Travel Blog
Exploring Eco-Tourism in the Original Banana Republic
by Jim Benning | 06.05.08 | 2:25 PM ET
Honduras, we learn in Elisabeth Eaves’s fourth Slate dispatch this week, is where short-story writer O. Henry had been exiled to in the 1890s when he coined the phrase “banana republic.” Her fine series of stories, beginning with Monday’s installment, looks at whether the country is benefiting from the rise of eco-tourism. Tomorrow’s piece, she tells us, will touch on Mel Gibson and the ancient Mayans. Eaves reviewed “The Darjeeling Limited” for us last fall.
Photo by Lauri Vain via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
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Yahoo! BuzzOn the $64 ‘Turkish Delight’ at an Istanbul Bath
by Jim Benning | 06.05.08 | 1:07 PM ET
Writes Melissa Myers: “Of the 1,000 Things to Do, I wondered, how had sprawling buck-naked on a wet floor made the list?”
‘There’s a Reason Why You’ve Never Heard of Bus Rage’
by Eva Holland | 06.05.08 | 11:25 AM ET
So says a Greyhound billboard that I pass every day on my way home, and I’m beginning to wonder if the company’s marketing people might be on to something. The one-liners about Greyhound (that its clientele is made up of freshly-released students and freshly-released convicts, for one) have been around longer than I have, but with the airlines rapidly catching up in the joke department, things may be changing. Could bus travel be making a respectability comeback?
Dark Travel Doesn’t Get Much Darker Than This
by Michael Yessis | 06.05.08 | 11:15 AM ET
Two recent stories show how the concept of dark travel is being taken to the extreme, one in New York Magazine, the other from Reuters.
New Snag for L.A.-San Francisco Bullet Train
by Jim Benning | 06.05.08 | 10:55 AM ET
No! Just months before Californians are scheduled to vote on a $10 billion bond measure for a bullet train, the Los Angeles Times reports that “an old-guard railroad is declining to share its right of way space” with the fast trains, citing safety and operational concerns. Somebody please resolve this problem now. Otherwise we’re all doomed to more scenes like the one pictured, aptly titled “Stuck on the 5.” Still not convinced? Check out the cool promo videos here.
R.I.P. Ted
by Michael Yessis | 06.05.08 | 10:31 AM ET
United will discontinue its low-cost airline, Ted, which launched in 2004. The move is part of a United-wide effort to offset rising fuel costs.
Oh, and the Airplanes Are Badly Designed, Too
by Eva Holland | 06.05.08 | 9:51 AM ET
Talk about piling on. As if the passengers, political bloggers, environmental psychologists and even pilots jumping on the “air travel is miserable” bandwagon weren’t enough, now the design critics are joining in, too. New York Times By Design blogger Allison Arieff has added her take on the design of the planes themselves.
U.S. to Require Visa-Free Travelers to Register Online
by Michael Yessis | 06.04.08 | 4:23 PM ET
Travelers from 27 countries, including Australia, Japan and England, will be required to register personal information three days before they arrive in the U.S., according to an announcement yesterday by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The new rules will take effect by January 12, 2009.
What Does Obama’s Nomination Mean for American Travelers?
by Jim Benning | 06.04.08 | 1:34 PM ET
Photo by scragz via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
My hunch, based on anecdotes like this one: Overseas this summer, they’ll be greeted with lots of questions and—more importantly—greater enthusiasm. FishbowlDC showcases some of the global coverage of Obama’s win.
Would You Pay a $1 Tax on Travel to the Caribbean to Fund Disease Control?
by Michael Yessis | 06.04.08 | 1:17 PM ET
That’s what the editor of the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases proposes. Such a tax—“less than the cost of a single piña colada!”—would go toward fighting neglected tropical diseases, which are a “high burden” in the region.
Brad Pitt to Help Design Eco-Friendly Dubai Hotel
by Jim Benning | 06.04.08 | 12:29 PM ET
Oh, Brad Pitt, is there nothing you can’t do?
Where’s the World’s Largest Restaurant?
by Jim Benning | 06.04.08 | 12:03 PM ET
In a suburb of Damascus, Syria, of all places. “The 6,012-seat Damascus Gate has taken the accolade from a Bangkok eatery serving a mere 5,000 diners,” the BBC reports. According to the article, the restaurant “has a huge open air area complete with pools, fountains and replicas of archaeological ruins for the summer, and separate themed areas for Chinese and Indian cuisine.”
P.J. O’Rourke at Chicago’s Field Museum
by Jim Benning | 06.04.08 | 11:36 AM ET
The Field Museum of Natural History, that is. He checked out the new permanent exhibit, “The Ancient Americas.” His take? “The savages and barbarians are the museum’s curators,” he writes in The Weekly Standard. “They plunder history, ravage archaeology, do violence to intelligence, and lay waste to wisdom, faith, and common sense.” (Via Arts & Letters Daily)
Photo by tacvbo via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Train Hopping: ‘Pure Unadulterated, Un-homogenized America’
by Eva Holland | 06.04.08 | 11:29 AM ET
From road tripping to hitchhiking to rolling on the river, there’s certainly no shortage of iconic American modes of travel to celebrate. There’s one old stand-by that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves, though: the (almost) lost art of hopping freight trains. Shawn Lukitsch, train hopper, filmmaker and founder of the Hobo Film Festival, aims to change that.
New Travel Book: ‘On a Hoof and a Prayer’
by Frank Bures | 06.04.08 | 10:51 AM ET
Full title: “On a Hoof and a Prayer: Exploring Argentina at a Gallop”
Author: Polly Evans
Released: April 29, 2008
Travel genre: Larkish travel, equine travel
Territory covered: Patagonia, Argentina
