Throughout the week, our team shares articles they’ve stumbled upon that may interest our readers, even if they might not otherwise merit a full post. Here are some of the posts we found interesting this week: Japanese etiquette, photo-ops in the National Parks, Doha’s air-conditioned forest, and a lawsuit aims to end TSA’s seizure of cash.
Common Things Tourists Do in Japan That Are Considered Rude
In much of Asia, I find myself noticing all the little aspects of Western etiquette that aren’t present. I do my best to stifle any judgments about these etiquette differences, of course, but it can feel jarring. The lack of systems and etiquette around waiting in organized lines is a great example. Elbowing your way to the front of a ticket counter in India is not a wrong way to do things, but it makes you feel like you’re not in Kansas anymore. But I’ve always said that in Japan, I have the opposite experience, where I can tell there are aspects of etiquette that I’m completely unaware of and naive to. This article is super useful for shedding light on some of those unknowns. The etiquette around tattoos is something I was already aware of (and in fact, I have a long-sleeve swimsuit which I own specifically for Japan). But there are a few things I can think of not mentioned in this article as well – for example, the routine of showering before you enter a public pool. Do you know of any other aspects of Japanese etiquette this article misses?
The island with an air-conditioned ‘forest’ to cope with scorching summers
Summers often surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Qatar, and this drives a lot of activity indoors. But much like Dubai with its indoor snow skiing, Qatar is one of those places where it’s not seen as unrealistic to simply build whatever environment is missing. Doha’s Gewan Island, on a man-made archipelago off the coast of Doha, now has a kind of air-conditioned “forest”. This is a 1/3 of a mile lattice work of tree-like structures surrounding the otherwise open-air walkway “Crystal Walk”, designed to trap the cool air that’s being blasted up into the walkway from the ground. If you hear your dad’s voice echoing in your brain from childhood, telling you not to let the cool air out and raise the electricity bill, you may be wondering how this isn’t a massive waste of energy. Luckily, the “trees” also incorporate solar panels, which help power this outdoor air conditioning. These desert destinations with indoor or man-made sites aren’t usually my cup of tea, but for anyone who does like this kind of thing, it sounds like the Crystal Walk is becoming one of the worthy sites for travelers to Doha.
The Top 10 Views at the Top 10 National Parks in the United States
This one’s for the Instagrammers among us. If you’re looking for the most famously photogenic spots to hit in your National Park road trip this year, this article covers quite a few of them. Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, for example. But suspiciously, it also includes Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, which is not a photo-op so much as an incredibly profound undertaking, now requiring a lottery to even access. At 16, I hiked Angel’s Landing without issue, but when I attempted to do it again a few years ago, too much of my naive assumption of invincibility had worn off, and I just couldn’t make myself do that nail-bitingly narrow section. (If you’ve done this trail, you know exactly which part of the trail I’m thinking of.) They do at least make a disclaimer that “you will need to navigate a somewhat complex permitting system and watch your step to avoid a fall of about 1500 feet.”
Lawsuit Aims to Stop TSA and DEA from Seizing Cash from Travelers at U.S. Airports
If you are traveling in or out of the US with more than $10,000, that needs to be declared at customs. However, there’s technically no such limit or rule for domestic travel within the US. Even so, one family claims that $82,373 was seized by the TSA and the DEA in 2019. A daughter was traveling with her father’s life savings, but the large wad of money caught TSA’s attention, and when the rest of her luggage was returned to her, the DEA seized the money, withholding it from her and her father for 7 months. Now, a class action lawsuit aims to end seizures like this.
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