This summer, when I was living in Madrid, my husband contracted Mumps. An unusual affliction, and before we knew what it could be, we were both panicked at what the softball sized lumps on his jaw could be. We both spoke a little Spanish, enough to do almost everything we needed in daily life. This wasn’t daily life. Suddenly I was presented with medical vocabulary I had never heard or studied before. What’s the word for swollen? Or allergies? Or insurance card?

At almost the same time, Pocket Comms were created.

They are a series of cards that use cartoon pictures to represent common things: including medical emergencies.
The great thing about these cards?  They work.  The UK police department has been testing them out with citizens who don’t speak English.  Normally, they’d have to wait for an interpreter, while the suspect got away.  With these cards, they can flip to card and have the victim point to things like: what happened and what the suspect looked like.

If you’re traveling and don’t speak the language, you can probably get by.  But, I know for my husband’s medical emergency, having a way to communicate would have been extrememly helpful.

What do you think?  Would you use these cards?  Well here’s your chance to find out.  The folks at Pocket Comms have very generously offered a free Pocket Comms to one of our readers.  Comment to enter and next week, we’ll pick a winner!

Post from: Europe String

We didn’t have a column last week, for the US holiday (plus I was on the road traveling)– so this week’s column is extra special.  It’s something that I wish someone had thought of years ago.  Imagine this scenario:

• You want to spend sometime in Europe.
• You don’t have a fixed date or a fixed city.
• You just want to find the cheapest flight over there, and then you can travel around and come home.
• Maybe it’s a week, or 2, a month or longer.

It used to be that you’d have to test each city: Dublin, London, Paris, Munich, Barcelona and so on and test dates.  You find something cheapish, then you keep searching.  Is it cheaper if I leave on Tuesday?  What about if I stay for an extra week?

Now, there’s a website that does that for you!

Go to Kayak.com.  Click on Buzz (left hand sidebar).  Here you can search for the cheapest fares, and it will look at every date and every city option and all the major airlines and get this– Just Give You the Best Ones!

I searched for Boston, MA to Europe for Jan 2009 and here is what it found:

Here is why this is amazing:

1.  It checks all the major airlines.

2.  You can pick dates or not.  It can tell you the cheapest dates available (airlines usually publish no more than 1 year out) or just a month you want.

3.  You can pick the city you want, or just a continent.  I picked Europe, and it checked ALL European destinations.

4.  Once you’re done, you can have the fare updates emailed to you or you can add to your RSS Reader.  See that red circle I made on the screen shot?  That’s where you can get updates on the type of trip you searched for– making it hugely valuable.

So if you were thinking of spending some time in Europe this summer, you might pick a few options: June/July/Aug 09 travel dates to Europe or pick a few closeby airports (if that’s an option for you).  Then click on the “Get these by email” link and Kayak let’s you set an alert:

As you can see from the screen shots, you can even pick how often they send updates.

As far as I know, no other flight website let’s you do this.  I’ve already set up a couple alerts myself.  If you use this service to book your flight to europe, tell me about it!

So go, check it out, and report back… is this a helpful trick?

Can’t find the deal you need for your trip? Send me a twitter @europestring and I’ll put my industry contacts to work. Know about a great deal I haven’t mentioned? Tell me, and it could end up here in next week’s This Just In.

Post from: Europe String

Post from: Europe String

Not only that, but the recommended restaurants seem mostly tired and predictable – locales you can find in any upscale guidebook. There’s no insider’s feel to it (despite the fact that I myself have submitted a couple recommendations from the various European cities I’ve lived in . You’d probably be better off leaving this extra volume at home.

Post from: Europe String

Post from: Europe String

There’s always one of these adapters in my carry-on for long-haul flights. You can pick one up for about $1.

Post from: Europe String

How do you pack your clothes for travel? Do you use something like Pack-It Cubes, or do you just toss everything in loose?

Post from: Europe String

Don’t let the European penchant for bottled water fool you – tap water is not only potable but delicious in most parts of this continent. This bottle travels with me even when I fly – I just have to remember to empty it out before I head through security. Once through, I can head to the nearest bathroom and fill it up from the tap. I have the kind with a loop top (like the one pictured), which allows me to attach it to my bag with a carabiner if there’s no room inside.

Post from: Europe String

Things I like about Orbitz:

• They’ve been around for a while and are well-established, so I can feel safer about giving my money to them than to a new fly-by-night travel website.
• Sometimes they really do offer great fares that I can’t find anywhere else online. For example, I just bought tickets to Amsterdam from Orbitz, because the Orbitz price was $100 less than the next cheapest option displayed by Kayak. That’s a big savings!

Things I hate about Orbitz:

• If you don’t add a frequent flyer number when you make your purchase, you have to wait and do it at the airport when you fly. One more thing I have to remember on the day of travel…
• They are very sneaky about trying to add in a 30-something dollar ‘trip insurance’ to your trip. Vigilantly check your billing total each and every page during the purchase process!
• Sometimes I am offered a great price all the way through the point when I click ‘buy now’… and then suddenly the price gets re-calculated and the same tickets are no longer a good deal at all. Big waste of my time.

What has your experience with Orbitz been? Do you ever use the site?

Post from: Europe String

Every meal I’ve had at Zoozie’z has been enjoyable. They offer daily lunch specials which at EUR 5.50 are totally affordable even for the budget traveler. And during the non-busy time between lunch and dinner, I was allowed to lurk for hours undisturbed with an order of nothing more than a coffee or a beer. Many thanks to Zoozie’z for being such a fabulous second home to me, and I look forward to visiting without my laptop in hand for once.

Zoozie’z is open daily from at least 9:00am till 1:00am, located at Wittelsbacherstr. 15 in Munich. Telephone: (+49) 089 201 0059. See their website for more info.

Post from: Europe String