Languages, boys' clubs and evil lady parts

May was a month of extremes in travel news. Big highs, big lows and some Canadian elbows. Okay that's a stretch but it does have to do with lady parts, which are also heavily featured in one of the chosen articles of the month. If that doesn't get you excited, then try to channel your inner Candace Payne. When was the last time that you were as excited about anything the way she is about her new Chewbacca mask? Okay, that is a pretty high bar to set. But I hope you can reach that level of joy while traveling or planning your next trip, because it’s pretty great, and getting giddy every now and then makes life worth living! If you don’t want to get excited about packing though, I forgive you. Packing is a task that was made by the devil. Let’s get angry about packing! Arghhhhhhhhh! The articles this month will dance between these extremes of exciting discovery and head-banging cuckooness. Enjoy! 

The good

+ Pilot Bluetooth Earpiece Crowdfunds the dream of universal, instant, language translation

How many times in your life have you wished you could speak another language? Whether it’s to get around Argentina with ease, understand what exactly you’re eating in a Japanese airport, or just to eavesdrop on what the chatty French couple in the restaurant are saying, we’ve all had a strong desire to expand our linguistic skills. Soon, imagination could become reality with the invention of the Pilot from Waverly Labs. A bluetooth speaker that connects to an app on your smartphone goes in your ear and translates to you as words are spoken. Of course, the implications of what this sort of technology could do are enormous and there is a lot of excitement around this crowdfunded campaign. Here’s more info from CNET.

Excerpt: “Waverly Labs will sell the earpieces with language packages for English, Spanish, French and Italian included for free. Additional languages will be available for download later for an additional fee and the company is considering licensing packages to businesses in bulk as well.”  Continue reading.

The uplifting

+ Narrowing the gap: Women in the travel industry

Some exciting stats came out this month (May 2016) that reflect what many of us already suspected - women are making most of the decisions when it comes to holiday planning, more women travel solo than men and women make up the majority in travel industry sales roles. However, despite these figures, the top brass continues to be the typical ol’ boys club.

​Fortunately, efforts are being made to change this situation and this month, Travel Weekly featured one such outfit. Women in Travel (Winit) was founded two years ago to provide greater resources to women in the industry and help them to rise the ranks and change this landscape for good.

Excerpt: “Despite the large number of women who make up the travel and tourism workforce, when you look at the boardrooms and C-suites at some of the largest global travel companies, the numbers range from as low as one woman on an executive team of 25 at Las Vegas Sands (4% representation), to as high as 33% at American Airlines, where there are three women on the nine-person management team.” Continue reading.

The ugly

+ Nine places where women are banned - and one where no men are allowed

Unfortunately, there were plenty of horrendous goings-on this month and it was actually tough to narrow the plethora down to just one ‘ugly’ article. However, I think I’ve found a winner because it brings together 9 different places from around the world where women are banned from entering - whether it’s because of your anti-sporting physique, inherent godlessness nature, or offensive menstruating vajayjay, you don’t belong.

 However, if you’re a young female student, you’re at least wanted somewhere - in an airplane seat next to a businessman so you can  beguile   him with your hilarious wit and charm.  From the Telegraph, we get a reminder of just how much we women suck in the eyes of the world.

Excerpt: “Since 1991 all women between the ages of 10 and 50 (at an age when they could be menstruating) have been banned from worshipping at this Hindu shrine in Kerala.” Continue Reading.


Until next month Travelhers, keep your head up and travel on.  xx