Destination: United States
Amy Tan’s San Francisco: ‘This City is Like an Opera’
by Michael Yessis | 01.22.07 | 8:40 AM ET
When visiting San Francisco, Amy Tan says, bypass Chinatown and instead head for the Richmond. The author of The Joy Luck Club and occasional rock ‘n’ roller offers the good advice—tourists tend to go to Chinatown, while locals and newly arrived immigrants make Clement Street a vibrant place to eat and shop—and reveals a handful of her other favorite haunts in a “Their Town” round-up in the Washington Post. Tan is a Bay Area native who grew up hearing the “siren’s call” of the city in the 1960s.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzRemembering MLK
by Jim Benning | 01.15.07 | 1:29 PM ET
How to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s life? Those inclined to travel can visit a number of historic places that explore his legacy, beginning with the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Georgia.
Photo: pingnews.com via Flickr. (Public domain.)
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.
A Former Peace Corps Volunteer as President?
by Jim Benning | 01.11.07 | 8:30 PM ET
Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, who announced his candidacy for the White House today, isn’t exactly a front-runner. But he is, interestingly, a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. Today on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Chris Matthews, another former Peace Corps volunteer, asked Dodd about that experience.
‘The Ice Cave’: Journeys Into the Wild
by Emily Stone | 01.08.07 | 7:35 AM ET
Lucy Jane Bledsoe experienced wilderness from the Mojave to the Antarctic. Emily Stone calls her resulting essay collection layered, literary and unflinchingly honest about the solitude of travel.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Cheap Flights and Covered Bridges
by Michael Yessis | 01.05.07 | 9:08 AM ET
It’s a new year, and travelers are still showing love for some old standbys—Las Vegas, cheap travel and a good Irish beer. But they’re also looking for some underwater adventure. Here’s your first Zeitgeist of 2007:
Most Viewed Weblog Category
World Hum (this week)
Las Vegas
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
No Place for a Zamboni: A Hockey Rink Where Players Sink
* Yes, this story is about the glorious sport of underwater hockey. It is, apparently, big in Britain.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (current)
How to Get the Cheapest Flight Every Single Time
Most Dugg Travel Podcast
Digg (current)
The Traveling Morans
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Three Travel Books Crack Entertainment Weekly’s Nonfiction Books of the Year List
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Busiest Airport in the U.S.
FAA (2006)
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
* Total flights logged in Atlanta: 976,307. Chicago O’Hare International Airport finished a close second with 958,643 flights.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (current)
Covered Bridges Take You From Present to Past
Iyer and Theroux: Two Very Different Perspectives on the Op-Ed Pages
by Jim Benning | 01.02.07 | 1:54 PM ET
Kerouac’s Northport Years: ‘Hey Jack, Does This Mean You’re Back On the Road?’
by Michael Yessis | 01.02.07 | 7:54 AM ET
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Paris and ‘The Places in Between’
by Michael Yessis | 12.22.06 | 8:02 AM ET
It’s a week of classics—and perhaps emerging classics—here at the Zeitgeist. This week, we travelers are showing our love for Paris, Irish pubs, the Hawaiian islands, the wonders of the world and Rory Stewart’s walk across war-torn Afghanistan.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Paris: 36 Hours
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Belgium has a ‘War of the Worlds’ Moment
Most Popular Travel Podcast
PodcastAlley (December)
808Talk: Hawaii’s Premier Podcast
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
* The New York Times selected it as one of the top-10 books of 2006, and it’s back on top after Bill Bryson’s nine-week reign.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (current)
SeatGuru
Most Viewed Story
World Hum (this week)
How to Down a Pint in a Real Irish Pub
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Most Dugg “Travel” Story
Digg (current)
The World’s Top 100 Wonders: How Many Have You Seen?
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (current)
How to Complain Effectively
* Solid advice for holiday travelers.
Most Read Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Storm Snarls Holiday Travel
The Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” Button Travel Zeitgeist Search
And for those who, like me, will be driving for the holidays this weekend, here’s how to survive a blizzard. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Got something for next week’s World Hum Travel Zeitgeist? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
2006: The Year of Mapping Dangerously
by Ben Keene | 12.21.06 | 1:00 PM ET
‘Tis the season to look back on the year that has passed and make lists, and those of us in the maps business are no less backward looking than others. Borders shift, populations grow or shrink, and place names are altered. The pace of change can be mind-numbing. So I thought I’d compile my own short—and consequently incomplete—list of some of the most noteworthy geographical developments of the last 12 months.
Is Times Square Turning Tourists’ Photos into Viral Ads?
by Michael Yessis | 12.13.06 | 7:48 AM ET
Most of us shoot snapshots or videos when we travel, particularly when we visit a photogenic place like New York City’s Times Square. Many of us even like to share them with our friends or on YouTube or Flickr—some of them, like the one above from ellievanhoutte’s Flickr stream, even make it onto travel Web sites. And when we do this with our Times Square images, we are becoming something we may not have envisioned: spreaders of advertising messages. That’s right. More and more, New York City tourists are being counted on by advertisers to be their viral messengers.
Chandler Burr on the ‘Scents of Place’
by Michael Yessis | 12.12.06 | 8:57 AM ET
We’re believers in the power of the smell to color a journey, whether it comes from a whiff of full-bodied, slightly sweet jet fuel; the legendary stench of durian; or sample-size lotions from some far-off hotel. The Emperor of Scent author Chandler Burr believes, too, and he’s written a fine essay about it in the December issue of Conde Nast Traveler. “The process of travel is imbued with, drowned in, smell,” he writes. “The smell of my first passport, which was that of book (new paper, binding glue) and fresh plastic (the thick photo lamination). The smell of jet fuel and the synthetic carpet of the airport, the lonely nose of concrete-and-Formica of the train station, the scent of seawater and engine oil and metal of the ship. In between check-in and jet lag, there is smell. It tells us where we are. We may shuttle from airport to airport and stay in luxury hotels from Shanghai to Seattle, but local smells still reach us, marking these places as indelibly as light.”
The Enduring Appeal of ‘The Endless Summer’
by Jim Benning | 12.11.06 | 1:52 PM ET
The classic surf film celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Its popularity lives on, Jim Benning writes, because it's one of the greatest wanderlust-inducing documentaries ever made -- and a potent antidote to winter.
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
World Hum World Headlines
by Jim Benning | 12.05.06 | 8:30 PM ET
News shorts for curious travelers.
Egypt
Pharaohs’ Tombs Trump Village Homes
Reports the New York Times: “Bulldozers moved Saturday into an Egyptian village near the Valley of the Kings in pursuit of a long-delayed effort to allow archaeologists to begin studying a wealth of tombs in the area.” More than 100 houses have been cleared in the last week. Interesting. In Los Angeles, they’d more likely destroy historic tombs to build new houses.
USA
What’s your travel terror score?
Did you know you had one? “Almost every person entering and leaving the United States by air, sea or land is assessed based on [Automated Targeting System’s] analysis of their travel records and other data, including items such as where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and what kind of meal they ordered,” the Associated Press reports. Creepy.
Spain
Bona tarda or buenas tardes?
The Los Angeles Times explores the pitched battle over languages in Catalonia. “Some ATMs in Spain offer a choice of six languages, four of which are the Spaniards’ own.”
Japan
Ping, Ka-Ching, Ka-Boom!
Money raised from Japan’s pachinko habit just might be supporting North Korea’s nuclear program, the Los Angeles Times reports. “The machines rake in more than $200 billion a year, some of which finds its way to North Korea.” As a result, some players are souring on the game.
USA
Bright lights, big city, mucho vino
Novelist Jay McInerney has a great side gig: traveling the world to write about wine for Home & Garden. Now, a number of those columns have been collected in a new book, A Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine. His interest in wine “started with literature, really—as with so many other things,” he says in San Diego Reader. Among the inspirational books: Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” and Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited.”