Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Oxford Word of the Year: Hypermiling
by Michael Yessis | 11.11.08 | 12:21 PM ET
As we’ve mentioned, it’s defined as the art of squeezing maximum mileage per gallon of fuel driving in one’s car. Congrats to the man who coined it, Wayne Gerdes. Another travel-related word that made Oxford’s 2008 shortlist: the one that shall no longer be named.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzNeil Gaiman Pens Travel Book
by Michael Yessis | 11.11.08 | 7:53 AM ET
The title: “Monkey and Me: China and the Journey to the West.” The genre-hopping writer has turned to travel writing in part because, as he tells Splash Page, he’s “always loved travel books.” He continues:
Oil and Gas Drilling Coming to Arches, Canyonlands
by Valerie Conners | 11.10.08 | 11:23 AM ET
Utah’s Bureau of Land Management has stirred the ire of the National Park Service by announcing its plan to expand drilling in eastern Utah to on or near boundaries of Arches National Park, Dinosaur National Monument and Canyonlands National Park, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “We’re not anti-oil and gas,” said one Park Service official. “But we’re very much pro-park.” Should drilling begin in these parcels of land—including sections dedicated as wilderness as well as Nine Mile Canyon—tourists may soon be seeing oil rigs pop up in their photos, a prospect that has wilderness outfitters concerned. Said one cycling guide, “It’s not a world-class outing if you can see oil wells.”
The Maldives: Endangered Travel Destination?
by Valerie Conners | 11.10.08 | 10:25 AM ET
The Maldives’ president-elect has announced plans to purchase a new homeland for residents of his nation, the BBC reports, ideally in a region with similar culture, like Sri Lanka or India. The plan—sparked by fears that rising tides may eventually decimate many of the nation’s islands—would be funded by a “sovereign wealth fund” using tourism revenues.
Birds Hit Plane, Force Emergency Landing
by Valerie Conners | 11.10.08 | 10:09 AM ET
A Ryanair flight made an emergency landing at Rome’s Ciampino airport after multiple birds struck the aircraft, damaging the plane’s landing gear and an engine. The incident caused the airport to temporarily close.
Is Maui the Next Haven for Foodie Tourists?
by Joanna Kakissis | 11.10.08 | 10:00 AM ET
Wouldn’t you love to eat a feast of hand-harvested vegetables and fruit, served with fish and tofu, amid the kaleidoscopic colors of Hawaii? Maui farmers and restaurateurs have partnered to power a locally sourced cuisine that intrigued E magazine’s Lori Shinn.
World Hum’s Most Read: Nov. 1-7
by World Hum | 11.07.08 | 4:37 PM ET
Our five most popular lists for the week:
1) 13 Great Travel Horror Movies
2) 10 Sizzling Hot Travel Tips From Sir Francis Bacon (pictured)
3) 10 Greatest Fictional Travelers
4) 10 Great Travel Race Movies
5) Seven Reasons to Have a Foreign Fling
What We Loved This Week: Day of the Dead, Pisco Sours and Election Night
by World Hum | 11.07.08 | 4:33 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Eva Holland
Election night in New York City. I traveled down to the big city and headed to an election party at a bar near Union Square. After Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, I also went for a long wander around town to soak up all the excitement on the streets. I can’t think of another time or place in my life where I’ve seen so many strangers celebrating together.
Obamania: Washington, D.C., Hotels Booked for Inauguration
by Joanna Kakissis | 11.07.08 | 4:31 PM ET
Accommodations are filling up at such a rate that Fairfax, VA, and Baltimore, MD, might currently be the best options for travelers who want to watch Barack Obama become the nation’s 44th president. Or, you can rent a bus with your friends and sleep inside. One Detroit woman is planning to do it.
L.A. Times on ‘Stranded’: ‘An Exceptional Film’
by Jim Benning | 11.07.08 | 10:57 AM ET
Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan doesn’t write many rave reviews, so his high praise today for the documentary about the 1972 plane crash in the Andes—the crash that famously led to cannibalism and was depicted in the Ethan Hawke movie “Alive”—is enough to motivate me to see it. As we noted recently, other critics have enjoyed the film, too.
Fox News: Sarah Palin Didn’t Know Africa Was a Continent
by Jim Benning | 11.06.08 | 10:27 AM ET
Holy cow. It seems that Palin’s geography teachers were the ones really going rogue.
Chicago Is the New ... Crawford?
by Eva Holland | 11.06.08 | 10:19 AM ET
In a way. Not surprisingly, Barack Obama’s adopted hometown is suddenly becoming a hot topic on the travel pages.
R.I.P. Michael Crichton
by Michael Yessis | 11.05.08 | 1:37 PM ET
The author of many blockbuster airplane novels, as well as the simply titled Travels, died yesterday in Los Angeles. He was 66. His travels informed his life. “Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am,” he wrote.
Simon Calder: Cut Airline Staff a Break, Already
by Eva Holland | 11.05.08 | 6:56 AM ET
The Independent’s travel columnist offers his take on the recent firings of 13 Virgin Atlantic staff who created a Facebook group to complain about their passengers, and the possible disciplining of several British Airways staff that did the same. “The term ‘long-suffering’ could have been invented to describe the people who work in aviation,” he writes. “If they choose to disparage some of us when out of uniform, who can blame them?”
TSA Okays Bin-Bottom Ads Nationwide
by Michael Yessis | 11.04.08 | 12:14 PM ET
The ads that bewildered me and Walter Kirn at Los Angeles International Airport will now be seen at security checkpoints at terminals across the U.S.
