What we Loved This Week: ‘Juno,’ Halakis and Mama’s Dumplings

Travel Blog  •  World Hum  •  02.08.08 | 4:17 PM ET

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

Joanna Kakissis
I finally saw Juno, which I loved not only for the touching and hilarious script (and the outstanding Ellen Page) but for the 91-minute dosage of my beloved Minnesota. Lush canopies of trees, cross-country runners, oversized flannel shirts, mini-vans in the snow, even the mere mention of St. Cloud—all of this almost made me cry with longing. Even though, ya know, the movie was actually filmed in Canada. Here’s a look:

Jim Benning
I loved reading in the March issue of Outside that in his new book, Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, Jeffrey Sachs suggests traveling is one way readers can begin to help the poverty situation. He told Bruce Barcott: “Fear is the biggest danger we face…Travel, and experiencing diverse cultures, is a powerful way to overcome that fear.” You expect to hear that kind of thing from travel writers—we preach the travel gospel all the time at World Hum—but you don’t often hear it from economists. No, travel is by no means any kind of solution, but it can be a starting point.

Julia Ross
To kick off the Year of the Rat, one of my fellow Chinese students brought in a couple dozen dumplings from China Bistro in Rockville, Maryland, to share with the class. They’re known in the Washington, D.C. area as “mama’s dumplings.” Delicious. Travelers take note: If you’re in Washington and looking for good Chinese food, head to Rockville; that’s where our real Chinatown is.

Michael Yessis
Salon’s Patrick Smith plotted a 21-day, 15-country, 45,000-mile plane trip one could take without setting a foot outdoors. He calls it a perverse nonadventure. As a connoisseur of Airworld, I find it the work of a mad genius.

Eva Holland
It’s not often that the Saturday Globe and Mail gets me teary-eyed, but this week it did, thanks to Roy MacGregor’s latest column, Lessons from Swift Current. Twenty-one years ago, four members of a Saskatchewan junior hockey team were killed when their team bus rolled in bad weather. In MacGregor’s story, Colorado Avalanche superstar Joe Sakic—a survivor of the crash—speaks publicly for the first time about the accident and the team’s recovery. The result is a touching, tragic, and ultimately uplifting story about grief and perseverance. It’s a grim bit of Canadiana, but also a wonderful read.

Frank Bures
I heard a great piece on the BBC about the halakis, or the Moroccan marketplace storytellers. Unfortunately, it’s part of the “Fading Traditions” series. It’s a subject the BBC has covered before but this one had some nice, insightful interviews with travel writer Tahir Shah. You can still get the podcast.

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2 Comments for What we Loved This Week: ‘Juno,’ Halakis and Mama’s Dumplings

Doug Mack 02.08.08 | 9:45 PM ET

If Patrick Smith had managed to include a stop at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, you could even add trip to the Mall of America (there’s a light rail line and the platforms on both ends are enclosed). Seems like this would be an appropriate side trip for a journey involving lots of travel without really going anywhere.

John M. Edwards 02.10.08 | 1:52 AM ET

I don’t get it. Perhaps my last drink last night contained a trace of household cleanser.

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