Travel Blog
Internet in the Skies?
by Rob Verger | 02.13.09 | 12:00 PM ET
World Hum contributor Eric Weiner had a fantastic op-ed piece on N.P.R. on Wednesday in which he passionately argues against internet availability on airplanes. “Some of my best ideas take flight at 35,000 feet,” he says. “It could be the thin air up there, but I think there’s another reason: disconnection. No e-mail, no cell phones.”
“The airline cabin represents the last refuge from ubiquitous connectivity,” he continues, “the last place where we are forced, for better or worse, to be with ourselves ... and our thoughts.”
I agree. I spend most flights in a trance-like state, staring out the window, absently watching a movie or listening to music. As Eric Weiner put it, I love that time with myself—I find it to be rejuvenating, centering.
I absolutely don’t want my cell phone (or, more importantly, my neighbor’s cell phone) to work. But I’m also conflicted, I’ll admit. I check my email about as frequently as I blink. If, one day, internet access were not only available on all or most flights, but was free—would I use it and enjoy it? Absolutely. And, in that case, would something have been lost about air travel, as Eric Weiner argues? Perhaps.
Southwest Airlines, by the way, has said it is beginning to test free internet access via satellite on one plane.
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Yahoo! BuzzHappy 200th Birthday, Charles Darwin
by Eva Holland | 02.13.09 | 11:00 AM ET
From "HMS Beagle at Tierra del Fuego" by Conrad Martens (via Wikipedia) Charles Darwin, author of the classic travel memoir The Voyage of the Beagle (oh, and that other book, too), would have turned 200 years old yesterday. To celebrate, the BBC’s David Shukman visited the Galapagos Islands, armed with a small Darwin library, and filed a series of compelling dispatches on how Darwin’s observations are holding up today.
A quick sample: “A giant frigate bird circles in the dusk sky. A lurid depiction of Charles Darwin adorns an arch outside our hotel. Once again, there’s a sea lion snoozing beside our table. It’s no longer a surprise. I must be evolving too.”
Morning Links: Vegas to L.A. High-Speed Rail, ‘the Gifts of Travel’ and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.13.09 | 9:44 AM ET
- Continental flight 3407 crashed outside of Buffalo, New York. Fifty people died.
- Looks like the stimulus bill might contain some extra funding for a high-speed rail link between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
- How will the United States look after its economic tumble? It’s the cover story in the latest issue of The Atlantic.
- In Dubai, the economic climate has brought forth an exodus of expats.
- Don George writes that “the gifts of travel are precisely what we need in daunting times like these.”
- Tom O’Neill chronicles the journeys of three North Korean defectors through China, Laos and Thailand on the way to South Korea. (Via Passport)
- Brave New Traveler asks: When does budget travel become exploitation?
- Northwest Airlines says it will start serving peanuts again on its flights. Passengers worried about peanut allergies say they will start planning trips on airlines other than Northwest.
- Germany, the U.S. and China are among the countries fighting the international battle of Ferris wheels. The Great Orlando Wheel may have the best promo video ever.
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Las Vegas: Cheap and Quirky Edition
by Eva Holland | 02.12.09 | 5:37 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland In spite of the recent plunge in room prices, “cheap” isn’t necessarily the first word that comes to mind when you think of Vegas—“jaw-dropping excess” might be closer. But beyond the high-roller tables, celebrity-helmed restaurants and designer clothing stores, there are bargains to be found. The Traveling Mamas recently posted a handy list of “free or cheap” Las Vegas activities, and it includes some more unexpected fare, like the Broadacres Swap Meet or the Pinball Hall of Fame.
I visited Las Vegas for the first time this summer, and with the exception of a close call at the Jimmy Choo store in Caesars Palace (where a part of me tried to argue that happiness is, in fact, a $600 pair of boots) I managed fairly easily to keep a grip on my wallet. My favorite Vegas freebie? The collection of vintage neon signage on Fremont East, where the glory of the good old days (sort of) lives on.
This is Not a Miami Vice Pun
by Alexander Basek | 02.12.09 | 3:15 PM ET
The Viceroy Miami, down in the Icon Brickell project, is set to open tomorrow. Predictably, hotelistas are excited. It’s very Miami-ish, and not in an old guys sipping from tiny coffee cups and playing dominoes way: 162 rooms with interiors designed by Kelly Wearstler, Sferra linens and a ginormo 28,00-square-foot spa. A spot-check on rates reveals that you could stay there next weekend for about $200 a night, less than half of what they intended to charge until very recently. It makes for a much more intriguing proposition than at the previous price point, which was justified with a “they’ll come because they’ve always come” attitude.
Much like the Standard in New York, look for this project to be the canary in the coal mine for new Miami hotel openings. All the recently opened properties in less-than-prime locations will start getting antsy should things not pan out here. Much depends on enticing visitors to stay in a part of Miami that doesn’t have quite the same name recognition as South Beach—the EPIC, just on the other side of the Miami river, is in the same boat. Still, if they are out in front with these rates, it’s a sign of flexibility that up to this point many Miami hotels lacked. I’ll be sure to head down to check it out just as soon as I get a base tan that upgrades my skin color from “Casper” to “eggshell.”
Tucson, Arizona: Moments of Zen
by Jenna Schnuer | 02.12.09 | 2:07 PM ET
Photo by Jenna Schnuer. A long day of flying wiped out the peace and relaxation I thought I’d stored up during two days of horseback riding and mountain biking at Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. So, while there are stories to tell, they’ll have to wait. For now, with apologies to The Daily Show for the slightly more serious take on their daily dose of humor, I present you with two moments of zen. (And apologies to all of you for the sort of mangy shooting. I’ll get a handle and a steadier hand on this Flip camera sooner or later. I promise.) Video after the jump.
Some Say ‘Nay’ to Giant Horse Sculpture
by Rob Verger | 02.12.09 | 1:38 PM ET
There is a 32-foot-tall sculpture of a wild mustang in front of Denver International Airport, and to put it bluntly, it’s freaking some people out, the AP reports. There is even a Facebook group devoted to putting the horse out to pasture, so to speak. The sculpted horse is blue, muscled, and rears powerfully up on two legs. Mohawk-like mane juts from its neck and head.
To get more reactions to the horse, I emailed some friends who live in Colorado. “Driving by the horse is a surreal experience,” wrote Dan Knights. “The horse is incongruous with its surroundings. All around it there’s nothing but flat dry fields and highway, and then all of a sudden there’s this giant cobalt blue horse. It’s made especially creepy by its fiery glowing eyes. I’m not sure if the eyes are actually illuminated or merely reflecting the ambient light, but they definitely give the horse a possessed demonic appearance.”
My friend Andrew Jones put things more strongly. “Frankly, the horse freaks me out,” he wrote. “In my last few trips to D.I.A., I’ve been trying to figure out why, exactly. The bright red eyes are an obvious candidate, of course, so I imagined: What would I think if it had green eyes? Or none, or black, like a normal horse? Is it the nostrils, aggressively flared, or the fact that the mane is so uproarious in its frozen flow?” Jessica Jones, his wife, wrote: “We see this horse every time we go to D.I.A. and its eyes scare the blazes out of me.”
London A-Z: Britain’s Most Stolen Book
by Eva Holland | 02.12.09 | 12:47 PM ET
Think of it as a glimpse into the literary tastes of the light-fingered. The Times of London has compiled a list of Britain’s most stolen books—and, as it turns out, thieves really have a thing for maps. The venerable London street atlas, London A-Z, won top honors. Said one independent bookstore owner: “I’ve been in bookselling for 20 years and the London A-Z is the most stolen book in the world ... A-Zs were like porn—you had to keep them under the till.” The “A-Z” wasn’t the only hot travel item on the most-wanted list, either. Ordnance maps and surveys landed in the no. 2 slot, Lonely Planet guides were the fifth-most-stolen books in Britain last year, and squeaking in at no. 10 was the Official Highway Code. (Via The Book Bench)
D.C.‘s Magic Carpet Ride
by Julia Ross | 02.12.09 | 11:37 AM ET
Photo by Julia Ross My affection for Oriental rugs is as much aesthetic preference as childhood nostalgia. I grew up in a household padded with Bukharas and Isfahans, and I remember when my mom first showed me how to tell a hand-knotted rug from a machine-made doppelganger by flipping the carpet over to examine how the fringe is attached. As an adult, my taste has tended toward flat-weave rugs—Kilims and Soumaks—in dark browns, burnt oranges and blues, woven in tribal patterns that speak of dusty villages in Turkey and Iran. In fact, when I moved into a new apartment last spring, I treated myself to two Soumaks purchased from a weathered Afghan at a flea market outside Washington, D.C. I love them; they make the place home.
Rug lovers like me will find nirvana at an exhibit currently on show at Washington’s under-appreciated Textile Museum, in the city’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. Timbuktu to Tibet: Rugs and Textiles of the Hajji Babas, includes 90 rugs and other textiles—salt bags and bridal veils—collected by the 77-year-old Hajji Baba Club, a New York-based society of rug collectors. It’s a feast for the eyes and expansive in scope: deep pink diamond patterns from Uzbekistan, blazing tiger pelt motifs from Tibet, black and white checkerboard rugs from Mali. I spent a long time just letting the colors soak in, marveling at the hours spent in pursuit of beauty and wondering at the rituals—births, prayers, long journeys—that inspired such attention to detail.
‘Whale Circles Underwater Skyscraper’ and Other Unnatural Scenes of the Future
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.12.09 | 10:37 AM ET
In The Unnaturalism of Human Habitat, artist Don Simon has created a disturbing and beautiful series of tryptichs showing animals interacting with the hyper-developed world of humans. The skyscraper piece is especially apocalyptic (and seemingly post-human) but many of the other works are bizarrely poignant: Bison in a traffic jam, a family of lowland gorillas perched on a steel tower, an alligator in a pool of trashed tires, a “parking lot Serengeti” with lions and giraffes. Scenes from the travel brochures of a broken future? Maybe not, but Simon’s message of respecting natural habitat ought to resonate with anyone who loves planet Earth. (Via TreeHugger.)
Morning Links: John Lloyd Stephens, the Bob Marley Suitcase and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.12.09 | 10:04 AM ET
- Is slave history being “whitewashed” at some Southern plantations and museums?
- The Virginia Quarterly Review has opened its archives from 1975 through 2003. Among the stories unearthed: Richard O’Mara’s profile of “American Traveller” John Lloyd Stephens. (via Kottke)
- Here’s the story behind the shrinking of the Norman Foster-designed Harmon hotel in Las Vegas.
- Compared: Commuting in London, Delhi, Tokyo and Homer, Alaska.
- World Hum contributor Tom Bissell talks video games with Heather Chaplin.
- Several airlines are trying to take control of an upcoming emissions pact.
- Jossip is planning a cross-country tour of Bernie Madoff victims using the Madoff Map. Worst road trip ever?
- Can you imagine trying to clear customs with the Bob Marley suitcase?
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Must Be Something In the Water
by Pam Mandel | 02.11.09 | 3:19 PM ET
A whale calf either washed up or beached itself on Kauai’s west side. The calf was first spotted by a tour-boat captain, there’s still no known cause of death. From The Garden Isle.
The USS Port Royal, a billion-dollar warship, got stuck on a reef just outside Honolulu. It spent a few days there while measures were taken to lighten the load so it could be freed—that happened early Monday morning. Here’s the story on MSNBC.
Dead fish—including many of the famous humuhumus—are showing up in the waters around the privately owned island of Ni’ihau. The Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Aquatic Resources is still trying to find the cause but in the meantime, fish is off the menu for the residents of Ni’ihau. From the Honolulu Advertiser.
A Sip of Bacon, Anyone?
by David Farley | 02.11.09 | 2:00 PM ET
Bacon may have officially jumped the shark, but don’t tell that to Pankaj Kumar Dogra, recent recipient of the “Bartender of the Year” award in Mumbai, and chief mixologist at the Taj Lands End’s Atrium Bar in the posh Bandra neighborhood of Mumbai. Dogra has just conceived a cocktail list called “Dinner Meets the Bar.” And one of the stars of the list is—wait for it—a bacon-infused vodka cocktail.
Being both intrigued and fatigued at the bacon-makes-you-cool phenomenon, I couldn’t resist trying the porkified potion during a recent visit to India’s largest metropolis. The result: the tomato-water adds a pink hue to the drink, giving it a cosmo-like look. Then your taste buds kick in and, well, it’s like drinking liquid bacon. But not cooked bacon; it actually tastes like liquid raw bacon. Despite fears of a possible tape worm, I finished the drink and moved on to others on the list, hoping to erase the liquid bacon from my memory (and taste buds). The martini blended with betel leaf did just that. So did the ginger-rum cocktail muddled with curry leaf. The balsamic vinegar and vodka was interesting, but a bit too Ferran Adria for my liking. By the time I had moved on to the basil and rum cocktail—an intriguing yet harmonious pairing—I was successful in erasing the bacon-infused libation from my memory. The only problem was that I had managed to erase just about every other memory of that evening, as well.
R.I.P. Muzak?
by Eva Holland | 02.11.09 | 1:00 PM ET
The company that brought elevator music into the world has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the AP reports. Muzak Holdings LLC could be as much as $500 million in debt, but—so says a company statement—it is expected to survive the bankruptcy reorganization and continue to operate “as is.” Let’s hope so—otherwise, a future of uncomfortably silent elevator rides could be in the cards for hotel-goers everywhere.
Remove Cute English Hanging Baskets, Save the Planet?
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.11.09 | 12:00 PM ET
The politicians of Harrow, a borough of Northwest London, say banning the (to some) quintessentially English flower baskets in the town center as well as replacing seasonal flower beds with less water-needy shrubs will help save water, land and money, The Evening Standard reports. If Harrow’s flower-basket-removal plans go through, will they catch on in the rest of England? And will the English and hanging-basket-loving Anglophiles around the world see the move as environmentally responsible or culturally obscene?
Via TreeHugger
