Travel Blog: News and Briefs
State Department Unveils ‘Portraits of America’ (and Canada)
by Eva Holland | 11.01.07 | 10:50 AM ET
Looks like someone in Washington forgot that “the 51st state” is actually just a cute nickname for the friendly neighbor to the north. The U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security have released a promotional video called “Welcome: Portraits of America” aimed at changing the United States’ reputation as a country hostile to foreigners. The video, which is to be given “maximum exposure” in American airports and at U.S. embassies around the world, shows footage of the Lincoln Memorial, the Grand Canyon and other American landmarks, as well the Horseshoe Falls portion of Niagara Falls—a famous landmark in, uh, Canada.
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Yahoo! BuzzWorld Hum’s Most Read: October 2007
by Michael Yessis | 11.01.07 | 8:58 AM ET
Our 10 most popular stories posted last month:
1) The Man at the Bus Stop
2) 1,000 Places to Not go Before You Die
3) Man Drives From New York City to Los Angeles in 31 Hours
4) Women’s Travel E-Mail Roundtable
5) Should I Cut My Dreadlocks Before Traveling to Asia?
6) Branson on Fossett: ‘He Truly Was the Adventurer’s Adventurer’
7) Where the Roads Diverged (pictured)
8) Any Tips For Making a Cheap Hotel More Bearable?
9) Best Travel-Themed Halloween Costume Title? ‘Eurasian Traveler’
10) ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Author Elizabeth Gilbert Does ‘Oprah’
Touring the Desolate Streets of America’s Ghost Towns
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.31.07 | 2:43 PM ET
A Halloween question: What are America’s ghost towns really like? Not exactly a trick-or-treater’s technicolor spookfest, writes Hugo Martin of the Los Angeles Times. Martin explored some abandoned towns in the West, offering a not-so-marketable tableau of death, decay, doom and depression. The creepiness includes:
Singapore Airlines to A380 First-Class Suite Passengers: No Sex For You
by Michael Yessis | 10.31.07 | 1:29 PM ET
Teases! Singapore Airlines has outfitted its new A380 with 12 first-class suites offering privacy and double beds, and during last week’s inaugural flight from Singapore to Sydney, Champagne flowed. The airline, it would seem, brought some sexy back to travel. Alas, it didn’t bring the Mile-High Club back from the dead. The carrier has asked suite passengers to refrain from sex, dashing “the hopes of sexual thrill-seekers planning to engage in amorous activity aboard the world’s biggest jumbo jet,” according to a Reuters report.
Captain ‘No Name’ Dishes on the State of Air Travel
by Michael Yessis | 10.31.07 | 1:09 PM ET
Passengers are on the record with their feelings about the state of air travel. But what do pilots think? World Hum contributor Terry Ward found one willing to talk, as long as he remained anonymous. Ward said that “the pilot was eager to talk to me as he’s been pretty fed up with the industry in general lately, even if he loves being a pilot.” Captain “No Name” is a pilot for a major U.S. carrier and he has eight years of commercial experience. Among the insights and observations he revealed to Ward in a piece posted on AOL:
25 Bizarre Travel Insurance Claims: From Lost Teeth to Tourist-Harrassing Monkeys
by Eva Holland | 10.31.07 | 11:23 AM ET
Think of it as a list of things to not do before you die. The Times UK’s “Money Central” bloggers recently dug through the files of some of the UK’s largest insurance companies to put together their 25 most bizarre travel insurance claims ever. I’m not sure which are more unexpected: the strange things that happen to people on holiday, or the strange things people seem to believe they can claim on their insurance. Some of my favorites: No. 3, a pensioner whose false teeth went overboard while he threw up over the side of a cruise ship. His claim was paid under “lost baggage.” Or No. 8, a family whose tent and camping equipment were destroyed by a falling parachutist. They had no accidental damage coverage, and were not reimbursed.
Indians in Bali: The ‘New Americans’?
by Liz Sinclair | 10.30.07 | 7:04 AM ET
In the wake of the Bali bombings, the country’s traditional tourists—Americans, Australians and Europeans—started to vacation elsewhere. Asians from countries such as India, experiencing rapid economic growth, filled the gap. But as Karim Raslan notes in a recent article for the Financial Times, there’s something familiar about these tourists. They often behave with the same cultural elitism that characterized the stereotypical American, becoming, as Raslan calls them, the “New Americans.”
Can ‘The Moses Project’ Stop the Tides in Venice?
by Eva Holland | 10.29.07 | 9:58 AM ET
The people backing the $7 billion project certainly hope so. And so do a number of observers from low-lying port cities around the world, where flood concerns are on the increase as the polar ice caps melt. As Doug Saunders writes in an interesting essay in The Globe and Mail, “when we visit Venice today, we are visiting our homes tomorrow.”
Readers to Chronicle: What About Tatooine and Shangri-La?
by Jim Benning | 10.29.07 | 7:31 AM ET
We recently noted the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of its editors’ favorite fictional places, which included Cicily, Alaska from “Northern Exposure” and Brokeback Mountain. Editor John Flinn wrote this week that plenty of Chronicle readers were disappointed with the choices, and particularly the decision to exclude places from science fiction and fantasy such as Tatooine, Vulcan and Hogwarts.
U.S. Airline Fleets: Dingy, Dusty and Growing Old Fast
by Michael Yessis | 10.29.07 | 7:27 AM ET
Unfortunately for U.S. travelers, the fleets aren’t going to get any less dingy or more inviting anytime soon. None of the new Airbus A380s on order, and only 43 of the 710 Boeing 787s on the way, are destined for U.S. carriers, according to a New York Times report. Instead, major U.S. airlines are sticking with their graying fleets, with planes an average of more than 12 years old.
Traveling Behind the Headlines in Lebanon and Beyond
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.29.07 | 6:52 AM ET
When I visited Beirut last November, most of my friends and family thought I was reckless, even crazy. Because of decades of war and assassinations, Lebanon is thought to be one of those places visited only by war journalists, soldiers and aid workers. That’s wrong, of course. Beirut still retains its “Paris of the Middle East” mystique and manages to attract tourists, even as the country remains on edge.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Making Record Time
by Michael Yessis | 10.26.07 | 1:29 PM ET
Travelers were intrigued by new standards set for airplane size and coast-to-coast speed—and even border delays. And they were seriously wondering what to do with their dreadlocks. Here’s this week’s Zeitgeist.
Most Read Blog Post
World Hum (posted this week)
Man Drives From New York City to Los Angeles in 31 Hours
* Commenters say he’s either a fool or an American hero. I vote for the former.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Not Quite Business as Usual For Hotels in Fire Zones
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
10 Useful Secrets the Major Airlines Don’t Want You to Know
Most Read Feature
World Hum (posted this week)
Should I Cut My Dreadlocks Before Traveling to Asia?
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Singapore Airlines’ Superjumbo A380 Makes History
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph UK (current)
A380 Makes Aviation History
Top Ranked Travel Story
Propeller (this week)
Tighter Border Delays Re-entry by U.S. Citizens
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Home, Sweet ... Yikes!
Art or Vandalism? Trevi Fountain Waters Turned Red in Rome
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.26.07 | 12:53 PM ET
Rome had an Andy Warhol moment last week when a baseball-capped art anarchist dumped a bottle of dye into the city’s famed Trevi Fountain and turned its waters blood red for a day, writes Elisabetta Povoledo in The New York Times. Traditionalists who revere Rome’s monuments called it vandalism. Artists who believe Italian culture is stilted and staid called it genius.
British Hotel Chain Reports ‘Surge in Naked Sleepwalking’
by Michael Yessis | 10.26.07 | 12:13 PM ET
Travelodge’s annual “sleepwalker audit” revealed a “seven fold increase in sleepwalking customers” in the last year, and 95 percent of those sleepwalkers were naked men. A Travelodge spokesperson told Reuters that the hotel chain has more male visitors than female “so that could be a factor” in the gender imbalance.
It’s Still SUX: Sioux City Embraces its Airport Code
by Michael Yessis | 10.26.07 | 11:22 AM ET
It’s obvious why Sioux City might want to get rid of its airport code. The city actually petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration twice to change the favorite three-letter designation of 12-year-olds everywhere, but it was offered alternative three-letter designations that didn’t excite anyone. So, Sioux City has decided to embrace SUX, making it the “centerpiece of the airport’s new marketing campaign,” according to the AP. Look for it on T-shirts and hats and online at flySUX.com.
