World Hum’s Most Read: May 10-16

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What We Loved This Week: ‘The Zen of Bobby V,’ ‘When the Levees Broke’ and Arriving With Our Baggage

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How Bad is the Violence in Mexico?

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Tony Horwitz Blogs From the Road

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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”

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

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

‘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

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.

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.

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

10.8.07

Women’s Travel E-Mail Roundtable, Part Two: The ‘Feminine Card’

All this week, four accomplished travelers—Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Liz Sinclair, Terry Ward and Catherine Watson—talk about the rewards and perils of hitting the road alone as a woman. 

10.8.07

Women’s Travel E-Mail Roundtable, Part One: ‘He My HUSBAND!’

All this week, four accomplished travelers—Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Liz Sinclair, Terry Ward and Catherine Watson—talk about the rewards and perils of hitting the road alone as a woman. 

10.4.07

The Gospel According to Michael

Disappearing native culture. Vanishing tradition. Abbie Kozolchyk was appalled by the impact of missionaries in Papua New Guinea. But not for long.

9.5.07

Kerouac! Kerouac! Kerouac!

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.”

8.29.07

All the Flowers in Amsterdam

Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Lynne Friedmann recalls a visit to a Dutch flower market when it seemed the whole world was grieving.

8.8.07

Le Club Tintin

The rosy-cheeked adventurer never caught on in the U.S. But on the 100th anniversary of his creator’s birth, Julia Ross explores the boy’s power to unite travelers and melt national divides.

7.25.07

The Death of the Mile-High Club

Rolf Potts says it’s official: Planes have become flying buses, and air travel is no longer sexy

7.18.07

Confessions of a Born-Again Cowboy in France

At home in the United States, Peter Wortsman is more Woody Allen than John Wayne. But to his adoptive French family, he is “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”

7.6.07

Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet

Jim Benning and Michael Yessis unveil World Hum’s seven wonders: places, things and people that embody ways the planet is shrinking and cultures are colliding

6.27.07

Suffering and Smiling: Vanity Fair Does Africa

Africa is hot. Why? So we can save it? Frank Bures deconstructs the magazine’s latest issue and what it says about Western views of the continent.

6.20.07

We’ll Always Have ‘Charlie’

In the spirit of global misunderstanding, Jerry V. Haines reveals the worst phonetic alphabet ever

6.12.07

Rick Steves, It’s Time For a Tijuana-Off!

The travel guru recently suggested that the Mexican border city is a hellhole. Tijuana-defender Jim Benning invites him to go mano a mano, travel writer-style, south of the border.

5.29.07

The Distance From Dachau to Darfur

Peter Delevett recently visited the Nazi-era concentration camp in Germany. Afterward, he wondered: Why wasn’t he doing more to stop the genocide occurring right now in Sudan?

2.9.07

Armrest Seating, Anyone?

Think it was bad when a Chinese airline recently asked passengers to hold it during flights because flushing the toilet burns expensive fuel? Join Sarah Schmelling aboard an airline where a full bladder is the least of your worries.

12.11.06

The Enduring Appeal of ‘The Endless Summer’

The classic surf film celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Its popularity lives on, Jim Benning writes, because it’s one of the greatest wanderlust-inducing documentaries ever made—and a potent antidote to winter.

10.17.06

Oprah Winfrey, Amanda Congdon and the New Golden Age of the Cross-Country Road Trip

The coast-to-coast drive hasn’t been this hot in 50 years. Michael Yessis explores why it’s back—and how travelers just might produce the next “On the Road” on the Internet. 

10.2.06

Fueling Desire

For some, a whiff of coffee or a salty ocean breeze can conjure memories of a place and inspire wanderlust. For Jerry V. Haines, it’s something else: the sweet smell of jet fuel.

9.20.06

Killing Yourself to Make a Living

Jeffrey Tayler, who has undertaken harrowing expeditions in remote Africa and Siberia for books like “Facing the Congo” and “River of No Reprieve,” explains how to turn “thrilling inklings” into epic journeys—and, hopefully, live to tell the tale.

8.17.06

Uncommon Ground

After covering rarely reported stories in harrowing corners of the world, Sarah Stuteville thought little could scare her. Then, in a small Pashtun village in Pakistan, she found people who seemed familiar for all the wrong reasons, and had to face a fear she didn’t know she had.

7.23.06

Reading Rushdie in India

He carried a Rough Guide on the subcontinent, but James Mutti also devoured “Midnight’s Children,” Premchand’s “Godaan” and other classic works of Indian literature. Those readings, he later realized, influenced his experience of India.

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