Ugly Cars - I rented one
Rent-a-cars amaze me. The concept that I can turn up in all sorts of weird places, someone will hand me the keys to a car and I can drive off continues to delight me. But if there’s one thing worse than airlines loading on extra charges – see my recent Ryanair blog – it’s rent-a-car companies. Particularly in the US.
I need a car for three days in New England, picking it up from Boston airport. A quick zip around the websites and I decide to go for Thrifty – I have absolutely no allegiance to rent-a-car companies, my Hertz No 1 card or my Avis Wizard card don’t seem to make any difference when it comes to renting a car. 
No, this is not a Ford Fusion, it's a Dodge Charger
The daily rental for my Ford Fusion is US$53.19. Now I know there’s going to be Loss Damage Waiver (‘this is not insurance’ says the Thrifty website, but that’s just lawyer-speak), but nowhere on the website does it say what LDW is going to cost! Something like US$22 to 28 a day I reckon, in fact it’s US$23.99 a day.
click here for more on rent-a-car charges and something really ugly, the axle-of-evil




Marblehead started life as a fishing port, today it’s a classy Boston marina but many old houses survive from the town’s early days. Signs document their construction date and early occupants – lots of fishermen, mariners and, later on, cordwainers – shoemakers. 

I had to fly from London to Trieste in Italy and Ryanair were offering seats for £14.99, it was a no brainer. The flight left on time, I got a window seat, my carry-on bag fitted their strict limits, I’d brought along my lunch from Stansted Airport’s Pret à Manger outlet (cheaper than the sandwiches they flogged on board). I’d printed out my boarding card beforehand (Ryanair doesn’t offer airport check in, except for a premium additional charge). In the air I resisted buying a Ryanair €2 scratch card (to help you get rid of loose change of course) and I ignored the subway-style adverts plastered along the overhead bins. 

You couldn’t ask for a better introduction to the confusion and problems of modern Alaska than Seth Kantner’s Ordinary Wolves. Like the author Cutuk grew up in a sod igloo, leading a life more closely aligned to wild Alaska than the Eskimo population of the nearest settlement. Despite his Iñupiaq name he’s torn between two lives, unable to be at home with either. There’s an interlude in Anchorage, where he doesn’t fit in either, and at the end you’re left lamenting the wilderness purity, the land of ordinary wolves, which may be gone forever. It’s a magic book.
Once while Travelling: The Lonely Planet Story