XM Go Travel Updates

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June 2006 back to updates menu
Please download this sound-rich Audio Postcard from Virginia and take your own journey This is Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Audio Postcard The Northern Neck of Virginia is a graceful split of land jutting out into Chesapeake Bay, south of Washington D.C., along the easy-flowing Rappahannock River. The towns are blends of New England picturesque softened by southern breezes…mixed with the strong Chesapeake Bay culture of fishing, especially crabbing. The Tides Inn in Irvington is a perfect staging point to visit this special part of Virginia. It’s perfectly perched on a grass belvedere dotted with white wickets waiting for the next croquet players. But guests usually prefer to sit and watch the water’s changing moods. The Inns 80 year old beauty of a yacht, the Miss Ann sails guests along the old port towns Irvington feels like a movie set. Quiet broad streets, a few colorful store fronts, tables and chairs in the afternoon sun. The inn and the Northern Neck combine southern traditions with luxury and contemporary tastes. They work their charms slowly. download audio
This is Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Go Travel Update Don’t bring a dozen red roses to a dinner party in Italy. Send them the next day…be sure they’re not red because that implies romance, and Italians prefer an odd number of flowers Didn’t know that? That’s why Dean Foster, a self-styled master of global etiquette, wrote five books on the subject where you’ll learn never to cut your potatoes with a knife in Austria. Foster says that what we don’t know about cultural differences could ruin our vacation…or screw up a business deal Foster ‘s snapshots of cultural “dos and don'ts” are fun and helpful. Like don’t make dramatic gestures in China. They’ll be offensive. Good advice, I’m sure, unless you’re stuck in a Beijing traffic jam. download audio
This is Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Go Travel Update We may be traveling more but enjoying it less On line travel giants Expedia and Travelocity are gaining ground in the competition for online bookings… But At the same time, consumers are less satisfied with their experiences . Industry observers noted significant backsliding in overall customer satisfaction, in other words, we’re fed up with jammed planes, lack of transparency in airline pricing and a lost luggage rate that may be the highest since airplanes took to the sky. No one’s quite sure if customer grumpiness is a short term swing or a long lasting trend. Of all the on line travel agencies, Travelocity bucked the trend and took the highest overall customer satisfaction grades. The optimists believe that as more travelers book on line, the on line travel agencies will improve customer service and enhance the overall travel experience We’ll see... download audio

This is Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Go Travel Update It’s very disturbing. A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted the issue of parents drugging their kids. No, they weren’t drugging them for nothing. They were drugging them in the hopes that flying with them would be less bothersome for the kids, the parents, flight attendants and we assume fellow passengers. The drug of choice is Benadryl. And while it calms the kids, it’s awakened others to what seems an abusive practice. “What kind of parent sedates his child?” asked one irate critic. To which one mother replied, it’s the right thing to do for everyone involved in the flight. Incredibly the medical profession has no opinion on the matter. And we find that position irresponsible. And we find the idea a bit frightening. So we have complaints against allowing children to fly in first or business class Now we have sedating children on flights. Perhaps the next step is not to have kids at all. Would you sedate your child on a flight? Tell us! →→ download audio

Kaleel Sakakeeny was the family travel editor at Travel Weekly and a contributor to the award-winning Boston Parents Paper, e-Turbo News and Family Travel Forum.com. Additionally, he was also travel editor at Metro/Boston, on-air travel correspondent for Business Radio 1060, and has advised family viewers of “American Baby” at WCVB, Boston; WBZ-TV, Boston and WFX-TV, New England.

When Kaleel filed stories for National Public Radio, Christian Science Monitor or the Associated Press, he would often walk the streets of the Middle East, North Africa or Europe with an open microphone. He recorded the sounds of street life in those vibrant countries, and turned them into sound-rich Audio Postcards ® ™. They were broadcast internationally, and can be heard (and purchased) on our site under Audio Postcards ® ™.

As a writer/producer for the Travel Channel, he was part of the award-winning show "Designs on Travel," and has himself been honored with national awards from both the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).

While Director of Marketing and Sales at PowerProse.com, Mr. Sakakeeny helped international clients define, promote and brand their organizations through on and off line strategies. He frequently conducts world-wide marketing presentations for the travel industry identifying market trends and consumer travel preferences.

He hopes that his XM Go Travel Updates will provide XM listeners with exciting, timely and compelling travel information. XM, he thinks, is the sound of the future.