Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Slate Wants Your Airport Security Fixes
by Eva Holland | 01.06.10 | 2:27 PM ET
Slate is collecting reader ideas on how to stymie the next attempted bombing—winning entries will be published on the site and forwarded to the TSA. Maybe it’s time to start a write-in campaign for the Magic 8-Ball method?
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Yahoo! BuzzVideo: Stuck in Newark
by Eva Holland | 01.05.10 | 3:44 PM ET
Caught in the latest round of security-related airport gridlock, one passenger decides to make the best of things.
‘The FedEx Meal Plan’
by Michael Yessis | 01.05.10 | 11:25 AM ET
Brett Martin’s “obnoxious” scheme: To have food from around the world sent overnight to him at his home in Brooklyn. He writes about his efforts in GQ:
The idea came to me in the midst of one of those morose funks that occur after coming home from a long trip. In this case, I had just returned from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was moping about the house, dreaming of days spent stuffing myself with a mix of Chinese, Indian, and Malay delicacies unavailable anywhere else in the world.
Or were they? I suddenly thought, snapping awake. Unavailable? What did that even mean in these modern times? After all, there is a network of couriers crisscrossing the globe twenty-four hours a day and promising that anything can be anywhere within a matter of hours. So if I craved a bowl of pork noodles of the sort sold on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, why would I need to do something as old-fashioned as actually visiting Kuala Lumpur? International shipping may be pricey, but as a way to stay connected to the tastes of the planet during lean times, it seems downright affordable.
‘Barf Bag Puppet Theater’ and Other In-Flight Fun
by Eva Holland | 01.05.10 | 9:41 AM ET
The recent airport security upheaval continues to bring out the funny. The latest? Fun With TSA, a trove of electronics-free in-flight games that don’t require passengers to leave their seats. (Via Jeffrey Goldberg)
Saying Goodbye to 2009 in Travel: Six More Links
by Eva Holland | 01.04.10 | 5:26 PM ET
We spent last week saying our farewells to the year that’s just ended—in books, video and more. But before we truly close the book on 2009, there are a few more links worth checking out.
The Times of London has put together its own year-end list of best travel books, while the New York Times also rounds up some holiday travel reads.
Gawker’s readers provide some harrowing tales of holiday travel disasters.
Social bookmarking site StumbleUpon has collected its most popular travel content for the year, and Jaunted has handed out the full roster of its 2009 travel awards, The Jauntys.
Finally, over at Flyover America, World Hum contributors Jenna Schnuer and Sophia Dembling are ready to look ahead: They’re airing their 2010 travel non-resolutions.
Got a link that we missed? Drop it in the comments. Happy New Year!
America’s HIV Travel Ban Ends Today
by Eva Holland | 01.04.10 | 4:59 PM ET
As of today, the ban on HIV-positive visitors to the U.S. is no longer in effect—and the first passengers to take advantage of the change will soon be en route from the Netherlands. Steve Ralls writes in the Huffington Post: “The arrival of [Amsterdam-JFK passengers] Clemens Ruland and Hugo Bausch will also signal the end of a shameful and discriminatory policy that has exacted a heavy price on our country’s reputation in the scientific community and kept countless individuals—both straight and gay—separated from their loved ones.” (Via The Daily Dish)
Still Traveling the World After Death
by Eva Holland | 01.04.10 | 2:33 PM ET
The Los Angeles Times has the compelling story of a National Geographic cameraman whose ashes, thanks to friends and family, are still making their way around the world.
Geoff Dyer on the Charm of American Travelers
by Eva Holland | 01.04.10 | 12:50 PM ET
The British travel writer tackles that persistent traveling stereotype, the Ugly American, in a funny and insightful New York Times story. Here’s a sample:
The archetypal American abroad is perceived as loud and crass even though actually existing American tourists are distinguished by the way they address bus drivers and bartenders as “sir” and are effusive in their thanks when any small service is rendered. We look on with some confusion at these encounters because, on the one hand, the Americans seem a bit country-bumpkinish, and, on the other, good manners are a form of sophistication.
(Via @douglasmack)
Seven Great Tweets About the New TSA Regulations
by @worldhum | 12.28.09 | 1:59 PM ET
We’ve been tracking Twitter’s many great travel tweets for a few months now, and this weekend’s attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight, and the resulting imposition of new, more stringent security protocols for air travelers, has seen the creation of some fine TSA-related tweeting. Here are a few of our favorites:
What We Loved This Week: Zapatista Ornaments, ‘Arctic Dreams’ and More
by World Hum | 12.23.09 | 4:56 PM ET
Jim Benning
I’ve been enjoying my Zapatista rebel Christmas tree ornament—I think it was originally supposed to be a key chain—which I brought back from a trip to Chiapas years ago. When my 3-year-old daughter asked about it, I was more than happy to launch into a discussion about subcomandante Marcos and agrarian reform movements. She shrugged. Yes, another teachable moment brought to us by travel.
Britain: On the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Trail
by Eva Holland | 12.23.09 | 3:41 PM ET
Anglophiles and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fans bound for the UK, take note: With Guy Ritchie’s new “Sherlock Holmes” movie due out on Christmas Day, VisitBritain has put together an extensive list of filming locations, with both the new flick and past “Holmes” film and TV incarnations represented.
The movie stars Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson, and looks set to add a healthy dose of action sequences and sex appeal to the venerable detective’s crime-fighting style. It’s sure to be controversial with Conan Doyle purists, but I’m looking forward to it for the armchair British travel as much as anything. Here’s the trailer:
AP: ‘The Decade in Travel’
by Eva Holland | 12.23.09 | 11:16 AM ET
Beth Harpaz pinpoints two major forces that have changed the way we travel over the last 10 years: technology and terrorism. Yep, that sounds about right.
‘Up in the Air’: Eight More Great Links
by Eva Holland | 12.22.09 | 5:33 PM ET
The Jason Reitman-directed travel movie continues to draw all kinds of press attention, much of it well worth reading.
Over at The Daily Beast, novelist Walter Kirn reveals how Reitman and star George Clooney saved his novel from obscurity.
In the New York Times, op-ed writer Frank Rich argues that “Up in the Air” is the perfect movie to close out a troubled year, using “the power of pop culture to salve national wounds that continue to fester in the real world.” Rich’s Times colleague Adam Andrew Newman looks at the movie as an advertising bonanza for Hilton and American Airlines.
World Hum contributor Alison Stein Wellner reviews the movie for the Perceptive Travel blog (warning: major spoilers) while blogger Joe Posnanski offers a thoughtful response to “Up in the Air” from a traveler’s perspective.
Finally, here’s an in-flight tweet from Jason Reitman, posted just after the Golden Globes nominees were announced: “Flight attendant congratulated me on the noms. Guy in 1C loved the movie. Yup, I’m on Air Canada amongst my people.”
The World’s Language Density, Mapped
by Eva Holland | 12.22.09 | 3:10 PM ET
Over at Gadling, Aaron Hotfelder’s come across a fascinating Swedish map of the world that shows countries re-sized in proportion to the number of languages they’ve produced. The biggie? Papua New Guinea.
‘The Hangover’ Goes to Thailand
by Eva Holland | 12.22.09 | 1:28 PM ET
Turns out the boozy travel sequel isn’t headed to outer space after all—instead, the boys will take their follow-up hi-jinx to Thailand. Bring on the R-rated Bangkok tourism cliches!
