I look at this photo and I think, "ruh-roh." Besides the fact that the plane is facing the same direction a similar plane was faced in a recent nightmare of mine (I mean come, sign people. What the H happened with this one?), I also really like that the plane and the arrow are facing different directions. It gives the impression of a person with their arms crossed, pointing in opposite ways in an Alice-in-Wonderland sort of way.

Have any photos that bring to mind traveling nightmares? Maybe don't post them to Gadling's Flickr pool. Okay, okay, just kidding... post any and all of your travel photos -- we might select one for our Photo of the Day feature!

During World War Two, German industrialist Oskar Schindler saved some 1,200 of his Jewish workers from extermination. His enamelware and munitions factories were considered vital for the German war effort and he claimed his workers all had special skills vital for the operation of his factories, whether they had or not. Many of his "skilled mechanics" were in fact children or handicapped people.

Schindler became the subject of the book Schindler's Ark and later the movie Schindler's List. Now part of his factory in Krakow has become a museum to the city's war years.

The exhibitions cover the outbreak of the war, the German invasion of Poland, Polish resistance movements, and Schindler's struggle to save his workers. The museum is a branch of the Krakow City Historical Museum. The front page of their website has a short video about Schindler that's quite powerful, even if you don't understand Polish.


Photo courtesy Noa Cafri via Wikimedia Commons.

Does check-in mean more to you than a pretty girl at the front desk, fumbling with your credit card and a humble request for an upgrade? If this expression instead reminds you that you've been the uncontested mayor of your tiny cubicle for the past seven and a half months – and you like to travel – Topguest.com has you in mind. This new social media service seeks to score hotel points for you based on foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and a handful of other networks.

So far, Standard Hotels is previewing Topguest. According to CNET:

Right now, there are two rewards in place: check in to all four Standard hotels in the course of a week (which involves being in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami) and earn a complimentary week's stay at any one of them), or check in to Standard establishments ten times and receive a 25 percent reservation discount.

Okay, so the perks are a little thin right now. But, if Standard can wrangle the addicts, look for the other hotels to get on board.

A French fishing ship reached 16-year old American Abby Sunderland in the Indian Ocean earlier today, bringing a sigh of relief to her friends and family back home in California, who have been waiting for news on her rescue for the past two days. The girl, who had been attempting to sail solo around the world, was feared lost at sea on Thursday when contact with her home team was disrupted during a major storm. Later she would set off two emergency locator beacons, and on Friday, an Australian commercial aircraft few over her position, confirming that she was alive and well, but adrift in the frigid ocean waters.

Abby's remote location in the Indian Ocean made it difficult to make a quick recovery. She was more than 2000 miles from both Africa and Australia, which made the use of a helicopter impossible. The French ship was the closest to her position, but was still 40 hours away when she ran into trouble.

As of this morning, the decision was still being made as to where to take the teenager. The ship could sail for Reunion Island, which is the closest land, but is in the middle of the Indian Ocean and quite remote in its own right. Or they could make a course for Australia, where Abby will have more resources at her disposal for getting home or repairing her own vessel. The fishing boat may even rendezvous with another ship, which could start a relay of sorts delivering the girl to safety.

Also unknown as this time is whether or not Abby will continue her attempt to sail around the world. Her boat, the Wild Eyes, has suffered a broken mast, and her sails are in tatters, with further damage a possibility. The Wild Eyes will have to be towed into port for repairs before she can go anywhere again, which will require time and money. For the near term anyway, Abby will be able to think carefully on what her next move is.

[Photo credit: Al Seib / L.A. Times]

The Westin Hotel announced it would cut the jobs of almost 50 employees at its Providence, Rhode Island hotel. The layoffs come after several months of demonstrations at the hotel.

According to the Providence Journal, the hotel workers were notified Friday that their jobs would be farmed out to a subcontracting firm at the end of the month.

Demonstrations began in March when the 200-member hotel workers union called for a boycott of the hotel after learning that Westin management wanted to impose wage cuts, health-care cost increases and increased work loads.

The union, whose contract expired in October, says it will continue to call for a boycott.

[via The Providence Journal]

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Friday, June 11th 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is perfect if you regularly run into problems getting a reliable Wi-Fi signal when you travel. The BlueProton USB Wi-Fi adapter has a large antenna and increased transmission power. On sale for $18.99. Click here for this deal.

Next up is a great deal on the Sony MHS-CM1 HD camcorder. The camera shoots HD video and 5 megapixel photos. On sale for $104.99 over at Dyscern.com.

Our third deal of the day is for an iGo Netbook adapter. Use this as a replacement or spare charger. The product comes with power tips for Asus, Lenovo, Acer, Dell, HP and Toshiba netbook computers. On sale for $27.99 at ScoobyDeal.

And finally in today's lineup, if you need a lightweight way to improve your photos, check out this Dolica Proline carbon fiber tripod with ball-head. On sale for just $63.09, which is about the price of a normal (non carbon fiber) tripod. Click here for this deal.

Who knew a seminar could turn you into Gadling top dog Grant Martin? That isn't the explicit promise of Grant-caliber savvy – nobody would be so bold – but two courses developed by Nicholas Kraley can bring you a little closer to maximizing your miles and taking that all important mileage run in December.

Kraley is something of an expert, having picked up more than 1.5 million miles in the past decade as a diplomatic correspondent and business travel columnist over at the Washington Times. The curricula he has developed for his "On the Fly" seminars – "Saving on airfare and redeeming frequent-flier miles" and the advanced course, "Securing top elite status and flying in luxury" – reflect his experience.

According to USA Today:

"No one has ever done this before, as far as I know," Kralev says. "It took me years to learn all that stuff, since there are no books or classes about this, and I thought there must be enough people out there who want to fly cheaply but in luxury."

Interested in checking this out? The program kicks off June 25 and 26, 2010.

It is Day 54 of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Here's a collection of links to oil-spill news affecting travelers:

• This was the last week of school for many students in the Southeast, and Florida Panhandle hotels say they expect rooms to fill up this weekend, as families descend to celebrate. Pensacola Visitors Bureau officials told BusinessWeek that 90 percent of the city's hotel and motel rooms had been rented for the weekend.
• The story is vastly different at Grand Isle, Louisiana, where the beaches have been closed. The New York Times says residents and business owners there think the oil spill's impact will be measured in years, rather than months.
• If you decide to cancel a beach vacation because of the oil spill, it's likely your travel insurance or travel protection plan won't cover it. That's because standard travel insurance covers natural disasters, and this is a manmade one, ABC News reports.
• There's no oil on South Florida beaches, but business owners there say that business is down because travelers believe otherwise. That's led 18 South Florida businesses to file lawsuits against BP, according to the Miami Herald.

Noteworthy Quotes:

"I kinda had a feeling it wasn't going to be as bad as everyone was making it out to be." -- Polly Rankins, a Pensacola Beach visitor from Atlanta. [via BusinessWeek]

"How do you get people to make reservations with this looming? We're just trying to salvage what we have." -- Susan Kennedy, a Pensacola Beach vacation rental manager. [via Houston Chronicle]

"This oil, it's like a monster in the Gulf of Mexico. It comes up on the beach, you get rid of it, and you pray the next morning it won't come back." -- Grand Isle, Louisiana, Mayor David J. Camardelle [via New York Times]

[Image credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Southeast]

Last month 13-year old American Jordan Romero climbed Mt. Everest amidst a flurry of media coverage and controversy, with many debating the wisdom of letting a boy his age climb the world's highest mountain. At the time, Romero was forced to climb from the Chinese controlled Tibetan side of the mountain, as Nepal has a strict age requirement that forbids anyone under the age of 16 from making the attempt. China had no such restrictions in place, and as a result Romero and his team were able to proceed with their successful expedition.

This week the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association made a move to block future climbs such as Jordan's. The CTMA, which is in charge of issuing permits to climb Everest's North Side, has amended it's requirements to now include age limits, both on the high and low end. The new regulations say that all climbers wishing to climb on the Tibetan side of the mountain must now be between the ages of 18 and 60. The move marks the first time that there have been a maximum age restriction placed on either side of Everest.

Those that fall outside of that age range have been given a slight glimmer of hope however, as the CTMA has said that they will consider other climbers, both older and younger, if they can provide sufficient proof of their good health. This move is likely to have the most impact on older climbers though, as officials have said they will not consider anyone under the age of 16 at all, matching Nepal's age restriction.

In case you're wondering, the oldest Everest climber ever is Min Bahadur Sherchan, who reached the summit at the age of 76 back in 2008.

Switzerland is a mountainbiker's dream. There are hundreds of miles of trails, beautiful scenery, and a generally bike-friendly culture.

One town has decided to get even friendlier. Gstaad, in the Berne canton, has organized "bike hotels" to specifically care for cyclists' needs. Ten hotels in the scheme now offer repairs, maps, tours, staff who are knowledgeable about routes, even laundry services so you don't have to smell like bad cheese at dinner. The hotels are in Gstaad and its satellite towns, and it's possible to create an itinerary and stay in several. Gstaad itself doesn't allow vehicle traffic, making it even more bike friendly.

Gstaad is a popular destination for skiing, and local officials hope to boost tourism revenues in the summer by encouraging more cyclists to visit.

Image courtesy Gstaad Tourism.