"It is far easier to travel than to write about it" - David Livingstone
Travel dispatches from a shrinking planet

Travel dispatches from a shrinking planet

RECENT DISPATCHES
9.30.08

Feasting in Lyon

Jeffrey Tayler feared he would never feel as intoxicated with the sense of discovery as he once did. But something clicked when he set foot in France’s third-largest city.

9.9.08

Visit Myanmar—That’s an Order

Travel to Myanmar has slowed to a trickle. But a decade ago, with great fanfare, the government launched a new tourism campaign. Stephen Brookes, then Rangoon bureau chief for Asia Times, remembers its bizarre launch ceremony.

TRAVEL BLOG
SPEAKER'S CORNER
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Vagrant Ruminations of a Compulsive Traveler

Where does the urge to hunt for that “fleeting fix of elsewhere” come from? Peter Wortsman recalls a life of travel inspiration. 

Q&A
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Rolf Potts: Revelations from a Postmodern Travel Writer

His new book “Marco Polo Didn’t Go There” includes his best stories from the past 10 years. Michael Yessis asks him how travel writing has changed in the last decade—and what he sees for the future.

AUDIO SLIDESHOW
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Notes From an Unofficial Tourist Greeter

Summer is over, and so is Julia Ross‘ season as an ambassador to travelers in Washington, D.C.’s Woodley Park neighborhood. She’s happy to be off duty.


THE LIST
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10 Great Travel Race Movies

Slow travel is well and good. But there’s something irresistible about a great travel race movie. World Hum Travel Movie Clubbers Eva Holland and Eli Ellison share their favorite vicarious thrill rides.

HOW TO
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Eat Ceviche in Lima

Grab a Cusqueña and get comfortable. As Nicholas Gill explains, a trip to a Peruvian cevichería can be an all-day immersion in good conversation and raw seafood.

ASK ROLF
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How Should I Spend My Time in Spain?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

BOOKS
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Unsentimental Journeys: Wrestling With Paul Theroux

Bronwen Dickey considers “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Great Railway Bazaar”

ITEM
11.9.05

“Defending the Tourists”

Ron Mader at Planeta.com has posted an interesting take on the uneasy relationship between travelers and the places they visit. (And I’m not just mentioning it because he quotes me.)


COMMENTS

Since writing this essay, I came across the following quote. For those who enjoy dark humor, here goes:

“A tourism study showed that 79% of respondents did not want to damage the places they visited. This inspired what might be the only effective strategy to further sustainability in travel. Identify the other 21%, effectively market vacations to them and when they go, arrange for them to meet with an accident.”
- Tour operator

By Ron Mader  on  11.14.05  at  08:36 AM


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