Here are some travel tidbits to get the week started

Things are looking up in Tucson

You’ve likely heard of Donut Trails, Cocktail Trails, Pie Trails and Barbecue Trails.

They are all good ways to explore a city or a region.

Now there’s an Astro Trail in Tucson, Arizona that highlights night sky viewing options.

Available as a web app and printed guide, the Astro Trail is billed as your “personal guide to the galaxy,” exploring all the dark-sky-related stops in Tucson.

The trail includes world-class astronomy institutes such as Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Richard F Caris Mirror Lab where the largest telescope lenses in the world are made, to casual stargazing at national and state parks.  

We’re planning our trip there now.

San Diego Int’l Airport Presents Dance Performances Inspired by Travelers’ Stories

As part of San Diego International Airport’s (SAN) Performing Arts Residency Program, San Diego-based dance company Malahock Dance will present newly choreographed works in Terminal 2 West on January 27, 29, and February 3 at 2 p.m.

The dances are inspired by the diverse stories of nearly three dozen passengers who have traveled through the airport and reflect the dance company’s three-month residency inside the airport.

During the residency, the dancers talked with nearly 300 travelers and ultimately collected 30 oral histories from passengers of all ages about their San Diego experience.  The dancers interpreted these histories into dance, developing their choreography in the airport where travelers and visitors could witness the creative process unfold.

Airports helping to save the earth

Airports pretty much everywhere are doing what they can these days to be light on the earth.

Recycling bins at airports were once a rare sight, but now you’ll see them pretty much everywhere.

But figuring out which bin to put your discards in can be confusing.

We’ve stood in front of bins trying to figure out if our coffee cup is compostable or recyclable. And what about the lid?

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is one airport where artificial intelligence has been helping out for a while.

The airport uses an AI-assisted tool called Oscar, from Intuitive AI, that helps passengers sort waste items into the proper compost, recycling, or trash bins.

When someone walks up to the machine, which is mounted over the bins, they place an item in front of a camera for the system to analyze. Oscar then tells the user which bin to use to dispose of the item. For those worried about privacy, the cameras only capture images of the waste items presented and not the person presenting the item.

Look for the Oscar at SEA Airport in the Central Terminal, the North Concourse, the South Concourse near gate S2, and in the C Concourse near gate C17.

California’s Long Beach Airport (LGB), which officially identifies as “America’s coolest airport,” is also doing its part to save the earth and recently shared this video about all the food waste it has been keeping out of landfills.