Travel Blog
Afghanistan: ‘It’s Always the Fixer Who Dies’
by Eva Holland | 09.14.09 | 9:47 AM ET
George Packer responds to last week’s rescue effort, which freed kidnapped New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell but left his Afghan fixer, Sultan Munadi, dead: “Somehow, it’s always the fixer who dies. Of course, this is a false statement of fact on its face—at the very least, an exaggeration. But it feels emotionally true.” It’s worth reading in full.
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Yahoo! BuzzWhat We Loved This Week: Son Jarocho, the Ottawa Public Library and the BBC’s ‘World of Business’
by World Hum | 09.11.09 | 4:33 PM ET
Photo by Terry Ward
Terry Ward
Learning to love sharks in Palau. I spent four days aboard the Ocean Hunter III liveaboard, diving Palau’s outer reefs. On every dive, we spotted multiple sharks—grey reefs, white tips and black tips. Unlike at some Caribbean spots, there’s no feeding needed to get the guys to gather here. The water was literally clouded with reef fish and schooling pelagics. Clipped with a reef hook to the edge of the drop offs, swaying in the current and watching the sharks materialize from the blue to skirt the coral walls, gave me a new admiration for the ocean’s top predator.
New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Clark’
by Michael Yessis | 09.11.09 | 1:53 PM ET
It’s derived from the name Clark Griswold, Chevy Chase’s character in Vacation. In recent usage it has two meanings:
1) To World Hum contributor Matt Villano, to Clark is “to overly plan an adventure in an attempt to make sure everyone will have a great time, only to see the plans backfire, causing disastrous results.”
2) To Tony Hawk, to do a Clark Griswold is to practice “efficiency in sightseeing.”
We support both uses.
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Up in the Air’
by Eva Holland | 09.11.09 | 12:59 PM ET
The first trailer for the much-anticipated adaptation is here. Check it out:
“Up in the Air” will be making a big, red-carpeted splash at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend. Beyond that, it goes into limited release Nov. 13 and—with a recent bump-up in the schedule—hits theaters nationwide on Nov. 25.
Finding ‘Mad Men’ in Manhattan
by Eva Holland | 09.11.09 | 12:14 PM ET
With “Mad Men” mania gaining steam in the early days of season three, Travel and Leisure offers a guide to the inevitable Don Draper tourist trail. T&L’s Charlotte Savino notes the importance of the show’s setting: “[F]or many, it’s the moneyed haunts and good ol’ boy bars in Gotham that make the late-1950s and early-1960s drama so much fun to watch ... Manhattan—its energy, glamour, wealth, and, well, alcohol—plays like another character flitting around the Sterling Cooper ad agency. Manhattan is the comic foil to Don’s emptiness.”
Fair warning: The story includes some spoilers.
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Beautiful World’ by Colin Hay
by Jim Benning | 09.11.09 | 11:19 AM ET
Passengers Bill of Rights Loses a Fan
by Eva Holland | 09.11.09 | 10:25 AM ET
Christopher Elliott explains why he’s no longer in favor of a proposed bill.
Links We’ve Loved: The Post-9/11 Kindness of Gander, Newfoundland
by Michael Yessis | 09.11.09 | 9:39 AM ET
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, several trans-Atlantic flights were diverted from their U.S. destinations to airports throughout Atlantic Canada. The hospitality and kindness of the town of Gander, Newfoundland, has become legendary. Here’s one story I loved, the Savvy Traveler’s 2001 tale of the passengers of Delta Flight 15 and the residents of Gander, who hosted them for “four long, yet special, days.”
Here’s our original blog post.
Celebrating 50 Years of Leaf-Peeping
by Eva Holland | 09.10.09 | 5:16 PM ET
New Hampshire’s Kancamagus Highway, one of the more famous fall foliage routes in the country, is a half-century old this year. USA Today has all the details—including the correct pronunciation of Kancamagus.
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Interstate Love Song’ by Stone Temple Pilots
by Eva Holland | 09.10.09 | 4:05 PM ET
Three Would-Be Airliner Bombers Convicted
by Eva Holland | 09.10.09 | 2:59 PM ET
Three men charged with planning to bomb several trans-Atlantic flights were found guilty of conspiracy to murder in London this week. The trio was behind the August 2006 liquid-explosives plot at Heathrow that ushered in the current restrictions on liquids and gels.
Photo We Don’t Love: Aeromexico Hijacking Suspect
by World Hum | 09.10.09 | 1:46 PM ET
REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez Mexican federal police detain Jose Flores, accused of hijacking an Aeromexico plane carrying more than 100 passengers from Cancun to Mexico City yesterday. The Bolivian-born suspect reportedly said he was on a divine mission. He was arrested upon landing and nobody was injured. In fact, passengers said they were unaware of the hijacking until after the plane touched down.
‘CSI: The Experience’ Comes to Vegas
by Eva Holland | 09.10.09 | 12:04 PM ET
Well, finally. I’ve been waiting for Las Vegas to really tap into the “CSI” theme—no, the mugs and t-shirts in the cheapo gift shops on Fremont aren’t enough for me—and now the MGM Grand has obliged with a new exhibit, CSI: The Experience. Writes Jen Leo over at the Daily Deal blog: “You will act as an investigator and go through one of three crime scenes. Take notes, analyze clues and watch videos with characters from the TV show while you learn about DNA identification, firearm and toolmark identification, blood-spatter analysis, forensic entomology and more.”
Next time I make it to Vegas, I am so there. Who says learning can’t be fun?
Margaret Drabble’s Favorite Literary Landscapes
by Eva Holland | 09.10.09 | 10:48 AM ET
The author picks 10 British spots that have inspired her fellow writers, from Tennyson’s Tintagel to Godrevy Lighthouse, of “To the Lighthouse” fame.
‘The United Steaks of America’
by Michael Yessis | 09.10.09 | 10:13 AM ET
Alright, Al Franken. Impressive work drawing the map, but I’d be more amazed if you could do this with beef.
