Destination: Caribbean
Restoring Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea” Boat
by Jim Benning | 04.04.06 | 10:15 PM ET
Good news for literary-minded preservationists: Ernest Hemingway’s 40-foot fishing boat, Pilar, which has been suffering damage from termites and humidity on his old farm outside Havana, is about to be restored. American conservationists made the announcement last week, although Cuba will pay for the work so that no U.S. organizations run afoul of (ridiculous) U.S. trade sanctions. Hemingway used the boat for outings that inspired his classic novella, “The Old Man and the Sea.” CNN International has details.
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Yahoo! BuzzCarnival Cruise Ship Rescues 28 Cuban Migrants
by Michael Yessis | 03.21.06 | 5:52 AM ET
According to the Houston Chronicle’s Cynthia Leonor Garza, the Cubans—25 men and three women—were found off the coast of Jamaica last Wednesday and brought on board Carnival’s Conquest cruise liner. The migrants, she writes, soon will be taken into custody on a U.S. Coast Guard boat so that immigration officials can interview the migrants and hear asylum claims. It’s the second time in a month that the Conquest has picked up Cuban migrants on the open seas.
A ‘Creative Persons Utopia’ in the Dominican Republic?
by Jim Benning | 03.20.06 | 12:08 AM ET
Last December, we pointed out a New York Observer profile of Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria, noting that he and several other celebrities, including musician Moby and interviewer Charlie Rose, were involved in a land purchase in the Dominican Republic to build some sort of utopian community for artists and writers. It was all rather vague, and we wondered whether the project was still alive. Now comes confirmation in the March 20 issue of the New Yorker, in a feature story not available online, that just such a project is in the works.
Church Leaders to Bush Administration: Stop Restricting Religious Travel to Cuba
by Michael Yessis | 03.16.06 | 1:14 PM ET
Representatives from churches around the United States and members of congress met with executive branch officials yesterday to protest new travel restrictions to Cuba. “The meeting,” writes Pablo Bachelet in today’s Miami Herald, “was in response to a March 3 bipartisan letter signed by 105 lawmakers, asking the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to explain why travel licenses for some U.S. church groups were not being renewed.”
Jon Stewart on the Zagat Prison Guide
by Jim Benning | 02.22.06 | 2:27 AM ET
Disneyland’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” Ride to Close for, uh, Synergy
by Jim Benning | 02.04.06 | 10:54 PM ET
For Disney aficionados, “Pirates of the Caribbean” is not just another theme park ride. It’s a classic attraction, and the last one in the park to be personally overseen by Walt Disney himself. Talk of changes to the ride inevitably make news. Which is why the AP is reporting that the Pirates rides at Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida will close in March so that characters from Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” film can be added and special effects updated. Coincidentally, the rides will reopen this summer, just in time for the release of the film’s sequel, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.” Fans are discussing the plans at Theme Park Insider.
Americans, Finns and Danes Have Most Freedom to Travel Visa-Free
by Jim Benning | 02.03.06 | 7:38 AM ET
I’ve been spending the week in Grand Cayman working on a story and chatting with travelers and ex-pats from around the world. Twice I’ve found myself struggling to explain the United States’ ban on travel to Cuba to people understandably baffled by it. When they ask what I think, I find myself saying that whatever you think of Fidel Castro’s government, and I’m not a fan, you should have the right to visit the country and make up your own mind. Besides, the policy has proved remarkably ineffective. The man is still in power. All this was on my mind when I came across this AP headline on CBC.com: Citizens of Denmark, Finland, U.S. have most freedom to travel without visas. It turns out that citizens of these countries can travel to 130 countries without having to get a visa, according to a landmark report. Germany, Ireland and Sweden tied for a close second place, with their citizens able to visit 129 countries without visas.
Cuba Stories on Public Radio’s “The World”
by Jim Benning | 01.20.06 | 4:18 PM ET
Reflecting on Key West, Cuba and Whether Misfortune Makes for Great Travel Stories
by Tom Swick | 01.10.06 | 8:03 AM ET
Have Charlie Rose and Fareed Zakaria Found Utopia in the Dominican Republic?
by Jim Benning | 12.21.05 | 11:27 PM ET
Sometimes I stumble across travel tidbits in the oddest places. This morning, via Jim Romenesko, it was a New York Observer profile of Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria, whose writing I always enjoy, even if I don’t always agree with his politics. Zakaria, the story reports, was invited last year to take part in an odd vacation development project in the Dominican Republic that also involved musician Moby and talk show host Charlie Rose, among others.
“I Tried to Conquer the Evil Yankee Imperialists and All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt”
by Jim Benning | 11.01.05 | 1:27 PM ET
That’s the message that writer Ryan Clancy would like to see on the next generation of T-shirts featuring the iconic image of Che Guevara. Clancy isn’t happy that Che has become a symbol of idealistic rebellion around the globe. “Che demanded worldwide revolution, even if it meant a stream of death and misery,” he writes in Monday’s USA Today.
Human Rights Watch: Cuba Travel Ban Hurts Families
by Jim Benning | 10.19.05 | 4:09 PM ET
They may be blowing in the wind, but Human Rights Watch has issued a major report slamming the U.S. ban on travel to Cuba, as well as the Cuban government’s restrictions on travel for its own citizens.
American Visits to Cuba Are Down. Fines Are Up. Way Up.
by Jim Benning | 10.04.05 | 6:26 PM ET
A Bizarro View of American Travelers
by Michael Yessis | 08.25.05 | 9:01 PM ET
Dan Piraro takes a swing at American travelers and America’s image in the world in his Bizarro comic today. King Features Syndicate, which distributes the comic, doesn’t allow Bizarro to be viewed online for free during the first days of release, so you can check it out in a local U.S newspaper that carries the strip. Or, just picture this:
The Politics of Cuba-U.S. Travel
by Jim Benning | 02.06.04 | 9:27 PM ET