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Michael Turtle – TIME TRAVEL TURTLE

Portugal in general – but particularly Lisbon – is seeing a HUGE increase in interest from travellers. The city is suddenly cool and the lack of famous landmarks is actually part of the charm. Lisbon is now getting a reputation as somewhere you can spend time without the pressure to see particular things – just eating, drinking, and exploring.

After spending a lot of time in Lisbon myself, I think the reality is actually somewhere in the middle. There is actually a lot to see and when you start to plan out some sightseeing days in the city, you’ll realise there are some fascinating attractions. But there is also a vibrant dining and drinking scene that is not to be missed.

I’ve got quite a few stories here to help you plan a trip to Lisbon and make the most of what’s on offer. Have a look through this collection of blog posts, full of inspiration and practical suggestions. Some of the things to do are quite famous – but there are also lots of ideas you may not have heard about before.

THE LISBOA CARD >> IS IT GOOD VALUE? < <

The famous 28 tram >> why you shouldn’t take it < <, a day in belém >> how to see the best sights < <, exploring sintra >> your ultimate one day guide < <, travel stories about lisbon, use the map to choose by location, read one of my featured articles, click through to see all the posts.

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Time Travel Turtle

The Last Samurai of Aizuwakamatsu

Samurai Fukushima

In the Japanese city of Aizuwakamatsu, the last samurai fought to defend their way of life. On a visit to Aizu, you can experience samurai life yourself. Join travel blogger extraordinaire Michael Turtle as he does just that.

See, Do & Eat It All in Miyagi Prefecture

Tour Miyagi

If you're interested in experiencing nature, culture and food while traveling around Japan, but don't have a lot of time to hop from city to city, Miyagi Prefecture may be the perfect place for you!

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• PLANET POSSIBLE

How turtle-watching tours actually help conservation

From data collection to caring for injured turtles, get hands-on in one of Earth's most important sea turtle conservation programs.

Sea turtles have been around since the time of the dinosaurs, having survived multiple extinction events over 100 million years. But the cascading effects of human activity have caused rapid population decline, and now six of the seven sea turtle species are considered threatened.

There are glimmers of hope, through the dedicated work of conservationists and community-based organizations around the world. It’s what has made Trinidad and Tobago —a two-island nation at the southern end of the Caribbean archipelago—one of the most important leatherback rookeries in the Western Hemisphere, and the second-largest, after Gabon .

Each season, the islands’ conservation teams depend on visitors to help give these creatures a fighting chance against the multitude of threats to their survival—including habitat destruction, climate change-induced reproductive issues, and bycatch offshore.

The turtle-watching tours they run provide vital revenue to fund monitoring and patrols; and volunteers—including travelers from overseas—power that work in the field.

“It’s literally our passion—nobody gets into this to make money,” says Giancarlo Lalsingh, who’s spent 30 years in local conservation, including over a decade at Save Our Sea Turtles   (SOS Tobago). “It’s really tough. But the outcome of all that work is so worth it.”

Regardless of ability or experience, there’s a way for everyone to aid new generations of sea turtles survive against the odds. Here’s what you need to know about the threats these animals are facing, and how you can get involved to help.

A six-decade success story

Trinidad and Tobago is perhaps best known for steel drums, calypso, limbo, and Caribbean-style carnival. But in the quiet of forests and beaches, a different kind of enchantment awaits.

At night during nesting season (sometimes, but very rarely, in daylight), turtles begin to emerge from the sea. Large leatherbacks stun onlookers—they can grow to 2,000 pounds and 10 feet in length. Nesting mothers heave themselves onto land, first carving out their nests, then laying 80 to a hundred eggs before laboriously camouflaging the clutches in sand before slowly making their way back to the sea.

( What a   fossilized egg on a prehistoric turtle revealed inside .)

Nesting mothers will make multiple visits to the beach over the season—up to 10 for leatherbacks and five for hawksbills. Roughly two months later, little hatchlings burrow their way out of the sand and dash for the open ocean.

Fewer than one in a thousand will make it to sexual maturity 25 to 30 years later. Those females that do will make the long trek back to the beaches on which they were born to birth another generation.

Five sea turtle species visit Trinidad and Tobago’s waters: leatherbacks, hawksbills , greens , loggerheads , and olive ridleys . The first three nest across both islands—primarily on Trinidad’s north and east coasts and in smaller numbers around Tobago through nesting season (March to August for leatherbacks, and May to November for hawksbills).

During nesting months, more than 6,000 turtles (and as many as 10,000) will lay on the islands’ beaches. The greatest concentration of them will be at Grande Riviere—a beach less than a mile long in a remote village on Trinidad’s north coast, and the densest   leatherback nesting ground in the world. On a busy night in the peak months (May and June), up to 500 turtles can nest on this beach alone; and up to 400 at Matura, a larger beach on the rural northeast coast.

“The number of leatherbacks nesting there—it’s almost like a mass nesting event,” says Vanessa Bezy , a National Geographic Explorer, marine biologist, and wildlife conservationist from the U.S. who is working to protect sea turtles in Costa Rica . “Where I am, leatherbacks are critically endangered. I think there’s only a couple hundred left in this part of the Pacific.”

Volunteers are responsible for making Trinidad and Tobago’s humble turtle conservation a success story on a global scale. They spend untold hours tagging, counting, and measuring nesting mothers; monitoring and sometimes even relocating nests; and helping safeguard the turtles from predators and threats. Their hard work has caused leatherback meat and egg poaching to fall to near zero.

That work began in 1965 through a collaboration between the University of the West Indies and the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club . In 1989, the nation’s Forestry Division developed a co-management partnership with the rural communities where turtles nest, fostering the growth of several community-based organizations that would power the conservation effort in the decades that followed. Twenty-eight of them now comprise the Turtle Village Trust .

This distinctive community-led approach, particularly in Matura and Grande Riviere, has become a model for similar conservation initiatives across the Caribbean, and earned the organizations local and international awards for their work.

While there’s been a 99 percent drop in leatherback populations in nearby French Guiana, and a 90 percent in the Eastern Pacific, Trinidad and Tobago saw local populations rebound significantly in the 1990s, and have gradually declined since. These efforts have been bolstered by the country outlawing turtle hunting in 2011 and declaring sea turtle species as environmentally sensitive in 2014.

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There is still much work to be done. Only a fraction of nesting beaches is actively monitored, leaving a data gap not just with the leatherback but the smaller hawksbill and green turtles, which are the main target of poaching and harvesting for their meat and shells.

( How nearly 5,000 sea turtles were saved from freezing waters in Texas .)

Chronic funding shortfalls, equipment, and worker shortages mean that especially on high-traffic nesting beaches, some turtles return to the ocean without being tagged or recorded. There is even less coverage for offshore monitoring. All the data is key to helping researchers and public policy officials understand turtles’ migration routes; when, where, and how often they nest; how successful their nests are; and key population trends. It helps shape local, regional, and international policy.

“Nesting is just one part of the life cycle,” explains Tomas Diagne , a Senegalese biologist and National Geographic Explorer who works in turtle conservation across Africa . Sea turtles need to travel and reach their nesting ground, he says, and this directs the work he does in trying to limit the bycatch offshore. It’s the most pressing global issue for sea turtles, along with other drivers of population decline: plastic pollution; coastal development; and the effects of the climate crisis (from habitat loss to the heat-induced alteration of natural sex ratios).

One of the easiest ways people can help is through an app called TURT , a project of SOS Tobago and SpeSeas , where users can report sea turtle sightings on land or at sea. Michelle Cazabon-Mannette, one of SpeSeas’ directors (along with National Geographic Explorer Diva Amon, of Trinidad), says divers are one of the key groups they are targeting with the app, to help with offshore monitoring.

( How artificial intelligence is helping fight against illegal wildlife trade .)

But most of the islands’ data is collected during nesting and entered into organizational and national databases. Much of it is funded by turtle-watching tours, which are an accessible way to experience the turtles up close.

Local and international volunteers, meanwhile, are the backbone of the monitoring work. Nature Seekers welcomes the greatest number of volunteers from overseas. While they and other organizations welcome operational support for things such as data entry and marketing, the greatest need is in the field, which can be grueling.

“You’re going out there at night, you’re walking long distances, you’re exposed to the elements, to mosquitoes and sand flies and rain,” says Lalsingh. “It’s really difficult, physically taxing work.”

Assignments may vary based on experience, levels of commitment, and physical fitness. But after training, field volunteers will almost invariably begin making sure nesting mothers can access the beach and nest successfully, gathering data about the ones that do, and looking out for injured or sick turtles.

Some turtles arrive injured or impeded in some way—with ropes or fishing gear wrapped around them, flippers damaged or missing, or with other war wounds from their lives at sea (one had been impaled by a spear from a billfish). Volunteers then need to work quickly to render some emergency first aid, whether it’s disentangling, cleaning wounds, or helping dig nests.

Volunteers wait for the mother to enter the critical “trance” state, when she is consumed by the laying process and becomes minimally aware and reactive to activity around her. Then, volunteers get to work measuring, scanning tags on returning turtles (sometimes replacing or upgrading them), or applying tags on new ones. Making contact at any other time could compromise the entire nesting process.

Nests continue to be monitored all season, and volunteers work to ensure as many babies make it safely to the sea as possible. When there are hatchlings who can’t quite dig out of the nest on their own, volunteers will do a nest excavation, give the hatchlings some extra care, and then release them into the sea. And as some turtles choose inhospitable spots for nests—beach erosion is a major threat—volunteers may carefully relocate the nest, sometimes to an artificial hatchery.

“After 32 years, I’m still in awe of this gentle, magnificent creature,” says Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste, Managing Director of Nature Seekers. “I would want the world to experience it—to engage those who want to really make a difference.”

How you can help

Related topics.

• SEA TURTLES
• HAWKSBILL SEA TURTLES
• LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLES
• LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE
• GREEN SEA TURTLE
• OLIVE RIDLEY SEA TURTLE

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Myth Crafts

Our Playground For All Things Mythic

Japanese Time Travel: the Fisherman and the Turtle

Imagine this:

You’re a peaceful fisherman, walking home after a day at sea.

As you tread up the shoreline, you come across a group of children tormenting a small turtle.

You’re not having any of it; you scold the children, frightening them off, and pick up the turtle.

Then, praying to the Goddess of the Southern Seas, Kannon, you release the frightened creature back into the waters.

Your name is Urashima Tarō, and life as you know it will never be the same…

A few days later, a giant turtle approached Urashima.

“Friend,” the creature said to the startled fisherman.

“You saved the Dragon King’s daughter. She would have your company in her father’s palace.”

The turtle then beckoned Urashima to ride on his back.

Terrified but curious, Urashima climbed on, and dove deep beneath the waters…

Ryūgū is the underwater palace of the Dragon King, Ryūjin.

Each of the four walls of his palace open up to a garden…

Each garden exists in its own season.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Pick any season you like to stroll through the gardens.

They say that spending a day in Ryūgū is akin to spending a century in the real world.

Ask Urashima…

After three days, Urashima longed to go home.

He had grown attached to Otohime, the Dragon King’s daughter, but his mother was aging, and he was duty bound to return to her.

Otohime begged him not to go, but he was adamant.

Finally, Otohime acquiesced, and Urashima set off for his homeland.

However, before he left, Otohime gave him a gift: an ornate box, and a warning as old as Pandora :

Don’t open the box.

Imagine walking up three hundred years in the future.

Urashima’s home was gone.

All traces of his family had disappeared.

Yes, some people he encountered remembered a fisherman named Urashima, but he had vanished a long, long time ago.

Distraught, Urashima unwittingly opened the mysterious box that Otohime had gifted him…

The box with the warning…

White smoke poured out from the box.

it coiled around him,

it covered him,

it swallowed him…

And then it cleared, revealing, Urashima…

Only three hundred years now marked him. His hair was white, his skin was like parchment, spread taut over his wiry frame, and his beard reached the ground.

Urashima sighed…

So, what happened to our heroic, if aged, fisherman next?

Some people say he withered away into dust.

Others say that he transformed into a crane who still circles his mother’s grave.

Still other, more romantic souls, believe this:

Urashima grew gills and swam back to the Dragon King’s palace, where he married Otohime, who took on her turtle form. They are still revered to this day as Shinto deities.

What’s my take-away?

We could all use a happy ending right about now.

Here’s to Urashima and Otohime, living blissfully together,

under the sea…

References and Further Reading:

The full name Urashima Tarō was not given to the character until the 15th century first appearing in a genre of illustrated popular fiction known as otogizōshi. However, the story itself can be found in much older sources, dating to the 8th century, such as the Fudoki for Tango Province that survives in excerpts, the Man’yōshū and the Nihon Shoki .

In terms of English versions, the story entitled “The Fisher-boy Urashima” (1886) retold by Basil Hall Chamberlain was number eight in the “Japanese Fairy Tale Series” printed by Hasegawa Takejirō.

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2 thoughts on “ japanese time travel: the fisherman and the turtle ”.

Thank you for this beautiful rendering of the story along with the illustrations. The story reminded me a bit of the 2016 film The Red Turtle.

Thank you for your kind words. We will have to add The Red Turtle to our watch list. Thanks!

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Enjoy A Sense Of Peace At This Incredible Waterfront Restaurant In Mississippi

W e’re often asked where the locals eat . Well, this waterfront restaurant in Mississippi is exactly that. When you’re on the hunt for good food at an affordable price, you can’t beat Turtle Landing. Locals have been frequenting this spot for a long time and it’s time you swung by and treated yourself to a great meal with a view. Let’s check it out:

You’ll find Turtle Landing near the Louisiana/Mississippi border in the tiny town of Pearlington.

Sitting pretty on the shores of cowan bayou, it’s the type of place where it’s not uncommon to see more boats docked here than cars., there's seating both inside and out. we'd recommend grabbing a table outside so you can enjoy the bayou views., the menu at turtle landing is full of cajun and creole dishes, sandwiches, wraps, and more., i'd recommend starting off with either the boudin balls or the fried olives., there's plenty of space to walk along the water's edge before/after your meal, too..

Have you ever visited this waterfront restaurant in Mississippi? Follow the Turtle Landing on Facebook to stay up to date.

Keep the waterfront views going by booking a stay at this waterfront Airbnb in Pearlington.

The post Enjoy A Sense Of Peace At This Incredible Waterfront Restaurant In Mississippi appeared first on Only In Your State ® .

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My name is Michael Turtle and I have been a travel writer for a decade. You may have seen my stories in the Sydney Morning Herald or the Canberra Times. I love discovering what makes destinations special and I’m pleased to be able to share that with you here.

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This Is When Traffic Will Be Worst for Memorial Day Weekend, According to AAA

Time to start planning for the holiday.

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More than 43 million Americans are expected to travel for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, and a record number of those will hit the roads, making it essential travelers plan their road trips ahead.

In total, 43.8 million travelers are forecast to travel 50 miles or more from their homes, according to AAA , representing a 4 percent increase compared to last year. Of those, 38.4 million are expected to travel by car, the highest number for the Memorial Day holiday weekend since AAA started tracking data in 2000.

“We haven’t seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like these in almost 20 years,” Paula Twidale, the senior vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement. “We’re projecting an additional one million travelers this holiday weekend compared to 2019, which not only means we’re exceeding pre-pandemic levels but also signals a very busy summer travel season ahead.” 

When it comes to road trips , most people are expected to pile into their cars on Thursday, May 23, and on Friday, May 24. Drivers hoping to avoid the worst traffic should set out super early to avoid competing with commuters, according to AAA. Those coming home on Sunday or Monday should similarly avoid the afternoon hours.

Overall, the best time to hit the road on Thursday is before 11 a.m. or after 7 p.m., while the best time to travel on Friday is before 11 a.m. or after 8 p.m. On Sunday, the best travel time to avoid congestion is before 1 p.m., while travelers are best off leaving after 7 p.m. on Monday.

Not all cities will see the same traffic, of course. The Tampa, Florida, area is expected to see one of the biggest traffic increases with up to an 88 percent bump in traffic on Sunday morning along I-75 S, while the Los Angeles area is expected to see up to an 84 percent increase in traffic on Thursday evening along I-5 N.

Beyond roads, more than 3.5 million travelers are expected to take to the skies, leading to crowded airports — the most crowded since 2005. These Memorial Day weekend air travel numbers represent a 4.8 percent increase compared to last year and a 9 percent increase compared to 2019. 

An additional 1.9 million travelers are forecast to use other transportation like buses, cruises , and trains . That’s a 5.6 percent increase compared to last year, according to AAA.

“Travel demand has been soaring, and long holiday weekends create the perfect windows for getaways,” Twidale said.

Related Articles

Watch CBS News

Memorial Day weekend 2024 could be busiest for travel in nearly 20 years

By Kris Van Cleave

Updated on: May 14, 2024 / 4:04 PM EDT / CBS News

This year is expected to be one of the busiest travel years in nearly two decades, with about 43.8 million people expected to travel at least 50 miles, according to AAA.

Joy Noelle Balanag booked her vacation months ago, hoping to beat the potentially record-breaking summer rush.

"I definitely am excited for this travel season. 2024 feels just like almost a breath of fresh air," she told CBS News. "I do plan on traveling on airplanes. I do plan on taking my car. Just, like, seeing where this summer season takes me."

Balanag won't be alone. This Memorial Day weekend, AAA is expecting a nearly 5% bump in airline travel over last year and United Airlines alone is planning to fly more than half a million people a day from May 23 through May 28, which would be the airline's busiest Memorial Day weekend ever. Delta is expecting 3 million passengers total over that same stretch, a 5% increase for the airline from 2023. American Airlines said it's preparing for 3.9 million customers over the long Memorial Day weekend.

Most travelers will drive that weekend, however, with AAA predicting a record 38.4 million people will hit the road. That's a 4% increase from last year. Gas prices are similar to where they were last year, up about 8 cents a gallon nationally compared to last Memorial Day weekend.

"It goes back to that bucket list, YOLO, you only live once mentality, Aixa Diaz of AAA told CBS News. "A lot of people are now going, 'You know what? Let's not take those trips we always take with our families. Let's get a little bit more adventurous.'"

One of the fastest-growing travel options since the COVID-19 pandemic is cruising.

The industry is expecting a new record high of nearly 35 million passengers this year, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. For the thousands on board the Carnival Firezne cruise ship's inaugural sold-out sailing, which began in late April, vacation season started early.

Passenger Jeanine Stage of Arizona told CBS News what she likes best about cruising is, "That you get to go to multiple destinations and you unpack your suitcase once."

"You got food, entertainment, even the casino, if you're into that, there's shows," she said.

All told, AAA is predicting 2024 will finish just narrowly behind 2005 as the busiest Memorial Day travel weekend since it began keeping track in 2000.

AAA expects the busiest time on the roads will be from noon to 7 p.m. on the Thursday and Friday before Memorial Day. United Airlines said that Thursday will be its busiest of the holiday weekend.

Among the top destinations this year: Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Denver.

• Memorial Day

Emmy Award-winning journalist Kris Van Cleave is the senior transportation correspondent for CBS News based in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also serves as a national correspondent reporting for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms.

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There's more to booking a cruise than picking your travel dates. Here's what to know.

Cruises could be considered one-stop shopping for travelers. With accommodations, transportation, food and entertainment all in one, they can help take the complications out of vacation planning.

But there’s more to booking a cruise than first-time passengers may realize.

From the wide range of lines to add-ons like drink packages and excursions that often cost extra, guests can face numerous decisions throughout the process. “There's like a pretty huge difference in booking a hotel upfront versus a cruise line,” said Andy Knowles, a luxury travel adviser affiliated with Fora Travel.

How far in advance should I book?

Booking well in advance will generally yield better rates, but travelers may also be able to find last-minute bargains if cruise lines are looking to fill space ( click here for USA TODAY’s guide to finding cruise deals).

“I'd say most of my clients are booking at least six months out in advance, if not more,” said Knowles.

Should I use a travel agent to book a cruise?

You can book a cruise without a travel agent, but there are some advantages to using one.

Alyssa Griffin, who makes videos about cruising with her husband, Cullen, on their YouTube channel, Griff & Alyssa , said they began working with an agent about five years ago.

“I don’t know why we didn’t get a travel agent sooner,” said Griffin, who has been on “at least” 60 cruises (she also worked as a travel agent briefly from 2018 to 2019).

Initially, she enjoyed coordinating trips on her own and found it easy, but she said consulting an agent “takes the stress out of planning, and they can help offer suggestions and things that you wouldn't necessarily think about.”

They can assist clients with determining which line, ship and destination may be the best fit. And if travelers run into an issue or have a question, their agent can handle it for them – a nice benefit given potentially long customer service phone line wait times.

“They can also get some cool perks, like onboard credit or some will put a bottle of wine or chocolate-covered strawberries in your room,” she added. Most also don’t charge clients for their services as they earn commission from cruise lines.

Knowles encouraged travelers to use an adviser who is an expert in the type of trip they are planning, whether a family vacation or a romantic getaway.

Many cruise lines also have in-house vacation planners who can help prospective guests navigate the booking process. Travelers may be able to find cheap rates on third-party booking sites (though some customers using those have had to jump through hoops when problems arise).

Should I book my flights through a cruise line?

Packages that bundle flights with a cruise are sometimes “very enticing and worth it,” according to Knowles, but they can come with some limitations. “I will say for the majority of cruise lines that you're booking flights through their platform, it just adds that third-party element that sometimes removes things from your control,” he said.

If travelers need to make changes, for instance, he said they would have to go through the cruise line. And while they may be able to list their general preferences, it’s not as easy to choose the exact seat they want on the plane.

Are cruises all inclusive?

That depends. Cruise line fares do include items that are often sold a la carte on land, and you can technically go an entire sailing without paying much more than the ticket price.

But many extras are not part of base fares on mainstream brands, ranging from alcoholic drinks to laundry, so you can rack up quite a few additional charges depending on your priorities. That's where packages come in handy, and higher stateroom categories often include more perks.

Luxury and river cruise lines also tend to bundle more in their base fares, though policies vary.

Do I need restaurant reservations?

Not necessarily. Mainstream cruise lines historically offered an early or late seating in their dining rooms, but many have introduced flexible mealtimes in recent years and often have a number of casual walk-up venues open for dinner as well. Some lines don’t have traditional dining rooms at all.

But if you want to eat at specialty restaurants, which typically come at an extra charge, you’ll likely want reservations. Passengers may be able to make a last-minute booking, but it’s worth doing before the cruise.

“I always recommend booking those ahead of time just to have something locked in,” Knowles said. Reservations typically open 30 to 60 days before departure.

If guests change their mind, it’s fairly simple to make changes “so you’re not necessarily locked into one spot.” They can typically do so via the cruise line’s app.

The newer, the better: What to know about taking a cruise with a mobility device

When should I book excursions?

The same goes for excursions. “I always point folks towards, if there’s one specific tour that (clients are) like, ‘This is something that we absolutely want and need to do,’ that it's always best to book that as far out as you can, just to make sure that you have it available,” Knowles said.

That said, cruise lines typically offer “a pretty large handful of experiences in each location,” and he hasn’t had any clients board to find all the excursions sold out.

Are tips included in my cruise fare?

Mainstream cruise lines charge passengers for gratuities on a per person, per day basis. The cost is automatically added to their onboard account, and passengers can generally adjust them before disembarking.

Passengers can also pay their gratuities in advance. Many higher-end lines include tips in the fare automatically.

Should I prepay for extras?

Guests can buy add-ons like Wi-Fi or drink packages during the cruise, but they may be sold at a cheaper rate ahead of time. Knowles said there is typically “going to be some incentive to booking beforehand.”

“So, if you were booking a bar package, something that might be $250 on board, you'll pay maybe $200 up front for,” he said. If you know you want to book one at some point, he recommended pulling the trigger sooner than later.

Griffin echoed that, and said the convenience is also nice. “I am one to just want to get on the ship and not worry about how much money I’m spending once I get there,” she said. “So, if you've already established all those things ahead of time, it feels more like an all-inclusive vacation.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

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NFL schedule 2024: Full list of how many miles each team will travel and time zones they will cross

A look at the nfl travel data for the 2024 season.

All 32 NFL teams will have to travel at least eight times during the 2024 regular season, but some will travel more and much farther. Teams will have to travel cross country, while some will go off to Germany and England. Have you ever wondered how many miles each NFL team travels, and how many time zones they cross through? Well, that info has been put together for the upcoming season and released prior to the official NFL schedule release.

According to Bookies.com , the Los Angeles Chargers  will travel the most miles of any team this season -- a whopping 26,803 miles. The Chargers will also travel through the most time zones: 36. As for the team that will travel the least amount of miles in 2024, that honor belongs to Dan Quinn's  Washington Commanders .

The mileage for this list was calculated by using the linear air distance between each stadium on Google Earth. Check out the full list below: 

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Senate Approves Bill to Reauthorize F.A.A. and Improve Air Travel

The Senate also passed a short-term extension of the current F.A.A. law to give the House time to clear the longer-term package early next week.

By Kayla Guo

Reporting from the Capitol

The Senate on Thursday passed legislation to reauthorize federal aviation programs for the next five years and put in place new safety measures and consumer protections for passengers, at a moment of intense uncertainty and disruption in the air travel system.

The bill , which still must win final approval in the House before becoming law, would provide more than $105 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration and another $738 million to the National Transportation Safety Board for airport modernization, technology programs and safety. It would also bolster the hiring and training of air traffic controllers, codify airlines’ refund obligations to passengers, ensure fee-free family seating and strengthen protections for passengers with disabilities.

“Aviation safety has been front of mind for millions of Americans recently, and this F.A.A. bill is the best thing Congress can do to give Americans the peace of mind they deserve,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said on the Senate floor on Thursday evening.

It passed in an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 88 to 4, just one day before the current law is scheduled to lapse. The Senate also unanimously approved a short-term extension to allow time for the House to take up and clear the longer-term package next week, a step that would send it to President Biden.

The legislation is a bipartisan compromise negotiated over months by the Senate and House committees with jurisdiction over the F.A.A., after Congress authorized several short-term extensions of the agency when lawmakers failed to meet earlier deadlines. The House passed its version of the bill almost a year ago in a lopsided vote of 351 to 69.

Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, chairwoman of the Commerce Committee, celebrated the bill’s provisions on consumer protections, aviation safety, air traffic controllers, airport infrastructure and work force development on the floor after passage.

“This is a big moment for aviation,” Ms. Cantwell said. “We have had safety issues and concerns that we need to make a big investment. This legislation is that investment — in safety standards, in protecting consumers and advancing a work force and technology that will allow the United States to be the gold standard in aviation.”

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, said: “This legislation is a strong, bipartisan, bicameral bill that includes hundreds of priorities for senators and representatives, both Republican and Democrat. This bill gives the FAA the safety tools it needs at a critical time.”

As one of the few remaining bills considered a must-pass item this year, the F.A.A. package, which prompted several regional disputes, became a magnet for dozens of amendments and policy riders that threatened to delay it in the Senate.

With the legislation threatening to stall, the House on Wednesday approved a one-week extension for the F.A.A. before leaving Washington for the weekend. The Senate followed suit on Thursday, steering around lingering disputes that had threatened to scuttle the effort and cause a brief lapse for the F.A.A.

The debate came at a time of acute uncertainty about the aviation system, which has had a recent spate of concerning episodes such as dangerous near collisions on runways, plane malfunctions and thousands of flight delays and cancellations.

It was unclear for much of Thursday whether the Senate would be able to push through the legislation and the extension, as senators demanded votes on amendments or threatened to block speedy passage. No amendments were ultimately brought to a vote.

The most intense regional fight was over a provision in the bill that would add five round-trip long-haul flights out of Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington. Proponents, which include Delta Air Lines, have said they want to expand access to the nation’s capital and increase competition.

The proposal incensed lawmakers representing the area , who argued that the airport maintains the busiest runway in the country and cannot support additional flights. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia and Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, all Democrats, filed an amendment to strike the new flights.

Mr. Kaine and Mr. Warner threatened to hold the bill up if they did not receive a vote. But Mr. Cruz blocked an effort to bring up a compromise amendment that would have given the transportation secretary the final say on new flights after considering any effects they would have on delays and passenger safety.

“The Senate abdicated its responsibility to protect the safety of the 25 million people who fly through D.C.A. every year,” Mr. Kaine and Mr. Warner said in a statement. “Some of our colleagues were too afraid to let the experts make the call. They didn’t want to show the American people that they care more about a few lawmakers’ desire for direct flights than they care about the safety and convenience of the traveling public. That is shameful and an embarrassment.”

The senators from Virginia and Maryland were the only votes against the bill.

Another group of senators failed to secure a vote on a proposal to halt the Transportation Security Administration’s expansion of facial recognition technology at airports and restrict it where it is in use.

Senators had also proposed adding a number of unrelated bills, including one that would compensate people harmed by exposure to the nation’s nuclear weapons program , legislation to fully fund the replacement of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, and a credit card competition measure. Senators Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, and Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, were pushing for a vote on their bill to protect minors online into Thursday. None of them made it into the final product.

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the bridge in Baltimore that collapsed. It is the Francis Scott Key Bridge, not the Francis Key Scott Bridge.

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Kayla Guo covers Congress for The New York Times as the 2023-24 reporting fellow based in Washington. More about Kayla Guo

Our Coverage of Congress

Here’s the latest news and analysis from capitol hill..

Aviation Bill: The House passed legislation to reauthorize federal aviation programs  and improve air travel  at a time of intense passenger woes and dysfunction in the system, sending the bill to President Biden.

Addressing A.I.: A bipartisan group of senators released a long-awaited legislative plan for A.I. , calling for billions in funding to propel American leadership in the technology while offering few details on regulations.

A White-Collar Indictment: Representative Henry Cuellar started from humble origins, but records show he welcomed the trappings of power afforded by his position. Here’s how an indictment shattered his blue-collar image .

Biden Impeachment: A crop of freshman Democrats on the House Oversight Committee has countered Republicans’ allegations against Biden with attention-grabbing charges of their own .

Marjorie Taylor Greene: The hard-right congresswoman from Georgia failed spectacularly  in her bid to depose Speaker Mike Johnson. But for a figure who sees her power in creating chaos, the loss was the point .