Travel Blog
How We Travel: 25 Pivotal Changes in the Last 25 Years
by Michael Yessis | 08.27.07 | 11:00 AM ET
As part of the lead up to its 25th anniversary next month, USA Today has put together a list of 25 changes that have had an impact on the way we travel. The No. 1 change: online booking. “This year,” according to USA Today, “Internet sales will represent more than half of all travel bookings.” Other changes that made the list: TSA airport security (No. 2), seat-back entertainment systems (No. 13), TripAdvisor (No. 17) and the ascent of low-cost airlines (No. 20).
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Yahoo! BuzzThe World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: ‘Heaven’ and the Wrath of Dean
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.07 | 12:26 PM ET
Hurricane Dean’s march through the Caribbean grabbed travelers’ attention this week, as did Hawaii, France and other iconic travel destinations. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Hawaii’s Path to ‘Heaven’ is Forbidden
In this case, heaven is on Oahu, up the Haiku Stairs (pictured), atop the “mountain peak known as Puu Keahiakahoe.”
Most Popular Travel Story
Iloho (this week)
Heavens Above, Now Google Reaches to the Stars!
* Added support for our selection of Google Earth/Google Maps for one of the Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (posted this week)
Hurricane Dean Heading Toward Mexico’s Riviera Maya*
* World Hum commenters have some thoughts about the Category Five storm.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Hurricane Dean Weakens Over Central Mexico
Most Disappointing Tourist Site in the World
Virgin Travel Insurance (survey)
The Eiffel Tower
Most Read Feature
World Hum (posted this week)
10 Greatest Fictional Travelers
* Let us know if your favorite made our list.
Where in the World Are You, Amber Hildreth?
by Jim Benning | 08.24.07 | 12:17 PM ET
The subject of our latest nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Amber Hildreth, a freelance graphic designer. Her response landed in our inbox this morning.
World Hum: Where in the world are you?
Big Mac Turns 40, Gets Own Museum in Pennsylvania
by Michael Yessis | 08.23.07 | 2:44 PM ET
The burger that’s so influential the Economist magazine named an index after it is four decades old this year, and the centerpiece of the celebration is the just-opened McDonald’s Big Mac Museum Restaurant in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. It’s the museum featuring the 14 feet by 12 feet statue of a Big Mac, naturally. America’s most famous contribution to world cuisine—or, to some, an imperial symbol of the country’s gluttony—was created in a Uniontown, Pennsylvania McDonald’s in 1967 by Jim Delligatti.
Need a Passport? Try Calling Your Congressional Representative.
by Michael Yessis | 08.23.07 | 11:23 AM ET
Slate’s Bruce Reed, who has been chronicling the “Kafka-esque frustration of the passport experience,” reports that one of his readers was told by a passport agent to call her senator to solve her problem getting a passport. “There’s nothing wrong with members of Congress responding to requests to cut through red tape,” Reed writes. “But something is rotten in Washington when the federal agency responsible for the red tape is the one asking.” I’ll go further. Something is rotten when you have to resort to calling your government representative to complete a simple bureaucratic task. The Durango Herald also reports passport seekers getting action by calling their representatives.
Tunneling the Bosporus Strait
by Michael Yessis | 08.23.07 | 11:02 AM ET
We’ve got the Chunnel between England and France. Plans are being drawn for a tunnel between Spain and Morocco. Why not a tunnel beneath the Bosporus Strait, connecting the Asian and European sides of Istanbul? Well, there are good reasons not too, such as the strait’s proximity to the violent North Anatolian Fault. But Turkey has been cautiously moving forward with the Marmaray Project, which according to a terrific story by Julian Smith in Wired, will relieve some of the stress on the two bridges already spanning the Bosporus and also offer new opportunities for world travelers.
‘Climb Everest For a Discount Rate’
by Jim Benning | 08.22.07 | 1:30 PM ET
That’s the headline on a Reuters story about off-season discounts for climbers headed to Nepal. A tourism official told the news agency, “We are working on proposals to give a 50 percent royalty cut in the autumn and 75 percent during the winter climbing seasons.” Now, I’m no climber, but when you’re risking your life to climb the tallest mountain in the world, should you really be that considered with scoring a bargain?
Related on World Hum:
* Everest Base Camp: ‘The Himalayan Version of Burning Man’
* Peace Deal Helps Lure Travelers Back to Nepal
* Everest Base Camp in Tibet: The Himalayan Bangkok?
Photo by Ben Tubby via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Tourists, ‘Diamante-Encrusted Bikinis’ Return to Lebanon’s Beach Resorts
by Michael Yessis | 08.22.07 | 10:48 AM ET
A year after war between Israel and Hezbollah rocked Lebanon, and with “sectarian tensions and political standoff” still simmering, Reuters reports that the country’s beach resorts are back and packed with revelers. “Until three weeks ago, it seemed that people couldn’t forget the scars of last year’s war. But now Damour is back again,” said Fady Saba, general manager of Oceana resort, referring to the coastal strip near Beirut. The resorts are using fashion shows and concerts, among other things, to attract travelers from Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East, particularly Arabs from Persian Gulf states.
Globalization Brings ‘Big Shift’ in Sweden’s Outlook on Vacations
by Michael Yessis | 08.22.07 | 10:16 AM ET
When it comes to vacation time, nobody in Europe—or anywhere, perhaps—has it better than the Swedes. A recent EU study found that Swedish workers are “entitled to an average of 33 paid vacations days in 2006—close to 7 weeks, not counting public holidays,” according to the International Herald Tribune’s Ivar Ekman. Now, with the rise of a global economy, that may be changing. ““The Swedish vacation is being adapted to the international situation,” said Orvar Lofgren, a professor of anthropology at Lund University and author of the book “On Holiday: A History of Vacationing.” He adds: “The classic five-week vacation is not as holy as it used to be.”
Trekking in Norway’s Fjordlands
by Jim Benning | 08.22.07 | 8:01 AM ET
Doug Lansky, the subject of a 2003 World Hum interview, recently went trekking with his family to a public cabin in Norway’s Fjordlands. His narrated slideshow about the trip appears on the Guardian Unlimited.
World Hum Seeks Submissions, Bloggers
by Michael Yessis | 08.21.07 | 2:23 PM ET
We’ve just updated our submissions page to reflect our new status as a daily, paying publication. If you’re interested in blogging for World Hum or contributing travel stories, please take a look.
Three Travel Tips: Planning a Caribbean Vacation in Hurricane Season
by Jim Benning | 08.21.07 | 1:45 PM ET
Travel tips are easy to find on the Internet, but some are better than others. Each week, we’ll bring you World Hum-approved travel tips from around the Web.
1) Play the odds. “Travelers can minimize the risks by choosing islands like Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao or Trinidad and Tobago, all located so far south that they are rarely hit by major storms.”—The Washington Post
Vatican to Launch Charter Flights to Holy Sites
by Michael Yessis | 08.21.07 | 11:50 AM ET
Religious pilgrims will now be able to fly to Santiago di Compostela, Spain; the shrine of the Madonna of Guadalupe, Mexico; and other sacred sites via official Vatican charter flights, the BBC reports. The first flight takes off Monday from Rome bound for Lourdes, France, with religious guides and the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, aboard. Routes from other cities may be introduced, according to RTE News. The planes, which will be provided by the Italian airline Mistral, will feature the phrase “I’m Searching for Your Face, Lord” on seat headrests.
TSA Deploys ‘Behavior Detection Officers’ at U.S. Airports
by Michael Yessis | 08.21.07 | 11:16 AM ET
It’s an Orwellian name for a rather Orwellian program. According to a story by Kaitlin Dirrig of McClatchy Newspapers, Transportation Security Administrator Kip Hawley revealed last month that Behavior Detection Officers are currently working in airports around the country. They’re “watching body language and facial cues of passengers for signs of bad intentions,” Dirrig writes. “The watcher could be the attendant who hands you the tray for your laptop or the one standing behind the ticket-checker. Or the one next to the curbside baggage attendant.” A TSA spokesperson added that 500 officers will be working in airports nationwide by the end of this year.
Hurricane Dean Hits Mexican Coast Near Majahual
by Michael Yessis | 08.21.07 | 9:13 AM ET
The first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall since Hurricane Andrew crushed South Florida in 1992 missed the megaresorts of Cancun by about 150 miles, instead pounding the coast near the Mexico/Belize border. The AP reports that Hurricane Dean’s winds reached 165 miles per hour. The area isn’t heavily populated nor is it as touristed as Cancun, but it does contain small hotels, the Costa Maya cruise ship port and the Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve. Definitive reports on how those areas fared will come later, but Hurricane Dean’s intensity—it registered the third lowest pressure at landfall on record, according to the Washington Post—signals the potential for massive damage.
