Travel Blog: News and Briefs
New Carry-On Rules
by Jim Benning | 09.25.06 | 1:29 PM ET
Beginning tomorrow, travelers will be allowed to bring limited liquids on domestic and international flights departing from the U.S. According to the New York Times, the rules “allow travelers to carry liquids, gels or aerosols in containers of 3 ounces or less, as long as they all fit into a clear 1-quart plastic bag that can be screened at the security checkpoint. Drinks and other items purchased in the secure part of the airport, beyond the checkpoint, will also be allowed onto planes.” See? Flying isn’t a pain. With a simple clear 1-quart bag, some 3-ounce containers and a beverage purchased near the gate, the good times are back!
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Yahoo! BuzzBranson Pledges Airline and Train Profits to Renewable Energy Research
by Michael Yessis | 09.25.06 | 12:30 PM ET
Sir Richard Branson, head of Virgin Atlantic Airways and other travel concerns, last week pledged all future profits from his transportation businesses to the Clinton Global Initiative in order to fund research for renewable energy. Total donation: approximately $3 billion over the next 10 years. According to a Forbes report, the announcement of the gift brought an “audible gasp” from the press gathered at President Bill Clinton’s summit in New York City. To Branson, it wasn’t a gasp-worthy gesture; it was simply the right thing to do. His businesses burn tons of fuel and, therefore, are part of the reason the world is facing a climate crisis. “I’ve got children; hopefully I’ll have grandchildren,” he said. “Everything I’ve read about the world shows we need to reinvest in new sources of fuel. I’m in a position to do something.”
Cohan, Bourdain in T Style Magazine: Travel
by Michael Yessis | 09.25.06 | 7:05 AM ET
The latest issue of T Style Magazine: Travel in the New York Times features a couple of noteworthy stories. “On Mexican Time” author Tony Cohan immerses himself in the rejuvenated city of Guanajuato, Mexico, and globetrotting chef and television host Anthony Bourdain eats his way through Singapore. “There’s a fever-dream quality to Singapore, particularly if you’re a foodie,” Bourdain writes. “Outdoors, the heat is smothering. In the ubiquitous megamalls, the air-conditioning could frost a bottle of beer. Everyone, it seems, when not shopping for Prada or Armani, is feeding their faces.”
“Fawlty Towers” Hotel Gets Makeover
by Michael Yessis | 09.25.06 | 6:36 AM ET
Che and the Image Seen ‘Round the World
by Jim Benning | 09.25.06 | 12:24 AM ET
No, not the image of Che wearing a Bart Simpson T-shirt, although it’s clearly an image that should be seen around the world. First, there was the original Alberto Korda photo of the bearded, beret-clad revolutionary looking totally revolutionary-chic. A new AP story recounts that photo’s journey from Korda’s camera to the world-at-large. It notes, among other things, the ensuing ironies (capitalists are capitalizing on the commie’s image!); the pets (meet Che, an elegant Doberman pinscher in Oakland, California); Che detractors (hey, they say, the guy was a murderer); and the spoofs, including this New Yorker cartoon by Matthew Diffee.
Who Knew Hugo Chavez Had Oprah-Like Powers?*
by Jim Benning | 09.22.06 | 1:29 PM ET
Sure, like Oprah, the Venezuelan president has the gift of gab. But it turns out Chavez, too, can sell books—lots of them. After he recommended Noam Chomsky’s Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance at the U.N. Wednesday, the book shot up bestseller lists. What’s more, Chavez is a big fan of “Don Quixote,” and last year, he handed out a million free copies of the book in Venezuelan squares to celebrate its 400th anniversary—yet another Oprah-esque gesture. Any poli-sci graduate students searching for a thesis topic?
* Added: Chomsky will be discussing “Hegemony or Survival” on C-SPAN2’s Book TV Sunday.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: This One Goes to Eleven
by Michael Yessis | 09.22.06 | 7:34 AM ET
You, Bono, The Edge and Neil Peart really brought the rock this week. Where did you bring it? Miami, Barcelona, Madrid, New York, Las Vegas and China. Time to crank up the Zeitgiest and find out what’s been intriguing travelers and armchair travelers.
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Roadshow: Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle by Neil Peart
* Yes, that’s the drummer and lyricist from Rush. Here are some excerpts from “Roadshow.”
World’s Busiest Airline Route
OAG (September)
Barcelona-Madrid
World’s Sexiest City
Gridskipper (poll)
New York City
Most Viewed Video
Yahoo! | Current Traveler (this week)
“A Day in the life of The Edge: Part 1”
* Here are part two and part three.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Footloose and Boot Free: Barefoot Hiking
Top-Rated Travel Podcast
PodcastAlley (September)
The Strip
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Condo-hotels create risks, opportunities for buyers
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Oprah Takes a Road Trip, Pumps Gas For First Time Since 1983
* Oprah and Gayle? Not so rock ‘n’ roll. Their sing-along artist of choice on their road trip? Celine Dion.
Most Viewed Weblog Category
World Hum (this week)
China
No. 1 World Music Download
iTunes (current)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
The Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” Button Travel Zeitgeist Search
“Best Song About Travel”
* Hint: It’s not by Celine Dion. Or Rush. Or U2. Though A Sort of Homecoming should at least be considered for any list of great travel-themed songs.
Got something that deserves to be included in next week’s World Hum Zeitgeist? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Backpacker on the Thailand Coup: “Nobody’s Up in Arms About It”
by Jim Benning | 09.20.06 | 1:53 PM ET
Apparently the banana pancakes-eating, hair-braiding backpacker set hanging out on Bangkok’s Kao San Road continues to, uh, chill, despite the tumultuous events of the last 24 hours in Thailand. It was 21-year-old Scottish traveler Amy Farquhar who remarked to USA Today about the bloodless coup to remove Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, “Nobody’s up in arms about it.” Farquhar was referring to her fellow Kao San travelers, we imagine, and not the tank-driving, arms-wielding military who staged the coup. Some travelers are a bit more engaged. Self-proclaimed vagabond Paul Karl Lukacs has been filing reports about events at the blog Knife Tricks. Among other posts, he writes: “This evening, I saw ten soldiers stationed at Tha Phae Gate, the central crossroads in the tourist section of Chiang Mai, Thailand. I rarely see soldiers in the city, so this was clearly a show of force.” According to USA Today’s story, the U.S. Embassy is urging its citizens in Thailand to “monitor the situation closely.” For the time being, Americans are not being advised to leave the country.
Photo by Jim Benning.
Inside the World’s ‘Micronations’*
by Jim Benning | 09.20.06 | 7:56 AM ET
What, exactly, are micronations? According to Lonely Planet’s new guidebook of sorts, Lonely Planet Micronations, they are societies not recognized as legitimate countries by the U.N. but that “claim land (even if it’s just their own back yards) and have instituted many of the trappings of statehood that we associate with bigger countries,” such as “a flag, a national anthem, currency and stamps.” Some of the dozens of micronations included in the photo-rich book were created for kicks, such as the pirate radio-founded Principality of Sealand off the UK coast and the Conch Republic in the Florida Keys. Others were more earnest in their aims, like the decades-old drug-and-jazz friendly enclave of Christiania in Copenhagen. So is this a guidebook?
Kristof and Parks in Africa
by Michael Yessis | 09.20.06 | 7:46 AM ET
New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof and Casey Parks, the winner of the Win a Trip with Nick contest, are on the ground in Africa, reporting on their experiences via blog, vlog and column. (Unfortunately, it’s all currently behind the TimesSelect wall, though some of it will appear on mtvU in the future.) “I know I picked the right person for this trip, because her entries are actually more interesting than mine,” Kristof writes. “I’m delighted to be shown up!” Kristof isn’t in danger of losing his job, but he is onto something. Parks’ blog so far is a compelling mix of mundane things like music playlists, you-are-there descriptions and heartbreaking reportage and reflection.
Your Hotel Minibar Key: Unlocking Overpriced Snacks and Diebold Voting Machines
by Michael Yessis | 09.20.06 | 7:07 AM ET
A Princeton professor and graduate student say on their weblog they were able to open a Diebold voting machine using a key “used widely ... in hotel minibars.” Lovely.
Payphones Around the World
by Jim Benning | 09.19.06 | 7:06 AM ET
For many years now, I have had a habit during my travels that has puzzled people close to me. It’s not something I have talked about, and for a long time now, I have felt alone in my predilection for this activity. But today, I am coming clean: I like to photograph payphones. Specifically, foreign payphones. During my travels, I have snapped mediocre photos of payphones in the French Alps, on the Caribbean island of Aruba, in Mexico. I have photographed purple payphones backed by graceful pagodas in China, and blue payphones backed by vast jungle in Malaysia. I have taken photos of sandal-shod, saffron-robed Buddhist monks chatting on Thai payphones that looked like mini-temples—ideal places, I always thought, for reflective conversations. Of course, one might reasonably ask: Why do this?
SkyMall: “There is No More Purely American Publication”*
by Michael Yessis | 09.19.06 | 6:56 AM ET
The Washington Post’s Joel Achenbach is almost certainly right about the ubiquitous in-flight catalog. “Ordering from SkyMall not only supplies an endorphin boost but is an act of optimism, as it presumes the safe landing of the plane,” Achenbach writes in the travel issue of Sunday’s Post Magazine. “The traveler thinks: I will survive this flight and own a new 1,000-CD multimedia storage tower!” Noted American optimist Stephen Colbert is also a fan.
* Update Sept. 22, 1:35 ET: Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times writer Dan Neil also recently wrote about the Sky Mall experience. Thanks for the tip, Eli.
Oprah Takes a Road Trip, Pumps Gas For First Time Since 1983*
by Sarah Schmelling | 09.18.06 | 8:17 PM ET
Today Oprah Winfrey launched the 21st season of her TV show with highlights from a cross-country road trip she took this summer with her very best girlfriend, Gayle King. Inspired by Chevy’s old “see the USA” slogan, the two took off in an Impala for a 11-day, 3,600-mile trek from Santa Barbara to New York. As with any good road trip, they experienced plenty of gorgeous views, traffic hazards, direction mishaps and lite-rock station sing-alongs (Celine Dion!). But what makes this different is, well, Oprah.
Passports and Privacy: Here Come the RFID Chips
by Michael Yessis | 09.18.06 | 3:15 PM ET
As if we needed more to worry about when we’re traveling. Soon the United States, like many other countries, will start embedding radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips into all of its citizens’ passports, where it will store electronic copies of your digital photo and other relevant information. “By itself, this is no problem,” Bruce Schneier writes in a scary op-ed piece in the Washington Post. “But RFID chips don’t have to be plugged in to a reader to operate. Like the chips used for automatic toll collection on roads or automatic fare collection on subways, these chips operate via proximity. The risk to you is the possibility of surreptitious access: Your passport information might be read without your knowledge or consent by a government trying to track your movements, a criminal trying to steal your identity or someone just curious about your citizenship.”
