It doesn’t take me long to get sidetracked when I’m on the computer. Sometimes it’s a google search that takes me through a maze of fun and informative travel websites. Other times, it’s a travel news alert that shows up in the email inbox.

Yesterday, it was this twitter post…

@wheresPAUL I love this project: Film about walking 1800 miles across New Zealand: http://bit.ly/53R5Uf via @BenjaminStarr

Of course, I just had to click and learn more about the who, how, and why of walking across New Zealand. Turns out Simon Cook, a passionate hiker, wants to hike and film the newly created Te Araroa trail which opens November 2010. Sounds pretty straight forward. There’s one little catch though. Like all travellers and adventurers, he needs money to fund his project.

But instead of heading to the nearest bank and asking for a loan (although for all I know he might be doing that as well), Simon has turned to Kickstarter for help.

Most intrigued, I started exploring Kickstarter.com to learn more. Turns out that it’s an innovative social media funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers, etc to get support from complete strangers.

Here’s how it works. Projects are pitched on Kickstarter with an outline of the concept, goals, and donor incentives (products, benefits, and experiences) and how much money they want to raise. If the funding goal is not raised within a set time, no money will change hands.

It’s a popular concept that has attracted hundreds of projects around the country, many of which are travel related.

Here’s five that caught my eye…

The Fishes are Photographing Every Sizzler in the United States of America! – a couple of artists from Los Angeles are planning on photographing all 206 Sizzler steakhouses across the States.

A Portrait of America Left Behind – a photographer from New York City plans on travelling the country roads in his trusty old Ford pick-up truck, complete with ladder, massive tri-pod, large format camera and photograph America and its forgotten places.

Up North Cookbook - a food writer from Austin, Texas plans on returning to the Midwest for 6 weeks, travelling through Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa while  researching a cookbook

The Global Citizen Project - a writer from Washington state plans swapping her BlackBerry for a backpack and take a sabbatical to volunteer around the world at 12 community projects in 12 countries over 12 months, promoting responsible travel and volunteer tourism.

Folk Architecture Tour -  an architect from New York City plans on taking a road trip from Bellingham to Houston, visiting and documenting sites expressing folk art structures, novelty architecture and fading American roadside attractions.

It got me thinking that this might just be the way to get one of my nascent projects of the ground…until I read the fine print and discovered that only those with US addresses and bank accounts can apply. If you meet that criteria, all you have to do is put in a pitch and wait to here from Kickstarter whether or not it will featured.

Anyone game?

In one of the better interviews I’ve heard with him, Captain “Sully” Sullenberger (known as the Hero of the Hudson for his split-second reactions that landed a plane hit by a flock of geese safely on the Hudson River outside of New York City) discusses not only his new book and the experience of the 208 seconds in which he saved dozens of lives, but also the future of airline safety.

The interview tags well with his testimony before the US Congress, in which he said:

If we do not sufficiently value the airline piloting profession and future pilots are less experienced and less skilled, it logically follows that we will see negative consequences to the flying public – and to our country.

Sullenberger used his fame as a sudden national hero to speak in front of the US Congress about the future of aviation, and how its dangers will come not from the dangers of the planes themselves, but more from the lack of training and experience in the crew. Sullenberger points to his own life, in which he has taken a 40% pay cut since 2002, and has to work another job in addition to being a pilot in order to make ends meet.

Flight crews of US-based airlines, if not airlines worldwide, have been stricken with deep cuts in pay since September 11th, 2001. They have also seen serious cutbacks in regulations regarding how long their shifts can be and how much sleep they’re required to have before flying. As with the medical profession (in which 40-hour shifts during residencies can be routine), it has been shown repeatedly that seriously sleep-deprived people make more mistakes.

The combination of low pay, long hours, and sleep deprivation can be, and probably will be, a lethal one if something is not done. Although Sullenberger uses more tame language, the implication of his evidence is self-evident. People don’t do a bad job because they get paid poorly; but professions that don’t pay enough to live on do not attract the highest quality people. Not to mention the long shifts and lack of sleep.

Sullenberger is soft-spoken, obviously intelligent, and earnest. He doesn’t rant, but he is clear and to the point. He spreads credit for his heroic acts to the rest of his crew and to flight controllers on the ground. This is a man who inspires trust, whether he’s ever done anything “heroic,” or not.

While the interview concentrates more on the now-famous 208 seconds and Sullenberger’s new book, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, interested readers can learn even more about his airline safety activism by reading a transcript of his testimony before Congress on Aircrew Buzz.

If you’re looking for a last-minute gift for the wanderlustian and reader in your life, someone with a quirky sense of humor, you probably won’t go wrong with How to Make Friends and Oppress People: Classic Travel Advice for the Gentleman Adventurer, by Vic Darkwood.

A good friend sent a copy to me recently, and I sniggered long past my bedtime at the deadpan humor and well-chosen excerpts from classic travel books. In these days of strict airline luggage allowances and travelers who pride themselves on roughing it in hostels, Darkwood’s references to practical travel advice from the late 1800s and early 1900s often come across as absurd.

From Hardships in Travel Made Easy (1864) to The Happy Traveller (1923), from The Art of Travel (1872) to The Art and Pastime of Cycling (1880), and many more on various subjects, set in various countries, the discerning reader learns about the best fabric for sturdiness in handkerchiefs subject to the wear of travel, how to adapt to the rigors of too-soft beds in German inns, and how to treat eczema by living for a week on nothing but milk and oranges.

This is the sort of book anyone can read from beginning to end without growing bored, or can dip into on occasion without getting lost. And you learn so much! How to secure a prisoner in the chapter on “Hostilities and Personal Safety,” the dangers of bathing in ice-cold water in “Health and Hygiene” (“it is death with intemperance,” said Dr. Mosely in 1855), and how to pull a horse out of a hole with cord in “Expeditionary Skills.” Not to mention the invaluable packing list for ladies traveling to India from 1859, which includes such items as “6 Corded Petticoats, 6 Mosquito Trowsers for Sleeping, and 12 Kid or Silk Gloves.”

Be honest: You never go anywhere without your mosquito trowsers, do you? I know I don’t.

How to Make Friends and Oppress People is a lot of fun, and Darkwood’s research whets an appetite to read some of these older travel books. Their advice might seem archaic, but they also serve to remind what travelers of yesteryear were up against, both with regards to the rigors of travel, and pesky social mores.

I realize I’m going against the tide with what I have to say about Up in the Air, George Clooney’s new movie. It’s been well-received, not only in the film community, where it was just nominated for several Golden Globes, but also in the travel community.  There are many things I enjoyed about the movie, similar to what other frequent-traveler reviewers have pointed out: the portrayal of the rituals of travel — the practiced sweep of the eye while selecting a security line, the glory of bypassing a crowded line with an elite status card, the sure knowledge that comes with knowing how to pack a suitcase, and of course, the beautiful view of multiple cities as seen from the air.

We frequent, passionate travelers live an alternative lifestyle. As for anyone who lives outside the mainstream, it’s always something of a relief to see life portrayed with some measure of accuracy, on a screen of any size.

The situation is this: Ryan Bingham plays a corporate downsizing consultant who flies around the country laying people off.  He loves his life on the road — particularly the flying part, he’s avidly collecting frequent flier miles — plus, he’s good at his job. Along comes Natalie Keener, a brash, bright Cornell graduate who wants to replace the in-person firing process with video chat, thus threatening his entire lifestyle.  She ends up traveling with Bingham to see how the job is done, in the meantime, Bingham launches a relationship with fellow road warrior, Alex Goran, who says, alluringly: “Just think of me as yourself, only with a vagina.”

Bingham is portrayed as someone who gleefully escapes all responsibility. He hates his home (a totally empty apartment in Omaha that lacks the charm of a no-tell motel), he finds his family annoying. He has a side business as a motivational speaker, and while we never hear the entire speech, it seems to be about avoiding all responsibility. But all is not what it seems: while Bingham’s task of laying people off is odious, he obviously grasps its implications, and takes that responsibility seriously. Moreover, at the movie’s outset, he is living a life that he has selected, on his own terms, and — uh oh — he’s happy.

In comes the hectoring voice of family values and traditional society, our plucky bright young thing, Natalie. She blasts him for not pursuing a relationship with Alex, for not wanting to own a home, to get married and to have children. She deems him immature, and scorns him for having the temerity to select and enjoy a life of his own choosing.While the movie portrays Natalie sympathetically, I found her the most horrifying of all: “For the love of god will you let me fire someone”, she says at one point to Bingham. What’s more, the voice that speak for society, the voice espousing home and hearth, also sees no conflict in replacing a face-to-face interaction with a computer screen, denying those to be fired the comfort of human contact.

Beware: major spoilers coming after the jump.

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There’s nothing funny about air travel during the holiday season with airline personnel and travelers having to deal with delays, crowded flights, bad weather, and grumpy passengers.

But one airline, JetBlue, has decided that laughter really is the best way to medicine in stressful times. In their effort to increase ticket sales, they have put together a quirky holiday gift guide featuring products and gadgets that passengers might need for times when they are flying on other airlines.

In another great example of how airlines are using social media to form more personal connections with passengers, JetBlue has created an online ‘pop-up’ store on their Facebook site.

Called The Flyer’s Collection, it’s a highly entertaining slideshow illustrating gadgets that all seasoned flyers really wished existed.

After all, who would be able to resist the Yumbro, a friendly robotic buddy who will cheer you up when the other guys (ie other airlines) have taken away your legroom, your dignity, and even your snack. Or the Knee Jockey – a holster that will lift and tuck your knees to your chest, thereby giving your legs a centimeter extra room.

But my favorite is the Seat Back Beeper.

Placed on the top of your seat, it will let loose an ear piercing alarm to warn fellow passengers that you are about to recline your seat, giving them time to protect their knees, laptops, and anything else that might be in the way.

It’s just the thing for the considerate flyer.