Until short security lines and turbulence-free skies come gift-wrapped, here are some holiday gifts and a few stocking stuffers that can lessen the stress of your frequent flier. Most cost less than $35.

For help with this list, I consulted Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com, Joe Brancatelli,...

With smart phones keeping many of us connected 24/7, it's hard to drop off the grid while you're abroad. But it might make financial sense to do just that.

ROFL ("rolling on the floor laughing" as my nephew explained it) isn't that much fun if the text will cost you...

On Thanksgiving Day, I began pondering what makes me thankful, and I realized that my attitude usually improves whenever I focus on gratitude.

Column One, a regular feature of the Los Angeles Times regularly fills me with gratitude. Not only has it spared me from waffling over a new...

For months (if not years) we've been reading that the State of California is broke. Each week it seems like more teachers and state employees are furloughed. Two possible solutions occurred to me after reading today's Los Angeles Times:

1. Auction off the Governor's seat on eBay to raise money...

Or Cinderella's Bag Misses the Ball

Unlike Cinderella who got a pumpkin and mice to substitute for a coach and six horses, Robin Kennedy of Jacksonhole, Wyoming came up bagless the night of Air New Zealand's Matchmaking Ball on October 16, 2009.

When I first heard about her missing...

Matchmakers Mingling and Posing (Photo by Rick Friedman)

When it comes to dating, I usually want what I can't have. When a guy takes an instant shine to me, I suspect he has a character defect. When a guy is unavailable (i.e.,...

On Wednesday night, October 13th at LAX, love may not have been in the air, but fun certainly was.

Last summer, Air New Zealand launched a Matchmaking website in connection with the flight. Kiwis, Canadians and Americans have been messaging each other through the website all summer. Kathryn Gregory,...

Last February, New Zealand romanced me for three weeks from Northland to Queenstown, and I returned home with less than half my heart. On the evening of October 13, 2009, I'm flying back to visit my cardiac parts. I hope Air New Zealand can help me meet a Kiwi...

Remember how Nero fiddled while Rome burned? That's how I felt when I read reports of how little the Sacramento legislature accomplished this summer. On July 11, 2009, Shane Goldmacher reported in The Los Angeles Times that: "On Tuesday, legislative committees considered a...

I was shocked to read in Column One of the LA Times last week that residents in Commerce, California have a 29% increased risk of cancer caused by air pollution in the area. Trains idling in train yards spew gray diesel smoke and apparently other carcinogens.

Another contributor to...

Travel often seems to teach me lessons I never learned in school.

Of course, when I was a kid -- there were friendly skies to fly, if you lost something at a hotel, you usually got it back, and I had less responsibility.

DON'T GIVE UP
The...

Cirque du Soleil helped the Santa Monica Pier celebrate its 100th birthday on 9/9/09. Next up for the partying centenarian is "Kooza," Cirque's new show that originated in Montreal.

"Kooza" arrives on October 16th and runs to November 29, 2009. Cirque's website describes "Kooza" as the tale of "The Innocent,...

I don't really care what Ashton Kutcher had for lunch, but when it comes to bargains, hold me back. Despite my misgivings that I'd be mired in the minutiae of other people's lives, I've turned to social media -- Facebook and Twitter -- to help me find great deals ahead...

Will California ever be permitted to implement its Clean Air Act? First we had a President that removed the words "Environment" and "Protection" from the EPA's mission statement. Under the Bush Administration, I believe EPA stood for the Embracing Petroleum Agency.

We finally have a President that takes the long...

Santa Monica Pier 1949
Photo courtesy of the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation

If you live in the Los Angeles area or will be visiting this week, there's a big shindig in Santa Monica on Wednesday evening, September 9, 2009 to...

I had hoped Senator Edward M. Kennedy would be miraculously cured of brain cancer. My alternative prayer was that he would live to see meaningful health care legislation passed.

I consider myself an independent (even though I'm registered as a Democrat...

FREIBURG, GERMANY - Green-ness permeates Freiburg. The old-town center is car-free; it's one extensive pedestrian zone of streets, squares and lanes. My energy tour of Freiburg was provided by the Innovation Academy: http://www.innovation-academy.de/english/ueber_uns/dozenten.html with Erhard Schulz as my tour guide (after Hans-Jorg Schwander provided a crash course in clean...

Today, my roommate and I checked into two different hotels. We began at the Marin Suites Hotel in Corte Madera but soon determined that our room didn't have the WiFi connectivity I was promised. I specifically booked a room "poolside," because the guy told me: "It has the best...

Warrior, femme fatale, however, you slice it, some ladies got more game than others. Whether they fight in stilettos or tennis shoes, these chicks can tweet circles around most people. Remember the Sirens of Ancient Greece? What would Odysseus have done if they could not only sing but tweet? These...

I actually stumbled into travel writing myself. My passion for travel and my innate curiosity led me down this path. When I was in the church choir I thought my choir director believed I was a genius. I was about 8, and I thought he called me "Terry the Wise."...