Travel Blog
Photo We Love: Praying for Rain in Mumbai
by World Hum | 09.09.09 | 5:03 PM ET
REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe
Hindu priests sit inside water-filled barrels as they pray for rain in Mumbai.
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Yahoo! BuzzMeet the Gaza Surf Club
by Eva Holland | 09.09.09 | 3:30 PM ET
The National has the unlikely story of Gaza City’s surf scene, from its early origins to the ongoing efforts to smuggle new boards in as the old ones break. The Gazan surfers’ main benefactor? A Tel Aviv-based organization called Surfing for Peace. “Surfing is not just the solitary act of standing on a hollowed-out plank on the face of a breaking wave,” Brian Calvert writes. “[T]he culture of the sport breeds an intense solidarity.” (Via The Daily Dish)
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Ramblin Fever’ by Merle Haggard
by Michael Yessis | 09.09.09 | 2:15 PM ET
Al Franken Draws a Map of America
by Eva Holland | 09.09.09 | 1:12 PM ET
From memory. Apparently the good Senator’s been pulling out this party trick for years, but his latest display—presumably, his first since taking office—is drawing a lot of online attention. Here it is, from the Minnesota State Fair:
Hey, wouldn’t it be nifty if an excellent grasp of the country’s geography was a prerequisite for federal office, rather than a viral video-worthy feat?
‘Dying to do Letterman’ Comic Gets Wish, Riffs About Hotel Keys and Key Cards
by Michael Yessis | 09.09.09 | 12:06 PM ET
When Steve Mazan was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer, he decided to focus his energies on his dream: appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman. He made it last week with a bit about hotel keys and key cards.
Americans Fight Tourist Kitsch in China
by Michael Yessis | 09.09.09 | 11:00 AM ET
In China, “‘ancient’ villages are being redeveloped in a kitschy, gift-shop-heavy way,” James Fallows writes in the Atlantic. Americans Brian and Jeanee Linden are fighting the trend. They’ve “worked with party officials to secure something rarely accorded foreigners: the right to use a ‘Class A’ historical relic and restore it—its tiling, wooden arches and fretwork, painted murals.”
Are Zagat Ratings an Endangered Species?
by Eva Holland | 09.09.09 | 10:11 AM ET
The New York Post reports that the company’s book sales are “down dramatically” and that web traffic is declining, too. The culprits? The recession—and its impact on high-end dining—on the one hand, and free online upstarts like Yelp and Chowhound on the other.
50 Things Being Killed Off by the Internet
by Eva Holland | 09.08.09 | 4:37 PM ET
The Telegraph compiles a funny list. Among the species-at-risk: geographical knowledge, and the mystery of foreign languages. Matthew Moore writes: “Sites like Babelfish offer instant, good-enough translations of dozens of languages—but kill their beauty and rhythm.” (Via Outside the Beltway)
Two Days in the Life of a Rest Stop on the New York State Thruway
by Michael Yessis | 09.08.09 | 3:15 PM ET
This American Life did it again this weekend with a superb program chronicling the happenings at a highway rest stop in Wallkill, New York. Some accompanying photos can be found on Flickr.
Will Ferguson on Travel and the Art of Not Writing
by Eva Holland | 09.08.09 | 1:54 PM ET
The Canadian travel writer, well past deadline on a new book on Northern Ireland, has found a new form of procrastination: Writing entertaining op-eds about the agony of writing—or not writing—to a deadline. Here’s a sample:
While I wrestled with the title (the wrestling of titles also being an excellent reason for Not Writing) the book itself had stubbornly and - it must be said - ungratefully refused to write itself. It lies buried somewhere in those boxes of paper, breathing, waiting for me to unearth it. I don’t need a word processor; I need a pitchfork. I need a secretary. I need - a coffee, that’s what I need. So off I go.
Travel Song of the Day: ‘No Particular Place To Go’ by Chuck Berry
by Eva Holland | 09.08.09 | 12:41 PM ET
The Cognitive Benefits of Vacation
by Eva Holland | 09.08.09 | 11:37 AM ET
Over at The Daily Dish, Jonah Lehrer checks out a couple of recent studies.
Road Tripping Through the Recession
by Eva Holland | 09.08.09 | 10:42 AM ET
Some reassuring news from the AP: The great American road trip is still going strong despite the grim economic climate. There are some interesting historical tidbits in the story, too—for instance, did you know that AAA was organizing national road trips as early as 1904?
Young Travelers, Education and 17th-Century England
by Eva Holland | 09.08.09 | 9:33 AM ET
Academic David Evans has just discovered a practical, real-world application for his graduate studies in 17th-century English literature: Encouraging young students to join the global community.
It turns out that the reading I did about young male English travelers to the Continent in the mid-17th century is remarkably relevant to our current needs. For example, one of the prevalent elements of the conversation in the 1640s and 1650s had to do with various attitudes towards Catholic countries on the Continent, and how young travelers should manage their interactions with those countries. We are, oddly, having a very similar discussion now about travel to Muslim countries, and for some of the same reasons and from some of the same (good and bad) motivations.
In 17th-century England, the big question was, “Why travel?” The encounter with difference, even the relatively mild difference between Dover and Calais, was a tremendous leap for many people in 1640. But the advocates of foreign travel at that time believed that knowing the world, even if just a little, would give young travelers tremendous benefits and advantages when they returned home.
What We Loved This Week: Palau, the O.C. and the National Aquarium Through a Child’s Eyes
by World Hum | 09.04.09 | 4:26 PM ET
Photo by Michael Yessis Eva Holland
I came home to Ottawa this week just in time to discover a new brewpub, Les Brasseurs du Temps, across the river in Gatineau, Quebec. The new spot is in a resurrected 1821 brewery building, and the house-brewed ales are delicious. I’m already plotting a second visit.
