Are you mildly jealous of the contestants on Amazing Race? Come on. Admit it. Yeah? I am too.

Although after thinking about it, the entire situation does leave much to be desired: Racing through beautiful, foreign destinations when you should be savoring the location; cameras focused on you 24/7. If those are the two things holding you back from submitting your application (or maybe you did submit one but to no avail), a new travel competition, Competitours may have the adventure of a lifetime that you’ve been waiting for.

Competitours is Amazing Race, minus the cameras, the rush and the free trip. You and a teammate will compete against 16 other teams on a two-week, five country European vacation. It offers “a more immersive and genuine interaction.” Instead of speeding through destinations, careful consideration into the game schedule, point system and routing ensures that the teams will be able to get close to the European culture, people and places. The best part? No one gets eliminated!

Challenges focus on teams’ mental abilities, like creativity, resourcefulness and inventiveness. The grand prize, while it may not be $1 million, is up to 40 nights at any of the 115 Starwood hotels around the world, up to four economy seats and spending cash that could be as much as $6,500. A standard trip costs $2,950, including international airfare, double-occupancy lodging, Eurail pass and game registration.

Don’t have 14 days or $3,000? Competitours offers express and budget options, so you too can have the adventure of a lifetime. Dates for the standard trip are July 9-July 23, but express and budget dates vary, so check the very fun and interactive website for Competitiours at www.competitours.com.

So, who’s comin’ with me?

What I wouldn’t do to have been born a century earlier! It seems as if no stone has been left unturned in man’s quest to know what exists on this planet. I yearn for a time when I could be out, exploring the unknown all with my trusty map, compass and team of explorers. If this sounds like you, Newfoundland and Labrador (the Canadian province, not the dogs) will be hosting a series of events, lectures, exhibitions and more in 2009, celebrating the great 20th century explorer, Captain Bob Bartlett.

As the birthplace of Bartlett, Newfoundland and Labrador have decided to honor their hometown hero; “Celebrating Barlett 2009” commemorates the 100-year anniversary of Barlett helping fellow explorer Robert Peary become the first person to reach the North Pole. The festivities kick off in May, when a series of Heritage Fairs and a traveling exhibition will tell the story of Arctic exploration. For five weeks starting in July, the Marine Institute in St. John will offer free tours and a simulation of the Captain’s historic Polar voyages, where visitors can actually feel the sensation of hitting and maneuvering around icebergs. Starting July 10, St. John’s picturesque port will offer three days of sailing, entertainment, theater and special events. For more information, visit www.bartlett2009.com.

If a simulation of Artic exploration just doesn’t cut it for you, spend two weeks aboard the expedition ship Wanderbird looking for polar bears and exploring the coast of Labrador and the Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve, Canada’s newest national park. For a cool $6,900 per person (based on double occupancy), you and 11 other passengers will board the ship on Aug. 10 in Nain, Labrador’s northernmost settlement, for 11 days of cruising. See www.wildlands.com for more information.

Still too tame? Tag along on a mountaineering and rock climbing expedition with Labrador Wild North Expeditions. From mid-July to mid-October, the outfitter will be offering trekking and wildlife tours. During the tours, participants will have a chance to meet local Inuit, who will teach survival skills classes. Tours range anywhere from $1,750 to $6,850. For more information, call 709-922-2333.

Although the D.C. Council has done a bit of tightening of regulations for drinking during the Obama Inauguration, don’t worry: there will still be plenty of opportunity to party.

Despite its initial ruling that bars could continue to serve alcohol until 5 a.m. during the week of the inauguration, Jan. 17 to 21, the Council voted on Dec. 16 to scale back the regulation to 4 a.m. instead. Bars, nightclubs and restaurants can remain open 24 hours to serve food, provided they pay a fee. Although the drinking establishments who will benefit from D.C.’s huge crowds may be celebrating, the rule faces criticism from certain Council members and U.S. Senators, who argue that there is not adequate policing to enforce the 4 a.m. rule or guarantee security.

Whether you’re headed to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration or not, how do you feel about the looser rules? Will you be celebrating the inauguration and if so, where?

You’re flying during the holidays to see family. On the day of your departure, you run down the list:

Tickets—check.

Toothbrush—check.

Carry-on, complete with 1-quart bag for liquids—check.

Gifts for everyone—check.

All you need to do is park, check in and get through security. As you pull up to your tried-and-true long-term parking garage, you see it: the sign that says “Lot Full.” Other lots have the same sign, and now you’re in a panic. You finally decide to suck it up and park in short-term parking and just worry about the bill when you return.

You can avoid this nightmare by using aboutairportparking.com the next time you plan to fly during peak times. Pick your airport (from a list of 107 U.S. and Canadian airports) and the time you’ll be gone, and you’ll get a list of parking lots with available space—along with their prices, distances from the airport and other services they offer. Some lots will even allow you to reserve a space in advance.

Holiday travel can be a hassle, but preparing in advance can get you through it all like a champ.

Like the rest of the world, the travel industry has picked up on the ever-growing sustainable travel trend. Recently, two airlines announced their plans to provide environmentally friendly flights.

Continental Airlines announced this past weekend that they will be the first carrier in the Americas to power a flight with sustainable biofuels. The company plans to fly a Boeing 737-800, with one of the two fuel tanks being filled with a 50/50 blend of traditional jet fuel and algae and jatropha plants. The plants are used as sustainable fuel sources, and don’t impact water resources or food crops.

Emirates airlines, besides announcing a new flight route between Dubai Interntaional Airport (DXB) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), plans to test its new eco program on the inaugural flight of this new route. The flight route will be “the longest green journey,” according to Emirates. The 16-hour long Emviormental flight, as it has been dubbed by the airline, is intended to save 2,000 gallons of fuel and 30,000 pounds of carbon emissions. Emirates worked closely in partnership with government agencies in five countries to plan this route.

In addition, the green flight will feature a number of new, fuel-saving measures, which include the following:

• A special pre-flight wash to minimize drag.

• The use of electricity while grounded instead of running an auxiliary power unit.

• Priority taxiing and landing positions.

• Optimized routing over the North Pole, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and more.

• All on-board newspapers, glasses, cans and paper will be collected for recycling.

• Use of the new and ultra eco-efficient Boeing 777-200LR.

Would environmentally friendly airline flights appeal to you if they became more available?

It seems like every few months, some bigger, better and more ostentatious landmark is built somewhere in the Middle East. Most recently, Atlantis, Dubai’s long-anticipated resort on the manmade Palm Island, held its $20-million opening gala. The lavish underwater-themed resort features 113 acres of family entertainment, including waterslides and gigantic aquariums filled with fish and other sea creatures. With megastructures like Atlantis and the city’s other famous hotel, the Burj Al Arab, it’s easy to label the blossoming Persian Gulf cities as grandiose and flashy.

Qatar: An Art Mecca?

However, the small country of Qatar plans to change that image with the opening of its capital's newest cultural attraction, the Islamic Museum of Art in Doha. The building which houses the new museum was designed by internationally acclaimed architect, I.M. Pei, designer of the Pyramid at the Louvre and Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Pei had to be convinced to come out of retirement for the project, which he admits will likely be his last major cultural design at age 91. After accepting the project, he spent months traveling across the Middle East searching for inspiration. His goal was to create a structure that would embody the “essence of Islamic architecture.” The building’s understated, modern elegance was inspired by a 13th-century mosque in Cairo, an ancient fortress in Tunisia and the Alhambra Palace in Spain. The museum exemplifies the “strong and simple” design that Pei hoped to achieve. “There is nothing superfluous,” says Pei.

Like the Atlantis, the Islamic Museum of Art was built atop an artificial island in the Persian Gulf off the shore of Doha. Unlike the Atlantis, the choice of location came from Pei, who wanted his monument to be isolated from the rest of the city. He hoped that this would prevent the beauty of the building from being overshadowed by future development in Doha, which plans to open more than a dozen new museums in the coming years.

cc: Abdurahman

Yo-Yo Ma, Robert DeNiro and Tribeca Film Fest

The opening ceremonies for the much-anticipated museum began this past weekend and included fireworks, an outdoor exhibition, a lecture from Pei and a performance by Yo-Yo Ma. More than 1,000 invited guests attended, including political leaders, members of the Qatar royal family and celebrities, like Robert DeNiro. However, DeNiro wasn’t there just for pleasure; on Nov. 23, DeNiro signed an agreement to bring a satellite of his Tribeca Film Festival to Doha in November 2009. The new museum will host the event, which plans to feature close to 40 films from internationally acclaimed filmmakers, new talent, and the local Qatari and broader Arab community.

The commission of this building signals a break by Qatar from the rest of the Persian Gulf's sybaritic paradise, full of ultra-modern feats of architecture. Qatar looks forward to acting as a bridge between the Middle East and the rest of the world. While right now, Qatar may seem like an unlikely vacation, the country plans to soon be the Persian Gulf destination for the arts.

Your bags are checked and you’ve gotten settled in your seat. The last thing you want is to be stuck on the tarmac without an idea of when you’ll get to your destination.

A federal task force, unofficially referred to as the “tarmac task force,” recently came up with a series of voluntary guidelines for airlines, in order to help the thousands of passengers each year who get stranded on the tarmac for hours. These guidelines include: updating the passengers on the flight’s status every 15 minutes, providing a secure room for those who can't make their overseas flights (so they don't have to go through security more than once), and offering refreshments and entertainment. However, none of the guidelines specify a certain time limit for how long passengers need to be stuck on a plane until they are allowed off the aircraft.

Some of the reasons given for the decision delays include the fact that the time limits for passengers need to be tailored to each airline and airport. Also, until now, airlines had not yet worked on coming up with an effective strategy on dealing with delayed flights on the tarmac. Yet, the tarmac task force, created in December 2007, is currently working on a separate rule that would specifically require airlines to develop their own plans-which would include a time limit-for how to deal with passengers who get stuck on the tarmac. Although this plan is still in the works, it could be a welcome relief for future passengers.

You no longer have to spend your flight watching endless movies or passing the time flipping through the SkyMall catalog. Now, when you fly with American Airlines, you can check your e-mail or catch up on the latest news with newly offered inflight Wi-Fi broadband service, Gogo Inflight Internet.

The new service, announced in August, was developed by Aircell LLC. Gogo can be accessed when the plane flies above 10,000 feet and you can connect from your laptop, Blackberry, smartphone and other devices that are capable of connecting to Wi-Fi.

American Airlines charges $12.95 for the Gogo service on flights longer than three hours, and $9.95 on flights shorter than three hours.

Gogo Limitations

While it's great to access the Web and e-mail, the service is currently only available on certain flights depending on your destination-this includes nonstop flights between New York City and San Francisco as well as New York City and Miami. Aircell is planning to extend the existing network to include Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. And you still can't talk on the phone; passengers are ubable to access certain voice over IP (VOIP) services like Skype.

Airlines Adding Wi-Fi

While American Airlines is the first U.S. air carrier to offer Internet access to passengers, several more are following suit, including JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines. Air Canada is scheduled to offer the Wi-Fi service in 2009.

Does the addition of Wi-Fi make you more likely to fly American Airlines (or any airline that offers it)?