Hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast Newsletter, our monthly newsletter designed to compliment our weekly travel podcast, offer additional travel tidbits and tips. As always, your feedback is welcome.

Quotes from last month's podcast:

February was a month of exploring Australia and boarding Holland America’s Zuiderdam for our resident travel expert and weekly contributor Onanta Forbes and we were lucky to get weekly updates on her adventures. We also learnt about the fabulous Arundel Castle in the UK, found out that Toronto is Canada’s Most Welcoming City and got a preview of the soon to be opened Epic Universe at Universal Orlando. If you haven’t heard this month’s podcast episodes yet you can find the full interviews HERE. Some notable quotes include:

“the classic villains and horror movies and that world they've brought to life in dark universe. And you'll get to see different attractions and different things related to that.”

“if you're going to go to the outback you have to do some planning because there's also you and for being prepared because it's big it's vast and remote and you can often drive without hours of seeing another soul.”

“you're really realizing that you're stepping on stones that have been there for 800 years. And that the people that have run up and down those stairs, guarding the castle, the servants, the ladies with their dresses.”

^{3 Things I Learnt this Month}

Canadians are pissed at Americans with many cancelling or postponing visits to the US. Canadian airlines are considering cutting down on their flights to the US this spring in the face of a decreasing demand of around 25%. And according to Statistics Canada the number of Canadians returning from the US by car has fallen by about 15,000 in January, the first drop since the pandemic. Canada is the largest source of international visitors to the US. According to the US Travel Association, 20.4 million Canadians visited the country last year, generating $20.5 billion USD in spending. Just a 10% reduction in Canadian travel would result in $2.1 billion USD in lost spending and 14,000 job losses.

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The importance of travel insurance can’t be expressed enough, especially these days so it was encouraging to learn from Allianz Global Assistance Canada that 90 per cent of Canadians plan to secure travel coverage, either through direct purchase or employer/credit card benefits.

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As per the Federal Aviation Administration, all aircraft manufacturers need to demonstrate that all passengers in their aircraft (at maximum capacity) can be evacuated within 90 seconds, using 50% of the exits. This demonstration happens at every aircraft’s testing and certification stage.

Looking at the Month Ahead 

Here some of the events happening around the world in the month of February.

Easter: Most countries celebrate in April except a few like Australia, Russia, Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus, which observe Orthodox Easter later in May. However in 2025, both Easter and Orthodox Easter fall on the same date.

Japanese cherry blossom season, Japan Cherry blossom, Kyoto: The cherry blossom season (called hanami locally) is a national institution in Japanese society. Hanami (hana meaning flower and mi meaning to see or view) sees families, friends, work colleagues and sporting teams gather to sit on blue tarpaulin on avenues lined with cherry blossom trees and sing, chat and generally make merry until darkness falls. As Japan's most loved flower, the cherry blossom has been celebrated for centuries.

Jazz Festival, New Orleans, USA: Trumpeter in New Orleans The Jazz and Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest) is a musical extravaganza that lasts two weekends at the end of April / early May at the Fairgrounds Race Track, Mid-City. Jazz is said to have been born in New Orleans and this enormous festival has stages hosting jazz, R&B, gospel, African, Caribbean, Cajun, blues, reggae, funk, Mardi Gras Indian, rock and brass band music. There are also craft stalls and delicious food stands.

Koningsdag (King’s Day, Netherlands: April is considered the best time to visit Amsterdam. It’s when the region, especially the iconic Keukenhof, is awash with rows and rows of tulips, roses, orchids, etc. Add to this some exciting events, mainly Koningsdag, or King’s Day, when the whole city becomes lively with flea markets, special performances, exciting parades, fast food joints, and amazing fireworks show.

Travel Tip of the Month

When traveling, it is a good idea to make a photocopy of your passport. While the photocopy is not a valid form of identification, it can be helpful in case your passport is lost or stolen, as it provides a record of your passport number and other important information.