Travel Blog
Confessions of a ‘Shameless Hoarder of Unmarketable Collectibles’
by Michael Yessis | 05.22.07 | 10:33 AM ET
Those “unmarketable collectibles” are otherwise known as travel souvenirs, such as toothpaste from halfway around the world or the receipt for the “donation” to Maoist rebels or, in my case, the “Three Minutes Happiness” bath soak from Japan (pictured) that has graced my bathroom for years. They have a value that could never be recognized by a bidder on eBay.
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Yahoo! BuzzRoute 66 Hotels Face ‘Four-Lane, Divided Highway Called Progress’
by Michael Yessis | 05.21.07 | 4:40 PM ET
More hard evidence of the sad demise of Route 66: The AP reports that “at least 3,000 motels along the route are in various states of repair or disrepair.” They’re now “historical footnotes,” with little or no hope of revival. “Today, many structures that made the road what it was—the diners, family-owned service stations, barbecue joints—have fallen apart,” writes Justin Juozapavicius. “With efforts to fix up these architectural landmarks scarce, time has become the road’s worst enemy.”
Quito: No Longer Just Stopover Country
by Jim Benning | 05.21.07 | 3:42 PM ET
For years now, many travelers have stopped in Quito only briefly while on the way to the Amazon or Galapagos Islands, due in part to concerns over crime, writes Danny Palmerlee in the San Francisco Chronicle. But thanks to a $200 million restoration project in the city’s historic center, crime is down, beauty is up and, according to Palmerlee, Ecuador’s capital is now worth a visit in its own right: “Architects and restoration crews have completed more than 200 separate works, including the city’s cathedral; three historic theaters; the narrow, postcard-perfect street known as ‘La Ronda’; plazas; monasteries; churches; and entire blocks of colonial homes whose wooden balconies make Quito’s streets so picturesque.”
Heading…
‘This American Life’ Goes Road Trippin’
by Jim Benning | 05.21.07 | 2:15 PM ET
Among the contributors who explored road trips for last week’s radio show: America’s favorite dishwasher, Dishwasher Pete.
Eating Japanese: The World’s ‘My Boom’ Food
by Michael Yessis | 05.21.07 | 10:03 AM ET
Japanese cuisine is having a moment. As we’ve noted, Western chefs are beginning to embrace kaiseki, a 500-year-old Japanese eating tradition. The Los Angeles Times recently highlighted it, and the writers of that story also hit Tokyo’s restaurant scene with Spago chef Lee Hefter. In Sunday’s New York Times T Style Magazine: Travel, Adam Sachs takes his own “professional eating” tour through Tokyo, offering up a quick history of Japanese food and his take on a dining scene that, for depth and variety, “has no equal.”
Experts to Americans: Easy On the Tipping!
by Jim Benning | 05.21.07 | 8:11 AM ET
Sure, in some countries a generous tip for great service is appropriate. But not everywhere. “In Japan, for instance, tipping is viewed as insulting,” writes Rosemary McClure in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times. “In other countries, it’s considered disrespectful to hand a tip to a waiter.” How to avoid being the ugly American shelling out too much money in tips overseas?
The Critics: The Grand Canyon Skywalk
by Michael Yessis | 05.21.07 | 7:20 AM ET
First came the hype. Now comes the big-league critical eye. New York Times cultural critic Edward Rothstein shuffled in his yellow surgical booties along the see-through glass of the Grand Canyon Skywalk, and he wasn’t too impressed. Seeing the Canyon from its natural edge, he suggests, transcends any man-made perch.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: From Chocolate to Kaiseki
by Michael Yessis | 05.18.07 | 5:09 PM ET
Or, in other words, travelers’ interests this week range from Hershey, Pennsylvania to the streets of Japan. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Magnificient Trees of the World
* The Lone Cypress in Pebble Beach, California (pictured) makes the list.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
A Tour of Japanese Cuisine With Spago Chef Lee Hefter
* From the same writers: A look at kaiseki
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Japan’s Latest Budget Accommodation: Internet Cafes
* The nation that brought us the capsule hotel has done it again.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Hershey Honors its Past, Looks to the Future
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
Amsterdam: Telegraph Travel Guides
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Farecast
Most Read Feature Story
World Hum (this week)
Mark Ellingham: Rough Guides and the Ethics of Travel
“Hot This Week” Destination
Yahoo! (this week)
Playa del Carmen
Beijing Park: ‘Disney Is Too Far, So Please Come to Shijingshan’
by Jim Benning | 05.18.07 | 1:57 PM ET
I’ll never forget slurping spicy noodles in a mom-and-pop restaurant in Chengdu, China and studying the meticulously painted Disney characters covering the walls. Why would anyone running a noodle joint want to decorate with Mickey Mouse and friends? Is it really good for business? Examples of piracy and copyright infringements are famously easy to find in China, and many couldn’t be more out of place or inappropriate.
Long-Distance Travel: ‘The Catch-22 of Nature-Based Tourism’
by Jim Benning | 05.18.07 | 12:57 PM ET
So says one man in the eco-tourism biz in a story about the Global Ecotourism Conference, which took place earlier this week in Oslo. Among other things, participants discussed the environmental impact of all those long flights to green places. A Norwegian environment official told attendees: “The tourist industry should give priority to developing ecotourism in markets closer to home and to promoting environmentally friendly forms of transport.”
Related on World Hum:
* Q&A with Mark Ellingham: Rough Guides and the Ethics of Travel
* Carbon Offsets for Travelers: What Are You Really Paying For?
* Are Cheap Flights a Blessing or a Horror? Or Both?
For the Love of Maps: ‘So Many Riches, So Much Color, and So Many Worlds Within Worlds’
by Michael Yessis | 05.18.07 | 10:12 AM ET
Here’s one guy Thomas Swick was not talking about in his great story about why geography matters. Robert Klose loves maps, so much so that his idea of a “perfect evening” is this: “I pour a mug of hot chocolate, adjust the pillows on the sofa, turn on the reading lamp, curl up in my quiet corner, and open an atlas,” he writes in The Christian Science Monitor. “Where shall I commence my journey this time? Australia? The American South? Myanmar? It really doesn’t matter, for despite my chosen trajectory, I always get diverted into interesting byways, backwaters, and vest-pocket principalities.”
Trains Cross Between North Korea and South Korea For First Time in 56 Years*
by Michael Yessis | 05.17.07 | 5:30 PM ET
The test run of two five-car trains today was met with “jubilation and pride,” according to the Washington Post. One train ran from Munsan, South Korea to Gaesong, North Korea, and the other linked the Diamond Mountain resort in the North to the town of Jejin in the South, and both journeys were covered live by South Korean television networks. Each train carried 150 people from North and South and “new hopes of peace and unification,” writes Joohee Cho in the Post.
The Hot New Trend in Japanese Cuisine: 500-Year-Old Kaiseki
by Jim Benning | 05.17.07 | 2:20 PM ET
We’re talking seriously old school—and expensive. Kaiseki, the Japanese cuisine that began in Kyoto more than 500 years ago, is suddenly all the rage these days, according to the L.A. Times. With its extreme focus on presentation and seasonal ingredients, it’s captivating trend-setting Western chefs from Spain to the U.S. (Okay guys, you’re a little late, no?) “The dining experience is intimate, more like going to someone’s home than to a restaurant,” the paper reports. “Most traditionally, the meal is served in your own room at a ryokan—as most in Kyoto still do—while you are wearing a kimono and reclining on a tatami mat. It feels much that way in a kaiseki restaurant like Kikunoi, where you dine in a private room, often with a view of a serene garden, sculptured to be viewed from tatami level.”
Yo-Yo Ma on Travel and the ‘Silk Road Project’
by Michael Yessis | 05.17.07 | 11:15 AM ET
Peter Hessler in China: Inside an Obsession With the Great Wall
by Michael Yessis | 05.17.07 | 10:15 AM ET
Of the many striking things in Peter Hessler’s terrific essay in The New Yorker, this one struck me most: “There isn’t a scholar at any university in the world who specializes in the Great Wall.” Several independent scholars, however, have taken an interest in the Great Wall of China, including a six-foot-seven-inch Harvard Law School graduate David Spindler, who has spent more than a decade hiking the wall, compiling information for what he hopes will be a comprehensive book. Hessler joined him for several wall treks, and his resulting story is typical Hessler: smart, dramatic and full of detail.
