Travel Blog: News and Briefs
‘Mozambique is a Good Place to Disappear’
by Eva Holland | 11.02.10 | 3:12 PM ET
Over at The Smart Set, World Hum contributor Christopher Vourlias recalls an encounter with Captain Ian, a boozy expat who’d fought against Robert Mugabe’s guerillas in Rhodesia-turned-Zimbabwe before embarking on a 20-year journey around southern Africa:
During the night he had described himself to me as, alternately, a thief, an assassin, “the grumpiest, most irritable captain on the sea,” and “the last rebel in Africa.” Now he was at the helm of a fishing boat on Ibo, offering day trips to the few tourists who straggled out to the island each year. He gave me a very complicated look as he described his newfound fate. It seemed like an awfully long fall from grace—or, at least, violence—for this unlikely rebel.
It’s a good read.
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Yahoo! BuzzWill a Road Through the Serengeti Kill Tanzania’s Giant Tourism A.T.M.?
by Michael Yessis | 11.02.10 | 11:45 AM ET
Tanzania president Jakaya Kikwete wants to build a highway through the Serengeti, the location of the Great Migration, which, Jeffrey Gettleman writes, is “widely considered one of the most spectacular assemblies of animal life on the planet.” What will happen if the proposed road gets built?
Scientists and conservation groups paint a grim picture of what could happen next: rare animals like rhinos getting knocked down as roadkill; fences going up; invasive seeds sticking to car tires and being spread throughout the park; the migration getting blocked and the entire ecosystem becoming irreversibly damaged.
Tourism could also be a casualty.
Hundreds of thousands of people here depend on tourism for a living. And the Serengeti is like a giant A.T.M. for Tanzania, attracting more than 100,000 visitors each year, producing millions of dollars in park fees and helping drive Tanzania’s billion-dollar safari business, an economic pillar. “If anything bad happens to the Serengeti,” said Charles Ngereza, a Tanzanian tour operator, “we’re finished.”
Jeffrey Gettleman narrates an accompanying video.
Paris vs. New York: The Blog
by Eva Holland | 11.02.10 | 10:59 AM ET
Paris vs. New York, a tally of two cities is a fun graphic blog that pairs up aspects of the two iconic spots—Quasimodo vs. King Kong, for instance, or the macaroon vs. the cupcake. I guess this is one city-to-city comparison that never gets old. (Via Kottke)
Patton Oswalt Trick-Or-Treats in His Hotel Room
by Jim Benning | 11.01.10 | 5:12 PM ET
Comedian Patton Oswalt apparently found himself alone in a hotel room last night for Halloween. That didn’t stop him from having a grand time. He unleashed a series of tweets. Among them:
“Trick-or-treater” at my hotel room door just Polish woman checking mini-bar. Happy Halloween. Sigh.
Just ‘cuz I’m alone in a NYC hotel room doesn’t mean I can’t have a happy H’ween.
Now to trick-or-treat in my hotel room. Trick-or-treat, mini-bar! Thanks for the scotch!
Trick-or-treat, bathroom! Yay, Q-tips!
Trick-or-treat, desk drawer! Oooo, a room service menu!
Why Walter Kirn Clings To Kerouac
by Michael Yessis | 11.01.10 | 4:17 PM ET
The man who introduced us to Airworld likes to bypass Airworld. For the last four years, Kirn has made regular driving trips from Livingston, Montana to Los Angeles, to stay in touch with “the gritty ‘real America’ of perpetually flooded truck-stop men’s rooms and quickie meals of stale tortilla chips doused in liquid cheese dispensed from pumps.”
I pay a high price for clinging to Kerouac in the age of frequent-flyer programs. I’ve worn out a couple of engines on my commute, a few sets of tires, and one or two relationships. I’ve also worn myself out, partly because whenever I make the trip, I tell myself I can do it without sleeping. It’s difficult, though. The problem is Mormon coffee. In Utah, the state in the middle of my trek (a place of allegedly spectacular scenery that I always seem to cross at night, anaesthetized by the synthetic murmur of ‘80s soft rock from my satellite radio) caffeine is deemed a narcotic, not a vitamin. It’s obtainable, sure, but only with an effort, and it’s weak when you find it. You sort of have to know a guy.
New TSA Pat-Down Techniques: ‘You’re Not Going to Like It’
by Eva Holland | 11.01.10 | 12:50 PM ET
The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg writes about an illuminating encounter he had with TSA agents last week. Goldberg had refused to enter the full-body imaging device at the security checkpoint at Baltimore-Washington International, opting instead for the manual pat-down. Here’s how the agents responded:
When I made this request, a number of TSA officers, to my surprise, began laughing. I asked why. One of them—the one who would eventually conduct my pat-down—said that the rules were changing shortly, and that I would soon understand why the back-scatter was preferable to the manual search. I asked him if the new guidelines included a cavity search. “No way. You think Congress would allow that?”
I answered, “If you’re a terrorist, you’re going to hide your weapons in your anus or your vagina.” He blushed when I said “vagina.”
“Yes, but starting tomorrow, we’re going to start searching your crotchal area”—this is the word he used, “crotchal”—and you’re not going to like it.”
“What am I not going to like?” I asked.
“We have to search up your thighs and between your legs until we meet resistance,” he explained.
“Resistance?” I asked.
“Your testicles,” he explained.
‘That’s funny,” I said, “because ‘The Resistance’ is the actual name I’ve given to my testicles.”
The agents go on to explain that the ramped-up pat-downs are actually intended to force embarrassed passengers into the scanners, rather than to up the chances of catching underwear contraband. Goldberg also has a follow-up post from his return flight.
Flavorwire Celebrates Fictional Traveling Sidekicks
by Eva Holland | 11.01.10 | 12:01 PM ET
A couple years back we put together a list of our favorite fictional travelers. Don Quixote and Jack Kerouac’s Sal Paradise both made the list—and now, we’re thrilled to see, both of their traveling comrades, Sancho Panza and Dean Moriarty, have cracked Flavorwire’s list of the greatest sidekicks in literature. Long live the literary travel buddy. (Via The Book Bench)
Some Travel Headlines Never Get Old
by Eva Holland | 11.01.10 | 10:17 AM ET
Over at Slate, Press Box columnist Jack Shafer is gathering suggestions for a list of generic news headlines that never seem to go out of style—headlines, as Shafer puts it, with “all the news value of one titled ‘Sun To Rise in East Tomorrow’.”
It occurred to us that hard news isn’t the only area that seems to rely on a rotating cast of headlines; travel writing has its fair share, too. So what are the “frequent flyers” of travel news headlines? Here’s a start:
- Rowdy Passenger Causes Unscheduled Landing
- In X Destination, Tourism Boom Offers Mixed Blessings
- New TSA Directives Raise Privacy Concerns
Got more to add to the list? Let us know in the comments, or post them on Twitter with the hashtag #staletravelnews.
What We Loved This Week: Bourdain’s L.A., Haruki Murakami and the Airport-Only Lane
by World Hum | 10.31.10 | 10:57 AM ET
Eva Holland
I loved reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. For whatever reason, I’ve never felt particularly drawn to Japan, but Murakami’s re-creation of 1960s student life in Tokyo had my interest piqued for the first time.
Happy Birthday, Alaska Highway
by Eva Holland | 10.29.10 | 4:34 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland The road, built in the midst of World War II thanks to fears of a Japanese invasion, turns 68 today. It’s come a long way since its opening to military traffic—when, according to Wired writer Tony Long, it was “a glorified footpath with stretches of unpaved road, murderous switchbacks and no guard rails or shoulders”—but I still think it makes for one of the great North American drives. Here’s to many more road trips yet to come.
Mapped: Google Maps’ Legal Challenges
by Eva Holland | 10.28.10 | 1:06 PM ET
Gawker has posted a Google map mash-up of all the areas where Google Maps is being investigated over privacy concerns. As one commenter notes: “This sh*t just got meta.”
Travel Writing Today: ‘Public Relations Bull’?
by Jim Benning | 10.28.10 | 11:59 AM ET
I love this. New York Times Frugal Travel columnist Seth Kugel just interviewed John Wilcock, who, in addition to editing travel stories at the New York Times in the 1950s, wrote “Mexico on $5 a Day” and “Japan on $5 a Day” in the 1960s.
Among the highlights:
You wrote in the 1970s that most most travel writing is just “public relations bull.” Is that true today?
Things have changed a lot since then. One of the things I’d like to claim is that the underground press changed the nature of almost all newspaper and magazine writing. Travel writing today is much more interesting than it was in those days. When I was working at The Times everything was incredibly impersonal. Basically, you weren’t allowed to have an opinion at all. And nowadays it’s almost the reverse, almost everything is written from the personal point of view. So things have changed tremendously.
All true. And yet, let’s be honest: There’s still plenty of public relations bull out there.
Gary Shteyngart in Russia: ‘Not a Tourist, Not a Native’
by Eva Holland | 10.28.10 | 10:59 AM ET
The author is in his native Russia for a book tour, and the New York Times’ Clifford J. Levy takes a look at his reception there:
While Mr. Shteyngart is a rising literary star in New York, he is a nobody in Russia, selling fewer translations of his books here than in Belgium. It may be that Russians don’t quite get his three-ring circus narratives, or are not amused by his caricatures of post-Soviet life. But Russia has a splendid tradition of satire, and current writers like Viktor Shenderovich, whose wit has been compared to Jon Stewart’s, have followings. (As well as the disapproval of the Kremlin.)
Maybe, then, it is something deeper: Russia does not like to celebrate the achievements of its wayward sons, often eyeing them with suspicion and even envy. Mr. Shteyngart said that some of the reviews of his work by Russian critics could be summarized as “Balding traitor betrays homeland.”
World Hum contributor Rob Verger talked with Shteyngart about his dual roles as novelist and travel writer last year. (Via The Book Bench)
The ‘Bill Clinton Ate Here’ Effect
by Michael Yessis | 10.26.10 | 12:01 PM ET
Wherever former President Clinton eats, crowds follow. Writes David Segal: “[F]ew phrases are more bankable to restaurants around the world than this: ‘Bill Clinton ate here.’” Here’s why:
It’s widely (and correctly) assumed that he has good connections everywhere he visits, so he’s unlikely to wind up at a dud. More than most celebrities, he seems like a person who appreciates good food, and before he had heart surgery, he was known for his wide-ranging appetite.
And when Mr. Clinton visits a restaurant, everybody in the room knows it. Douglas Band, an aide who frequently travels with Mr. Clinton, says that his boss introduces himself to every diner, as well as every waiter and every kitchen staff member. He will always pose for photographs and sign guest books. Someone from his staff will send a thank-you note a few days later.
Anyone who trails in Mr. Clinton’s dining path will eat well, but should know that his taste in restaurants, when he actually selects them, runs to the bright, lively and unfussy. The white table cloth, 10-course prix fixe experience is not his style.
I’ve happily followed in Clinton’s dining path, here in D.C. and elsewhere. I regret waiting until my final day in Little Rock, a Sunday, to track down one of his favorite spots. Alas, it was closed.
‘Hello Kitty’ Gets a Theme Park of Her Own
by Eva Holland | 10.26.10 | 11:33 AM ET
The new park, Hello Kitty Kawaii Paradise opened late last week in Tokyo. “Hello Kitty” creator Sanrio already had two theme parks devoted to Kitty and her friends, but Gadling blogger Leigh Caldwell notes that this is the first one where the famous cartoon cat flies solo on the marquee. So congrats, Hello Kitty, on having top billing all to yourself.
