Travel Blog
Revisiting ‘Eat, Pray, Love’: A ‘Transcendently Great Beach Book’
by Michael Yessis | 07.06.07 | 12:03 PM ET
Now that it’s locked into bestseller lists and Julia Roberts is making a movie out of it, Elizabeth Gilbert’s travel book “Eat, Pray, Love” is a bona fide cultural phenomenon. It’s a fixture on the World Hum Travel Zeitgeist, it’s the celebrity must-read of the moment and a go-to summer book recommendation. It’s also getting a second look from critics such as Slate’s Katie Roiphe, who calls “Eat, Pray, Love” “precisely the sort of inspirational story of one woman’s journey to recovery that I would never expect myself to pick up in a bookshop.” Yet she reads it, and likes it.
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Yahoo! BuzzChina to Become World’s Top Tourism Destination by 2014
by Michael Yessis | 07.06.07 | 9:15 AM ET
So says the World Tourism Organization, according to an Agence France-Presse story. That’s six years earlier than the organization predicted earlier this year. At this point, I’m not most interested in when China will gain the top spot. I’m intrigued by the country’s amazing growth.
Google Maps: Is it Changing the Way We See the World?
by Ben Keene | 07.05.07 | 3:07 PM ET
It’s a curious contradiction. According to the National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy—as well as other sources—we could all stand to brush up on our basic geography, and yet it seems we adore maps. For the unconvinced, look no further than the July issue of Wired magazine. In a story called The Whole Earth, Cataloged: How Google Maps Is Changing the Way We See the World, Evan Ratliff observes that Google Earth, a digital globe that stitches together commercially available satellite images to create a 3-D representation of the planet, has been downloaded a quarter of a billion times in two years. What’s more, since giving anyone with a computer the ability to annotate an online map with text, links, images and sound, Google has added more than 50,000 mashed-up maps to its growing site.
Study: Jet Lag May Be Mild Form of Altitude Sickness
by Michael Yessis | 07.05.07 | 11:23 AM ET
Maybe Viagra won’t solve the problem after all. Some of the symptoms of jet lag may actually be signs of mild altitude sickness, according to a study funded by Boeing and reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. General aches and other complaints many travelers chalk up to jet lag may simply result from extended time in airplanes at high altitudes. For the study, volunteers spent 20 hours sitting in a chamber pressurized to the equivalent of 8,000 feet above sea level—a typical pressurization for an airplane cabin.
Taiwan Enlists ‘Goth-Style Rock Band,’ Ozzy Osbourne in U.N. Quest
by Michael Yessis | 07.05.07 | 10:52 AM ET
Ozzy Osbourne, diplomat? The music icon/ drug-addled punchline, or, as Reuters calls him, “satanic- theme rocker,” will sponsor the Taiwainese band ChthoniC and its government-supported efforts to stir up support for Taiwan’s U.N. membership quest. ChthoniC will join this summer’s Ozzfest tour, and, according to Reuters, Ozzy will help out with transportation costs and let the band promote Taiwan’s U.N. membership. That will no doubt include performances of “UNlimited Taiwan,” ChthoniC’s song that “seeks to express Taiwan’s boundless vitality and its efforts to overcome international restrictions, isolation and prejudice,” says Minister Shieh Jhy-wey of the Taiwanese Government Information Office. Great. But if the band is going to take the message to the Ozzfest masses, one question remains: Does it rock?
Travel and the Spirit of Independence
by Jim Benning | 07.03.07 | 5:55 PM ET
We’re taking the Fourth of July off, but we can’t help but reflect on some of our favorite Americana coverage over the last year or so, from the meaning of the term “Ugly American” and the new U.S. passport design to the revival of the great American cross-country road trip, the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the sounds of Jimmy Buffett and, naturally, the freedom to sink your teeth into some seriously good barbecue. (We’ll have to cover the pleasure of a good all-American breakfast burrito, such as the one pictured, for next year.) Herewith, some favorite World Hum links:
Is Getting a Passport Patriotic?
* We think so. Sure, the new design is a bit much and there’s a bit of a wait for new ones right now, but those are minor complaints in the big shrinking-planet scheme of things.
Is It Time to Retire ‘Ugly American’ From the Travel Lexicon?
* It’s worth considering. As a New York Times writer put it: “Let it be said that no group holds a monopoly on the title of ‘ugly.’”
The Roadside Motel: ‘Reinventing an American Icon’
* Classic old motels aren’t all disappearing. In fact, some are being bought up, restored and transformed into, yes, “boutique motels.”
Notes From the Barbecue Trail: From Lockhart, Texas to Lexington, North Carolina
* A celebration of brisket, sausage, ribs and even plastic knives.
Route 66 Hotels Face ‘Four-Lane, Divided Highway Called Progress’
* They desperately need some of that “boutique motel” love.
R.I.P. James Brown and R.I.P. (and Aloha) Don Ho
* Two great Americans who won’t soon be forgotten—the world over.
Jimmy Buffett at 60: Still Selling ‘Unsentimental’ Tropical Fantasies
* A sandal-shod American institution. How can you not love a guy who names an album “Banana Wind”?
A Former Peace Corps Volunteer as President?
* We don’t really believe Chris Dodd will be elected, but his campaign raises interesting questions about the value of experience abroad.
Airline Columnist on Dirty Planes: ‘I’ve Got More Horror Stories Than Edgar Allan Poe’
by Michael Yessis | 07.03.07 | 5:51 PM ET
Poe, as far as I know, didn’t write much about poo, though. But New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey does today in his New York Times column, highlighting the raw sewage leak on a recent Continental flight and other deteriorating conditions aboard airplanes. It’s been a good week for exposing the airlines’ dirt. Last week, a handwritten complaint (complete with graphics) from a passenger on a Continental Airlines flight went into heavy circulation online. As of this post, it’s been Dugg 7264 times.
Japanese to Sumo Recruiters: Yawn
by Jim Benning | 07.03.07 | 4:16 PM ET
For the first time since modern sumo standards were established in 1936, not a single person has applied to become a sumo wrestler in the lead-up to a key recruitment test in Japan. According to The Asahi Shinbum, sumo’s popularity has been on the decline, but the cancellation of the July test seems to be a new low. It prompted the newspaper to crack: “The Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Japan sumo association) is desperately looking for a few fat men.” Adding insult to injury, the BBC notes, “The two reigning grand champions, Asashoryu and Hakuho, are both Mongolian.” The widely reported death of a 17-year-old newly minted professional wrestler last month can’t help matters.
Related on World Hum:
* Japan’s Big Fat Sumo Controversy
* The Hot New Trend in Japanese Cuisine: 500-Year-Old Kaiseki
* R.I.P. Momofuku Ando, Inventor of Instant Ramen Noodles
The Critics: ‘Travels With Herodotus’
by Ben Keene | 07.03.07 | 4:13 PM ET
Many of us rely on guidebooks when we travel, whether for practical advice, personal insight or a bit of simple reassurance. Ryszard Kapuscinski, or “the legendary chronicler of anarchy” as he’s called in the July issue of Outside, apparently never made a trip without his copy of The Histories by the 5th century BC Greek polymath, Herodotus. Writing for the magazine, Patrick Symmes aptly describes the newish Travels With Herodotus—it was published in Polish in his native country in 2004—as a “final gift, a call to wander widely and see deeply” from the journalist. Since the appearance of an English edition on bookshelves earlier this month, lengthy reviews have peppered periodicals in Canada and England, as well as across the United States. World Hum’s review appears today. With one exception that I was able to find, all of them—perhaps knowing it was their last chance—nearly fall over themselves offering praise.
Sledgehammer-Wielding Spaniards Destroy Hotel Rooms
by Jim Benning | 07.03.07 | 1:26 PM ET
The few dozen Spaniards weren’t revolting against high-priced rooms at the Madrid hotel. They were the winners of a contest sponsored by NH Hotels, which is planning to renovate the property. About 200 people entered the contest and psychologists selected the winners—if you can call them that. Apparently they were particularly in need of stress relief. Reports the BBC: “The winners included top executives and a working mother who said she simply wanted to hit something.” So how was it? Ignacio, a demolisher worked up about the high cost of living, told El Pais: “Ha sido una experiencia muy buena.”
Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin’: Do His Songs Still Resonate in the City That Inspired Them?
by Michael Yessis | 07.03.07 | 10:22 AM ET
In 1973 Lou Reed recorded Berlin, an album inspired by the German city that Rolling Stone called “one of the gloomiest records ever made—slow, druggy and heavily orchestrated.” At the time, the Wall cut through Berlin and the city struggled with a heroin epidemic among teens. “In other words, it was not a happy place, although it was certainly an interesting one—Berlin, in that era, had become a mecca for some of the most creative heads in rock music,” Time’s Stephanie Kirchner writes in an intriguing “Postcard from Berlin” on the magazine’s Web site.
Seven Spanish Tourists Killed in Yemen
by Jim Benning | 07.02.07 | 4:38 PM ET
The victims of a suspected al Qaeda suicide car bomb attack at a temple in Yemen include seven Spanish tourists and their two Yemeni drivers and guides. They were reportedly concluding a visit to the 3,000-year-old Queen of Sheba temple, a popular attraction in Marib, when the attack took place. Six other Spanish tourists and two Yemeni guides were wounded. Reports Reuters: “Security sources told Reuters earlier the attack followed an al Qaeda statement last week demanding the release of some of its members jailed in Yemen and warned of unspecified actions.”
Voluntourism: Assisting The Flying Doctors in Mexico
by Jim Benning | 07.02.07 | 2:50 PM ET
JetBlue’s New Blogger: C. Montgomery Burns
by Michael Yessis | 07.02.07 | 12:30 PM ET
It’s a publicity stunt, sure, but one that might help JetBlue get back some of its mojo after its February meltdown. As part of the massive hype for the upcoming The Simpsons Movie, C. Montgomery Burns—known best as Homer Simpson’s boss at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant—has taken over the blog of former JetBlue CEO David Neeleman. From his first entry: “Smithers entered my chambers this morning, toting wretched tales of congenial customer service and overly indulgent amenities on your JetBlue Airways. And for what… your precious passengers? Soon, the riff raff will demand ‘fair treatment’ from all corporate overlords, like myself. Well, not in my chemically prolonged life-time.”
‘Backyard Inventors’ Help Usher in the Era of Space Travel
by Michael Yessis | 07.02.07 | 11:30 AM ET
A surge in contests put on by the U.S. government and private sponsors have helped inch us closer to the era of private space travel, according to an interesting story by Jack Hitt in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Hitt centers his piece on Peter K. Homer, “an out-of-work director of a local community center in Maine,” who attempts to build a better space glove for a NASA design contest. “NASA’s competitions arose, in part, from a desire to return to the moon, as well as to hand off part of NASA’s old mission to the private sector—that mission being to make low-orbit space travel a mere extension of planes, trains and automobiles,” Hitt writes. To that end, the Federal Aviation Administration already has begun laying out some rules.
Related on World Hum:
* Win a Trip to Space. Maybe.
* Singapore, United Arab Emirates Jump Into Space Tourism Race
* Neil Armstrong and the Promise of Space Travel
