Travel Blog
World Hum’s Most Read: Nov. 15-21
by World Hum | 11.21.08 | 4:19 PM ET
Our five most popular travel interviews for the week:
1) Matt Weiland: Through 50 States With 50 Writers
2) Rolf Potts: Revelations From a Postmodern Travel Writer
3) Matt Gross: Reflections From a ‘Round-the-World Journey
4) Rick Steves: Reflections on Three Decades of World Travel
5) Pico Iyer: On Travel and Travel Writing (pictured)
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Yahoo! BuzzWhat We Loved This Week: CupcakeCampEast, ‘How She Move’ and ‘In Transit’
by World Hum | 11.21.08 | 4:13 PM ET
World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Michael Yessis
The one-two punch of Albert Hammond and Albert Hammond, Jr. My iPod played the father’s It Never Rains in Southern California and the son’s “In Transit” almost in succession on a chilly night this week. Two songs with a restlessness that left me itching to go somewhere warm. Plus, I love the uke here:
Amsterdam Cracks Down on ‘Cannabis Cafés’
by Valerie Conners | 11.21.08 | 11:46 AM ET
Photo by shelleylyn via Flickr (Creative Commons).
While we’ve covered the growing conservative tide in this notoriously liberal town, it now seems that mood has yielded the decision to close nearly one-fifth of Amsterdam’s marijuana-selling coffee shops—specifically those deemed too close to city schools. The decision has—not surprisingly—stirred controversy. “We don’t think it’s very useful,” said one school principal. “Children will get their drugs if they want to anyway.”
‘Tea and Wallaby’: What Photojournalists Eat Around the World
by Michael Yessis | 11.21.08 | 11:08 AM ET
It’s long, but it’s good: Twelve photojournalists display and talk about memorable meals they’ve eaten on the job in an audio slideshow at the New Yorker.
Gary Shteyngart in Seoul: ‘A Megacity With Endless Incongruities’
by Michael Yessis | 11.21.08 | 10:42 AM ET
Here’s another compelling piece from the author of “The Russian Debutante’s Handbook” and “Absurdistan” in the latest issue of Travel + Leisure. He writes: “Korea is a country with one of the unhappier histories the world has known, a present that amounts to the frenzied tapping of the fast-forward button and a future that may already be here.”
The Perils of Traveling by Private Jet
by Jim Benning | 11.20.08 | 2:37 PM ET
This is exactly why we at World Hum always fly commercial when asking Congress for a bailout.
Smoke-Free Hotels On the Rise
by Eva Holland | 11.20.08 | 12:50 PM ET
AAA now counts more than 8,000 smoke-free travel lodgings in the United States, USA Today reports. Most amazing: The number has more than tripled since 2005.
Los Angeles Native Jonny Olsen: Huge in Laos
by Jim Benning | 11.20.08 | 12:18 PM ET
The L.A. Weekly profiles a 28-year-old former semipro skateboarder who, after taking a trip to Thailand in 2002 and buying a folk instrument as a souvenir, went on to master it. Jonny Olsen plays a mouth organ called a khaen. He’s now the only white pop star in Laos, shocking Laotians with his khaen chops. It’s a fascinating story.
Saving Chekhov’s Yalta ‘White Dacha’ Home
by Jim Benning | 11.20.08 | 11:00 AM ET
The unusual house where Anton Chekhov lived and wrote for several years was turned into a museum in 1921, but it’s now falling apart, and territorial issues aren’t helping matters.
Says the scholar who has launched the Yalta Chekhov Campaign: “[The dacha] is in a strange position. The Russian government didn’t want to fund the restoration because the house is in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian government didn’t want to pay to promote a Russian author.”
Among the actors supporting the effort: Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes. Classy gents.
Alain Ducasse: ‘I Am Not a Fan of Airline Food’
by Eva Holland | 11.20.08 | 10:33 AM ET
The legendary chef recently shared some tidbits about his travel habits with the Telegraph’s Lisa Grainger. His favorite thing about traveling? No surprise there: the local food. “For me, going to markets is the best way to understand the soul of a place,” Ducasse said. “I taste everything, wherever I am. There is nothing quite like the simple pleasure of a marvellous piece of local fruit; it tells you so much about where you are.”
‘Australia’: The Next Big Travel Movie?
by Eva Holland | 11.19.08 | 10:49 AM ET
I caught the trailer for Baz Luhrman’s upcoming, travel-flavored epic in theaters this weekend, and it looks set to follow the likes of Into the Wild and Lord of the Rings as the next big-screen tourist-bait. (It also looks suspiciously like an Australian remake of Out of Africa, but that’s beside the point.)
National Geographic’s ‘Herod’s Lost Tomb,’ FTW
by Valerie Conners | 11.19.08 | 10:39 AM ET
That’s “For The Win,” to all you non-gamers out there, and yes, the revered publication is launching a games division, with downloadable titles that can be played on Macs, PCs, and some mobile devices. ‘Herod’ could be cool, but frankly, I’m holding out for “Sudoku Traveler: China.”
Additional Measures Taken to Ease Holiday Travel Woes
by Valerie Conners | 11.19.08 | 10:22 AM ET
As if family lanes at the airport weren’t enough of a gift to weary travelers, President Bush has announced plans to open additional military airspace across the country to commercial airlines, helping ease holiday travel delays for passengers.
‘Frozen Skyline’: Architecture and the Recession
by Eva Holland | 11.19.08 | 9:15 AM ET
We noted a couple weeks back that a U2-Norman Foster project in Dublin has been put on hold thanks to the economic crisis. Now, a Frank Gehry development in the U.K. has gotten the axe, as well. “If Gehry can be tossed aside by recession-wary banks,” Jonathan Glancey asks in the Guardian, “what about less celebrated architects?” Glancey’s thoughtful essay speculates about the future of the architecture industry—and our skylines—through the recession, and after.
Happy Birthday, Mickey Mouse and ‘Steamboat Willie’
by Eva Holland | 11.18.08 | 4:05 PM ET
Eighty years ago today, Disney’s world-conquering mouse made his big-screen debut—traveling onboard an old-fashioned riverboat. Here’s the seven-minute clip that eventually spawned a global theme park empire, “Steamboat Willie”:
