Travel Blog
Sorry for the Dirty Looks, Traveling Moms and Dads
by Eva Holland | 07.01.09 | 3:33 PM ET
Here’s one that will likely ring true for most traveling parents: In the New York Times, Judith Warner’s latest post addresses “the petty humiliations of motherhood.” She writes:
You know what I mean: the nasty little looks, tones of voice, gestures, subtle and not-so-subtle criticism and even insults that so often seem to come the way of mothers. Harsh words delivered in all apparent innocence, innocuous-seeming observations made in a tone that cuts to the bone, odd little interactions, generally, that manage to make a mother feel condemned in the court of world opinion.
I did indeed know what she was talking about—I’ve certainly shot my fair share of icy “You’re a terrible mother” stares at the parents of seat-kicking toddlers on airplanes. Warner’s post was a healthy reminder to rein those urges in.
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Yahoo! BuzzJavelin High-Speed Train Makes its Debut in London
by Alicia Imbody | 07.01.09 | 3:09 PM ET
Commuters and Olympics fans all over London are enjoying the U.K.’s first high-speed train, the Javelin, which began service Monday morning. It got off to an early start, arriving one minute early on its first run.
The train provides service between London and Kent, stopping at, among other places, the site of new Olympic stadium (still under construction for the 2012 Olympic Games) in Stratford.
Another Reason for Air Rage?
by Eva Holland | 07.01.09 | 2:11 PM ET
Sure, we all love those nifty seat-back entertainment systems—but as Jaunted astutely points out, the personal TV screens come with a major downside: a long-haul flight’s worth of punches to the back of the head.
I’m assuming that when they’re not busy making air travel greener and/or finding a way to remain afloat in this brutal economic climate, the industry’s brightest minds will be working on the problem?
My Deep-Sea Orbit Into a Love of Place
by Joanna Kakissis | 07.01.09 | 1:41 PM ET
Photo by Joanna Kakissis The deep, clean dive into the sea off Southwestern Greece probably sealed my lifelong attachment to the pristine in places. I was 9 years old and, until then, had only swam in chlorinated swimming pools and muddy river water in landlocked North Dakota. My father had grown up swimming in a secluded beach near the village of Kyparissia as a young orphan and had associated its salty breath and blue-green water with a wanderlust that would turn him dreamy-eyed even as a middle-aged man. To him, travel at its most elemental was about the unadorned land, enlivened by tides and breeze and hulking mountains. He described his childhood beach so lovingly that it almost sounded human.
Canadians in the U.S.: What Do They Miss About Canada?
by Michael Yessis | 07.01.09 | 12:38 PM ET
Here’s a Canada Day treat from the New York Times: Eleven Canadians living in the United States talk about missing, among other things, hockey highlights, universal health coverage, the Canadian Mosaic and the “u” in color.
Baez, Bon Jovi, Mike Scott: Which Iran Protest Song Is Right for You?
by Jim Benning | 07.01.09 | 11:51 AM ET
If you were a child of the ’60s, then perhaps it’s Joan Baez’s “We Shall Overcome.” If you came of age in the ’80s, then maybe it’s Jon Bon Jovi’s “Stand By Me,” which he recorded with Iranian exile Andy Madadian.
I’m a longtime fan of the Waterboys and their sometimes solo-recording frontman, Mike Scott, so I’m loving his tribute, which draws on the words of W.B. Yeats.
Which is your favorite? Any others we shouldn’t miss? Here they are:
New Satellite Map of Earth Unveiled
by Eva Holland | 07.01.09 | 10:05 AM ET
The latest terrain map, a collaboration between NASA and the Japanese government, offers coverage of 99 percent of the planet’s surface. The best previous effort managed 80 percent.
After Michael Jackson: Will Tourists Flock to Neverland Ranch?
by Eva Holland | 06.30.09 | 2:52 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Over at This Just In, the inevitable question has been asked: Where will Michael Jackson’s Graceland be? After all, the King of Pop’s fans will need a pilgrimage spot just as badly as the King’s do. JD Rinne offers a few possibilities: the Jackson family hometown of Gary, Indiana; Detroit’s Motown Museum; the Apollo Theater in Harlem; and, of course, Neverland Ranch.
SkyMaul, Revisited
by Michael Yessis | 06.30.09 | 1:57 PM ET
In this interview, the guys from Kasper Hauser discuss their SkyMall parody, SkyMaul. It was apparently “a complete bitch to design.”
Our take from two years ago: The parody is better than the real thing.
Tripping Out
by Jenna Schnuer | 06.30.09 | 12:59 PM ET
So, as you’ve heard, Flyover America and the rest of our blog brethren are outta here (well, at least on the blogs—we’ll all swirl around the place on various other topics). We’ve taken a shine to all y’all so we’re taking this act out on its own on the information superhighway. (Leave it to me to revive a tired old phrase for the sake of a bad joke, eh?) Look for the launch of Flyover America as an indie act in the very near future. And, yes, the good folks of World Hum said they’ll pass the word along when that happens. If you want to keep up on FA activity, just drop us a line at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we’ll let you know when we’re up and running. Oh—we’re also turning from a duo into a trio. Our good buddy Matt Villano is coming along for the ride. We hope to see you there (and, of course, here).
Happy trails,
Jenna
p.s. You’re all the bees knees. This has been some kind of good fun. Big time.
The Road Goes on Forever (And the Party Never Ends)
by Sophia Dembling | 06.30.09 | 12:45 PM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling The best thing about this too-short gig with World Hum is that it revived and refreshed my passionate love affair with our glorious fifty. Traveling the U.S. is what gave me the travel bug in the first place and now I’m buggier than ever. Give up this blog? Never! I have so much more to see and do and discuss with you.
Bikinis: A History in Pictures
by Eva Holland | 06.30.09 | 11:51 AM ET
Just in time for the summer holidays, Slate digs up a brief (har har) pictorial history of the bikini, originally put together for the suit’s 60th anniversary a couple years back. There’s also an excellent Magnum photo gallery.
Bulwer-Lytton and the Art of Bad (Travel) Writing
by Michael Yessis | 06.30.09 | 11:00 AM ET
It’s Bulwer-Lytton time again. The winner of the best intentionally awful opening sentence of a novel this year is David McKenzie, who sets his scene off Nantucket Sound:
Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin’ off Nantucket Sound from the nor’ east and the dogs are howlin’ for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the “Ellie May,” a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin’ and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.
Among the other winners with a travely vibe, Dr. Sarah Cockram, who won the Historical Fiction category:
The Cunard “Carinthia” glided through the starry waters of the Bering Sea, 843 passengers aboard, including Harriet Dobbs, resignedly single for over a decade, while a nautical mile due west slunk the K-18 submarine, under the command of lonely Ukrainian Captain First Rank Nikolai Shevchenko: ships that passed in the night (although the second technically a boat).
Joe Dykes took a dishonorable mention for this description of a train ride:
I awoke in my sleeper on the way from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, my nightmare riven by a train of thought that abruptly stopped me in my tracks with cataclysmic, explosive, and yet equal and opposing force, like a train on its way from Rotterdam to Amsterdam; then I realized I was on the wrong train and headed for Rotterdam, instead of Amsterdam.
Eric Stoveken’s portrait of post-snowstorm Manhattan was victorious in the Purple Prose category:
The gutters of Manhattan teemed with the brackish slurry indicative of a significant though not incapacitating snowstorm three days prior, making it seem that God had tripped over Hoboken and spilled his smog-flavored slurpie all over the damn place.
Here are all the horrible winners.
So Long, Airworld
by Rob Verger | 06.30.09 | 10:25 AM ET
Photo by Rob Verger It’s been a pleasure covering air travel for World Hum’s blog, and I’ll miss it.
Looking back, some of my favorite posts to write were the ones that celebrated the quirkier aspects of air travel: I loved writing about, for example, a strange scabies outbreak among TSA staff at Boston’s Logan Airport (though I did not, in fact, enjoy once getting scabies myself).
Finding Frederic Remington (in Upstate New York)
by Jenna Schnuer | 06.30.09 | 9:20 AM ET
Author and her grandfather, Sidney Friedfertig (35-plus years ago) The statues always felt out of place. I never really understood why my grandfather, Sidney Friedfertig, loved Frederic Remington’s work so much. While my grandfather was fond of all things Western, Remington’s pieces just struck me as harsh and ugly. I didn’t like them. What were they doing in my grandparents’ Westchester, NY, apartment, alongside my artist grandmother’s brightly colored oil paintings?
Though my grandfather passed away nearly 15 years ago, until recently I still hadn’t taken a shine to Remington. It was odd because, really, I thought he would have grown on me for sentimental reasons.
