Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Ever Had Your Computer Freeze While Booking Tickets Online?
by Jim Benning | 08.28.08 | 1:30 PM ET
This guy did and called Expedia to see whether his airline ticket purchase went through. It did not, he was assured. So he booked the flights again, only to see on his credit card bill later that he was charged for both purchases. Fortunately, Christopher Elliott came to his rescue, but among other things, it’s a good reminder to review those credit card bills carefully.
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Yahoo! Buzz‘Golfcations’? Enough Already!
by Eva Holland | 08.28.08 | 12:48 PM ET
Sure, I’ve done my bit to contribute to this summer’s -cation craze. But even I think that this time, Forbes Traveler has gone too far. Golfcation? Really?
The Next ‘Into the Wild’? With a Touch of ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’?
by Jim Benning | 08.28.08 | 11:07 AM ET
I’ve no idea whether there’s a book or film in the works based on this recent front page story in the Los Angeles Times, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were. It’s the story of Joe Sanderson, a Midwesterner and idealist who set off on a life of travel and adventure back in the mid-1960s and died in 1982 while fighting for leftist guerillas in El Salvador. Sanderson kept a diary that “lay neglected and unread for decades” and has been held by a guerilla vet from the war. The Times’ Héctor Tobar was apparently the first outsider to get his hands on it.
North and South Poles: What’s the Difference?
by Jim Benning | 08.28.08 | 10:38 AM ET
The differences are vast, of course. I just came across North vs. South Poles: 10 Wild Differences, an interesting and quick read.
Eating Seal With the Inuits: ‘The Best Part is the Flipper’
by Joanna Kakissis | 08.28.08 | 10:13 AM ET
Is the best way to dive into a culture through its food? Justin Nobel, writing in Gourmet, was eager to find out. While in Canada, he visited Kuujjuaq, a village 900 miles north of Montreal. He decided to skip the cheese fries and pizza at local restaurants and instead headed to an Inuit home to sample “the country food”—baked caribou leg and “a hunk of seal the size of a small suitcase.”
Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Leaking Mushroom Soup Halts Plane’
by Jim Benning | 08.27.08 | 7:39 PM ET
Oh, the power of a good mushroom soup. There was actually a little more to the story of why a Ryanair plane had to make an unscheduled landing in Germany.
It’s Not Easy Going Green, Even in Denver
by Joanna Kakissis | 08.27.08 | 4:49 PM ET
Denver is, of course, packed this week with Democrats. And since the Mile-High City has cultivated a reputation for eco-consciousness, Democratic National Convention organizers and Democratic leaders are trying hard to green the convention.
The Long Descent: Woman’s Journey Down Baggage Belt
by Valerie Conners | 08.27.08 | 4:10 PM ET
We often put a sarcastic or humorous spin on tales of airport woe and aggravation, but this story struck me as just plain sad. Sure, it’s unfortunate that increasingly absurd airport measures are becoming the norm, but to imagine we’re at the point where a 78-year-old woman, in a huge misunderstanding with Swedish airport personnel, considers being asked to climb in a baggage chute as a reasonable request—and does so—is just ... unreasonable.
First Bras, Now Bacon: Breakfast Meat Triggers Alarm
by Valerie Conners | 08.27.08 | 4:08 PM ET
I can almost imagine how giant underwire bras might prompt an airport security brouhaha, but now bacon—that most innocuous of breakfast meats—has reportedly done it? Oh, the humanity!
My, How Times Change: Celebrating 30 Years of Business Class Air Travel
by Eva Holland | 08.27.08 | 2:39 PM ET
The Times of London has an entertaining retrospective on the development of business class service over the past three decades. My favorite innovation? In 1983, Thai Airways pioneered the concept of meal selection: “So now you can choose between the Chicken Legs and the Beef Stroganoff.” Ah, those were the days.
Related on World Hum:
* The Long Descent: US Airways to Charge $2 for Soft Drinks
Photo by Natecull via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Havasupai Tribe Closes Flood-Damaged Area of Grand Canyon
by Michael Yessis | 08.27.08 | 12:11 PM ET
Travelers won’t be able to return to Supai Village—beloved for its remoteness, plunging waterfalls and turquoise pools—until the tribe repairs the trail that leads to the area. The Havasupai tourism office expects the repairs to take at least six months.
A German ‘Eco-Wander’
by Michael Yessis | 08.27.08 | 10:23 AM ET
Intriguing question posed by William Powers over at Slate: “If gigantic Germany could be green, couldn’t any country?” He adds: “You know, like the big one between Canada and Mexico.” To explore his query, Powers spent two weeks in Germany with a focus on green travel, accompanied by “eco-architect” Mymza Wever Azcui. Slate has his dispatches this week in another worthwhile installment of Well-Traveled.
Related on World Hum:
* Las Vegas Strip Going Eco-Friendly?
* Shipping Container Hotel Opens in London
Related on Travel Channel:
* Outdoors and Eco-Friendly Travel
The Long Descent: Air Canada’s Jazz Jettisons Life Vests to Save Fuel
by Eva Holland | 08.27.08 | 10:07 AM ET
I’ve said it before, but here it goes again: Airline news items these days are becoming positively Onion-esque, and this one’s no exception. Air Canada subsidiary Jazz has removed the life vests from its fleet to help shed a few pounds, the CBC reports. The floating seat cushions will remain; apparently, only one of the two devices is required on flights that remain within 50 nautical miles of the mainland.
FAA Communications Disruption Causes Nationwide Flight Delays
by Valerie Conners | 08.26.08 | 5:53 PM ET
Massive flight delays are taking place across the United States today, caused by computer problems at a Federal Aviation Administration facility, CNN.com reports. The administration said there are no radar outages, and it has remained in contact with all planes. Only flights waiting to take off are being affected. “This is really not a safety issue, this is an aggravation issue,” said CNN aviation expert Miles O’Brien.
Photo by Larsz via Flickr, (Creative Commons)
‘Large Underwire Bra’ Triggers Metal Detector, Woman’s Wrath
by Valerie Conners | 08.26.08 | 2:20 PM ET
Ladies (maybe some gents, too?), I suggest you think twice before donning an underwire bra before flying. At Oakland International Airport, a “big-busted woman wearing a large underwire bra” set off a metal detector, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, prompting what the woman, Nancy Kates, believed was overzealous and humiliating scrutiny during the routine pat down.
