Destination: England
Boeing 777-200LR Lands in London, Sets Nonstop Flight Record
by Michael Yessis | 11.10.05 | 10:56 AM ET
The plane, which departed from Hong Kong yesterday with four pilots aboard, landed at Heathrow airport in London today after 22 hours and 43 minutes in the air—and two sunrises. MSNBC, the Telegraph and many others have details.
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Yahoo! BuzzRecord-Breaking 23-Hour Nonstop Flight Takes Off
by Michael Yessis | 11.10.05 | 4:35 AM ET
Captain Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann took off from Hong Kong Wednesday morning in a Boeing 777-200LR and set out for London—heading eastbound, the long way around. Four Boeing test pilots are scheduled to share flying duties during the 12,500-nautical-mile flight, which Seattle Times reporter Dominic Gates writes will be a distance record for a commercial jet.
British Tabloid Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Fatties to the Front, Says Airline’
by Michael Yessis | 10.20.05 | 4:31 AM ET
From the Daily Mail: “A holiday airline is investigating an incident in which passengers reported how cabin staff asked ‘fat people’ to move to the front of the aircraft to help with weight distribution. A stewardess said she needed ‘eight fat people’ to sit nearer the front because the captain of a half-full London-bound Thomsonfly flight was unhappy about the weight distribution, according to reports.”
Tracking Travel Inspired by Literature
by Michael Yessis | 10.12.05 | 12:58 PM ET
Developers Announce Plan for Sexual Theme Park
by Michael Yessis | 10.12.05 | 11:56 AM ET
Its home will be in London, near Piccadilly Circus. “Backers say the London Academy of Sex and Relationships, due to open next spring, will not be a sleazy sex museum, but an educational multimedia attraction that will teach visitors to become better lovers and provide valuable information about disease and sexual problems,” according to an AP report.
“Terrorists are giving backpacks a bad name”
by Jim Benning | 08.04.05 | 5:11 PM ET
The backpack—the ultra-utilitarian bag of choice for hip travelers and students everywhere—is under attack. According to a report in today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, since the recent London bombings, transporation and stadium officials in the United States are more likely to view backpacks as potential carrying cases for weapons of terror. “Transit officials in New York are randomly inspecting backpacks on subway platforms,” the article states. “A frightened Manhattan tour bus operator recently called police with a report of five swarthy men with overstuffed backpacks.”
The 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.
Letter From London
by Jim Benning | 07.08.05 | 11:20 AM ET
Just posted on World Hum: one traveler’s e-mail home from London after the bombings.
Bombings in London
by Jim Benning | 07.07.05 | 10:14 AM ET
More bad news. The BBC has a detailed report: At least 33 people are dead.
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.”
The Art of Tourism
by Jim Benning | 02.24.05 | 12:47 AM ET
Who Says Travel Isn’t a Competition?
by Jim Benning | 02.27.04 | 9:04 PM ET
Not 23-year-old British-Italian traveler Maurizio Giuliano. With his recent visit to Suriname, the freelance writer announced that he is the youngest person to have visited all 192 countries around the globe, according to an AFP news report on Yahoo. So what’s his next journey? He is heading to London with 40 stamp-filled passports to claim a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Pico Iyer Reviews Jan Morris
by Jim Benning | 11.11.03 | 8:38 PM ET
Sunday’s Los Angeles Times Book Review features Pico Iyer’s thoughtful take on Jan Morris’ latest collection of travel stories. Iyer finds much to like. He writes: “One of the blessings of the new anthology—whose U.S. title is ‘The World: Travels 1950-2000’ and takes us chronologically through Morris’ career and across the world—is that it reminds those who had forgotten that Morris was a seasoned international reporter, for the Times of London and the Manchester Guardian, long before she became a master impressionist in words.” Throughout his review, Iyer compares Morris’ work with that of V.S. Naipaul. The two are contemporaries and master stylists, Iyer notes. “The principal difference between them,” he writes, “is that Naipaul carries his anxieties everywhere he goes, whereas Morris rolls seamlessly through even the most dramatic journey a human can undertake.” Iyer’s reviews, it seems, are appearing with increasing frequency in the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Unfortunately, the article is available online only to subscribers of the print edition.
Jonathan Raban in London
by Jim Benning | 10.31.03 | 8:46 PM ET
Until weblogs came along, you didn’t hear much about author readings in bookstores. Newspapers rarely feature accounts of the events. At most, they publish a single sentence beforehand noting the date and time. (Most U.S. newspaper editors are convinced that their readers dislike reading, as absurd as that sounds.) All of which is to say that I was delighted when a friend pointed out a detailed weblog account of travel writer and novelist Jonathan Raban’s August reading in London. Raban focused on his new novel, Waxwings. “First up, Raban discussed his penchant for writing fictionalised non-fiction, and then fiction with real-life characters and events, blurring these boundaries,” according to the thoughtful City of Sound blog. Interestingly, Raban himself responded to the weblog’s account. “I was saying to someone (in Seattle) last night,” he wrote, “that your version of that evening corresponded strangely closely with my own…”