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China 2009 Map your trip with EveryTrail It was a helluva lot of traveling. Some photos will be shared later.

Iceland Vacation at EveryTrail Note: I'll keep updating this post as frequently as possible through our Icelandic adventure. When we're back, I'll post more photos -- but for now, check out a few pics by zooming up and clicking the map markers. August 13 The flight out was nothing to write home about -- there was a bawling kid behind us that kept jolting us alert from our already awake state on a regular basis. We landed, got through security again -- yes, Icelandic security checks you after you get off the plane, since North American aviation security doesn't conform to the exacting standards of the EEC . So they took away a bottle of water we had purchased at Pearson, dumped the water, then allowed us to have the bottle. Today we spent all day in Reykjavík, walking, since we are car-less until tomorrow morning -- when we hop into the car and blow this popsicle stand. Actually, the weather was pretty nice today. We arrived in drizzle, but after our morning...

Napanee Summer Vacation - day 5 at EveryTrail The last day of my pre-vacation, and it's the return home. We took the slow route from Napanee to Cobourg, then hopped on the highway to boot it home faster. Zoom in on the map and click to see some photos.

Sandbanks Provincial Park Summer Vacation - day 4 at EveryTrail This morning, we went to Sandbanks Provincial Park. It was my first time there. Totally amazing, the sand dunes. And that was really all we explored of the park. There is so much more to see and experience. Zoom in on the map above or the EveryTrail link to see some photos. Note: the GPS data seems to be screwed for the photos. Not sure what happened, but for the first time, none of the photos are located properly on the map. Updated: July 28, 2009 I've re-uploaded the photos, and they are now correctly placed on the map.

Napanee (Kingston) Family Vacation - July 26 at EveryTrail Another day, spent mostly in Kingston. Zoom in on the map to see the pics. I had to drive back to Oshawa to hit the GO station, but made it back in time for the "sunset cruise."

Napanee Family Vacation - Jul 25, 2009 at EveryTrail It was quite the vacationing day today, with the highlight for me being the 2009 Tattoo at Fort Henry. It opened with a CF-18 flyby, then followed by the rain pouring down on the performers. Quite spectacular, even if it ended early. Earlier in the day, we visited the International Hockey Hall of Fame, dropped by Gananoque and spent some time in Kingston. It was a busy day. 48 of the hundreds of photos from today has been uploaded to the map above.

Napanee Family Vacation at EveryTrail Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Community Day one of the family vacation ... or as I prefer to have it known, my pre-vacation for my two weeks away in August. I picked up a GPS recorder, Sony's GPS-CS3, and used it to record where I've been. I turned on the recorder after we arrived in Cobourg in the late morning. There wasn't a whole lot of picture taking happening, but photos are embedded in the map. You need to zoom in. This is beta testing for next month. So far, it seems to be working, and wasn't too hard to get the hang of.

Apparently, terrorists are dumber than US Homeland Security policy makers -- I say this, because you've got to be dumber for the smarter person to catch you. So terrorists smarter than Homeland Security policy makers have the potential of ... well, getting away with murder. Apparently, to avoid being caught by the US Homeland Security's "no fly list," all you have to do is change your name .

The vacation is now over, and we're sitting having coffee at Glasgow's BAA, waiting for our flight back to Toronto. It's been a hectic two weeks, and I'm definitely looking forward to being back home. Two weeks ago we landed in Glasgow, and took a taxi to hire a car. The adventure started then. My wife fell and sprained her ankle, but the Scot blood must have been all fired up, cause she soldiered on. We drove from Glasgow to Stirling to Perth to Aberdeen to Forres to Thurso to Kirkwall (via a ferry) to Ullapool to Stornaway (via a ferry) to Inverness before ending in Glasgow, right where we started. For the two weeks, we were in a constant state of awe. Scotland is a beautiful country, rich in horrible history , and we couldn't miss it. Every step was another beautiful photo-op or something historical. After all of that, and having not seen quite enough or taken enough pictures (over 4,500, totaling 9GB of JPEGs), I would like to go home. Go home to our ...

The previous week Saturday, I landed in Scotland, and went to pick up the Vauxhall I had reserved at Enterprise. The car I was supposed to get was still out -- now extended. They wanted to give me a luxury Mercedes for more money. They wanted to give me a mini-van. I didn't want those. I wanted something shorter, than I could fit into small places. After an hour wait, they offered me the Chevrolet Captiva . An SUV. So I'm driving around in an SUV. Heated seats; AUX input for the MP3 player; and automatic everything, including the wiper that starts when it detects rain, and speeds up and slows down on its own accord. I'm putting up with it.

I keep wondering when this shit is going to happen to me -- not just when I travel to the US -- but even here in my own country. I'm just the wrong skin colour -- and being held up by border security agents, whose only qualification for the job seems to be the ability to have a total disconnect with their fellow humans, is now happening to just about anyone, with no regard for good, ole fashion, stereotypes. What's the world coming to when even the invidious public servants don't meet expectations? The world -- our democratic and free loving world -- is going the way of the totalitarian regimes. The enemy is winning, when we grow to accept the story scribed by Emily Feder at AlterNet . Feder describes the thuggery experienced while detained by Homeland Security enforcers at JFK, recently. In the past five years I have worked for human rights and refugee advocacy organizations in Serbia, Russia and Croatia, including the International Rescue Committee and USAID. I have ...

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), part of the US Homeland Security department, has launched a blog , and want to hear from you, and how you feel about their latest efforts to take the terrorism out of your next flying experience -- and preferably, give it to you while you're still in the airport being screened. Not sure what the TSA is trying to accomplish with the blog. Are they trying to explain themselves to the flying public? Piss them off even more? Show a softer side? Whatever the case, from the comments that are rolling in, people have things to say about the TSA. If you have a moment, head over and have your say. They're not really tracking IP addresses, and no, commenting will not have to submit to new forms of security probes as a result of visiting their blog. That's just you being paranoid.

Oh, the sheer experience of this trip doesn’t end! Right now I should be back in Toronto, in the office, in meetings all day. Instead, I’m sitting in O’Hare, trying to stay awake after a night of just three hours sleep. Yesterday, we manage to wrap up on time in the Chicago offices of one of our business partners. I give credit to the careful forward planning. We’re a bunch of process oriented people – and having an agenda for meetings really does help. My original flight last night was at 8:20, but knowing that a storm was heading to Chicago, I arrived early at the airport, and got on the 5:20 flight. Whoo-hoo! Or so I thought. Around 7:30PM, the snow storm hit the airport. Visibility was gone. I couldn’t see the top of the air traffic control tower. Around 8:30, I finally got to board the American Eagle plane. It was a small plane – an Embraer 145, proudly assembled in Brazil. It was packed. It was hot. But it was ready to go. Whoo-hoo! I’d be getting back to Toront...

I'm sitting in the Corner Bakery Cafe , downtown Chicago, enjoying a chicken and mushroom stew with coffee. It's lunch time. I'm also giving my feet some rest, since I've been walking for the past couple of hours, taking random photos. The food is good, it's quiet and not too busy, and I can indulge in the bromidic adventurers trudging by. Lunchtime entertainment I suppose. I flew into Chicago last night, from Toronto. My departure was planned at 6:30PM, but the plane didn't take to the sky until after 7:30. I was the only one on the flight. Yes, the only passenger. I walked on the plane, and the stewardess, an amiable black woman with a bit of a southern American accent, feinting incredulity, declared, "You! You!" I sheepishly told her I was sorry. She told me I could sit wherever I wanted, and so I took the seat at the front of the plane. As we were taxiing to the deicing station, she told me she wasn't going to do the usual safety d...