New Site Seeks Your Tacky Travel Snapshots

A new Web site called Tacky Tourist Photos at (tackytouristphotos.com) is collecting shots of goofy sights, souvenirs, poses and people. Looks like fun.

What came immediately to my mind were the people bending over in front of the volcanic plumes at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the giggling tourists of all nationalities at some strikingly anatomically shaped rocks in the Cappadocia region of Turkey. I’ll have to see if I can dig those up …

Nicknames Causing Trouble For Travelers

I must thank the TSA for finally making me feel grateful for my name. I never liked it as a child, though I suppose children rarely like their names. But I now find that it’s very convenient for travel purposes.

There really is no nickname for Jeanne, so when I buy an airline ticket it’s always for Jeanne.  It matches my credit card, my passport and my driver’s license. No confusion there. But my daughter, who is called Kate but is officially named Katherine, has to be sure now that her ticket matches her ID because the TSA wants to keep names straight and avoid false matches with government watch lists.

So, all you Bills or Williams, Chrises or Christinas, Joes or Josephs — be careful. As Chris[topher] Elliott reported in a recent column, airlines may not be all that helpful about changing your ticket, which means that your nickname can cost you.