Travel Blog: News and Briefs
‘Travel Trick Shots’: Do They Ever Get Old?
by Eva Holland | 09.16.09 | 9:54 AM ET
In this gal’s opinion: Nope, never. If you agree, then you’ll probably enjoy this gallery of gimmicky tourist shots and optical illusions from the Courier Mail. If, on the other hand, you never want to see another goofy pose with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, then consider yourself warned.
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Yahoo! BuzzThe Big Picture: Hurricane Ike, Before and After
by Eva Holland | 09.15.09 | 4:15 PM ET
On the one-year anniversary of the devastating hurricane’s passage through Galveston, the Big Picture bloggers have put together a fantastic before/after photo essay—click on the photos of last year’s destruction to see the same cleaned-up locations today.
$11 Billion in Losses Predicted for World’s Airlines in 2009
by Michael Yessis | 09.15.09 | 3:11 PM ET
Ouch. The estimate comes from the International Air Transport Association, whose chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said, “The global economic storm may be abating, but airlines have not yet found a safe harbor.”
Greyhound Hits the Road in Britain
by Eva Holland | 09.15.09 | 12:47 PM ET
The iconic—or infamous?—U.S. bus company rolled out its first British service yesterday, and the Guardian went along for the inaugural ride. Writer Steven Morris, with visions of Route 66 and “gleaming metallic 1950s” style vehicles dancing in his head, was underwhelmed by the modern-day Greyhound reality. He writes: “The closest Peggy Sue—as this bus is rather jarringly called—got to swamps was a sewage works on the fringes of London. The Thames had to stand in for the Pacific Ocean. On a chilly morning, the desert seemed a very long way away.”
The Best and Worst of the Airline Overnight Bags
by Eva Holland | 09.15.09 | 11:34 AM ET
Terminal Man Brendan Ross is one week into his 30-day challenge, and so far he’s been keeping busy. In his latest post, Ross collects, examines and ranks the overnight toiletry bags—you know, the ones given out to passengers whose luggage has been lost—from seven different airlines. The big winner? Southwest.
At Least One Country Really Cared About the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s Arrival in New York
by Michael Yessis | 09.15.09 | 9:50 AM ET
And it wasn’t the U.S. OK, that might not be fair. Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg did show up at the festivities, and New York City tourism promoted a days-long 400th anniversary celebration.
But, according to the New York Times, the Netherlands went nuts, covering the just-ended festivities by sending “about 50 reporters to New York, with a major television station running nightly half-hour updates on the proceedings during prime time. And thousands of Dutch citizens crossed the Atlantic to take part, including Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.”
All that to celebrate the achievements of a Brit. So why the hubbub? “[H]is financial backer was the Dutch East India Company. (‘Who paid for the voyage,’ the crown prince said, ‘really counts.’)”
R.I.P. Patrick Swayze
by Eva Holland | 09.14.09 | 8:55 PM ET
The actor has died at age 57, after a two-year battle with cancer. Swayze starred in the surfing favorite “Point Break,” and his biggest success, “Dirty Dancing,” recently made our list of great summer vacation movies.
Dan Baum on Journalism and the Expat Life
by Eva Holland | 09.14.09 | 4:57 PM ET
In a recent series of tweets, the veteran reporter looked back on how he launched his career—by setting up as an independent foreign correspondent in Zimbabwe—and encourages young writers to follow suit. The tweets are collected on his website. Here’s a sample:
I still think going abroad—particularly to a place others avoid—is a way to make a name.
It’s a way to distinguish oneself from the mass of people who want to be writers.
It’s a way to call attention to oneself—by having something others don’t.
And it’s a way to do what we all got into this business for in the first place.
That is, to shine light into places the public needs to know about, but might otherwise miss.
(Thanks for the tip, Rob Verger)
Are These the World’s Worst Wax Figures?
by Eva Holland | 09.14.09 | 10:43 AM ET
Check out the gallery—it’s no Madame Tussaud’s. (Via The Daily Dish)
Afghanistan: ‘It’s Always the Fixer Who Dies’
by Eva Holland | 09.14.09 | 9:47 AM ET
George Packer responds to last week’s rescue effort, which freed kidnapped New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell but left his Afghan fixer, Sultan Munadi, dead: “Somehow, it’s always the fixer who dies. Of course, this is a false statement of fact on its face—at the very least, an exaggeration. But it feels emotionally true.” It’s worth reading in full.
What We Loved This Week: Son Jarocho, the Ottawa Public Library and the BBC’s ‘World of Business’
by World Hum | 09.11.09 | 4:33 PM ET
Photo by Terry Ward
Terry Ward
Learning to love sharks in Palau. I spent four days aboard the Ocean Hunter III liveaboard, diving Palau’s outer reefs. On every dive, we spotted multiple sharks—grey reefs, white tips and black tips. Unlike at some Caribbean spots, there’s no feeding needed to get the guys to gather here. The water was literally clouded with reef fish and schooling pelagics. Clipped with a reef hook to the edge of the drop offs, swaying in the current and watching the sharks materialize from the blue to skirt the coral walls, gave me a new admiration for the ocean’s top predator.
New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Clark’
by Michael Yessis | 09.11.09 | 1:53 PM ET
It’s derived from the name Clark Griswold, Chevy Chase’s character in Vacation. In recent usage it has two meanings:
1) To World Hum contributor Matt Villano, to Clark is “to overly plan an adventure in an attempt to make sure everyone will have a great time, only to see the plans backfire, causing disastrous results.”
2) To Tony Hawk, to do a Clark Griswold is to practice “efficiency in sightseeing.”
We support both uses.
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Up in the Air’
by Eva Holland | 09.11.09 | 12:59 PM ET
The first trailer for the much-anticipated adaptation is here. Check it out:
“Up in the Air” will be making a big, red-carpeted splash at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend. Beyond that, it goes into limited release Nov. 13 and—with a recent bump-up in the schedule—hits theaters nationwide on Nov. 25.
Finding ‘Mad Men’ in Manhattan
by Eva Holland | 09.11.09 | 12:14 PM ET
With “Mad Men” mania gaining steam in the early days of season three, Travel and Leisure offers a guide to the inevitable Don Draper tourist trail. T&L’s Charlotte Savino notes the importance of the show’s setting: “[F]or many, it’s the moneyed haunts and good ol’ boy bars in Gotham that make the late-1950s and early-1960s drama so much fun to watch ... Manhattan—its energy, glamour, wealth, and, well, alcohol—plays like another character flitting around the Sterling Cooper ad agency. Manhattan is the comic foil to Don’s emptiness.”
Fair warning: The story includes some spoilers.
Passengers Bill of Rights Loses a Fan
by Eva Holland | 09.11.09 | 10:25 AM ET
Christopher Elliott explains why he’s no longer in favor of a proposed bill.
