Travel Blog
Signs of Hope in Airworld?
by Eva Holland | 05.12.08 | 1:20 PM ET
Between flight cancellations, security fears, lost baggage, and—worst of all?—the spectre of cell phone use being permitted on planes, it’s clear that a lot of the fun has been sucked out of air travel. But there are signs of hope. While the airlines themselves flounder, authorities at some airports are stepping in, the New York Times recently reported. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, customer service is being ramped up, security procedures are being streamlined and more equipment is being added. Says one source: “The airport is saying, I need to be accountable to my customers regardless of what carrier they’re on.”
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Yahoo! BuzzShrinking Planet Statistic of the Day: The Rise of China
by Jim Benning | 05.12.08 | 1:04 PM ET
Amazing bit of not-so-trivial trivia: “China today exports in a single day more than it exported in all of 1978.” Source: Fareed Zakaria’s new book, The Post-American World, as quoted in Sunday’s New York Times.
Related on World Hum:
* Shrinking Planet Headline of the Day: ‘Free Tibet’ Flags Made in China
Travel Outfitters Assist in Burma Cyclone Relief
by Jim Benning | 05.12.08 | 11:03 AM ET
The government of Burma (Myanmar) has blocked legions of foreign aid workers from entering the country to help with cyclone relief efforts, but a couple of outside travel companies have been able to offer at least some assistance. Most notably, Colorado-based Asia Transpacific Journeys, with dozens of local staff members and three Westerners in the country, has been distributing thousands of water filters around Yangon, the Los Angeles Times reports. Their efforts raise an interesting issue related to the ongoing debate over the ethics of traveling to Burma.
Thousands Feared Dead in China Earthquake
by Jim Benning | 05.12.08 | 10:35 AM ET
At least 8,500 As many as 50,000 people are feared dead as a result of a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck roughly 60 miles northwest of Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province. Among the areas hit is Wenchuan, the Times of London reports, “best-known as the home of the Wolong Nature Reserve, China’s leading research and breeding base for the endangered giant panda.” Many travelers know Chengdu as the gateway to Jiuzhai Gou, a wilderness park and UNESCO World Heritage site. The quake was felt as far away as Bangkok.
Updated, May 15, 9 a.m, ET
World Hum’s Most Read: May 3-9
by World Hum | 05.09.08 | 5:40 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts this week:
1) How to: Wear a Sari in India
2) Should I Quit Law School so I can Travel the World?
3) Why I CouchSurf
4) Thomas Kohnstamm’s Lonely Planet: The Firestorm Around ‘Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?’
5) Promised Land Closed: Audio Slide Show (pictured)
What We Loved This Week: L.A. Mariachis, Taybeh Beer, Owen’s First Road Trip
by World Hum | 05.09.08 | 5:20 PM ET
Jim Benning
A friend in Los Angeles asked me to hire a few mariachis to play at a party, so I made a trip to the Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. The small plaza where they usually hang out was closed because of construction in the neighborhood, but I found dozens of L.A.‘s beloved mariachis standing along a nearby street, many in full mariachi regalia, waiting to be hired for gigs. It’s a scene played out daily in countless cities around Mexico, and I was reminded once again of why I love Los Angeles: It is, in so many ways, a microcosm of the world, offering countless travel thrills close to home.
So Long, Virtual Magic Kingdom
by Eva Holland | 05.09.08 | 9:32 AM ET
Disneyland isn’t going anywhere, but Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom—an online world where players’ avatars explore digital recreations of Disneyland, among other things—will be shut down on May 21, gamesindustry.biz reports. In spite of a user petition with thousands of signatures, Disney is holding firm, saying: “All good promotions must come to an end, so we have decided the time is right to close VMK.” With the virtual Disneyland going offline, enthusiasts will have to visit one of the parks themselves for their fix. Score one for travel in the “real” world? Er, sort of.
Photo by denn via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Paris Is ‘Still Paris’
by Eva Holland | 05.09.08 | 9:24 AM ET
We noted recently that, given the weak dollar, American travelers are looking beyond the usual Western Europe destinations. That’s fine, but it’s nice to hear about one traveler who’s holding firm. In a letter from Paris posted on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel travel blog, sports writer Charles Bricker writes: “Damn the exchange rate ... It’s still Paris. The parks and the sidewalks are free, the weather is in the 80s and where else would you rather be?” Good point.
Photo by pedrosimoes7 via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Finding NYC in Grand Theft Auto’s ‘Liberty City’
by Eva Holland | 05.09.08 | 9:15 AM ET
I’m no gamer, but I loved reading Dave Itzkoff’s New York Times piece about his search for his hometown in the Grand Theft Auto IV’s fictional “Liberty City.” Liberty City, Itzkoff notes, “is New York City, and it is not.” In his tour of the game, he finds familiar sights and sounds—pedestrians shouting into cell phones, saxophone players in Times Square—but also, inevitably, discovers the digital world’s limitations.
New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Holidate’
by Eva Holland | 05.08.08 | 9:06 AM ET
Move over, glampers. The holidaters—couples traveling together in the very early stages of a relationship, sometimes even a second or third date—have arrived. And according to this Globe and Mail article, a number of large hotel chains are going out of their way to accommodate the travel-as-icebreaker scenario. Special arrangements include two separate bathrooms in one suite, or even two conjoined rooms. “If they don’t end up using the second room,” one hotel employee notes, “they’ll get a 50-per-cent refund.”
A Skeptic’s Journey to a Thai Monastery
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.08.08 | 9:02 AM ET
Interesting piece touching on spirituality and travel in the Chapel Hill-based magazine The Sun. Andrew Boyd, who has written a yet-to-be published book about his “spiritual misadventures traveling around the world,” goes to Doi Suthep monastery in Thailand to quiet the noise in his soul. He’s a skeptic in a world of faith, bound by his “monkey brain” instincts. He lusts after German tourists and apprentice nuns, and swaps drug stories with a former Chicago stockbroker turned monastery-philosopher-in-residence. Enlightenment, it seems, is kind of hard to come by.
Photo by Wandering Angel via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Stop the Presses: Dollar Gains on Euro
by Jim Benning | 05.08.08 | 8:46 AM ET
A trip to Western Europe will still cost a bundle, of course, but the euro just dropped to $1.53, marking an eight-week low against the dollar. We’ve been decrying the weakening dollar around the globe for months—in March, we noted that even officials at Taj Mahal had stopped accepting U.S. currency because of its declining value—so we happily note this small bit of good news for American travelers.
Related on World Hum:
* Three Travel Tips: Ways to Save Money in Europe
* Ask Rolf: Given the Weak Dollar Overseas, Any Tips on Long-Term Travel?
Photo by jopemoro via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Mountain Rescue: ‘Possibly Even Oscar Gold’?
by Eva Holland | 05.07.08 | 6:15 PM ET
That’s the prediction of our faithful Onion correspondent, on the scene of a mountain rescue that has all the ingredients for a “thrilling, made-for-TV movie”:
The Oreo Goes Global
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.07.08 | 9:26 AM ET
Kraft Foods is pushing the all-American cookie on Great Britain this month, hoping to convince the finicky biscuit eaters that two crisp chocolate wafers sandwiched with “creme” trumps a digestive any old day. The Oreo is already the top-selling cookie in China, though it’s been modified to suit Chinese tastes (less sugar, wafers instead of cookies and oblong instead of round). The Chinese are also dunking their Oreos in milk, the ever-perfect combo for this resilient cookie.
Eighth-Grade Science Projects and the ‘Calypso King of Barbados’
by Eva Holland | 05.07.08 | 9:24 AM ET
Remember that papier-mache volcano that some kid (or, more accurately, his parents) built every year for the junior high science fair? It never did manage to teach me how volcanoes work—later, I’d only recall the bubble and hiss of the Sprite mixture foaming out the top. But recently, while trying to get a handle on the local music scene in Barbados, I came across something similar: this educational volcano video, set to a hit soca track by Barbadian calypso legend Red Plastic Bag. Maybe something like this would have helped me pay closer attention in science class. Then again, maybe I would have only remembered the song. It’s plenty catchy.
