Destination: Caribbean
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: California Dreaming
by Michael Yessis | 01.12.07 | 8:40 AM ET
From Los Angeles to Big Sur, travelers have California on their minds this week. Supermodels, Walt Disney World, St. John and Sealand, too. Here’s the Zeitgeist:
Top-Ranked ‘Zeitgeist’ City
Hub Culture (2007)
Los Angeles
* The Walt Disney Concert Hall (pictured) and other attractions have helped turn L.A. into a city of the moment.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Big Sur Without the Crowds
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (current)
Ghostly Squid Boats of San Pedro
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
For Sale: World’s Smallest Island Nation
* The price for Sealand? $100 million, by one estimate.
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007 by Bob Sehlinger with Len Testa
Most Viewed Story
World Hum (this week)
Paulina Porizkova: A Model Traveler
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Dance of the Flight Attendant
* A clever comic by Jen Wang.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzIn Defense of Caribbean Tourism
by Michael Yessis | 01.03.07 | 8:20 AM ET
Few regions of the world are as dependent on tourism as the Caribbean. “Nonetheless, the literature on Caribbean tourism is surprisingly critical,” writes Orlando Patterson in an interesting opinion column in the New York Times. “Foreign anthropologists complain about the ‘tourist gaze’ and the distortion of local cultures; local chauvinists declaim that ‘tourism is whorism.’” Patterson, a professor of sociology at Harvard, calls these charges “largely puerile.” Tourism, he suggests, “enhances residents’ awareness of indigenous cultures, and it supports large numbers of entertainers.”
The Move to Open Travel to Cuba
by Jim Benning | 12.20.06 | 1:59 PM ET
The effort to ease restrictions on travel to Cuba appears to be gaining momentum. One of the U.S. representatives who visited Cuba over the weekend said he and other House members plan to hold hearings early next year on easing the ban. Massachusetts Democrat William Delahunt said hearings could help make the case. “There’s a significant transition going on in Washington with Democrats coming to power,” Delahunt said. “There’s a particular opportunity for dialogue and now is the time. Clearly, a majority in the House and Senate believe there ought to be a new direction in Cuba.” The Boston Globe has a full report. It notes that a likely first step could be working to lift restrictions for Cuban-Americans visiting family members, but that President Bush could still veto any changes.
Related on World Hum: New Hope for Legal Travel to Cuba?
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Cuba, Cabo and Chinese Restaurants
by Michael Yessis | 12.08.06 | 9:06 AM ET
And some travel icons shall take over the Zeitgeist. This week travelers are looking to Rick Steves, Pico Iyer and, once again, to Bill Bryson for their travel fix. Let’s go, but let’s not take Comair Flight 5463.
Most Popular Travel Podcast
iTunes (current)
Travel With Rick Steves
* And don’t forget: It’s time again for Rick Steves’ European Christmas.
Most Viewed Story
World Hum (this week)
Pico Iyer: On Travel and Travel Writing
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
The East Is West: The Best Chinese Restaurants in Southern California
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
New Hope for Legal Travel to Cuba?
Most Read Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Airline Luggage Complaints Remain High
* This year could be the worst for lost, delayed, damaged or stolen baggage since 1991.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (current)
How to Remove Tourists from Your Photos
New Hope for Legal Travel to Cuba?
by Jim Benning | 12.04.06 | 9:22 AM ET
In our just-published interview with Pico Iyer, the author cites Cuba as his favorite place to visit, describing it as “the most complicated place I have ever been, the happiest, the saddest, the most idealistic, the most cynical, the most confounding.” The vast majority of Americans can’t visit Cuba thanks to the decades-old embargo, of course, but there appears to be a growing chorus of people calling for an easing of the travel ban, and not just because Fidel Castro missed his 80th birthday bash, prompting fresh speculation that his dictatorial days are numbered.
Compay Segundo House Opens in Havana
by Jim Benning | 11.20.06 | 9:04 AM ET
Ry Cooder’s 1997 Buena Vista Social Club album, and the Wim Wenders documentary of the same name, not only introduced millions of people to traditional Cuban music but launched thousands of visits to the island nation—and for good reason. The music on the album is at once haunting, playful and soulful. No song embodies this more, I think, than “Chan Chan,” written by Compay Segundo, the legendary Cuban musician featured prominently on the album and in the film. He died in Havana in 2003 at the age of 95, and now, his Havana home is being preserved as a tribute to him. It’s sure to become a pilgrimage site for Cuban music aficionados the world over.
Che and the Image Seen ‘Round the World
by Jim Benning | 09.25.06 | 12:24 AM ET
No, not the image of Che wearing a Bart Simpson T-shirt, although it’s clearly an image that should be seen around the world. First, there was the original Alberto Korda photo of the bearded, beret-clad revolutionary looking totally revolutionary-chic. A new AP story recounts that photo’s journey from Korda’s camera to the world-at-large. It notes, among other things, the ensuing ironies (capitalists are capitalizing on the commie’s image!); the pets (meet Che, an elegant Doberman pinscher in Oakland, California); Che detractors (hey, they say, the guy was a murderer); and the spoofs, including this New Yorker cartoon by Matthew Diffee.
Nicholas Shumaker in Havana: ‘I Felt Like a Character Straight Out of Midnight Express’
by Michael Yessis | 09.07.06 | 10:17 PM ET
“Cubans Want to Meet You”
by Jim Benning | 08.07.06 | 1:10 PM ET
Here’s a line you won’t find in many American newspapers: “I lived in Havana for nearly a year without permission from the United States.” It opens Lisa M. Wixon’s thoughtful op-ed piece in Sunday’s Washington Post about Cuba today and post-Fidel. Among her many points: “Cubans Want to Meet You. The White House proclaims it can’t ‘assess’ the ‘situation’ in Cuba because it’s a ‘closed society.’ The society would not be so closed if the current administration hadn’t tightened restrictions that ban Americans from visiting Cuba and meeting locals. More egregious is the U.S. economic embargo, which has served only to empower Castro while impoverishing Cubans. The Cubans aren’t sore at the United States; they just want to enter the 21st century already.” My guess is that thousands of other Americans who have traveled to Cuba without U.S. permission feel the same way. But they’ll never admit to visiting the country for fear of getting fined.
In Cuba, ‘Fidel Has Always Felt Revulsion Toward Tourism’
by Michael Yessis | 08.02.06 | 6:40 AM ET
With word coming out of Cuba that Fidel Castro has temporarily handed his presidential powers to his brother Raul, American travelers who’ve long wanted to visit Cuba legally may be wondering whether that day is now on the horizon. It’s obviously too soon to say, but for now, they can find a terrific glimpse inside present-day Cuba in the July 24 issue of the New Yorker. The well-timed story by Jon Lee Anderson, written before the latest news story broke, focuses on how the rest of Fidel’s reign might play out.
Reminder to Voodoo Practitioners: Please Keep the Human Skulls Out of Your Carry-On Bags
by Ben Keene | 07.27.06 | 11:20 AM ET
Airline travel sure isn’t what it used to be. As we’ve posted in the past, many carriers have reduced the niceties on long distance flights in an effort to cut costs in an increasingly competitive business. These changes may not bother all travelers, but after a U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale ruled against well-intentioned individuals packing human skulls with their other luggage last week, you have to wonder what comfort will be the next to go. Back in February, Myrlene Severe, a Haitian woman and practitioner of Voodoo, brought a head with her from Cap Haitien to the United States to ensure a safe arrival. Judge James I. Cohn saw things differently. “All of us has something unusual in our religions,” her lawyer said during her trial. In our religions, perhaps, but in our suitcases no longer.
The New Che Play: “School of the Americas”
by Jim Benning | 07.10.06 | 2:12 PM ET
Have Bong, Will Travel
by Jim Benning | 06.02.06 | 11:45 AM ET
High Times profiles top spots for the perfect “stoner vacation.” Making the list: Ibiza (hosting the first annual World Marijuana FIlm Festival); Negril, Jamaica (“Pot Paradise”); and, naturally, Amsterdam (“Not only is it home to arguably the best marijuana in the world, but it’s also the freest in its attitudes toward smoking pot”).
Patrick Leigh Fermor: ‘An Englishman Abroad’
by Jim Benning | 05.31.06 | 10:53 PM ET
A few weeks ago, we declared (with the help of Thomas Swick) “A Time of Gifts” by Patrick Leigh Fermor one of the greatest travel books of all time. Leigh Fermor, now in his 90s, is not as well known to many American readers as other great travel writers of our time. So it was a pleasant surprise to find, in the May 22 issue of the New Yorker, a lengthy profile of Leigh Fermor by Anthony Lane. The story describes a writer who has lived one of the most compelling lives of the 20th century—so fascinating, in fact, that Lane insists it makes the rest of our lives “laughably provincial in their scope.”
Gilligan’s Island, Puerto Rico
by Ben Keene | 05.26.06 | 12:03 PM ET