About Us
World Hum is for the travel-addicted. It’s dedicated to harnessing the power of the internet to tell great travel stories—through writing, conversation, slideshows and video. Its focus is the geography of wanderlust.
Most travel publications focus on destinations, offering tips on where to go, where to stay, what to do. We started World Hum in May 2001 because we wanted to focus not only on destinations but also on the journey, on travel in the broadest sense of the word.
We don’t see travel only as a way to spend a couple weeks’ vacation every year. For us, travel is a way to see the world when we’re abroad, but also a way to see the world when we’re at home. Travel is a state of mind.
World Hum is dedicated to exploring travel in all its facets: how it changes us, how it changes the way we see the world, and finally, how travel itself is changing the world.
As for the name, “World Hum” is a phrase from Don DeLillo’s novel “The Names,” and it describes the rush we feel when we travel: a surge of adrenaline, electricity, glee and, sometimes, on this ever-shrinking planet, connection.
Enjoy the site, and let us know what you think.
The editors,
Jim and Mike
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) has written for National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Traveler, Outside, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times Magazine and Men’s Journal. He’s a former reporter at the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register. He lives in San Diego, where he teaches travel writing and makes frequent trips across the Mexican border to his favorite carnitas and mariachi joint. Follow him on Twitter. More: JimBenning.net.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) has worked as the Destinations Editor at USATODAY.com, and as an editor at Men’s Fitness, Men’s Journal and Journey magazines. His stories have appeared in Salon, Sunset, Via, Playboy, Westways, E!Online, Outdoor Explorer and many other publications. He lives in the Washington D.C. area. Follow him on Twitter, or see MichaelYessis.net.
Senior Editor
Eva Holland has written for the National Post, the Montreal Gazette, the Vancouver Sun, the Ottawa Citizen and WestJet’s Up! Magazine, among other publications. Based in Ottawa, Canada, she loves to write about travel, history, sports, and culture high or low.
Contributing Editors
Frank Bures writes for many publications, including Harper’s, Esquire, Outside, Mother Jones and Tin House. His essay for World Hum, Test Day, was featured in “The Best American Travel Writing 2004” and his story How to Use a Squat Toilet won a 2007 Lowell Thomas Award. He has attended high school in Italy, picked apples in New Zealand, taught English in Tanzania and freelanced in Thailand. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
David Farley is the author of An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town and co-editor of Travelers’ Tales Prague and the Czech Republic: True Stories. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic Adventure, and New York, among other publications. He teaches writing at New York University.
Joanna Kakissis contributes regularly to The New York Times and her work has also appeared in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune and The News & Observer, where she was a staff writer for several years. She has also written for Fodor’s and Time Out travel guides and has contributed to U.S. public radio. Born in Greece, raised in the American Midwest and enamored of Scotland, she is a devoted foodie, mountain hiker and Duran Duran fan.
Julia Ross has written for Time, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Plenty and other publications, often on China and Chinese culture. Raised just outside Washington, D.C., she has also lived in Shanghai and Taipei, and is waging a years-long battle to learn Mandarin.
Columnist Rolf Potts is the author of Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel, and Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Revelations From One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer. His stories have appeared in National Geographic Traveler, the New York Times Magazine and Conde Nast Traveler, as well as on Salon, where he wrote the “Vagabonding” column. His writing has been featured in many anthologies, including “The Best American Travel Writing.” Each July he is the summer writer-in-residence at the Paris American Academy.
Terry Ward has written for The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Frommer’s Budget Travel, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Orlando Sentinel. She has lived in New Zealand and France and confesses an addiction to Morocco. She’s based in Florida.
Email Michael or Jim if you’d like to send press releases, books or other media via snail mail.
Praise for World Hum:
“Superb writing and stylish layout make visiting the site like cracking open a high-quality travel magazine.” - The Wall Street Journal
“The best darn travel writing Web site, period.” - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The “ultimate Weblog (or ‘blog’) for travel-related content that is devoted to the journey rather than the destination.” - Chicago Tribune
Gold Award, Best Travel Site, 2006 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards
Bronze Award, Best Travel Site, 2003 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards
Silver Award, Best Travel Site, 2002 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards
Nominee, Best Travel Site, 2002 Webby Awards
“The essays on World Hum are beautifully written. But better than that, each bears the specific stamp of the traveler, quirky, curious and very human.” - Newsweek International
“The people behind worldhum.com ... offer a refreshing take on going abroad.” - Times of London
“A good example of a travel site working as a global information network.” - BBC World
“[T]his evocative site offers original dispatches and an extensive list of well-chosen links.” - USA Today
One of the 100 best Web sites for guys - Men’s Journal
“Poignant, informative and entertaining ... With all the swill that passes itself off as travel literature on the Web these days, it’s a nice change of pace to discover a site that truly grants readers a little vicarious adventure.” - Toronto Globe and Mail
One of the Net’s top literary travel sites - San Francisco Chronicle
One of the 101 most useful websites.—The Telegraph (UK)
“The quality of writing is first class” - New Sunday Express (India)
World Hum “provides a high-energy, in-your-face look at travel today” - Chicago Sun-Times
“A great place to go to read travel tales beyond the typical. It’s full of wonderful stories” - Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“An entertainment fix for travel junkies, with engaging writing, an archive of stories, a weblog and links to travel Web site” - San Diego Union-Tribune
“Solid, entertaining content, a great travel writing weblog and quick-loading design.” - Lonely Planet
A “massive, ever-growing ... tell-it-like-it-is ... portal” featuring “tales of love, life, beauty and horror.” - Independent (UK)
“Fresh online travel writing.” - Travelers’ Tales
“A repository of fine travel writing”—Slate
“Vicarious travelers can find plenty of interesting stories at this site ... content excels.” - Detroit Free Press
“For a less corporate-sponsored environment, deeper submissions and more thought-provoking prose, try World Hum.” - Buffalo News
“A literary travel magazine high on links and wit” - Compass
“Young, fresh and stylish.” - Expatriate Cafe
“Ha textos interessantes” - Brasil Online
“Av og for intellektuelle vagabonder” - NettGuide
