Tag: War
Moments of Normal
by Jenni Kolsky | 03.28.04 | 9:42 PM ET
Photo by Jenni Kolsky. Jenni Kolsky struggles to make sense of the photographs she took at a peaceful beach in war-torn Israel
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Yahoo! BuzzJeff Greenwald: Travel During War
by Jim Benning | 04.01.03 | 8:17 PM ET
As war rages in Iraq, Jim Benning speaks with the travel writer about his anti-war stand, his call for Americans to journey abroad, and his new organization, Ethical Traveler
With the War Underway, Do People Want to Hear About Travel Writing?
by Jim Benning | 03.27.03 | 9:02 PM ET
Paul Theroux, one of travel writing’s greats, read from his new travel memoir, Dark Star Safari, on the first stop of his book tour Wednesday evening in Southern California. Given all the war hoopla, I wondered on the way there how many people would turn out for a book about travel in Africa. Maybe everyone would stay home, glued to the news. Or, more hopefully, perhaps the city’s travelers, waiting out the war before heading abroad again, would be itching for a little escapism.
Happily, 20 minutes before Theroux was to appear, the bookstore’s reading room was so packed that employees hurried to bring out more chairs. By the time Theroux walked in, smiling, at least 75 people were on hand. Not bad at all. Theroux quickly launched into an explanation of why he traveled to Africa. He wanted to see the place where, four decades earlier, he’d worked in the Peace Corps. He wanted to get away from it all. “I’m sick of people calling me up, saying, ‘Can you do this for me tomorrow?’” he said. Between e-mail, fax machines and cell phones, “Anyone can find you,” he said. “We’re so connected. It’s a kind of craziness. One of the great thrills of traveling in the world is losing yourself. I wanted people to call up my wife and say, ‘Where’s Paul?’ ‘Oh I don’t know. He just went and disappeared.’” The audience erupted in laughter.
Theroux spoke of getting robbed in South Africa and, on another occasion, ducking behind cows to avoid getting shot. He suffered five months of parasites but barely mentioned it in the book. “Who wants to read about that?” he said. He read a paragraph, took a few questions, signed copies of the book. He made only one brief mention of the war. By the time I left, with visions of Africa in my head, I felt as though I had disconnected, if only briefly. It was a fine evening.
Jewish Settlers Propose ‘Terror Tours’
by Michael Yessis | 03.14.03 | 2:50 PM ET
In yet another sign that the world has gone mad, the BBC online reports that Jewish settlers will soon be offering “special ‘terror tours’ of the West Bank and Gaza, in which tourists will be trained to fire weapons and participate in mock fights with Arab militants.” The tours were scheduled to start late this month, but the likely war in Iraq has put plans on hold.
Celebrity Travel Watch: Pre-War Edition
by Michael Yessis | 03.05.03 | 3:30 PM ET
Like a lot of American travelers, actor Vince Vaughn had to field a lot of queries regarding President George W. Bush’s sabre-rattling during his recent stay in England. According to USA Today, the I-take-no-crap star of Swingers has three words for his questioners: The Marshall Plan. The Vaughn anecdote comprises the lead of Marco R. della Cava’s piece, which is yet another in a long line of “American travelers coping overseas” stories. More should be on their way as the countdown to war continues.
Iraq Guidebooks are Selling Like There’s No Tomorrow
by Jim Benning | 02.26.03 | 3:36 PM ET
That’s according to UK publisher Hilary Bradt, who told This is Local London that Bradt Travel Guides’ Iraq book has sold all 4,000 copies that were printed last May. The article also contained this intriguing line: “Bradt Travel Guides was also contacted by an official from Washington who requested a copy of the book.” Does the U.S. have the best damn intelligence-gathering force on the planet or what?
To Travel or Not to Travel?
by Michael Yessis | 02.25.03 | 3:47 PM ET
We generally like to focus here on stories about people traveling, but the big story in the U.S. these days continues to be about how Americans are feeling about traveling, or not traveling, particularly given fears of terrorism and the likelihood of an invasion of Iraq. Enter the pollsters. In a recent New York Times/CBS News poll of 747 people, 55 percent of respondents said “they would not travel overseas in the next six months, regardless of vacation time or money,” Sunday’s New York Times reports. “Of those, 5 percent said the chance of war with Iraq was the reason for not going beyond North America.” What’s more, “among the 55 percent who said they weren’t going overseas any time soon, 21 percent said they were generally afraid to do so or thought the world is just too unsettled.” (Registration required.)
‘I Feel Safer on a Normal Day Here in Bosnia Than I Have in Some Major U.S. Cities’
by Jim Benning | 02.25.03 | 3:44 PM ET
American readers of Rick Steves’ European travel Web site have been debating the safety of overseas travel on the site’s Graffiti Wall. While some of those who have posted say they’re staying home for the time being, Americans contributing opinions from Europe maintain that now is a fine time to travel. “As an American that has lived in Europe for over a year, I can tell you that there should be no problem with travel here,” one reader wrote. “I’m a contractor currently working in Bosnia. Over the past year I have done a few trips in and through western Europe had have had no problems. In fact I feel safer on a normal day here in Bosnia then I have in some major U.S. cities.”
Travel Jitters and the Pending War
by Jim Benning | 02.24.03 | 3:49 PM ET
With an invasion of Iraq looking ever more likely in the next month or two, several American newspaper travel sections on Sunday explored the pros, cons and safety of overseas travel. “Will it be safe to venture out of Fortress America once the Stealth bombers and cruise missiles start flying?” columnist John Flinn asks in the San Francisco Chronicle. He’s betting it will. He’s planning a trip to Italy in May, he writes, reminding readers that they’re historically 40 more times as likely to drown than to die at the hands of a terrorist.
For its part, the Los Angeles Times (registration required) noted one benefit of the current fears: a big drop in overseas travel prices. In addition, lest anyone get sick over travel anxiety, the Times’ “Healthy Traveler” columnist Kathleen Doheny offers tips on coping with in-flight stress, such as practicing meditation.
Meanwhile, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Travel Editor Thomas Swick looks at the flap in America over European attitudes toward a war. He writes: “[Europe] is the one great chunk of the planet that has put aside ancient antagonisms and forged for its diverse peoples a common destiny, an accomplishment that is worthy not just of awe but of emulation.”
‘I Would Get Stopped on the Road Because They Can Tell ... That You’re Not From Around Here’
by Michael Yessis | 02.14.03 | 4:12 PM ET
This week public radio’s nationally syndicated This American Life, one of the nation’s best radio shows, will air American teen-ager Hyder Akbar’s audio journal from his recent journey to Afghanistan. The show promises to be compelling. In many ways, Akbar is like any other suburban American teen-ager: U2 posters cover one of his bedroom walls. But he also has deep family ties to Afghanistan. After September 11, he wanted to see the country for the first time, so he skipped his high school graduation ceremony and went. “As a personal challenge, Akbar insisted on immersing himself totally in the experience,” today’s Los Angeles Times reports. “He refused to be vaccinated beforehand, and while there he suffered intense digestive problems because he drank the water and deliberately ate undercooked meat. It was his attempt to belong in a community that clearly didn’t see him as one of its own.”
Adventurer Pelton Recounts Ten-Day Kidnapping Ordeal
by Michael Yessis | 01.29.03 | 10:49 AM ET
Robert Young Pelton, who was recently kidnapped and released by a right-wing paramilitary group in Panama’s Darién Gap while on assignment for National Geographic Adventure, talked about the experience in an interview posted yesterday on the National Geographic Web site. Did Pelton feel like he tempted fate by going to a region known for its high rate of kidnappings and murders? “I tempt fate by going to the grocery store,” he said. “The reality is that there’s no safe activity.”
Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail! Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail!
by Michael Yessis | 11.24.02 | 5:34 PM ET
The supply route used by Viet Cong soldiers as they battled the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese forces in the Vietnam War is to become a visitor attraction, according to a BBC story.
“Tourist authorities in the province of Quang Tri have unveiled a $3.5m plan to restore a 41-kilometre (26-mile) section of the supply route which sustained the North’s fighters as they headed south,” the BBC reports.
The project should be completed by 2005.
War Zones for Idiots
by Tom Bissell | 10.21.02 | 10:54 PM ET
Photo courtesy Tom Bissell The "World Series of Journalism" had begun in Afghanistan, and Tom Bissell didn't have to qualify to play. He just had to show up.
Remembering 9/11
by Jim Benning | 09.11.02 | 12:01 PM ET
Travel magazines exist to celebrate the foreign and unfamiliar. Rarely do they touch on the importance of home. But as much as we love to travel the globe, the events of September 11, 2001 reminded us, a couple of Americans, of just how much we care about home. I was in Thailand last September 11. A day later, stunned by the events, I wrote a letter about the feeling of alienation that had swept over me being so far away from the U.S. That word—home—came up again and again. Today, one year later, we believe more than ever in the power of travel. But we’re also thankful, at least for the moment, to be home.
Sorrow in the Land of Smiles
by Jim Benning | 09.27.01 | 1:00 AM ET
On the streets of Bangkok Jim Benning faces a confounding reaction to the terrorist attack on America
Terror in America: A Letter From Thailand
by Jim Benning | 09.13.01 | 1:01 AM ET
By Jim Benning
Surviving Paradise
by Jim Benning | 05.10.01 | 1:09 AM ET
Visiting Fiji in the midst of a coup, Jim Benning stumbles over the line that divides stimulating anxiety from real fear. He has the T-shirt to prove it.
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