Hasta La Gadget!

To travel solo or with a group is an age-old debate. While we might be biased, we think there are a number of reasons why traveling with a group is a great idea, whether it’s for comfort, flexibility or the people you’ll meet. Don’t believe us? Check out these six reasons why group travel takes the cake.

1. You always have someone to explore with
The great thing about group travel is that, while you may be arriving at your destination solo, you won’t be alone once you get there. Traveling in a group means you are sharing the experience with others who have a similar mindset, creating great conversations and bonding experiences. At the same time, you’re widening your circle of companions who share similar interests for free-time exploration. When some of your group decides they really don’t want to see another museum that day, you can grab the other art-lovers to check it out with you.

2. All of the details are taken care of
Planning a big trip can be stressful, especially when you’re traveling to a place where you don’t speak the language. But with a Tour Director by your side, all of your transfers and excursions are thought-out and planned ahead of time. Your Tour Director can also help alleviate any issues that pop up as a result of traveling, which means your only responsibility is to sit back and enjoy your trip. Not to mention, going with a group trip means you can leave flights, accommodations and even some meals up to to the experts — how easy is that?

3. You’ll get to see things you might not get to on your own
Whether it’s skipping the line at the Vatican Museum or enjoying an outdoor lunch at an olive oil farm in Tuscany, there’s no better way to gain exclusive access than by being on a group tour. And with a Tour Director handling the logistics of your itinerary, you’ll be sure to see the major sites (plus some one-of-a-kind hidden gems) while getting historical context as you go.

4. You’ll return home with a whole new group of friends
There’s something about the aspect of travel that creates an immediate bond, especially when you’re traveling together as a group. After sharing a wealth of memories and moments you could only experience during that exact trip, you’ll return home with a new network of friends from all over the country. It’s a great way to keep in touch with those you connected with (or even travel again with them!) — and you’ll always have someone to reach out to when you’re having a serious craving for Valencian paella.

5. You can have as much free time as you want
Want to have your entire trip planned — or none of it? Going with a group allows you to participate in scheduled excursions at your leisure, while still giving you free time to explore on your own. It means you can spend as much (or as little) time with your group members as you choose, without needing to skip anything on your must-see list.

6. Each person brings a different perspective
One of the best parts of being on tour is learning from the other travelers you’re with. Since everyone brings different backgrounds and learning experiences to the table, each person can offer unique insight or perspective to some of the many famous (or not-so-famous) sights you’ll see during your trip. There’s also nothing better than watching someone on tour experience a new city or country for the first time — it’s a great experience you can relive yourself!

Ready to travel in a group? Explore our 100+ tours.

Have you ever traveled with a group? What did you like about it?

It’s like a Western Film. Two lone rangers meet each other. Both are 6’4 and ready for a showdown. The dual is not only about life and death but also about masculinity. There are bullets involved and eventually death. The ‘real’ man wins. In the end, the winner doesn’t face any consequences by the law. Instead, the white male lone ranger rides off into the sunset.

If you think I’m talking about a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood flick, you are mistaken. The scene I’m portraying is a real life event that happened in the Midwest town of Ferguson, Missouri. You’ve heard the story before. A white man with authority and a gun kills an unarmed black teen that he believes is a threat. The audience weeps at the ending and expresses their disappointment while the next real life western plays on. The setting is in a different town but has the same plot: an unarmed black man shot dead by police.

Many believe that the killing of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson was about race. I do not discount this. But while we are on the topic of Western films, I think its time we talk about masculinity.

A Masculinity Problem

Masculinity is defined as the cultural traits usually associated with being ‘a man’. Some of these traits include character traits like assertiveness. Other traits include physical traits like dominance. Masculinity is not something men are born with. Men learn what it is to be masculine through culture and they perform it through their behavior, clothing, dress, and talk. Masculinity is always on display for other men; for unlike women and femininity, men must prove to other men that they are men. Masculine contests are prevalent in Western films. Sadly it has entered into policing and has led to disastrous outcomes.

Law enforcement in America not only has a race problem but it has a masculinity problem. Law Professor Frank Rudy Cooper explains in Who’s the Man?: Masculinities Studies, Terry Stops, and Police Training:

Policemen have nearly unique powers to make others acknowledge them as “the man” while ostensibly merely performing their duties. The short answer is that officers may get “macho” with civilians. Specifically, they may enact a command presence in situations where it only serves to boost the officer’s masculine esteem. To enact command presence is to take charge of a situation. It involves projecting an aura of confidence and decisiveness. It is justified by the need to control dangerous suspects. A situation that does not justify enacting command presence is what I call a “masculinity contest.” A masculinity contest is a face-off between men where one party is able to bolster his masculine esteem by dominating the other. A prototypical masculinity contest is a bar fight. Men will glare at each other and ratchet up their challenges until one party backs down or is subdued. Male police officers may sometimes be tempted to turn encounters with male civilians into masculinity contests.

Officer Darren Wilson’s account of the shooting of Michael Brown sounds not only like a Western film (an unbelievable one) but a Western film entrenched in masculinity discourse.

Although both men were 6’4, Wilson said that Michael Brown made him feel like a 5-year-old boy. “That’s just how big he felt and how small I felt just from grasping his arm.” TRANSLATION: I did not feel like a man! He was bigger and stronger than me. I was a little boy not a man. But I must be a man at all times!

Michael Brown allegedly said to Darren Wilson, “You’re too much of a f*cking p*ssy to shoot me.” TRANSLATION: He thought I wasn’t man enough to shoot him. I had to show him I was.

Officer Wilson’s bruises did not appear life threatening but he felt his life was in danger so he shot Michael Brown several times. “I felt that another of those punches in my face could knock me out or worse… I’ve already taken two to the face and I didn’t think I would, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right,” says Officer Wilson. TRANSLATION: Winning a showdown is necessary even at the price of my enemy’s death. He has punched me… Me, an officer? I must regain my manhood!

He continues, “And the face that he had was looking straight through me, like I wasn’t even there, I wasn’t even anything in his way.” TRANSLATION: After shooting him, he still didn’t recognize ‘I was the man’! The masculine contest had to be won and I had to win it.

This 2014 duel grounded in race and masculinity is not new. During the Antebellum South, black men became the antithesis of white men. Because hegemonic masculinity was based on property, only property owners were considered men. However, black men could not own property. They were property themselves. The owning of property as well as black male slaves became a way for white men to define their manhood. As a result, the denial of black manhood became central to white manhood. Unfortunately, this still plays out today.

Stop the Masculine Contest

Police officers have lots of power. They can use it to save lives or they can abuse that power by “owning” black men. With their badge they have the power to verbally disrespect black men. They have the power to tell black men to stop, to lean against the wall, wake up, put your hands up. Police can tell black men where to walk, to be quiet, to empty their pockets, and they have the power to arrest them without evidence or proper cause. In doing so, officers not only flaunt their badge and their power but they flaunt their manhood. What better way to feel like a man then to make another man your ‘boy’.

We have a masculinity problem in law enforcement that must be addressed. Police stops in this country have become a masculinity contest. This contest has ended in the deaths of many young men of color. Racial sensitivity is not the only thing we need to teach law enforcement. We must teach masculinity control.

We must let all men know that self-control and a healthy form of self-esteem is an option. Seeking recognition from every person we encounter is hard work and damn near impossible. It seems nobler, healthier, and authentic to be caring, responsible, and a just person than only “the man.” The former traits are necessary to serve and protect. Defending the latter trait only divides and destroys.

It is easy to confuse asserting your humanity and defending your life with asserting and defending your manhood. But it’s necessary to figure out the difference. It’s a matter of life and death. Asserting your manhood is never worth a life. When you kill a man in order to become ‘the man’, you are not a man. You are a killer.

Black lives matter. All lives matter but masculinity… not so much.

The fall-out from the Takata airbag recall continues to intensify, with US federal safety regulators giving the Japanese company a deadline to take responsibility for the flawed safety tech and agree to a national replacement program. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had told Takata earlier this month that it wanted all cars in the US fitted with the … Continue reading

The November’s issue of National Geographic has a fascinating article titled Mindsuckers, the tale of tiny beasts that get into their victims bodies to eat them from inside and control their bodies, turning them into remote controlled zombies. And there are more horror ahead, masterfully photographed by Anand Varma.

Read more…

AT&T isn’t backing down from its threat to halt its fiber rollout, which was a not-so-subtle jab at President Obama’s pro-net neutrality / Title II comments earlier this month. Following an FCC inquiry about that announcement, AT&T said in a letter t…