Travel Blog
America on Film: ‘50 Movies for 50 States’
by Eva Holland | 07.07.09 | 12:47 PM ET
Here’s one more leftover tidbit from the just-past holiday weekend: the film fanatics over at Rotten Tomatoes have put together a list of 50 movies for 50 states, in which each selection “features something special about the geography, history, or people of a particular state.”
Some picks are obvious (“Rocky” for Pennsylvania, “Oklahoma!” for Oklahoma) while others link movies and places that I never realized were connected (who knew “Fight Club” was set in Delaware?), but all contribute to a compelling whole. If you’re skeptical about a pick, chances are the description will convince you. Here’s a sample, justifying “Napoleon Dynamite” as the Idaho pick:
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Yahoo! BuzzThe Rise of Silk Road Tourism in Uzbekistan
by Eva Holland | 07.07.09 | 11:52 AM ET
In the Wall Street Journal, Patrick Barta takes a look at the emerging tourism scene in Uzbekistan’s three great Silk Road cities, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, and what the long-ignored country is doing to adapt to the new visitors. The accompanying slideshow has me sold—Uzbekistan is officially on my list.
Have We Entered the Era of the ‘Roadcast’?
by Michael Yessis | 07.07.09 | 9:57 AM ET
Mark Vanhoenacker argues that we have. What’s a roadcast? It’s “a podcast that has particular qualities of randomness and reflection; they’re fascinating and thought-provoking but not news-focused or educational,” he writes in the Christian Science Monitor. “Like the tape deck itself, or the cup holder, roadcasts manage to revolutionize the road trip while also being right in tune with its sensibilities.”
Do these types of podcasts “revolutionize the road trip”? Not quite. Are they intriguing? Sure.
Some of Vanhoenacker’s examples of good roadcasts: Philosophy Bites, In Our Time and the New Yorker’s fiction podcast.
Vanhoenacker goes on to say he believes that roadcasts fill in “some gaps in the road trip experience.” He writes:
Photo We Love: Black and Blue in Istanbul
by World Hum | 07.06.09 | 5:26 PM ET
REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly Muslim women look out on the Golden Horn in Istanbul.
Welcome to Naples. Meet Your Ex-Con Tour Guide.
by Michael Yessis | 07.06.09 | 12:27 PM ET
As Elisabetta Provoledo writes, “It seemed like a great idea at the time: hire ex-convicts to escort tourists through seedy Neapolitan streets. Who better to explain to the uninitiated the potential dangers lying in wait?” Alas, as she reports in the New York Times, the “Escodentro Project” has hit a rough patch.
AIDS Levy for Air Travelers?
by Eva Holland | 07.06.09 | 11:07 AM ET
There’s a proposal in the works to add a special tax, marked for efforts to fight AIDS in developing countries, to all flight purchases in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. A similar tax has been in place in France for three years and has raised nearly $1 billion. The Financial Times has the details on what the plan might look like.
Gay Talese Takes the Circle Line
by Michael Yessis | 07.06.09 | 9:57 AM ET
The New Journalism pioneer overcame his aversion to water—“In some 50 years as a writer, I do not recall ever proposing a story that would likely lead to getting my feet wet,” he writes—and joined the tourists for a circumnavigation of Manhattan on the Circle Line.
Talese is still on his game. It’s a terrific story, with a terrific audio slideshow.
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Couples Retreat’
by Eva Holland | 07.06.09 | 9:42 AM ET
Here’s the set-up: A husband and wife facing marital troubles convince their three best couple-friends to take off on an all-inclusive vacation—the catch is, they’ve booked into a marriage counseling resort. Jason Bateman, Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are among the stars. Check out the trailer—this one has some comic potential, no?
What We Loved This Week: Turkish Coffee, Tinariwen and ‘Goin’ Places’
by World Hum | 07.02.09 | 2:45 PM ET
Photo by Cory Eldridge Ben Keene
Since seeing Youssou N’Dour with his band at the “Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas” celebration last month, I’ve been unable to stop listening to West African music. Currently in heavy rotation on my iPod: the austere yet entrancing guitar tones of the Touareg collective Tinariwen.
Travel, Politics and the U.S. Flag
by Michael Yessis | 07.02.09 | 1:29 PM ET
Timothy Egan has noticed something during his recent travels in the U.S.: “a surfeit of American flags.” In his story in the New York Times, he takes a shot at explaining the abundance of Stars and Stripes.
For a look at how the flag flies outside the U.S., check out our American Flag in a Shrinking Planet slideshow.
Photo We Love: The Glass Ledge at Chicago’s Sears Tower
by World Hum | 07.02.09 | 12:05 PM ET
REUTERS/Frank Polich Kids stand on just-opened Skydeck Ledge on the 103rd floor of Chicago’s Sears Tower.
J.G. Ballard’s Shanghai vs. J.G. Ballard’s London
by Michael Yessis | 07.02.09 | 10:49 AM ET
Reason looks at the life and legacy of J.G. Ballard, comparing the dueling influences of Shanghai and London on his life.
In Shanghai fear and hunger and violence were right in front of him; there were dead bodies lying in the streets where he bicycled. As an adult in the comfortable London suburb of Shepperton, by contrast, Ballard had to look under the surface to find the darkest parts of the human psyche.
‘How Much are Venice, the Everglades, and New Orleans Worth?’
by Eva Holland | 07.02.09 | 9:31 AM ET
Andrew Sullivan points the way to a Matt Steinglass post about the limits of measuring climate change damage in economic terms:
There will be no Everglades in 100 years. The economic cost of that change to US GDP is marginal. There will be no Venice in 100 years. The economic cost of that change to US GDP is tiny. There will be no New Orleans in 100 years. The economic cost of that change to US GDP is extremely small. ... But the worth of many precious things cannot be measured in money.
Indeed.
Backpackers in Thailand Just Won’t Quit
by Alicia Imbody | 07.01.09 | 4:24 PM ET
Photo by René Ehrhardt via Flickr (Creative Commons) Tourism in Thailand has been suffering significant declines lately, and desperate vendors are offering discounts like free domestic flights, extra nights and other perks to lure money-conscious visitors.
But in spite of the setbacks to leisure and luxury travel, the AP reports “budget travel hasn’t suffered as badly, with beer stalls and hostels along Bangkok’s Khao San Road and other havens for backpackers still bustling.”
Keep on, keepin’ on, backpackers!
Osama bin Laden in Indiana: ‘And Just Like That, a Don DeLillo Novel is Born’
by Michael Yessis | 07.01.09 | 4:07 PM ET
Steve Coll breaks the news that Osama bin Laden and his family vacationed in the U.S. for two weeks in 1979, visiting California and Indiana. The details of Coll’s post in the New Yorker come from a forthcoming book by Osama’s first wife.
The DeLillo reference in our headline comes from a related snarky Gawker post. Gawker also asks: “Doesn’t Growing Up bin Laden sound like a great name for a reality show?”
Why not? It certainly would be more interesting than this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Man, that’s tiring.
