Thanks Google...another reason to keep people from travelling!

First of all, welcome everyone to the new home of the Friday Morning Cafe. New digs, same barista and more great Friday morning thoughts about travel. Hope everyone enjoys the ambiance and dialogue (yes - comments and participation is highly encouraged!) and feel free to tell your friends.

Now, onto what the Cafe is all about - travel stuff. And I have to say that I'm worried that if Google has their way, the Cafe will be short-lived as no one will need to travel ever again. Thanks to the Sydney Morning Herald for the story:

Google Russia teams up with the Trans-Siberian Railway
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/google-helps-sofa-bound-to-take-big-steppe-20100217-oe03.html

Now, I've always wanted to do the TSR as it sounds like a magnificent way to see some of the most remote parts on Earth and do it on a classic mode of travel, the long-distance train. Sure it's a 6-day trip, but I do believe it took a hell of a lot longer to build than that, so let's not complain too much.

So why does this bother me so much? Because if Google keeps finding new ways to provide people with virtual experiences, who will actually physically travel? As the title of the article says, "Google helps sofa bound..." Yes, more reasons for people not to get off their posteriors, get out of their comfort zones and really see some places. I can hear it now: "I've always wanted to do that train trip, but I hear it's really cold there. Let's just do it from the comfort of our home. Wait, I'll just hook up my Internet to my HDTV and voila- just like being there."

OK, so intrepid travellers like you and I might find this a bit far-fetched. And of course, if no one ever left their homes to actually go ride the TSR, then it would go out of business and poof- no need for the web cam anymore, right? But it goes to show that someone at Google thought there would be a market for this and it's likely because there are indeed people out there who would rather "travel" via their PC rather than their Passport. Virtual travel is already all the front-page rage in the corporate travel industry - is leisure travel not far behind???

On the bright side, I guess that just means more room on the actual train for you and I, though.

EXTRA SHOT FOR THE DAY

So, as this is the first edition of the on-line Friday Morning Cafe, I thought it worth an extra shot of travel espresso this morning....

If you've not yet found, used or bookmarked SeatGuru.com, then you are likely the poor, miserable looking bugger sitting in the middle seat on an old 767 with no seat-back entertainment. Those who travel, and those in the know, always know to check out SeatGuru when they're not sure what's a good seat or not.

Now, I travel quite frequently, and as a self-admitted plane junkie I pretty much know what's what with what type of aircraft. But I STILL always check SeatGuru just to make sure - especially for economy class tickets.

Case in point: in a few weeks I'll take my first trip on the A380, flying QF to LAX. As I've not flown on this behemoth yet, and I'm travelling in economy, I wanted to check if there were any "really good seats" - especially now as Qantas charges an extra $160 PER SECTOR if you want an exit row. Guess you'd better be rich AND able to help in an emergency?

Anyway, thanks to SeatGuru, I found out that interestingly enough, seat 71D (left aisle, middle section) has no seat in front of it; ie- no 70D. Why this is I have no idea, but I sure as hell don't care when I can book what should be a hectare of space in front of me (well, by economy class standards at least) with no extra charge. Thanks SG!

(However, if anyone has flown this aircraft and can tell me what bizarre obstacle may actually be there in place of a seat which makes it not so desirable, please let me know!)