Travel Blog
Brook Silva-Braga on ‘One Day in Africa’
by Eva Holland | 03.19.09 | 1:19 PM ET
Over at Brave New Traveler, Ian MacKenzie interviews the creator of the backpacker documentary A Map for Saturday about his latest project and the challenges of telling a story about Africa. Brook Silva-Braga had the idea for his new documentary, One Day in Africa when he was offered the chance to cross the continent from north to south. “The trip offered a great chance to visit a large part of the continent but the disadvantage of moving through each place pretty quickly,” he said. “So the solution I came up with was to profile people throughout Africa but only for a single day.” In choosing his six subjects, Silva-Braga said he “wanted to avoid the easy traps of filling stereotypical boxes like ‘the guy with AIDS’ and ‘the woman in a refugee camp.’ Instead I was looking for people who could articulate what was important to them and give a sense of what life in their community is like.”
“One Day in Africa” will be making the rounds on the spring festival circuit; it premieres at the Cleveland Film Festival next week. Check out the wanderlust-inducing trailer:
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Yahoo! BuzzRats! The DOH Are Here!
by David Farley | 03.19.09 | 11:58 AM ET
The guys at the sushi restaurant across the street from my apartment in New York’s West Village were always friendly. Except for one time about a year ago when I stopped in at lunch to pick up a take-out order. There was only one other person in the restaurant—a guy typing away at a small laptop—but the two employees were short with me, acting as though the place was packed. As I tossed out requests—extra wasabi, for example—the sushi chef nervously nodded back in that officious anything-you-want manner as if I had been pointing a semi-automatic at his family. Then I noticed what was printed on the back of the jacket of the other customer: Department of Health (DOH).
More Bad News for the Dead Sea?
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.19.09 | 11:42 AM ET
Because of a marked decrease in water inflow from the Jordan River, the famous salt lake is shrinking so fast that some scientists believe that it could dry up in 50 years. But politics could also displace it from the list of the world’s top natural wonders, Reuters reports. The countries bordering the sea—Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan—must sign off for the Dead Sea to qualify for votes in 2010-2011 at the New Seven Wonders of Nature competition.
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Where the Wild Things Are’
by Eva Holland | 03.19.09 | 11:00 AM ET
Yet another beloved tale of childhood exploration is getting the Hollywood treatment. Cue the chorus of groans, right? Maybe. But while a live action movie version of Where the Wild Things Are might seem like a disaster waiting to happen, I’m actually cautiously optimistic about the adaptation. The always original Spike Jonze is directing, and Jonze also collaborated with novelist Dave Eggers on the script. Meanwhile, the cast includes Forest Whitaker, Catherine Keener and James Gandolfini. A talented group like that couldn’t get Max’s journey to the land of the Wild Things all wrong, could they? (Let’s hope not.)
Get the Big Picture has a sneak peek of the first poster for the movie, which is due out in the fall.
Morning Links: Nude Hiking in Switzerland, Toronto Street Food and More
by Michael Yessis | 03.19.09 | 7:59 AM ET
- Croats to Serbs: We want your tourist dollars.
- The Hard Days Night Hotel is open in Liverpool.
- Toronto loosens its regulations on street food. Now you’ll be able to eat souvlaki, jerk chicken, injera, etc. in midtown and downtown.
- Video: Improv Everywhere turned a Manhattan subway station into an art gallery.
- A woman apparently gave birth on a flight to New Zealand and left the baby on the plane.
- Ben Groundwater reveals 10 things he’s learned from traveling.
- The Age looks at tours inspired by crime books and writers.
- Lee Eisenberg explains how the U.S. lost its “mall hegemony to the rest of the world.”
- In the wake of shenanigans by U.S. lawmakers Sen. David Vitter and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, the Washington Post rounds up the airport exploits of lawmakers in recent years.
- The case of Appenzell, Switzerland vs. nude hikers. After looking at the accompanying photo, I have one question: Why?
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Wanted: A World Hum Summer Intern
by World Hum | 03.18.09 | 6:36 PM ET
Are you passionate about travel and World Hum? Do you have experience writing and editing? Can you work with images and video, and tell a story visually?
We’re looking for a summer intern to help in all these areas and more. Interns will work at the Travel Channel headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland, for 10 weeks, beginning June 1, 2009.
Get more information and apply online by going to www.cox.com/coxcareer. Click on external candidates in the box on the right-hand side, and search for World Hum.
‘Rock and Roll Public Library’ Opens in London
by Eva Holland | 03.18.09 | 5:07 PM ET
The Clash guitarist Mick Jones has opened his expansive rock memorabilia collection to the public for the first time, Reuters reports. The resulting exhibit, dubbed “Rock and Roll Public Library,” is running at London’s Chelsea Space until April 18, and (unsurprisingly) is heavy on relics from the ’70s punk scene. Says Jones: “Ultimately I’d like to have a permanent place to exhibit the whole collection like a museum, like a library where you can come and see the stuff and maybe get a copy or sit there and read it. I also would like to bring artists there because it’s history really.”
The Pre-Flight Flight Attendant Rap
by Rob Verger | 03.18.09 | 4:06 PM ET
Have you heard the fantastic pre-flight rap that one Southwest Airlines flight attendant has been doing?
The flight attendant, David Holmes, was recently the subject of a short interview at the Middle Seat Terminal. It’s worth a read.
Here’s my favorite part of the rap, which is performed to the beat of the passengers stomping and clapping:
Before we leave
Our advice is
Put away your electronic devices
Fasten your seat belt
Then put your trays up
Press the button
to make the seat back raise up
The expressions on the passengers’ faces are just as entertaining as the rap is itself. Video below.
The Great Everest Clean-Up
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.18.09 | 12:13 PM ET
The climate-change watchdog group Eco Everest hauled off 2,100 pounds of trash and human waste from Mount Everest last year and is now paying visitors $1.00 per pound for waste removed from the mountain, according to Outside and Rock and Ice magazine.
The Nepalese have recently tried to prevent dumping by withholding a $4,000 trash deposit from climbers who leave rubbish on the 29,028-foot peak. But there still a lot of waste up there from previous expeditions—enough to inspire a documentary and an artist who recycles discarded oxygen bottles into eco-provocative bowls, bells and ornaments.
Dora the Explorer: Now Packing Lipstick
by Eva Holland | 03.18.09 | 11:09 AM ET
Yup, one of our favorite fictional travelers is all grown up. A “teaser silhouette” of the new Dora, released a couple weeks back, stirred up controversy, with parents worrying about the “sexy” image being projected to their children. Now the final image has been made public—and yes, as we suspected, Dora is now clearly packing makeup, accessories, and some serious hair product for her travels. “If the Dora we knew grew up,” laments one parent’s petition, “she wouldn’t be a fashion icon or a shopaholic. She’d develop her map reading skills and imagine the places she could go.”
What do you think? Is the new Dora too sexy, or is this a tempest in a talking backpack?
Morning Links: Misadventures in Bora Bora, Shawarma in Baghdad and More
by Michael Yessis | 03.18.09 | 10:08 AM ET
Kim Jong-il’s Bizarre Pizza Quest
by Julia Ross | 03.17.09 | 12:02 PM ET
This just in from the parallel universe known as North Korea: the country’s first-ever pizzeria has opened in Pyongyang. The Guardian reports that Kim Jong-Il’s longtime obsession with pizza—and a decade-long campaign to train North Korean chefs in making the perfect pie—has culminated in the launch of a restaurant that flies in wheat flour, butter and cheese from Italy.
In any other country the opening of a pizza joint would be unremarkable, of course, but given that millions of North Koreans have died of famine since the mid-90s, the only word I can muster is: tragic.
Young Turks: Paradise in the Caribbean?
by Alexander Basek | 03.17.09 | 11:45 AM ET
Good news kids! The Gansevoort Turks and Caicos soft opened yesterday. The property’s official kick-off date is April 1, once all the kids get back from SXSW. Or, you know, St. Mortiz. Located on Grace Cay Beach, it’s the first Gansevoort property outside the lower 48. Goodies include a 7,000-square-foot infinity pool, a Bagatelle Beach Club for eats and an “Exhale” Spa right on the beach. Fun times. The Gansevoort weathered the economic downtown here in New York quite well, so their $400-a-night-plus starting rates in Grace Cay may not prove to be an impediment to bookings just yet.
Still, the vibe in T&C is a little off this season after the hostage situation last fall, when Chinese construction workers building the Ritz-Carlton Molasses Reef project took their Israeli bosses hostage. (Freelancers take note: they did it when they stopped getting paid). Perhaps a simulated kidnapping could be a theme for a team-building exercise on your next workplace retreat?
How I Long For Thee, Boeing 787
by Rob Verger | 03.17.09 | 10:51 AM ET
With any luck, followers of Boeing’s newest plane, the 787 Dreamliner, should see its first test flight in the first half of 2009.
The 787 is currently “on schedule,” the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported last week, and notes that according to the president of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division, the company “continues to work toward the inaugural 787 test flight in the second quarter of this year and the first delivery in the first quarter of 2010.”
This comes after lots of delays and some order cancellations; recently, a Chinese airline threatened to “cancel or postpone delivery of part of its order for nine 787s.”
Blog to Watch: Cities on the Cheap
by Eva Holland | 03.17.09 | 10:27 AM ET
The site—which got its start simply as Atlanta on the Cheap—now covers the latest bargains and budget shortcuts in 30-plus locations across the U.S. and Canada. The emphasis so far seems to be on the Sunbelt, and on kid-friendly destinations (there’s an entire Disney on the Cheap page), but if those aren’t your bag, don’t despair: Cities on the Cheap is still expanding. (Via Arthur Frommer)
