This Week on 'Get Packin'

In more than 30 years of broadcasting, this Saturday's edition of Get Packin' may be the first time we've had the phrase "Full Pig Experience" used in an on-air interview.  It comes courtesy of Mark Newman, Executive Director of Visit Indiana, during a discussion of Fair Oaks Farms, just one of the great places to visit around the state of Indiana.  Mark will explain that and touch on many other Indiana highlights on our show this Saturday afternoon at 4:00 on Freedom 95 (95.9 FM & 950 AM in Indianapolis and streaming worldwide at www.freedom95.us).  Did you know "landlocked" Indiana boasts one of the best beaches in America? Mark gives us the lowdown on that, too.

Full Pig Experience.  Mmmmm, experience.

This summer is expected to have the lowest airfares in more than five years.  We'll have the Top Ten best airfare deals to destinations around the world.  To haggle or not to haggle? That is the question. Or what about giving to panhandlers?  These are just a couple of common moral dilemmas we face as tourists to foreign lands.  We'll have advice on what to do when confronted with these potentially uncomfortable situations.

DON'T BE UNCOMFORTABLE IN A RENTAL CAR. CLICK HERE TO READ WHY SIZE MATTERS IN EUROPEAN RENTAL CARS.

You'll be surprised to find out how the TSA made more than $765,000 last year.  You may have contributed to their windfall.  And speaking of falling, a tourist in Lisbon, Portugal climbed a building facade in an attempt to take a selfie with a 126-year-old statue.  Spoiler alert!  It didn't end well.  All that and more on this week's edition of Get Packin'. Tune in Saturday afternoon at 4:00 on Freedom 95.

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US State Department Talks to "Get Packin'"

When the U.S. State Department issues a 'Travel Warning' or a 'Travel Advisory' or a 'Uh, uh, uh. Don't go there!', what exactly does it mean?  We get to the bottom of it when Rachel Crawford, Citizen Services Officer with the State Dept. joins us for Get Packin' this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. on Freedom 95 (95.9 FM and 950 AM or streaming worldwide at freedom95.us).  She'll help us navigate the often confusing and sometimes vague warnings issued for international travel.

What are the happiest countries on earth?  We have the results of a recent in this week's Top Ten. Spoiler alert:  America didn't make the top ten.  The good news, we didn't make the bottom ten, either.  We'll have that list, as well.

Our travel tip this week is to make you aware of some common scams that you might fall victim to. The "Chatty Cathy" scam?  The "Friendship Bracelet" rouse?  The old "Switcheroo"?  You need to know the details and what to look out for.

May marks the beginning of the Alaska cruise and travel season, so we'll have more info about travel to Alaska as our Hot Destination.  Airline profits were WAY up last year, so what does that mean for you?  We'll tell you.  All that and more on Get Packin' this Saturday afternoon at 4:00.

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Get Packin' for Saturday, April 16

Each week on Get Packin' we feature a "Hot Destination", a location that has seen a marked increase in interest from travelers because of the time of year, a specific event, or because it's been in the news.  We've had obvious locales, like Cuba (in the news) and ironic ones, like Iceland ("HOT" destination, ICEland. Get it?).  Anyway, this week's Hot Destination may be our most surprising of all.  Iran.  Despite the U.S. State Department's warnings about traveling to Iran, apparently Americans aren't listening. According to the director of one North American travel agency, "Iran really does appear poised to become the next Cuba."  And like Cuba, it's the lifting of sanctions that has opened the flood gates of tourists to Iran.  We'll talk more about it Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. on Get Packin' on Freedom 95 (95.9 FM and 950 AM in the Indianapolis area and streaming worldwide at www,freedom95.us).

No, that's NOT Ann
on the cover.

Iran has been on what Ann calls her "Extreme Bucket List" for a while now, hoping to return to a place she once called home.  Ann lived in Tehran, Iran for a year-and-a-half back in the mid 70s as a 19-year-old newlywed, a time she recounts in her memoir, Walking Naked in Tehran.  (Shameless plug alert!)  You can get the book on Amazon or at WalkingNakedInTehran.com.  Now back to our show...

We'll welcome back Scott McCartney (@MiddleSeat) to Get Packin'.  Scott writes the Middle Seat travel column for the Wall Street Journal and he will help us navigate the sometimes confusing world of airplane seat categories.  Just when you thought you had figured out the difference between First Class and Business Class, along comes Premium Economy and Last Class.  Scott will lay it all out for us.

     Click here to see if water really does go down the drain differently
     in the Southern Hemisphere from the Northern Hemisphere.

A French tourist in Rome found out the hard way why you SHOULDN'T try to photograph the Colosseum with a drone.  And two Chinese women were shocked at the kind of hotel room an airline put them up in after their flight was cancelled.  Details on those and other stories this week on Get Packin', Saturday afternoon at 4:00 on Freedom 95.

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This Week on Get Packin'

Brussels.  Paris.  Istanbul.  Not long ago these names conjured images of classic European architecture, iconic tourist attractions, unique cuisine, and centuries-old culture.  Bucket-list destinations all.  But now when those names are invoked, tragically, the first images that come to mind are an airport in ruin, blood on the floor of a nightclub, or tourists running for their lives.  Thus is the world of travel in the age of terrorism.  That is one of the topics we'll discuss this Saturday, April 9 at 4:00pm on Get Packin', our weekly travel radio show heard in the Indianapolis area on Freedom 95 (95.9 FM and 950 AM or streaming worldwide on www.freedom95.us).

The Brussels Airport reopened on April 3rd with limited service.  We'll have more details on that, as well as the frustratingly vague travel warning issued by the U.S. State Department for all of Europe. And we'll chat with George Hobica (@airfarewatchdog) of Airfare Watchdog about what this all means for travelers.

Click here to read about our latest Excellent Adventure to Europe

Make America Stay at My Hotels Again

On a sunnier note - literally - this week's Hot Destinations are the cities of the world that see the most sunshine year-round.  Number one on the list is right here in America.  If you're tech-savvy, you'll be interested to find out which airline is now making it possible to get your boarding pass via Facebook Messenger.  And finally, what effect is Donald Trump's presidential campaign having on his hotel business?  You might be surprised by the answer.

All those stories and more this week on Get Packin' with Ann & John.

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Get Packin' for Saturday, April 2nd

Get Packin' is our weekly travel show heard Saturday afternoons at 4:00 on Freedom 95 Radio (95.9FM and 950AM).  If you're outside the Central Indiana area, you can stream it online at www.freedom95.us.  This week we're joined once again by our friend Scott McCartney (@MiddleSeat), Middle Seat columnist for the Wall Street Journal.  We'll chat with him about the rapid growth of discount airlines, like Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines, and what that means for you. And while Scott points out, "They (Spirit) lead the world in consumer complaints," it's not all bad news.

SCOTTeVEST.  No, it's not really see-through.
X-Ray is for demonstration (and TSA) purposes.

This week's Travel Tip is about how to make your luggage tamper-proof.  The key is making your bags too much of a hassle for thieves bother with.  And certainly never pack valuables in your checked luggage.  But then how do you carry all those valuables with you?  We have just the thing: the SCOTTeVEST.  It has 42 pockets to carry everything from your sunglasses and passport to headphones and full-size tablet.  It's like you're wearing your carry-on.

We'll tell you the story of a British woman who tried to swim to her cruise ship after it left the port. She'll recovery from the hypothermia, but maybe not from the broken heart.  All that, along with the latest travel news, Hot Destinations and more.  Tune in Saturday afternoon at 4:00 to Get Packin'.

To hear past episodes of Get Packin', click this link.  Be sure to scroll down the page to "Get Packin' with Ann and John."

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Ann - @TravelinAnn
John - @JohnCinnamon

This Week's Edition of Get Packin'

You're in a far off land, walking the streets of an unfamiliar city.  It could be the very Westernized boulevards of Paris or the more exotic, dusty avenues of Marrakech, Morocco.  Either way, you're bound to encounter food vendors selling the 'delicacies' they've cooked right there on the street.  It might be something as innocuous as corn on the cob.  Or it might be some kind of animal on a stick.  The question is, Is any of it safe to eat?

Fish sticks?

We'll get the answer from our personal travel doctor on this week's edition of Get Packin', Saturday afternoon at 4:00 on Freedom 95 (95.9 FM/950 AM and streaming at www.freedom95.us).  Dr. Jeffrey Jones is a physician with St. Francis TravelWell and has been our travel doctor since 2006 when we first traveled to Kenya.  "Indiana Jones" - as we like to call him - has since been our go-to doc prior to trips to Southeast Asia and in preparation for our climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  He'll have some good advice about what to eat, what not to eat, and what to look for in good street food.

Speaking of Marrakech, that city made the list of TripAdvisor's Top Ten Travel Cities of 2016.  We'll give you the other nine as our Hot Destination(s) of the Week.  We'll also let you know the best mileage programs for frequent fliers.  And we'll have the story of a flight attendant who bolted from a security checkpoint at LAX, leaving behind her Gucci high heels and her carry-on bag filled with... well, you'll just have to tune in Saturday afternoon to find out.

While you're here at our blog, please take a couple of minutes to read about some of our excellent adventures, like the singing cab driver of Quito and what it's like to spend a day exploring the ancient city of Petra.  And if you'd like to plan your own excellent adventure, call Ann at Travel Leaders: 800-525-1570.

This Week on Get Packin'

Get Packin' is our weekly travel radio show that airs Saturday afternoons at 4:00 on Freedom 95 in the Indianapolis area (95.9 FM, 950 AM, and streaming worldwide at www.freedom95.us).  We run down the latest travel news, talk about the week's Hot Destination, pass along some travel tips, count down a fun Top Ten, interview travel experts, and generally impart our travel wisdom.

In front of the Treasury
at Petra during our
G Adventure tour.

On this week's show (3/19/16) we talk to Sean Simmons of G Adventures (@GAdv_SeanS).  G Adventures isn't your typical travel provider.  As the name implies, their tours are of a more adventurous nature: hiking, snorkeling, animal encounters, cultural immersion, and more.  We've had the pleasure of traveling through a G Adventures program twice.  Our February 2016 trip to the Galapagos Islands was through G Adventures and its partnership with National Geographic.  And in 2014 we toured Jordan with G Adventures, seeing the amazing sights of Petra (right), Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea.  We'll talk to Sean about G Adventures' multitude of itineraries that span the globe.

Would you like some
meth with your decaf?

In our Top Ten, we'll countdown the ten best TV & Movie-themed Bars and Restaurants around the world. They're not where you'd expect them to be.  A Greek restaurant based on the film Mama Mia! in Stockholm? A Breaking Bad-themed coffee shop in Istanbul?  We'll have more details on the show.


Having your neighbor mow your lawn while you're on vacation is one of several travel tips we'll have about how to keep your home safe while you're away.  Tips on how to convince your neighbor to mow your lawn? Well, that's up to you.  And finally, we'll have the shocking story of a woman who tried to smuggle a child onto a flight in her carry-on luggage.

All that and more on this week's edition of Get Packin'.  You can hear past episodes on the Freedom 95 Podcasts Page.  Be sure to scroll down to the Get Packin' links.  And to plan your own 'excellent adventure', call Ann at Travel Leaders in Carmel, IN, 317-573-6666 or 800-525-1570.