On my travels around the world I like to pick up maps.  In fact I collect maps and they serve to remind me of my trips. On my desk at this moment I have a map of Puerto Rico, a map of Rome, and a map of London.  After a trip I like to file my maps along with my travel journals, photographs and other souvenirs.

During the coming summer months I am planning a long journey that will take me to Spain and then down to South Africa.  Therefore I have already obtained my map of Spain and my map of South Africa in preparation for my trip.

I look upon maps as a way to document my journey.  I mark down the things I see and the places I eat.  I also make notes of the people I meet so that I can arrange to see them again if I am in their locale again.  Some of my favorite maps are pretty battered!  They have been on more than one trip and hold a host of both information and memories.

A key measure of consumer confidence dropped significantly in February, to the lowest level in more nearly five years, amid mounting concerns about jobs and slowing business activity.

The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index plummeted to 75, the lowest level since March 2003 (see below), from a revised 87.3 in January. Analysts had expected a decline to 82, according to Briefing.com.

The index rose slightly in December, but has now declined for a second-straight month. The 12.3 point monthly decline was the largest since September 2005.

Consumers claiming business conditions are “bad” rose to 21.8% from 20%, while those claiming business conditions are “good” decreased to 18.5% from 20.7%.  Read more

The recent story of Carine Desir, a 44-year-old woman who died on an American Airlines flight from Haiti to New York, has a lot of people thinking: Could that happen to me? Well, it could. But it’s not likely and there’s no reason to panic.

What happened to Desir? She reportedly complained of not being able to breathe and received oxygen, although a family member has complained that the oxygen was delayed. Doctors and nurses aboard the flight stepped in to try to help, including using an automated external defibrillator, but their efforts were not successful. The medical examiner’s office said Desir died of complications from heart disease and diabetes.

But what should you be thinking about before you get on an airplane? There are times when you should rethink flying, but it’s not always a simple decision. Here’s how flying is most likely to affect your health and some things to think about when you’re deciding to fly or not to fly.  Read more