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What is a Travel Kit?

A travel kit is a collection of items which may be needed during travel which are packaged together for convenience. There are a number of different kinds of travel kits, including things like travel sewing kits which include basic sewing tools for making quick repairs to clothing while traveling, and travel toiletry kits which include items needed for basic hygiene. Many stores sell fully stocked travel kits, along with components of travel kits for people who need to restock or design a custom kit.

A typical travel kit comes in a small box or bag which is designed to fit inside luggage. Some travel kits take the form of hanging bags which zip up so that they can be compacted for travel. When someone has reached a destination, the kit can be unzipped and hung, and the numerous compartments will be exposed. Manufacturers of luggage sometimes make matching travel kits specifically designed to nestle inside their luggage products for maximum space efficiency.

Items inside a travel kit are often small, allowing people to fit in everything they need without taking up a great deal of space. For example, in a toiletry kit, the kit might have small containers of shaving cream, soap, face wash, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, makeup remover, and so forth. Travel makeup kits can include compacts with commonly used shades, along with a scaled down collection of lipsticks, eye liners, and other makeup accessories. Several companies make mini containers which people can fill themselves to stock their travel kits.

Often, the best deal on a travel kit is for a prepackaged travel kit which includes an array of items someone might need while traveling. However, it is also possible to assemble a travel kit from scratch. Travel kits can be used to carry things like necessary medications, accouterments for a baby, tools for shaving, travel documents like passports and tickets, and so forth. People traveling for work might also have a travel kit of common work tools which are all packed and ready to go so that they don't have to assemble a kit at the last minute when they receive short notice of a trip.

People who travel frequently may keep a travel kit in a convenient location so that it is always available. Some people may even leave a bag fully packed with everything they need, from changes of clothes to a well-stocked toiletry kit. This can be more convenient than trying to pack everything necessary for every trip.

For disaster preparedness, it is a good idea to keep a travel kit around the house. The kit should include copies of important documents such as bank records, property deeds, and birth certificates, along with current medications and basic supplies such as food and water. Having a kit ready will save time in the event of an evacuation.

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseTour researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

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What Is a Dopp Kit and How Is it Different From a Toiletry Bag?

toiletry bags
Travel Toiletries

Dopp kit is a bit of jargon that may have rung a bell in your head long ago, but whose meaning has probably slipped your mind since then. No longer in vogue, even expert groomers find it difficult to answer what is a Dopp kit.

But the Dopp kit meaning isn't quite riddle-of-the-sphinx territory. It's simply that, like the term "hoover" to describe a vacuum cleaner, Dopp kits have become old-fashioned while their modern counterparts have taken over.

What is a Dopp Kit?

Simply put, a Dopp kit is a small bag for storing toiletries.

How is it different from a regular toiletry bag, you might ask? Brace yourself for an underwhelming answer:

In fact, the terms "Dopp kit" and "toiletry bag" are used interchangeably. The main difference is that “Dopp kit” is used almost exclusively in the U.S. and rarely, if at all.

A Brief History of Dopp Kits

Still wondering, what is a Dopp kit?

We get it — it sounds like it could be some sort of gadget for playing golf or tennis!

But we promise you, it's a totally valid substitute for the term "toiletry bag," with an interesting history to boot.

Dopp kits were named after Charles Doppelt, a leather craftsman from Germany who founded the company that made them in 1926.

Before then, the U.S. Military issued toiletry kits to soldiers who fought in World War I. These kits helped service members keep their grooming essentials organized ... to an extent.

As it turned out, most of these toiletry organizers were roll kits made of canvas. They had loose-fitting pockets for items like lather brushes and small tobacco cans — zippers not included.

The idea was to roll the kit once the grooming items were "secured" in their pockets or liners and to tie it with a string.

As a result, service members traveled with the bare minimum of toiletries, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, hair comb, and nail clippers.

Dopp Kits: From Military Toiletry Bag to All-Purpose Travel Kit

The true Dopp kit meaning took shape during World War II, as more service members ditched their flimsy roll kits and opted for a "no-roll flat case" instead.

Charles Doppelt invariably had a hand in this new development by designing the leather toilet case that "opens wide ... closes snug and flat, taking up little space in your luggage," to quote a vintage ad.

But calling it a toilet case was too crass for the masses, so many started calling it a Dopp kit, period.

Over time, it grew in popularity thanks to its lightweight and water-resistant construction, making it a go-to accessory for any traveler. By the '50s and '60s, Americans started using it to store cosmetics, shaving essentials, and other personal hygiene items.

The End of the Dopp Brand

Now that we know the Dopp kit meaning and how popular these toiletry bags were back in the day, what led to the end of the Dopp brand?

Well, historical records are scarce on this topic, but when Samsonite bought Doppelt's company in the early 1970s, it decided not to retain the brand name.

Nevertheless, Samsonite filed a trademark for "Dopp" on April 3rd, 1980. The trademark included the following class of goods: "toilet cases sold empty, briefcases, briefcase type portfolios, sample and catalog cases sold empty, luggage identification tags, and traveling bags," according to Wikipedia.

But in 2013, Samsonite failed to submit a Declaration of Continued Use with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which would have recorded its use of the trademark for five consecutive years as required by federal law.

When the trademark was canceled by default, Buxton Acquisition Co. stepped in and has owned the trademark ever since.

What is a Dopp Kit if Not a Toiletry Bag?

So, what is a Dopp kit?

It's not only an old-school accessory that remains relevant today but also one of the best ways to keep all of your grooming essentials well-organized.

Although the term "Dopp kit" is becoming obsolete, it's perfectly fine to call it that when referring to a toiletry bag. It's just that some people won't catch the Dopp kit meaning without a little background info.

Just remember: When compared to a roll kit, Dopp kits are more concerned with size, structure, and function. The same can be said about the best toiletry organizers currently on the market.

The Dopp Recap and Timeline

Here's a quick recap and timeline of the iconic Dopp kit:

what is a dopp kit infographic timeline (smaller)

Gravel's Lightweight, Sustainable, and High-Quality Toiletry Bags For Every Traveler

We love the classic Dopp kit, but if you're looking to up your toiletry game, don't look past Gravel's Explorer SLIM and Explorer PLUS bags. Both are made from super durable materials, are TSA-approved, water-resistant, and feature a stowaway adjustable strap with an aluminum G-hook, which is fancy talk for "hang me anywhere."

Even better? Our carefully curated mesh-pocket system means that there's a special place for everything, keeping toiletries organized and easily accessible. And yes, zippers are included!

Check out Gravel’s Ultimate Guide to Travel Toiletries and our Pro Packing Guide to make the most of your travels. From product recommendations to packing strategies, we've got you covered.

See you on the road! 🚗🌍💨✨

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The Backpacker's Guide to Packing Light: A Badass Toiletry Bag Is A Must!

What is a dopp kit and why every traveling man needs this shaving bag

Most of the time rolling out of bed and stumbling into the bathroom is all you need to access your essentials to prepare for the day. All the tools you need to shave, shower, brush your teeth, put on your deodorant and cologne on are usually stuffed away in your bathroom cabinets.

In my case there are drawers full of different dopp kits I've tried over the years, cabinets full of more shaving stuff, and a hanging wall shelf full of my razor collection and all of my shaving brushes.

The moment you get called off to that business trip, a family vacation, or the camping or fishing trip with your buddies you'll need something to pack your toiletries in. A men's travel shaving kit to stuff all these goodies in or what is most commonly called a dopp kit is what you are probably looking for.

What is a dopp kit

It's just another name for a bag to carry your grooming supplies. This handy little bag is also known as a men's toiletry bag, a men's travel kit, hygiene pack, or a shaving kit bag. Pack full of your stuff and store it away in your checked in luggage or your carry on. When I'm not flying I usually put my bag in a larger backpack that holds a change of clothes and other essentials based on the trip I am taking.

A dopp kit or commonly misspelled dop Kit or dopp-kit or dop-kit. It's not just used for shaving supplies either. Sure you'll find razors, shaving brushes, razor blades, shaving cream, shaving soap , and aftershave, but also plenty of other non shaving related gear.

Q-tips, finger nail clippers, finger nail files, deodorant, brush or comb, beard oil, nose trimmers, grooming scissors, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, man soap, pomade, hair gel, and the list goes on.

I've even seen modern day travelers carrying multiple shaving bags. One for their toiletries and the other used to exclusively store cables, batteries, and other tech equipment.

Back in World War I and World War II soldiers were issued dopp-kits while heading off to war. This is what ultimately what increased world wide visibility to this men's travel kit.

Simply put this is a simple way to store common grooming necessities and keep them organized in an easy to find location with everything you need at your fingertips.

Men's hanging toiletry bag vs Dopp Kit

Charles Doppelt original design was a bag that sits on the counter as seen above. More modern designs include hanging bags. These are meant to hang on a towel rack or even in the shower. Some people prefer to keep them with shampoo and conditioner and hang over the shower faucet for easy access.

The name mens hanging toiletry bag and dopp are synonymous and for the most part interchangeable.

Personally, I prefer not to hang mine nor do I keep it in the shower. My kit is full of things that need to stay dry, so mine sits on the counter when I'm traveling and tucked away in a cabinet or drawer when I'm not.

If you are staying in dorm rooms a fraternity house or other similar places that have shared bathroom or shower facilities it might be best for you to get a hanging bag.

Where to buy a dopp kit

Sir Hare sells a few different traveling kits that will have plenty of room for all of your stuff and a side zipper to make it easy to separate things like your toothbrush from shaving gear or just an easy access compartment for the necessities.

If you shop around the cost will depend on the type of material used and the quality of the worksmanship. If it is hanging or counter top, on average you should expect to spend about $30 for a decent bag that will last you for several years.

I recently came across a company Ezra Arthur that re-invented the traditional dopp kit with a modern elegant twist.

Dopp Kit Meaning

The origin of the dopp-kit is due to the name of the original creator, Charles Doppelt. His company Charles Doppelt & Co based out of Chicago, Illinois created what they called the Dopp-Kit Toilet case and Dopp-Bilt business cases.

Leather was the original material used that included a waterproof lining. Many of the modern kits still use leather. Waxed canvas is also another popular material used due to the waterproof nature of the material.

The name stuck after Doppelt won a contract with the U.S. government to issue these shaving kits to the men heading off to war.

Over the years the company was acquired by larger corporations, eventually being bought out by the Samsonite company and retaining the trademarked name.

How to pack a dopp Kit

The duration of your travel will determine what gets packed in your dopp bag. Let's cover the essentials to put in your travel kit for a short term travel and then get into maybe a vacation or long business trip and the additional toiletries needed.

What to put in Men's Dopp Kit

Essentials for short travels.

Razor and double or single edge razor blades if you are using a safety razor
Shaving Cream, Shaving Soap, or Gel
Shaving brush
Toothbrush and toothbrush cover
Dental floss
Man Soap or Body Wash
Shampoo and Conditioner
Comb or Brush

What goes in a toiletry bag for men

Packing for long business trips or vacations.

Essential list plus
Finger nail clippers
grooming scissors
Saline Eye drops
Allergy Eye drops
Nose trimmers
Replacement double edge razor blades , disposable razors, or razor heads
Electric razor charger
Contact lenses
Alcohol wipes
First aid kit
Breath Mints

What to stock in a dopp kit

Military ditty version.

Ditty bag definition = A small bag used to hold toiletries while traveling. Sailors, Fishermen, and Military sometimes call dopp kits ditty bags.

vacation packed version plus
Small First aid kit
Over the counter medicine to relieve aches, pains, allergies

Travel kit for men in checked in luggage

It really depends on what is in your dopp kit and how you like to travel. I like traveling light and try almost anything to prevent checking in luggage if possible. On long international flights that span for several days and multiple hops it is nice to have your bag with you for easy access and to keep you fresh.

If you have any of the following items, be sure to put the travel kit in checked luggage otherwise your carry on luggage is fine.

TSA guidelines prohibit liquids over 3.4 ounces. They also prohibit straight razors and safety razor blades on the plane . When in doubt check it in.

Leather dopp kit vs Waxed Canvas

Two of the most common materials used for toiletry bags are Leather and Waxed canvas. What you choose will depend both style and function.

Water will inevitably get in and on your bag. Leather doesn't stand up well to water, so it will need to be protected with a leather protector and reapplied regularly.

Waxed canvas is very water resistance, however it will also need to be re-waxed eventually.

I personally like the look and lower maintenance of waxed canvas.

Personalized dopp kits

A few historical links referencing charles doppelt and company.

Federal register from 1951

Vintage Ad

Doppelt Bldg - 2024 south wabash ave Chicago, Il

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What does travel kit mean?

Definitions for travel kit trav·el kit, this dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word travel kit ., princeton's wordnet rate this definition: 1.0 / 1 vote.

toilet kit, travel kit noun

a kit for carrying toilet articles while traveling

Wikipedia Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

A toiletry bag (also called a toiletry kit, dopp kit, bathroom bag, ditty bag, sponge bag, toilet bag, personal hygiene kit, travel kit, or washkit) is a portable container—usually a pouch with a drawstring or zippered closure—that holds body hygiene and toiletry supplies such as toothbrush and toothpaste, dental floss, cotton swabs, deodorant, nail clippers, tweezers, soap, shaving supplies, hairbrush, contact lenses and feminine products. Toiletry bags are most often used for traveling and in living circumstances where permanent shelves and cupboards are unavailable for use. Toiletry bags vary widely in size, however most are designed to be stored within a primary bag such as a backpack or suitcase. Designs vary widely as well, from simple plastic pouches to high-quality leather kits and designs that fold out for easy access. Toiletry bags are usually purchased and packed by the consumer, however many companies from e-commerce websites to convenience stores also sell simple pre-packed toiletry kits.

ChatGPT Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

A travel kit is a collection of essential items neatly packed in a compact case or bag, designed for convenience and easy accessibility during a journey or trip. It can include items such as toiletries, medication, sewing kit, snacks, travel documents, entertainment materials, among others, depending on personal needs and the nature of travel.

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How to pronounce travel kit.

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How to say travel kit in sign language?

Chaldean Numerology

The numerical value of travel kit in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

Pythagorean Numerology

The numerical value of travel kit in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

^ Princeton's WordNet http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=travel kit
^ Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_Kit
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Translations for travel kit

From our multilingual translation dictionary.

kit de viaje Spanish
ornamentum itinerantur Latin
旅行套装 Chinese

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What is a Dopp Kit and How To Use It

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Most people born after the 1950s have no idea what a Dopp kit is or how it relates to personal hygiene and travel. The term was once in wide usage, at least in the United States, but is now rarely used uou can still find Dopp kits listed when you’re looking for toiletry bags, so it’s helpful to be able to define what a Dopp kit is and the difference between a Dopp kit and a regular toiletry bag .

What is a Dopp kit, anyway?

So, where does the term Dopp kit come from? A Dopp kit is a travel toiletry bag originally made from leather or cloth. The term originates in Germany when Charles Doppelt began producing a new type of toiletry bag in1926.

Dopp bags became popular with members of the U.S. military. The original army toiletry kits were canvas roll kits, which had loose pockets and were tied with string. They weren’t very secure, and items could easily fall out of the roll. Storing small items like cotton swabs and extra razor blades was difficult, as they got lost during transportation. As a result, service members would only pack the most basic grooming supplies.

Charles Doppelt’s new design was similar to a modern leather toiletry bag. It had a wide opening, closed securely, and took up little space in a travel bag. Dopp kits were also water-resistant — a great advantage for active-duty personnel. As for the name, Dopp kits were originally called toilet bags, but the term offended early 20th-century sensibilities, so the bags were renamed Dopp bags. Even when the term was in use, ‘Dopp bag” was mostly used in the U.S. and rarely saw use internationally.

Dopp kits were originally intended for men, but women appreciated the practical nature of these new toiletry bags, and by the 1950s, toiletry kits based on Doppelt’s design were used by everyone. Samsonite would eventually buy out Doppelt’s company but stopped using the term “Dopp kit" in favor of the more modern “toiletry bag,” and today, few people remember the role Charles Doppelt played in revolutionizing travel toiletry bags.

How is it different from a toiletry bag?

As you probably realized by now, most modern toiletry bags are Dopp kits, so discussing the pros and cons of Dopp kits vs. toiletry bags isn’t necessary. The two are one and the same. Travelers worldwide owe Charles Doppelt a debt of gratitude, though — without him, we might still be using toiletry roll kits, which could not handle the many small moisturizer bottles, creams, medication bottles, and small grooming items found in modern toiletry bags.

Which one should you purchase?

When choosing a toiletry bag , you need to consider size and materials. While the modern Dopp bag is compact, they do come in different sizes. A larger bag, such as the Travelpro® Essentials™ MaxAccess Cubes™ Toiletry Organizer , will keep your grooming supplies easy to find through a unique, angled zipper opening that provides unparalleled access and viewing of all interior contents. If you prefer a Dopp bag you can hang, opt for the Essentials™ Split Case Toiletry Bag that opens wide and lets you see at a glance what’s inside through two zippered pockets with clear plastic windows.

Dopp kits were originally made from leather or heavy canvas. Today's toiletry bag materials also include vinyl and polyester. High-density, abrasion-resistant polyester fabric works extremely well as a toiletry bag material. The Travelpro® Essentials™ MaxAccess Cubes™ Deluxe Hanging Toiletry Organizer is one such bag. In addition to its durable exterior, the Deluxe Hanging Toiletry Organizer comes with a convenient hanging hook and two removable water-resistant pockets to transport gels and creams securely.

Charles Doppelt would no doubt be amazed at the range of sizes, colors, and materials found in modern Dopp bags. He may be all but forgotten today, but he changed how we pack toiletries for travel . He’s an unsung hero in the history of luggage and deserves some recognition.

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Dua For Safar (Supplication For The Travelling)

Posted by Ahmed Abdulla | Duas

What does Safar mean?

Safar (سفر) is an Arabic term which refers to travelling, going on a journey, or transportation. It is also the second Islamic month of the lunar calendar and the month where Muslims used to vacate their homes to gather food.

According to hadith and the sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) there are a number of duas one can recite for safar / travelling / going on a journey and we will cover them all in this one article. Theses can be used for any method of transport whether by airplane, car, or boat.

Supplication For Travelling

In short, this hadith teaches to say the following:

(Bismillah) [three times]
Alhamdulillah
Subhan Alladhi Sakh-khara Lana Hadha Wa Ma Kunna Lahu Muqrinin. Wa Inna Ila Rabbina Lamunqalibun (Also referenced in Surah Zukhruf ayat 13-14)
Alhamdulillah and Allahuakbar [three times]
Subhanaka Inni Qad Zalamtu Nafsi Faghfirli Fa-Innahu La Yaghfirudh-Dhunuba Illa Ant

The Full hadith is given below from Jami At-Tirmidhi, Vol. 6, Book of Supplications, Hadith 3446 Ali bin Rabi’ah said:

“I witnessed Ali having an animal brought to him to ride. When he placed his foot in the stirrup he said: ‘In the Name of Allah,’ (Bismillah) [three times]. So then, once he had ascended upon its back, he said: ‘All praise is due to Allah.’ (Al-Hamdulillah) then he said: Glory is to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we were not able to do it. And, surely, to our Lord are we returning (Subhan Alladhi Sakh-khara Lana Hadha Wa Ma Kunna Lahu Muqrinin. Wa Inna Ila Rabbina Lamunqalibun). Then he said: ‘All praise is due to Allah (Al-Hamdulillah)’ – three times – and ‘Allah is the Greatest (Allahu Akbar)’ – three times – ‘Glory is to You, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me, for indeed none forgives sins except You (Subhanaka Inni Qad Zalamtu Nafsi Faghfirli Fa-Innahu La Yaghfirudh-Dhunuba Illa Ant).’ Then he laughed. So I said: ‘O Commander of the Believer! What caused you to laugh?’ He said: ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah do as I did, then he ﷺ laughed, so I said, ‘What cause you to laugh?’ He said: ‘Indeed, your Lord if very pleased with His worshipper when he says: “O my Lord, forgive me my sins, indeed, no one other than You forgives sins.”

Invocation For Traveler

Transliteration: Bismiallahi wa alhamdu liallahi. Subhanaalladhi sakh-khara lana hadha wa ma kunna lahu muqrinin. Wa inna ila Rabbi-na la munqalibun.

Translation: In the name of Allah, and Praise be to Allah. Glory be to the one who has placed this (transport) at our service and we ourselves would not have been capable of that, and to our Lord we will surely return.

Dua Upon Reaching Destination

Transliteration: Allhum rab alsamawat alsbʿ wama aẓlun wa-rab alarḍyn alsbʿ wama aqlun warab alshayaṭyn wama aḍlun warab alryaḥ wama duhryn finna nasalak khayr hudh alqarya wkhyr ahlha wanʿwdh baka mn shrha washr ahlha washr ma fyha.

Translation: “O Allah, You are the Lord of the seven skies and all the things that are under these skies and the seven planets and whatever is over these and of Satan who misled and all those misled by him and for the wind and all that it blows. Thus we seek the good of this town and the good of its members (people) and seek refuge from its evil and the evil of its members and from the evils of whatever is in it”. (Hisnul Hasin from Ibn Habban)

Another Dua:

أعوذ بكلمات الله التامات من شر ما خلق

A’udhu bikalimat-illahit-tammati min sharri ma khalaqa

Khaulah bint Hakim (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, “Whosoever alights somewhere and says: ‘A’udhu bikalimat-illahit-tammati min sharri ma khalaqa (I seek refuge with the Perfect Words of Allah from the evil of what He has created),’ nothing will harm him until he leaves that place.” [Muslim] Riyad As Salihin. Arabic/English book reference : Book 8, Hadith 982

Other Hadiths About Safar and Safe Journey

The duas for safar covered this far are the most well known or common duas for journey. The rest of the article will focus on advice from Prophet Muhammad ( ﷺ ) regarding a safe travel and other Islamic traditions.

It’s Better To Travel With Others:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Were people to know of what I know about the dangers of travelling alone, no rider would travel alone at night.”. In another narration, The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “A single rider is (accompanied with) Satan and two riders are (accompanied with) two Satans. Three riders form a group.” 1

This was more applicable and good advice back during the Prophet’s time as travelling was far more treacherous at night especially if going alone. Today travelling at night is safer but you will not be as alert as you would when you first wake. Going on safar with group you’ll be less likely to make mistakes or be taken advantage of.

When Ascending To Heights (Going on Plane)

Ibn ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) and his army ascended a height, they would proclaim: “Allahu Akbar (Allah is Greatest),” and when they climbed down, they would proclaim: “Subhan Allah (Allah is free from imperfection).” 2

Shortened Prayer While Vacationing:

Narrated Ibn `Abbas: The Prophet (ﷺ) once stayed for nineteen days and prayed shortened prayers. So when we travel led (and stayed) for nineteen days, we used to shorten the prayer but if we traveled (and stayed) for a longer period we used to offer the full prayer. 3

References:

1. Riyah As Salihin Arabic/English book reference : Book 8, Hadith 959 2. [Abu Dawud]. Riyah As Salihin Arabic/English book reference : Book 8, Hadith 976 3. Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 1080 In-book reference : Book 18, Hadith 1

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Philosophy, Psychology, Physics and Practice of Ki

S. tsuyoshi ohnishi.

1 Philadelphia Biomedical Research Institute, King of Prussia, PA 19406 and 2 Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

Tomoko Ohnishi

Ki (in Japanese) or Qi (in Chinese) is the key concept in Eastern medicine, Eastern philosophy, as well as in martial arts. We explain the philosophical and psychological background of Ki . We emphasize that the unique aspects of Eastern philosophy are ‘non-linearity’ and ‘holistic’ approach. We then present physics aspect of Ki . Our experiments demonstrated that a ‘ Ki -beam’ carries ‘entropy’ (or information), which is different from ‘energy’. We introduce our experience of having taught Ki to 37 beginners in the United States through the Nishino Breathing Method. If beginners had martial arts training or a strong background in music or dance, about half of them could sense Ki within 10 weeks (1 h class per week) of practice.

Introduction

A Japanese word Ki (equivalent to Qi or Chi in Chinese) is the fundamental concept in both Eastern medicine and martial arts ( 1–3 ). It naturally follows that Ki is an important element in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Many authors have presented work on the effects and nature of Ki ( 4–15 ). Still, we can not precisely describe Ki . We cannot objectively say ‘Look! This is Ki ’.

When Western people talk about Ki in terms of the healing arts, Ki seems to be understood as ‘vitality’ or ‘life-energy’. For those who are studying Chinese medicine, Ki is presented as being a substance flowing in our body along the ‘meridians’. In the view of martial artists, Ki is a source of spiritual strength for winning. When an Eastern philosopher defines Ki , it is a function of life, which permeates through the life of an individual and the life of the universe. Physicists see it as a new kind of ‘energy’, and still, brain physiologists approach it as ‘information’ or ‘entropy’. Depending upon one's profession, discipline and necessity, Ki is understood differently.

Both of us were born in Japan and were raised in families where the concept of Ki was not foreign to our ways of thinking. In 1963, one of the authors (S.T.O.) started learning Aikido in Japan from Master Morihei Ueshiba (the founder of Aikido) and Kisshomaru Ueshiba (the founder's son), as well as from Koichi Tohei and Morihiro Saito (both were Ueshiba's immediate disciples). From 1967–97, S.T.O. taught Aikido in the USA. From 1997, both authors started learning the Nishino Breathing Method (NBM) by visiting the school in Japan where Master Kozo Nishino (the founder) teaches. In 2006, both authors started teaching NBM in the USA.

Nishino was once a medical student, but became a ballet choreographer after he studied ballet at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School in New York. At the age of 50, he started learning Aikido and quickly became a master of Aikido. He then founded NBM as a method of raising his student's Ki levels so that they could enjoy life to its fullest ( 16–18 ). It has been known for the past 20 years that the practitioners of Ki experienced beneficial health effects ( 16 , 19–24 ). Through our collaborative study with Nishino using in vitro biological systems, it was suggested that Ki developed by NBM may indeed have health benefit ( 25–27 ).

In this commentary, we will first discuss historical, philosophical and psychological aspects of Ki in Eastern medicine and martial arts. Then, we will switch the subject to a more practical question, ‘How quickly we can learn Ki ?’ Finally, we will introduce new methods of testing the Ki -level of an individual. We will also present an experimental method, which demonstrates that an ‘information’ aspect (‘entropy’ aspect) is involved in Ki . We believe that this aspect of Ki is very important from the standpoint of CAM.

Difference between Western Medicine and Traditional Eastern Medicine

Eastern medicine has been built on the fundamental concept that the head and the various inner organs are connected to specific points in distal areas (i.e. hands and legs) with ‘meridians’. The major meridians are 12 regular meridians and eight irregular meridians. They are broadly divided into yin and yang groups and Ki flows through them. Along these meridians, there are about 350 acu-points, which are used for acupuncture therapy. When the Ki -flow is stagnant, we become sick. Acupuncture allows the Ki to flow smoothly. At the terminal acu-point of each meridian in distal areas, it is believed that an exchange of Ki between the external world and the internal body occurs. In other words, Eastern medicine understands the body as an ‘open system’ connected to the external world. On the contrary, modern Western medicine regards our body as a ‘closed, self-contained system’ ( 2 , 3 ). The concept of our body being an ‘open system’ would help us to understand why Ki would have a healing effect. A healer, who emits Ki toward an acu-point on the skin, may be able to enhance or normalize the Ki -flow inside the patient's body.

Understanding of Ki will Help Bridge Western and Eastern Viewpoints

As we described previously ( 28–30 ), Western thinking was built upon three fundamental pillars, namely, Greek reductionism, separation of mind and matter (which led to the separation of mind and body) advocated by Descartes (1596–50), and a deterministic-monotheistic worldview originated by Newton (1642–1727). All of these pillars belong to a ‘linear’ philosophical system in which the future is predictable. A serious problem is that both life and the universe are essentially ‘non-linear’ systems, and therefore, the future becomes ‘chaos’ and it is essentially unpredictable ( 30 ). Many of today's problems are created because everyone tries to understand the non-linear ‘unpredictable’ universe based upon linear ‘predictable’ thinking. In order to accept that the future is essentially unpredictable, a Copernican change of our philosophy is needed. The understanding of Ki , which is non-linear ( 30 ) and involves ‘unpredictability’, would help this transition.

By separating matter from mind, material science was able to undergo vigorous development without the hindrance of medieval mysticism. However, this has carried to the extreme. This has led to the loss of humanism in the last century. Today, materialism has superceded reverence of the mind and even the dignity of human life. To reverse this devastating situation, we have to overcome the dichotomy of ‘either-or’ thinking. Therefore, the more holistic, ‘non-linear’ Eastern approach considering the ‘Oneness of mind and body’ is even more relevant today.

Another urgent issue is the destruction of the ecosystem. In the West, it was taught that human beings appeared first on earth, and plants, trees, animals appeared later for the benefit of the human race. This, together with an endless pursuit of material happiness and fulfillment of desire, has caused today's ecological problems. Contrary to this, it is a common belief in the East that life is created from its environment, and naturally, life and the environment are inseparable. This is in perfect agreement with the results of scientific research. It is known that ‘planet’ earth was born about 5 billion years ago, and a primitive ‘life form’ appeared about 4 billion years ago in the sea. The ‘life form’ developed in the sea, and about 400 million years ago it started spreading on land because there accumulated enough amount of ozone in the atmosphere to provide shielding from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The ape-man appeared several million years ago, and finally Homo sapiens , our ancestors, appeared approximately 35 000 years ago. Civilization began about 10 000 years ago, and modern civilization started only 200 years ago—like a blink of an eye compared with the unfathomably long history of evolution. However, modern civilization is destroying the harmony of the ecosystem, which has 4 billion years of history.

According to Eastern thought, the universe has ‘life’ and the function of ‘life’ is represented by Ki . Ki flows and circulates throughout the universe and through each human being. Ki is a non-linear phenomenon ( 30 ), and therefore, it can function as an essential element of life and the universe (both of which are non-linear). If Western people could understand Ki more, they would incorporate holistic Eastern philosophy into their own philosophical system. Then, mind and body, as well as life and its environment, will be viewed as a unified entity, and the world would finally become a better place to live.

Difference of Philosophical Backgrounds between Qi and Ki

In 1972, from the excavation of an ancient tomb in China (believed to be about 2000 years old), 44 pictures of poses related to what we call today Qigong were found ( 1 ). The first Chinese literature, which described the effect of Qigong , was inscribed on an ancient sword handle (which was believed to be about 2500 years old). The origin of the character of Qi was traced back to 3500 years ago ( 1 ).

Confucius (who lived approximately 2500 years ago), taught moral and ethical behavior. In his Analects, the character of Qi appeared in four locations. It expressed the concept related to breath, food and vitality ( 1 ). Taoism, which was founded by Lao-Tze (who was believed to have lived around the time of Confucius or 100 later), have had more influence on Qi and Qigong . In the book ‘Zhuangzi’, which compiled the thoughts of Lao-Tze in the third century BC, the character of Qi appeared 39 times. What it explained was: ‘ Qi exists throughout the universe. When it assembles, it appears as a human life. When it disassembles, the human dies. Therefore, do not worry about life and death. Live naturally and freely as you are’ ( 1 ). The concepts of Qi , Yin / Yang and meridians formed the foundation of Chinese medicine. Martial artists have also studied these concepts. They knew how to attack vital acu-points to kill an opponent or how to revive a victim.

In Japan, Ki was used for healing from around 1500 years ago. Toward the end of Heian Period (about 800 years ago), Samurai warriors held political power, and continued to do so for 700 years. During that time, the upper class of Samurai devoted themselves to self-cultivation by practicing Zen and Esoteric Buddhism. As a result, the martial arts were not simply combat techniques, but acquired a high artistic sensitivity and spirituality. They trained themselves to enhance Ki through meditation and breathing. The origin for this could be found in a book called Makashikan (Chinese: Mohezhiguzn), which was lectured by Chih-i (a Chinese Buddhist monk; 538–597 AD). He talked about self-cultivation methods and Buddhist medicine. He explained two cultivation methods, namely, ‘meditation with prolonged sitting’ and ‘meditation with prolonged walking’ ( 3 ). The former practice became the foundation for Zen, and the latter for Esoteric Buddhism.

Chih-i also explained a method of meditation, which could enhance our health. One of his methods was to imagine that a piece of excellent food (such as a delicious cheese) is sitting on one's head. Then, imagine that the food melts and penetrates the skin and goes down through the head and body, thus cleaning up the whole system. Interestingly, a similar exercise is used in NBM.

As opposed to Chinese Qi , which grew under the influence of Taoism, Japanese Ki was heavily influenced by Buddhism. The Heiho Kadensho (The Secret Text Book of the Military Method, which had been perpetuated though the Yagyu School of martial arts. The Yagyu family taught martial arts to the Shogun, the highest post in the Samurai government) described that the human mind is distinguished into an ‘original mind’ (enlightened nature or Buddha nature) and a ‘deluded mind (easily agitated by egocentric feeling and emotion). The original goal of the Samurai way was the development of a mature personality, which would not be influenced by the deluded mind, through discipline and through enhancing Ki ( 3 ).

However, the ultimate purpose of martial arts was changed in modern times from killing others to self-defence and conquering oneself. Aikido was created in this atmosphere. Ai means harmony. It also means love. Therefore, the ultimate goal of Aikido is to harmonize Ki with the opponent's body-mind movement. Ueshiba, the founder, declared that the secret of Aikido is to harmonize one's movement with the universe. In other words, it is to understand that ‘I am one with the universe’. The Japanese Samurai way and Buddhist teachings had a profound influence over Japanese culture and intellectual history.

Secret Technique of Ki in Martial Arts

Stories tell us that the great martial artist possessed such a strong Ki -power that his opponents were immobilized. In Japanese martial arts’ history, there were records that some martial artists could throw opponents without touching. This is known as the ‘Toh-Ate’ technique (literally, hit from a distance), and is considered to be the ultimate form of martial arts. However, this has been a secret technique for centuries and no curriculum to master this technique was taught or published until recently. Currently, at least three Japanese Ki masters (Kozo Nishino, Hiroyuki Aoki and Kojo Tsuboi) are reported to be able to perform the ‘Toh-Ate’ technique ( 1 ). It is interesting to note that two of them (Nishino and Tsuboi) had practiced Aikido. Aoki was an expert in Karate. Japanese brain physiologists recorded changes in the brain wave of Aoki when he performed Toh-Ate technique ( 31 , 32 ).

Difference between Sports and Martial Arts

Yuasa pointed out that until recently the training emphasis for modern Western sports was to develop the body's motor skills and muscles capacity. (That is why some athletes use illegal muscle-developing drugs). On the other hand, the Japanese Samurai way (the Bushi way or Bushi-do) was designed with the goal of strengthening the synthesis between consciousness and unconsciousness by controlling unconscious emotional functions ( 3 ). Western sports’ training is now also embracing these concepts. Now, we have to study the relationship between Ki and psychology.

Ki and Collective Unconsciousness of Jung

The practice of the Japanese Samurai way is linked to overcoming problems arising from one's unconscious state of mind (exemplified by Freudian psychology). This may be explained by a layered structure of different consciousness as presented by Chih-i. In Fig. 1 , the Buddhist concepts are shown on the left side and the Western concepts are on the right. The concepts in five top layers (five levels of consciousness) are called eye, ear, nose, tongue or touch consciousness. Through these sensory organs, human beings perceive outer world. These functions correspond to the five senses in Western psychology, physiology and philosophy. In Buddhism, the sixth level of consciousness corresponds to our mind. It builds up images based upon five consciousnesses, and consciously understands the external world. This is similar to the theory of Kant (1724–1804) on cognition. A Buddhist scholar had built a theory similar to that of Kant 1200 years before. In Descartes’ philosophy, human has a ‘reasoning mind’, which corresponds to the upper half of the sixth level. Unconsciousness proposed by Freud (1856–1939) corresponds to the lower half. The unconsciousness is believed to be the source of creativity and inspiration. Some Western people are interested in Zen meditation because they think that one may communicate with one's unconsciousness through meditation. However, as Chih-I taught, both ‘meditation with prolonged sitting’ and ‘meditation with prolonged walking’ are needed for self-cultivation. Zen uses only ‘meditation with prolonged sitting’ and that may not be enough. The ‘meditation with prolonged walking’ is also needed. ‘Prolonged walking’ does not necessarily mean simple walking. It may also imply a regular physical exercise combined with mental training. In this regard, it is interesting to note that a Zen scholar (who later became the Head Priest of a Japanese Zen temple) wrote that his practice of NBM (which is a physical exercise with Ki ) helped him to understand and master Zen ( 19 ).

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Schematic presentation of the nine levels of consciousness as described by Chih-i. Explanations on the left are from Buddhist teachings. Those on the right are from Western philosophy, psychology and physiology.

The seventh level is a fundamental egocentric consciousness, which is related to human desire and instinct for survival. Descartes’ ‘ego-consciousness’ can be included in this layer. Freudian ‘Libido’ also resides in this level. All of earthly desires, emotions and sufferings originate from here.

The eighth level of consciousness is considered to be a storage house of all actions, deeds, words and emotions of each individualm created not only during this life time, but also in one's past lives (note: Buddhism considers that one's life continues eternally). In other words, this level is the store house of ‘karma’ (or destiny) of an individual (upper half) and the entire race (lower half).

While Freudian unconsciousness is related to personal experience after birth (especially that of the infant period), collective unconsciousness proposed by Jung (1875–1961) includes the experiences of all human beings from the remote past (in terms of time), and the experiences of everybody in the world (in terms of space) ( 33 ). Therefore, the eighth level of consciousness corresponds to collective unconsciousness. Then, a question may be raised: ‘How can an individual relate to the life of others?’ We believe this is where Ki can come in. At the school of NBM, we see everyday that the state of mind of an individual (in this case, Master Nishino) can influence not only the behavior and mind of a student with whom Nishino is directly practicing, but also the minds of everyone in the class room. Ki emitted from Nishino spreads through the air, and is received by everybody.

The manner in which each individual responds to Nishino's Ki is different. The life tendency or personality, which is normally hidden deep inside, suddenly appears when he or she receives Ki from Nishino. In other words, one's deepest essence of life (or personal karma) seems to appear instantly. Not only that, if everybody has the sensitivity to receive and send Ki , then, we all inherit the ability of Ki . This makes Ki the collective karma of the human being. We already pointed out that the practice of NBM may instantly bring the individual to the ‘collective unconsciousness’ ( 29 ).

The ninth level is called ‘Fundamentally pure consciousness’. This can be regarded as the highest level of life (in which life of the humans is one with the life of the universe) or ‘Buddha Nature’. This can eradicate all of the deluded illusions of our mind, and change the karma of the individual and the karma of the entire human race. This was explained in the Heiho Kadensho of the Yagyu School of martial arts. Chih-i believed that the Buddha nature exemplified in the Lotus Sutra represents this ninth level. Western philosophy or psychology did not reach to the depth of ninth level of consciousness as the Eastern philosophic counterpart did. Our idea that Ki belongs to the eighth level is derived from these Eastern ways of thinking. In the East, it is believed that Ki is a function of life, which permeates through both an individual and the entire universe. Therefore, Ki must be very close to the ninth level.

Physics of Ki

Since both of us have studied biophysics for 40 some years, we have been interested in the nature of Ki . We recently published a physics-oriented hypothesis that Ki emission may be ‘laser-like’ near infrared radiation (NIR) from the practitioner's finger or hand ( 34 ). Several scientists asked us many questions, for example, ‘Have you measured the strength of the Ki -signal?’; ‘Can you simulate the Ki -effect by NIR emitted from an artificial source?’; ‘If you think that Ki has an information, you must analyze the Ki -signal to determine what kind of information is included’; ‘Unless you perform these quantitative measurements of Ki -energy or Ki -information, you cannot proceed to build a theory’ and ‘My idea is that Ki is an entirely new type of energy’. That is perfectly true. We agree with all of these points. An ideal scientific approach calls for many repeated observations. If they are repeatable and reproducible, then we build a theory.

However, in the study of Ki , we encountered two difficult problems. Namely, (i) Ki is manifested by only special people and (ii) we still cannot measure Ki -signals reproducibly with any of our instruments. Although there are interesting claims that ‘ Ki -signals have been detected’ or ‘ Ki is an infrared radiation’, but the ‘ Ki -signals’ from Qigong healers took a long time (at least the order of minute) to grow to its full strength ( 3 , 32 , 35–38 ). On the other hand, Aoki's Toh-ate or Nishino's ‘Taiki’ can move the opponent almost instantly. Therefore, we decided to uncover the secret of Ki , which enables Toh-ate or Taiki technique ( 29 ). What we did was to practice Ki at the school of NBM first. After, we advanced and started to emit Ki ourselves, we studied what our Ki could do to ‘sensitive’ students. In other words, since we could not catch Ki with instrumentation, we used ‘sensitive students’ as ‘instruments’ to measure the Ki -strength. Then, based upon those results, we built our hypothesis ( 34 ). This was only possible when both the Ki -emitter and the Ki -receiver practiced NBM. Interestingly, this is related to a difference between the Western and Eastern way of thinking. Let us now explain this point.

Another Difference between the West and the East: Theory and Practice

According to Yuasa ( 3 , 39 ), Western ‘mind and body’ theories have a strongly-held attitude of asking theoretically what ‘is’ the relationship between the mind and body. On the other hand, Eastern theories take the attitude of asking how the mind and body relationship ‘develops’ or ‘changes’ through training and practice. Then, based on how the relationship has developed through practice, the theory asks in turn what is the ‘original’ relationship between mind and body?

Regarding this, Kasulis, the editor of Yuasa's book ( 39 ), pointed out that Eastern philosophies generally treat mind-body unity as an ‘achievement’, rather than an ‘essential unchanging link’. He summarized as follows:

In Eastern culture, meditation and breathing are important practices in obtaining philosophical insight. Wisdom must be physically as well as intellectually developed.
If the unity of mind and body is achieved, this can be tested by ‘deeds’. In other words, whether a person attained enlightenment or not should be verified by ‘action’ rather than by ‘asserted propositions’.
Eastern philosophers do not agree with the Western tradition of dichotomies such as body-mind, subjectivity-objectivity and theory-praxis. Eastern people are not doing ‘meta-physics’ in the traditional Western sense. Instead, what they are doing is, what Jung called ‘meta-psychics’. (Actually, Yuasa said that it can be called ‘meta-human science’.)

These discussions clearly pointed out why dedicated, continuous practice is important to master any of these Eastern arts. Be it for Eastern medicine, Qigong , martial arts, Ki -related exercise or breathing, we can reach better understanding only after assiduous practice. By simply discussing them from theoretical point of view or based upon own ideas, we can never grasp the true picture of these arts. For this reason, we would like to touch upon our recent practice of teaching Ki to beginners in the USA.

How Quickly can a Beginner Sense Ki ?

If Ki could enhance our vitality and improve health, then an important question would be: ‘How quickly can we learn Ki and utilize it to improve our health?’ Since we have taught NBM to 37 students in the USA from 2006, we undertook a survey of how quickly beginners can sense Ki by attending the class. We taught so far the following three courses:

Private Sunday Course: this is an hour class on every Sunday for those who want quickly to have a brief experience with NBM. We used the basement of our house for the class.
Two Evening courses of ‘ Ki -energy and NBM’: we taught two courses, which were supported by the Main Line School Night (an adult education program; we will abbreviate as MLSN), which uses the facility of Lower Merion High School (Ardmore, PA). This course is taught for 1 h per week, once a week for 10 weeks. We used Master Nishino's book as the text ( 16 ). The participants signed a consent form before participating in the course. (Previous experiences of participants can be found in Supplementary Table 1 in the journal's website.) In each class, we spent the first 30 min practicing the ‘Breathing exercise’ and the second 30 min the ‘Taiki-practice’.

The Taiki-practice literally means ‘paired Ki -practice’. By combining his experience in ballet choreography and martial arts, Nishino first acquired by himself the technique of Toh-Ate. Then, he developed it into the form of Taiki-practice so that anybody could practice and enjoy regardless of their martial arts experience. This is basically the exchange of Ki -energy (or Ki -communication) between the instructor and the student ( 16 ). The Taiki-practice starts with the following Taiki-motion: An instructor and a student touch their hands with each other (right hand to right hand, and then, left to left) and push with Ki alternately. When the instructor sends a strong Ki -signal and extends his or her hand, the student is pushed by instructor's Ki and steps backward to the wall, which is covered by a soft cushion (we used either a bed mattress or an air mattress). Nishino discovered that the individual's Ki -level grows through this practice.

A criticism of NBM was that the Taiki exercise may involve a psychological or hypnotic effect because the student ‘watches’ the instructor. Therefore, we made two modifications to the original Taiki exercise to eliminate that bias.

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Relationship between the flow of Ki -energy (shown by thin arrows) and the direction of body movement (shown by open arrows). ( A ) ‘PBR’ test. E indicates a Ki -emitter, and R a Ki -receiver. Ki -emitter sends an unspoken message of ‘Come back!’ The receiver responds to the message and comes back. This test cannot be explained by a simple ‘energy’ theory. The ‘entropy’ aspect must be considered. ( B ) ‘Face-to-face Taiki’ test with a blindfold and without touching. The Ki -emitter sends an unspoken message of ‘Go away!’ The receiver responds to that message and moves backward.

The most amazing result was that these 11 ‘sensitive’ students were also ‘pulled back’ by a ‘pulling Ki ’ of some of the first-day students (see the ‘Send’ column in Supplementary Table 2 . After 7 weeks in the MLSN program, the number of students who responded to S.T.O.' s Ki in the PBR test was 13/25 (52%). The number of students who can move other students in the PBR test was the same. The percentages of success rate for the seventh and tenth weeks were the same.

(ii) In the Taiki practice (which is done in a face-to-face position), we asked the Ki -receiver to wear a blindfold, and the Ki -emitter attempted to move the receiver without touching hands. We call this the “Face-to-face” test (FTF test) ( Fig. 2 B). The actual examples are shown on the Supplementary Fig. 2A . The data for this test are shown on the Supplementary Table 3 . This test was much harder than the PBR test. When S.T.O. sent Ki without touching the beginners who wore a blindfold (TFT test), none were moved on the first day. Only after the seventh week, 7 out of 25 were moved. Supplementary Fig. 2B shows photos of TFT-test between beginners on the fifth week.

Experiments to Show that the ‘ Ki -beam’ has ‘Information’

In 1978, Chinese scientists discovered that a Qigong healer's hand was emitting infrared radiation ( 35 ). This was later confirmed by Japanese scientists ( 38 ). Through our study, we also demonstrated that Ki , which caused in vitro effects on biological systems, and Ki , which caused Taiki-motions, was the same and both were NIR between 800 and 2500 nm ( 25 , 26 ). Recently, we proposed a hypothesis that Ki may be a laser-like NIR with a wavelength around 1000 nm ( 34 ). Being NIR, Ki definitely has an ‘energy’ aspect. However, we found evidence that Ki also has an ‘information’ (or an ‘entropy’) aspect ( 29 ).

We reported already that a mirror could reflect the ‘ Ki -beam’ and that the reflected beam pushed back a sensitive student in the same way as the straight line Ki -beam ( 34 ). If Ki has only an ‘energy’ effect, it would be easy to think that both straight Ki and mirror-reflected Ki have the ‘push-back’ effect. We could simply imagine that Ki energy is something like an ‘energy flux’ pouring out of the emitter's hand and pushing back a student by its energy flow ( Fig. 2 B). Then, the effect of a mirror is simply to bend the direction of the energy flow.

We experimented on whether we could ‘pull back’ a running student from behind using a mirror reflection. First, we used a flat mirror, which was similar to the one we used previously to reflect Ki in the face-to-face Taiki exercise ( 34 ). This experiment worked. The runner, who was running away from the Ki -emitter, felt the ‘pulling Ki’ and changed direction to come back ( Supplementary Fig. 3 ). However, we found it rather difficult to catch the image of a running student, which appeared on a flat mirror but quickly disappeared ( Supplementary Fig. 4A ). Therefore, we switched to a glass convex mirror (diameter 35 cm; this is sold at hardware stores as a driveway mirror). Since the convex mirror allows us to view a wider area than a flat mirror, the image of the runner is always in the mirror ( Supplementary Fig. 4B ). Therefore, it is easy to send Ki to that image for pulling. In order to make sure that the Ki -energy, which reached the runner, was from the mirror, we placed a Ki -shield (Super Tuff-R TM heat insulator; Dow Chemical Co., Midland, MI) between the emitter and the runner ( Fig. 3 ). This material was used in the previous study, and we demonstrated that it blocked Ki ( 34 ). As shown in Fig. 3 and Supplementary Fig. 5 , we succeeded in pulling back the runner by sending Ki to the runner's image in the mirror.

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Schematic illustration of the ‘Pull-back-through-a-mirror’ experiment, which shows that Ki has information content. Note that an infrared shield (S) was placed between the emitter (E) and the receiver (R) in order to eliminate possible direct interactions. (CM) indicates a convex mirror. A broken line indicated on the floor is showing the passage of (R), who runs away toward the wall. When (E) sends a ‘pulling- Ki ’ to the image of (R) in the mirror, (R) responded to the Ki and changes the running direction to run in the opposite direction. (For actual examples, see the supplementary material .)

If we think of Ki having only an energy aspect, it would be difficult to explain why we can ‘pull back’ a runner from behind. The direction of the Ki -energy flow and the direction of the pulling motion are in the opposite direction ( Fig. 2 A). It would be even harder to explain why this can be done with the mirror-reflected Ki ( Fig. 3 ).

A possible explanation is to postulate that Ki contains ‘information’, and that the runner moves in accordance with the ‘information’ sent to the runner. In the experiment shown in Fig. 2 A, S.T.O. sent an ‘unspoken’ message of ‘Come back!’ In the case of Fig. 2 B, S.T.O. sent another ‘unspoken’ message of ‘Go away!’ We believe that the unspoken message was carried by Ki , and the receiver received the message. In analogy, Ki -energy is like a radio wave, and the information (to push or to pull) may be super-imposed by modulating the carrier wave ( 29 , 30 ).

Energy can do the work. The energy in gasoline can move a car, but energy can neither control its speed nor direction. Namely, energy cannot carry information. The driver must give ‘information’ by operating a gas pedal or a steering wheel. Other examples: writings or poems contain information, which essentially consists of complex arrangement and combination of letters. Music is made of pitches of sounds, intervals between notes and combinations thereof. Paintings are composed of the combination of paints with different colors, dark or bright and transparent or opaque. In essence, ‘information’ is related to the ‘combination’. The quantity related to ‘combination’ is called ‘entropy’ in physics. Entropy is a different physical quantity from energy. Shannon described that information is related to entropy ( 40 ).

Yoshiya Shinagawa pioneered the discovery of ‘transpersonal communication’ between Qigong healers and volunteers ( 36 , 37 ). He proposed that Ki has an ‘information’ aspect. We also emphasized the ‘entropy’ aspect of Ki ( 29 ). The energy cannot carry information, but entropy can. The role of entropy in living organism was first introduced by Schrodinger ( 41 ). Its role in CAM was also discussed ( 9 ). In the healing art, which employs Ki or Qi , the mind of the healer may be transmitted with Ki as information. Therefore, the information aspect of Ki would be expected to play an important role in CAM.

Why can some Beginners Send and Receive Ki from the First Day?

Why could some students not only receive Ki , but also send Ki to other students from the first day ( Supplementary Table 2 )? A possibility is that all human beings once possessed the abilities to ‘send out’ and to ‘receive’ Ki to and from other people. This ‘life-to-life’ communication might have been essential to human beings for their survival. However, since they learned to use language for communication, and because of the development of civilized living, they gradually lost these abilities. However, when an emergency situation occurs, for example, when a loved one has fallen ill or is involved in accident, it is natural for other family members to send Ki in an attempt to save the life of their loved one. Therefore, people still maintained the ability to send Ki until the present day.

Ki may be Related to the Rhythm of Life

Most students, who were enrolled in MLSN-1 course, were interested in Ki -phenomena. They had experience in different forms of Ki -practice or martial arts. Some had training in music or dance. On the other hand, most of students enrolled in MLSN-2 did not have that experience. Perhaps the difference between the success rate of the first-day PBR test for MLSN-1 students (42.9%) and that for MLSN-2 (9%) was caused by a difference in the students’ experience ( Supplementary Tables 1 and 2 ). It is natural that previous training in martial arts or other Ki practices is advantageous in learning Ki . However, why is the training in music or dance helpful in learning Ki ? A common factor in music and dance is rhythm. It is well known that our life activities have rhythms, for example, heart pulsation, breathing, a daily rhythm, monthly rhythm and yearly rhythm. The universe also has rhythms; the earth turns once a day, the moon orbits once a month and the earth travel around the sun once a year. Therefore, if Ki is a function of life, then rhythm may be an important element of Ki . This may be the reason why some people who have had serious training in music or dance were found to have a high sensitivity toward Ki .

Although a considerable percentage of the beginners could sense Ki in a 10-week course, this does not mean that 10 weeks is enough to master Ki . As we discussed in this commentary, the essential requirement for the Eastern way of practice is ‘discipline and continuation’. You can become a master of any of the Eastern arts only when you are dedicated to life-long continuous practice. Nevertheless, the finding that a substantial percentage of beginners could feel Ki either from the first week or at least in 10 weeks, is very encouraging. It gives us hope that we could learn and use Ki for improving our health with a reasonable amount of practice time.

In conclusion, the significance of our findings in relation to CAM is 3-fold: (i) Ki has both energy and entropy (information) aspects. In the healing art that employs Ki , the mindset of a healer may be transmitted to the patient as ‘information’. (ii) If beginners have had sufficient training in Ki -related practices, martial arts, music or dance, about 50% of them could sense Ki after a 10-week practice of NBM. (ii) The practice of breathing to enhance the Ki level may in-essence help to restore the original ability of human beings. Therefore, it may contribute to improve our health, wellness and life itself.

Supplementary Data

Supplementary data are available at eCAM online.

Acknowledgements

We thank Master Kozo Nishino for his Ki instruction. Thanks are also due to the students of the NBM in the USA who participated in this study, to Mr Steven Dennis for preparing illustrations and to Mr Mark Singer for editing the manuscript.

Travel Glossary: 100+ Terms, Acronyms & Definitions You Need To Know

This travel glossary contains more than 100 of the most common terms and acronyms you are likely to hear in the travel industry.

The travel niche has its own terms, abbreviations, and definitions.

As it can get complicated to understand them all, we created this complete travel glossary.

You can either click on:

A letter
Ctrl + f to use the search function

Note that we are still working on this glossary and we’ll update it frequently.

Abbreviation for American Airlines.

A Broken Backpack

A travel blog about long-term travel, adventure travel, budget travel, and more. You’re currently reading abrokenbackpack.com. At first, our blog was targeting backpackers and long-term travelers. Over the years, we have expanded our content with more travel tips for everyone.

Abbreviation for Air Canada.

Usually, an option that can come with an extra cost. Examples: optional luggage, optional meal.

Abbreviation for Air France.

Abbreviation for Air India.

Airalo is an online eSIM store that allows you to purchase eSIMs (digital SIM cards) in 190+ countries and regions around the world at affordable prices. Learn more about eSIM cards for travel .

An organization that provides air transportation.

A set of buildings, facilities and runways that are made for take-off, landing, and plane maintenance.

Airport codes

A combination of 3 letters is used to identify a specific airport. Examples: YUL identifies the airport in Montreal city.

Airport tax

Costs that an airline has to pay for departure and arrival in airports. These can vary from one airport to another and are usually included in a flight ticket price.

Practice in which you can order individual items from a menu instead of a set meal.

All-inclusive

A vacation that includes all the essentials (usually accommodation, food, and drinks). We commonly refer to an all-inclusive holiday or an all-inclusive resort.

An association or union between countries or airlines. Examples: Star alliance is an airline association regrouping several major airlines that collaborate to offer more flight connections and smooth stopovers.

Abbreviation for Aeromexico Cargo.

Abbreviation for Alaska Airlines.

Abbreviation for Royal Air Maroc.

Availability

The number of hotel rooms, or seats remaining.

Abbreviation for Finnair.

Abbreviation for Alitalia.

A bag that you use to carry things on your back. Usually large enough to carry all your things when you travel. Synonyms include “packsack” or “rucksack”.

A traveler or hiker who carries their belongings in a backpack.

Backpacking

A travel style that includes travels or hikes with a large backpack. Commonly, backpacking is a way to travel on a budget. The traveler may hike and camp outside for multiple days, or stay in hostels during their travels.

The basic cost of an airline ticket. Usually, this fare doesn’t include extra fees, taxes, or surcharges.

A bed and breakfast (often shortened to B&B) is a small hotel that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast.

Black Friday

A Friday at the end of November when you’ll find crazy travel deals on airfares, hotels, Amazon, etc. You can stay up to date with Black Friday deals here .

Step in which passengers are getting into the airplane. Usually, the airport staff calls passengers divided into different zones to board the plane.

Boarding pass

A paper ticket or a mobile ticket issues after check-in that allows you to board the plane.

Booking.com

An accommodation travel booking website with worldwide coverage comparing hotels, hostels, apartments and car rentals. You can book your hotels easily on Booking.com .

Booking number

Also known as a reservation number – a unique code including letters and numbers that confirm your reservation.

Bucket list

A travel expression used to define a set of destinations to visit or things to do in a country.

A bus travel booking website with worldwide coverage comparing bus route fares. You can purchase bus tickets on Busbud .

Business-class

A section that is usually between the first class and the economy class. The business class provides more amenities and services than the economy class. You can find a business class on planes or trains.

A cabin in a plane is the space inside the plane where passengers sit. A cabin in a ship is a room where a passenger sleeps.

Van that was designed for sleeping and road-tripping. Some campers prefer to sleep inside a van than in a tent. Also known as a camper van.

An activity that involves sleeping in a tent.

A captain in a plane is the pilot.

Carry-on baggage

A piece of luggage that you can bring along on the plane cabin. Usually, you’ll put this luggage in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of you.

Checked luggage

A bigger piece of luggage that you don’t have access to during the flight. Usually, you’ll drop off your luggage at the airline counter before you go through security and customs.

A confirmation of your presence on a flight, train, or bus. Usually, you can check-in online or directly at the airport, bus station, or train station. Once the check-in is completed, you’ll get a boarding pass which can be issued electronically or on paper.

It can also be used in hotels. In this situation, the client goes to the hotel reception, presents identification documents, and receives a key to their hotel room.

A client leaves a hotel by bringing back the key on time at the hotel reception and paying for any remaining fees.

It’s a synonym of a bus.

A hotel staff member who helps guests organize transportation, reservations, or any special requests.

Connecting flight

A flight that includes a stopover and as a result, the passenger must change aircraft.

Culture is a shared system of symbols and meanings that allow people to communicate and interact with one another. It includes the customs, traditions, and values that are passed down from generation to generation.

Custom Tour

A custom tour is a personalized experience that is tailored to your specific needs. A custom tour can be created for any location, and can be customized to include any number of activities or attractions.

Cyber Monday

A Monday at the end of November or early December when you’ll find crazy travel deals on airfares, hotels, Amazon, etc. You can stay up to date with Cyber Monday deals here .

Direct flight

A flight that goes from an origin to a destination without stops, or connections.

A deck is a floor on a ship. Some cruise ships can have multiple decks.

Destination

The final stop on a travel itinerary.

Type of rooms where you’ll find several beds or bunk beds. Usually popular in hostels because of their cheap rates.

Double room

A hotel room that had two double beds and that can accommodate between 2 and 4 people.

Exemption from import taxes. For example, in an airport, there’s a duty-free shop area where you won’t need to pay import taxes on products.

Early check-in

Early check-in is when you check in to your hotel before the check-in time.

Economy class

A section of the plane, bus, or train, with basic services and lower fares.

Electronic boarding pass

A virtual boarding pass that is usually on a mobile phone.

Another word for expatriate. A person who lives in a different country temporarily or permanently.

First class

The class with the most services – usually comes with more space, better meals, and premium services.

A fjord is a long and narrow inlet of the sea, usually flanked by steep cliffs.

Frequent flyer program

An airline loyalty program that allows you to collect points and transform them into vouchers or rewards.

G-Adventure

Adventure travel company that organizes small-group tours, expeditions and safaris around the world.

Area and door where passengers board their flight from or deplane at their arrival.

An establishment that provides accommodations to travelers.

Holafly is a website that allows you to purchase eSIM for your travels. You can read our complete Holafly review to learn more about it.

A budget accommodation offering shared dorms and private rooms. Very popular amongst budget travelers, backpackers and young travelers.

A popular airport where many airlines organize connecting flights to smaller destinations.

Immigration

An area where a traveler must present travel documents like their passport or visa in order to enter the country.

A plan, or route designed for a trip, usually in chronological order.

A feeling of tiredness felt by a person after flying across different time zones.

King-size bed

The biggest bed size there is.

A period of time between transportation connections, or stopover.

One part of a journey. For example, one flight out of a 3-flight route.

A small house or a part inside a large house where travelers sleep. Usually, it’s a synonym for guest houses or hotels.

The hotel is located next to the main roads and that is made for road trippers.

A vehicle that is designed for mobile living accommodation. For example, RVs, campervans, campers.

A traveler or passenger that doesn’t show up for a flight, hotel, or reservation without canceling the booking.

Point of departure.

Overbooking

A popular practice in which airlines sell more seats that they have available to compensate for no-shows. Unfortunately, this practice can create problems if all the passengers show up.

A document issued by a government that includes information about the identity, nationality, and visa of a traveler.

A word used as a synonym for passenger, mostly used in the travel and the tourism industry.

When staying in a hotel, a traveler can request a quiet room. Usually, this room is isolated or is in a quieter area.

Reservation

Action taken to book a flight, activity, or hotel room.

An area designed for massage, hot springs, steam baths, or saunas.

A building or area inside an airport. For example, an airport can be divided into multiple terminals so that passengers can know where their departure or arrival gate is located.

Moving to a better class of service, or accommodation.

A stamp or a sticker in a passport allowing you to enter a country for a specific amount of time.

Documents you can use to exchange for goods, accommodation, or services. Usually, the payments for these good, and services has already been made.

Synonym of travel in the French language.

A list of potential travelers that are not confirmed yet.

A software designed for digital nomads and online entrepreneurs who have a business in Estonia.

An expression used amongst young people that means You Only Live Once.

An establishment that displays, studies, and rescues wild animals.

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traveler: a person who travels.

Travel Agency

A travel agent is a person who has full knowledge of tourist product – destinations, modes of travel, climate, accommodation, and other areas of the service sector. He acts on the behalf of product providers/principles and in return gets a commission. Technically, a travel agent is an owner or manage r of an agency, but other employees are responsible for advising tourists and selling packages tours/individual components of travel products.

A travel agent may be an individual /firm or corporation which is commonly known as a travel agency . An agency means the office of travel agent or organization where all travel goods and services are assembled and coordinated for the smooth conduct of travel agency business.

Travel agency is one of the most important organizations in the tourism private sector which plays a significant and crucial role in the entire process of developing and promoting tourism in the country or at a destination. It is a travel agency which packages and processes all the attractions, accesses, amenities and ancillary services of a country and present them to tourists. That’s why travel agency is known as ‘ image builder ‘ of a country.

A prospective travel agency is one which makes arrangements of travel tickets (air, rail, road, and sea); travel documents (passports, visa and other documents required to travel); accommodation, entertainment, and other travel-related services from principle suppliers. It may also secure travel insurance, foreign currency for traveling people.

History of Travel Agency

The first Travel Agency of the world was established by Thomas Cook in 1845 in England. The use of the term travel trade dates back from the early years of the 19th century, but this should not obscure the fact that what we today describe as travel trade (travel agency and tour operation business) was taking place much earlier in history.

Throughout history, there was travel middleman who helped the merchants traveling for trade and others who traveled for religious purposes.

In 1841 a fortunate day comes in the history of travel trade when Thomas Cook , as secretary of South Midland Temperance Association, organized a trip by a train for 570 members for his association to the distance of 22 miles. He bought railway tickets in bulk to sell them to people.

The experiment was successful and everybody was exultant. Mr. Cook had done his job on a no-profit basis. But, incidentally, It gave him a new idea and turned it into a tour business.

Four years later in 1845 , he set up a ‘ World’s First Travel Agency ‘ to organize excursions. Due to this innovative approach, Mr. Thomas Cook is known as the Father of Travel Agency Business . He co-ordinated railway and steamship excursions throughout England, Scotland and Europe.

However, the railways only gave him a 5% commission which was not enough to meet his overheads, so he decided to diversify this business into tour operation .

In 1855 Mr. Cook started operating package tours . He conducted the world’s first international tour from England to Paris.

Types of Travel Agency

Travel agencies are basically categorized into two types-: Retail Travel Agenc y and Wholesale Travel Agency .

Retail Travel Agency

A retail travel agency sells tourists products directly to the public on the behalf of the products suppliers and in return get commissions. Some package tour is sold in two ways i.e., on a commission basis and mark up the price.

When a travel agency sells a tour on the marked-up price it means that first, it markup the cost of the tour and then sell it at a higher rate. The markup price is the difference between retail price and wholesale cost.

Definitions of Retail Travel Agency

According to Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) a retail travel agency is defined as ” a business that performs the following functions: quotes fares, rates, make reservations, arrange travel tickets and accommodation, arrange travel insurance, foreign currency, documents and accepts payments.”

According to SARC (1967), ” retail travel agency business consists of the activities involved in selling tourism products/services directly to the tourists and performs normal functions such as issuing air tickets, making accommodation and transportation reservation, providing specialized services, and accepting and making payments.”

The main source of the revenue for the travel agency is the commission received from the vendors. However, the rate of the commission differs from organization to organization an travel component to the travel component.

A travel agency receives appx. 95% of their revenue from the commission, and the remaining 5% from consultancy services and others.

Wholesale Travel Agency

These agencies are specialized in organizing package tours, which are marketed to the customers/tourists through the network of a retail travel agency or directly to the prospective clients ( if wholesale travel agency has a retail division). A wholesale travel agency purchases tourists’ product components in the bulk and designs tour packages.

Sometimes, a wholesale travel agency buys travel components from the vendor in bulk and resell them to other travel business originations.

Wholesale travel agencies assemble package holidays and sell them to clients through retail travel agencies. A typical package tour includes – air tickets, accommodation, and something other services may also be included in it such as entertainment, sightseeing, and sports activities, etc.

These packages are referred to as ‘package tours’ most of these tours include the services of escorts but a few are sold to people who wish to travel independently.

Now a question arises – How a wholesale travel agency generates profits?

Generally, a wholesaler receives volume discounts from the principal suppliers because a wholesaler might agree to purchase a large number of seats from a particular airline or reserve a large number of rooms at a particular hotel or resort.

Practically, a wholesaler who sells package vacations/tours is called a Tour Operator . However, technically there is a difference between a wholesaler and a tour operator. A wholesaler who sells tourists products individually without assembling them into a package tour is called a Consolidator .

Mostly, these are specialized in particular product components such as air tickets, accommodation, and conferences, and conventions, etc.

Difference between Wholesale Travel Agencies and Tour operators

The wholesale travel agencies may offer or operate the package tours or may specialize in developing tours for inbound as well as outbound travelers. They are often referred to as tour operators , but these two essentially different:

Wholesale travel agency does not sell directly to the public, while tour operators do sell directly to clients.
A wholesale travel agency usually combines, assembles and contacts for existing travel services to formulate a new travel product she has his own one or more components of travel product i.e. ‘ inclusive tours.’
Wholesale travel agencies are less inclined than tour operators to perform ground services i.e. handling agency or ground operators.
A wholesale travel agency may deal with one component of travel product while a tour operator offers a variety of tour programmes.
The size of the business is large in the case of tour operators in comparison to a wholesale travel agency.

Features and Importance of the Travel Agency

Travel agency plays an important role in the travel sector business. Some most important features and importance of the travel agency business are following as:-

An important link between the clients and principal suppliers.
Image-Builder.
Ensures rapid travel services.
Provider of authentic and reliable travel information.
A social a continuous process.
Establishes a good relationship with clients and vendors.

These are the most important features of the Travel Agency Business.

Functions and Services of Travel Agency

Today, Travel Agencies have been recognized as a vital component of travel and tourism and have become an integral part of the travel and tourism industry at globally. They account for more than 90% of international and 70% of domestic tourist traffic

Further, more than 60% of all travel agency revenues are derived from business travel. Most travel agencies sell both commercial and leisure travel but there are many travel agencies that only specialized in one sector or the other.

The operation of each travel agency is based on the scope of its activities and organizational size. Here we discuss the functions of a large scale travel agency that performs all types of activities such as Retail travel agency, wholesaling and tour operations, etc. The main function of a large-scale travel agency are:

Travel Information

Whatever the size of a travel agency, it has to provide necessary travel information to tourists. A travel agency must give up-to-date, accurate, and timely information regarding destinations mode of travel, accommodation, sight-seeing, shopping, immigration, passport, visa, customs clearance and procedure, health and security rules, and various permits required to travel in particular areas, etc.

Itinerary Preparation

The term tourists itinerary is used to identify the origin, destination and all the stopping points in a traveler’s tours. It is a composition of various elements and designed after a detailed study of the market. Travel agencies prepare an itinerary for tour packages.

Airline Ticketing and Reservation

A travel agency sells a variety of tourism products. Airline ticketing and reservation is still a major source of revenue. Travel agencies perform a function of airline ticketing and reservation on behalf of various airlines.

Tour Packaging and Costing

Travel agencies prepare a tour package and sell them to tourists. The coasting and pricing of tour packages depend to a large extent on the ability of travel agents as to how effectively he is able to negotiate with the principal suppliers.

Reservation

It is a very important function of all types of travel agencies. A travel agency consistently makes linkage with the accommodation sector, transport sector and other entertainment organizations to reserve rooms, and seats in the cultural programs and transportation.

Travel Insurance

Some large-scale travel agencies perform additional functions to serve their clients. Travel insurance protects travelers against the person as well as baggage losses resulting from a wide range of travel-related happenings and problems.

Currency Services

Approved travel agency authorized by Govt. body provides currency exchange services to tourists.

Organization of Conference/Conventions

Large-scale travel agencies offer a complete convention/conference package which includes registration of the participants at the venue to be picked up for dropped to the airport/hotel, overhead projectors, slide projectors, TV, VCR, information counter, sightseeing, etc.

Travel Agency Linkages and Integration

Basically, a travel agency serves two types of clients: business travelers and leisure travelers. Incidentally, the requirements of these tourists are different and an agency has to assemble or purchase-related components from the principal suppliers to cater to their needs.

Essentially, travel agencies maintain close ties with Airlines, hotels, car rentals, banks, insurance companies, railways, government, trade associations, foreign tour operators and travel agents, ground operators, cruise companies, and tourism educational institutes.

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Definition of traveling

Examples of traveling in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'traveling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing traveling

traveling bag
traveling case
traveling companion
traveling fellowship
traveling salesman

Articles Related to traveling

Is it ‘traveling’ or...

Is it ‘traveling’ or ‘travelling’?

A tale of two variants

Dictionary Entries Near traveling

traveler's-tree

traveling apron

Cite this Entry

“Traveling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traveling. Accessed 25 Aug. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of traveling, more from merriam-webster on traveling.

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for traveling

Nglish: Translation of traveling for Spanish Speakers

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about traveling

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Definition of 'travel'

travel in British English

Travel in american english, examples of 'travel' in a sentence travel, cobuild collocations travel, trends of travel.

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My Hero Academia: You're Next

Izuku Midoriya, a U.A. High School student who aspires to be the best hero he can be, confronts the villain who imitates the hero he once admired. Izuku Midoriya, a U.A. High School student who aspires to be the best hero he can be, confronts the villain who imitates the hero he once admired. Izuku Midoriya, a U.A. High School student who aspires to be the best hero he can be, confronts the villain who imitates the hero he once admired.

Tensai Okamura
Yôsuke Kuroda
Kôhei Horikoshi
Kaito Ishikawa
Kenta Miyake
1 User review

Nobuhiko Okamoto in My Hero Academia: You're Next (2024)

Shoto Todoroki

Giulio Gandini
Anna Scervino
Katsuki Bakugo

Ochaco Uraraka
Izuku Midoriya
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Trivia This will be the final My Hero Academia movie, as the manga will end just after the film's release.
Connections Spin-off from My Hero Academia (2016)

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October 11, 2024 (United States)
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我的英雄學院劇場版：You're Next
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About 500K undocumented immigrants will benefit from this executive order. How to apply

President Joe Biden's executive order Keeping Families Together went into effect Monday, initiating a process that could allow over half a million family members of U.S. citizens to stay in the country legally, the Department of Homeland Security announced.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting requests as of Aug. 19 to grant parole-in-place to eligible noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens who are present in the country without lawful immigration status.

The notice follows Biden’s June directive to expand lawful pathways to keep families together and address "our broken immigration system."

“This is something that will help members of a community, people who have been working, contributing (to) and building their families in this country,” said Ben Monterroso, co-founder and senior advisor at Poder Latinx, a nationwide civic and social justice organization dedicated to building and strengthening Latino political power.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that more than two-thirds of noncitizens who are married to U.S. citizens are present in the country without due admission or parole, which makes them ineligible for status adjustment. Under the Keeping Families Together process, 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren may qualify for parole-in-place.

“Too often, noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens — many of them mothers and fathers — live with uncertainty due to undue barriers in our immigration system,” said Ur M. Jaddou, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in a statement. “This process to keep U.S. families together will remove these undue barriers for those who would otherwise qualify to live and work lawfully in the U.S., while also creating greater efficiencies in the immigration system, conducting effective screening and vetting, and focusing on noncitizens who contribute to and have longstanding connections within American communities across the country.”

Applicants who are granted parole through this process and are eligible could then apply for lawful permanent residence without having to leave the country.

“We have an opportunity to start coming out of the shadows of society and to continue contributing and living lives in this country, especially the half a million eligible to become legal permanent residents, to move on and to become U.S. citizens,” Monterroso said, adding he encourages everyone with the opportunity to apply to do so as soon as possible even amidst the current political climate, which may spook some potential applicants.

“I was legalized through the amnesty of the 80s,” he said, referring to the Simpson-Mazzoli Act of 1986 enacted by President Ronald Reagan that offered legalization and prospective naturalization to undocumented migrants and farm workers who entered the country prior to 1982.

Birthright citizenship in the U.S.: GOP candidates want to end it. Here's what to know

Besides the immigration reform in the 80s, Monterroso said a similar process occurred during the enactment of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program established by President Barack Obama in 2012 that prompted fear among eligible individuals to put their names in official papers saying they were present in this country.

“The bottom line is we are here, we cannot (remain) invisible and afraid of being known. We have an opportunity to benefit and move forward with a legalized process in the U.S.,” he said.

Monterroso said Poder Latinx will continue its efforts to educate the community on the process and their rights, keeping in mind that the biggest opportunity citizens of this country have will come in November.

“This is a step in the right direction, but it’s by no means the solution we need. We cannot ignore the fact that we have millions of others who also deserve an opportunity to come out of the shadows,” he said, adding that this is a problem that cannot be fixed solely through executive orders but through proper legislation.

“Those who are families, (those) married to a citizen should be able to participate in the elections to make sure elected officials do the right thing for everyone in this country,” Monterroso said.

Who is eligible to apply for the parole-in-place program?

Eligibility requirements for noncitizen spouses include having been continuously physically present in the country since June 17, 2014, and marriage to a U.S. citizen on or before June 17, 2024.

Applying noncitizen stepchildren must have been under the age of 21 and unmarried on June 17, 2024, and continuously physically present in the country since at least that date. Stepchildren must have a noncitizen parent married to a U.S. citizen on or before June 17, 2024, and before their 18th birthday.

Both noncitizen spouses and stepchildren must be in the country without admission or parole and have no disqualifying criminal history.

How to apply for the parole-in-place program

Interested and eligible individuals must file an Application for Parole in Place for Certain Noncitizen Spouses and Stepchildren of U.S. Citizens, or Form I-131F , by creating an account online and paying a $580 fee.

No fee waiver requests are accepted for this process, according to the USCIS website.

Immigration resources in Arizona

Many organizations in Arizona currently offer services that can assist immigrant community members and may assist in filing this form:

Poder Latinx hosts workshops throughout the year that help immigrants apply for residency and become naturalized citizens. Find them at 1616 E. Indian School Road, Suite 480, Phoenix, [email protected], https://poderlatinx.org/ .

Latinos United for Change in Arizona offers help with DACA applications, residency renewals and the naturalization process. Find them at 5716 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, 602-388-9745, https://www.luchaaz.org/ .

Phoenix Legal Action Network offers legal support for non-detained immigrants in Arizona by representing them before court in immigration cases. Find them at 602-730-1726, [email protected], https://planphx.org/ .

The Florence Project offers legal representation for detained immigrants and education services related to immigration processes in Arizona. Find them at Phoenix line 602-307-1008, Tucson line 520-777-5600, [email protected], https://firrp.org/ .

La Voz reporter Erick Treviño contributed to this article.

Florida state parks could face major changes under new glamping, golf, pickleball proposal

Pickleball courts , golf and disc golf courses, and more lodging could soon be coming to at least eight Florida state parks .

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Monday announced the launch of its 2024-2025 Great Outdoors Initiative , which proposes expanding public access, increasing outdoor activities and providing new lodging options across the Sunshine State’s parks .

The news release was light on details and mostly focused on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ investments in conserving the state’s natural landscapes. Details found in public meeting agendas scheduled to take place next Tuesday show proposals for at least eight state parks scattered from South Florida to the Panhandle.

Here’s what to know.

Which Florida state parks would be impacted?

Details on which Florida state parks these changes would impact were nearly nonexistent in the news release, but a look at the FDEP’s public notices calendar lists meetings at eight state parks:

Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Stuart
Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Fort Lauderdale
Hillsborough River State Park in Tampa
Oleta River State Park in Miami
Honeymoon Island State Park in Clearwater
Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine
Camp Helen State Park in Panama City
Topsail Hill Preserve and Grayton Beach State Parks in Santa Rosa Beach

Proposed public golfing area at Jonathan Dickinson State Park

According to the FDEP agenda for Jonathan Dickinson State Park , officials want to leverage existing improved lands and adjacent uplands to construct public golf courses and associated facilities.

The proposed improvements include two separate outdoor recreation spaces, one alongside the existing Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) Corridor extending to U.S. Highway 1 and another within the northeastern portion of the park.

Proposed pickleball courts at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park

The FDEP has proposed the design and construction of up to four pickleball courts at the Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park . According to the agenda, the courts would be constructed within the Northend Beach Access area where they would be easily accessible and convenient to supporting facilities.

Disc golf course, pickleball courts proposed at Hillsborough River State Park

Hillsborough River State Park has two proposals: Construction of up to four pickleball courts and a potential disc golf course.

The pickleball courts would be constructed within or immediately adjacent to the existing space of the swimming pool and bathhouse complex, within reasonable proximity to day-use and overnight visitors.

The disc golf course is recommended to be constructed within the mesic hammock south of the swimming pool complex and should offer scenic pathways through that part of the park.

Additional cabins or glamping, pickleball courts and disc golf course proposed at Oleta River State Park

The Florida DEP is proposing an expansion of Oleta River State Park's cabin area by up to 10 cabins in the space directly south of the existing ones. An alternative proposal to include "glamping" sites was also made to increase and diversify opportunities.

Up to four pickleball courts have also been proposed in the open space on the north side of the concession building and outdoor center.

Finally, a disc golf course was proposed in the northern day-use area of the park, located southwest of the entrance station. Australian pines originally existed in this part of the park but have been removed, according to the agenda. The disc golf course would require a restroom and additional parking spaces.

Pickleball courts proposed at Honeymoon Island State Park

The construction of up to four pickleball courts has been proposed at Honeymoon Island State Park . The recommended site is adjacent to the upper portion of the park's South Beach Access area where existing amenities and plenty of parking space complement and support the proposal.

Camp lodge, pickleball courts and disc golf course proposed at Anastasia State Park

The DEP has proposed the development of a park lodge with a capacity of up to 350 rooms at Anastasia State Park . The lodge would be constructed in the southern portion of the park near the Beach Access Area. The general location is east of the campground and south of the beach access parking, where a borrow pit was dug prior to the park acquisition.

Up to four pickleball courts and a disc golf course were also proposed in the general area east of the main park drive, adjacent to the north side of the Sal Run Use Area. Existing parking in the area would support the proposal but may be expanded if the need arises.

Expanding cabin or glamping sites proposed at Camp Helen State Park

There are two competing proposals for new cabins or new "glamping" sites at Camp Helen State Park . Under the first proposal, up to 10 cabins would be built within the northwestern portion of the park, north of U.S. Highway 98. The cabins would be set interior of the Lake Powell shoreline to protect the lakeside scenery while still being within convenient walking distance to the lakeshore.

Alternatively, the second proposal would construct a loop of up to 10 glamping sites with water and electrical utilities. The site would be near the existing bathhouse and set back from Lake Powell, serving as an environmental buffer to the coastal dune lake. The proposal would also consider installing footpaths to the lakeshore.

New cabins, pickleball courts, disc golf course and more parking proposed for Grayton Beach State Park

The state's proposal for Grayton Beach State Park includes new cabins, pickleball courts, a disc golf course and additional parking. Up to 10 cabins would be built within the footprint of the existing cabin area in the West Tract of the park, south of County Road 30A. The development would include a new restroom.

The proposal would also construct up to four pickleball courts and a disc golf course in the interior of the East Tract. The pickleball courts would be just north of the campground entrance road, while the disc golf course would occupy scenic space farther north, along either side of the park entrance road.

Additional parking would be necessary for the improvements, and is proposed to be focused near or adjacent to existing facilities.

New park lodge, pickleball courts and disc golf course proposed at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park

Proposals planned at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park include two alternative concepts for new lodging and the construction of pickleball courts and a disc golf course.

The first lodging plan consists of up to 350 rooms southwest of the existing camping location. The second plan would require a substantial redesign of the campground, the original cabin and bungalow area and the support area. It would still need to be developed within the existing footprint but would allow for landscape beautification and an enhanced separation of distinct types of recreational uses and structures.

The proposal also includes up to four pickleball courts being built within the ruderal area just southeast of the entrance station. A disc golf course is proposed in an underutilized area south of the park cabins.

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