Mobissimo

5 years.  We've seen our officemate's kids grow up, the housing bubble burst, a blind man summit Everest.  But all that pales in comparison to 5 years of Mobissimo.  While the current economic market may be bleh, Mobissimo has never been stronger, the most international sites in the most languages, we are growing by the minute,  no dot com bubble here, we're bigger than ever and want you to join us for our birthday party.  To all the millions of Mobi users around the world, a big thank you, come join us and celebrate what you all have helped us build - the ultimate travel search engine.

Israel can be many things, a land of extremes, a land of superlative sights.  Read more here via the NY Times.

DURING a recent trip to Israel, deep yoga breaths came in handy as I tried to control my anxiety. My fear wasn’t related to political danger, but rather, it was the kind of fright you feel when you are dangling from a rope on the side of a steep canyon of the Judean Desert.

Yes, I had a harness on, and the rope was controlled by the skilled hands of our 20-year-old guide, Boaz Langford — a soldier in an Israeli Army unit that specializes in rescues involving supports and extreme climbs. So I gently rappelled my way down the 130-foot cliff, feeling increasingly secure and ultimately exhilarated.

Saving a weekend up to do nothing, read a book, watch tv, go to a museum is a necessary action once in a while.  The weekend markets in Sydney Australia can help you do just that.  Read more here.

The weekend market can be a blissful way to pass away the morning, saving mental strain, pushing that throbbing hangover into submission with the help of a coffee, and puttering about among the secondhand books, vintage tees, and farmers' produce. Unfortunately, this idyllic scene can just as easily become a nightmare jumble of plastic clock radios, broken lawn chairs and irate pensioners. Follow our advice and you'll steer clear of Sydney's less salubrious markets, and be able to return home with tales of divine biodynamic goat cheese tasted by the harbor and stalls full of young fashion designers.

Everyone has a hidden beach, in fact there are over 1,500 beaches named 'Hidden,' so your hidden beach is not the only one.  Here are some hidden gems, read this via Concierge.com.

Just about everybody loves the beach. For confirmation, try finding a spot to spread your towel on a popular strand when it's umbrella and lounge-chair season. But a beach you can love without having to share—such as Florida's Cayo Costa pictured here—that's our idea of heaven. Some of those, as you'll see from our list, are so far off the beaten path that to reach them almost requires the services of a camel that knows how to use a GPS. Others are just over that hill no one else has bothered to climb (accommodations can be rudimentary, but it goes with the territory). All, however, have one thing in common: Your footprints in the sand will remain untouched—at least until the next tide.

Ecuador, not usually on everyone's must visit list, but some good things there.  Climbing - Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, but also a pretty intact colonial architecture.  Plan a trip there, fly with LAN for the best flights.

 QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- As the sun descends, street lamps take over, illuminating grandiose colonial plazas, antiquated historic buildings and romantic balconies that line the major streets of capital city Quito's "Centro Historico" district in Ecuador.
Pigeons fly in Plaza San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador.

The streets buzz with activity. Indigenous women in colorful dress bustle around. Young hombres whiz by on motorcycles. Mustached men sell warm peanuts and pastries. Restaurant patios crowd with hungry patrons. And all those in the central square, Plaza Grande, jostle about to the musical backdrop of an impromptu jam session from curbside guitarists and accordion players.

Yes, our friends at AirTran have another sale, check it out here.

A US Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a windshield crack compromised safety.  All aboard landed safely, FAA is investigating the incident.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A U.S. Airways jet full of passengers made an emergency landing in Salt Lake City on Friday after the plane's windshield shattered to pieces.

A Canadian journalist was on board and took pictures of the plane's cockpit and windshield after it landed. One of the photos showed a relieved pilot giving the "thumbs-up" sign, with the shattered glass in front of him after landing.

Big deal you fly a lot, would you get a United tattoo across your chest?  Paint your car in Delta colours?  Listen only to American Airlines jingles?  You're not alone, more here via Gadling.

Sure, you may fly 200,000 miles a year and may have reached top tier of your airline frequent flyer program. You've probably got the baggage tags, System Wide Upgrades, drink certificates and commemorative pens. You may even pop your collar every time you get onto the aircraft.

Ever wonder about the vagaries of flying?  Someone does and has compiled a list of strange, unanswered, burning questions for you, more here via the Gadling.

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Michael asks:

How are customs and immigration inspections handled for air crew? Is there a separate set of rules, since you won't (usually) be staying for long. And if you do vacation perhaps, then what?

Some countries require a work visa for crew members, since part of the job involves working in their country.

There are usually separate lines for crew members, but other than that, there aren't many differences during the customs inspection. There may be more restrictions for tax free imports for crew members than someone vacationing.

And when a crew member goes on vacation, they're just like everyone else.

Yes, the litany of problems that fliers have to deal with adds up, sure.  But next time, think about what your flight attendant is going through - angry customers, exact change for food and drinks, packed flights ... perhaps you don't have it that bad.  More here via NY Times.

IT is a typical day for the flight attendants aboard American Airlines Flight 710, a 737-800 headed from Dallas to New York with a scheduled departure time of 9:05 a.m.

As Debbie Nicks, 56, works in the first-class galley, brewing coffee and hanging up passengers’ jackets, she glances down the jetway and notices a crush of people at the gate. An earlier flight to New York has been canceled, and people from that flight are desperate to get on this one. It is a familiar scene these days, what with many planes flying at near capacity, and so Debbie just continues her regular routine, making the announcement to passengers onboard that they should make sure all carry-on luggage is stored either in the overhead bin or below the seat in front of them.

While basically sleeping in a tent with all the luxury amenties of a hotel, here are some 'camping' options for you.  Read more here via NY Times.

IF the eco-friendly idea of falling asleep under the stars and roasting marshmallows around a campfire appeals to you, but the reality of pitching a tent and sleeping on bumpy ground does not, glamping, the new term being used for upscale — or glamorous — camping, could be your ideal green vacation.

Though dismissed by hard-core leave-no-trace campers (who don’t so much as move a rock for fear of affecting the area), glamping can still be an environmentally sound outdoor experience, even if it does include creature comforts (like not having too many creatures inside your tent). And though it is a relatively new trend in the United States and Europe, with its origins harking back to Africa and even Thailand, glamping sites are starting to pop up everywhere, with prepitched tents, tepees and yurts rising out of the landscape like sailboats on an ocean.

While most seek the sun and party of the coast of Croatia, other may seek the tranquility of natural beauty.  The Plitvice Lakes provide this, read more here.

Plitvice lakes national park lies somewhere in the middle between Zagreb and Dalmatia coast in Croatia. Higher altitude, dense forests and clear waters make the air more pleasant even in a hot summer day. A good reason to stop for a day to relax a bit. I visit Croatia regularly and I’ve been to almost all of its coast but never managed to stop at Plitvice. Maybe i was ignorant because it is one of the top attractions of the country and there are always hundreds of tourist buses at the gates. I was sooooo wrong! The place is absolutely fantastic and so much different of the other highlights of Croatia. I arrived directly from the Hvar island where it was damn hot and humid and I was eagerly waiting for the temperature drop. At the Plitvice NP it was really a pleasant atmosphere almost 20 degrees Celsius lower than at the coast.

Fires in tunnels are scary, just one of those things that always creeps you out.  A fire happened in the Chunnel, while no one was killed, many were injured.  More here via AOL.

PARIS (Sept. 11) - A fire broke out Thursday on a train carrying trucks under the English Channel between England and France, injuring 14 people and shutting down traffic in the undersea rail tunnel, officials said.
About 100 firefighters from both sides of the channel got the blaze under control, but it was not entirely extinguished hours later, said Georges Bos, a spokesman for France's Pas-de-Calais region, which was handling the emergency response.

When you can't sit through a 3 hour flight without lighting a smoke, perhaps it's time to rethink smoking.  This via CNN, a fight on a JetBlue flight was the result of smoking in the bathroom.

 One passenger aboard JetBlue Flight 455 was taken into custody at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina after the plane landed about 5:45 p.m.

A federal Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said one person was injured in the face by what may have been a punch. She said the fight involved three people who are thought to be related.

Perhaps you've flown 1 million miles, perhaps you're always the first in line, the first upgraded, the first to get a free drink.  Now things are a little different, airlines are now charging for just using your miles.  Here's more via CNN.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The old adage - Nothing in life is free - is the new reality for frequent fliers.

As a struggling airline industry looks for new ways to alleviate high fuel costs, it is becoming increasingly difficult for passengers to cash in miles and expect them to cover the cost of a ticket.

On Sept. 15, Northwest Airlines (NWA, Fortune 500) is set to impose fuel surcharges on its WorldPerks frequent flier program, including fees of $25 within North America, $50 for trans-Atlantic flights, $100 for trans-Pacific, $75 for flights within Asia and the South Pacific, and $50 for "all other itineraries."