RoadWarriors unite: 5 things we could all do to make OUR airport experience nicer

As a hardened road warrior, I often feel trapped behind the folks who are only just now discovering the "Magic Flying machines" after living in caves for the last 9 years or so.

1. READ and follow the rules, they are posted EVERYWHERE! i.e. 3-1-1, no shoes, no belts, no knives, C'mon!
2. Get your poop in a group: Empty your pockets into your carry-on before you get to the belt. We stand in line for about 20 minutes average to get to the belt. It should be no surprise, what is supposed to happen when you get there. So don't just dump your coin collection loose in the bin. Duh! Take of the shoes or at least loosen the laces, and stow your stuff.
3. Grab you shit and go: If you had your poop in a group, then you can claim it easy and get your gear out of my way. Even on a bad day I grab 3 things off the belt, the bin with the laptop, the laptop bag (which has all my loose items stowed in pockets, and my shoes.
4. If you are having trouble, look around and let people with their act together get by.
5. Did I mention get out of the way?

Travel: 3 hints to Getting around in Germany (and neighboring countries)

Traveling about Europe just got a little bit harder for me (and maybe for you too).

The train station (at least the Dutch ticket counter at Schipol Airport) only takes credit card transactions with PIN entry. Which means the corporate card I use was not good for me. So if you travel by train in these areas you might consider the following:

1. buy your tickets in advance online 
2. pre-order Eurail passes for multiple countries multiple days
3. carry cash

Up until recently I could count on buying the tickets at the ticket window with my credit card and signature. However the EU has been shifting more and more to PIN transactions (for security) however if you are like me you may have a corporate card with no PIN (avoid high cash advance fees etc). But that means that the US is getting to be a minority among developed nations in regards to the handling of these "signature" transactions. 

Buy online: Honestly the first two hints are really the same. But I find that I can spot buy the tickets and print out very easily the rail tickets I need by using the DeutscheBahn (DB) web site. If I know that I want even more travel I will buy the Eurail pass. As long as you travel at least 5 days by rail within 60 days, and average  200 km each day this option makes sense. It amounts to roughly $300 US ($60/day) the trip from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf (Nord-Rhein) region was 65Euro (nearly 90 dollars). The Germany-Benelux option is my most used ticket. I Also used the 3 country select pass. For a small premium taking the night train for very long trips (700-800 km) the night train is a great deal. You pay a small add-on in addition to the rail pass to get a bed for the night (saves the hotel room fee, and you arrive at destination bright eyed and busy tailed).

Cash is always a smart option when traveling. Travelers checks are getting more difficult and expensive to cash and convert into Euros. I use a service away from the Airport to convert my dollars to Euros before I leave. The rates are competitive to any airport exchange and hotel concierge. ATMs give decent rates at times, but surcharges pop up unexpectedly. So I have shyed away from them.