Travel Blog
Answering the Call of the Mall
by Michael Yessis | 01.25.08 | 1:08 PM ET
Spending an entire day at the mall: Hell. Reading about Joe Queenan’s day-trip to the Palisades Center mall in West Nyack, New York: Hilarious.
Related on World Hum:
* Confessions of a Cross-Border Shopper
* ‘SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy From a Plane’
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzJulia Ross Talks up the Presidential Candidates’ Travel Bona Fides
by Jim Benning | 01.25.08 | 10:48 AM ET
If you missed the radio show, audio of Peter Greenberg’s interview with Julia Ross about World Hum’s 2008 U.S. Presidential Candidate Travel Scorecard is now up at PeterGreenberg.com.
Books for Fearful Flyers
by Eva Holland | 01.25.08 | 9:43 AM ET
Has the recent crash landing at Heathrow re-awakened your fear of flying? Or just made you curious about airplanes and the miracle of flight? Over at Slate, Inigo Thomas explains how reading everything he could get his hands on about commercial flight helped to (partially) cure his fear of flying. The list of must-reads is comforting and informative.
Related on World Hum:
* 2007: Safest Year for Air Travel Since 1963
Study Abroad Trickles Down to Teens
by Julia Ross | 01.25.08 | 9:39 AM ET
We posted earlier this week on rising interest in studying abroad among college freshmen. Well, high school students are close on their heels. In a sign that the teen market is also ripe for cross-cultural exchange, National Geographic has launched a new student travel program combining community service with lesson-oriented “assignments.”
Traveler Clears Airport Security With Loaded Gun
by Jim Benning | 01.24.08 | 3:30 PM ET
It happened at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Sunday, and the man returned to the security checkpoint to report the incident when he remembered that his gun was loaded. Terrific.
Photo: Preparing for the Year of the Rat
by Jim Benning | 01.24.08 | 1:35 PM ET
A photographer caught children in Hong Kong making radish dim sum—well, at least one of them was working on it—in preparation for Chinese New Year celebrations. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Disneyland officials are boldly re-branding the year of the rat, which begins next month. In an effort to appeal to local traditions, the Wall Street Journal reports, “Disney is suiting up Mickey and Minnie in special red Chinese New Year outfits, and declaring 2008 the Year of the Mouse.” The Main Street parade features a dragon dance and an appearance by none other than the god of wealth. (No, not Robert Iger.)
How Barack Obama Just Might Improve Your Vacation
by Joanna Kakissis | 01.24.08 | 12:39 PM ET
I’ve lived in Greece since 2004 and have watched foreign contempt for George W. Bush reach epic proportions. As an American (albeit one of Greek descent), I’ve repeatedly faced angry cross-examinations about Bush’s foreign policy and the war in Iraq. But since the 2008 presidential race started making international headlines a couple of months ago, including here in Greece, I’ve noticed those angry interrogations are increasingly being replaced with enthusiastic pronouncements about how much the Greeks I encounter love Barack Obama. It’s a startling shift. Could it be a sign that more American travelers will be greeted with warmer welcomes around the globe in 2008? I sure hope so.
Mexico City Transit Goes Grope-Free
by Julia Ross | 01.24.08 | 11:41 AM ET
I feel for the women of Mexico City. Like their long-suffering sisters in Tokyo, they daily run a gauntlet of gropes and grabs while commuting on jam-packed buses and subway cars. Now the city has given them some breathing room, at least. According to Reuters, a new women-only bus service got under way this week, turning men away at the door. The city plans to expand the service to 15 routes by April.
New Travel Book: ‘Riding Toward Everywhere’
by Frank Bures | 01.24.08 | 9:51 AM ET
Author: William T. Vollmann, whose novel Europe Central won a National Book Award.
Released: Jan. 22, 2008
Travel genre: Trainhopping
Territory covered: United States
SpaceShipTwo: New Tourist Spacecraft Unveiled
by Michael Yessis | 01.23.08 | 3:39 PM ET
Designs for SpaceShipTwo (pictured), the craft Virgin Galactic plans to use to take travelers into space as early as 2009, were shown publicly for the first time at a press conference today in New York. Virgin Galactic’s Web site has many other images of the beautiful ship and its carrier plane, WhiteKnightTwo—if you’re patient enough to give the page time to load. It seems to be overwhelmed with traffic this afternoon.
Video: ‘Money for Nothing’ at Koh Phangan’s Full Moon Party
by Jim Benning | 01.23.08 | 2:33 PM ET
Peter Delevett’s latest World Hum story, The (Full Moon) Party’s Over, captures the scene at Koh Phangan’s famous (or infamous) Full Moon Party, but I was still curious what I might find from the parties on YouTube. The video offerings are many, and they are remarkably similar: farangs on a wide beach, drinks in hand, hooting and bopping to thumping disco music. The videos are amusing—for a couple of minutes. It’s not hard to see why Peter concluded the party was, at least as far as he was concerned, over:
Saudi Women Now Free to Stay Alone in Hotels
by Michael Yessis | 01.23.08 | 11:02 AM ET
Facing criticism for its restrictions on women, the Saudi Arabian government said this week that individual Saudi women no longer need a male guardian to stay in a hotel or a furnished apartment within the Kingdom. However, hotels must send information about the traveler to local police, according to the AP.
My Patatas Bravas Are Better Than Yours
by Julia Ross | 01.23.08 | 10:37 AM ET
Last Saturday, my sister and I dug into a plate of our favorite tapas dish—patatas bravas—at Washington, D.C.‘s popular Jaleo restaurant. It’s always the first dish I order—hearty chunks of potato doused in a spicy tomato sauce and finished with a garlicky white sauce, best devoured with the aid of toothpicks. While the patatas are a best seller in Washington, they’re an obsession in Spain.
Day Trippers Not Wanted on Venice’s New Vaporetto Line
by Michael Yessis | 01.23.08 | 10:07 AM ET
Venice residents complained that tourists had made getting around the city a nightmare, so officials planned Line 3, a just-opened water bus route from Venice’s Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco. Only riders holding a Carta Venezia pass can get on board, which effectively excludes outsiders.
Where Did I Buy This Bobblehead Doll? I Could Tell You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You.
by Eva Holland | 01.23.08 | 9:21 AM ET
In Washington D.C., visitors can go sleuthing around the International Spy Museum. In Berlin, they can look back on the reign of the Stasi at the DDR Museum. But in Canada’s capital, and my own hometown of Ottawa, tourists aren’t allowed even a spyglass-eye’s view of the top-secret Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) museum. And they most certainly can’t buy souvenirs.
