Destination: Australia & Pacific
Meet ‘Australia’s Forrest Gump’
by Michael Yessis | 08.18.05 | 9:55 PM ET
Boing Boing has news today of Alan Waddell, a 91-year-old man in the middle of a quest to walk every street in Sydney and its suburbs. He joins a few other peripatetic travelers who have taken on entire cities, including Phyllis Pearsall, who walked 3,000 miles in London while compiling the “Geographer’s A-Z Street Atlas,” and Francine Corcoran who conquered the streets of Minneapolis.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzThe Politics of Travel Warnings
by Jim Benning | 08.01.05 | 11:38 AM ET
The Seattle Times’ Carol Pucci asks a great question: Why did the recent London bombings result in only a “brief and restrained” travel advisory from the U.S. State Department, while the terrorist attack in Egypt prompted a much more strongly worded advisory? Could it be—gasp—that politics are involved? It’s not a new question, but it’s as relevant as ever. Any traveler who has spent more than a few minutes studying State Department pronouncements for various countries could come up with numerous perplexing inconsistencies.
Planet Theme Park Takes Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
by Michael Yessis | 07.20.05 | 9:52 PM ET
Lots of news in our ongoing effort to chronicle the world’s transformation into a giant theme park. Boing Boing reports that a Michigan man named Wally Wallington is reconstructing Stonehenge in his backyard. Discovery Channel Canada has the video. Across the Atlantic in Kent, England, the BBC has word that work has begun on Dickens World, a theme park based on the “life, times and books” of novelist Charles Dickens. The park is scheduled to open in April 2007. No word on whether the laborers are exploited children.
“Shab bekheir, buenas noches and good night”
by Michael Yessis | 07.05.05 | 9:30 AM ET
I’m Saving Money for My First Long Trip. Where is a Good Place for First-Time Vagabonders to Go?
by Rolf Potts | 06.29.05 | 3:36 PM ET
Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel
When You’ve Launched a Guidebook Company Celebrating Bohemian Charm, Should You Fly Business Class?
by Jim Benning | 04.29.05 | 10:47 PM ET
We recently noted here that the New Yorker’s travel-themed issue included a profile of Lonely Planet and its founders, Tony and Maureen Wheeler. That article has turned out to be one of the most provocative stories about world travel and travel publishing in years, prompting conversations among travelers around the globe. Among the most discussed elements of the story: the fact that the Wheelers often fly business class and shacked up in a $400-a-night room on a recent visit to Oman; that when a child beggar in Oman gave Maureen the bird, she responded in kind; and Maureen’s remark that Lonely Planet doesn’t seem as real to her as it once did.
Planet Theme Park: “Disneyland on the Ganges”
by Michael Yessis | 04.29.05 | 10:45 PM ET
Bye-bye Mickey, Minnie and Donald. Welcome Ram, Hanuman and Krishna! The latter trio will be the central attractions at Gangadham, the world’s first Hindu theme park. The BBC reports that the 25-acre theme park will open in 2007 on the banks of the Ganges, in the north Indian pilgrimage town of Haridwar. “If the project takes off, it will move on to an international level,” writes Kathleen McCaul. “The plan is to open parks in Trinidad, Bali, Fiji and Thailand - and perhaps even Orlando, Los Angeles and London.”
Tony Perrottet: the Michael Jordan of Travel Writers
by Jim Benning | 04.01.05 | 12:16 AM ET
How’s that, you ask? The author of Route 66 A.D. is the first travel writer we’ve heard of to land a real-life footwear endorsement deal. That’s right. Michael Jordan-style. At least sort of. Nike didn’t come calling with plans for an “Air Perrottet” sneaker or billboards of the writer bravely touring the ruins at Ephesus. But Rockport recently offered to pay him to wear their new line of travel shoes and do readings in places like the Macy’s shoe department. He jumped at the chance.
Celebrity Travel Watch: Mel Gibson
by Jim Benning | 03.04.05 | 9:05 PM ET
In our ongoing yet admittedly lackluster effort to track the travel habits of the rich and famous, we bring news that actor-director Mel Gibson has purchased a Fijian island for use as a “private getaway.” It looks as if Gibson got taken for a ride, though. While he apparently paid $15 million for the island, a Fijian tribe says the land was previously sold for 2,000 coconut plants. We’re no coconut farmers, but you could buy a lot of coconut plants for $15 million. But seriously, the real problem is that, although Gibson bought the island from a Japanese company and the purchase has been approved by Fijian authorities, a Fijian tribe insists the island belongs to them. They’re planning a fight.
Carey in Japan
by Michael Yessis | 12.13.04 | 5:40 PM ET
Australian novelist Peter Carey’s next book focuses on a trip to Japan he took with his 12-year-old son Charlie. Their mission: to explore the worlds of manga and anime. Travel + Leisure’s Amy Farley quizzes him about his trip in the December issue. “Wrong in Japan,” the book about the trip, comes out next month.
Journey Through the Earth
by Bill Belleville | 06.22.04 | 9:40 PM ET
Out in the Whitsundays, Bill Belleville explores the underside of Australian dreamtime
Lonely Planet at 30
by Jim Benning | 12.29.03 | 9:46 PM ET
Jim Benning celebrates three decades of groundbreaking independent travel guides
Ski Travel’s Uncertain Future
by Jim Benning | 12.03.03 | 9:40 PM ET
The United Nations Environment Program has issued a grim forecast for the future of winter sports around the world, blaming global warming for declining snowfall and shortening ski seasons. Among the predictions noted in the Guardian’s report: Skiing could end in Australia by 2070.
New Zealand’s Surging “Frodo Economy”
by Jim Benning | 10.24.03 | 8:56 PM ET
Sandbags in the Archipelago
by Heather Eliot | 03.15.03 | 9:54 PM ET
On a remote South Pacific island, Heather Eliot meets a man and explores the fine line between fantasy and reality.