The Most Dangerous City I visited this year

For those of us from the United States there seems to be an endless amount of information on how to stay safe when we travel "abroad".  Yet we seem to forget about all the dangers we have created and failed to address domestically.  Which gets to in my opinion the least safe place I have traveled to all year: Houston, Texas.

Why do I say this about Houston?  Well lets start with the traffic fatality rate of 11.87 deaths each year per 100,000 residents in Texas.  In comparison Ireland sits at 3.5, Hungary at 7.7, and the United States as a whole at 11.6 percent.  Then add in the lack of interest in creating safe spaces for people to walk or bike to work and the lack of acceptance of these ways as forms of commuting (although I know people who do commute these ways in Houston).  This lack of creating safe places for walking and cycling are not a problem unique to Texas either in the United States.

Then add on the way people drive and treat each other on the roads in Houston.  It seems like way to many people in Houston buy oversized SUVs and pick-up trucks and use them to bully others on the road or to drive recklessly while assuming they will just kill someone else (bad assumption by the way).  What ends up happening is a large number of road fatalities.  

Then add in guns which by the way kill far more people by accident than they do in any type of self defense.

Houston isn't exactly a crime free city either, but none the less I'd rather be in a high crime place with few reckless SUV drivers who don't care if they run over a cyclist or pedestrian, than in a low crime place where people are indifferent to running over pedestrians and cyclists.  Additionally, when people spend all their time isolated in their person vehicles it is to easy to lose a sense of community and as a result see crime develop as a result of this indifference.

Yet those in Houston seem to highly fear crime, but not driving somewhere.  Which I find rather odd.

So this is why I call Houston the least safe city I've been to this year.
  
In fact of the cities I've been to this year (and I'm probably omitting quite a few I've forgotten and I'm excluding airport connections) this is how I would rank them:

From Safest to Most Dangerous:
1. Trim Ireland
2. Drogehda Ireland
3. Dublin Ireland
4. Budapest Hungary
5. Arlington, Virginia
6. Washington DC
7. Bloomington Minnesota
8. Minneapolis Minnesota
9.Alexandria, Virginia
10. Fairfax (and other nearby cities) Virginia
11. Las Vegas, Nevada
12.  Houston, Texas

                                                   

Best of 2014

So here is my best of list for 2014.  Keep in mind I'm basing it on what I did this year.  For example, a book might be 100 years old but if I read it this year I would still include it.  I'll exclude myself and my own books from the rankings too!

Airport: Dublin
Book (Non-fiction): High and Mighty by Keith Bradsher
Book (fiction): Mockingjay
Husband: Noah (something tells me he will win next year too)
Movie: Cloud Atlas
Police Department: Fort Lee New Jersey
Public Transit System: Budapest, Hungary
Radio Station: None
Reality TV show: Again none
Restaurant I went to: Edeni Vegan in Budapest (this is a tough one though)
Sport: Does yoga count?
Sports team: The one I don't have to hear about.
Trip: Dublin, Ireland
TV show: Celebrity Name Game (sorry this is one category that is rapidly spirally downhill)
Tweeter: Vegan Revolution

                                  

We're front page for Central United States on Amazon!

Well they said it couldn't be done with a eco-friendly public transit and vegetarian/vegan food based travel book, but the Kaufman Green Guide: Bloomington is currently sitting on the top 20 best seller page for Central United States on Amazon!

                                             

Looking for charities to team up with in 2015!

Do you have a group that protects the environment, animals, or works for pedestrian/cyclist rights?  Or perhaps some other type of charity?

I'm look for charities that would like to team up with the Kaufman Green Guide in 2015.  Here is my vision:

For each month in 2015 I hope to pick one charity whom I will team up with for that month and I will donate 10 percent of my net profits from my book sales, kindle direct downloads, and amazon affiliates program.

If you are interested please include a one sentence to one paragraph answer to each of these questions either in the comment section below, send your responses to one of my social media accounts, or you can email me your responses in the body of the email (please no attachments) at kaufmangreenbooksandguides@gmail.com.

1.  Why do you want to team up with the Kaufman Green Guides?
2.  Where/how will you promote your one month team up with Kaufman Green Guides?

Hope to hear from you!

                                                      

Quick Vegan Travel Guide Dublin Ireland

I've decided to start a travel series on finding vegan foods in different places I've traveled to.  My first place is going to be Dublin, Ireland.

People tend to stereotype Ireland as serving up meat and potato, but Dublin has much more to offer than this and a flair for international cuisine.

So is it hard to be vegan in Dublin.  Its not a utopia, but its not too bad particularly if you don't have a tight budget.

First: Dublin is full of numerous small grocery stores.  Almost all of these sell packaged nuts, fresh fruits/vegetables and other items that are vegan.  Some also sell hummus.  Also, since Ireland is an English speaking country its easy to check packages to see if the ingredients are vegan or not.

Second: Dublin is home to a few vegan restaurants including Blazing Salads, Home, and Seomra Spraoi.  Unfortunately though the last two have somewhat limited hours.

Third: Dublin has several vegetarian restaurants that offer vegan choices.  These include 2 locations of Godvina's which are both centrally located.  Cornucopia is also a vegetarian restaurant with vegan options and is also centrally located.  Cornucopia also offers sugar free and raw options.

Now for one bummer: Guinness is not vegan.  A fish product is used in making Guinness and small amounts of the fish product remain in it.  Update: Guinness is in the process of going vegan and plans to be vegan by the end of 2016!  Still see crossed out stuff for this year.

For more detailed information on this topic check out my Kaufman Green Guide Dublin. .


                               

Avenir Place is Pedestrian Friendly???

Update: So after a reprieve from this for several months, the situation is back and worse than ever.  It is so bad I ended up taking a bus from less than one mile away.  Fairfax County truly treats pedestrians like 2nd class citizens-no make that about 20th class citizens.   

See the redish/brown line.  That is the route pedestrians have been forced to take for nearly 2 months from the Dunn Lorring Metro to get two blocks away in the supposedly pedestrian friendly Avenir Place construction project near the Dunn Lorring Metro.  Meanwhile the yellow line represents both the ideal route and the route that cars are allowed to take.  

Not only is this route around the construction ridiculous and treating pedestrians like 3rd class citizens the route also involves:

• Multiple Slow Crossings
• One Crossing where there currently is not a walk/don't walk sign   
• While the police seem to sometimes hang around to enforce rules for pedestrians, vehicles are pretty much allowed to do whatever they want.  
• I've rolled my ankle on one of their so called pedestrian friendly detours.  
• Either nobody directing or employees who seem to be more interested in personal conversations and texting on their phones than directing.  
• Confusing signs  

Now I'd probably balk at this less if Avenir wasn't using the word "pedestrian-friendly" right on their web page to market the apartments.

According to Avenir's website "It's hard to imagine a better location, seriously".  Seriously?  At 1,700 for a one bedroom apartment how about Arlington or Washington DC which actually are pedestrian friendly.  

An attempt to contact Avenir was made, but no response has been received.  

                                        

The Anti-Climactic (and Climatic) End to the Amazing Race

Luckily I decided to go to a party on the night of the Amazing Race Finale despite wanting to see the finale. The party was fun and I stayed much later than I planned to. When I went to watch the Amazing Race Finale the next day it was not fun and I left much earlier than planned. As in about 40+ minutes early.

 It seemed like throughout the season the Amazing Race was going to try to be more eco-friendly or at least pretend to be. Granted it would be more eco-friendly, not to mention safer, to have the contestants use public transit, walking, or cycling instead of encouraging taxis to speed to their destinations and having contestants driving in a sleep deprived state. Not to mention watching teams try to navigate public transit systems would be a lot more exciting and interesting.

 But the finale just proved completely stupid. The teams had a non-exciting flight with all teams on the flight from Manila to Los Angeles. Okay not exciting, but then the whole show just went downhill when in LA the teams picked up a stupid useless SUV to drive around in for the final leg.

 Now I'm not sure if the Amazing Race just picks people who are dumb or if the contestants are scripted to say certain things but listening to them say how great the cheaply made clunk oversized Ford SUV was, was just stupid and annoying. Before I knew it I wasn't watching a fun show, I was watching an ad for a stupid useless, not to mention dangerous vehicle. And Maya and the female dentist saying it just proves an education doesn't make you smart (which I hate to admit because I have a Masters degree).

 Not to mention it is completely reckless to have sleep deprived racers, racing around in dangerous SUVs with no regards to the safety of those the racers are sharing the roads with.

 I'm not bidding a fond farewell to this season of the Amazing Race, I'm just bidding a fond farewell to the Amazing Race being a decent show and probably one which I won't watch the next season of.                                                  
                                          

Back from Budapest

We had a fabulous time Budapest.  I have to say Budapest was the best value (quality compared with price) of any trip I have taken.  And you really can't understand just from a book how amazing the thermal baths are in Budapest.  Speaking of books I'm now working on the Kaufman Green Guide: Budapest and hope to have it for sale sometime soon!

The Swiss must find Americans weak and laughable

Yesterday I found myself watching Rick Steve's Christmas Special.  I watched while Rick and his family went with a Swiss family to go find a Christmas Tree.

The two families took a hike out to the forest and chopped down a tree.  They then put the tree on the sled and hauled it back home...and no the sled was not motorized.

Laughably, I've heard American's claim they need giant gas guzzling pick ups and SUVs for such tasks. Then, I've seen them try to pull the "I'm tough" look at my gas guzzler.  That's when I want to hand them a sled and an ax and see how far they make it-my guess is most won't make it too far.  But perhaps if they got out of their gas guzzler more often and tried walking or cycling they would fair better.  

Rick Steve's is right...we have a lot to learn from Europeans.  It just amazes me that the concept of a sled and an ax instead of a gas guzzler is so challenging for so many Americans.


                               

Veganize to Lower the Fat and Calories in Ice Cream Recipes

It is actually pretty easy to veganize most ice cream recipes.

 Heavy Cream: Instead of heavy cream use soy creamer and arrowroot. I generally use 1 container of soy creamer from Trader Joes and 2 Tablespoons of arrowroot powder. You will need to heat this on the stove to get the arrow root to dissolve. Then let it cool in the fridge for about 2 hours before you put it in your ice cream maker.

 Milk: Use any non-dairy milk. My favorite choice for this is coconut milk, followed by soy milk. If the non-dairy milk has vanilla added to it decrease the amount of vanilla you use (or omit it completely). For citrus flavors it is best to use non-dairy milk that does not contain vanilla.
                             
                                   

Why I won't be spending money on Black Friday

My main complaint about Black Friday used to be that they jacked up the prices only to claim that this or that was on sale-even though the sale was the normal price of the item. Now Black Friday has become even uglier than that. Retail workers are forced to either cut short or completely abandon their plans with their family. Meanwhile the high ups in the company get to enjoy their evening off. This is a sad commentary on business, but even more so what the United States is becoming. We treat people like they are robots and in doing so become robots ourselves. We forget that this isn't even beneficial to business as unhappy burned out employees loose productivity over time. Just look at countries in Europe that give generous amounts of vacation time and the productivity those countries see verses in countries that give more limited vacation time. But this is really, beyond the point;the point being unless your job involves saving lives you should have the day off to spend with family. And given what Black Thanksgiving Friday has become I refuse to have any part in it.

                                     

Per 100,000 residents Ireland has 3.5 traffic fatalities , US 11.6 fatalities

There is so much that we can learn from travel.  I felt like I learned more about the United States and its problems while visiting Ireland than while visiting anywhere else.  

While researching safety in Ireland for my Kaufman Green Guide Dublin book, I came across the statistic traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents.  As far as safety goes this is a more important statistic than the stereotypical crime statistics.  So why does Ireland have a rate so much lower than that of the United States.  Here are a few reasons why and what we can learn from Ireland:

1.  Driving on the left:  Countries that drive on the left generally enjoy a much lower rate of traffic fatalities than countries that drive on the right.

2.  Encouraging the use of public transportation, cycling, and walking: Ireland has great public transportation and is working to add more public transportation even in smaller cities and towns.  When it comes to cycling and walking, adding more cyclists and walkers equals an overall decrease in fatalities.

3.  Having less SUVs: SUVs have very high kill rates when compared with cars.  SUVs are also much deadlier to pedestrians due to their flat fronts, inability to avoid collisions, and when two SUVs collide a fatality is 3x more likely to occur than when two cars collide.  Luckily most of the Irish have used common sense when it comes to their car buying choices and choose cars. In the United States we could learn from that choice.

Rachelle Kaufman is the author of Kaufman Green Guides.



                            

A secret to getting free and cheap flights (without dealing with frequent flyer miles).

One secret I have found to getting free and reduced cost flights is taking voluntary bumps. Often the airlines will give you hundreds of dollars to leave sometimes less than an hour later.

 Let's go back a step and talk about what a bump is and why bumps occur. Many airlines oversell seats;this is because usually a certain percentage of passengers who are scheduled to take a flight do not end up taking that flight due to a variety of reasons. So a number of airlines uses statistical models on computers to predict how many people won't show up and how many seats to oversell by. These statistical models don't work all the time.

 When the models fail and the airlines finds themselves with more passengers than seats the airlines are first required to ask for volunteers to give up their seats. Often with these offers to give up seats come travel vouchers usually worth several hundred dollars that are usually good for one year. When the next flight won't leave until the next day often hotel vouchers are offered too. The airlines want to avoid a involuntarily bump as there are strict rules and regulations regarding involuntary bumps and how much compensation those being involuntarily bumped are entitled too-often this compensation can in certain cases exceed the cost of the ticket.

 It is often a gambling game on what point to grab the voucher and what point to wait to see if a better offer will be made and to get more information about alternative flights. I've found the first offer as of recently is at the self-check in. I've found these offers come with a low-mediocre offer and basically no information about what your options will be to get to your destination if you take the bump. When the gate agent announces that they are looking for someone to take the bump the gate agent generally gives more information about what the flight will be that you will be moved to. If they don't than beware you might be facing a long wait to get to your destination. If the offer sounds good this can be a good time to take the bump.

 Here is an example of where taking a voluntary bump worked out great more me. I was supposed to fly from Cleveland to BWI. BWI really was not my airport of choice. Instead of flying to BWI I was able to fly to National Airport which is my airport of choice as it is the only airport that connects directly to the DC metro and the flight was only one hour later. Basically I saved the hassle of BWI and at the same time got hundreds of dollars off my flight to Ireland. How cool is that!
 There are some ways to try to get on a flight where you are likely to be bumped. Look for a flight that is already very full. Also look for airlines (such as United and Skywest) that have a high bump rate.
 Rachelle Kaufman is the author of the Kaufman Green Guide series.
                                          

Often travelers to Ireland think about pubs, music, and beauty.  Ireland has all of these things;but another thing that is sometimes forgotten that Ireland has to offer is a rich archaeological heritage.

One of the coolest things I got to do while in Ireland was see ancient cave art.  We hiked up a huge hill to get to the burial mound.  The hike was well worth it.  The cave art was truly amazing.  It is so interesting to think about the people who created these images so long ago.

The picture above is from our trip.

                                  

Police department in New Jersey uses innovative idea to save lives

The Fort Lee police department is getting it right when it comes to pedestrian safety. They are targeting the drivers who are endangering pedestrians and whom caused 62 pedestrian deaths last year. So to attract attention to crosswalks and pedestrian safety the Fort Lee police department is using a police officer dressed in a Donald Duck costume. When drivers did not stop for the very obvious duck, they gave the drivers tickets.

 According to Police Chief Keith Bendul "Two years ago we had 62 people struck in Fort Lee. At this time I'm glad to tell that in the past two years it's down to 40. That number is still higher than zero which is my ultimate goal".

 One driver went a little bit quackers over this. One women tried to claim to the news she had duckophobia... or in other words she is extremely selfish and cares more about a small fine than she does about human lives. Which perhaps raises the question when in one city alone this is killing around 50 people a year do we need stiffer penalties including possibly jail time?

 Police Chief Bendul also said "When you see a pedestrian whether it's a young child or an adult stop and let the pedestrian cross and then proceed with your day". Now this should be common sense. Sadly for many including duckophobia lady it isn't. Not only do I hope the Fort Lee police department continues and expands this program, I hope to see other police departments taking up similar programs and targeting drivers.

                                                    

                                      

Grocery Shopping-An affordable travel solution

Grocery shopping while traveling can be a great way to save money and stay in control of your eating.  While refrigeration is often an issue there are plenty of foods that one can buy that don't need refrigeration but yet provide complete and healthy nutrition-at a fraction of the cost of eating out at every meal.

What to buy: Fruit, vegetables that can be eaten raw, nuts, nut butters, canned beans, seeds (such as sunflower), apple sauce, snack bars, popcorn, fresh whole grain bread and local treats.    

Where to buy it: Head off the main streets for the best prices; or in some cities even just to find grocery stores and markets.

How to find groceries/markets: Do advance research on the internet; buy a travel guide; as the locals; ask at attractions;or just walk around until you find a store.

                                            

And this month's dumbest lawsuit goes too...

Unilever.

That is right.  If you haven't heard the news yet Unilever is suing vegan mayo company Hampton Creek over Hancock Creek calling their vegan product mayo.

So far this lawsuit isn't going well for Unilever.

Currently: More people are learning that vegan mayo (gasp I called in mayo) exists.  The market for vegan mayo is much larger than vegans, but awareness of the product by those who weren't vegans wasn't nearly as good until this.  Hampton Creek is seeing record sales and getting all kinds of publicity (not to mention twitter followers).

If Unilever keeps up this nonsense or wins:  They might win in getting rid of the word mayo.  Including their own use of the word as people stop buying unhealthy un-animal friendly Hellmann's and their product goes extinct along with the dinosaurs.


                                   

In honor of Patrick Pearse's Birthday

Okay, I'm a day late in posting this, but yesterday was the birthday of Patrick Pearse one of the leaders of the Easter Rebellion of 1916.

In honor of Patrick Pearse's birthday I'm going to share part of the my review of Kilmainham Gaol from the Kaufman Green Guide: Dublin.  Sadly Kilmainham Gaol was where Patrick Pearse was executed.

The tour of Kilmainham Gaol began with an introductory slide show in what was one of the jails chapels.  The slide show begins by showing how the jail and other jails were often overcrowded.  It was also mentioned that jails until more recent times did not separate men and women or children and adults. 

During the slide show the guide also talked about the 1916 Rebellion as many of those involved in the 1916 Rebellion were both held in jail cells in Kilmainham Gaol and some of them were also executed in the yard of Kilmainham Gaol.  If you haven’t already learned about or heard of the 1916 Rebellion you will learn about the 1916 Rebellion during your stay in Ireland.  My husband and I found it particularly interesting learning about the 1916 Rebellion because neither of us remembered being taught about the 1916 Rebellion in school.  

Following your introduction in the chapel, you will see the older wing of the jail.  The older wing of Kilmainham Gaol is also where many of those in the 1916 Rebellion were held.  You then move to the “newer part”.  By newer part I am referencing built during the Victorian era.  In the Victorian part of the jail you will see fascinating functional architecture.  History buffs will appreciate that the cells of certain famous prisoners have been labeled with plaques both in the older and newer parts of the jail.  History buffs will also enjoy the interesting stories about the famous prisoners that your guide will share with you. 

Speaking of prison cells, in the Victorian part, when your tour guide gives you some time to look around at the different cells make sure to look into the cell of Grace Gifford Plunkett’s.  In her cell Grace Gifford Plunkett painted pictures that can still be seen today.  There is an amazing picture of the Virgin and Child painted by Plunkett.  The painting is particularly amazing when you figure that Grace Gifford Plunkett probably had limited access to materials to paint with. 

You will then go outdoors to the exercise grounds, which were more importantly the sight of the executions of a number of members of the 1916 Rebellion.  The sites of the executions are marked with crosses.  Most of the executions took place in one spot, but that of James Connolly took place across the yard from the others.  Connolly was severely injured during the rebellion and likely would have only survived a few days and was held at Dublin Castle instead of the jail due to his poor health.  Too weak to be taken to the other side of the yard Connolly was brought from Dublin Castle and was executed on the opposite side of the yard than the others.  The executions were carried out by firing squads. 

The 1916 Rebellion wasn’t particularly popular or widespread.  It was the secret executions by the British government of a number of those involved in the 1916 Rebellion and their martyrdom that would change how many of the Irish felt and that ultimately lead to most of Ireland joining the mostly successful fight for independence from the United Kingdom.   Several years later most of Ireland would be free from British rule, except for a few of the northern parts.  Some of the Irish even today do not consider this victory complete as Northern Ireland is still subjected to British rule. 

Returning to the yards, the yards weren’t used mainly for executions; rather the main purpose of the yards was for having the prisoners exercise.  If you have seen the prison scenes with Mr. Bates in Downtown Abby where the prisoners are walking around in circles not allowed to talk to each other, this is how the exercise was at the Kilmainham Gaol. 

One other thing to see on your trip to the jail is the front of the building.  The front of the jail is not part of the tour so have a look at the front of the building before or after your tour.  There are two things to note about the front of the building.  The first is the carving with the 5 snakes in front of the building.  The second thing to note is that in the early days of the jail public hangings occurred in the front of the building, but only for a short period of time before public hangings were ended and prisoners were executed in private.  

You can read more about Kilmainham Gaol and other Dublin attractions in the Kaufman Green Guide Dublin by Rachelle Kaufman.  

                            

Happy Halloween!  (Don't worry the end of the Viking World just led to the beginning of the Middle Ages in Dublin).  

Hidden Sources of Animal Products in Ireland

Updated: Great news!   Since originally writing this Guinness has gone vegan.   Updating the context to reflect this. 

Vegetarians and vegans: keep an eye out for the following when visiting Ireland:

1. Some Irish (and British) beers: Some Irish beers are likely to have been manufactured with and to contain trace amounts of a fish product called isinglass.  Isinglass can also be an issue with wines.    Guinness used to use isinglass up to a few years ago, but is now vegan. 

2.  Certain breads: much less of an issue now that Guinness is vegan.   But I would recommending checking ingredients and many breads may not be vegan. 

3.  Black pudding:  Made with pigs blood. 

4. White pudding: Also contains meat.  

The food news is that Dublin has numerous vegetarian and vegan restaurants where you won't have to worry about this. 

For more info on vegan and vegetarian food in Dublin check out the Kaufman Green Guide Dublin.


      

Fun fact: Mall of America has no central heating system!

Fun fact: Did you know that Mall of America has no central heating system!  Mall of America uses solar energy, heat given off from light fixtures in stores, and better yet the heat given of by visitors to heat the mall-even in winter!

Here are a few other fun facts:

• Mall of America contains an amusement park.   
• Mall of America has huge numbers of live plants.   
• Mall of America has a completely vegan food stand.   

                                        

5 things not to do on business travel in Ireland

Ireland is a great country full of wonderful people.  There are some things you should not do though if you want to win favor on your business trip. 

1. Drinking too much.  Remember you are on business so while the temptation might be there, don't over do it. 
2.  On the note of drinking, don't order a mixed drink.  Particularly don't do this in a traditional pub. 
3.  Don't spend all your free time at the pubs.  Take some time to explore Irelands rich historical and archaeological heritage. 
4.  Don't stereotype the Irish based on what you have heard about the Irish in the United States.  Much of this is not accurate.  While you might here a lot about Christianity and Ireland, there are plenty of people of other religions in Ireland too.  Dublin has 4 Jewish Synagogues.  There is also a large percent of the Irish population who is atheist.  You might also be surprised to learn that there are also many vegetarians in Ireland and that Dublin contains numerous vegetarian and vegan restaurants. 
5.  The worst mistake you could probably make is referring to the Irish as being British or worse yet incorrectly imply that Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom (it's not).  The Irish are very proud of there independence from the United Kingdom and like to talk about how they suffered under the British. 

Other posts about Ireland on Kaufman Green Books and Guides:
Getting from Belfast to Dublin
Hidden Sources of Animal Products in Ireland
In Honor of Patrick Pearse's Birthday
Ireland is Very Green
Irish Language 101
Per 100,000 residents Ireland has 3.5 traffic fatalities , US 11.6 fatalities
Quick Guide to Tipping in Dublin
Quick Vegan Guide: Dublin Ireland
Should I visit Ireland in the winter?

  For more info on Ireland and Dublin see the Kaufman Green Guide Dublin, Kaufman Green Books World Geography A to L and Now I Know My European Language Colors.     


                              

Exciting news!  My Kaufman Green Guide to Dublin is now available for purchase on amazon.  It can also be borrowed if you have prime or kindle unlimited. 

If you are a vegetarian or vegan going to Dublin this book will be quite helpful.   We also focus on car-free transportation. 


Kaufman Green Guide Dublin