanes are narrower than I'm used to on the mainland. I was constantly running over the lane-side (warning) rumble strips, which at least kept my wife alert. One good thing, when you leave the city to explore in the morning and return in the afternoon, you will be going against the flow of rush hour traffic.

Maybe this is your first full day in Hawai'i, and you find yourself bright-eyed and ready to go in the darkness of 5:00 am? This was our condition on our first morning. An early morning climb in the crater of Diamond Head was the perfect way to offset the effects of jet lag.

Everyday Things to do and See on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

It's January or maybe February in the northern hemisphere. The holidays are over, and suddenly snow isn't quite so merry. The cold seems more biting than crisp. This is when I dream of beaches and tropical breezes to transport me to that summer siesta I crave without wishing months of my life away. That dream might take me to Grace Bay on Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos.

Providenciales, called Provo locally, was rated the best beach destination in the world by TripAdvisor in 2011. I have my own favorites elsewhere, but I won't hotly argue the point. The electric-blue waters surrounding the islands, technically part of the Atlantic Ocean rather than the Caribbean, are simply stunning. The Turks and Caicos are geographically part of the Bahamas Islands group (or vice versa), but--resorts aside--the T&C have an upscale, much less developed and tacky feel than many parts of their Disneyfied northern neighbor.

Tips for Surviving a Domestic (or International) Home Relocation

So you’re moving, maybe even to a different country. Whether on your own or supported by a corporate relocation package, there’s bound to be a lot on on your mind: “Where can we settle that gets me to work quickly? Should we rent or buy? Are there subdivisions close to services and nightlife? Is it a safe location for me and my family?” Moving house is one of the most stressful life events people can go through. It’s often ranked right up there with the loss of a loved one, job loss, or serious illness. Our family has moved multiple times (6) in the last few years due to job relocations, and our experience has been that there a lot of resources that address your big questions. But here are some tips beyond the standard relocation firm checklist we wish we had known about before first-hand experience.

Getting Around

Map reading skills are invaluable, but if you're moving to an unfamiliar place consider investing in a car GPS (rent one if you're doing a house-hunting trip far from your current home). Nowadays, a Smart phone's maps app can serve the same purpose.

Relocation is stressful enough without getting lost, especially if it's a new country with different traffic rules. Windshield wipers in bright sunshine or sudden, erratic turn signals when it’s overcast are dead giveaways of the driver on a new side of the road. I have vivid memories of learning to drive on the opposite side of the road in Perth, Western Australia while my wife frantically tried to navigate with the UBD (the road directory that came with our rental). Our suggestion to cover the cost of a car GPS  to my HR department was adopted for subsequent expats, one of whom gratefully thanked me.

Picture of the Moment - Avoiding World Record Traffic in Toronto

There will always be an argument about what city has the worst traffic. But Highway 401 (officially the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway) running between Windsor, Ontario and the Quebec border is the busiest roadway in North America, and it is arguably the world's busiest, with locally more than 18 lanes of idling cars. If you like superlatives and travel to Guinness-book sites, it's a must-see vacation destination.

When traffic is flowing, it's a poor man's thrill ride.

An office transfer off the direct mass transit routes made taking the GO train system an impossibility for me last year. Heavy city congestion meant a creative commute and work-from-home hours, and I learned from experience that driving from the city during peak rush hours (not shown here!) could make my 42-kilometer commute from Etobicoke (north-western Toronto) to Burlington take over a hundred minutes on the less-heavily trafficked Queen Elizabeth Way. That was on a good day. Google Maps tells me I could cover the distance in 32 minutes without traffic, but there's no sense in waiting for the Apocalypse. Torontonians are aggressive drivers as a whole, and not enough would be taken up in the Rapture.

To use pivot tables and breakdown statistics by weekday or route; that thought makes me weak-kneed. Since I left a regular technical role for Management, I am now absurdly pleased when I have the opportunity to make a chart or X-Y plot of anything, however banal, on personal time, hence my daily commute illustrated here. To decide between a linear trend line or the third order polynomial, that's a moment of near nirvana.

But independent variables like weather, accident, school-year traffic, teenagers, dubious third world driving licenses and sunspots wreak havoc on the best of plans. I modelled my commute in both directions over a calendar year with 3rd-order polynomial regressions, and both have very poor correlation coefficients below 0.35. But I dared not tread the main rush hour waters (4-7 pm) for a better spread of data, particularly in the afternoon, based on the hard lessons I learned before I started plotting.

Now I travel the lonely highways of northern Minnesota, and my commute is a unvarying flat line at any hour. Perhaps the end is nigh?

The Commute

My little commuting poem for the day

"The Commute" - M. Orobona, 5/1/2014

photo from pdpics.com

Pictures of the Moment - New Zealand Traffic Jam

A typical daily commute in the Toronto metro area includes stretches on Highway 401--the busiest in North America, and one of the busiest and widest in the world. People are in a hurry, and no one appreciates the view.

In New Zealand, where sheep outnumber people approximately 7:1, the countryside commute is a little less hectic. But there can still be traffic jams. You decide which environment is more pleasant.

Some of these commuters are going against the flow of left-hand traffic. Somehow, they don't provoke road rage, and waiting is an enjoyable part of the experience. This picture was taken on the south island in September 2008, near Castle Hill and close to State Highway 73 between Darfield and Arthur's Pass.

These locals live dangerously on the road shoulder without any bike helmets. Five years and change later- have I worn any socks from this flock? Have I seen any in the deli? Sheep numbers in New Zealand have dropped steadily since the early 1980s peak, strongly suggesting option "b."

Flying Off the Travel Plan - Murphy's Law on an Airport Commute

http://theaveragechicagoan.com/

My last business trip to Marquette, Michigan was a comedy of errors. I'm determined not to repeat that travel experience this time. I plan a longer layover in Detroit and a rental car better suited to the UP winter

It's the night before, and my wife Stacey checks the local forecast for me. There's a winter storm warning for overnight through tomorrow in the Toronto region. "You should leave extra early in the morning for the airport," she suggests. I've thought through all the scenarios. "I've got a good commuting buffer built in," I reply. Besides, it looks like the worst of the storm will be south of here, near Niagara and Buffalo. They always get hit hard.

I don't sleep well. That's typical before flying. My mind races through contingencies, things to do, conversation outcomes I want to ensure. My hand swats off the alarm almost before it starts.

I look outside. There's new snow, but it doesn't appear to be very much. Stacey checks the school network. District schools are open, but buses are cancelled. The kids are staying home. "You should check in online," Stacey suggests.

Nah, I think, I don't want to figure that process out now. "It's not snowing very heavily," I reply. "They keep schools open because they really think it's safe, but they shut down the buses to avoid liability." But I shower quickly, for me, and hurry through breakfast.

Road Trip Map

A fun way to keep track of your travels is to highlight a physical road map. It adds an extra dimension beyond push-pins in "cities visited." Some countries have vast open spaces, and you saw a lot of terrain between those cities. I keep an updated USA and Canadian atlas, with a lot more detail than this example, and I have updated maps for several other countries. I just wish there was an electronic version available on the Internet. If there is - point me to it! But there is something to be said for an honest-to-goodness folded map with worn edges. It's an emotional connection my GPS can never replace.

The Weekly Snack Run

Every place I live -- and there have been many across this continent and beyond --  we always seem to establish that one weekly ritual stop for a taste of the good life. When I was growing up on Long Island, it was Family Deli in Bohemia. There always seemed to be a good reason to stop there after church. These days in the Toronto area, our go to destination is the Monastery Bakery in Oakville, Ontario.

Just Another Typical Travel Day

It is Sunday, December 15th. I'm travelling on the weekend again, but I'm used to that. I miss the family already though. I've made it to Detroit thus far with no serious hassles outside the typical insane traffic in Toronto. But, after boarding my 8:25pm flight for Marquette, Michigan, our departure is delayed while the airplane is de-iced. I drift off to sleep in the middle of a Delta magazine crossword. This one is frustrating me anyway.

A bump and a roar jolt me awake. It is dark outside the window. I think, "Ah, we've landed, and I'm in Marquette. Excellent." But the plane appears to be building speed and I realize we're only taking off now. I look at my watch. We have been delayed 40 minutes. Well, at least we're going, as the pilot announces an outbound American Eagle flight is still stuck at the gate at our destination in Marquette.

While I was unconscious, the guy in the window seat next to me assumed a wide stance, most of my leg space and sole possession of the armrest. I formulate a strategy and go right for the leg-on-leg. It works and he backs off. He can keep the armrest, because I'm cold and cross my arms.