Travel Blog
Uluru: Outback Icon or Aboriginal Bargaining Chip?
by Jim Benning | 06.26.07 | 4:03 PM ET
At the moment, it seems to be both. The Australian government recently announced plans to crack down on child abuse in some Aboriginal communities by banning alcohol and pornography and sending in police and troops. In response, the angry leaders of one Aboriginal township near Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, are threatening civil disobediance by banning tourists from hiking up the landmark, the AP reports. For Aborigines, the government crackdown evokes painful memories of children taken from their families as part of a government assimilation strategy—children referred to now as the Stolen Generation.
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Yahoo! BuzzSin City Weighs New Slogan: ‘Your Vegas is Showing’
by Michael Yessis | 06.26.07 | 3:23 PM ET
Ooh. It’s seems racy, but, when you think about it, it’s really not, just like Las Vegas’s current hall-of-fame marketing slogan: “What Happens Here, Stays Here.” Las Vegas isn’t getting rid of what might be the most successful tourism slogan ever. According to the AP, it’s just looking for a complimentary slogan. If Las Vegas should ever tire of the “What Happens Here…” campaign, we might see the new slogan take its place. Or, maybe the city will turn to one of the many suggestions that have popped up in the last few years.
In Rome, It’s Tourists Gone Wild
by Julia Ross | 06.26.07 | 12:48 PM ET
There are places in the world that conjure images of late-night tequila shots and Girls Gone Wild exhibitionism. Vegas. New Orleans. The beaches of Thailand. But Rome’s medieval piazzas? Apparently we can add them to the list. A New York Times story by Peter Kiefer says residents of several historic Roman neighborhoods have had it with the increasing rowdiness of their city’s nightlife, and they’re pointing the finger squarely at tourists. “The foreigners come here because they know that they can do whatever they want,” said one unhappy Roman. “Nobody says anything.”
Latvia to Fight ‘Baltic Bangkok’ Image
by Michael Yessis | 06.26.07 | 10:30 AM ET
Cheap flights and men on “stag nights” have threatened to turn Riga, Latvia into a destination most noted for pubs, clubs, strip bars and a growing sex industry—a “Baltic Bangkok,” if you will. It’s easy shorthand and perhaps too simple of a way to characterize Riga—or Bangkok, or any city for that matter—but some people in Latvia fear the name and image will stick. Hence, the current “Stop Sex Terrorism” campaign, which, according to Reuters, aims to steer local women away from one-night stands and to educate them about the dangers of interacting with tourists.
What’s Your Global Literacy?
by Michael Yessis | 06.26.07 | 8:35 AM ET
Newsweek has put together a wide-ranging, 130-question Global IQ quiz, probing its American readers on everything from politics to technology to literature. “We are hoping to start a conversation about what we are calling Global Literacy—facts and insights about the world (some objective, some subjective) that we think are worth knowing,” Jon Meacham writes in the introduction. “We are not saying this is all you need to know; just that what you are about to read amounts to a good start.” It is a good start, but for many travelers it’s also a conversation that’s already in progress.
President to Brazilians: Christ the Redeemer Needs Your Vote!
by Jim Benning | 06.25.07 | 4:42 PM ET
Bambi Roll, Anyone? Inside Japan’s Sushi Crisis.
by Michael Yessis | 06.25.07 | 4:01 PM ET
How about raw horse meat? Japanese chefs are considering both because, given fishing limits and international demand for sushi, the country can’t get enough tuna. Martin Fackler writes in the New York Times that Japan has fallen into a “national panic,” with news programs devoting much airtime to the crisis. In Japanese sushi bars, the search is on for replacements. “At nicer restaurants, sushi chefs began experimenting with substitutes, from cheaper varieties of fish to terrestrial alternatives and even, heaven forbid, American sushi variations like avocado rolls,” Fackler writes.
Jury: Laura Albert is a Fraud
by Michael Yessis | 06.25.07 | 3:48 PM ET
Sometime travel writer Laura Albert, who under the guise of JT LeRoy wrote two books and one infamous story about visiting Disneyland Paris, has been convicted of defrauding a film production company. Antidote International Films Inc. wanted to make a film based on the book “Sarah,” which was allegedly based on the real experiences of LeRoy—a person who never existed. Albert’s financial hit: $116,500. Her career hit: Still to be determined. Albert’s elaborate set-up—she wrote under the name JT LeRoy and another person portrayed him in public appearances—began unravelling in late 2005 when the New York Times, for whom she’d written her Disneyland Paris story and was reportedly going to visit Deadwood, South Dakota for a story, asked to see LeRoy’s passport and social security card.
Is Your Kilt Up to Code?
by Jim Benning | 06.25.07 | 3:31 PM ET
When I first heard about a new law related to kilts, I naturally assumed it had something to do with the hordes of kilt-wearing, buttocks-baring Scots now invading Poland. But it turns out the new law has nothing to do with protecting the poor, terrorized Polish men and women who have suffered the indignity of witnessing one too many bare Scottish buttocks. In fact, the law has everything to do with protecting the poor, terrorized, protected species—otters and badgers, to name just two—whose fur has traditionally been used to make sporrans, the little purses often worn with kilts. Kilt wearers, it seems, may now have to get a license for their sporrans. Well that’s great for the otters and badgers. But what about the good people of Poland? Who’s protecting them?
Cameron Diaz to Peru: Lo Siento Mucho
by Jim Benning | 06.25.07 | 1:02 PM ET
Poor Cameron Diaz. She was only going for the commie-chic, retro-kitsch look on her trip to Peru. Instead, she wound up offending Peruvians. On a visit to Machu Picchu Friday for the taping of a Canadian TV show called “4 Real,” Diaz toted an olive green bag featuring a red star and the words “Serve the People” in Chinese. That old Mao-era propoganda is hip among many young people in China—the same crazy kids enjoying plates of “Socialist Economic Model” at Beijing’s Red Capital Club. But is it hip in Peru? Not so much.
Jan Morris’s Manhattan: ‘A Sentimental Old Body at Heart’
by Michael Yessis | 06.25.07 | 11:40 AM ET
For half a century, legendary travel writer Jan Morris has visited New York City at least once a year. On the occassion of her “demi-centennial celebration,” Morris takes stock of the city she loves and finds Manhattan to be the place it has always been. It has a physical consistency, sure. “[W]ith the possible exception of Venice,” she writes in a short essay in the Financial Times, “Manhattan retains its physical character more tenaciously than any other great city of the western world.” The city’s cultural consistency, however, draws most of her attention.
From ‘Moby-Dick’ to ‘After Dark’: Book Picks For Travelers
by Michael Yessis | 06.25.07 | 11:04 AM ET
We’ve got our Three Great Books feature and our list of the 30 best travel books. Salon has its Literary Guide to the World. And this weekend the Guardian and the Financial Times recommend more books for travelers. The Guardian turns to several of the world’s most traveled writers to find out the most memorable books of their travels. Among them: Bill Bryson, who picked up Vladimir Nabokov’s Pnin and Jeffrey Archer’s Kane and Abel in a Norwegian charity shop; Pico Iyer, who read Graham Greene’s The Comedians by candlelight in a hotel in Bhutan; and Jenny Diski, who read Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick while in a boat sailing around the Antarctic Peninsula.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: From Weddings in Las Vegas to Flirting in Turkey
by Michael Yessis | 06.22.07 | 12:34 PM ET
Can you feel the love? Yes, travelers have romance on their minds, and not just because it’s the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Boston: The Taming of Southie
“Hot This Week” Destination
Yahoo! (this week)
Wellington, New Zealand
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
A Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Las Vegas Wedding Options
* With video starring an Elvis impersonator, of course
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Heathrow’s Bad Connections Leave Passengers Fuming
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Vayama.com
Most Read Feature
World Hum (this week)
The Woman in the Kuffiya
Most Popular Travel Podcast
iTunes (current)
National Geographic’s Atmosphere
* Current podcast: Mount Everest Expedition
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph UK (current)
Time to Move On?
* An explanation of why the Queen Elizabeth 2 was “left behind.”
‘Glacier Girl’ Set to Complete Flight Begun 65 Years Ago
by Michael Yessis | 06.22.07 | 12:23 PM ET
This afternoon, a restored P-38 airplane that made an emergency landing in Greenland in 1942, and became buried under ice for 50 years, will take off from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport in an attempt to complete its mission—to fly to England. “Glacier Girl” was part of an eight-plane team flying from the U.S. to England to help with allied defenses during World War II when rough weather over Greenland forced all the planes onto the ice. In the early ‘90s, The Lost Squadron was located and “Glacier Girl” was excavated from under more than 200 feet of ice.
Holy Sites or Hot Babes? Israel’s Tourism Controversy Rages On.*
by Jim Benning | 06.22.07 | 12:01 PM ET
We thought the Maxim photo-shoot controversy we wrote about in April was all over. We figured the whole question of whether Israel should promote tourism by inviting Maxim magazine to photograph babes in bikinis in Tel Aviv—or just stick to a more traditional campaign focusing on Holy Land sites—was finally chalked up to one of those great unanswerable questions, not unlike, say, Jon Stewart’s recent question to “A Mighty Heart” star Angelina Jolie about whether the burka she wore in Pakistan was capable of containing all of her hotness. Some questions are simply too profound for answers. But the Maxim controversy rages on.
