What We Loved This Week: ‘Travel Writing,’ Baby Sea Turtles and the World Series in Philadelphia

Travel Blog • World Hum • 10.24.08 | 2:41 PM ET

World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Jim Benning
I loved Travel Writing, a novel by Peter Ferry published in August. I was drawn to it because of the title, then bought it after seeing rave reviews from Dave Eggers, among others. It’s about the narrator’s search for answers after witnessing a deadly car crash (the narrator dabbles in travel writing, hence the title). On another level, it’s about the nature of storytelling. Beautifully done.

Terry Ward
Watching baby sea turtles pad their tiny flippers across the sand outside The Tides hotel in Zihuatanejo, Mexico to make their first foray into Mother Ocean. At first, I was skeptical of the hotel’s practice of digging up freshly laid turtle eggs to hatch in a secured area on the hotel’s property (newly hatched baby turtles were displayed in a small pool on the hotel’s beach for guests to see before being released the following evening). But last night, I watched a mother turtle lumber ashore to lay eggs while a group of locals stood watch, apparently hoping to dig the eggs up for immediate use. So I can see the good in the hotel’s practice of guaranteeing a better shot at life for the sea turtles born on its stretch of sand.

Michael Yessis
Louis Menand’s Thumbspeak, a great story in the New Yorker about texting and its impact in the U.S. and abroad. Among the angles he explores: “[D]ifferent cultures have had to solve the problem of squeezing commonly delivered messages onto the cell-phone screen according to their own particular national needs.”

Julia Ross
Amid the deluge of campaign coverage—most of it tedious and uninformative—I stumbled across a surprisingly unique take on the U.S. presidential race. A group of Chinese journalism students is teaming up with students from the University of Utah to report on small-town rallies and presidential debates across the country. It’s a great study abroad opportunity for the students from Shantou University, who have been in the U.S. since the conventions in August. Some of the photo galleries—particularly this one on the protests at the Republican Convention—are fascinating to view through the lens of a Chinese photographer.

Frank Bures
I just started reading The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo by Peter Orner, about a foreign teacher at a school in rural Namibia. It was recommended by Josh Swiller a while back, but I’m just getting to it now. It was worth the wait: It’s funny and honest and true and full of color, and is bringing me back to my own teaching days.

Valerie Conners
Being in the heart of Philadelphia as the Phillies enter the World Series for the first time in 15 years. It’s been 100 seasons (four major sports teams and 25 long years) since a Philly team won a championship, and it’s no secret that fans here know the pain of losing. This week, as the Phils enter the Series, it seems the entire city has erupted into a sea of red: ball caps, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, flags, banners. The excitement is palpable, in every bar, along the sidewalks, and most certainly at the rally at City Hall. I’ve hugged and high-fived more strangers than I can count, chanted “Let’s go, Phillies” till my voice left me, and even gotten misty-eyed during MLB pre-game retrospectives.

Eva Holland
I had friends visiting this week from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and I spent a couple of days showing them around Ottawa. The highlight was probably our walk up to Nepean Point, overlooking the river and the Parliament Buildings. I never bother to go up there unless I have visitors from out of town, but each time I do I’m reminded of how spectacular the view is—I really should make the trip more often.