TresSugar

US Lifts HIV/AIDS Travel Ban

TresSugar — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0700

For the last 22 years, foreign citizens living with HIV or AIDS have been forbidden to legally enter the US. As of Monday, that ban will be a thing of the past. On Friday, President Obama announced the decision to overturn the policy he called "rooted in fear rather than fact." He said:

"We talk about reducing the stigma of this disease - yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic - yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country. If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it."

Before this decision, the US joined a less-than-impressive list of countries that banned HIV-positive outsiders. The list still includes: Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, and Yemen. Considering there are already Americans living with HIV/AIDS, it served little purpose to "quarantine" the country. I'm happy to see that our HIV/AIDS prevention strategies will no longer include an ineffective and discriminatory ban.

Stranger Than Fiction: Volunteers to Simulate 520-Day Mars Trip

TresSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Want to go to Mars without ever leaving Earth? You're in luck! The European Space Agency (ESA) is looking for six international volunteers to participate in a simulated voyage to Mars. The catch: you will have to live and work in a sealed facility in Moscow, Russia for 520 days.

The project, which sounds like a perfect premise for a reality show, will investigate the psychological and medical implication of such a long journey. It will include the full round-trip to Mars, and a 30-day stay on the planet. Just think, it takes almost a year to get there, and then you just get to stay for 30 days! Bummer! The hope is that the findings can be used to actually send humans to Mars sometime in the future.

The simulation begins in 2010. Would you ever consider signing up?

Would You Go on Vacation With a New Love Interest?

TresSugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0700

One of my friends has been going out with this really fun guy for about a month now. They met through mutual friends and seem to have a lot in common.

Well now this guy has invited her to go along on a trip he has planned to Thailand with his best friend. My friend has been wanting to take a relaxing vacation, but hasn't been able to get friends on board. She sees this invitation as a great chance to explore a new part of the world, but she can't help but worry about making international travel plans with someone she's still only casually dating. Would you do it?

Source: Flickr User flydime

Guides Hope Public Will Have Big Love For Polygamy Tours

TresSugar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:10:00 -0700

Has Big Love only intensified your curiosity about the mysterious lives of polygamists? Perhaps you should book your next vacation to Arizona, where former fundamentalist Mormons have launched a tour of a polygamous colony.

Starting next weekend, outsiders will get an inside look with "The Polygamy Experience: A Guided Tour of Colorado City." The tour is not for the passingly curious, as it lasts four hours and involves meetings with people who have been exiled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Even so, it promises to be respectful. The guides will educate tourists on the history of fundamentalist Mormonism and explain why they take more than one wife in the first place. Paying customers will also learn what's behind the prairie dresses and long braids.

The tour costs $70 for adults and $60 for children (children, really?). Would you shell out the money to see polygamy up close?

Source

Do You Have More Sex on Vacation?

TresSugar — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:30:00 -0700

Whether you're single and looking to mingle or getting away from it all with the old ball and chain, vacations can be highly conducive to good sex. But just because Summer travel season is over doesn't mean the fun should be too. Do you get more action on vacation?

Hotel Offers a Hangover-Themed Bachelor Party Package

TresSugar — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:00:00 -0700

I don't know if you've seen The Hangover, but I can't imagine aspiring to replicate the weekend those guys have, what with a live tiger in the bathroom, a live baby of mysterious origin, and a missing groom. But apparently, Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas thinks this pop culture reference will resonate with bachelors.

It's offering a Hangover-themed hotel package called Ultimate Hangover. Here's the sales pitch:

Some guys just can't handle Vegas, as demonstrated in the new motion picture The Hangover. But this town's easier to handle if you've got the tools to recover from a hangover of your own.

Forum Tower Royal suite? Check. (Also, checked for tigers.) Food to take the edge off? Check. Use your $50 Serendipity 3 food credit for the Hangover Omelet, loaded with bacon, French fries, mushrooms and cheddar. Hair of the dog? Check – use your $50 pool credit for a round of bloody Marys at the Garden of the Gods pool complex.

I'm not gonna argue with the power of a hangover omelet, but if that uses up the entire $50 food credit, those mushrooms had better be truffles. Still, I have to give them points for creativity. What amenities would you want after a wild weekend in Vegas?

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Do Tell: Where Would You Go on a Road Trip?

TresSugar — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0700

A road trip is an adventurous way to discover more about a region and yourself. In the US alone there are more than 3.9 million miles of road to drive along with the music turned up, and there are also wonderful places to explore by car in other countries too.

One of my favorite road trips involved renting a Jeep and heading up the dusty coast of Baja, Mexico. We stopped at gorgeous snorkel spots and our soundtrack was a local band's CD we bought at the suggestion of a gas station attendant.

If you could hit the road before the Summer ended, where would you go?

Are You a Member of the Mile High Club?

TresSugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:00:00 -0700

According to the Mile High Club website, pilots, flight attendants, and daring passengers have been whispering about engaging in sexual activity, you know - a mile high up in the sky - since people have been flying on planes. For what it's worth, oversharer Heidi Montag said joining the club changed her life.

[It] "was maybe the best experience I've ever had in my entire life . . .You’re waking me up to what’s possible, and it makes me want to try every new thing, doing it all kinds of ways - indoors, outdoors, upside down."

While the the idea of getting busy up in the air sounds kinda sexy, it also seems impractical and disrespectful to other passengers. Are you a member of the mile high club?

What Do You Think of Returning to a Childhood Vacation Spot?

TresSugar — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:00:00 -0700

A friend told me last night that every year of her childhood, her family went to Toronto for vacation. For some reason, Toronto as a vacation spot surprised me, but then she said it was a city where her parents spent a lot of time before they had kids. They loved it and wanted their children to love it, too. "Well do you love it?" I asked, waiting for a no. "I do! I love Toronto."

And with that my entire concept of family vacations changed. Every Summer, except for one crazy one in Niagara Falls, my family went to the same beach in the same town on the same street. And while I have fond memories of my parents letting me eat/drink/have whatever I wanted for that one week, I also remember being restless and bored, wanting to explore while my parents wanted to relax. While I wouldn't turn down a (free) trip back today, I am not nostalgic for those beached days. I'd rather go to a city, like Toronto.

What about you?

Source: Flickr User Madmonk

Who's Crazier? Girlfriend Endlessly Emails Traveling Boyfriend

TresSugar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:40:09 -0700

So, a guy goes to Europe and turns off his phone for two weeks. Fair enough. His girlfriend somehow does not remember he was going on vacation for the entire time. Questionable . . . on both sides. She emails him and then keeps emailing him. The notes go from "later baber" to "I hate you" to "I love you" to "I'd like to say it was fun, but it wasn't" and so on. Now that two years have passed, he's decided to relive the magic by setting his pictures and her emails to music. (Oh, the music. That alone makes me want to defend her.)

The message is clear - laugh at his misfortune, his psycho exgirlfriend. But anyone who's ever had a boyfriend/girlfriend just disappear has, rightfully, acted in unimaginable ways. And seriously, who doesn't check his email for two weeks? Or contact his significant other? He was in Europe, not the Sahara desert.