Travel Blog
Adios Fidel, Hola Cuba?*
by Jim Benning | 02.19.08 | 10:09 AM ET
What does today’s big news of Fidel Castro’s retirement mean for American travelers now barred from visiting Cuba? Likely very little in the short term, experts agree. But Reuters, among other outlets, is taking the opportunity to review the presidential candidates’ positions on Cuba. Who knows? They could actually be relevant now.
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Yahoo! BuzzZheng He: China Embraces Legacy of ‘Legendary’ 15th Century Explorer
by Michael Yessis | 02.18.08 | 5:07 PM ET
The city of Nanjing plans to reproduce one of the boats in the fleet of Zheng He, who led explorations to Vietnam, Siam, Malacca, Java, India, Sri Lanka, Arabia and other lands in the early 15th century, well before European explorers made their marks on history. From Archaeology magazine:
Travel: It’s ‘Stuff White People Like’*
by Michael Yessis | 02.18.08 | 4:13 PM ET
Just like microbreweries and Sarah Sliverman and expensive sandwiches. The word about white people’s affinity for travel comes not from an Onion story, but from the satirical blog Stuff White People Like. Travel is post No. 19, and it lands a few funny blows at the expense of backpackers.
Two More Bookstores Beloved by Travelers to Close
by Michael Yessis | 02.18.08 | 12:27 PM ET
Candida’s World of Books, Washington D.C.‘s only travel bookstore, opened to the public for the last time this past weekend, and the Reading Room, the only literary bookstore on the Las Vegas Strip, announced it will be closing as soon as March.
New Travel Book: ‘Flight Attendants’
by Michael Yessis | 02.18.08 | 11:51 AM ET
Photographer: Brian Finke, with text by Alix Browne
Release date: March 2008
Travel genre: Photo book
Territory covered: Everywhere flight attendants go
Slide shows: Wired, BrianFinke.com
The Global Incident Map: A Real-Time Look at All the Terror in the World
by Julia Ross | 02.18.08 | 11:37 AM ET
Last week we linked to Worldometers, a site clocking global CO2 emissions, deaths caused by smoking and other world statistics. To cheer you up, here’s another online eye-opener: The Global Incident Map offers a real-time look at the thousands of terrorist incidents happening worldwide on any given day, from a pirate attack off the Somali coast to a foiled assassination attempt in the Philippines.
R.I.P. Steve Fossett
by Michael Yessis | 02.18.08 | 9:33 AM ET
A Chicago-based judge declared Steve Fossett legally dead Friday, five months after the adventurer and his single-engine Bellanca disappeared during a flight from a private airstrip in Western Nevada.
World Hum’s Most Read: Feb. 9-15
by World Hum | 02.15.08 | 4:21 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts this week:
1) One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’
2) Starbucks vs. the Traveler
3) Traveling While Texan (pictured)
4) U.S. Woman Arrested in Saudi Arabia Starbucks
5) Out of the Wild? Alaskan Town Considers Removing McCandless Bus
Photo: iStockphoto.
What We Loved This Week: The Everglades, Bourbon Balls and Dean Moriarty
by World Hum | 02.15.08 | 3:23 PM ET
World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Jim Benning
I finally got around to watching Mondovino, the 2004 documentary about the globalization of the wine business. It’s a fascinating look at what the filmmaker sees as a clash of civilizations taking place between traditional wine makers in places like Languedoc and Burgundy and American companies like Mondavi and the wine critic Robert Parker. It’s not a perfect movie by any means, but it’s compelling, and it offers a vicarious travel thrill to the Mediterranean and Napa to boot.
Tokyo: ‘The Premier City in the World for Food’
by Michael Yessis | 02.15.08 | 2:51 PM ET
Michelin’s first-ever guide to Tokyo gave the city’s restaurants a combined 191 stars, more than Paris (98 stars) and New York City (54 stars) have together. Sure, Tokyo also has far more restaurants (160,000) than Paris (20,000) and New York (23,000), but the news of the quality of the Japanese cuisine—Michelin released the Tokyo ratings last November—has resonated with travelers. According to the Japanese government, seven out of 10 international travelers to the country cite food as the primary reason for visiting.
‘Feng Shui-Inspired’ McDonald’s Opens in California
by Michael Yessis | 02.15.08 | 1:57 PM ET
A press release touts the “water elements, earth tones, red accents and exotic fauna” in a design by “Feng Shui Grand Master” Dr. Chi-Jean Liu. Eater LA and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune have photos, if you want to see the Grand Master’s work for yourself. Me? I just want to see if this influences the next Big Mac Index.
Slide Show: Valentine’s Day Around the World
by Michael Yessis | 02.15.08 | 12:17 PM ET
Australia, Iraq, Iran, the Philippines, the West Bank, Pakistan and China all represent in this Foreign Policy photo essay, but it’s the Japanese who look like they did the holiday up best.
Susan Jacoby on Americans’ ‘Hostility to Knowledge’
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.15.08 | 10:03 AM ET
Kellie Pickler may be the obvious mascot, but Susan Jacoby says American “hostility to knowledge” is not just confined to adorable blondes who think Europe is a country and “Hung[a]ry” is not. In her new book, The Age of American Unreason, she argues that a poor educational system and religious fundamentalism’s hatred of reason have helped turn many of us into isolationist dummies.
Fury Grips South Korea in Wake of Namdaemun Gate Burning
by Michael Yessis | 02.15.08 | 8:41 AM ET
Turns out South Korea’s “National Treasure No. 1” was burned Sunday by 69-year-old Chae Jong-gi, a man with a grudge against the country’s government. Ever since, South Koreans have been reacting with grief, anger and finger-pointing.
The Not-so-Romantic Life of a Lonely Planet Travel Writer
by Jim Benning | 02.14.08 | 4:35 PM ET
Says one author, “We are info dumps.”
