Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Foreclosure Tourism: Coming to a Suburb Near You?
by Eva Holland | 06.02.08 | 11:21 AM ET
It’s not too often that you see a guided bus tour winding its way through the suburbs. But, as Wendy A. Hoke writes, it could be an increasingly common sight. Hoke took a ride on one of those suburban tour buses in Cleveland recently, and filed a compelling story about the trip for the Christian Science Monitor:
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Yahoo! BuzzR.I.P. Paper Airline Tickets
by Michael Yessis | 06.02.08 | 10:58 AM ET
The 240 airlines belonging to the International Air Transport Association, which represents 94 percent of the world’s airline traffic, officially went digital yesterday. Most U.S. airlines had already made the switch to electronic tickets years ago, but paper tickets had remained in use by many international carriers. The IATA projects that all-digital ticketing will save $3 billion a year in costs—as well as 50,000 trees. Perhaps all the savings will allow them to bring back free snacks.
Related on World Hum:
* Airlines Make ‘Last Call’ For Paper Tickets
World Hum’s Most Read: May 24-30
by World Hum | 05.30.08 | 4:17 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts this week:
1) Dr. Beach Unveils Top 10 Beaches of 2008 (pictured)
2) A Journey Into ‘The Second World’
3) How To: Use a Squat Toilet
4) Ask Rolf: How Do You Stay Fit When You’re Traveling?
5) Ten Things to Eat Before They Disappear
Celebrity Travel Watch: Chris de Burgh in Iran
by Michael Yessis | 05.30.08 | 2:09 PM ET
Chris who? You probably know his syrupy song “The Lady in Red.” (Video below.) It was huge in the mid-‘80s. Turns out the British singer is still huge in Iran, where, for almost three decades, most Western music has been forbidden by the ruling Shiite Muslim clergy. De Burgh’s songs circulated on illegally copied tapes there, and he became rock-star popular. So much so that, in an apparent lifting of the Western music ban, de Burgh recently became the first Western pop musician to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution.
In Search of Nigeria’s Magical Penis Thieves
by Jim Benning | 05.30.08 | 2:01 PM ET
We’re privileged at World Hum to count among our contributors a few of the leading writers on penis mysteries in foreign lands. Interest in overseas junk, it seems, has never been higher. Tony Perrottet’s new book, Napoleon’s Privates, will be released in July. David Farley’s book about his quest for Jesus’ foreskin—aka the Holy Foreskin—is due out next year. And now, Frank Bures has published an in-depth story in the June issue of Harper’s about the magical penis thieves of Nigeria. Bures visited the country before the most recent spate of penis-theft headlines out of Congo. Talk about foreskin—I mean, foresight.
In Defense of Rachael Ray. Again.
by Michael Yessis | 05.30.08 | 12:41 PM ET
Last time, she faced charges of excessive perkiness. This time, she’s been ridiculously accused of being a terrorist sympathizer for wearing a scarf that some bloggers thought looked like a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress worn by, among others, the late Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat. She wore it in an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts (pictured). The company initially “pooh-poohed the complaints,” according to the Boston Globe, but eventually took down the ad “because the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee,” reports the New York Times.
Move Over, Frodo: ‘Sex and the City’ Tourism Takes Off
by Eva Holland | 05.30.08 | 11:49 AM ET
If you’ve opened a newspaper travel section lately, chances are good you’ve spotted an article about “Sex and the City” tours on offer in New York City. Of course, they’ve been around for a few years now, but with today’s release of the long-awaited Sex and the City movie, the fan craze has never been at a more fevered pitch—and the tours have never gotten more ink. Curious to learn more about how you, too, can follow in the high-heeled footsteps of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte? The Independent has the details on the deluxe $24,000 themed mini-break offered by one travel company.
‘Where on Earth is a Casual Public-Transport Drinker To Go?’
by Eva Holland | 05.30.08 | 11:26 AM ET
That’s the question on Laura Barton’s mind now that London’s new mayor has announced a plan to ban drinking on the city’s underground train system. In The Guardian this week, she rails against the ban and laments the state of public-transit-drinking worldwide.
Photo by slimmer_jimmer via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Pub in Wales Forced to Take Down Sign Banning Travelers
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.30.08 | 11:03 AM ET
Brings new meaning to the place where everybody knows your name. If not, get lost. The BBC didn’t name the pub with a sign that read: “Polite notice—positively no travellers.” A police officer who noticed it called it “bigoted” and offensive and forced the pub to remove it. The BBC didn’t elaborate on why the pub is down on tourists or if we now have a prayer of getting a beer there.
Why You Can Recognize a John Grisham Book in an Airport From Three Gates Away
by Michael Yessis | 05.29.08 | 3:53 PM ET
Some airport bookstores may have taken steps toward becoming marketplaces of intellectual ideas, but, for the most part, “airport books”—think tomes by John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark and their ilk—still dominate in terminals around the U.S. Among the reasons why: the books’ covers. The Cleveland Plain Dealer examines why. “Publishers, especially the purveyors of what some derisively refer to as ‘airport books,’ actually want you to judge their books by the covers,” Karen Sandstrom writes. “They’ve arranged the jackets with that very plan in mind.”
‘Dear American Airlines’ Author to Avoid American Airlines on Book Tour
by Michael Yessis | 05.29.08 | 3:11 PM ET
“This is probably wise, karmically speaking,” Jonathan Miles tells USA Today. The paper has a piece about Miles in which he reveals that his clever novel (I’m reading it now) was inspired by his own long delay at O’Hare and touches on how the title of his book follows the “Kinky Friedman precedent.”
To Infinity and Beyond: ‘Fusionman’ Flies Above the Alps
by Eva Holland | 05.29.08 | 2:03 PM ET
No, the video you’re about to see isn’t the trailer for the latest Hollywood comic book adaptation. There’s no CGI here; that really is Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy (aka Fusionman) soaring at 7,000 feet, and reaching speeds of up to 180 m.p.h., with the help of his homemade jet-powered carbon fiber wings. Rossy and his sponsors have been developing the wings for several years, and now that he’s completed his inaugural flight, he’s setting his sights on the English Channel, and eventually the Grand Canyon.
Man Claims Delta Ruined His Mother’s 80th Birthday, Sues For $1 Million
by Michael Yessis | 05.29.08 | 11:40 AM ET
Richard Roth says he and his family were transported to Argentina three days late, had their luggage misplaced and spent thousands of dollars in unforeseen expenses. Moreover, he says Delta employees were “nasty,” “rude,” “obnoxious” and “totally disrespectful.” Roth finds it all unacceptable, and if his story is true, it is. These days, though, a cynic might call it just another misadventure in air travel.
Foodie Alert: ‘Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris’
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.29.08 | 10:01 AM ET
Clotilde Dusoulier, the popular food blogger from France, has written a new guidebook that features her favorite restaurants, markets and shops in Paris. The 28-year-old former software engineer’s book gives tips not only on where to find the best Tarte-Gateau Poire Chocolat (pear and chocolate cake-tart) but on how to mind your manners when it comes to dining and food-shopping with the French. (Hint: Don’t dis the food.)
Photo by grahamandsheila via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Summer Culture Tours: Hookup Central
by Julia Ross | 05.29.08 | 9:37 AM ET
For young, hyphenated Americans looking to connect with their ethnic roots in places like Taiwan and Israel, summer culture tours offer more than short courses in Mandarin, reports the New York Times Weddings section. As one college-age participant puts it, “My parents didn’t know it was a big hookup fest.”
