Destination: United States
From Sufjan to ‘Nashville Skyline’: Two Takes on a Road Trip Soundtrack
by Eva Holland | 09.26.07 | 8:52 AM ET
And the Kerouac anniversary celebration lingers. In honor of the 50th birthday of “On the Road,” the Guardian’s Laura Barton put together a 50-song list of must-listen road trip tracks, one for each American state. It’s an eclectic selection—everyone from Sufjan Stevens to Aerosmith to Loretta Lynn is represented—and it’s stirring up a lot of (mostly civilized) debate on the story’s comment pages. I can’t see how she skipped over “Georgia On My Mind” or “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” but for the most part I was impressed by the list’s range and creativity. Perry Como’s “Delaware”? Who knew?
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Yahoo! BuzzIn U.S., Big Brother Tracks Your Travel Habits Abroad
by Michael Yessis | 09.24.07 | 11:52 AM ET
From a chilling front-page story in the Washington Post by Ellen Nakashima: “The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials.” That group is the Identity Project, which obtained and revealed the government-gathered documents.
Kate Hanni: ‘The Ralph Nader of the Skies’
by Michael Yessis | 09.20.07 | 6:05 PM ET
Kate Hanni (pictured) is the founder of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, and she’s so committed to federal legislation in support of air travelers that she quit her job and took out a $200,000 line of credit on the California home she owns with her husband to spearhead the fight, according to a new profile of her by Joe Sharkey for Portfolio.com. She did so after being stuck in an American Airlines plane on the tarmac in Austin, Texas, for nine hours last December in one of several well-publicized stranding incidents.
Stranded at the National Mall
by Michael Yessis | 09.20.07 | 6:03 PM ET
The Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights hosted a "Strand-In" this week in Washington D.C. to rally for federal legislation protecting fliers. What is it like to be "stranded"? Michael Yessis went to find out.
See the full audio slideshow: »
Mexican Rockers Maná Make Los Angeles Arena History
by Jim Benning | 09.20.07 | 8:19 AM ET
Hotfooting Through the Landmarks, From Los Angeles to Athens
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.19.07 | 8:53 AM ET
Local guides around the U.S. are offering urban running tours that point out city landmarks while also giving devoted runners a good workout, writes Bonnie Tsui in The New York Times. New York, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco all have such tours, which are apparently growing in popularity. Though runners (me included) on vacation have been huffing and puffing on the back roads of new cities for years, their exploring has often been haphazard and befuddling. Who, after all, wants to run while holding a sweaty map?
Northwest Passage Open for Business?
by Eva Holland | 09.18.07 | 12:30 PM ET
When we picked the Northwest Passage as one of our Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet, we didn’t anticipate just how apt the “shrinking” moniker would be. The AP is reporting that the Arctic ice has reached its lowest-ever recorded level, meaning that a navigable passage could be open much sooner than previously predicted.
The New Native American Tourism: More History and Culture. Less Truck Stop Wooden Chiefs.
by Michael Yessis | 09.18.07 | 9:56 AM ET
During the last decade or so, South Dakota’s Lower Brule Sioux tribe has made an effort to transcend the cliches and kitch that have colored the perceptions of Native Americans. World Hum contributing editor Frank Bures recently spent some time on the Lower Brule Reservation with Scott Jones, leader of the tribe’s cultural protection and tourism efforts, and his story for the Washington Post Magazine’s travel issue reveals some intriguing successes.
Dollar Sinks to Record Low in Europe
by Jim Benning | 09.12.07 | 6:44 PM ET
Bad news for Americans traveling in Europe: The dollar hit a record low against the euro today. It now takes about $1.39 to buy—gasp—one euro. As the AP points out, a 300-euro hotel room in Paris would have cost Americans about $351 in November 2005. Today, that same room would cost about $417. Said one analyst: “Anyone who goes to London or Paris right now is going to feel like they’re being gouged and regret booking the trip.”
Related on World Hum:
* Three Travel Tips: Ways to Save Money in Europe
* Given the Weak Dollar Overseas, Any Advice on Long-Term Travel?
* The Dollar-Euro Exchange Rate Blues
Photo by jopemoro via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Guardian Picks Top 10 Hostels in the World
by Jim Benning | 09.11.07 | 11:30 AM ET
Making writer Benji Lanyado’s list of the top hostels around the globe: Art Hostel in Sofia, Bulgaria (“The Bulgarian avant garde is still in its infancy, and it’s mainly in this hostel”); the Gershwin in New York City (pictured)—yes, a hotel (“Just off 5th Avenue, the building is a 13-storey homage to Andy Warhol and all things pop art”); and Hostel Celica, Ljubjana, Slovenia (at the former prison, “People turn up for tours of the Celica even if they aren’t staying”).
Our Long National Passport Nightmare is Over
by Michael Yessis | 09.10.07 | 2:05 PM ET
The U.S. State Department says the months-long delays, the Kafka-esque frustrations and the lines like Rolling Stones concerts just to get a passport have come to an end. From the AP: “The department said steps taken to deal with the crisis—the hiring of hundreds of new adjudicators, temporary transfers of employees to passport centers and the opening of a new facility to handle the deluge—had brought the waiting period for a standard application back to six to eight weeks and three weeks for expedited service.” Let’s hope this bears out in practice. If it doesn’t, government officials might have to resort to something like this.
Related on World Hum:
* U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee on National Passport Month
* How I Scored a New U.S. Passport in One Day
* Is Getting a Passport Patriotic?
Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Maps, Mumbles and Miss Teen South Carolina
by Michael Yessis | 09.07.07 | 12:46 PM ET
I don’t want to pile on Lauren Caitlin Upton, the Miss Teen USA pageant contestant from South Carolina who botched her answer to the question, “Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?” As of this morning, the video of her awkward response has been viewed more than 13 million times at YouTube. Now, the Web site Maps for US has given her assertion that “some people out there in our nation don’t have maps” some additional infamy, parodying telethons and asking people to donate maps.
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee on National Passport Month
by Jim Benning | 09.06.07 | 1:05 PM ET
Yesterday, for the second straight year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to make September National Passport Month. The idea, initiated by Lonely Planet a couple of years ago, seems like a no-brainer to us: to recognize and promote the value and rewards of international travel, which can only be accomplished with a little blue book. As we’ve noted often, only about a quarter of all U.S. citizens have passports—a share that is slowly rising. (No, the feds haven’t exactly made things easier this year.) Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) introduced the resolution and has been a key supporter of National Passport Month—see the Congressional Record for her remarks. I spoke with her by phone yesterday about the resolution’s chances of actually getting W’s signature this year.
Kerouac! Kerouac! Kerouac!
by Matt Villano | 09.05.07 | 3:12 PM ET
Matt Villano grew up wanting to be a writer, but he lived in a town where Jack Kerouac once resided. The incessant references to the Beat legend pushed him to the edge. Then he read "On the Road."
The Distance Between Then and Now
by Bill Belleville | 09.04.07 | 11:13 AM ET
Photo by Frank Murray. How far can you go without extinguishing the thrill of a moment? On the 50th Anniversary of "On the Road," Bill Belleville reflects on a pivotal road trip of his own.