Travel Blog
What Happened to Lehman Brothers’ Road Warriors?
by Eva Holland | 09.22.08 | 3:31 PM ET
In the wake of the financial giant’s recent bankruptcy, the Times of London offers some thoughts on what business travelers can expect if their firm collapses while they’re on the road.
Photo by Kelly B. via Flickr (Creative Commons)
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Yahoo! BuzzSearching for Borders in West Africa
by Eva Holland | 09.22.08 | 2:40 PM ET
It’s a truism that Africa’s colonial borders were drawn virtually on a whim, but in this compelling essay in The Smart Set, Peter Chilson learns first-hand just how arbitrarily some of those lines on the map were traced—and the real-life impact of those colonial decisions.
Q&A With Stephanie Elizondo Griest: ‘Mexican Enough’
by Jim Benning | 09.22.08 | 1:13 PM ET
Travel writer Stephanie Elizondo Griest is the author of Around the Bloc and 100 Places Every Woman Should Go. Her new book, Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines, takes her deep into Mexico, as well as inside questions about her own identity. Sandra Cisneros called the book “a travel journal for the new millennium.” I caught up with Griest via email in Corpus Christi, where her family lives. They were spared the wrath of Hurricane Ike, she said, adding, “My friends in Houston and Galveston, however, suffered tremendous losses. I’m hoping to go there soon to volunteer.”
World Hum: Why did you decide to write a book about Mexico?
JFK JetBlue Terminal Reopens After Morning Evacuation
by Jim Benning | 09.22.08 | 12:51 PM ET
Attention, travelers passing through JFK this week: Please leave your World War II replica grenade paperweights at home. The U.N. Generally Assembly is meeting in New York, and security officials are, um, a little on edge.
‘The Amazing Race’ Wins Emmy—Again
by Jim Benning | 09.22.08 | 11:38 AM ET
For the sixth straight time, the CBS show (and now Travel Channel show) “The Amazing Race” won the Emmy in the “reality competition” category, beating out the likes of “American Idol.” Now that’s amazing.
Tourists Kidnapped in Egypt*
by Jim Benning | 09.22.08 | 11:13 AM ET
Eleven European tourists and eight others, including guides and drivers, were abducted while on an off-road tour near the Gilf al-Kebir plateau, the BBC reports. Egypt’s tourism minister said bandits demanding a ransom, and not terrorists, were responsible. Officials are apparently working to negotiate a release. Add: Reuters has confirmed the kidnappers have taken the hostages out of Egypt.
Arthur Frommer on Cruise Prices: ‘I’ve Never Seen Such Bargains’
by Jim Benning | 09.22.08 | 11:01 AM ET
“[T]his fall, the discounting of cruise prices is more frequent and substantial than ever,” Frommer writes. “I’ve never seen such bargains.” Noteworthy: Even “upscale” cruise lines such as Celebrity are offering great deals, including $359 for a five-night Caribbean cruise.
A Visit to India’s ‘Green’ Isle
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.22.08 | 10:41 AM ET
E Magazine travels to Bangaram, part of the Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea some 200 miles west of Kerala in southern India. It’s a small place—less than a square mile—and it was virtually uninhabited until CGH Earth Hotels opened an (apparently impressive) eco-resort there. Writer Jenny Fowler says the resort “has drawn a green line in the sand” and has taken pains to be sustainable: constructing cottages made of local, biodegradable materials; saving water during monsoons; and forbidding motor vehicles.
Photo binux by via Flickr (Creative Commons).
World Hum’s Most Read: Sept. 13-19
by World Hum | 09.19.08 | 5:37 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts for the week:
1) Audio Slideshow: Promised Land Closed
2) R.I.P. David Foster Wallace
3) 10 Great Travel Race Movies (pictured)
4) How Does Sarah Palin Rank in Foreign Travel Experience?
5) Harrison Ford: When Good Celebrity Travel Stories Go Bad
What We Loved This Week: David Foster Wallace, ‘The Oatmeal Ark’ and an Inukshuk
by World Hum | 09.19.08 | 5:27 PM ET
World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Jim Benning
I loved that, despite all our worst fears, Texas was battered but not beaten by Hurricane Ike. Texans are a resilient bunch. In fact, weeks ago I bought a ticket for a flight today from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale with a stop in Houston—I’m heading east to speak at the National Writers Workshop. Amazingly, my flight hasn’t been canceled or even rerouted.
Movie Tourism, Bond-Style, Comes to Panama
by Eva Holland | 09.19.08 | 9:20 AM ET
Brace yourself, Panama. The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy created a Frodo economy in New Zealand. “Brokeback Mountain” lured fans to Wyoming. Now, Quantum of Solace—the new James Bond flick, which was filmed in the Central American country—just might do the same for Panama. It’s coming out in November, and my guess is that hordes of tourists (and more than a few newspaper travel sections) won’t be far behind.
Jeffrey Tayler’s Latest in The Atlantic
by Jim Benning | 09.19.08 | 9:15 AM ET
As the Moscow correspondent for The Atlantic, World Hum contributor Jeffrey Tayler has been filing some terrific stories lately about Russia, Georgia and U.S. foreign policy. In his latest, Russia: Back to the Future, he questions whether the U.S. should continue to back Georgia’s bid to join NATO.
The Case of the Japanese Tourists and the Graffiti at the Duomo
by Michael Yessis | 09.19.08 | 7:11 AM ET
The Financial Times has a fascinating rundown of an incident earlier this year involving Japanese tourists in Florence, Italy. The visitors, who were mostly students, added their names to a marble wall at the Duomo, which “has become an accepted, if not necessarily desired, activity in Florence,” writes Lindsay Whipp.
Meatball Nations: United in the Love of Kofte, Keftedes and Kebapches
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.19.08 | 6:21 AM ET
Southeastern Europe boasts something like 400 varieties of meatballs, according to Balkan Travellers. Albena Shkodrova looks at the beloved comfort food as served in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and the former Yugoslav republics—but not after tweaking the United States for its lack of creativity with minced meat. Cue Josh White while visualizing Chef Boyardee.
Photo by fotoosvanrobin via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Can You Dig It? Yes, Actually, You Can.
by Valerie Conners | 09.19.08 | 6:19 AM ET
Every kid with a sandbox, a shovel and a little imagination has pondered digging a hole to China. Now, with this nifty Google Map tunneling tool, you can discover where your hole would actually end. From my place in Philadelphia? I’d pop up off the coast of Australia. And if I actually want to dig a hole from China (specifically, Wuhan), I’d be sipping a fine Malbec in Argentina’s Mendoza region. Not bad.
