Travel Blog
Eat Like Shackleton in London
by Eva Holland | 10.27.08 | 1:40 PM ET
A restaurant in London is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Nimrod Expedition, Ernest Shackleton’s first effort to reach the South Pole, with a 6000-calorie meal fit for an Antarctic explorer. Here’s what’s on the menu:
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Yahoo! BuzzR.I.P. Tony Hillerman
by Michael Yessis | 10.27.08 | 7:45 AM ET
The writer was best known for his mysteries and his “vivid descriptions of Indian rituals and of the vast plateau of the Navajo reservation in the Four Corners region of the Southwest.” He loved that part of the U.S. “Those places that stir me are empty and lonely,” he wrote. Hillerman was 83.
Update: World Hum contributor Deanne Stillman remembers Hillerman, her former journalism instructor.
Google Earth: ‘Positively Pregnant With Potential for Travelers’
by Michael Yessis | 10.27.08 | 7:41 AM ET
So writes Graeme Wood in a terrific story for Culture + Travel. We had a similar reaction last year, when we named Google Earth one of our Seven Wonders of a Shrinking Planet.
The ‘Peruvian Pan Flute Epidemic’ Rages on ‘South Park’
by Michael Yessis | 10.27.08 | 7:32 AM ET
Peruvian flute bands are apparently a big enough phenomenon—and irritating enough to Trey Parker and Matt Stone—to take center stage on “South Park.” The latest episode warns of a “Peruvian flute band epidemic” so extensive that the head of Homeland Security says, “All over the world wherever there are tourists or shoppers there are now on average 65 Peruvian flute bands per square kilometer.”
‘The Asian Food Lovers’ Guide to L.A.’
by Michael Yessis | 10.27.08 | 7:10 AM ET
The cover story of the latest Los Angeles Magazine takes a thorough look at the Asian food scene my home city. Alas, only the noodles section is online.
Related on World Hum:
* The Greatest Thing About Los Angeles Is ...
World Hum’s Most Read: Oct. 18-24
by World Hum | 10.24.08 | 2:51 PM ET
Our five most popular dispatches for the week:
1) Another Tet Offensive
2) The Gift of the Nile (pictured)
3) How Low Can You Go?
4) The Art of Writing a Story About Walking Across Andorra
5) Test Day
What We Loved This Week: ‘Travel Writing,’ Baby Sea Turtles and the World Series in Philadelphia
by 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.
Space ‘Tourist’ Returns Safely to Earth
by Valerie Conners | 10.24.08 | 2:08 PM ET
After his Soyuz capsule landed in Kazakhstan without incident, American Richard Garriott called his odyssey into space a “pinnacle experience.” And no worries, Richard, you’ll always be a space traveler in our eyes.
Western Tourists Told to Avoid Bali
by Valerie Conners | 10.24.08 | 11:19 AM ET
Bali tourism officials and other governments issued the warnings in response to news that the convicted bombers in Bali’s 2002 nightclub terror attacks will be executed in November.
‘State by State’: The Film
by Michael Yessis | 10.24.08 | 11:17 AM ET
The book “State by State”—we posted Frank Bures’ interview with coeditor Matt Weiland yesterday—has a companion piece: A 38-minute film staring 19 of the book’s contributors, including Anthony Bourdain. The No Reservations host gets some good screen time in the trailer:
The Weak Euro: An American Traveler’s Delight?
by Elyse Franko | 10.24.08 | 10:33 AM ET
Since I was worried my saved U.S. dollars wouldn’t go very far here in Vienna, the rapid decline of the euro in the past few weeks has been a blessing.
‘The 69 Greatest (Fictional) Travel Books of All Time’
by Michael Yessis | 10.23.08 | 4:13 PM ET
Conde Nast Traveler surveyed 30 writers, who came up with the list that, unfortunately, seems to live only in the print edition. Many of the usual suspects represent: “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “Don Quixote,” “On the Road,” “The Quiet American.” I’m happy, though, to see Don DeLillo’s “The Names” on the list—it’s the book from which we poached the name World Hum. Geoff Dyer describes “The Names” as “a fantastic travel essay, dense with amazed delight at the incidents and textures of this ancient and rapidly modernizing world.”
Related on World Hum:
* World Hum’s Top 30 Travel Books
U.K. Tour Operator Bans ‘Serial Complainers’
by Eva Holland | 10.23.08 | 2:53 PM ET
Chronic complainers beware: A major tour operator is on to your compensation-seeking schemes, and it won’t be handing out any more breakfast vouchers. Instead, TUI Travel, the U.K.‘s largest travel company, has announced that it will be creating a “black book” of problem customers, the Times of London reports.
New TSA Rule: Fliers Must Provide Full Name, Birth Date in 2009
by Michael Yessis | 10.23.08 | 2:06 PM ET
From USA Today: “The rule will ‘dramatically reduce’ the number of people hassled at airports because their name resembles a terrorist’s on a government watch list.”
‘Giant Smurf’ Travels World, Looks Ridiculous
by Valerie Conners | 10.23.08 | 12:06 PM ET
Photo by jonasholmstrom via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Whether he sang that peppy “La, la, la, la” theme song while posing in front of famous landmarks remains unclear.
