TravelCommons

It's a Mitteleuropa episode, talking about last month's travels through Vienna and Hungary. I came away with good first impressions of Austrian Airlines and the Vienna airport. And, for the first time in many visits, saw Hungary through a tourist's eyes, spending time in Budapest and the Tokaj wine region. We also talk about how Google Translate has become pretty much indistinguishable from magic and the potential impact the privatization of the US air traffic control system might have on the general aviation industry.

Difficult to do a travel podcast without talking about this month's incidents on United and American Airlines. The videos that hit social media were damning, but as more of the facts came out, the stories around each incident became more complex. On a much lighter note, we also talk about the explosion of food tourism, called by some "The Bourdain Effect" after Anthony Bourdain's TV travelogue series. Also, listener suggestions for visiting the Budapest baths, and compliments on the terminal improvements at San Francisco Airport (SFO).

It's a very Paris-centric episode; I'm still trying to drop the weight I picked up on our 10-day stay. I talk about hunts for beer and pastry took us out of the usual Notre Dame-to-Eiffel Tower-to-Louvre tourist triangle, some of the interesting buskers we saw along the way, and my surprise at Munich Airport receiving an airport award. I also continue our on-going discussions about buying international SIM cards and ride-sharing.

In this episode, I talk again about digital security on the road, especially the use of a VPN. I review three VPN products, including NordVPN which is giving away a year’s subscription to a TravelCommons listener. I dig into the process of generating the Top 10 Holiday Travel Tips listicle I do every couple of year, and follow up on stories from Uber and Lyft drivers.

Seems like I've been doing as much driving as flying since the last episode, so I've switched from apps that track flight delays to those that help me dodge traffic backups. I talk, yet again, about buying pay-as-you-go SIMs while traveling, but the need to do that may be ending. And I've reshuffled my carry-on luggage as the airlines have changed their rules.

Back from 10 days in Tuscany where, among other things, we thought we'd avoid all the noise of the US presidential election. We succeeded... almost. One of my latest travel hobbies has been to quiz Uber drivers for their life stories. It makes for interesting rides to and from the airport. We also continue the ongoing thread about travel safety. This time, we talk about using Bluetooth in rental cars.

My son joins the podcast to talk about hunting down craft beers. I then talk about a few "a-ha" moments from my recent trip to Scotland, my on-going struggles with bitch tweeting, a VPN hardware product that could come in handy, and why I've come to hate the Rick Steves travel juggernaut.

It's been a tough travel month for a large portion of the traveling public. Between Delta and Southwest system outages and two straight Thursdays of thunderstorms in the east half of the US, dealing with travel delays has been a part of this month's travel experience. In this episode, we think about ways to avoid delays, or at least minimize their impact.

Watching Iceland makes its Cinderella run in the Euro 2016 soccer tourney got me thinking back to my March trip there. It is one of the hot travel destinations -- maybe too hot? Could be, but the descriptor I keep coming back to is "dramatic." And it seems that on every trip I make out of the country, I get surprised by the amount of data my iPhone consumes -- in spite of flipping every Settings switch I can find.

After two vacations to Europe and some full-contact business travel in-between, I found my way back into the TravelCommons studios. I talk about these recent trips -- the awful timeliness of an American Airlines' regional jet partner, an incredible string of lost luggage, a meaningless baggage strip tease with Wow Air, and being surprised to still find some quirks when using ATMs and credit cards in Europe. And it wouldn't be a travel podcast if I didn't weigh in on the TSA's "line-mageddon" -- their meltdown at O'Hare.

Where do guidebooks fit in the world of apps, review websites, social media, and podcasts? Planning for a trip to Iceland got me thinking about how to make sense of the explosion of travel tips. And then, after giving my thoughts about my new Bluesmart smart luggage, I talk about how idiosyncratic frequent travelers are about packing strategies and their choice of suitcases. There's also follow-up about foreign exchange apps, and listener comments about digital travel security and Spirit Airlines' growth.

Final episode of the year to keep you entertained while you navigate the holiday airport lines. We talk about digital security on the road -- what's the right balance between hassle and hack. We also dig into JD Power's latest airport satisfaction survey. They report a tick up in traveler experience and, for the most part, I think they have it right. We also cover Spirit Airlines' growth and the planned expansion of US immigration pre-clearance.

A bit less of a random walk than the last episode, we talk about safety, physical safety, when traveling. While we sometimes put ourselves in the midst of dodgy surroundings, we usually feel safe when we retreat back into the "travel bubble" What about when the bubble is no longer safe? Smartphones are the frequent traveler's most important tool. So when an upgrade to my HTC One killed its usefulness, I found myself heading back to Apple.

Apologies in advance because this is pretty much a stream-of-consciousness episode, with semi-strung together thoughts about eggs, car rentals, seeing the Pope, travel food, and stuff from my September trip to Scotland. I talk about how handy I found the new Revolut service for spending and sending money in Europe; recent good and bad experiences with Hertz and other car rentals; most bad experience with British Airways; and how true-to-life the Doritos Super Bowl commercial portrays the Southwest boarding experience.

Back behind the microphone after an extended summer break highlighted by a two-week family vacation in Japan. We talk about traveling in Japan. It was a fantastic time, though we were lost without translation at times. But with the US dollar buying 124 yen, it was the right time to go. We also talk about frustration in using frequent flier miles, trends toward prettier and higher tech luggage, and a connoisseur of scrambled eggs.