In Patagonia, In Patagonia

Tim Patterson packs his fleece and long underwear, and enters the Twilight Zone where corporate branding meets the multi-layered reality of place. 

Should I Quit Law School so I can Travel the World?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

‘The Worst Guidebook Writer Ever’?

Lonely Planet author Robert Reid reviews Thomas Kohnstamm’s “Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?” and weighs in on the controversy surrounding it

Thomas Kohnstamm’s Lonely Planet: The Firestorm Around ‘Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?’

The author of a new book that purports to explore the underside of travel writing is taking a lot of hits. Frank Bures asks him about the controversy he’s stirred up and his take on the guidebook industry.

Have a Hockey Night in Canada

From Montreal to Sault Ste. Marie, the sport is the country’s greatest passion. Eva Holland explains where to go to indulge—and who you need to know.

Promised Land Closed

And other odd and unlikely signs from around the world. Aficionado Doug Lansky, editor of the book “Signspotting,” recounts his 10 favorites.

10 Sizzling Hot Travel Tips From Sir Francis Bacon

Rolf Potts repackages the 17th century philosopher’s ‘Of Travel’ essay in the manner of a 21st century magazine feature

So Long, Virtual Magic Kingdom

Disneyland isn’t going anywhere, but Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom—an online world where players’ avatars explore digital recreations of Disneyland, among other things—will be shut down on May 21, gamesindustry.biz reports. In spite of a user petition with thousands of signatures, Disney is holding firm, saying: “All good promotions must come to an end, so we have decided the time is right to close VMK.” With the virtual Disneyland going offline, enthusiasts will have to visit one of the parks themselves for their fix. Score one for travel in the “real” world? Er, sort of.

Photo by denn via Flickr (Creative Commons).

Paris Is ‘Still Paris’

We noted recently that, given the weak dollar, American travelers are looking beyond the usual Western Europe destinations. That’s fine, but it’s nice to hear about one traveler who’s holding firm. In a letter from Paris posted on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel travel blog, sports writer Charles Bricker writes: “Damn the exchange rate ... It’s still Paris. The parks and the sidewalks are free, the weather is in the 80s and where else would you rather be?” Good point.

Photo by pedrosimoes7 via Flickr (Creative Commons).

Finding NYC in Grand Theft Auto’s ‘Liberty City’

I’m no gamer, but I loved reading Dave Itzkoff’s New York Times piece about his search for his hometown in the Grand Theft Auto IV’s fictional “Liberty City.” Liberty City, Itzkoff notes, “is New York City, and it is not.” In his tour of the game, he finds familiar sights and sounds—pedestrians shouting into cell phones, saxophone players in Times Square—but also, inevitably, discovers the digital world’s limitations. 

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New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Holidate’

Move over, glampers. The holidaters—couples traveling together in the very early stages of a relationship, sometimes even a second or third date—have arrived. And according to this Globe and Mail article, a number of large hotel chains are going out of their way to accommodate the travel-as-icebreaker scenario. Special arrangements include two separate bathrooms in one suite, or even two conjoined rooms. “If they don’t end up using the second room,” one hotel employee notes, “they’ll get a 50-per-cent refund.”

Related on World Hum:
* New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Staycation’
* New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Toeing the Line’

A Skeptic’s Journey to a Thai Monastery

Interesting piece touching on spirituality and travel in the Chapel Hill-based magazine The Sun. Andrew Boyd, who has written a yet-to-be published book about his “spiritual misadventures traveling around the world,” goes to Doi Suthep monastery in Thailand to quiet the noise in his soul. He’s a skeptic in a world of faith, bound by his “monkey brain” instincts. He lusts after German tourists and apprentice nuns, and swaps drug stories with a former Chicago stockbroker turned monastery-philosopher-in-residence. Enlightenment, it seems, is kind of hard to come by.

Photo by Wandering Angel via Flickr (Creative Commons).

Stop the Presses: Dollar Gains on Euro

A trip to Western Europe will still cost a bundle, of course, but the euro just dropped to $1.53, marking an eight-week low against the dollar. We’ve been decrying the weakening dollar around the globe for months—in March, we noted that even officials at Taj Mahal had stopped accepting U.S. currency because of its declining value—so we happily note this small bit of good news for American travelers.

Related on World Hum:
* Three Travel Tips: Ways to Save Money in Europe
* Ask Rolf: Given the Weak Dollar Overseas, Any Tips on Long-Term Travel?

Photo by jopemoro via Flickr (Creative Commons). 

Mountain Rescue: ‘Possibly Even Oscar Gold’?

That’s the prediction of our faithful Onion correspondent, on the scene of a mountain rescue that has all the ingredients for a “thrilling, made-for-TV movie”:

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The Oreo Goes Global

Kraft Foods is pushing the all-American cookie on Great Britain this month, hoping to convince the finicky biscuit eaters that two crisp chocolate wafers sandwiched with “creme” trumps a digestive any old day. The Oreo is already the top-selling cookie in China, though it’s been modified to suit Chinese tastes (less sugar, wafers instead of cookies and oblong instead of round). The Chinese are also dunking their Oreos in milk, the ever-perfect combo for this resilient cookie.

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Eighth-Grade Science Projects and the ‘Calypso King of Barbados’

Remember that papier-mache volcano that some kid (or, more accurately, his parents) built every year for the junior high science fair? It never did manage to teach me how volcanoes work—later, I’d only recall the bubble and hiss of the Sprite mixture foaming out the top. But recently, while trying to get a handle on the local music scene in Barbados, I came across something similar: this educational volcano video, set to a hit soca track by Barbadian calypso legend Red Plastic Bag. Maybe something like this would have helped me pay closer attention in science class. Then again, maybe I would have only remembered the song. It’s plenty catchy.

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Signspotting Gets a Fresh Look

Doug Lansky has redesigned the website for Signspotting, his collection of offbeat and funny sign photos from around the globe. For the first time, users can post photos and visitors can rank them. “This is just a lot more fun and gives people a chance to help me pick the best shots each week,” he tells me. “It’s a lot more interactive.” Lansky’s narrated slide show featuring some of his favorite shots recently appeared on World Hum.

Related on World Hum:
* Q&A with Doug Lansky

Riding the Rails in Iran and Beyond

Interesting bit in a Guardian story about train travel in Iran: “Scheduled for completion later this year is a line that will run from Kerman in the south-east to Quetta across the Pakistani border. When finished, it will present a mouth-watering prospect: uninterrupted rail travel from Europe to the subcontinent.”

Fictional Travelers and the ‘Greatest Books’

The Globe and Mail is hard at work on a list of the 50 Greatest Books—each week through 2008 they’re adding another entry—and some of our favorite fictional travelers are representin’. It’s only week 17, and already The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Gulliver’s Travels and Don Quixote have made the cut. I won’t hold my breath waiting for a nonfiction travel narrative to make the list, but stay tuned to see if Sal Paradise or Odysseus show up later in the year.

Related on World Hum:
* 10 Greatest Fictional Travelers
* World Hum’s Top 30 Travel Books