Travel Blog
More on ‘Vacation,’ ‘Are We There Yet?’
by Michael Yessis | 07.25.08 | 2:12 PM ET
USA Today adds to the coverage of the 25th anniversary of the iconic travel comedy and Susan Sessions Rugh’s new book. The World Hum Travel Movie Club took on “Vacation” this week, and we posted our interview with Rugh last week.
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Yahoo! Buzz‘We Have Reached a Gilded, Rococo Age of Service Journalism’
by Jim Benning | 07.25.08 | 12:30 PM ET
Jason Wilson has a fine essay about the trouble with travel and “lifestyle” journalism in The Smart Set.
Rising Scooter Sales and the Changing American Roadscape
by Eva Holland | 07.25.08 | 11:55 AM ET
We’ve noted the impact that rising fuel prices have had on school field trips, Mexican gas stations and rental car fill-up fees. But how about the impact on the American roadscape itself? With sales of scooters on the rise, American roads could soon be cluttered with the vehicles—an image most of us probably associate with the alleys of Bangkok or the streets of Rome, rather than the streets of Los Angeles or Atlanta.
Photo by giopuo via Flickr (Creative Commons)
From the Times of London Archives: Thesiger in Ethiopia
by Eva Holland | 07.25.08 | 9:47 AM ET
Legendary travel writer Wilfred Thesiger waited more than 60 years before writing The Danakil Diary, a narrative about his Ethiopian travels in the early 1930s. At the time, though, he also wrote a handful of dispatches for the Times of London, and the Times travel section has posted those original articles as part of an ongoing series of “travel classics.” Keep an eye out for more travel content from the Times’ extensive digital vault. The section editor expects to post four or five vintage stories each month.
Related on World Hum:
* Top Travel Books: No. 1: “Arabian Sands” by Wilfred Thesiger
Delta Sued by Another Delayed Passenger
by Michael Yessis | 07.25.08 | 9:28 AM ET
The last lawsuit we noted was for $1 million. This guy is suing for $5 million.
Hole Opens in Qantas 747 During Flight
by Michael Yessis | 07.25.08 | 9:17 AM ET
The plane was traveling from Hong Kong to Melbourne today, and safely landed in Manila. All passengers and crew were reported to have been uninjured, though the memories of the hole and the decompressed cabin will surely linger. An airport official in Manila estimated the size of the hole at 7 1/2 feet to 9 feet in diameter. Qantas, of course, famously has never lost a jet in a crash.
Beijing: Eight Olympic ‘Don’t Asks’ of Travelers
by Eva Holland | 07.24.08 | 3:19 PM ET
The latest target in China’s pre-Olympic tidying? Small talk. Concerned that inquiries about income, religion or age—routine in China, but taboo in much of the West—might offend visitors, a district Propaganda Department in Beijing has put up posters advising locals about what not to ask.
Q&A With David Del Vecchio: A Travel Bookstore First for Manhattan
by Kelly Amabile | 07.24.08 | 10:53 AM ET
Photo of Idlewild Books by Frank Murray.
In the first half of this year, World Hum lamented the closing of several independent bookstores, including D.C.‘s travel-themed Candida’s. For a change, we note a new store opening: travel-themed Idlewild Books in New York City.
The Greatest Thing About Los Angeles Is ...
by Michael Yessis | 07.24.08 | 10:33 AM ET
Amoeba Music? So say the readers of Los Angeles magazine, who during the last few months took 64 stellar things about the City of Angels and whittled them down to one greatest thing in a March Madness-style bracket showdown. That a Bay Area export won provoked a lot of kvetching, according to the mag’s editors, and rightfully so.
The Spirit of Adventure, Caught on Film
by Eva Holland | 07.24.08 | 9:53 AM ET
Britain’s Royal Geographic Society will be showing a special exhibition of 60 travel photos “that capture the true spirit of adventure,” from now until August 3. Admission is free, but if you can’t make it to London for the show, check out the Guardian’s small sample gallery.
Related on World Hum:
* Audio Slideshows
World Hum Travel Movie Club: National Lampoon’s ‘Vacation’
by Eli Ellison, Eva Holland | 07.23.08 | 11:31 AM ET
Twenty-five years ago this month, Clark W. Griswold first bumbled across theater screens on a quest for the ultimate family vacation. Starting line: Chicago, Illinois. Destination: Walley World, California. The results? Hilarious! Or were they? Eli Ellison revisits an old favorite; Eva Holland takes her first trip down “Holiday Road.” They exchanged emails and debated the virtues of this travel-comedy classic.
Philadelphia Welcomed Record Amount of International Visitors in 2007
by Michael Yessis | 07.23.08 | 11:09 AM ET
More good news for the City of Brotherly Love, which, as we noted, recently shook off “its regular litany of national ranking dishonors.”
Denali National Park Buses Going Hybrid?
by Michael Yessis | 07.23.08 | 10:05 AM ET
Tests have begun to replace Denali National Park’s fleet of “noisy, carbon dioxide-spewing diesel” engine buses, as the AP puts it, with new hybrid vehicles. If they’re adopted, it would improve what’s already one of the most impressive outdoors experiences in the U.S. Except for a few days a year, visitors can only travel the Denali Park Road in one of the park’s 110 buses.
Baggage: Check It or Ship It?
by Eva Holland | 07.23.08 | 10:03 AM ET
Most folks have thought about shipping extra baggage home by mail at one time or another—especially when the souvenir shopping gets out of hand. Now that free checked baggage is going the way of the dodo (or should I say, the way of in-flight meals, movies and complimentary beverage service?) the postal alternative is likely to become ever more popular. Wired blogger Dave Demerjian breaks down the numbers on both options.
Related on World Hum:
* Beware the Carry-On Baggage Bulge
* American Airlines Announces $15 Fee For Checking First Bag
Disaster Destinations: Roadside Attractions With an Extra Dose of Destruction
by Elyse Franko | 07.23.08 | 9:27 AM ET
From the ever-burning coal pit in Centralia, Pennsylvania, to the giant circle of trash floating in the eastern Pacific, this tongue-in-cheek article from Good magazine offers a travel guide to the many man-made disasters in America, conveniently spread from sea to not-so-shining sea. Take this excerpt on the Salton Sea in California: “Chemical reactions turn the surface red and lime green, causing massive, odiferous fish die-offs, and sick fish poison the more than 400 species of birds that live here.”
Related on World Hum:
* Japan’s Mount Fuji: Icon, Garbage Dump
* Illuminating ‘Dark Travel’
Photo of Salton Sea by mst7022 via Flickr, (Creative Commons)
