Some people's idea of a vacation is visiting their in-laws on the other side of town. Others want to get away at any and every opportunity -- the farther away the better. If given the chance, they'd climb Mt. Kilimanjaro one day and compare Impressionists at the Louvre the next.

Tourism is a $4 trillion-a-year industry, affecting more than 200 million jobs, or 1 in 10 workers. But tourism actually is an old industry, dating back to the first Olympics in 776BC. Even in ancient Rome it was popular to travel up the Nile to Thebes to view the statues.

Major airlines are required by law to employ flight attendants for the safety and security of their passengers. Passenger safety is the flight attendant’s first priority. Seeing to the comforts and whims of passengers is a secondary priority for the the flight attendant. A challenging task, in the least, considering the needs of the 2 billion passengers – 800 million in United States airspace – the 2000 airlines transport in their 23 000 aircraft in 28 million flight departures to the 37 000 main airports every year.

A nation-wide US survey by a company called CareerBuilder has found the country's craziest - but true - excuses for calling in sick.

The amount of time that people spend on travel has been consistent at 1,1 hours per person per day in all societies.