Travel Blog
Luring Tourists to a Little Eco-City on the Prairie
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.11.09 | 3:31 PM ET
Two years ago, a massive tornado tore apart more then 95 percent of the buildings in Greensburg, Kansas. Normally, the destruction of this tiny town of 1,400 people would have been just another natural disaster on the high plains, where twisters regularly shred the landscape. But Greensburg’s recovery has made headlines around the world because the town is rebuilding itself as a sustainable, clean-energy “laboratory for eco-friendly living,” according to Greenwire.
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Yahoo! BuzzKa’iulani: the Activist Princess
by Pam Mandel | 05.11.09 | 2:05 PM ET
The Hawaiian Hall at the Bishop Museum is still closed for renovations (we got a sneak peak on our visit—it’s going to be stunning when it opens in August) so there is only a limited amount of Hawaiian artifacts currently on view. The Kāhili Room at the museum is open, though—it’s in a different building—and it displays portraits of the Hawaiian monarchy and their feathered standards. These torch-like staffs were carried in front of royalty to visually announce their arrival.
Two of the portraits really stuck with me: the photo of Princess Ruth, a frowning, broad woman contained in severe Victorian dress, and the portrait of Princess Ka’iulani, also in Victorian attire but looking less awkward. Princess Ka’iulani cemented her place in the hearts of Native Hawaiians by traveling to the mainland to plead with Congress and two US Presidents for the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Straight to Airport Security, Your Phone as Your Boarding Pass
by Rob Verger | 05.11.09 | 12:13 PM ET
Have you ever checked in for a flight using your iPhone as your boarding pass?
Completely paperless check-in—by way of a boarding pass with an embedded barcode sent to your mobile phone, which you then present at security and the gate—may be becoming more widespread, NPR reports in All Tech Considered.
My Worst Hotel Rooms
by Alexander Basek | 05.11.09 | 10:59 AM ET
Lists are in the air lately, so I decided to get in on the action. Herewith, my four worst hotel rooms, lifetime. I won’t name names, because I’m a gentleman. And also, because the parties in question might hunt me down and throw tiny bottles of shampoo at me.
Singapore: I was at the edge of Singapore’s Chinatown, which, as it turns out, is also the edge of Singapore’s red light district. Not that I caught on—I thought all the scantily-clad women peering out from cracked front doors were zealous about saving the environment and keeping that AC indoors. My hotel room here was easily the darkest I’ve ever stayed in: a deep red and purple color scheme lit by one dirty window overlooking an airshaft. The only outlet was in the middle of the wall above the bed.
Morning Links: Airport Bestsellers, Where America went for Mother’s Day and More
by Eva Holland | 05.11.09 | 8:34 AM ET
- The novel that launched “Slumdog Millionaire” has been named the Best Travel Read in the inaugural Heathrow Travel Product Awards. (Via the Book Bench)
- Stanley Johnson asks: Has Britain’s storied Royal Geographical Society lost its sense of adventure?
- Gawker finds out where America went out for dinner on Mother’s Day. The Olive Garden leads the pack.
- The Telegraph rounds up 12 desperate airline publicity stunts from the past few years.
- Good news: American Airlines is now allowing one-way reward flights, using half the miles of a return trip. (I can’t be the only one who’s been sitting on half a flight’s worth of miles for ages, right?)
- Find out which tourism destinations are benefiting from Mexico’s swine flu pain.
- Slate’s Ron Rosenbaum looks at airport bookstore bestsellers, “the literary canaries in the dark coal mines of our paranoia.”
- From museums to sports teams to the Ringling Brothers, NewYorkology offers a list of key New York City Twitter accounts.
- Last week, Andrew Sullivan quoted Emerson on travel and narrow-mindedness; this week, one of his readers quotes John Stuart Mill in defense of travel.
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What We Loved This Week: Rick Steves, Italian Pop, Vienna Teng and More
by World Hum | 05.08.09 | 6:57 PM ET
Can Eco-Travelers Save the World’s Rainforests?
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.08.09 | 2:19 PM ET
I’ve been thinking about this question since I saw a public awareness video released on YouTube by Prince Charles’s Rainforests Project. His Royal Highness rightly points out that climate change is the “greatest threat facing mankind” and that deforestation worsens global warming. (Burning trees releases their stored CO2.) At home, we can buy coffee tables and cabinetry made from sustainable wood. But what can we do when we travel?
When Choosing the Best Food in America, What Matters?
by Jenna Schnuer | 05.08.09 | 12:01 PM ET
Lately, the word best has been tumbling around my mind a lot. Blame it on the Beard Awards. Who was it going to be? Who would capture the crowns for best chefs in America?
Now, before you slam me for being anti-best, I’m not. I make part of my living off the damned, er, lovely word. As a travel and food writer, I package a bit of this from one place with a bit of that from another. Drape a coat of “best” on it—after extensive tasting and inner turmoil over who I’m leaving out—and, blammo, a list is born.
A Twitter Road Trip Twitique: What Worked, What Didn’t
by Sophia Dembling | 05.08.09 | 9:48 AM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling My husband Tom and I recently drove a loop south from Albuquerque. (Here’s an annotated map of our route, in case you want to follow in our tire tracks.) This was the first time I’ve Twittered from the road. Interestingly, the great to-Twitter-or-not-to-Twitter debate started up while I was Twittering my trip and triggered a little metacognition about the process. Is it the right thing to do, and what makes a good travel Tweet?
Morning Links: Volcano Boarding, Reasons to Love North Dakota and More
by Eva Holland | 05.08.09 | 8:10 AM ET
- In the New Yorker, Amy Ozols jumps into the young-children-and-flying debate. Seems she’s not a fan of the “whimpering” and the “dripping facial parts.”
- The latest in adrenaline-fueled travel? Introducing volcano boarding.
- Beth Greenfield tells the sad truth about Amtrak’s (and anyone else’s) designated quiet car: it’s not really that quiet.
- World Hum contributor Robert Reid keeps the fun lists coming. The latest: Top 41 Reasons Why I’m Asking North Dakota to the Prom.
- Check out this groundbreaking video of a monster wave in super slow motion.
- We all know Sir Richard Branson loves to play dress-up, but after his latest stunt Britain’s rail workers’ union isn’t laughing. (Via BootsnAll Today)
- Sasha Frere-Jones to Britain: Our rockers have better smack talk than yours.
- Today in weird airport news: A man was stopped at US customs in Los Angeles with 13 birds stuffed in his pant legs.
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Jizo, Protector of Travelers and Children
by Pam Mandel | 05.07.09 | 4:24 PM ET
Photo by Pam Mandel On my latest trip to Hawaii, I left my lei draped on the Jizo statue at a little shrine on a bluff between Hanauma Bay and Sandy Beach—to get there, you have to park at the Halona Blowhole viewpoint and walk back along the Kalanianaole Highway. Last time we were there, a ceremony was taking place and we didn’t want to interrupt—a group of 20 or so people stood in front of the statue chanting in Japanese, their prayers blown away on the brisk wind.
Hotel Wi-Fi: Information Wants to be Free (of Charge)
by Alexander Basek | 05.07.09 | 1:54 PM ET
Expensive internet alert! Hotel Chatter unveiled their annual Wi-Fi report this week. As we’ve discussed before, fancy hotels continue to charge ridiculous rates for the service, but what’s interesting is how some small brands within the bigger chains are breaking away from that trend, and starting to catch on. Both aloft and Hotel Indigo (aka aloft, Holiday Inn edition) dole out the sweet, sweet Internet juice for free.
Trip Planning Tips and Tools from the Frugal Traveler
by Eva Holland | 05.07.09 | 12:23 PM ET
In his latest blog post, the New York Times Frugal Traveler (and World Hum contributor) Matt Gross offers a detailed look at his pre-travel research and planning process—including an exhaustive list of the resources, both print and online, that he makes use of to put together his dollar-efficient trips.
It’s an excellent collection, and I don’t have much to add to it—I will mention one overlooked area, though.
Morning Links: Breakfast Around the World, Mind-Narrowing Travel and More
by Eva Holland | 05.07.09 | 9:16 AM ET
- A small fleet of bubblegum pink, women-only taxis is now cruising the streets of Lebanon.
- Over at Intelligent Travel, World Hum contributor Jerry Haines takes a fun look at breakfast preferences around the world.
- Rome’s famous “talking statues,” where citizens have been posting satirical complaints for more than five centuries, are getting a $93,000 makeover. The catch? The statues will be fenced off and note-free post-restoration.
- Meet the winner of Queensland Tourism’s “Best Job in the World” competition.
- Andrew Sullivan quotes Chesterton and Emerson on “how travel narrows the mind.”
- Slate’s latest Well-Traveled series follows an expat mother as she heads to Thailand to give birth.
- In Forbes Traveler, World Hum contributor Lola Akinmade takes a look at the world’s spiciest foods.
- A new book suggests that Jack the Ripper was an invention of tabloid journalists looking to sell papers. No word yet on whether London’s walking tour operators were in on the scheme, too. (Via the Book Bench)
- Oh, and that TripAdvisor survey we mentioned a few days back? Arthur Frommer is unimpressed: “You will forgive me if I refuse to follow the travel advice of people who regard the ultra-costly Prague “as the best bargain destination,” the fastidious British as the “worst-dressed,” and Paris as “overrated.” Aaaargh!”
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Expat Tales: Wanderers, Starving Artists and Dissolutes
by Julia Ross | 05.06.09 | 3:10 PM ET
Novelist Malcolm Pryce rounds up his top 10 expat tales with heavy representation from Asia and the Pacific: novels and journals on Vietnam, Thailand, Tahiti and Sri Lanka make the cut.
Eurocentrics will appreciate Pryce’s inclusion of the Thomas Cook European Railway Timetable, but, for Asia travelers, the money quote can be found in his description of Bangkok: “The city is, in fact, a combine harvester for the ex-pat male heart.” Something tells me that line will come to mind next time I’m walking through Patpong.
