Traveling to Egypt and Jordan: Some of My Random Travel Notes

  • One of my favourite things while flying is seeing a plane go in the opposite direction at a distance, ideally close enough to feel the raw speed of the plane added to mine.

  • I loved Egypt, but the chaos of Cairo can be overwhelming and tiring. I prefer the relative calm of Jordan’s cities. I may be getting too old for some scenery.

  • WhatsApp is a dominant communication platform worldwide, except in North America. Too bad it is so awkward to navigate and is owned by Meta.

  • Taking pictures of the scene from my hublot is a good time killer and can produce fascinating images. I have so many of them.

  • Posted many pictures on my personal and custom-made photo-sharing website, and it worked beautifully. Of course, a selection of my photos was also posted on my Glass page. More to come in the next few weeks.

  • My personal custom-built RSS web app proved to be super handy when I wanted a quick overview of the news.

  • These notes were gathered and written using Raycast for iOS before being edited and published. Raycast > Tot, in my opinion.

  • I encountered several planes equipped with electronically activated polarization shields on the windows, which produce unusual lighting effects both outside and inside the cabin. Some shields do not completely block external light. Additionally, these shields are centrally controlled during flight, which can be frustrating.

  • Most airports remain and will always be customer-hostile and unfriendly. It seems to be getting worse every year, everywhere, as air travel continues to increase.

  • I brought my newly acquired Ubiquity Travel Router with me, but it was of no use; all hotel Wi-Fi, including the cruise ship, allowed many devices to connect with a single activation.

  • Taking a break from the intensity of the digital world is salutary. But I’m glad to be back online now.

Having a great time in Egypt so far. Internet connectivity is spotty which explains why I’m not posting more photos. You will be flooded in due time!

Journaling While Traveling - A Third Option?

Journaling and documenting my experiences while travelling has always been something that I wish I could do effectively, without too much friction. I did it in Italy in 2022 using Craft and again this past summer with Apple Journal. Two different kinds of vacations, totally different solutions. I’m still not satisfied with either of these options. Next time, maybe I should consider using the real deal: Day One?

Currently in Ibiza for three days which will conclude my two-week vacations. Found this Marshall speaker upon entering the room of our hotel. Great looking design. It goes along the design lines of the hotel. Very good sound. Planning to get one of these after coming back home: a Marshall Acton III Bluetooth speaker, a more recent and improved design for controls.

Travel update: I’m currently in Valencia, Spain, still figuring out if we will go off the ship today for a walk in a city that we already visited back in 2017. One idea would be to revisit some places but with this idea of trying different photo takes with more modern photo gear (was using an iPhone 7, Nikon D80 back then if I remember correctly).