Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Café du Monde in New Orleans: ‘Nostalgia Can Make Even a Local Into a Tourist’
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.08.08 | 2:00 PM ET
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Yahoo! BuzzThe Long Descent: Airline Frequent-Flier Miles Losing Value
by Jim Benning | 09.08.08 | 11:48 AM ET
USA Today chronicles the latest cuts airlines are making to their frequent-flier programs. Continental, Delta, United and Frontier are all mentioned. It’s not pretty.
BBC Launches Shipping Container on Global Odyssey
by Jim Benning | 09.08.08 | 11:27 AM ET
It’s a fascinating project that the news organization is calling “The Box.” Explains the BBC’s business editor: “We have painted and branded a BBC container and bolted on a GPS transmitter so you can follow its progress all year round as it criss-crosses the globe. The Box will hopefully reach the US, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa and when it does BBC correspondents will be there to report on who’s producing goods and who’s consuming them.” Readers can follow its progress on a map. It’s now in Southampton, apparently waiting to be shipped out.
The Grand Canyon Skywalk: A View from Above—and Below
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.08.08 | 10:37 AM ET
We’ve read the big-league critiques and pondered potential stunts at the Hualapai Indians’ horseshoe-shaped glass perch that allows visitors to peer 4,000 feet down into the Grand Canyon. Now comes a personal view in Sierra Magazine from a young writer and environmentalist who visited the site with the hopes of understanding why the Hualapai have invested so much in it.
Abu Ghraib to Become a Museum
by Eva Holland | 09.08.08 | 10:13 AM ET
The infamous Iraqi prison, which was used as a torture site under Saddam Hussein’s rule before achieving notoriety in more recent years, is now destined to become a museum detailing the crimes committed during Hussein’s rule, the Iraqi government has announced. Interestingly, notes the CBC: “There’s no mention in the announcement whether the abuses by U.S. soldiers will be covered in the museum’s exhibitions.”
World Hum’s Most Read: Aug. 30-Sept. 5
by World Hum | 09.05.08 | 4:31 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts for the week:
1) How Does Sarah Palin Rank in Foreign Travel Experience? (pictured)
2) One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’
3) A Tourist With a Shovel and a Hoe
4) R.I.P. ‘Staycation’
5) Voluntourism: ‘Overpriced Guilt Trips’ or a ‘Real Chance to Save the World’?
Photo by http2007 via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
The Long Descent: Continental to Charge $15 for First Checked Bag
by Jim Benning | 09.05.08 | 12:33 PM ET
Does a week go by these days without the introduction of a major new fee by at least one airline? Nope. Continental’s new fee, announced today, will take effect immediately for passengers flying economy class on domestic flights who didn’t pay full fare. It will apply on some international flights starting Oct. 7. Reuters notes a couple of passenger types exempted, such as the airline’s “EliteAccess” customers.
Photo by 156uk via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Airline Punctuality Improved in Summer ‘08
by Eva Holland | 09.05.08 | 10:43 AM ET
The major U.S. airlines’ July 2008 on-time performance improved by nearly 6 percent over the 2007 numbers, the AP reports. Flight cancellation rates and baggage handling performance were also notched up. Of course, considering last summer came pretty close to rock bottom, a small improvement may not be much to brag about—and we can name at least a couple of passengers who aren’t celebrating just yet.
Photo by James Cridland via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Shrinking Planet Statistic of the Day: London Black Cabs Now Made Overseas
by Eva Holland | 09.04.08 | 4:23 PM ET
These days, London Taxi International has been unable to keep up with demand for its iconic black cabs. So the manufacturer is looking to expand beyond its small Coventry plant, and is headed overseas to—you guessed it—China. A new factory outside Shanghai is slated to produce 6,000 taxis per year, doubling the Coventry output. Rather than being shipped back to England, though, most of the Chinese-made vehicles will be exported to Singapore, Dubai, and other cities that, as the Globe and Mail puts it, “covet the image associated with” London’s famous black cabs.
Movies: Searching for the ‘Essential DNA’ of Los Angeles
by Michael Yessis | 09.04.08 | 4:19 PM ET
The Los Angeles Times counts down the 25 best L.A. movies of the last 25 years. To make the list, a “movie had to communicate some inherent truth about the L.A. experience,” writes Geoff Boucher. The top pick: L.A. Confidential.
The Sounds of Los Angeles in Musical Form
by Jim Benning | 09.04.08 | 1:18 PM ET
NPR’s “Day to Day” recently asked musicians to send in their “takes on the California Dream,” and the show just highlighted its favorite: a song composed entirely of sounds of urban Los Angeles, from squeaking bus brakes and clicking skateboards to clacking shoes. It turns out that the 25-year-old artist who created it, Quinn Kiesow, has done the same (albeit in shorter bits) for other cities, including Madrid and New York. You can hear them all here. The Los Angeles recording took 80 hours to produce. It’s particularly intriguing because Kiesow offers great color commentary over it.
A Regional Guide to Mexican Tamales
by Jim Benning | 09.04.08 | 12:40 PM ET
I’ll never forget arriving by bus in Mexico City a few years ago, famished, and finding a well-stocked tamale stand in the middle of the bus station. At that moment, I felt as though I’d never seen a more beautiful sight. Behind the counter, steaming pots were stacked high with half a dozen kinds of tamales: peppers and cheese, chicken, pork, seafood. I bought two or three, unwrapped them on a narrow bar and dug in. They were moist and savory, and their hot masa dough wrappings practically melted in my mouth. I was in heaven.
Would You Pay 3 Cents to Secure a Life Vest on Your Next Flight?
by Michael Yessis | 09.03.08 | 5:35 PM ET
Jazz airlines made news last week—and earned a place of dishonor in The Long Descent—for jettisoning life vests from its planes for economic reasons. At the Freakonomics blog, Steven D. Levitt does the math and determines that “removing the life vests saves the airline 3 cents per seat per flight.” Levitt says he’ll take the money. “I value my life very highly, but I think that the chance the life vest will save me is vanishingly small,” he writes.
‘Better Than the Van’: It’s ‘Couchsurfing for Bands’
by Michael Yessis | 09.03.08 | 3:39 PM ET
The new site helps match free couches with touring bands. Lovely news for musicians. At least those able to scrounge gas money to hit the road. (via Pop Candy)
Typo in Swedish Food Magazine Leads to Nutmeg Poisoning
by Michael Yessis | 09.03.08 | 3:37 PM ET
A cake recipe in Matmagasinet mistakenly asked for 20 nutmegs instead of two pinches. Four readers of the now-pulled magazine ended up in the hospital. Sounds like the “typo vigilantes” were needed across the pond.
