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Travel and the Effects of “Feature Accumulation Theory”

by Frank Bures | 03.06.06 | 6:17 PM ET

Why does Bangkok’s Khao San Road seem 800 miles long the first time you walk down it? Scientists may have found the answer. According to a report in Nature available only to subscribers, the reason is something called “feature accumulation theory.” The phenomenon, described in the article, is something we’ve all experienced landing in a new city.

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Will Travel Become a Weapon in South Dakota’s Abortion Rights Debate?

by Jim Benning | 03.06.06 | 4:19 PM ET

It’s hard to imagine it will have any effect on South Dakota’s controversial decision to severely restrict abortions. But interestingly, those on both sides of the debate are voicing their response by talking up travel plans.

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Rio de Janeiro: The Little Slum Inn

by Jim Benning | 03.06.06 | 1:12 PM ET

Talk about slumming. That’s exactly the experience operators of The Little Slum Inn are selling to travelers in Rio. The five-room hostel is located in the midst of one of the city’s impoverished favelas—prime real estate, apparently, if you’re a backpacker with an urge to experience one of Rio’s grittier neighborhoods. According to a Reuters report, “adventurous tourists, mainly from Germany, France and the United States,” are staying at the hostel in Pereira da Silva. “This place isn’t for wimps,” the inn’s co-owner told Reuters. “If you are uptight, you can go stay at the Copacabana Palace.” A bed goes for $15 a night, doubles go for $35.

Rolf Potts is Traveling Light at Yahoo! Travel

by Jim Benning | 03.06.06 | 12:49 PM ET

The first installment of Traveling Light, Rolf Potts’ new column at Yahoo! Travel, debuted last week, focusing on an experimental vaccine that could put an end to traveler’s diarrhea. Potts has reservations about it. “This is a good thing, I know—but it’s also a sign of how travel is becoming less and less an experience of the unfamiliar,” Potts writes. It’s a fine start to the new weekly column. Potts joins two other travel columnists at Yahoo!: Richard Bangs, who writes about adventure, and Barbara Correa, who writes about business travel. Potts will continue to field your questions here.

Cruise Lines Release Crime Data

by Michael Yessis | 03.06.06 | 10:01 AM ET

Twenty-eight people disappeared from cruise ships during the past three years, and only five of them have been found, according to figures released last week by Holland America Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruises and other major cruise companies. The disclosure of these and other crime statistics on the high seas comes in advance of hearings Tuesday by a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that’s looking into cruise ship safety. The hearings were triggered in part by the July 2005 disappearance of honeymooner George Allen Smith IV from the Royal Caribbean Line’s Brilliance of the Seas as it sailed the Mediterranean.

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Flight Attendant to Passengers: “We’re Going to Crash! We’re Going to Crash!”

by Michael Yessis | 03.02.06 | 12:13 AM ET

The Daily Mirror reports that the Virgin Atlantic flight attendant screamed when the jet hit turbulence at 30,000 feet on the way from London to Las Vegas this week. Writes Stephen Moyes: “The cabin crew member shouted out three times as travellers were tossed around and trays, drinks and bags flew through the air.” Yikes. I’ve heard a passenger scream about crashing, but never a flight attendant.

Post “Amazing Race” Analysis

by Michael Yessis | 03.01.06 | 1:43 PM ET

Franz Wisner on Book Tour

by Jim Benning | 02.27.06 | 1:28 PM ET

Honeymoon with my Brother: A Memoir is one of those rare travel books that has cracked the New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller List. This week, it’s 25 on the paperback list. Author Franz Wisner is now on a book tour of the country with his brother in a VW van. He just sent out an e-mail with his latest book tour dates, noting that his Web site will have updates. But for now, here are his scheduled stops:

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New Zealander Captures Eerie Image of Sunken Soviet Cruise Ship

by Michael Yessis | 02.27.06 | 6:06 AM ET

Ghostly, isn’t it? Ken Grange of New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research used an ultrasound device to capture this image of the ill-fated Soviet Union cruise liner the Mikhail Lermontov, which sank more than 20 years ago in New Zealand’s Marlborough Sounds. The ship was the largest cruise liner to sink since Titanic, and is now a popular dive spot as well as a magnet for conspiracy theorists who believe the ship may have been used as a spy vessel by the Soviets.

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Iowa Embraces Bookstore Tourism

by Michael Yessis | 02.27.06 | 5:05 AM ET

We’re believers in bookstore tourism, so our hats are off to Iowa for becoming the first state to officially promote it. The Travel Iowa Web site now lists more than two dozen local independent bookstores and encourages visitors to the Hawkeye State to drop in to get a taste of local communities. And, of course, to buy books. Bookstore tourism founder Larry Portzline, who I interviewed for World Hum last year, applauded Iowa’s efforts. “I hope other state and regional tourism offices follow suit and start promoting their indie bookstores as travel destinations,” he writes on his bookstore tourism blog. “It’s a great way to spread the word.”

Travel. It’s the Hot New Career Move.

by Michael Yessis | 02.26.06 | 7:53 PM ET

Hillary Chura’s story in the New York Times business pages this weekend about the career benefits of traveling and working abroad seems to have struck a nerve. During the past 24 hours, it’s been the most e-mailed article on the newspaper’s Web site, to which I say, “Hurrah!”

Queen Mary 2 Greets Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor

by Michael Yessis | 02.23.06 | 7:13 PM ET

I just got back from watching the Queen Mary 2 float into Long Beach harbor where, for the first time, it saluted its namesake, the Queen Mary. I’d planned to drive downtown for an up-close view of the sister ships, but that was wishful thinking. I live a couple of miles away from the harbor, and the traffic was backed up as far as I could see.

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Cruising: A “Kiss of Death” for Japanese Marriages?

by Michael Yessis | 02.23.06 | 12:51 PM ET

The divorce rate is on the rise in Japan, and some marriage counselors say long-term travel by recent retirees is part of the cause. According to a Reuters story, here’s the logic: Japanese men devote long hours to their jobs, essentially living apart from their families. When these “salarymen” retire they take celebratory cruises with their spouses, where, with a lot of time on their hands in a confined space, they find they barely know each other. Divorce ensues. Marriage counselors are calling the phenomenon “retired husband syndrome” and are prescribing day trips as a treatment.

You Just Won the Lottery! Want to Buy an Airplane or Private Island?

by Jim Benning | 02.23.06 | 6:45 AM ET