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Biking Across South Korea: A Family Adventure
My 18-year-old son and I set out to bike across South Korea. I’ve always wanted to go on a biking vacation – ever since college when my roommates and I were going to bike across Scotland together, and then everyone got jobs instead. My son wanted a vacation without rigid plans, with room to explore. I had a business trip to Hong Kong, so after some research, we decided that South Korea would be an great place for a bike trip. (Japan and Taiwan also ranked high, but Korea had an extensive dedicated bike trail network.)
At the first phone booth to get a stamp, after riding all morning to get there. We had an awesome adventure – I’ll share the highlights with you. If there is one thing I would do differently, it would be the time of year. We were constrained by my business trip and my son’s school schedule, but if you have a choice I would highly recommend not going in mid-August! It was very hot, and that ultimately cut our trip short.
We encountered incredibly friendly people, like bikers stopping to give us ice-cold waters, and locals helping us find hotels. The food was amazing. For the most part, we ordered by pointing or just indicating we wanted some food. We were never disappointed. We even appreciated the convenience store food which was new to us – wrapped rice with various toppings for the most part.
Day-by-Day Journey
Day 1: Seoul to the Trail
Yesterday was mileage day! We flew across the ocean on a 12-hour long flight, got our bikes, and hit the trail!
The trail is fantastic. Lots of extremely friendly bikers. One even stopped my 18yo because he saw his water bottle was empty and gave him an ice-cold bottle. Extremely well-marked bike lanes including roundabouts, speed limits, and sirens that either talk to you in Korean or blare at you if you exceed the speed limit. Everyone shouted encouraging things at us on the hills. At least it sounded encouraging!
Bike lanes had roundabouts and speed cameras! More details: We arrived at Incheon, Seoul’s airport, at around 4am. We had to kill time until things opened. The non-express train doesn’t run until 5:30, and ATMs don’t work until 6am. We made the hour-and-a-half journey to the bike shop.
Our bikes were ready for us and it was self-service, no employees on site. My 18yo and I and 3 Korean guys got our bags loaded. We rode 2.5 hours to the start of the trail, got our trail passports, and then rode approximately 50 miles on the trail.
In front of the bike shop after loading up the first day. We have a passport that we stamp at red booths along the way to earn a medal at the end.
Our bikes are terrific except for the seats. I wish I’d brought my bike seat!
It was 95 degrees and extremely humid. We went through gallons of water. And never stopped to use any of the really nice public restrooms along the way.
Day 2: Tunnels and Canopies
This morning was my favorite part so far. Beautiful landscapes, trees making a canopy over us, little shops and cafes on the trail, and best of all – tunnels! I’ve always been fascinated by tunnels; today I loved them, nice and cool! One even had music playing inside! People were super friendly. My son says I was being unfair to day one, which was pretty spectacular too. Maybe. Maybe it was the full night’s sleep too.
The afternoon got much harder. First, they stopped digging bike tunnels and we had to climb hills like the cars. Then it got really hot. Then we filled our water bottles from a place where my 18yo translated a sign saying the water wasn’t good! So we took a long break in an air-conditioned cafe and enjoyed cold smoothies. The barista filled our water bottles with ice when we left! After that, we lost the trail for a bit. Most locals don’t bike on the trails between towns.
I had joked that if we didn’t find lodging one night, we would sleep in a park. We came awfully close to that tonight. (Problem is there are a lot of bugs!) None of the Korean map apps could find us anything. Google Maps took us to a place that was no longer a hotel, if it ever was. Thank goodness for a Korean-American guy who was weed-whacking out front for his aunt. He found us a room about a mile away. He called the inn, and they waited out front for us and called him to translate. They even had a spot inside for our bikes. There’s another Korean couple doing the trail staying here as well. The Korean-American guy gave me his number in case we have trouble in the future, and I realized I don’t even know his name!
I think we did about 50 trail miles and a lot of extra miles.
Day 3: Rice Paddies and Honorary Baby Mountains
At the top of our longest climb. I kept searching for one lower gear … It’s still 95 degrees and 80% humidity!
Today’s ride took us through rice paddies and fruit tree orchards, then mountains and trees. It was beautiful but we were ready to be done with the hills. We did 40 miles before 11:30, before hitting the hills. We were pretty excited about that!
I picked this trail because it’s supposed to follow rivers and be pretty flat except for a good climb on day five. We went over several hills today that I’ve decided deserve honorary baby mountain status. For each, we climbed about 3 miles, much of it at about 10% grade. The gnats took advantage of our slow uphill pace to hang out with us. But it was beautiful!
Other than tiredness, I feel pretty good, except for my hands. I think when the seat bothered me the first day or two, I leaned on them too much and pinched some nerve. I can’t use my hands normally. This is awkward but manageable, except in a world of chopsticks. I now look like a very novice chopstick user, not that I ever looked like an expert!
18yo took charge of most logistics today! He tracked our mileage, followed the trail without getting us off track, found our lunch restaurant, and found us a hotel right off the bike track! Remember, Google Maps doesn’t work here!
Oh, and 18yo had at least 3 smoothies today that I remember.
We did about 63 trail miles today.
Day 4: Seoul to Gumi (Formerly Seoul to Busan)
Sad news, we need to rename this trip Seoul to Gumi. We’re calling an end to the biking portion. (Although I think we’re both second-guessing, so we may change our minds tomorrow.) We’ve had 4 beautiful days of Korean countryside biking. Nothing happened; we just realized our afternoons haven’t been that enjoyable as they’re scorching hot, yet to make it to Busan, we’d have to maintain this pace. 70 trail miles today! And neither of us has visited Seoul before, so we were hoping to have a few days there.
Today was our most trail miles but also our easiest day. I think we’ve found our rhythm, got an early start, and were baby-mountain free!
This morning was gorgeous. We left with the sunrise and the trail was my favorite part, tied with the morning of day 2. (Notice that hot, humid afternoons are never my favorite!) It was a raised bike path along a small river and rice paddies. Lots of groups of serious bikers. All very friendly. A couple of very short 15% grade uphills. I walked most of that. We also visited the Nakdonggang History Museum. They were very excited to have us and spent time finding the English version of their brochure. We passed more duck and cattle farms this afternoon.
The bike trail was better marked today. Some signs were confusing, but if you went the wrong way, it was usually obvious quickly. We left at sunrise and the temperature was nice until about 10am. We reached our hotel just as it started to pour.
Some signs were confusing. This evening we’re in the nicest hotel so far and… drumroll… it doesn’t smell like smoke! Our hotel rooms have varied between $25-45/night and they include all amenities from toothbrushes and combs to mini-fridges full of water and phone charging cables. Plus slippers because each has an entry room where you leave your shoes.
Day 5: Back to Seoul
We got an Express bus back to Seoul. It was super easy, comfortable, and cheap. When we were putting our front tires back on our bikes, several bus station employees gathered around to examine them and ask questions. All I understood was “Trek good” and they thought the tread on my tires was low.
Hotels in Seoul are not $25 a night! To get two rooms, we booked an Airbnb in a very old part of town on a narrow street. I have the cutest little fridge in my room, and we have a nice patio with cats that come and watch us through the doors.
My hands still aren’t working right. I’m hoping they’re more functional before my work lunches and dinners next week!
We have a couple of adventures planned for tomorrow!
Day 6: Language and Food
We took a Korean language lesson in the morning. We learned the alphabet, which was fascinating and might enable us to read business signs. I find the sounds really tricky, like when they say, “this makes a sound like the letter B. Listen, puh, puh, puh” and I say “like the letter P?” and they say “no, no, that’s this one.”
Night market in Seoul In the evening, we went on a food tour of the night market, which was really interesting to learn what we were eating and how it fits into life here. We also had fun with our tour group. My 18yo pointed out that it’s the first time all week we’ve had a real conversation with words with anyone else. The group included a couple from Israel, a couple from Iraq, a woman from London, a guy from Mexico, a guy from Brooklyn, and a guy from Longmont!
A lot of my pictures are foggy because my plastic screen protector and sunscreen don’t play well together. I’ll have to upgrade.
Airbnb Fruit
Assorted fruit, a gift from our Airbnb host Our Airbnb host had a box of fruit delivered to us! Shine muscat grapes, melons, and plums. Then we had a very confusing conversation about checkout dates, but I think we agreed we’re on the same page. Auto translators can do strange things. Combine that with written communication and it’s ripe for misunderstandings!
No idea how we are going to eat all this in 2 days!
Day 7: Palace Tour
We had the cutest tour today.
We showed up at the Gyeonghuigung Palace. A man asked if we wanted an English tour. We asked how long, he said 40 minutes. He said it’s free.
We said sure. 18yo whispered to me, “We’re getting abducted.”
The guy emphasized, “It’s free. English only! No cost! No tips!” He made a big X with his arms. We said, “Oookkkaaay.”
Then he called over our tour guides from the National Youth Heritage program.
We appreciated them. We learned a lot from these two sixth graders, 13 and 14 in Korean age. Everyone is born 1 year old in Korea, and everyone turns one year older on New Year’s.
Our tour guides from the National Youth Heritage program Trip Planning & Practical Information
Fitness Requirements
Neither of us did any special training for the trip. My 18yo plays high school sports, and I do CrossFit and run regularly. While many bikers with fancy bikes and gear passed us, plenty of people went slower than we did. We were fine and covered plenty of miles daily. I did walk up a few hills. I also had the chain come off my bike on a long uphill because I insisted on downshifting once more when there were no lower gears! (My son was ahead carrying the toolkit, so I called him to stop but not come back down. I managed to get the chain back on with my hands, and we both continued.)
Apps and Navigation
Google Maps doesn’t work well in South Korea, so download one of the two most popular Korean map apps. Google Maps was useful for finding reviews in English, but it was often outdated and places may no longer exist.
What to Pack
We rented two panniers with our bikes. If I did it again, I’d just pack a small backpack and strap it onto the bike’s rack. The panniers felt like they created drag – probably not true but they felt like it! – and we didn’t need two each. One would be plenty.
We packed too much. At minimum, pack one set of biking clothes (including a very light long-sleeve top), one pair of evening clothes (shorts and a t-shirt is what we wore everywhere), sleepwear, sunglasses, two water bottles, sunscreen, your phone, and a charger. Plus any non-standard cosmetics or medication. We received soap, shampoo, hairbrushes, and toothbrushes at every hotel. (Not deodorant.) At night, you can wash your bike clothes in your hotel room and hang them to dry. We left our suitcases at the bike rental.
The only non-essential item I would have really liked was a mosquito net for the night I thought we might sleep outside.
Praying mantis in the foreground. Korean cyclist in the background. Bike Rental
We rented from Bike Rental Korea. We got two Trek bikes with racks, water bottle holders, phone holders, and two panniers each. We also rented a toolkit. The bikes were in very good shape. I originally contacted them through their website and then switched to WhatsApp. They had good written English. When we picked up our bikes, we entered the store with a code and left our suitcases there after loading our panniers.
The service was excellent. I recommend renting from a larger store if you want to buy last-minute items like bike shorts or water bottles or need to ask questions.
If I did it again, I’d bring my own bike seat. The doctor I saw about my hands when I got home said he always takes his own bike seat!
I also wish we’d had them deliver the bikes to the beginning of the trail instead of picking them up at the store and riding there.
We rented bikes in Seoul and arranged to return them in Busan for an extra fee, planning to take a high-speed train back to Seoul. When we decided to end in Gumi, we put the bikes in a bus’s baggage compartment. We removed the front tires, and each bike lay flat in one compartment.
Accommodation
Small, simple hotels were plentiful on the trail. We paid between $20-45/night for a room. Our rooms always had a comfortable bed, bathroom, cosmetics (enough that you wouldn’t need to bring anything, even a toothbrush), slippers, and a fridge. All had air conditioning. Most smelled like smoke. One night my room even had a closet style steamer to clean my clothes with!
Our simplest accommodations for $20/night but we were so happy to find that hotel! Found by searching for “inn” instead of “hotel”. When looking for a room, search all terms in the Korean app: hotel, motel, inn, guesthouse, etc. Also, ask locals if you’re stuck. One night we biked right by a hotel and were later sent back by a local. It looked just like a house with a sign out front. We usually started looking mid to late afternoon and only had one evening where I worried we’d be sleeping outside with all the bugs!
All the hotels included basic cosmetics like hair brushes, tooth brushes, razors, soap and shampoo. I was looking forward to visiting bathhouses and staying in one for a night, but we didn’t find many on the route. Supposedly, many closed during COVID.
The Trail
The trail consisted of hundreds of miles of bike-only paths. They were well-maintained and had clearly marked lanes in cities. We were only confused about directions a few times but eventually figured it out.
Google Maps doesn’t work in South Korea, and navigating – or rather finding places – while not too difficult, was definitely our biggest challenge.
Food
We stopped along the route at whatever restaurant, convenience store, or coffee shop we saw. All the food was excellent. We often couldn’t order well given the language barrier, but we always received plenty of good food. There was only one day through the countryside when my 18yo got really hungry. Also, we couldn’t find many places open for breakfast, so we often had convenience food (rice with various toppings served as finger food) in the mornings.
We often ate food from a convenience store. Often yummy, rice based snacks. What We’d Do Differently
- Timing. Not go in August.
- Start point. Have the bikes delivered to the start of the trail, especially if going straight from the airport. The airport is close to the trail. From the bike shop, we biked 2.5 hours to the start of the trail and then had to bike the same trail again. (We went to the start to get our trail passports – while it was fun to have a passport and stamp it, I could easily skip that part. I did appreciate the map we got there though.)
- Pack less. One set of clothes for biking, one for the evenings.
- Rayban Meta sunglasses. I really wished I had packed my rayban meta sunglasses for taking quick pictures while biking. I ended up not using my phone holder on my bike because I couldn’t get the phone out fast enough to take pictures. This meant that I also couldn’t quickly see where we were or what time it was.
Conclusion
Despite the heat cutting our journey short, biking through South Korea gave us an intimate view of the country we never would have experienced otherwise. One day my 18yo said it was the first time he’s been on vacation and not seen another tourist. The combination of stunning landscapes, delicious food, and the kindness of strangers made for an amazing adventure. If you’re considering a similar trip, I highly recommend it – just maybe not in August!
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5 things to take to the New Orleans Jazz Festival
Every year there is a huge event called the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This 2 weekend long event brings in thousands of visitors and top notch music from Aerosmith to Jimmy Buffett to Stevie Wonder to … thousands of world class musicians.
What should you bring besides your love for music? Be prepared to be hot. And be prepared for rain. And if it rains, it will be hot, muddy and wet! But still fun!
- Hats. This is New Orleans, bring that funky, crazy hat you bought on vacation 5 years ago and then never dared to wear again. Now’s the time! While you are at it, bring at least one hat for rain and one hat for sun. And maybe just one to be crazy in!
Photo by Maitri 
Photo by Jim Hobbs - Boots. The Jazz Fest is famous for the crazy boots people wear. If it rains, it’s muddy, so bring a good pair of rain boots. The crazier the better.
Photo by something.from.nancy 
You can find this pair and many other fun ones on Amazon. - Bikes. Bikes are the easiest way to get to Jazz Fest. No waiting for a cab, no walking long distances in the heat.
Photo by Ernest Svenson. (And don’t worry, there is plenty of “legal” bike parking.) - Chairs or a blanket. You can dance all day or you can bring a blanket or a small chair to sit on. We like these because they are light, can be carried like backpacks and sit low to the ground so you don’t block anyone’s view.
- Your music plan. If there are musicians you really want to see, make sure you’ve checked out the official schedule and get there early to find a good spot!
And your love for people and music! And good food and drinks!
by - Hats. This is New Orleans, bring that funky, crazy hat you bought on vacation 5 years ago and then never dared to wear again. Now’s the time! While you are at it, bring at least one hat for rain and one hat for sun. And maybe just one to be crazy in!
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How to do a Palisade Peach and Wine Tour
Palisade is known for its peaches and wineries in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.
Every year some of the best peaches in the world come out of Colorado – all from small family owned orchards. In addition, many small, family owned wineries have opened over the years. The combination makes for a delicious, fun, family friendly vacation.
We recently decided to do a peach tasting tour. We stopped at each peach orchard and bought a peach or two. Actually, when they heard what we were doing, many of the orchards gave us free peaches. Some even cut open a peach on the spot for us to taste. We had to stop after about 8 orchards as we became overwhelmed with the number of amazing orchards!
We put each peach in a labeled paper bag to keep them straight.
Then that night at our hotel, we cut each one open and tried them. We returned the next day to our favorites and bought several boxes.
What route to take?
We followed the Palisade Fruit and Wine Byway. In the car we did the whole thing. While on bikes, we stayed in town although many people were doing the longer loop on bikes. (Hint: you can rent electric bikes in town to help you get up the big hill.)
The Palisade Fruit and Wine Byway is well marked. When to go?
If you want to bike around the beautiful countryside and visit wineries, any time in the summer is great. If you want to catch the peaches during harvest season, July-September is the best time to go. (Hint: Different varieties of peaches are harvested at different times, so you’ll need to go multiple times to taste them all!)
You buy peaches by the box. When we wanted just one or two, they often gave them to us. The Palisade Peach Festival is held in August every year. There is music, chef demos and kid activities.
How to get around?
You can bike or drive around Palisade.
Bikes at Maison La Belle The scenery is beautiful whether you bike or drive. If you bike, either plan for a full day, stay close to town or rent an electric bike. We biked around the first day and then returned the second day in the car for our wine and peach purchases.
Where to stay?
Camp, rent a short term vacation rental or stay in a hotel.
There is a beautiful campground just outside of town – a very short bike ride – with some amazing views of the river. We stayed in a spot overlooking the river.
The view from our campsite. There are quite a few short term rentals in town. You can rent everything from a room to a 5 bedroom house through Airbnb. Several places come with bikes.
There are several hotels in town and several economy hotels near by. We stayed at the Best Western in Clifton which was right off the far end of the Palisade Fruit and Wine Bywater. The location was not scenic but it was very central and the hotel was great.
Which wineries?
You should try them all! A couple of our favorites are Colterris Winery (both the tasting room near the campground in town and the one at the Overlook), Maison La Belle Vie and, although not a winery, Talbott’s Cider. I’ve been wishing for some more ColoMosas all summer.
Ciders at Talbott’s Which peach orchards?
Drive around and stop at any that look interesting! We loved Z’s, Cathy’s and the Green Barn U-Pick.
Z’s Orchard 
Picking peaches at Green Barn Where to eat?
There are several great restaurants in Palisade. Be sure to check out the roasted potato salad at Palisade Brewing Company as well as all the great snacks at the wineries!
Refreshments at Colterris If you go, just follow the signs for the peaches!
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Why I love the Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods
I recently made a quick trip to New Orleans for some logistical reasons and was reminded, in just a day, of how much I love our neighborhood and why.
C had stocked the fridge for me. Which was awesome since my flight ended up getting in at 2am. (FYI, most of the car rental places close at 1am. Hertz took care of me though.)
I saw some really cute kids, and some very interesting people, at the various government offices I visited. One guy left to general applause and laughter after shouting “Fuck the DMV!”
I decided to stop into the New Orleans Public Library to get a library card and use the bathroom. It was drastically different from the Boston library I visited the week before. The floors weren’t finished, the tables were mismatched wood and the stacks were not impressive. The bathroom was clean! And they do have digital books.
I stopped in to meet C and meet her puppies. She keeps our short term rental guests happy!
And then, with a day’s work done, I took a walk around the neighborhood and tried to capture why I love it. This would only be more complete with the pictures of all the people I ran into as well.
Notice the wind sock in the house that’s being repaired.
Tempted to explore buying this place near our house and fixing it up. Anybody interested?
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Berlin Street Art
Ever wondered who street artists and graffiti artists are? Or what the difference is? Or why they do it? We went on an Alternative Berlin tour with Tim that taught us all that and more.
What’s the difference between graffiti and street art?
Graffiti is a signature and there are 3 types. One is simply a written word or two, called a tag. You see these all over and it just looks like someone wrote with paint. The second looks more like block letters and is called a throw-up. The third is still a signature but much more stylized. It’s sometimes called wild style. An example is the bum painted by a French artist, Pö. Upon arriving in Berlin, a French street artist was amused to learn that her name means bum, as in human buttocks. So she made her signature a caricature of a bum and puts those all around Berlin.
A bum by PÖ. Not my favorite example of her work. Photo by onnla. Street art is valued by the quality of the art, by its size and also by how well it uses the space it has. We saw a painting of a monkey holding a camera and a phone – depicting a tourist. It was both very large and it used its space very well – the street light on the wall has now become the flash on the camera it’s holding.
Photo of tourist monkey. The flash on the camera is a street light. Graffiti and street art also increase in status if they are in hard to get spots – high spots, “heaven” art, are the most respected.
Is graffiti legal?
For the most part, graffiti and street are not legal unless the wall is a legal wall and the owner has given permission to paint there.
For example, the wall with the tourist monkey is a wall dedicated to street art and run by an organization. You have to submit your idea and get selected before you can paint on it. Most works get painted over in a matter of a couple of weeks but the one of the monkey depicting a tourist had been there for months. Something larger that uses the space even better will have to be proposed before they paint over it.
Painting on someone else’s building is illegal, and in Berlin you can tell what organizations always prosecute – like the company Bio – because their walls are clean. Other buildings whose owners either don’t care or who aren’t as diligent, are covered with graffiti and art. The threat of getting caught and how the fines are evaluated affects the type of art that is done. In Berlin, the bigger the painting and the more costly it is to clean up (so for example, how high up it is), the more expensive it is. The second factor to consider is the form. In Berlin, posters glued to the wall are a 40 euro fine, much cheaper than the fine for painting on the wall. That encourages people to paint on paper and glue it. The longer you are painting, the more chance you will get caught. Smaller paintings are faster. Another way to do something fast is to paint it at home on paper and then bring it out and paste it to the wall. One famous artist named El Bocho uses this method paints pictures of Little Lucy, an old Czechoslovakia cartoon character, killing her cat in various ways. His paintings became so popular that people started pulling them off the walls to keep or to sell, so the artist started painting them on large dollies. With their perforated edges they are hard to pull off the wall intact.
Photo by Paul Jeannin. There are some unspoken rules to street art. For example, you never paint over someone’s art who is better than you. As an example, our tour guide showed us a really intrinsic work by a Swedish street artist who had died a few weeks earlier. Someone had put their tag over top of it, ruining it, and that was an offense.
We did see one example where someone had put their art over another piece of art in a way that was accepted. There was a painting making fun of the political candidate Trump. His family name came from the German family name Drumpf and in the painting he is portrayed a stick figure running into a lamp post with a sensitive part of his anatomy first. The painting is by a couple. If you look at the top right, there is a cast of a face. This is the face of a different artists. He makes casts of his face with different expressions and then paints them to match other art work and attaches his face molds to the other art, in essence creating a derivative work.
Political satire art with another artist’s face mask in the upper right. Not all the street art in Berlin is illegal. Not only is there the alley with commissioned works, but some of the big works around town were also commissioned for various festivals or events. One of the most famous ones is the astronaut.
Photo by savagecats. How did they get it up there?
In Berlin, you see a lot of graffiti and street art on the sides of very tall buildings. The illegal, non-commissioned ones are done in several ways. One way is to lean over the side of the building, usually with a buddy hanging onto your legs or feet. The second is to repel down the side of the buildings painting in one long line – it’s harder the wider your art. We saw one group in particular that did this a lot. A third is to use a method, such as paint in fire extinguisher, that will reach a long ways.
Another group we heard a lot about and we saw their tags in several places is a group called 1Up. One of the things they do is paint entire trains. They go in with a crew. One person’s job is to prop the train doors open to keep it from moving. They don’t pull the emergency alarm. While the door is propped open, a whole crew wearing scarves over their faces comes and paints the outside of the train from top to bottom – usually in about 4 minutes. At the same time, one member goes onto the train with a video camera and asks passengers on the train what they think about this. You can watch 1Up’s videos on YouTube. Based on interviews with the passengers, our tour guide concluded that at least half of all Berliners are very tolerant of street art and graffiti. Another stunt the group has pulled is putting a table and chairs on the top of a high speed train and having someone in a waiter uniform serve a seated person a glass of wine.
Photo by urbanartcore.eu. A street artist named Just is famous not only for his art but also for his ability to get out of trouble. At one point, the cops caught him in the act of painting “Just” on the side of the building – with a fire extinguisher full of paint – and he manages to convince them that he is doing it as part of a Nike campaign. He produces an official looking document complete with fake government seals. The cops believe him and even ask to stay and watch him complete it. So complete it he does: “Just do it”. Another time he is arrested and he is charged not just with the vandalism from the piece he’d been working on but all the other pieces he’s done around town. Given the number and size of his pieces of work, he’s looking a a pretty hefty fine. He tells them that “Just” is not just his signature, it’s a social movement and anybody can join. He backs this up with his website which contains many different projects and causes he cares about. He is cleared off all the charges except the one they actually caught him doing.
In Berlin you also see a lot of works from artists from around the world. When a street artist visits Berlin, they often want to leave a work on the wall. Sometimes they’ll paint it and sometimes they’ll bring it on paper and paste it up.
If you are interested in learning about street art in Berlin, I recommend the Alternative Tour to Berlin. They also have a workshop where you can try your hand at creating your own art using street art techniques.
Street art that was covered by posters for 25 years. by -
How to make $350 in 6 hours. Is it worth it?
How an offer for free tickets turned into a lot more work than anticipated and how we dealt with all the issues in order to make it home the same day. Lots of tips for what to do if you end up with delayed flights, being transferred between airlines or stuck on the standby list.
Free tickets! Earn $350 in 4 hours!
On our way home from our Bourbon Trail weekend, at checkin, the computer asked us if we were willing to take a later flight in exchange for compensation. I said no to the computer (who’s going to accept that offer without knowing the details?), and then went up to the gate agent and said we’d be willing to volunteer if they could get us home the same night. She said she could and rebooked us on a US Airways flight to Charlotte and then on to Denver getting home 4 hours later than planned. For $350/each. $87/hour! Another vacation flight paid for!
And then … the flight is delayed due to mechanical issues
The US Airways flight to Charlotte was delayed due to a mechanical issue. They said by at least 30 minutes. At that point it seemed likely we’d miss our connecting flight as we only had an hour layover.
Always call immediately
I checked our options, called US Airways and asked if they could confirm us on the later flight to Denver from Charlotte. She said she could not, it was completely booked. She also could not put us on the waitlist – they would have to do that at the airport. I asked what she would do, and she said talk to a customer service representative. I said “not the gate agent?”, and she said no, customer service. There was a long line at the gate, so I went looking for customer service.
Look for customer service
An American Airlines representative informed me that there was no customer service desk, as Louisville International Airport (with no international flights) is not a big enough airport for one. He told me a month from now, when the US Airways-American Airlines computers are merged, he could help me. He said the best person to talk to would be someone at the ticket counter but he didn’t recommend leaving the secure area.
Maximize your opportunities to get help: stand in line and call
So I got back in line at the gate. I was in that line for 50 minutes and I never did get to the front. I called US Airways back. This time I was told there was a 20 minute hold. Turned into 40 minutes. During which time the gate agent informed us that the mechanics had still not shown up. So getting to Charlotte that evening was looking highly unlikely. After 40 minutes on hold on the phone, an agent answered and I asked if she could book us on the 7:40pm United flight to Chicago and on from there. She put me on hold for over 10 minutes.
Check directly with the other airlines if you want to be on their flights
Frank walked up at this point to see if he could stand in line for a bit and let me sit. I sent him off to find the gate for the United flight to Chicago to ask if they could get us on. The US Airways agent on the phone came back and told me that she could rebook me for the morning flight through Charlotte getting into Denver Monday at 1:20pm. I said what about the Chicago flight and she said there are no seats. At this point, I get a call from Frank. I ask the US Airways agent to hold. (Putting her on hold was pretty satisfying after being on hold for almost an hour.) Frank says United can get us to Chicago but only one of us can go on to Denver that night. I say take it and start running (literally) for the United gate. (It’s 7:20 at this point. The flight is supposed to leave at 7:40.)
Airlines never communicate very well with each other
I switch back to US Airways tell the agent that United can get us to Chicago, can she get us to Denver? She says we can’t get to Chicago. I say we can get to Chicago. United can get us there. Can you get us from Chicago to Denver? We repeat that conversation a couple of times. She says no seats from Chicago to Denver. I say, yes, but do you have flights? I ask 3 times. She finally starts listing flights.
Tickets caught in limbo land between airlines
Some of my most frustrating moments have been getting airlines to talk to each other.
When I arrive at the United gate, the agent (the same one we’d worked with to get the US Airways tickets) tells me that US Airways has to transfer the ticket back to them. Or US Airways can just book the two empty seats. The US Airways agent insists she can’t, that it’s not her ticket. I finally hand the phone to the United agent. The United agent gives up explaining it too and hands it back to me. I tell the US Airways agent that I really need her to transfer the ticket and she transfers me to United!
Try hanging up and calling back if the agent can’t help you
I hang up on the United answering machine and call US Airways back. This time there’s no hold. The United agent tells me to ask them to uncheck me from the flight and the US Airways guy that answers this time is able to do that.
Sometimes status helps. And sometimes people are really nice.
Meantime, the United agent, using my gold/million miler status has gotten an ok to let us board the flight without boarding passes. She tells us to get on the plane and she’ll take care of things. For the record, I think she is behind most of the things that went our way that evening. I would love to thank her!
Always ask at least twice. The average human can’t say no 7 times in a row.
She has on the flight to Chicago, and we have confirmed seats on the 5am flight to Denver. She says when we get to Chicago, we should have customer service put us on the standby list of the 10pm flight to Denver. I ask her if she can put us on the standby list. She says to do it in Chicago. I say please. She says ok, she’ll do it.
The missing bourbon!
Frank asks about our luggage. (He’s really just concerned about our bourbon!) She says she’ll walk over to US Airways and have them send it to Denver. I write down the claim numbers of our two bags and we get on the flight – emergency row seats, together!
Where will the baggage go?
Frank says we should check the baggage claim in Chicago to see if they send our bags there. I say, if they make this flight (which seems impossible as I ran to the gate and they don’t really know we are on it), they are tagged for Denver. But no way are we getting it until 1:20pm tomorrow when the US Airways flight gets in. Frank worries about his bourbon. I think there’s a possibility the bags will be transferred back to United and then they might make the direct morning flight that gets in at 10:20am. Frank says baggage that’s late usually gets delivered to the house, so we won’t have to go back to the airport to get it. We decide to check on our baggage in Chicago.
Think out your options ahead, know what you want.
We discuss our options and decide if there’s a good chance we can make the 10pm flight, we’ll wait at the Chicago airport to see. If there’s little chance, we’ll ask for a comped hotel room and go out to dinner.
Did someone lie to us?
At the United Club in Chicago, the customer service agent tells us that our bags are in Denver! They had flown on our original flight. She gives us the number for the locker or holding tank they are in.
I was shocked. Not only had the United gate agent gone down to describe our bags so that they could pull them off, but the US Airways gate agent had called down to verify that they were at his gate. Had the person that verified they were there just flat out lied about it?
The agent in Chicago confirmed that we were on the waitlist for the Chicago to Denver evening flight and that we were number 1 and 2 on the list. (Yeah, Louisville gate agent!) She gave us about a 50/50 chance of getting on. They were oversold and everyone was checked in but several flights were late so people might not make it.
Super confident sounding people are not always experts
We got on the Chicago to Denver flight that evening. We got the last two seats on the airplane and they closed the door right behind us.
When we got to Denver, we went to collect our bags and we were told they were not in Denver and had never been in Denver! They had been scanned in Louisville for our original flight but had not been scanned off in Denver nor had they been scanned any where else. We filled out a missing baggage claim with United and she assured us that as soon as US Airways scanned them, she would see them and we’d be updated via email. For the record, I got an email every 6 hours for the next 24 hours, all of which said they had no update.
Always check with all possible people that might help, especially if they work for different airlines
We then walked down to US Airways to ask about our bags. She said they’d been scanned in Charlotte and would be on the first flight to Denver in the morning and she’d walk them over to United to send to us. (So I assume had we not gone through all of our extra efforts, we too would have ended up in Charlotte for the night.)
When I called the next day, they said the bags would be in the Denver airport at 6pm Monday and brought to us that evening.
At 10:30pm, they confirmed the bags were out with a driver (and even sent me his name and picture.) I opted to have them leave them on the front porch and not ring the door bell.
Unfortunately, I forgot to notify our dog of the plan and he went nuts at 1:30am and once I woke up enough, I knew immediately that our bourbon was home!
Was it worth it?
Was it all worth it? I definitely thought it was worth it when I thought we’d get $350 for arriving a few hours late. And along the way we could read a book and chat. Was the $350 we got for arriving 6 hours late worth all the hassle we went through?
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What’s the deal with Uber?
Uber is the new taxi. Uber is to taxis what Airbnb is to hotels. People driving their own cars pick up passengers and give them rides.
My friends in San Francisco are always “ubering it”. We’ll wrap up the evening and they’ll “call an uber”. The biggest advantage to me has always seemed that you can just call a car to you, using an app on your phone, much easier than you can find a taxi . And once you’ve called an Uber, you can track where it is and when it’s going to arrive.
In preparation for our trip to the Kentucky Bourbon trail, I wanted to try out Uber. We are staying at an Airbnb in a neighborhood and I don’t think taxis will be easy to find.
I decided San Francisco would be the place to try it out. I was there on a business trip and everyone I know in San Francisco seems to use Uber.
I went to the Uber website and signed up for an account. I figured it would be easier to enter my profile information and my credit card number on my computer than on my phone.
I installed the app on my phone. I tried getting an estimate for what a ride to the airport would cost and it told me to check out the website for an idea of what rides in San Francisco cost, so I gave up on that.
Then I had a few minutes of anxiety when I realized I had a whole bunch of questions.
- Do you sit in the front seat or the back seat of an uber? (Either but most people sit in the back.)
- What’s the difference between UberPool, UberX, UberXL, Uber Black, SUV and Lux? (That’s in order of cheapest to most expensive. UberPool is a carpooling option, UberX is like a taxi ride in someone’s personal car, UberXL is a bigger car, Uber Black is like a car service – fancier car, etc.)
- How do you know how much it will cost in advance? (No idea.)
Then I checked out of my hotel and went to the street. When I opened the app, I saw a map and you can see all the little Uber cars driving around near you.
I confirmed my pickup location. This turned out to be the only (very slightly) tricky part. Uber knows where you are from your phone’s GPS and puts a pin on the map. My pin showed me in the middle of Union Square instead of in front of my hotel door, so I had to move the pin to an approximation of where I thought I was. (All the while I’m eyeing the line of taxis in the street in front of me, but I thought, no, I’m trying this out before we go to Kentucky.)
After I confirmed my pickup location, it asked me where I wanted to go.
It then told me at least 3 times that there was a surge in price due to high demand. I even had to type in the surge amount (1.6x) to confirm that I still wanted to use Uber.
I received a picture of the car, the car model name and license plate number as well as a picture of my driver and I could watch my car drive up on the map.
When the car showed up, everything matched, and the driver confirmed my name too.
Once I got in the car, it was very much like a taxi. My driver turned out to be a sushi chef who gives rides on Uber on his day off for more cash.
When I got out of the car at the airport, I immediately got a notice in the Uber app of how much my ride had cost. I still don’t know how they calculated the price but it seemed comparable to what I’ve paid cabs in the past for that same ride, even with the surge pricing.
All in all, it was a good experience. To me the key was the great app. I’ve often wished cab companies I’ve dealt with had a decent app.
If you decide to try Uber for the first time, you can use the code uberstormyinvite for a free $20 ride. If you do so, I will also get a free $20 ride the next time I use Uber.
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