Travel Blog
For the Love of the European ‘City Bike’
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 1:48 PM ET
Can’t get enough of the Dutch-style two-wheelers? You’re not alone. Slate’s Seth Stevenson confesses his love for the “primly rectilinear” bicycles he first encountered around Amsterdam, and reviews a few different models that are available from specialty shops here in North America.
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Yahoo! BuzzParkour in Kazakhstan
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 12:56 PM ET
Kottke posts a fantastic action shot.
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Coming Into Los Angeles’ by Arlo Guthrie
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 11:45 AM ET
Into Jamaica’s Maroon Country
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 10:59 AM ET
Matt Carroll recently ditched the resort and went looking for the descendants of the Maroons, the historic communities of escaped slaves that formed in the Jamaican interior and fought a running battle with the British for more than a century. His story is in the Guardian.
R.I.P. Orient Express
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 10:09 AM ET
Don’t worry: The modern, private luxury line to Venice is still going strong. But, as we’ve noted before, the last true descendant of the original Orient Express was a line from Strasbourg to Vienna—and that service has just been cut. The Independent’s Simon Calder offers an obituary:
As an announcement of a momentous death foretold, it is remarkably economical. “Train 468/469,” reports the September edition of the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable “Strasbourg to Wien [Vienna] will finally be withdrawn.” Between those two phrases is the most momentous pair of words in European rail travel: Orient Express. Seventy-five years after the publication of Agatha Christie’s bestselling crime novel, Murder on the Orient Express, the train that epitomised trans-European travel for more than a century is finally being killed off.
The End-of-Summer Roadtrip Rehab
by Eva Holland | 08.24.09 | 4:33 PM ET
Yep, it’s getting to be that time of year again. Wired’s Brad Moon cleans out the family car after a summer of road tripping, and makes a list of banned substances for future treks. Among the contraband? “Those grabby pincer things they sell at all souvenir shops.”
Paul Theroux: ‘The Cross-Country Trip is the Supreme Example of the Journey as the Destination’
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.09 | 2:37 PM ET
Yet one of the most intrepid travel writers alive had never driven across the U.S. So when the Smithsonian asked him and five other travel writers to take on their dream assignments, he picked the cross-country trip. He delivered a beautiful story. He writes:
In my life, I had sought out other parts of the world—Patagonia, Assam, the Yangtze; I had not realized that the dramatic desert I had imagined Patagonia to be was visible on my way from Sedona to Santa Fe, that the rolling hills of West Virginia were reminiscent of Assam and that my sight of the Mississippi recalled other great rivers. I’m glad I saw the rest of the world before I drove across America. I have traveled so often in other countries and am so accustomed to other landscapes, I sometimes felt on my trip that I was seeing America, coast to coast, with the eyes of a foreigner, feeling overwhelmed, humbled and grateful.
The other five writers involved are Susan Orlean (Destination: Morocco), Francine Prose (Japan), Geoffrey C. Ward (India), Caroline Alexander (Jamaica) and Frances Mayes (Poland). Here’s Jan Morris’s introduction to the project.
Two Buskers Banned After Playing ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Faith’ Over and Over
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.09 | 12:25 PM ET
Apparently an 18-month-long aural assault featuring the massive hits by Oasis and George Michael was enough for the people of Moseley, Birmingham. Said one resident: “It would get to the point where I would be lying in bed and I would have Wonderwall stuck in my head all night. To be fair, they didn’t do a bad rendition of the songs—but after hearing them the first few times it does start to grate on you. Although its not surprising that they can play it well—with the amount of practice they’ve had.”
A Travel Tip From Margaret Atwood
by Eva Holland | 08.24.09 | 11:36 AM ET
The author shares her packing M.O. before an upcoming book tour: “And remember: Think pink, pack black. It dirts less.” (Via The Book Bench)
The Plight of the ‘Long-Neck Women,’ Continued
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.09 | 10:21 AM ET
The Washington Post’s Amit R. Paley is the latest to visit the long-neck women of the Padaung tribe in Thialand and ask: “Were tourists really being taken to see virtual prisoners? And if so, would my visit encourage slavery by paying money to human traffickers? Or would I be able to sound the alarm if I saw real human rights violations?”
Last year we blogged about several other stories about the women.
‘American Chinatown’ in Photos
by Eva Holland | 08.24.09 | 9:31 AM ET
To mark the release of Bonnie Tsui’s American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods, the Book Bench has a short, worthwhile slideshow.
What We Loved This Week: The Moth Podcast, David Sedaris and More
by World Hum | 08.21.09 | 3:57 PM ET
Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days:
Eva Holland
I love a good summer thunderstorm, and I got caught in a doozy this week in New York City, while on my way to meet a friend on the Upper West Side. It was the best lightning show I’d seen in years.
Happy 50th Birthday, Hawaii
by Eva Holland | 08.21.09 | 2:18 PM ET
The islands are celebrating five decades of statehood today. In the New York Times, Paul Theroux offers a very, well, Theroux-like tribute to his adopted home: “I have lived in Hawaii longer than any other place in my life. I have murmured to myself in Africa, Asia and Britain, ‘I’d hate to die here.’ But I wouldn’t mind dying in Hawaii, which means I like living here.”
JetBlue’s Unlimited Flight Pass: Sold Out
by Eva Holland | 08.21.09 | 12:39 PM ET
Arthur Frommer may have had his doubts, but he was in the minority: After unexpected levels of demand, JetBlue cut off sales of the pass two days ahead of schedule.
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Crystal Frontier’ by Calexico
by Jim Benning | 08.21.09 | 11:45 AM ET
