Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Can ‘Burning Man’ Go Green?
by Joanna Kakissis | 07.07.08 | 9:59 AM ET
Sierra’s Matthew Taylor is skeptical. North America’s most well-known gathering of counterculture enthusiasts seeking radical self-expression attracts more than 40,000 people to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert annually, climaxing with a symbolic incineration of something very giant. Last year it was a 99-foot-tall wooden oil derrick, intended to symbolize the “crash of our fossil-fuel-addicted civilization.” But some volunteers from the Burning Man festival, which takes place for eight days ending each Labor Day weekend, say the pyrotechnics demonstrate environmental irresponsibility in seriously troubled times.
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Yahoo! BuzzWorld Hum’s Most Read: June 28-July 3
by World Hum | 07.03.08 | 3:33 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts for the week:
1) Audio Slideshow: Inside Slum Tourism
2) How to: Use a Squat Toilet
3) One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’
4) As a Woman, Can I Really Travel Without Much Fear for my Safety?
5) How to: Break Bread and Brie in France
The LAX Theme Building, Then and Now
by Jim Benning | 07.03.08 | 12:05 PM ET
Among the travel-related art hanging on my walls is a poster of this shot taken by Garry Winogrand in 1964. The subject, of course, is LAX’s Theme Building, which opened in 1961 and is among Los Angeles’ most intriguing landmarks. To me, few buildings say more about Los Angeles, a city ever focused on the future, often at the expense of the past, than this Tomorrowland-esque structure. The two women in the photo, I like to imagine, have donned their finest dresses and highest heels for a transatlantic flight, perhaps to Paris or London. The L.A. sun is beaming down on them. The future couldn’t be brighter.
Manslaughter Charges Filed in 2000 Concorde Crash
by Jim Benning | 07.03.08 | 11:01 AM ET
Five people and Continental Airlines face involuntary manslaughter charges in France stemming from the 2000 Air France Concorde crash in Paris that killed 113 people. According to Reuters, investigators believe a “narrow strip of metal had fallen onto the runway from a previous Continental flight,” which led to a ruptured tire on the Concorde and the ensuing crash. Not surprisingly, Continental denies responsibility for the accident.
Photo by alex-s via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
When it Comes to Air Travel, the Early Bird Gets ... Shafted?
by Elyse Franko | 07.03.08 | 11:00 AM ET
If you’ve already purchased tickets for flights after Labor Day, you might want to call up your airline and make sure your plane will still be taking off. In their mad rush to cut back on flights, some airlines have already put some customers’ long-term travel plans in jeopardy.
R.I.P. Florent
by Eva Holland | 07.03.08 | 10:41 AM ET
The longstanding New York City diner shut its doors last weekend. Its owner, Florent Morellet, watched the Meatpacking District undergo an extreme gentrification makeover during his 23 years in business, before finally closing due to rent increases. The Times has a good story about what Florent meant to its patrons. Elsewhere, New York Magazine has the details on the restaurant’s final night of service, and on its private friends-and-family farewell.
Photo by Jeff Tidwell via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Still ‘Gun-Free Zone.’ For Now.
by Michael Yessis | 07.02.08 | 12:37 PM ET
Georgia House Bill 89 went into effect yesterday, allowing licensed state residents to carry concealed firearms in more places, including on public transportation. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, advocates of the new law said those new places include parts of Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport not behind the security gates. Atlanta city officials, who run the airport, said no way.
Where in the World Are You, Rob Verger?
by World Hum | 07.02.08 | 11:08 AM ET
The subject of our latest up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Rob Verger, who wrote Slumming in Rio and narrated a slideshow on favela tourism for World Hum. His email landed in our inbox just hours ago.
Where in the world are you?
At ‘My Airline,’ Everything Extra Costs $50
by Michael Yessis | 07.02.08 | 10:55 AM ET
The New Yorker gets in the make-fun-of-airline-surcharges game. Among the things David Owen would charge $50 for on his airline: laughing out loud at the movie, doing Sudoku without understanding the game to his level of satisfaction and tipping back your seat. For the last infraction, the fee would be “payable to the person behind you.” Not a bad idea, really.
Related on World Hum:
* Oprah’s Ethicists Debate How Far You Should Recline in an Airline Seat
* Armrest Seating, Anyone?
* Chart: U.S. Airline Fees
McCain, Obama to Take Campaigns Abroad
by Julia Ross | 07.02.08 | 9:03 AM ET
ABC News’ The Note reports that both John McCain and Barack Obama plan to travel abroad this month, ostensibly to highlight their foreign policy credentials. McCain is off to Mexico and Colombia; Obama will hit seven countries in the Middle East and Europe. Our U.S. Presidential Candidate Travel Scorecard had the two running neck and neck back in January, but it looks like Obama’s surging in the home stretch.
‘Into the Wild’ McCandless Pilgrims Descending on Remote Bus
by Jim Benning | 07.01.08 | 5:13 PM ET
Last October we noted that locals in Healy, Alaska, were considering removing the old bus where Christopher McCandless died. They feared that people moved by John Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild” and Sean Penn’s movie adaptation would tramp 22 miles into the wilderness to see the bus, only to wind up in the same kind of trouble McCandless did. Well, the bus is still there—it has long served as a refuge for hunters—and the AP reports that, with temperatures rising, plenty of people are indeed making the trek or inquiring about it.
Beer Vendor, International Microphilanthropist
by Jim Benning | 07.01.08 | 12:50 PM ET
Interesting story of one traveler’s approach to international aid.
Is Chinglish Just English ‘Happily Leading an Alternative Lifestyle Without Us?’
by Michael Yessis | 07.01.08 | 10:57 AM ET
Consider the numbers: By 2020, it’s estimated that 2 billion people worldwide will be learning or using English, yet only 15 percent of them will be native speakers. Thus, according to an intriguing story by Michael Erard in Wired, English will evolve, with pieces of Chinglish, Singlish and other mash-ups native speakers often poke fun at comprising large chunks of the world’s most dominant language. The fracturing isn’t unique. For instance, see: Latin.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Busker Stunt Had Already Been Done
by Michael Yessis | 06.30.08 | 3:51 PM ET
In Chicago. In 1930. Gene Weingarten’s story, which chronicled what happened when “internationally acclaimed virtuoso” Joshua Bell busked for 43 minutes at the L’Enfant Plaza metro station in Washington D.C., unknowingly covered ground already trod in the Windy City.
Denver Group Wants You to Get High Before You Fly
by Elyse Franko | 06.30.08 | 3:43 PM ET
Got pre-flight jitters? Just light up a joint in the airport and you’ll be ready to go. That’s what a Colorado-based group called SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation) is proposing, according to The Economist’s Gulliver blog. The folks at SAFER are advocating the creation of a toking lounge at Denver International Airport, pointing to recent cases of alleged alcohol-induced passenger belligerence as part of their argument. In the unlikely event that SAFER gets its way, there will be a lot more people misplacing their boarding passes during layovers in Denver.
Related on World Hum:
* Nine Great Ways to Get Thrown Off an Airplane
