Much negativity has been written by ‘Travel Influencers’ and people calling themselves so called ‘Travel Bloggers’ on social media about visiting America and President Trump’s tightening of border controls and visas. From burner phones to social media history, the chat online is relentless. I’m here to tell you that for the large part, it’s puffery!

This blog post reaches you from sunny Los Angeles and a poolside bar at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport. I arrived  on an Airbus A350 a few days ago from London Heathrow Airport. The jet wasn’t even half full. Great for me as I had three seats to myself, not so good for the airline and its profit margin.

I like to deal in facts and not hearsay. Tourism is as a whole down 21% year on year across the popular American destinations including Las Vegas. Many blame the President but fail to understand that there’s not only a a cost of living crisis in the UK, there’s an even greater one here in the America. I paid $9 for a latte in Starbucks today and $10 for a sachet of washing power to do laundry. Oh and then was the $14 pint of beer last night! You get the idea, people are spending less now on holidays which has a huge impact on tourism.

And the tourism industry as a whole has added to the drop in numbers by pricing themselves out of the market. It’s not only the room you now have to pay for, it’s the resort fee and on top of that parking too – a whopping $35 a night at the hotel where I am. Is it any wonder people are voting with their feet and staying away.

Now let’s deal with the ‘Elephant In The Room,’ entry into America and you encounter with Customs & Border Protection or CBP for short. Now here I need to declare an interest which is I have Global Entry which in essence means I get to beat the immigration line at airports. But here’s the thing, I still like you have to speak to a CBP Officer and answer questions about my stay. And fact, in over three decades of traveling to America, I’ve never been refused entry or had my iPhone searched. And here’s another fact for you. Fact – the American authorities already know about you as the airlines are required to provide full passenger lists ahead of departure.

To sum up, if lyou’re an average tourist like me, then there’s noting to worry about.nIf however, you’re an Influencer or Travel Blogger basing the authorities without doing your due diligence, then you might have something to worry about.

Happy traveling.

30th October, 2025.

The US Department of State updated its Travel Advisory for Mali on October 30, 2025 to reflect that the Department of State ordered non-emergency employees and their family members to leave Mali due to safety risks.  The Travel Advisory Level for Mali remains Level 4 – Do Not Travel.

In addition, the US Department of State ordered non-emergency employees and their family members to leave Mali due to safety risks.  The U.S. government cannot offer routine or emergency services to U.S. citizens outside of Bamako due to safety risks.  Do not travel to Mali for any reason.

Crime

Violent crime is common throughout Mali. Crimes include kidnapping, assault, armed robbery, home invasion, and carjacking.

Violent crime is a major concern in Bamako especially during local holidays and seasonal events.

•Roadblocks, including by armed groups, occur throughout the country.

•In cities, police checkpoints are possible, especially at night.

•Highways across the country often face attacks on government, civilian, and commercial targets.

Terrorism

There is risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks and other activity in Mali.  Visit the U.S. Department of State’s country reports on terrorism to learn more.

Terrorist and armed groups target foreigners to kidnap for ransom.

Terrorists may attack without warning:

•Spots frequented by foreigners anywhere in the country

•Night clubs

•Hotels

•Restaurants

•Places of worship

•International diplomatic missions

•Local security forces and civilians

Armed Conflict

Armed conflict between the Malian government and armed groups is common throughout Mali.  Many terrorist and separatist armed groups are active throughout the country.  These groups may plan and carry out deadly attacks against Malian government and military facilities, including in and around Bamako.  Conflict between these groups often results in civilian casualties.

America has faced air traffic control shortages for more than a decade with many controllers working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the current Government shutdown.

The problem has got progressively worse since the COVID 19 pandemic with many furloughed Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) deciding not to return to work and opting for early retirement.

Add into the mix, a growing number of near misses, ground incidents, and other serious safety events point to a system that’s under increasing strain.

On January 29, 2025, American Airlines Flight 5342 and a United States Army helicopter operating as Priority Air Transport 25 collided mid-air over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. All 67 people aboard both aircraft were killed in the crash, including 64 passengers and crew on the airliner and the three crew of the helicopter. 

On that night, the FAA reported they were 30% understaffed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport – one person so was doing the job of 2 controlling both planes and helicopters who each use different radio frequencies!

Many ATC facilities are decades old and still using antiquated equipment such as floppy disks and paper flight strips. so you can understand the problem.

Now add in the current Government shutdown and you get this situation in California. On Monday 6th October, Hollywood Burbank Airport had no air traffic controllers at its tower from 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m as it grappled with staff shortages.

Here’s a great explainer from the Los Angeles TV Station, KTLA.

I’ve had personal experience of Hollywood Burbank Airport, I flew in there from Las Vegas in 2022. It’s a bustling and extremely busy metro airport serving the Greater Los Angles area and used by big American carriers including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Are things likely to improve? Well in September, 2024, the  Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it exceeded its goal of hiring 1,800 air traffic controllers in 2024, with a final total of 1,811 for Fiscal Year 2024.

As the largest number of hires in nearly a decade, this marks important progress in the FAA’s work to reverse the decades-long air traffic controller staffing level decline.  

But it’s going to take time as the average time to train an Air Traffic Controller is between two and three years. Plus one-third of trainees wash out, according to former Transportation Department Inspector General Mary Schiavo, who described the process as “rigorous, costly, and mentally exhausting.” Those who succeed can earn a median salary of $144,580 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

It’s fast becoming the new way to travel in major American cities and the best bit – there’s no Trump chat! I’m talking about Waymo One, the driverless taxi.

Waymo is an American autonomous driving technology company and a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. It originated from the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, with the mission of making transportation safer and more accessible for people and goods.

Waymo is an app based service so you’ll need a smartphone that’s compatible with their app. Once you’ve signed up and entered a payment card, booking a ride is exactly the same as booking an Uber or Lyft ride. Additionally you’ll get real time updates on when your car will arrive. I found this to be fairly accurate.

I took my first Waymo ride in San Francisco back in 2024, a short trip from the Golden Gate Bridge to Fisherman’s Wharf. It was an interesting experience with two main takeaways – it drives like your 80 year old granny and it won’t double park

Fast forward now to summer 2025 and Los Angeles and my latest Waymo experiences. I booked a Waymo to take me from the Cows End Cafe on Venice Beach to the the shopping complex at Marina Del Ray. Once you’ve placed your booking via the app, you’ll get realtime up dates on when it will arrive. On the whole this was fairly accurate although it did slip by a couple of minutes due to traffic. Of all the journey’s I’ve taken, I’ve been able to book a Waymo and then not wait any longer than 10 minutes for it to arrive. So broadly speaking, the same as Uber and Lyft. On pricing it’s compatatble with the latter and sometimes cheaper at peak times.

Once your taxi arrives and you’ll know it’s yours as it has your initails flashing on a revolving drome on its roof, you’ll need to unlock the doors using the button in the app on your smartphone.Once you’re inside and belted in, you’ll need to push the ‘Start Journey’ button on the mini display in the center console for the ride to begin. And that’s it.

You’ll be entertained enroute by Waymo’s playist of soft spa music – but you can change that on the center consiole for pretty much what ever you want. On reaching your destination, you’ll be prompted to open the doors and leaving to complete your trip.

One final though, I was highly impressed when it pulled over to let a host of 911 responder vehicles through. 

Happy travelling and let me know your experiences of using Waymo.

On the latest edition of the Beyond The Boardwalk podcast, Andrew Wright sits down with former RAF Fighter Pilot and retired Virgin Atlantic Airways Captain, Nick Anderson to talk about ‘QRA’ and intercepting the Russians high above the UK coastine along with and his time flying the Airbus A340 and A330 including one snowy night at John F. Kennedy International, New York and that now imfamous approach to Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong which has been consigned to history.

Thorrun Govind is a practicing pharmacist and healthcare lawyer. She’s also a trusted national commentator on health issues appearing regularly on the BBC, Sky, ITV, Talk TV and Times Radio.

On the latest edition of the Beyond The Boardwalk Podcast, Thorrun chats to Andrew Wright about pre holiday medical packing,inoculations and what to do when you suffer a medical mishap on holiday.