Travel Blog
Colby Buzzell in Shenzhen: ‘The Id of the Chinese Economy’
by Michael Yessis | 08.07.07 | 11:09 AM ET
Skate punk turned U.S. Army infantryman turned war-zone blogger turned best-selling author Colby Buzzell recently traveled to Shenzhen, the center of China’s economic boom. It’s “a city of eleven million that did not exist twenty years ago,” Buzzell writes in the August issue of Esquire. Now it’s home to 11 million people with “hundreds of construction cranes stalking the landscape like dinosaurs.” Buzzell spends his time in Shenzhen wandering around, meeting random people and walking into situations that reveal a bit of the darker side of the new China.
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Yahoo! BuzzOut: ‘Dr. 90210.’ In: Cirugía Plástica en Guadalajara.
by Ben Keene | 08.07.07 | 11:00 AM ET
Thailand and India have already staked their claim to the growing medical tourism market, and according to a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, Mexico appears to be the next country cashing in. Sara Miller Llana reports that price, proximity and a large number of American retirees in the state of Jalisco have helped make it—and the capital city in particular—the destination of choice for those looking for a nip and a tuck.
Vietnam’s New ‘Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail’
by Jim Benning | 08.06.07 | 3:51 PM ET
How times have changed. According to the press release at hochiminhgolftrail.com, this route being marketed from Saigon to the Red River Delta pairs “first-class clubs and resorts with some of the most remarkable, luxury accommodations in world golf.” Cracks the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Flinn: “Just stay out of the bunkers.”
Did Hemingway Really Drink Mojitos at La Bodeguita del Medio?
by Jim Benning | 08.06.07 | 3:23 PM ET
Depending on your perspective, mojitos are either all the rage and part of “mint’s moment” or as dated as “Sex and the City” reruns. I polished off a too-sweet-for-my-taste mojito last night at San Diego’s Hotel del Coronado, as evidenced by this photo of my empty glass, mainly because the drink set me back $11 and I couldn’t stand the idea of wasting it. I like the occasional mojito, but I’ve been enjoying the mojito press coverage even more, and I particularly liked this piece in the Wall Street Journal focusing on Ernest Hemingway’s relationship—or lack thereof—with the drink. I thought it was a given that Hemingway tossed back mojitos at La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana. Tourists flock to the bar for that very reason.
R.I.P. Rock ‘n’ Roll Balconies at Hyatt ‘Riot House’
by Jim Benning | 08.06.07 | 2:46 PM ET
Reports ‘Laurel Canyon’ author Michael Walker: “The textured concrete balconies (above) from which Led Zeppelin and entourage hurled bottles of Dom Perignon, Zeppelin drummer John Bonham teetered and singer Robert Plant crowed ‘I’m a golden god!’ (immortalized in Cameron Crowe’s ‘Almost Famous’) are being ripped out like so many meth-rotted teeth as part of a $24 million renovation of the property.” The West Hollywood hotel on the Sunset Strip is replacing the balconies with glass that will enclose the rooms. That might be an improvement to the property, but writes Walker: “[I]t’s always mournful when another little piece of L.A.‘s anarchic rock and roll heart is taken away.” The changes are part of a larger trend, Walker e-mails:
Prague Latest Magnet for Misbehaving Brits
by Julia Ross | 08.06.07 | 12:30 PM ET
Is Eastern Europe under siege by badly behaving Brits? We’ve heard about kilt-wearing, buttocks-baring Scots in Poland and sex tourists in Latvia. Now Prague is attracting attention for out-of-control “stag and hen parties” thrown by UK weekenders. A report released last week by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office says the Czech Republic sees a higher proportion of traveling Brits requiring consular assistance than any other country, citing stag night revellers for much of the mischief.
Iowa Town Pins Hopes on ‘American Gothic’ Tourism
by Michael Yessis | 08.06.07 | 12:05 PM ET
Grant Wood’s American Gothic hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago, but the house in the iconic 1930 painting still stands in Eldon, Iowa, a town of 975 people in the state’s southeast corner. To boost its struggling economy, Eldon used government grants, bake sales and raffles to fund a $1 million visitors center it hopes will help keep travelers in town for longer than it takes to pose in front of the house with a pitchfork.
Why Don’t Americans Take Vacations? This Land is Already ‘Leisure Land.’
by Michael Yessis | 08.06.07 | 10:57 AM ET
That’s the half-baked argument of
Up in the Air author and sometime travel commentator Walter Kirn. He writes in a part-serious, part-amusing, part-you’ll-yank-your-hair-out piece in Sunday’s New York Times magazine: “Grasping the truth about why more Americans are taking holidays from their vacations is as easy as stepping outside your workplace (the lushest of which tempt employees to stay inside by offering lap pools, massage rooms and the like) and seeing that the recuperative promises of the old-style extended getaway—the cleansing, amusing, soothing, stamina-raising therapeutic interludes that Eleanor Roosevelt once touted as a way for Americans ‘to build up health and resistance’—are redeemable everywhere, in every form and so close by that it’s a wonder thousand-mile drives in gear-packed station wagons still take place at all.”
How I Scored a New U.S. Passport in One Day
by Terry Ward | 08.06.07 | 10:40 AM ET
When my car was stolen in Miami a few weeks ago with everything I own inside (as usual, I was between homes), my passport was among the things I lost. With all the nightmare stories of passport backlogs and international dream vacations canceled, it seemed to be the worst moment to be applying for a new passport. But I needed that little blue book back in my command ASAP. What I found was surprising.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: From Cinque Terre to the Great Barrier Reef
by Michael Yessis | 08.03.07 | 2:05 PM ET
Iconic destinations in Italy, Australia, California and the Pacific Ocean are at the top of travelers’ minds this week, as well as a topic that’s more controversial than Hillary Clinton. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
36 Hours in the Cinque Terre, Italy
Most Read Feature
World Hum (posted this week)
The Lost World of Nigeria
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Through the Roof: A Tour of the Country’s Priciest Hotel Suite
* The cost to stay in the Ty Warner Penthouse at the Four Seasons New York? $30,000 a night.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph UK (current)
Exploring the Great Barrier Reef
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (posted this week)
Voluntourism: ‘Overpriced Guilt Trips’ or a ‘Real Chance to Save the World’?
“Hot This Week” Destination
Yahoo! (this week)
Hawaii
Most Viewed Travel Post
BlogHer (current)
The W Hotel: Form over Function?
Amtrak to Overnight Travelers: Drink Up!
by Jim Benning | 08.03.07 | 1:48 PM ET
The last Amtrak train I took in California was delayed so long it fouled up my weekend plans and nearly drove me to drink. Now Amtrak is going out of its way to get some passengers liquored up. It’s offering $100 in alcohol credit to members of its guest rewards program traveling between November and January in sleeper cars on select legs of the California Zephyr, Southwest Chief and Silver Meteor. According to the AP, it’s “part of an effort to revive some of the luxury of old-fashioned, cross-country train trips.” And it’ll help some passengers drown their Amtrak travel sorrows.
Related on World Hum:
* ‘Hey America, Make With the !@~$ High-Speed Rail Already’
Photo by tompagenet via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Where in the World Are You, Tom Haines?
by Jim Benning | 08.03.07 | 1:00 PM ET
The subject of our latest nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Tom Haines, travel writer at the Boston Globe. His response landed in our inbox this morning.
World Hum: Where in the world are you?
Interview With TSA Chief Kip Hawley
by Michael Yessis | 08.03.07 | 12:08 PM ET
Today security expert Bruce Schneier posts the last piece of a five-part interview with Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for the Transportation Security Administration Kip Hawley. The TSA chief has taken some public flogging during his tenure, and perhaps in an effort to rehabilitate the TSA’s poor image among travelers, he traded e-mails with Schneier. For his part, Schneier asked some tough questions. His first includes this: “Can you please convince me there’s not an Office for Annoying Air Travelers?” Let us know if you think Hawley’s answers should cause us to drop or raise the World Hum Travel-Terror Fatigue Level.
Related on World Hum:
* Man Detained by TSA for Writing ‘Kip Hawley is an Idiot’ on His Clear Plastic Carry-On Bag
* Security Expert: New Passports Vulnerable to Cloning, Sabotage
* Passports and Privacy: Here Come the RFID Chips
Video: ‘Airplane!’ vs. ‘Zero Hour’
by Michael Yessis | 08.03.07 | 11:03 AM ET
“Airplane!,” a comedy classic and one of the greatest travel movies ever made, was famously inspired by the 1957 B-movie Zero Hour. How inspired? YouTuber icecoldkatie has meticulously spliced together scenes from each movie, demonstrating Picasso’s maxim, “Bad artists copy. Great artists steal.” See for yourself after the jump.
Four Tiki Books: James Teitelbaum’s Picks
by Jim Benning | 08.03.07 | 10:43 AM ET
This week, we interviewed James Teitelbaum, author of “Tiki Road Trip: A Guide to Tiki Culture in North America.” We asked Teitelbaum to recommend a few tiki-related books (guides, narratives, anything). Here’s what he suggested:
Aku-Aku by Thor Heyerdahl
Teitelbaum says: “That’s really the book that made me want to visit Easter Island. It’s very readable, with suspense, humor. It’s a good all-around read.”
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