Travel Blog
‘The Big Necessity’: Plumbing the Global Politics of Human Waste
by Julia Ross | 10.21.08 | 8:41 AM ET
Photo by jemsweb via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Ah, cross-cultural toilet culture: It’s a fascinating topic we’ve broached with frankness here before. Still, I’m in awe of British journalist Rose George, whose new book, “The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters,” tells you everything you ever wanted to know about human defecation and more. In a riveting interview with Salon, George provides a round-the-world tour of bathroom behaviors, expounding on paper versus water cultures, high-tech Japanese washlets, Kenyan “helicopter toilets,” and Mumbai’s grim sanitation situation.
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Yahoo! BuzzHow To ‘Visit Your Dog’s Ancestral Home’
by Michael Yessis | 10.21.08 | 7:47 AM ET
Great travel idea for pooch lovers from Jean Tang at Budget Travel.
Gone Missing: One Jamaican Beach
by Valerie Conners | 10.20.08 | 3:53 PM ET
U.S. Grants $13 Million to Iraq’s Looted National Museum
by Valerie Conners | 10.20.08 | 2:36 PM ET
The grant will be used to rebuild the National Museum and restore its collection, which was looted after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Its estimated that 15,000 artifacts—including priceless items from ancient Mesopotamia—went missing at that time; some 6,000 pieces have since been returned.
Related on World Hum:
* Abu Ghraib to Become a Museum
Photo of Mesopotamian figure by rosemanios via Flickr (Creative Commons).
The Truth About Fuel Surcharges
by Eva Holland | 10.20.08 | 2:30 PM ET
The Telegraph crunches the numbers to find out just how much jet fuel those surcharges are buying.
Christopher P. Baker Wins Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year
by Michael Yessis | 10.20.08 | 2:21 PM ET
Baker leads the winners of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism awards for 2008, which were handed out this weekend. Among other winners: National Geographic Adventure took the prize for best travel magazine, and the Boston Globe captured the prize for best online travel journalism site. Congratulations to the winners.
Update, 10:19 p.m. ET: The Daily Travel and Deal Blog has links to all the winners.
Related on World Hum:
* World Hum Wins Lowell Thomas Gold
Ryanair: The World’s Least Favorite Airline?
by Eva Holland | 10.20.08 | 1:30 PM ET
The Ireland-based budget carrier earned the title in an annual TripAdvisor poll—for the third consecutive time. Nonetheless, 42 million passengers are expected to take their chances with Ryanair this year, braving stingy legroom, unfriendly staff and frequent delays (the most common complaints against the airline) in exchange for those irresistible £10 tickets.
Photo by paolo margari via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Hollywood Does ‘The Odyssey’ ... In Space
by Eva Holland | 10.20.08 | 11:43 AM ET
Brad Pitt will play the traveling Greek general in an upcoming Hollywood adaptation of Homer’s classic, the Telegraph reports. The twist? The movie will be a “science fiction version based in space.” We’re big fans of both Odysseus and outer space—but I’m not convinced the two were ever meant to mix.
‘There’s an Old-School Charm to the Indian Train Experience’
by Michael Yessis | 10.20.08 | 11:05 AM ET
I often hear the Indian train experience described as intimidating or uncomfortable, so I was intrigued by the latest installment of the Washington Post’s Time Zones series. “I love the train, because you don’t have to be in a rush,” says one passenger. “You can think.”
Goldberg: ‘Airport Security in America is a Sham’
by Michael Yessis | 10.20.08 | 10:41 AM ET
A chilling story in the Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg, who tested security at various airports in various ways, almost always getting away with suspicious behavior.
Are These Chinese Villages Resting on the Fountain of Youth?
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.20.08 | 10:07 AM ET
An unusually large number of very old people live in hamlets near the Vietnam border in China’s scenic Guangxi Autonomous Region, creating a so-called “longevity cluster.” So how do you market a place like Bama county, home to 250,000 and 74 centenarians, to the Western world? Bill it as a haven for health tourism, reports The Wall Street Journal. Visitors can have a low-cost spa vacation by simply breathing the air, drinking the local water and eating meals here.
World Hum’s Most Read: Oct. 11-17
by World Hum | 10.17.08 | 8:05 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts for the week:
1) Can ‘The Moses Project’ Stop the Tides in Venice?
2) Berlin’s DDR Museum: ‘There Must Be a Microphone Around Here Someplace’
3) Paris: ‘A Delicate Pale Blue’ No Longer? (pictured)
4) Tokyo: ‘The Premier City in the World for Food’
5) ‘EIMI: A Journey Through Soviet Russia’
Photo by kla4067 via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
What We Loved This Week: Idlewild Books, the Appalachian Trail and Flowers on the Turnpike
by World Hum | 10.17.08 | 8:03 PM ET
World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Michael Yessis
The men’s room at the Grover Cleveland Service Area on the New Jersey Turnpike, for its display of fresh flowers above the urinals. It’s rare to see anything fresh at a highway rest stop, and I must say, I found it a little shocking and a nice touch.
Sesame Street, Global Edition
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.17.08 | 1:59 PM ET
When I heard Big Bird and South Africa’s muppet Zikwe talking to NPR about Putumayo Kids’ “Sesame Street Playground” album this weekend, I couldn’t help feeling jealous that I hadn’t grown up hearing songs like “Rubber Duckie” in Mandarin. The 40-year-old dean of all children’s shows now airs in 120 countries, and the new album showcases its worldwide reach.
There are songs from Israel, Palestine, Tanzania, South Africa, France, China, Russia, Mexico, the Netherlands, India and the United States. Concierge is especially fond of the “Pollution Song” from South Africa: a ditty about cleaning up after yourself. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone in the world sang along to that?
Headed to Provence? Bring Your Old Francs
by Eva Holland | 10.17.08 | 1:49 PM ET
Time to dust off the foreign coin collection. Businesses in the Provence village of Collobrieres are now accepting Francs, the Times of London reports. The Times article suggests that the move is a backlash against Euro-era inflation, but in this France 24 news clip, the villagers deny that they are rebels with a cause:
