Travel Blog
R.I.P. George Carlin
by Michael Yessis | 06.23.08 | 10:17 AM ET
If it hasn’t already, the late comedian‘s brilliant routine about stuff will surely change the way you think about packing for your travels. Video below.
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Yahoo! BuzzBeware the Carry-On Baggage Bulge
by Elyse Franko | 06.23.08 | 10:11 AM ET
Some airlines’ recent decisions to charge for checked luggage will strain more than just customers’ wallets. The Wall Street Journal reports that airlines are gearing up for the battle against massive carry-on baggage, but there’s no question that the new baggage fees will exacerbate what’s already a difficult problem: “To make sure they can find room, some customers already push their way through boarding queues. Passengers struggle to stuff large bags into small bins, and flight attendants often find themselves taking bags off planes and checking them to their destinations once bins fill up.”
Related on World Hum:
* American Airlines Announces $15 Fee for Checking First Bag
World Hum’s Most Read: June 14-20
by World Hum | 06.20.08 | 2:54 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts this week:
1) Top Five Forbidden Vacations for Americans (pictured)
2) The Procession of Black Hats
3) ‘High’ Risk of Terrorist Attack in UAE
4) One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’
5) Oprah’s Ethicists Debate How Far You Should Recline in an Airline Seat
Photo by Zoom Zoom via Flickr (Creative Commons).
What We Loved This Week: Sailing in the BVIs, Euro 2008 and the Hotel Del
by World Hum | 06.20.08 | 2:45 PM ET
Terry Ward
I loved learning the basics of sailing during a bareboat trip in the British Virgin Islands. Despite being based in Florida, I haven’t traveled much to the Caribbean, so it was interesting to see beaches that define the tropical cliche. The moorings were crowded, but being propelled by wind power around Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda was totally liberating. And the fabulous snorkeling (sea turtles galore) blew the Keys away. Living aboard for a week was like camping—starry skies through the hatch, daily showers in the sea and ocean breezes in lieu of air conditioning.
Travel Writers and the ‘City Movies’ They Love
by Eva Holland | 06.20.08 | 11:19 AM ET
I’ve always figured that, broadly speaking, there are two types of travel movies: road movies, where it’s all about the journey, and place movies, where the setting is so vital that it nearly becomes a character in the script. Road movies tend to get most of the attention in the travel writing world, but this week at FilmInFocus, five travel writers give the other kind some love.
Russians Express Their Fondness for Colon Cleansing
by Elyse Franko | 06.20.08 | 11:13 AM ET
A spa in southern Russia has unveiled a monument to enemas. Apparently based on Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, the bronze statue features three cherubs carrying an enema bulb. According to Svetlana Avakova, the sculpture’s artist, “An enema is an unpleasant procedure as many of us may know. But when cherubs do it, it’s all right.” Agreed, Ms. Avakova. Agreed.
Thomas Swick’s ‘All-Star Roster of International Street Foods’
by Eva Holland | 06.20.08 | 10:53 AM ET
In his latest column, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel travel editor reminisces about his most memorable street eats—from bratwurst in Germany to pho in Vietnam—and observes that roadside fare is “not only cheap and delicious, it’s almost always illuminating about the place.”
Photo by LWY via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Esquire Complains About Hotel Bar Names
by Michael Yessis | 06.20.08 | 9:51 AM ET
Joe Oestreich is right. They’re generally awful. “The greatest day in a bar owner’s life must be the day he names it,” he writes. “And yet so many hotel bars are called something we can’t in good conscience invite someone to.” Among the names that offend him: Fandangles, Whispers, Celebrities and Bowties. The namers might want to take some inspiration from these places.
Selling Skeptics on the Gap Year
by Julia Ross | 06.20.08 | 9:41 AM ET
Recently we’ve seen rising U.S. interest in gap years—notably at Princeton University—but the truth is, of the many thousands of new high school graduates turned out this month, precious few will choose a pre-college time-out to travel, study or volunteer; it’s still tough to persuade skeptical parents and college counselors. Now early adopters of the gap year are beginning to speak out and could change perceptions.
Behold ‘Baconhenge’
by Joanna Kakissis | 06.20.08 | 9:31 AM ET
Carin Huber has never been to Stonehenge. But her mouthwatering ode to Great Britain’s most storied prehistoric site gives landmark groupies some serious inspiration, at the very least for brunch. Huber stacked bacon-wrapped French toast sticks on a fritatta to create “Baconhenge” for the bacon-themed issue put out by the AntiCraft, a very cool craft-zine with an attitude at least as towering as those monumental rocks in the English countryside. (via Slashfood)
Photo of Baconhenge courtesy of Carol Squires.
Do U.S. Traffic Safety Efforts Cause More Accidents Than They Prevent?
by Michael Yessis | 06.19.08 | 6:11 PM ET
Intriguing story in the latest Atlantic about the unintended consequences of U.S. traffic safety efforts. John Staddon writes: “I believe that U.S. traffic policies are inducing a form of inattentional blindness in American drivers.” By inattentional blindness he means that when we’re looking for one thing, we often miss another thing—something “that should have been obvious.” To illustrate the concept, he points to a familiar video:
Would You Eat Khao Pad at ‘Thai Foon’?
by Joanna Kakissis | 06.19.08 | 2:43 PM ET
Sounds like Sydney has practically devoted itself to laugh-tracking Southeast Asia’s most exquisite cuisine, with restaurant names like Thai Me Up, Thai Dye, Bow Thai and (my personal favorite) Thai Tanic. But the love of puns in eatery names is limited to neither Thai food (try Ewe ‘n’ Me and Planet of the Crepes) nor Australia’s largest city, writes The Sydney Morning Herald’s Samantha Selinger-Morris.
Rick Steves on His Iran Trip
by Jim Benning | 06.19.08 | 1:00 PM ET
He’s back from his trip to shoot a show that will air in January—we noted it here—and he recently spoke about it on public radio’s The World. Interesting interview. Warning: This web page plays the audio automatically.
Related on World Hum:
* Q&A with Rick Steves: Reflections on Three Decades of World Travel
‘Literary History is Pretty Much One Disgruntled Traveler After Another’
by Jim Benning | 06.19.08 | 11:31 AM ET
Dear American Airlines author Jonathan Miles is not the first writer to capitalize on travel frustrations, blogs the Los Angeles Times’ Christopher Reynolds. He offers several examples from literary history. Among them: “In ‘The Canterbury Tales,’ 29 bed-and-breakfast guests, all on their way to Canterbury, indulge in a marathon of oversharing that any sensible innkeeper would have nipped in the bud.” Thanks, Christopher, for allowing us another chance to celebrate the wife of Bath, the cook, the knight, all “nyne and twenty” pilgrims—just some of our favorite fictional travelers of all time.
Related on World Hum:
* 10 Greatest Fictional Travelers
* New Travel Book: ‘Dear American Airlines’
Dining in Beijing? Don’t Order the ‘Chicken Without Sexual Life’
by Jim Benning | 06.19.08 | 10:57 AM ET
Yes, it’s hard to resist. Instead, ask for the “steamed pullet.” Don’t worry, it’s the same dish. Reuters explains.
Related on World Hum:
* Spit-Free Trains in China? Say It Ain’t So.
* Twelve Books to Read Before Traveling to China
Related on TravelChannel.com:
* Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods Blog: ‘Beijing Baby’
