Travel Blog: Shrinking Planet
The Strange Case of ‘World Travel Watch’ and Toronto
by Eva Holland | 07.13.09 | 11:32 AM ET
File this under “bizarre adventures in globalized media.” When Travelers’ Tales editor-in-chief Larry Habegger called out Toronto—currently enduring a garbage workers’ strike—as a place to avoid in his “World Travel Watch” column, I doubt he expected to become a player in the city’s local politics. But then CNN picked up the column, the Mayor’s political opponents got ahold of the story, and suddenly Habegger’s latest was being offered as proof that the Mayor is mishandling the strike—and “causing devastating damage to our city” to boot.
A San Francisco travel columnist wreaking havoc on Canadian municipal politics? It’s times like these I get the urge to start singing “It’s a small world after all…” (Via Adam Radwanski)
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Yahoo! BuzzTravel Song of the Day: ‘California Stars’ by Wilco
by Michael Yessis | 07.10.09 | 2:02 PM ET
Coming Soon: Neverland China
by Eva Holland | 07.10.09 | 1:19 PM ET
If you can’t make it to Neverland Ranch to pay your respects to Michael Jackson, don’t fret: There’s a Chinese replica in the works near Shanghai. (Via @KelseyTimmerman)
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Soul Power’
by Eva Holland | 07.09.09 | 12:37 PM ET
Most folks have heard of the Rumble in the Jungle, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s 1974 showdown in Kinshasa, but the accompanying concert—in which James Brown was one of several starring acts—is less well remembered. Now, though, Brown’s time in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) is the focus of a new documentary, “Soul Power.”
‘United Breaks Guitars’: A Passenger’s Fight Song*
by Eva Holland | 07.08.09 | 2:15 PM ET
After watching from the plane window as United’s baggage workers damaged his guitar, and then having his compensation claims denied, one musician is taking his battle with the airline to YouTube. Check it out:
Casey Kasem: Signing Off
by Eva Holland | 07.08.09 | 12:40 PM ET
After 39 years of counting down the hits, the omnipresent radio host is leaving the airwaves. I’ve never spent much time listening to commercial pop radio when I’m at home, but I do know one thing: Weekend road trips will never sound quite the same.
A Short History of Landmarks Exploding on Film
by Eva Holland | 07.07.09 | 4:17 PM ET
In honor of the summer blockbuster, Slate looks back, via video slideshow, at Hollywood’s penchant for blowing up major landmarks over the years. There’s some social context included—the impact of 9/11 on the disaster movie, for instance—in between the video clips, and writer Keith Phipps also teases out some rules for the genre. My favorite? “When a city is in jeopardy, its most famous landmarks fall prey first. Aliens and natural disasters always target the Golden Gate Bridge, never the Bay Bridge.”
Always the bridesmaid, huh, Bay Bridge? As a Canadian, I can relate. We inevitably get overlooked when the aliens invade.
America on Film: ‘50 Movies for 50 States’
by Eva Holland | 07.07.09 | 12:47 PM ET
Here’s one more leftover tidbit from the just-past holiday weekend: the film fanatics over at Rotten Tomatoes have put together a list of 50 movies for 50 states, in which each selection “features something special about the geography, history, or people of a particular state.”
Some picks are obvious (“Rocky” for Pennsylvania, “Oklahoma!” for Oklahoma) while others link movies and places that I never realized were connected (who knew “Fight Club” was set in Delaware?), but all contribute to a compelling whole. If you’re skeptical about a pick, chances are the description will convince you. Here’s a sample, justifying “Napoleon Dynamite” as the Idaho pick:
New Satellite Map of Earth Unveiled
by Eva Holland | 07.01.09 | 10:05 AM ET
The latest terrain map, a collaboration between NASA and the Japanese government, offers coverage of 99 percent of the planet’s surface. The best previous effort managed 80 percent.
Aloha Oe
by Pam Mandel | 06.29.09 | 2:49 PM ET
Photo by Nerd's Eye View I tried to write a closing post for Hawaii: Holoholo Wale five or six times but got stuck in a weepy, pathetic sort of sentimentalism, the kind of thing no one should have to read. With that epic fail on my hands, I turned to Hawaiian culture for inspiration.
In Thailand, Visit ‘Moscow in the Tropics’
by Michael Yessis | 06.23.09 | 11:22 AM ET
Here’s another intriguing story about the rise of the Russian traveler, this one about luxury travelers descending on the “neon beacon of sleaze” that is Pattaya, Thailand.
Writes Patrick Winn in GlobalPost:
Russians have helped revitalize Pattaya, first transformed into raunchy nightspot decades ago by Vietnam War-era U.S. troops. The city has since seen its ups and downs, but now it has a new look. Pattaya abounds with Cyrillic signs advertising scuba shops, restaurants and bars. There’s even an all-Russian local TV station.
Last June, the New York Times put a piece about newly prosperous Russian travelers hitting the road on its front page.
T.G.I. Friday’s in Tokyo
by Eva Holland | 06.22.09 | 3:34 PM ET
In Slate, Daniel Gross goes to Tokyo and tackles the city’s “SPC ratio” (Starbucks per capita) and other oddities of the Japanese love affair with American chain food outlets.
YVR: A Traveler’s Plea for Noodles
by Eva Holland | 06.22.09 | 1:23 PM ET
I flew into Vancouver International Airport last week with a craving: I wanted pad Thai, or some vaguely similar, spicy, wok-fried noodle dish, and I wanted it bad. On the five-hour flight from Toronto, as images of tofu bits and crushed peanuts danced in my head, I didn’t fret—I was confident I’d be able to satisfy the urge during my one-hour layover. After all, I thought, where better to find some airport noodles than in a foodie city that’s home to one of the most vital Asian immigrant communities in North America?
Where in the World Are You, Lynne Friedmann?
by World Hum | 06.22.09 | 12:42 PM ET
The subject of our latest up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: World Hum contributor Lynne Friedmann. She wrote the essay All the Flowers in Amsterdam and contributed to our Top 40 Travel Songs of All Time.
Where in the world are you?
Blog to Watch: ‘Recession Road Trip’
by Michael Yessis | 06.22.09 | 11:36 AM ET
Christina Davidson departed Washington, D.C., 11 days ago to “travel the back roads and State highways through the 48 contiguous United States, uncovering stories of economic survival and endurance,” she wrote in her debut post at The Atlantic. “In diners, bars, bingo halls and coffee shops, I seek those Americans who have lost everything—except hope.”
She’ll also tweet during her four months on the road.
