Planes, Trains and Automobiles - Fall back or spring forward?

The clocks fell back an hour for us this week in the southern hemisphere which means I’m truly confused about what time of year it is. It feels like back-to-school shopping, Halloween and pumpkin pie but it’s actually… I don’t even know what - colder? Darker? New Zealandier? I hope you all in the north are getting some springtime fever and blooming flowers. Either way, change is-a-happening and that is why we’re featuring articles that focus on change in the travel industry. Buckle up, it’s going to be as shocking as the Panama Papers. Okay probably not, but it’s still pretty cool. 

The Good

+8 innovations that could actually make airplanes more comfortable

I am still waiting for the Jetson-style flying cars to happen (it is 2016 after all) but I am often blown away by the new and innovative technology changing the face of travel as we know it. ​ (That drawing is definitely weird but the idea is genius)

 Airplane travel is about as comfortable as - well, desperately needing sleep while sitting in a chair for several hours   within a confined space, along with hundreds of other loud breathing, eating, crying humans. ​

These cabin innovations from the Crystal Cabin Awards as summed up by Mashable will make you feel a sense of hope - much like when you discover your allocated plane seat is in an empty row, giving you three seats to yourself for a long haul flight. *Queue ‘the hills are alive with the sound of music’*.​

Excerpt:     "Rebel Aero  won an award for its new Economy seat which is a departure from the norm: two seats in one. The Rebel Aero seat lets you sit as you normally would, comfortably (well, plane comfortably), or sit/standing with the seat bottom folded up.
Before you say, I don't want to fly standing up, this isn't about that. It gives passengers the option to stretch their legs, and shift position."  Continue reading.

The Uplifting

+ 8 Women Shattering the travel industry’s glass ceiling

Combining travel with a career is a something we at Travelher are very passionate about. ​Add smashing the status quo to that and we are pretty much in girl power heaven.  Add opening minds and kicking ass, and pretty much stick a fork in us, we are done.​​

 This article is also from Mashable, but what can I say - they came out with some real gems this week. Profiling some of the top female brass in tech and travel, this article will get you  thinking like a boss. Share it with your sisters, daughters, aunts, mothers - and brothers too - #gitgoingurl.  ​

Excerpt:  “We wanted to highlight a range of badass #GirlBosses in a variety of travel companies from massive corporation to startups to more intimate mom-and-pop shops in order to show there’s more than one way to be a fabulous woman working in the travel industry.”  Continue reading.

The Ugly

Ever feel creeped out by your cab driver?  Perved on during a bus ride? Harassed in a train car?   Well, unfortunately you’re not the only one. 

The problem is bad enough that women-only transportation services are necessary in many areas of the world and there seems to be more coming out all of the time. This week, female-only train carriages in Australia and women drivers/women passengers services in Boston have been introduced and heavily debated. 

I’d like to think of them as short-term solutions to a long-term effort to address the real problem - a society that accepts men as having so-called ‘inherent’ disgusting behaviour tendencies, whilst putting the onus on women to protect themselves. Will this problem ever be truly addressed?  I’m curious to your thoughts on this. Do you think sex segregation is a necessary evil or a step backward?

Thanks for reading Travelhers. Until next week, keep your head up and travel on.