Its the holiday season so time to perk up!  Have a little fun!  Laugh and bring cheer!

So, we searched high and low for some of the most unique, unusual, and unknown fun facts about parts around the world.   Here are our Top 10!  Be prepared to “LOL”.

10. An unbelievable amount of 250 people have fallen from the Leaning Tower of Pisa

9. There are over 5 million parts in a single 747 aircraft.

8. Dying is illegal in Britain’s House of Parliament

7. What is known as a “French Kiss” in England is known as an “English Kiss” in France.

6. In 1987, American Airlines eliminated one olive from each salad served in first class. This saved them $40,000 annually.

5. The concrete used in the Hoover Dam is still drying, and it’s estimated that it won’t be completely dry for a few hundred years.

4. Donald Duck comics were once banned in Finland because he doesn’t wear pants.  Quack!

3. The majority of earth’s oxygen is naturally produced in Russia.

2. It is illegal in the UK to stand within 100 yards of a ruling Monarch if you are not wearing socks.

1. About 25% of the total land mass of Los Angeles is committed to cars.

Ok….more more:  There is enough fuel in one full tank of gas in a jumbo jet, to drive an average car around the world FOUR times.

Are you amazed yet?  If not, here’s one last attempt:

Don’t be offended if someone from Tibet sticks his tongue out at you.  This is a cultural sign of a greeting.

“Hello!”

As Amazing Journeys prepares to take nearly 100 eager and excited travelers to Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales on our Jewish singles cruise to the British Isles, everyone accepts that its simply part of the process to have to find a way to get there.  These days flying is such a challenge and potentially full of stories-in-the-making that we, as airline passengers, share an almost-kinship to the whole experience.  From fares that change by the minute, to the friendly (right!) customer service, to precarious delays and added charges for anything from luggage to food to snacks and booking fees….you never really know what an airplane ticket will cost you until you finally get off the dang flight. 

Well, here’s a little perspective as conveyed entertainingly by a few Scottish ladies.  Apropos given our upcoming Amazing Journeys destination that includes Scotland. 

Feel free to sing along….or just have a little laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPyl2tOaKxM

Are you ready for a trip around the world?  Are you?  Really??

Sadly, the majority of Americans will rarely see any geography beyond their own borders.  The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries published a finding that only about 10% of of US residents have ever traveled to overseas destinations (Canada and Mexico excluded – they’re not overseas. )  Leisure travel is more than a vacation. Its an activity that makes you more worldly, knowledgeable and tolerant of the differences in cultures that make our planet so special.  Its an adventure.  Its a means to experience “Life” with a capital “L” – a chance to break from the routine…the norm…the grind…the familiararity…the common.  Its a purpose, not just an experience.  Humans are born to travel; we’ve been given the mobility and dexterity to do so and as Americans we’ve also been given the “land of opportunity’; a means to earn, spend and have plentiful of what most other nations around the world don’t.

Get Out There, America! Whether you’re single or married…Jewish or Christian….in your 30s or in your 60s; don’t do what the regretful elderly do when they say for decades “I’ll travel when I retire” or “I’ll get there someday”.  Go now, while you’re able-bodied, healthy and capable! You never know when you might not be, and denying yourself the greatest of life’s givings is a regret of unfathomable proportions.  Trust me, the world is an incredible place.  America is wonderful…but the world is, well, an Amazing Journey for all to see.

IF NOT NOW….WHEN?