Travel Blog
Best Travel-Themed Halloween Costume Title? ‘Eurasian Traveler’
by Jim Benning | 10.24.07 | 1:06 PM ET
I love that the Halloween Store chain advertises this minimalist outfit as Eurasian Traveler Wig and Moustache Set. Copyright issues probably stand in the way of simply calling it “Borat.” According to the Web site, the costume was “inspired by Borat.” If you’re in need of a travel-themed Halloween costume this year and the “Eurasian Traveler” look doesn’t inspire you, there’s always the traditional Tacky Tourist outfit—a look so popular with Americans that it’s already sold out.
Related on World Hum:
* ‘Borat’ Inks Deal to Write Travel Guides to Kazakhstan,’ U.S. and A.’
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzWhere in the World Are You, Amy Scott?
by World Hum | 10.24.07 | 12:08 PM ET
The subject of our latest nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Amy Scott, a freelance editor. Her response landed in our inbox last night.
Where in the world are you?
Dispatch from Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province
by Eva Holland | 10.24.07 | 10:43 AM ET
I’ve been irked lately by the increasing attention Afghanistan is getting as a reemerging tourist destination. Yes, some visitors are returning to Kabul. But in the south of the country, the war is still being fought, and recent travelers’ reports of cheery residents beginning to pick up the pieces are much harder to find. So I was pleased to find a dissenting perspective in David Common’s recent dispatch from Kandahar, where NATO troops are still involved in heavy fighting and the Taliban sometimes seems to be gaining ground.
Cancun to Times Square: How to Spot a Tourist Trap
by Julia Ross | 10.23.07 | 3:00 PM ET
How do you know a tourist trap when you see one? Aside from the double-decker buses and fanny packs, I’m usually alerted by a feeling I get: an overwhelming desire to flee mixed with befuddlement. The first time I visited San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, I remember thinking: I don’t get it. Choosing the world’s top tourist traps is sure to elicit heated debate, but ForbesTraveler.com has weighed in with its own list, nicely illustrated with a slide show and story offering tips for alternative experiences. Skip Times Square in favor of Central Park’s Strawberry Fields, writer Chris Colin recommends, or try the Valley of the Kings instead of the Pyramids at Giza.
Can Your Panties Help Save Burma?
by Eva Holland | 10.23.07 | 12:49 PM ET
Some activists think so. We noted yesterday the ominous silence that has settled over Burma in the aftermath of the ruling junta’s violent crackdown. But outside the country, protest groups are still trying to keep up the pressure, and they’re getting creative to hold the world’s attention. Last week, Thailand-based activist group Lanna Action for Burma launched the Panty Power Campaign, encouraging women around the world to send their underwear to the nearest Burmese embassy.
San Diego Hotels Fill—With Wildfire Evacuees
by Jim Benning | 10.23.07 | 12:17 PM ET
Usually when I drive past Hotel Circle, a road near the 8 freeway here in San Diego packed with hotels, my heart goes out to the visitors there because, well, they’re staying in a place called Hotel Circle, with views of traffic zooming by on the freeway. It’s not the most attractive location San Diego has to offer. But that’s the least of the concerns of many guests staying in those hotels now. As would-be tourists and business travelers postponed visits to San Diego, canceling hotel reservations to avoid the raging wildfires, locals snapped up hotel rooms in droves as they evacuated threatened or even burning homes. A number of hotels have offered discounts to those in need.
Schrute Farms: Top-Rated ‘Beet-Related Agrotourism Destination’ or Brilliant ‘Office’ Prank?
by Michael Yessis | 10.22.07 | 5:43 PM ET
That’s Schrute as in Dwight Schrute, the ninja-loving paper salesman on the U.S. version of The Office. In last week’s episode, he opened his farm to visitors as a “beet-related agrotourism destination,” offering three themed rooms: America, night-time and, my favorite, irrigation. The plot thread featured Dwight’s shout out to TripAdvisor, which, in a silly and inspired publicity stunt, currently features a real page dedicated to the faux Schrute Farms. Among the reviews: A rave from Dwight’s co-workers Jim and Pam, who visited the farm for a romantic getaway.
Invisible Burma
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.22.07 | 3:02 PM ET
A month after the ruling military junta crushed protesting monks, killing an unknown number of people, an ominous, Orwellian calm has settled over Burma. Tourist arrivals have dropped by up to 90 percent since the military crackdown. “It’s not peace you see here; it’s a forced silence,” a 46-year-old Burmese writer who joined last month’s protests in Rangoon told The New York Times’ Choe Sang-Hun in a troubling report on the current conditions in the country. The writer—who like most people interviewed did not disclose his name out of fear of government reprisal—carried with him a worn copy of his favorite book, George Orwell’s “1984.”
Discovering Love and Loss in Niger
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.22.07 | 12:05 PM ET
Away from home and enticingly out-of-context, travelers often find love they couldn’t access in the routine of their lives. Sometimes that love is erotic. Sometimes it’s a love of love itself, as Alexis Wolff discovered in a lovely essay about Niger in The New York Times’s Modern Love column.
Where in the World Are You, Justin Glow?
by World Hum | 10.22.07 | 11:42 AM ET
The subject of our latest nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Justin Glow, the lead blogger at Gadling. His response landed in our inbox this morning.
Where in the world are you?
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: From Greece to Elizabeth Gilbert
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.19.07 | 4:23 PM ET
Spain inspired wanderlust, Colorado spotlighted its hippie Mayberry and yet another British family went on a (yawn) Greek island cruise. And is anyone reading anything other than Elizabeth Gilbert these days? Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph UK (current)
Greek Island Cruise for the Whole Family
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Mushrooms gone wild—Spanish style
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
The New York Times (current)
In Colorado, a ‘Hippie Mayberry’
* Because every state has its own Asheville.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
New York City Guide
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
The Power Traveleler’s Checklist, Part One: Pre-Flight
Most Read Feature
World Hum (posted this week)
1,000 Places to Not go Before You Die
Most Read Blog Post
World Hum (posted this week)
Branson on Fossett: ‘He Truly Was the Adventurer’s Adventurer’
Man Drives From New York City to Los Angeles in 31 Hours
by Michael Yessis | 10.19.07 | 10:51 AM ET
The man in question is Alexander Roy, and, to be precise, he did it in 31 hours and four minutes. How many laws did he violate? Can’t be precise about that, but since he claims to have made the coast-to-coast trip in October 2006, enough time has lapsed that he can’t be penalized for reckless, over-the-speed-limit driving, the New York Times reports. Another benefit of keeping his achievement a secret for a year: He can now use the news to promote his new memoir, The Driver.
A Daring Cup of Tea in Darjeeling
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.19.07 | 10:47 AM ET
How far would you go for a cup of tea? Matt Gross, the Frugal Traveler for The New York Times, went deep into West Bengal and the Himalayas to explore the tea estates of Darjeeling country and sample varieties of the coveted teas. The hours-long journey to Darjeeling is like “a teetotaler’s version of a Napa Valley tour but without the crowds,” Gross writes. Getting to this remote corner of India is also apparently spine-chilling: the steep drive up and down decrepit roads has caused more than a few fatal plunges and Gross anxiously notes rough trips between estates.
Out of the Wild? Alaskan Town Considers Removing McCandless Bus
by Eva Holland | 10.19.07 | 5:57 AM ET
Future “McCandless pilgrims” could be in for a disappointment. The Alaskan town of Healy, located about 40 kilometers from the old school bus where Christopher McCandless died, is considering the removal, restoration or destruction of the bus before the next wave of greenhorns, inspired by the recent film adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild,” arrive to pay tribute.
Doris Lessing, Travel Writing and the Nobel Prize for Literature
by Eva Holland | 10.19.07 | 5:35 AM ET
Chalk up one Nobel Prize victory for travel writing! Okay, okay. Admittedly this year’s winner Doris Lessing is much better known for writing novels and short stories than for her travel memoir, African Laughter: Four Visits to Zimbabwe, about her return to her newly-independent childhood home after decades of government-imposed exile. But much of her best-known fiction, from debut novel “The Grass Is Singing” to the “Children of Violence” series, also focuses on the white settler experience in Rhodesia, and the details of place and time are vital to the story in each work.
