Travel Blog
Some Travel Writers Will Do Anything for a Buck
by Sophia Dembling | 02.17.09 | 11:35 AM ET
Every time I watch it on the Winter Olympics, I decide that luge is an utterly insane sport that you could not pay me enough to try.
“Chicago Tribune” reporter Christoper Borrelli evidently does not feel the same way. They paid, he tried (in Muskegon, Michigan). Here’s the story.
A sample: “Sue Halter, my instructor, told me that in 15 years here she had seen only one person lose teeth while luging.”
Some people will do anything for a buck.
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Yahoo! BuzzThoughts on Continental Connect Flight 3407
by Rob Verger | 02.17.09 | 10:49 AM ET
The tragic crash Thursday night of the regional commuter plane—a Bombardier turboprop—is shocking and sad, and many are speculating that icing played a role. (Although The New York Times reports that “a member of the National Transportation Safety Board urged ‘caution about jumping to conclusions that it might be an icing incident.’”) We won’t know the entire story until the N.T.S.B. issues its report, but here’s what some are thinking now.
At Ask the Pilot, Patrick Smith explains what could have happened: “The hunch among pilots right now is that the plane may have suffered a tailplane stall due to ice buildup on the horizontal stabilizers,” he writes. “Horizontal stabilizers are the smaller, tail-mounted wings that help control a plane’s nose-up/nose-down motion, known as ‘pitch.’ Normally, stabilizers are considerably less sensitive to icing than the main wings, but a prolonged and severe encounter could have, in theory, overwhelmed the aft de-icing boots.”
The boots that he is referring to are the de-icing system on this aircraft; they are, as The New York Times explains, “a bit like tires, on the front edges of the wings, the tail and the vertical stabilizer, that inflate and contract twice a minute to break ice accumulations.”
Christopher Lee: ‘I Can’t Recall Visiting any Countries I Hated’
by Eva Holland | 02.17.09 | 9:49 AM ET
So where does one of the most omnipresent movie villains of the past half-century (who also popped up in our list of the best travel horror movies) like to go on vacation? The veteran actor recently dished to the Independent about his ideal travel experiences—and it turns out, solitude is high on his priority list.
Lee’s favorite country is Finland, “because once you get to a certain point, you can drive for hours without seeing a single person.” His worst-ever journey was a rough ride from Washington, D.C., to Charlotte, N.C.: “It was only a 45-minute flight,” he told Sophie Lam, “but I have never known anything like it—including during the war when I was shot at in planes.” And as for New Zealand, where he spent a few months during the filming of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy? It’s “the most beautiful country I have ever been to in my life.”
Morning Links: Holidays in Banda Aceh, ‘Slavery Theme Park’ and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.17.09 | 9:15 AM ET
- Passengers can no longer kiss at England’s Warrington Bank Quay Station.
- Is Marlon Jackson supporting a “slavery theme park” in Nigeria?
- The Mumbai attacks have apparently “put the brakes” on tourism in India.
- State and local governments to travel booking sites: Pay up!
- Daisann McLane: “Until I learn a place with my feet, I never really feel like I know it.”
- John Aglionby says Banda Aceh “has arguably become one of south-east Asia’s hidden holiday destinations.”
- Spud Hilton sifts through language-study options for travelers.
- In typo news: There’s one on the Manhattan Supreme Courthouse. It only took 82 years to discover it. Hooray!
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Regional American Words: Is That a Pork Steak in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy to See Me?
by Jenna Schnuer | 02.16.09 | 7:24 PM ET
Pop? Soda? Coke?
Hoagie? Grinder? Sub?
These questions are about as basic as it gets when it comes to American regionalisms—yet who doesn’t want to duke it out in defense of their hometown heroes (or grinders)? Just watch what happens in the comments sections (hopefully it happens) when I declare the answers to be soda and sub. (Please, if you disagree, just don’t hurl your hoagie at me.) If you’ve ever discussed either one of those, then you’re going to want to meet Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, hosts of A Way With Words. The public radio show is “Car Talk for language,” says Barrett. “People call us about their questions and peeves and just observations about language, things they’ve always wanted to know or things they heard on television last night, and we help them get to the bottom of it.” Adds Barnette: “We talk just about everything having to do with language. That means grammar, punctuation, slang, regionalisms, word origins and usage. A lot of times we’ll get couples who have had an ongoing [word] fight for years ... or there’s a dispute in somebody’s office. They call us and we make our pronouncements.”
Indonesia Charts Own Territory
by Julia Ross | 02.16.09 | 1:38 PM ET
Good news for map lovers: Indonesia has released a national atlas for the first time in the country’s history. The Jakarta Post reports that Indonesians have relied, until now, on maps published in the 1938 Netherland Indies Atlas, drawn up when the country was still a Dutch colony. The new atlas—to be published in three volumes—provides a much needed catalogue of Indonesia’s current climatic, geological and cultural characteristics. Interestingly, the first volume includes photos and satellite images of the destruction wrought by the 2004 tsunami in Banda Aceh.
“I should say it’s about time we had an official atlas. We’re very late in achieving this compared to other nations,” said Indonesia’s Research and Technology Minister. This got me thinking: Maybe publication of a national atlas should be noted alongside maternal mortality and annual GDP as a marker for development. It’s an impressive achievement, by any measure.
‘American Idol’ and Disney World, Together at Last
by Eva Holland | 02.16.09 | 12:29 PM ET
We’ve had movies inspired by theme park rides, and roller coasters inspired by rock anthems, so isn’t it about time we had a theme park attraction inspired by the “reality” television craze? (I’m a little far removed from my college philosophy classes to say for sure, but I suspect there’s a meta-something at work here.) Yes, the American Idol Experience opened at DisneyWorld this weekend. Here’s how it works: visitors can choose to perform on a re-created “Idol” stage, or to sit in the audience and vote. At the end of each day, the lucky hopeful who receives the most audience votes lands a Dream Ticket to an actual “American Idol” audition.
There is no option for visitors to sit at the judging table and hurl abuse at the contestants; still, I suspect the new attraction will be a hit. The Traveling Mamas have posted a (snark-free) review, and there’s a clip previewing the American Idol Experience after the jump:
For Americans, A Way to Game North Korea?
by Julia Ross | 02.16.09 | 11:07 AM ET
Though the North Korean government hasn’t officially announced it, it looks like the country will hold its renowned Mass Games from August through October this year, opening a window for American tourists to travel to the otherwise closed nation. The Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which handles travel for about half of all Westerners who visit North Korea yearly, is currently accepting applications from Americans interested in traveling during the Mass Games period, based on North Korea’s history of allowing Americans to visit during the event (as happened in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2008).
The Unfortunate End of Captain Cook
by Pam Mandel | 02.16.09 | 9:57 AM ET
The story of Captain Cook’s death—the anniversary of this unfortunate event just passed—is an object lesson in cultural misunderstandings.
Cook and his crew first blew into Kaleakakua Bay while the Pleadies were rising, during the festival of Makahiki. Hawaiian custom deemed that during this time, there was to be no fighting, no conflict of any kind.
Morning Links: The Belgian Flair for Comics, New Orleans Street Theater and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.16.09 | 8:46 AM ET
- The investigation of the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 reveals sudden erratic movements 26 seconds before impact.
- The state of the Velib bike program in Paris isn’t good.
- The New Yorker’s Katherine Boo investigates a Mumbai slum located on land owned by the Airports Authority of India. (subscribers only)
- David Lyon looks at the comics-character murals of Brussels. He writes: “The Belgian flair for comics is as inescapable as Manneken Pis.”
- Nora Roberts’ Inn BoonsBoro—an inn in Boonsboro, Maryland, that features rooms named after literary couples—opens tomorrow.
- Wayne Curtis says “New Orleans knows how to do street theater like no other American city.”
- Benji Lanyado visits a pay-what-you-want bar in Berlin.
- Video: A woman goes wild after missing her plane in Hong Kong and becomes a YouTube hit.
- The Costa Brava is not the Bahamas—except in an ad for the Costa Brava. I’d say, “oops,” but it looks like the people behind the ad planned using the image of the Bahamas as a stand in for the Spanish coast. (via Shore Trips)
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World Hum’s Most Read: Feb. 7-13
by World Hum | 02.13.09 | 5:25 PM ET
Our five most popular features from the past week:
1) A Winter’s Tale (pictured)
2) ‘EIMI: A Journey Through Soviet Russia’
3) Subcontinental Homesick Blues
4) Che: The Ronald McDonald of Revolution
5) Eight Reasons Why Canada Isn’t Boring
What We Loved This Week: London, New Jersey, ‘Heima’ and More
by World Hum | 02.13.09 | 4:11 PM ET
Photo by Rob Verger. World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Rob Verger
I love my new Canon G10 camera. Hello, 14.7 megapixels. It gave me an excuse to roam around my neighborhood over the weekend, taking pictures. Here’s the 125th Street subway stop in New York City:
Bring the Comfy Chair!
by Alexander Basek | 02.13.09 | 2:46 PM ET
Would You Rather Live in a Big City or a Small Town?
by Sophia Dembling | 02.13.09 | 2:06 PM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling I keep a file titled “Good Reads,” into which I tuck stories and articles that I enjoyed reading and like to revisit from time to time. The other day, I pulled the file out and found a photocopied page from the book O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.
I copied the page for a particular speech, spoken by Carl, who has just left Chicago, to Alexandra, who is trying to keep things together on her family farm on the Nebraska prairie. Read the quote after the jump.
Recession Hits Antarctica (Is That Good or Bad?)
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.13.09 | 12:58 PM ET
Trips to the (melting) frozen continent can cost anywhere between $8,000 and $30,000, a prohibitive amount in today’s crisis economy of failed banks and indebted consumers. That may explain the projected 7,000-person drop in visitors between the 2007-08 season (which registered a record high of 46,000 people) and the current 2008-09 season, which the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) predicts will bring in around 39,000 people.
