Travel Blog
Invasion of the Kilt-Wearing, Buttocks-Baring Scots!
by Jim Benning | 05.30.07 | 3:17 PM ET
Our hearts go out to the nation of Poland. Groups of kilt-wearing, underwear-challenged Scottish men drawn to cheap beer are apparently invading the country, getting loaded and, adding insult to injury, yes, lifting their kilts. “It’s easy to spot these so-called ‘tourists’ from a mile off,” sniffed one local paper. Now, authorities are considering changes to the law. According to Scotsman.com: “In the city of Wroclaw, in the south-west of Poland, officials are exploring a kilt ban after being horrified by groups of drunk Scottish men who lifted their kilts to strangers to reveal their buttocks. Local police admit they have been unable to control the groups of maurauding Scots, despite complaints from outraged locals and fed-up bar owners, who claim Scots are rowdy, break glasses and leave pub toilets in a shocking state.”
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Yahoo! BuzzTrouble in Margaritaville: Is a Tequila Shortage Looming?
by Jim Benning | 05.30.07 | 2:45 PM ET
Not long ago, we read about problems stemming from a glut of agave on the market. Now, Reuters reports that Mexican farmers are burning fields of blue agave used to make tequila so they can plant more corn. The price of the crop has been steadily rising as a result of growing demand for the alternative, corn-based fuel ethanol. As a result, officials estimate that as much as 35 percent less agave will be planted this year. “Those growers are going after what pays best now,” said an official with Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council. We’re all for cleaner-burning fuels, but let’s not get crazy here. Think of the poor citizens of Margaritaville. We’re talking severe dehydration possibilities.
Related on World Hum:
* Jimmy Buffett at 60: Still Selling ‘Unsentimental’ Tropical Fantasies
* Jimmy Buffett: Celebrating Changes in Lattitudes
* Ernest Hemingway Sofas, Frida Kahlo Tequila, Renoir Mineral Water and Now Lady Chatterley Thongs?
A New Look at Twain’s ‘Life on the Mississippi’
by Jim Benning | 05.30.07 | 2:12 PM ET
Disney may have given up on Mark Twain, but not everyone has. Random House has just published a new edition of Life on the Mississippi, Twain’s reflection on the four years he spent as a Mississippi riverboat captain. The book is Twain’s “most brilliant and most personal nonfiction work,” according to Random House. “It is at once an affectionate evocation of the vital river life in the steamboat era and a melancholy reminiscence of its passing after the Civil War, a priceless collection of humorous anecdotes and folktales, and a unique glimpse into Twain’s life before he began to write.”
The Case of the Disappearing $1 Million Hotel Bathtub
by Jim Benning | 05.30.07 | 10:09 AM ET
We like travel-related mysteries, and this is a good one. An 18-carat-gold bathtub that weighs nearly 175 pounds has vanished from an oceanfront Japanese hotel, baffling police. The tub resided in the shared men’s bathroom on the 10th floor of the Kominato Hotel Mikazuki, east of Tokyo. Guests were allowed to use it for free each afternoon, but it was reported missing Wednesday. “We really don’t know how this happened at this stage,” a police official told Reuters. “But what we can assume now is that more than one person was involved in this incident.” Our advice: Even though it’s not exactly their area of expertise, call in the sushi police.
Chinatown Buses: Now Less Thrilling?
by Michael Yessis | 05.30.07 | 8:52 AM ET
When we first posted about the Fung Wah Chinatown buses in 2002, the line hadn’t yet reached its cult status among budget travelers as a cheap but safety-challenged option along the Boston-Washington D.C. corridor. Word of mouth among travelers, a string of unfortunate incidents—a flipped bus and a fire among them—and an in-depth story in the Washington Post have since brought the buses into greater renown, and now it looks like Fung Wah may start acting a little more like a mature travel citizen.
Air Traveler Quarantined, Passengers Warned
by Jim Benning | 05.29.07 | 8:55 PM ET
It’s being widely reported, but in case you missed it: An unidentified man with a particularly dangerous form of tuberculosis who took two trans-Atlantic flights earlier this month has been quarantined and U.S. health officials are suggesting cabin staff and passengers seated near the man be tested for tuberculosis. According to the AP, “The infected man flew from Atlanta to Paris on May 12 aboard Air France Flight 385. He returned to North America on May 24 aboard Czech Air Flight 0104 from Prague to Montreal.” He’s now in isolation in a hospital in Atlanta. It’s the first U.S. government-mandated quarantine in more than 40 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site has a transcript of the agency’s briefing on the case.
The Critics: ‘The Hazards of Space Travel’
by Jim Benning | 05.29.07 | 8:25 PM ET
Believe it or not, space travel can be hazardous. Just how hazardous? Consider this: “Space is littered with lithic debris, and a collision with a particle no bigger than a pebble could well be catastrophic.” That’s one of the many reasons you won’t find me strapped in on an upcoming flight. But I digress. A new book, The Hazards of Space Travel: A Tourist’s Guide, by astrophysicist Neil F. Comins, illuminates the many varied ways one could die in space.
A ‘Random Guide to International Behavior’*
by Jim Benning | 05.29.07 | 12:18 PM ET
In his Sunday column, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Thomas Swick has some sage advice for international travelers, ranging from ways to stay out of trouble to simple pronunciation tips. Among them: “In Vietnam, don’t say pho with a long ‘o’ when ordering the popular noodle soup. (It’s pronounced more like ‘fuh’). In Ireland, don’t ask, ‘Are there any good books by local authors?’ In Singapore, don’t do a lot of things.”
Is It Time To Retire ‘Ugly American’ From the Travel Lexicon?
by Michael Yessis | 05.29.07 | 12:10 PM ET
Anthropologists, New York City cabbies, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, New York Times writer Paul Vitello and many others agree: We need to rethink the use of the term “ugly American.” “Let it be said that no group holds a monopoly on the title of ‘ugly,’” writes Vitello in Sunday’s paper. “Tip-stiffing, line-jumping, excessive price-haggling, sidewalk-blocking-when-stopping- suddenly-to-take-pictures- of-a-person-playing-the- steel-drums—none of these are unique to any national group.” As evidence, Vitello points to the recent Expedia survey of European hoteliers that ranked French, Indian, Chinese, Russian and British tourists as the worst tourist nations in the world.
Roswell, New Mexico Unveils Proposal for UFO Theme Park
by Michael Yessis | 05.29.07 | 9:09 AM ET
My first thought upon reading about the plans: You mean there isn’t already a UFO theme park in Roswell, New Mexico? And are the Roswell UFO Museum and the annual “Roswalien Experience” festival not enough to satisfy those interested in immersing themselves in the minutia of the Roswell Incident? Apparently not.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: From Baghdad to Tom Sawyer Island
by Jim Benning | 05.25.07 | 6:40 PM ET
The Zeitgeist spans the globe this week, as travelers consider daredevil skiing, the world’s most dangerous city and changes to an old-media island.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
For Daredevil Skiing, the Season Is Now
* It’s slush-time at Tuckerman Ravine in New Hampshire
Best Tourists in the World
Expedia Survey of European Hoteliers (current)
Japanese tourists
* And the worst: French tourists
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
One Day in the World’s Most Dangerous City
* A snapshot of a day in Baghdad from Spiegel Online
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Landing of Airbus A380 jet at LAX should be huge
* Seriously? Talk about old news.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Disney’s Tom Sawyer Island: Too Old Media for 2007
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Five hidden, affordable beach destinations
* No, Mexico City’s faux playa didn’t make the list
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Farecast
* Promising “free and accurate airfare predictions”
Burma Extends Activist’s Detention. Should Travelers Stay Away?
by Jim Benning | 05.25.07 | 1:10 PM ET
When travelers debate the ethics of visiting Burma, they invariably invoke the case of Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been detained for years by the nation’s repressive military junta. In recent days, human rights activists and political leaders around the world have called for her release—her detention was set to expire Sunday—but, sadly, news comes today that her house arrest has been extended by yet another year. The question remains: Should travelers visit Burma or stay away?
Paul Theroux Goes to Turkmenistan
by Jim Benning | 05.25.07 | 10:56 AM ET
Our favorite curmudgeonly travel writer ventured inside the country last year, before the death of the tyrant known as Turkmenbashi, to have a look around. His account of the trip, and even the “diplomatic incident” he caused, is in this week’s New Yorker, and it’s typically compelling. “I was lucky to get a visa to travel to Turkmenistan in the middle of last year,” he writes, “at a time when Turkmenbashi was still alive, and many of his people cringed at his name, he was jailing dissenters, and his roads were mostly closed to people like me.” An abstract is online.
‘Welcome to Pyongyang’: The City in Photos
by Michael Yessis | 05.25.07 | 10:23 AM ET
Photographer Charlie Crane and writer Nick Bonner of Koryo Tours have teamed for a new book, Welcome to Pyongyang, which compiles photos and commentary from three trips they took to the North Korean capital. “Pyongyang” comes out in the U.S. next week, but The Guardian and Budget Travel both have sneak-peak slideshows. The pair’s commentary accompanies the Guardian presentation, and Budget Traveler has an excerpt from the book’s introduction.
The Roadside Motel: ‘Reinventing an American Icon’
by Michael Yessis | 05.24.07 | 2:41 PM ET
While Route 66 sees the sad decline of countless roadside motels, elsewhere in the U.S. they’re on the rise. “The credit goes to a growing number of ‘boutique motels,’ properties dating back to the 1940’s, 1950’s, and early 1960’s that have been bought and completely reimagined by energetic young moteliers with a clear vision of what makes for not merely comfortable but also memorable accommodations,” writes Charles Gandee in the introduction to a roundup of chic motels in Travel + Leisure.
