"The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it" - Rudyard Kipling
Travel dispatches from a shrinking planet

Travel dispatches from a shrinking planet

RECENT DISPATCHES
5.6.08

On the Occasional Importance of a Ceiling Fan

Emily Stone knew well the kind of moment she was experiencing in Puerto Rico: the guy, the Cuba libres, the accelerated intimacy. It was perfectly safe, she told herself, as long as she knew when to get out.

4.23.08

A Writer’s Port of Call

Adam Karlin went to Indonesia to work as a reporter. But after a visit to Jakarta’s old wharf to see the aging Makassar schooners, he left with a calling of a different order.

TRAVEL BLOG
Q&A
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Tony Horwitz: Rediscovering the New World

Ben Keene talks to the author of the new book “A Voyage Long and Strange” about travel, American myths and the importance of visiting places where “history happened”

SPEAKER'S CORNER
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In Patagonia, In Patagonia

Tim Patterson packs his fleece and long underwear, and enters the Twilight Zone where corporate branding meets the multilayered reality of place. 

ASK ROLF
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Should I Quit Law School so I can Travel the World?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

BOOKS
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‘The Worst Guidebook Writer Ever’?

Lonely Planet author Robert Reid reviews Thomas Kohnstamm’s “Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?” and weighs in on the controversy surrounding it

HOW TO
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Have a Hockey Night in Canada

From Montreal to Sault Ste. Marie, the sport is the country’s greatest passion. Eva Holland explains where to go to indulge—and who you need to know.

AUDIO SLIDE SHOW
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Promised Land Closed

And other odd and unlikely signs from around the world. Aficionado Doug Lansky, editor of the book “Signspotting,” recounts his 10 favorites.


THE LIST
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10 Sizzling Hot Travel Tips From Sir Francis Bacon

Rolf Potts repackages the 17th century philosopher’s ‘Of Travel’ essay in the manner of a 21st century magazine feature

ITEM
2.15.08

Tokyo: ‘The Premier City in the World for Food’

imageMichelin’s first-ever guide to Tokyo gave the city’s restaurants a combined 191 stars, more than Paris (98 stars) and New York City (54 stars) have together. Sure, Tokyo also has far more restaurants (160,000) than Paris (20,000) and New York (23,000), but the news of the quality of the Japanese cuisine—Michelin released the Tokyo ratings last November—has resonated with travelers. According to the Japanese government, seven out of 10 international travelers to the country cite food as the primary reason for visiting. 

Today’s Washington Post has a great look at Tokyo’s restaurant scene. “It is pride and ambition that bind us,” one chef says. “The food we serve is a reflection of how we live.”

Related on World Hum:
* Eating Japanese: The World’s ‘My Boom’ Food
* Inside Great Sushi and the World’s Biggest Fish Market
* A ‘Gastronaut’ Goes to San Sebastián

Photo by yomi955, via Flickr (Creative Commons)


COMMENTS

And what of Singapore?

By  on  2.15.08  at  11:55 AM

Hi Jim:

Wow! I needed a calculator to follow that one.

I can’t believe New York has 23,000 restaurants. I thought it would have more boroughs-wide.

At one of these Big Apple restaurants, which will remain nameless, number 23,000-1, I applied vigorous Pythagorean logic to the number of diners not coming in, attracted, of course, by the high markup of obvious plonk (come on, you can tell by some labels that you’re going to be overcharged for a mouthful of spuming sweettart). But it was worth it anyway, to chow down on grey spareribs, listening to the memoirs of a friendly German waiter, existentially named “Bobo” or something, with a wild shock of Siegfried hair, who regularly saw the Beatles play in the Cavern in Hamburg.

But what does this have to do with Japanese food?

By  on  2.15.08  at  03:55 PM


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