Minutes after I wrote last week's Gadling Take FIVE, giving a plug to Gadling's newest blogger, Tom Johansmeyer, Kraig joined our mix of people who are wild about travel. Kraig Becker has been getting his feet wet this past week and is now not the newest blogger on the Gadling block.

Alison Brick joins us today. For any of you wondering if family travel influences children to travel, it did Alison. She has memories of searching out AAA hotel vacancies with her folks. If that doesn't scare a person off from hitting the open road, nothing will.

Here are posts that caught my attention. They range from the serious to the whimsical.

• Scott posted on a new rule that requires permanent U.S. residents who are green card holders to get fingerprinted upon entering the U.S. through an immigration check-point brought up an interesting question. Why?
• If you're heading to New York City, be prepared to pay more for a subway ride. The fare may go up. Jeffrey's post tells just how much.
• Aaron, who sniffs out controversy, and he's such a nice guy, wrote a post on Burger King's new ad campaign which has been called by some to be culturally insensitive. I'm with Aaron on this one.
• Jeremy gives a thumbs up to the 2008 edition of The Best American Travel Writing.
• If you've ever wondered where fruitcake comes from, check out Brenda's post. She knows the scoop. Personally, I like fruitcake--all kinds.

If you're traveling and bored, here are 4 pen and pencil games you can play. I've played them all.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Food and Drink, Holiday Ideas, Transportation, News