Destination: Australia
Flying Coach as ‘Punishment’?
by Rob Verger | 01.29.09 | 10:31 AM ET
Tennis phenomenon Serena Williams has promised she’ll fly back from Australia to Florida in economy class if she loses the Australian Open, the AFP reports. It’s a punishment to herself, she says, and a way to conserve money. The article quotes her as saying, “I wouldn’t allow myself to have the emergency row either. I would be so mad, I would have to sit like the last row, the tightest row. That way I wouldn’t do it again.”
Do you think she could also arrange to be put next to a crying baby?
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Yahoo! BuzzMelbourne, Australia
by World Hum | 01.29.09 | 10:12 AM ET
REUTERS/Mick Tsikas Scaffolders, who were given the day off because of high temperatures, jump off Beach Pier in Melbourne.
Morning Links: America’s Dirtiest Hotels, London From Above and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.29.09 | 8:59 AM ET
- Paul Theroux remembers John Updike.
- American Airlines has been flying some planes without enough life rafts. Its short-term solution: Cap the number of passengers on the problem aircraft.
- The Big Picture shows off more of Jason Hawkes’ lovely aerial photos of London.
- Here’s a Q&A with Renia Ehrenfeucht on “the higher meaning of the humble sidewalk.”
- How are Spirit Airlines flight attendants like players for Manchester United? They both wear ads on their uniforms. (via Jaunted)
- Inside the “war on Roquefort cheese.”
- TripAdvisor’s list of America’s dirtiest hotels is out.
- Are these the top 50 adventure books of all time?
- Jason Barger pays tribute to “one of the daily unsung heroes of the air travel experience: the de-icers.”
- The “bizarre crime spree” that got this drunken Irish traveler deported from Australia included demanding money to feed his goldfish.
- World Hum gets a shout out in a Guardian piece about Twitter and travel—yes, World Hum has a Twitter feed. We’re happy to have you follow us.
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John Baxter Likes Him Some ‘Poor Food’
by David Farley | 01.28.09 | 11:07 AM ET
In the latest issue of Food & Wine magazine, prolific author John Baxter waxes in the travel column about his history with “poor food,” taking us first to a long stew-filled meal at a rural tavern on a Greek island, then to his childhood in Australia, and Paris. The most unlikely experience: Christmas dinner at the Georgetown house of a government official who had lost his job due to a change in administrations. Baxter doesn’t say it—though I suppose it’s implied—but we don’t need a downturn in the economy to see that “poor food” has managed to quietly work its way into eaters’ appetites of all incomes these days. Which—in all its irony—is a good thing. Pub grub, soul food, most of the Italian food we know and love, and the current hankering for all things street food (being served at upscale restaurants around the country) all sprang from the same place: necessity.
Morning Links: Sex and Romance in Rio, Chaos in Bangkok and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.28.09 | 8:50 AM ET
- Love this graphic of anatomical terms that most sound like exotic vacation destinations. I’m booked for the Fissure of Rolando.
- Cole Hamels loves Sydney.
- Giant waves battered cruise ships in the Bay of Biscay. Photos at the Daily Mail.
- GOOD rightfully thinks trains need some more support—and more money—on Capitol Hill.
- Inside the quest for alternative jet fuels. Black vomit nut, anyone?
- Another great Time Zones piece: “The Beautiful Chaos of Bangkok”
- Sex and Romance in Rio: Seth Kugel looks at the relationships between male tourists and female locals. Some background on the story.
- A Fugu mishap in Japan injures seven.
- Have you read “the world’s best passenger complaint letter”?
- An Alaskan entrepreneur wants a license to sell booze on his Fairbanks shuttle bus. His goal: To make enough money so he can hire another shuttle bus driver and join the mobile party. (via Fark)
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Morning Links: Polish Milk Bars, Talking Travel With Thomas Friedman and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.27.09 | 8:21 AM ET
- Milk bars in Warsaw are frozen in time, and that’s just one reason people love the relics of the Soviet era.
- Keith Bellows talks to Thomas Friedman about “the future of green technology and travel.”
- Road-tripping Yukon’s Dempster Highway.
- In Australia, incinerated meat “occupies a singular place in the national psyche.”
- World Hum contributor Frank Bures on what’s “possibly Wisconsin’s most famous landmark and definitely one of the world’s strangest tourist attractions.”
- Airports in the U.S. will soon begin testing radar designed to track birds.
- London officials warn: Watch out for those takeaway kebabs!
- Inside the Iron Maiden hotel.
- In the Western U.S. train travel is making “a heady comeback during these volatile energy-conscious times.”
- Scott McCartney on “the quest for perfect airline food.” Wait. Airline food still exists?
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Travel Movies Go to the Oscars
by Eva Holland | 01.22.09 | 10:39 AM ET
Yes, the Oscar nominations are in. And while this year’s crop of nominated travel flicks won’t exactly be waltzing down the red carpet with all eyes on them—as expected, the films that made noise at the Golden Globes got significantly less love from the Academy voters—a handful may yet manage to sneak in one of the side entrances and grab some hardware.
Morning Links: Glum Gladiators, ‘Nutters and Nudies’ and More
by Valerie Conners | 01.16.09 | 8:39 AM ET
- Yesterday’s incredible US Airways rescue in the Hudson River has yielded a medley of media coverage including eye-popping slideshows, surprising facts about bird strikes on planes and even a sprinkling of gallows humor.
- One New York City diner is taking the ultimate road trip to Alabama.
- Boston.com is featuring a series of stunning photos taken from NASA’s Earth Observatory website.
- Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn announced plans for the band’s third album, dubbed the “Syria Sessions” and inspired by Arabic orchestral music. The band will head to Syria to record in March.
- The backlash against Slumdog Millionaire has begun, including harsh words from one critic describing the film as “poverty porn.”
- With the number of foreign tourists to Rome down more than 12 percent from last year, the dolce vita is no more for the city’s “glum” gladiators, carriage drivers and other tourism operators.
- Vegas’s iconic topless showgirl review, “Les Folies Bergere,” is closing after entertaining oglers for 49 years.
- We previously noted Australia’s call for applicants for the “best job in the world.” Now, the video applications are rolling in, and there’s no shortage of “nutters and nudies.”
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Morning Links: A New Way to See the Prado, Cuban Tourism and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.14.09 | 8:00 AM ET
El Tres De Mayo by Goya (via Wikipedia) - An American in Spain writes about studying Euskera, the “clearest sign of Basque identity.”
- Greenpeace buys land in effort to halt a third runway at Heathrow. It’s now the prime minister’s move.
- Here’s an interesting project: Masterpieces from the Prado on Google Earth.
- Jonathan Raban on the best presidential writers. He notes some of the travel bits of Barack Obama’s “Dreams From My Father.”
- Cuba reported huge tourism numbers in 2008. It could grow if Obama implements the policy outlined by Hillary Clinton.
- A steady flow of flights from Europe—and “tightened restrictions in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia”—are fueling sex tourism in Mombasa, Kenya.
- A couple of long-term travelers share ten lessons of the road. No. 2: Smile.
- The BBC offers some tips on landing that best job in the world.
- Lawlessness reigns at San Diego’s skate parks. Given the city’s financial shape, officials decided not to staff them. Skateboarders have flocked to the parks for the “[f]reedom to smoke while they skate, drink beer, bring dogs, ride minibikes amid the skateboards and scrawl graffiti.”
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Morning Links: Science Pubs, Staged Plane Crash and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.13.09 | 8:13 AM ET
- Money guy Marcus Schrenker apparently staged a plane crash to fake his death. Wow. Gawker calls him “one of the most memorable villains to emerge in the financial crisis.”
- Bill Donahue in Panama: It has “the dark allure of a Graham Greene novel.”
- Tourism officials in Australia have put out a call for the best job in the world.
- Foreign Policy hosted a virtual roundtable on Samuel Huntington’s legacy.
- Tokyo’s Tsukiji market has reopened to tourists.
- Maclean’s examines “changes that have taken place in the travel landscape as a result of 2008’s tumultuous economy.”
- Sake consumption may be falling in Japan, but it’s on the rise in the U.S.
- In these Portland, Oregon “science pubs,” drink in a little physics or volcanology lecture with your brew. Even better: “There are no tests.”
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Nation Branding for your iPod? Canada Votes for a National Playlist.
by Eva Holland | 01.07.09 | 11:52 AM ET
Call it change you can listen to: CBC Radio is hoping to get some made-in-Canada music onto incoming President Obama’s iPod.
The Canadian broadcaster is accepting nominations for a “definitive Canadian playlist”—dubbed “49 Songs from North of the 49th Parallel”—to be unveiled on Obama’s inauguration day. “One of the best ways to know Canada is through the depth and breadth of our artistic expression,” said a CBC representative. “We’re excited about the new president, and we want him to be excited about us.”
So how do you go about compiling a definitive national playlist? CBC producers will whittle the suggestions from the public down to a manageable 100 most-nominated songs, and then online voting will cut the shortlist down to the final 49.
Sure, the project seems a tad goofy—realistically, Obama will have bigger things to worry about on Jan. 20 than whether he prefers Stompin’ Tom Connors or Gordon Lightfoot—but it got me thinking about music and national identity.
The Critics: ‘Australia’
by Eva Holland | 12.02.08 | 5:15 PM ET
Well, “Australia” may yet be the next big travel movie, but the cross-country-cattle-drive/war/romance epic certainly isn’t the next big hit with the critics.
‘Australia’: The Next Big Travel Movie?
by Eva Holland | 11.19.08 | 10:49 AM ET
I caught the trailer for Baz Luhrman’s upcoming, travel-flavored epic in theaters this weekend, and it looks set to follow the likes of Into the Wild and Lord of the Rings as the next big-screen tourist-bait. (It also looks suspiciously like an Australian remake of Out of Africa, but that’s beside the point.)
Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Australian Backpackers Biggest Sperm Donors’
by Michael Yessis | 11.14.08 | 11:06 AM ET
Now we know how a lot of male Aussies fund their travels. They apparently donate their sperm while passing through London. A spokesperson from one clinic in the city told the Daily Telegraph, “What you get with the ‘grand tour’ is very enterprising people who look at every single way of making a buck.” (via Jaunted)
Australia Named Top Country Brand for 2008
by Michael Yessis | 11.11.08 | 11:01 AM ET
Canada finished second and the United States placed third in FutureBrand’s fourth annual Country Brand Index Survey. Rina Plapler, the lead author of the study, explains her interest in country branding in an interview: “I’ve studied global culture and comparative religion and lived in North America, Europe and Africa,” she says. “I’ve been amazed how different the experience of visiting and living in a country is from one’s perceptions.”