Travel Blog
French Train Clocks In At 357.2 MPH*
by Michael Yessis | 04.04.07 | 8:20 AM ET
That’s 547.8 kph, and it’s a record speed for rail travel. (A Japanese “non-conventional magnetically levitated” train hit 361 mph in 2003.) Ingrid Rousseau was on the 25,000-horsepower V150 in France yesterday, and she filed a report about the speed trial.
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Yahoo! Buzz‘A Journey Through Literary Lagos’
by Michael Yessis | 04.04.07 | 8:17 AM ET
The cityscape of Lagos, as George Packer describes it in a recent New Yorker epic, is either a “a life force or an impending apocalypse.” In a piece in the Virginia Quarterly Review, World Hum books editor Frank Bures taps into the former, exploring Nigeria’s 23 million strong megacity as fertile literary ground.
Selling Israel: A Land Rich in Holy Sites or Hot Babes in Tel Aviv?
by Jim Benning | 04.03.07 | 8:35 AM ET
That’s the question vexing those debating how to market the nation to tourists. Interestingly, an Israeli consular official recently invited a camera crew from Maxim magazine to photograph a bikini-clad model in Tel Aviv, arguing that the best way to improve the country’s image among young men was with “good-looking women,” the official told Newsweek. Others insist that Biblical sites set Israel apart and should be emphasized. Which raises the question: Can you sell Holy sites to would-be religious tourists and secular good times to Maxim readers at the same time?
Green Travel: ‘Who’s Scamming, Who’s Legit and How Do We Tell the Difference?’
by Michael Yessis | 04.03.07 | 8:07 AM ET
Alternet adds more to the ongoing debate about what exactly constitutes eco-friendly travel with a piece by Richard Hammond. “Ecotourism has no marketing utility because people just don’t believe it anymore,” a professor of responsible tourism management tells Hammond. Perhaps we can take solace, though, in the existence of professors of responsible tourism management. Via Brave New Traveler.
Related on World Hum:
* Can Slow Travel Save the Planet?
* Carbon Offsets for Travelers: What Are You Really Paying For?
* Should Travel Writers Discourage Flying to Reduce Global Warming?
* Panama Backpackers’ Hotel Doubles as “Noah’s Ark” for Endangered Frogs
Bring Your Tray Tables to the Upright Position and…Duck!
by Jim Benning | 04.03.07 | 7:35 AM ET
The pilot of a Lan airline jet reported seeing flaming debris fall past his plane as he prepared for a landing in Auckland. NASA officials suspect it was meteors. You want space tourism? Lan’s got your space tourism.
U.S. Issued 412,000 Passports Last Week
by Michael Yessis | 04.03.07 | 7:03 AM ET
That’s a record for a seven-day period. Good news for those worried about long waits for their little blue books, and perhaps for those who’d like to see Americans get out of the country more. According to the AP, about 74 million Americans have U.S. passports.
India’s ‘Spiritual Backbone’: Two End-to-End Explorations Down the Ganges River
by Michael Yessis | 04.02.07 | 7:34 AM ET
National Public Radio’s Morning Edition begins a five-part series about the Ganges River today, following its 1,550-mile length to explore India’s past and future. “The Ganges provides sustenance to more people than the population of the United States,” says Philip Reeves, NPR’s India correspondent. “She passes through India’s most populous state, its most lawless state, its holiest city and Calcutta, the country’s cultural capital and latest aspiring technology hub.”
Norway Debuts Automated Customs Machines
by Michael Yessis | 04.02.07 | 7:19 AM ET
It’s a first, according to Norwegian officials, and no doubt more user-friendly than this country’s process.
The Library Hotel: A Leader in Dewey Decimal System Travel
by Michael Yessis | 04.02.07 | 7:14 AM ET
All the rooms at New York City’s Library Hotel are pegged to the Dewey Decimal System, meaning room numbers are long (1100.003 is the Philosophy Room, for instance) and the reading is eclectic. Think of the Library Hotel not as part of a trend, writes Carol McCabe in the Washington Post, “but as a counter-trend.” The hotel’s most requested room: 800.001, Erotic Literature.
World Hum’s Most Read: March 2007
by Michael Yessis | 04.01.07 | 9:07 PM ET
Our 10 most popular stories posted last month:
1) Grand Canyon Skywalk Opens to First Visitors
2) ‘Ernest Hemingway on Writing’
3) Stardust Blown to Dust
4) ‘SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy From a Plane’
5) Ask Rolf: I Don’t Want to Travel with a Guidebook. What Do You Think About Traveling With an Atlas?
6) Switzerland Invades Liechtenstein
7) July 7, 2007: The Magic Date
8) The Travel Writer as Airport Screener: ‘I Feel Ridiculous’
9) Travel Books Crack List of the Top 1,000 Books Owned By Libraries Around the World
10) A Very Long Way to the Hong Kong Cafe
David Farley on Travel and Travel Writing
by Jim Benning | 03.31.07 | 1:17 PM ET
World Hum contributor David Farley talks travel writing and his quest for Jesus’s foreskin—seriously—in a fine podcast interview with Gadling’s Erik Olsen.
Related on World Hum:
* Q&A with David Farley and Jessie Sholl: A Passion for Prague
Could the New Grand Canyon Skywalk Attract (Insane) BASE Jumpers?
by Jim Benning | 03.30.07 | 3:51 PM ET
As crazy as it sounds, perhaps. Officials at the new horseshoe-shaped attraction at the rim of the Grand Canyon insist they’d never allow a parachute BASE jump from the Skywalk—in fact, they’ve already denied one request. What’s more, the would-be landing area 4,000 feet below is sacred to the Hualapai Indians. But BASE jumper Chris Pope, who once took a big leap off the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, tells ABC News that, while he wouldn’t jump without permission, some might consider a stealth jump: “[S]kywalk makes an appealing target for sure.”
Related on World Hum:
* Grand Canyon Skywalk Opens to First Visitors*
* The Grand Canyon Skywalk: What Would Edward Abbey Think?
Photo by i_r_e_n_e, via Flickr (Creative Commons).
‘Ernest Hemingway on Writing’
by Jim Benning | 03.30.07 | 2:00 PM ET
Murgab River, Turkmenistan
by Jim Benning | 03.30.07 | 1:07 PM ET
Coordinates: 38 18 N 61 12 E
Length: 530 miles (853 km)
For historians, written records are a useful way of understanding the past. As technical methods for analysis improve, however, scientists are increasingly able to make sense of ancient societies by documenting changes to the physical landscape.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Beer, Buzz Aldren and the City by the Bay
by Michael Yessis | 03.30.07 | 8:13 AM ET
Travelers kept the Grand Canyon Skywalk top of mind this week, as well as San Francisco, Jackson Hole and ways to stretch their travel dollar. Here’s the Zeitgeist:
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Insider’s Tour of San Francisco’s Chinatown
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Jessica Smith of MTV’s ‘Laguna Beach’ Named Let’s Go Spokesperson
* She allegedly did a very bad thing.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
Sheer terror
* Sheer terror? Skiing Jackson Hole’s Corbet’s Couloir must be really scary.
Most E-mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Urban Human Hounds Tracking Down the Beers
* A must read if you want to “basically run around a lot and end up at a bar.”
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
* We’ve lost count how many weeks in a row this has topped the list. It’s been that long.
Most Read Story
World Hum (this week)
A Very Long Way to the Hong Kong Cafe
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Soft Caribbean Cruise Market Could Mean Savings for Passengers
* Just don’t get too giddy and end up like these people.
