Image: Jamison Antoine

Whether you are traveling to Dallas or Denmark, the one aspect of travel we are all certain to face is the dreaded security line.  I always marvel at the people who show up to the airport wearing every piece of jewelry they’ve ever purchased. While you can’t prevent other people from dressing like Ironman, it is possible to get through security much faster if you try these few tips.  

If you’re traveling for pleasure, consider wearing a track suit bottom with an elastic waistband or pants that fit to avoid having to remove a belt. Of course for women a dress or skirt is always an option.

In your carry on luggage, pack a Ziplock bag to place all of your loose items such as your cell phone, coins, watch, or keys before you get in the security line. You can keep your I.D. and boarding pass in your pocket.

When you get to the security table just take the Ziplock bag with all of its contents and place it in the bins with your shoes.  This saves the hassle of collecting everything individually after you’ve gone through the scanner. You can reassemble at your own convenience at the gate or on the plane, without being rushed by the other passengers collecting their items at the security table. Just remember to leave your guns, whips, chains, shampoo, gel and conditioner in the checked luggage.

Visit The C.O.M.B to read more about Jamison’s adventures, and to see footage of his recent trip to the Spice Isle of Grenada. 

Image: Jamison Antoine

When researching places to go I normally consider:

• the length of time it takes to get to the location
• the stability of the government
• the exchange rate to the US Dollar
• the neighboring countries and,
• any visa entry requirements. Most of which can be found at the US State Department website at www.state.gov.

Of course there’s living accommodations and food to account for, which can cost a good amount per night if you’re a prince or a diva and require five star hotel stays, but if you are willing to rough it a bit you can save a great deal on hotels.

Since the US has a favorable exchange rate with Egypt (1USD = 5.6 EGP), I lived in hostels paying between $4 and $8 USD per night. In actuality it was cheaper for me to be in Egypt on the other side of the world then it would have been to live in New York City.

To find low cost hostels in any location you can go to hostelworld.com or hostels.com. If you’re sqiumish about hostels, check out the Hostel International franchise, because in most cases they have internet access, laundry service, and well planned activities so it feels somewhat like a hotel, with the emphasis on somewhat.

Image: Jamison Antoine

I am flexible with the dates of travel by one or two days. For instance I found a flight that would take me from NY to Australia, New Zealand, and back to NY for $1111. When I shifted the dates to two days later the cost of that same flight rose by nearly $300 dollars. Still, this is less than the TV and cable subscription.

I use Kayak.com to search for deals and Orbitz.com to purchase the tickets. Once I’m in a country I find local low cost airlines or bus services that allow me to travel for next to nothing. So you don’t need to rob a bank or make a six-figure salary (although that wouldn’t hurt) in order to travel. You just need to do research, save and have a few cups of courage to make it happen.

Here are a few sites to get you started on the adventure:

Airline Deals
Airasia.com
Orbitz.com
RyanAir.com
Lastminute.com

Tips & Info
LonelyPlanet.com
Bootsnall.com 
Matadortravel.com
TripAdvisor.com

Let me know if you’ve found good deals on other sites. I would be happy to get some new resources. Cheers!

Jamison Antoine is a “Hip Hopper Turned Globe Trotter” currently on an exciting mission to see the world. VisitThe C.O.M.B to read more about Jamison’s adventures. 

What do you need to see the world? 

If you are an American Citizen the first thing you need to do is get yourself a passport from the U.S. State Department. You will need to find a local passport office and fill out a DS-11 form, provide a valid government issued I.D., birth certificate, and two passport photos.

To find a passport office near you or to download the DS-11 form, check out the US State Department website at state.gov.

Image: Jamison Antoine

For an adult passport (individuals 16 and older), the cost is $120. The passport photos can be obtained at any drug store with a photo developing lab. The pictures take about five minutes to develop and shouldn’t cost more than $14. Once you submit your application with all the required documents and photos, allow four to six weeks for the state department to process it. There are expedited services that allow you get it in emergency situations in a matter of days, but usually it takes 2-3 weeks.

Depending on what part of the world you’re headed, you will need what is called a visa to enter a particular country. You can apply for a visa through the foreign embassies, which are normally located in Washington D.C. or New York. The applications require information such as the amount of time you plan to stay in the country, where you plan to stay while you are there, and whether your travel is for business or for pleasure.

Image: Jamison Antoine

Some countries require that you obtain a visa prior to arriving while others allow you to get it at the airport. The United Kingdom and most of the countries in the European Union do not require visas for U.S. citizens, but if you plan to travel in Africa, Asia, or the South Pacific you should check ahead.  The fees for visas can range anywhere from $15 to $100 per application. It is best to contact the embassy or the country’s board of tourism to get bullet points of what they require and how long it takes to process an application. Once while picking up a visa, I overheard the dispair in a woman’s voice who had just been informed that her visa would take a week to process. The problem was she was traveling the next day!

Keep in mind that your passport will need to have at least 6 months of validity on if you already have one. This is a staple requirement on most visa applications, so make sure its up to date and has many years on it before it is set to expire.

Once you have your passport and your visas in order you are good to go. Now just try not to bore your friends to death with all your stories when you get back.  See you in the world!

Jamison Antoine is a “Hip Hopper Turned Globe Trotter” currently on an exciting mission to see the world. Visit The C.O.M.B to read more about Jamison’s adventures. 

Yesterday, Huff Post compiled a baffling list of the “The World’s Most Bizarre Man-Made Disasters,” that’ll make you wanna slap your forehead. From a hot pool of sulfuric mud that’s expected to gush for another 30 years, to entire towns condemned thanks to toxic water, strip mining, and radioactive explosions. Each of these locations represent the extreme consequences of drilling, mining, and wasting, but like those Russian dolls, this complex issue has so many layers. There are other places just like these across the globe that go undocumented and unseen–they may not be considered the Most Bizarre, but they’re harmful nonetheless. Who knows that effect the current oil spill in the Gulf will have on the region, but maybe this time we’ll wise up?

In the desert in Turkmenistan is a hole 328 ft. wide that has been on fire, continuously, for 38 years. In 1971, a Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the entire drilling rig to fall in. Poisonous fumes began leaking from the hole. To head off a potential deadly catastrophe, the Soviets set the hole aflame.

See the rest of the list here. 

Sometimes space is limited when illustrating stories on the site. You just have to pick the best images, do a little Photoshop action, and move on.

The solution? Set up a Flickr page! 

Now you can experience everything in greater detail here. Think of it as a reservoir of images, perfect for those stories that spill out beyond the simple slideshow. 

Check out the images uploaded today, and listen out for more updates. Summertime is approaching, which means there will so many more exciting people, places, and events to capture. Stay tuned…

Lena Horne in London, 1964

The Brooklyn-born beauty passed on Sunday at 92 years-old, commemorating a life marked by activism, triumph, and elegance during a time in America when the opportunities for black performers were virtually nonexistent.

“You wouldn’t be allowed to get on a particular bus, but you’d be asked to sign your autograph,” Horne said in a 1998 interview with the Chicago Tribune.

Here’s to Lena Horne, and to all of the black actresses and entertainers who did the best they could despite the hostile circumstances. Your work, persistence, and energy will never be forgotten.

Read this glowing biography from the Chicago Tribune, and for the ’80’s babies who remember watching Lena Horne on The Cosby Show:

Aside from the high school adventures of Archie and Jughead, I’ve never been much of a comic book reader or enthusiast. Last summer, while on a flight to Fort Defiance, AZ, I read an article in the New York Times about a new series set in Uganda that explores the country’s gruesome and violent 16-year civil war. Written by Joshua Dysart and published by an imprint of DC Comics, Unknown Solider explores the conflict and its influence through the eyes of protagonist Dr. Lwanga Moses, a Ugandan-born, United States-educated physician who returns to his home country in 2002, in the middle of the rampage led by the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Moses, who somehow gets caught up in the war, is depicted with bandages wrapped around his face—the result of hacking at himself to stop voices in his head. The author, who traveled to Uganda to conduct research for the series, notes that although the comic details violent encounters, many of the stories heard during his trip were just too gruesome to be included.

Unfortunately, since history is told from the perspective of the winners, my education of the Ugandan civil war is lacking. Our world history books and lessons only featured brief sections on ethnic groups residing beyond the borders of the US, and Uganda simply didn’t make the list. I’m interested in opening up a dialogue to learn more, and plan to visit Atomic Books in Baltimore this weekend to stock up on a few copies.

The latest installment, #19, was just published on April 28^th. A review to come…

Today the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective hosted a massive May Day Freedom Festival at Union Square in NYC, where hundreds rallied together in protest against the passage of SB1070 in Arizona. People of all ages and backgrounds came together to hear music, speak out, and march the streets.  

“The history of May Day is a date that commemorates the struggle of workers worldwide, and was brought to light by the Haymarket Affair martyrs in Chicago who fought and died for an 8 hr. day. In recent years it has been the date in which the Immigrant Rights movement has taken to the streets to fight for Immigrant and Workers Rights. It is especially important this year with the racist laws that were just passed in the state of Arizona. One of the laws passed, eliminated all ethnic studies programs at state and city colleges and the other one which gives regular cops the power of ICE officials. At RDAC BX we like to think that without Immigrants and Immigration, Hip Hop would not exist. From Kool Herc’s Jamaica influences in his booming sound system, to Greek grafitti artist Taki 183, to the Cuban and Puerto Rican bboys in Rocksteady Crew to Slick Rick from England. Therefore it is Hip Hop’s responsibility to defend Immigrant Rights. It is with this sentiment that we put on the show. This is not your everyday Hip Hop show. It is Hip Hop standing up and performing for a cause. To bring awareness to the struggle of day laborers, to those that pick our tomatoes and grapes, and those that clean the homes of the rich and raise their kids.”

              -Rebel Diaz Arts Collective

Stay tuned for video coverage of the rally and march. What are your thoughts on immigration laws? Has your city or town organized any events? Send in your pictures!

The state of Arizona is up to no good. In an effort to nip illegal immigration in the bud, the House of Representatives passed SB1070, a bill that will allow state police to perform random checks on any individual where “reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the U.S.,” a.k.a. ”any Latino who just might happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Once illegal, the legislation now gives police total freedom to stop anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant, and arrest anyone for not carrying the required forms of identification. This bill is guaranteed to take racial profiling and hate crimes to new heights across the nation, and violate the rights of all “minority” citizens in the state of Arizona. 

According to representative John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills), 

“This updated version gives our local police officers the tools they need to combat illegal immigration, while protecting the civil rights of citizens and legal residents.”

Opponents, like writer Miguel Guadalupe, who wrote a passionate op-ed for The Huffington Post, aren’t buying it:

“What of fellow citizens? What of the millions of US born and naturalized persons, or those who are in the process of becoming so, who might share the physical characteristics of these “outsiders?” Shall we pin our papers to our coats when walking on the street to avoid harassment? Perhaps we should stitch patches to our sleeves so the police can easily tell who we are and what our status is? If you can ask for papers of any one on the street, why not at their homes? Better yet, why not relocate us to a central part of town, so that the authorities can have an easier time monitoring our movements, all in the name of keeping out the undesirables…I fear for an America where liberty can be so fickle and discriminate.”

Read the bill in detail, and find out how you can raise your voice.

Global Girl Media is hoping to change that. An article published in The Atlanta Post details the work of this new non-profit initiative that will give 20 South African teenagers the skills to report on the upcoming World Cup tournament.

The project, called “Kick it Up!” will introduce the girls, ages 15 to 20, to local trained media professionals, teaching them online reporting through blogging, filming, and video editing.

As stated on their website, GlobalGirlMedia.org:

“The perspectives of many poor girls the world over remain marginalized and their voices are often silent. Without access to training and equipment, and computers they can’t share their ideas and communicate with each other. At the same time many girls’ real-life experiences are often absent from larger mainstream news and entertainment outlets, and when they do portray girls, these images often misrepresent their varied worldviews and their real lives and struggles.”

Global Girl Media was created to give underserved young women around the world the confidence and the tools to participate in online media, and to share both their joys and their struggles. Pilot projects are in the works to bring media training to girls in Thailand, India, Mexico, and Kenya.

Visit the Global Girl Media website to find out more about the project, and to learn how you can help change the face of journalism.