Destination: Caribbean
A Traveler’s Take on Michael Moore’s ‘Sicko’
by Jim Benning | 07.23.07 | 3:12 PM ET
Forget the controversial fact-checking piece CNN’s Sanjay Gupta put together for Michael Moore’s documentary on health care, “Sicko.” Now, the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Flinn—ever the provocateur columnist—takes Moore to task for his coverage of foreign hospitals, based entirely on Flinn’s own unplanned visits to hospitals in France, Cuba and elsewhere during his travels. “Michael Moore got it all wrong about the French health care system in his new movie, ‘Sicko,’” Flinn writes. “The best part isn’t that the government sends workers out to the homes of new mothers to do their laundry. It’s that French hospital meals come with wine. I don’t know how Moore, who seems rather starry-eyed over la belle France in the film, forgot to include that nugget.”
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Yahoo! Buzz‘Vamos a Cuba’: Should the Children’s Travel Book be Removed from Miami Schools?
by Michael Yessis | 06.07.07 | 5:39 PM ET
No way, I say. The fate of “Vamos a Cuba,” however, rests in the hands of a three-judge panel at the Federal Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Miami, which yesterday heard arguments regarding a Miami-Dade Country school board decision to remove the book from school libraries. According to the Miami Herald’s Tania deLuzuriaga, the controversy started when Juan Amador Rodriguez, a parent and former political prisoner in Cuba, complained that the travel book failed to accurately depict life on the island. The school board removed “Vamos a Cuba” in June 2006. A federal judge soon ordered the book back into the library, setting the stage for the current appeal process.
Inside Raśl’s Cuba: ‘Es Exactamente Igual’
by Michael Yessis | 06.05.07 | 12:10 PM ET
Could Michael Moore’s Cuba Visit Prompt New Debate on Travel Ban?
by Jim Benning | 05.11.07 | 3:37 PM ET
We wish, but we’re not holding our breath.
‘Havana: Autobiography of a City’
by Jim Benning | 05.10.07 | 11:02 AM ET
Cashing in on Santeria Tourism in Cuba
by Jim Benning | 05.08.07 | 9:58 AM ET
Visitors to Cuba have been exploring the religion of Santeria for years, but Reuters just published an interesting little story about the financial rewards for some Santeria priests. “Whereas a Cuban would pay with a fistful of pesos, a foreigner might spend $20 to meet a priest and $50 on good-luck charms like gravel-filled gourds or plastic bead bracelets,” reports the news agency. As a result, in a nation where most people struggle to live comfortably, priests can do quite well. Business can be competitive. In the neighborhood of Regla, Santeria priests gather by the dock when tourists step off ferry boats. At least one Cuban—a Santeria expert and anthropologist—is nonplussed by the practice. She told Reuters: “Santeria is not a commercial thing. Everyone has to pay to be cleansed, but priests shouldn’t pester people for business.”
Photo by jon crel via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Visiting Bob Marley’s Jamaica and ‘the Government Yard in Trench Town’
by Jim Benning | 03.02.07 | 4:05 PM ET
Trench Town, the tough Kingston neighborhood made famous in Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry, got some love from the New York Times today. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected in the Caribbean during the next two months for the Cricket World Cup, and Marley’s old neighborhood is one place that could see an increase in visitors. “In Trench Town, where street gangs battle over turf and where people live in shacks about the size of the garages at the glorious homes in the hills, expectations for the cricket tournament are high,” the Times reports. “Community leaders will have tour guides at the ready to take visitors around a neighborhood they say has a proud past.”
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: The Traveler Beware Edition
by Michael Yessis | 03.02.07 | 8:01 AM ET
They’re turning people back at the Canadian border, shrinking the payout for blackjack in Las Vegas and seeing through your clothes in Phoenix. Those stories—plus journeys to Alaska, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Sweden and Mulholland Drive—are intriguing travelers this week. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Going to Canada? Check Your Past
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Las Vegas: A Winner’s Guide to Blackjack
* Casino are starting to pay only 6-5 for blackjack. What’s next? No doubling down?
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Full-Body X-Ray Security Scanner Debuts
* The first passengers asked to submit to a full-body X-ray, apparently, “didn’t bat an eyelash.”
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Escapes Under $500: Go to Puerto Rico’s Second City
* That would be Ponce.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
The Cold Show in Fairbanks, Alaska
Most Read Travel Story
World Hum (this week)
Stephanie Elizondo Griest: ‘100 Places Every Woman Should Go’
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Wayfaring
Best Waterfront City
Project for Public Spaces
Stockholm
Travel Story of the Year
Solas Awards (2007)
Fishing With Larry by Tom Joseph
* Here are all the prize winners.
Most Competitive Country
World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitive Index
Switzerland
* What is this? “The index is not a ‘beauty contest’, or a statement about the attractiveness of a country. On the contrary, the index measures the factors that make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism industry of individual countries,” said Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist of the World Economic Forum.
Fidel Castro Dials Up Hugo Chavez’s Radio Show
by Jim Benning | 02.28.07 | 2:24 PM ET
Why don’t we in the U.S. get radio shows like this? Now that’s entertainment.
Duo Charged With Inventing Fake Religious Organizations to Facilitate Travel to Cuba
by Michael Yessis | 02.23.07 | 8:10 AM ET
Victor Vazquez and David Margolis “invented nonexistent religious organizations to apply for federal government licenses that allow U.S. residents to travel to Cuba,” according to the AP. Since April, thousands of travelers got permission to travel to Cuba through the alleged scheme. The U.S. government charged the two men with conspiring to violate Cuba-related travel regulations and lying on applications for religious travel licenses. U.S. law allows travelers to visit Cuba only for certain religious, humanitarian and research reasons, though a move to further open travel to the country appears to be gaining momentum.
Related on World Hum:
* New Hope for Legal Travel to Cuba?
Stephen Colbert’s ‘Investigation’ into a Caribbean Resort
by Jim Benning | 02.16.07 | 6:25 PM ET
What will Stephen Colbert be doing on his week off? The Colbert Report host dead-panned to Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” Thursday night: “Jon, I’ll be launching an intense seven-day investigation into the Royal St. Barts Golf Club and Resort, the Caribbean’s ritziest retreat, so my travel agent would have me believe. But I’ll lay down for a one-on-one Swedish massage with a masseuse who isn’t even Swedish. And then, parasailing: Is it really the coolest thing ever? A grueling five-hour examination. Then, I’ll access one riding stable whose occupants live like animals. The Royal St. Barts Golf Club and Resort: It’s the one Stephen Colbert exclusive you can’t afford…boy, you can’t afford.”
Related on World Hum:
* Jon Stewart on the Zagat Prison Guide
* Jon Stewart on Osama bin Laden’s Latest Tape
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Interstate Highways, Hot Destinations and the Mile-High Club
by Michael Yessis | 02.09.07 | 8:34 AM ET
We’re going to France and we’re learning the language. Excellent. Other stops in this week’s Zeitgeist include Spain, Morocco, Cuba, Hawaii and Hot-lanta.
Most Popular Country for Travelers
Reuters/French Tourism Ministry (2006)
France
* 78 million people visited the country last year.
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Fodor’s French for Travelers
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
‘Significant Steps’ Taken in Quest for Morocco-Spain Tunnel
Best Place in the U.S. for a Value Vacation
Hotwire.com Travel Value Index (2007)
Atlanta, Georgia
* Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Orlando-Daytona Beach, Florida; and Kansas City, Missouri round out the top five.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Interstate Highway System Simplified
* The U.S. Interstates rendered in the style of a metro-system map. Its designer calls it “map-porn.”
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
* We still like this book.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
In Cuba, Finding a Tiny Corner of Jewish Life
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (current)
How to ... Join the Mile-High Club
* The Guardian suggests this.
Most Read Weblog Category
World Hum (this week)
Planet Theme Park
* This story helped it rise to the top.
The Venezuela-Cuba Freebie Vacation?
by Jim Benning | 01.25.07 | 4:13 PM ET
You bet. It’s Karl Marx meets Club Med! USA Today reports: “Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has plans to sign an agreement with Cuba to send at least 100,000 poor Venezuelans to the communist-led island for no-cost vacations, an official said Wednesday.” A free vacation? That’s one item on the socialist agenda I can get behind.
It’s Jan. 23. Do You Know Where Your Passport Is?
by Jim Benning | 01.23.07 | 8:05 AM ET
If you’re an American flying from the U.S. to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean and want to return home, we hope so. The new passport rule, otherwise known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, goes into effect today, requiring that you carry one. Predictably, many travelers are now rushing to get their own little blue book, prompting newspaper headline writers to break out their favorite egg-related verb. Meanwhile, U.S. territory Puerto Rico stands to gain from the new rule: Passports are still not required of U.S. citizens, a fact that Puerto Rico is spending $36 million to promote. So how many new passports do officials expect to issue this year?
Need a New Passport? Bill the Caribbean.
by Terry Ward | 01.16.07 | 2:59 PM ET
When my passport expired late last year, I shelled out nearly $150 in expedited fees and overnight shipping envelopes to have a new one rushed my way. If Morocco hadn’t been calling, however, perhaps I would have waited for the Bahamas to pick up the tab. Nassau Paradise Island is spending big bucks on newspaper ads—I saw one in the Orlando Sentinel—touting a new gimmick to keep passport-shy Americans coming: 19 member hotels are offering to reimburse the cost of passports in exchange for a minimum two-night stay.