Travel Blog
Clockwatching in Western China
by Julia Ross | 04.01.09 | 12:44 PM ET
If you’re traveling in Kashgar, China, over the summer, don’t be surprised if the sun sets at 11 p.m. That’s because the old Silk Road city—like all of China—is required to follow the clock in Beijing, some 2,000 miles east. Aside from throwing circadian rhythms out of whack, the policy has exposed political fault lines in the region: the minority Muslim Uighurs, resentful of Chinese suppression of their culture, insist on setting their own clocks, two hours earlier.
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Yahoo! BuzzThe ‘Golden Age’ of Green Travel
by Joanna Kakissis | 04.01.09 | 12:07 PM ET
That would be right now, despite the economic recession, says National Geographic Adventure’s eco tourism expert Costas Christ. Consider the evidence: Airlines are testing clean biofuels, top tourism organizations are battling climate change and defining sustainability standards and the Marriott Corporation is leading the charge to protect some 1.4 million acres of Amazon rain forest. Most notably for the humble traveler, the small outfitters and family-owned lodges of the early years of eco tourism are regaining their influence over the “$500-a-night jungle resorts” that have put eco travel out of financial reach for many, Christ says.
Hotel Tipping: A Change is Gonna Come
by Alexander Basek | 04.01.09 | 10:30 AM ET
I’m pretty good about tipping in hotels. I don’t mind dropping the bucks for bellmen—especially after I spent two days as one at the Hotel Giraffe for the New York Post—and I agree that some money for the maid in an envelope is usually the way to go. However, I had an interesting situation in Buenos Aires that made me wonder whether I made a cultural faux pas.
At the moment, BA is in the throes of a change shortage. There simply aren’t enough coins—you see signs everywhere that say “NO HAY MONEDAS” or demand exact change if you’re buying a pack of cigs. The buses in Buenos Aires only take coins, so the commute for a lot of working people in the city is rather difficult. I accumulated a fair amount of change over the course of my stay, and on the recommendation of a friend who lived in the city, I gave it to one of the front desk fellows at my hotel who had been helpful. He seemed a little ... surprised, though he said “Great! For the bus!” after an awkward pause. Still, I felt weird just giving someone a handful of change as a thank you.
Have you guys ever given unorthodox tips in hotels? Cookies? A hat? Tell me I’m not the only one.
Morning Links: The Serenity of Traveling Alone, Tombstone and More
by Michael Yessis | 04.01.09 | 9:55 AM ET
A Visit to the Alvear
by Alexander Basek | 03.31.09 | 2:51 PM ET
While in Buenos Aires last week, I got a chance to tour the Alvear Palace. As part of a test of social media web 2.0 blahbitty blah, I also tried to tweet about my tour, with marginal success. It’s really hard to type little messages on your phone during a meeting with someone and not seem like a total jerkwad in the process.
Maybe, though, I gave you guys an eye into what the travel-writing game is about—namely, nodding appreciatively at pools and gym machines. OK, I actually was impressed by the Alvear’s gym—the machines have flatscreens with videos explaining how to do all the exercises. That’s right in the wheelhouse of a doughy nerd such as myself.
Tangled Up In Blue
by Rob Verger | 03.31.09 | 12:19 PM ET
Two weekends ago, when I flew from New York City to Portland, Maine, on JetBlue, my plane, interestingly, had a name: “Blue Complete Me.” On the return trip, the plane, an Embraer E190, was named “Luiz F. Kahl.”
All JetBlue aircraft have names, and all but two of them have the word “blue” in it (although sometimes “blue” is written in another language). Some of them are pretty funny. The plane with tail number N599JB is called, “If The Blue Fits,” number N542JB is “Deja Blue” and N612JB is “Blue Look Maahvelous.” There’s even a humorous thread on FlyerTalk.com in which people play the JetBlue “name game,” listing the names of the JetBlue planes they have flown. Weird, right? (Among U.S. airlines, Virgin America also names its planes. One is called, “My Other Ride’s a Spaceship.”)
It’s definitely all part of JetBlue’s quirky branding strategy, but still, I find these names amusing. Names like “Hasta bluego” and “Parlez-blue?” make me smile and roll my eyes.
Hotel Hotsheet Halts
by Alexander Basek | 03.31.09 | 11:45 AM ET
After three years—or 21 “blogging” years—USA Today’s Hotel blogger, Kitty Bean Yancey, is hanging up her rolling suitcase today. She’s staying at the paper, just writing longer-form pieces about travel. Good luck, Kitty.
Civil War Parks Need You
by Sophia Dembling | 03.31.09 | 10:47 AM ET
Continuing on a theme, this Saturday, April 4, is the 13th annual Park Day, an event sponsored by the Civil War Preservation Trust and the History Channel that invites volunteers to help clean and tidy Civil War sites from Florida to Illinois and numerous points between.
Last year’s Park Day attracted a couple of thousand volunteers. Talk history with like-minded folks while you help preserve it. Check the CWPT website for locations, times, activities.
Alaska Airlines Copes With Mount Redoubt and Tweets, Too
by Rob Verger | 03.31.09 | 9:16 AM ET
Alaska Airlines announced Monday afternoon that flights to and from Anchorage were operating “on a limited schedule” due to the eruption of Mount Redoubt, and that the status is being re-evaluated every hour. Clearly, it’s a fluid situation. For information, visit the the carrier’s website or follow its snappy updates on Twitter.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory is also Tweeting about the mountain’s status, as previously mentioned.
Morning Links: ‘Tintin in Thailand,’ Hotelicopter Hoax and More
by Michael Yessis | 03.31.09 | 8:03 AM ET
- How is Prince William dealing with the economic downturn? He’s flying coach.
- Travel Hoax of the Week: The Hotelicopter.
- How do smartphones affect serendipitous wandering? Andrew Sullivan and his readers weigh in.
- A passenger was arrested after trying to open the door of plane stuck on a JFK taxiway.
- Anonymous writes about auditioning for a Las Vegas “dream job”: Working at a hotel pool. (via Kottke)
- Judges are set to rule whether Florida’s Airstream Ranch is art or nuisance. (via Groffoto
- Tintin in the red-light district in Thailand? The Rumpus calls it “remix culture at its finest.”
- Slideshow: A “controversial zoo in Argentina allows tourists to have extremely close encounters” with the animals.
- NPR’s latest “You Must Read This”: Beryl Markham’s West with the Night.
- Finally, some travelish humor—from a 5-year old.
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Dhani Tackles Poetry: ‘For YOU and YOU and YOU ...’
by Dhani Jones | 03.30.09 | 2:21 PM ET
Dave Evans, Havass Sports, Courtesy of Red Line Films NFL linebacker and Renaissance man Dhani Jones hosts the new Travel Channel show, Dhani Tackles the Globe.
Like any good Renaissance man, he’s writing poems inspired by the travel experiences featured on each show.
The topic of tonight’s journey: England.
Paperbacks at 15,000 Feet
by Eva Holland | 03.30.09 | 1:20 PM ET
Book Bench blogger Willing Davidson did a little book-spotting on a recent Nepalese trek; in this brief, fun post, he reports back on the most popular titles in his “mile-high book club.”
‘Survivor’: Coming to a Theme Park Near You
by Eva Holland | 03.30.09 | 12:20 PM ET
Move over, American Idol: “Survivor” is the latest reality TV phenomenon to get the theme-park treatment—and no, sadly, I don’t mean that the next season will force young parents to survive 40 days in the Magic Kingdom. (Now that, I would watch.)
Instead, CBS has created “Survivor: Live,” a free stage show that will visit three U.S. theme parks this summer, with plans for an expanded touring schedule next summer. Variety reports: “The half-hour ‘Survivor: Live’ will use clips from the TV series—as well as actors portraying previous contestants—and divide the audience into four ‘tribes.’ Volunteers from the crowd will go through a series of four challenges, leading eventually to a sole winner.” Weight loss from The Survivor Diet not included. (Via The Remote Island)
Kenyan Eco-Tourism Camp Draws on the ‘Obama Magic’
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.30.09 | 11:20 AM ET
In 2006, then-Senator Barack Obama stayed in a room at Basecamp Explorer, which is set on 40 acres at the edge of the Masai Mara National Game Reserve. Now that he’s President Obama, the room where he stayed is already popular with visitors, camp general manager Annette Bulman told Business Daily Africa.
The so-called “Obama room” is spare, with a bed, two African stools and a table with a framed photo of Obama and some Basecamp employees. Its wooden porch has a hammock and overlooks the Talek River. Basecamp Explorer is already one of the top eco-tourism facilities in Kenya. Could the “Obama room” also make it one of the most popular in Africa?
In Hong Kong, Taking the Rugby Cure
by Julia Ross | 03.30.09 | 10:21 AM ET
Recessionary times didn’t keep the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament from continuing its storied tradition of “off-the-hook drinking and off-the-record debauchery” this weekend, reports the New York Times. Expat lawyers, diplomats and bankers from across Asia turned up in Hong Kong Stadium dressed—in keeping with tradition—as gladiators, ballerinas, cowboys and lifeguards. “Nothing can touch the Sevens,” declared one banker, fending off queries about corporate cutbacks. Good to know someone’s partying, even if it’s on the other side of the world.
