Travel Blog
Photographers Focus on the 50 States
by Jenna Schnuer | 03.10.09 | 4:33 PM ET
The Works Progress Administration did it. Musician Sufjan Stevens has done a bit of it. Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey got a whole bunch of people to do it. And, um, Sophia and I are deep into our own version of it.
The it in question? Exploring, one by one, what makes each of the 50 states unique—and looking for the threads that tie them together. Now it’s time to add another to the list: The 50 States Project. Every other month, 50 photos—one from each state—will be posted on the site. Flyover America checked in with Stuart Pilkington, the U.K.-based (we’ll get to that) creator and curator of the project to find out what it’s all about.
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Yahoo! BuzzHollywood Heads to Bollywood
by Eva Holland | 03.10.09 | 3:12 PM ET
Turns out, it really is a small world after all. Kylie Minogue has wrapped up filming for an upcoming Bollywood flick, “Blue,” making her one of the first big-name Western stars to land on a Mumbai sound stage. “I don’t feel that I’m necessarily at the forefront of a Hollywood-Bollywood crossover because I don’t consider myself Hollywood,” Minogue told the Telegraph. “But I do think this could be the start of something. The fact that I’m here shows it could be the start of something.”
Early signs suggest she’s right—Sylvester Stallone is set to do the Bollywood thing later this year. And—rumor has it!—Arnold Schwarzenegger will be joining him. Could the Bolly/Hollywood fusion become another wonder of our shrinking planet?
I’m all for it.
What (Not) to Wear on a Road Trip
by Jenna Schnuer | 03.10.09 | 1:58 PM ET
The sponsored email from W invited me to take an “Americana Road Trip.” Who could resist?
The result of one click: beautiful photography; fantastic car. But I think anybody who puts this fashion fantasy into practice would just be asking for trouble (and a really big dry-cleaning bill). Seriously: stilettos do not do well on gravely dusty parking lots. Road trips = denim + T-shirts + sneakers.
The Low-Cost Carrier Craze, by the Numbers
by Eva Holland | 03.10.09 | 11:02 AM ET
Ah, the low-cost carrier: love the concept or hate it, you’ve got to admit it’s brought the sky within closer reach for millions of budget-conscious travelers. (Like AirAsia says, “Now everyone can fly.”) LCCs have been with us for 60 years now, but most folks associate them with the explosion of new (often European) carriers in the ‘90s. With the phenomenon still showing no sign of abating, even in these troubled times for the airline industry, the Independent’s Simon Calder has a fun by-the-numbers breakdown for your inner stats geek. My favorite number of the bunch? 120—“The distance, in kilometres, from the centre of Frankfurt to Hahn airport, which Ryanair and IATA describe as ‘Frankfurt’.”
The Rise of Best Western Civilization
by Alexander Basek | 03.10.09 | 11:00 AM ET
The budget hotel chain with the best street cred—well, at least until Motel 6 finishes their system-wide renovations and ditches the Magic Fingers beds—is having a special limited-time sale each day this week. The names of the discounted properties are posted at noon eastern and remain on sale for a couple hours each day. And even if it’s not on sale, you could always stay at the fabulous Best Western in the Hollywood Hills for about $160 a night, one of L.A.‘s secretly good hotels. An added bonus: no fishtank models in the lobby!
Who Says Texas Has No Seasons?
by Sophia Dembling | 03.10.09 | 9:00 AM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling In my previous, non-flyover life in New York City, the first signs of spring were when the forsythia bloomed in Central Park and a ripe and not-unpleasant scent started wafting through my neighborhood from off the Hudson River.
One complaint I’ve heard many times about my current home state, Texas, is that it has no change of seasons. Balderdash. Texas has all four seasons, but they are more subtle than in Northern states.
Morning Links: Bowie’s Clown Suit, Cute Penguin Overload and More
by Valerie Conners | 03.10.09 | 8:54 AM ET
- Take a gander at Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” clown suit, or Jarvis Cocker’s glasses at London’s new British Music Experience, documenting 60 years of Brit pop and rock.
- West Virginia’s governor makes it his mission to save the state’s image, and let you know W.V.‘s got more to offer tourists than the Road Kill Cook-Off.
- Intelligent Travel offers a Q&A with Chris Way, cofounder of Reality Tours and Travel, a company specializing in slum tourism in India.
- One woman is dead and six others are missing after a tourist boat capsizes off Thailand’s Similan Islands.
- Take a listen to Nine Road Trip Songs You Never Heard Before—a catchy mix of Asian travel songs. (via nerdseyeview)
- World Hum blogger Alexander Basek visits Nashville and returns full of excellent tips on where to hear live music and ... Goo-Goo Clusters.
- I’m getting a serious case of cute overload as Andrew Evans reveals the best places to see penguins.
Purple, Pasty and Protected: Poi
by Pam Mandel | 03.09.09 | 2:45 PM ET
I headed to Hawaii intending to learn to like poi, but I never did acquire much of a taste for it, finding the texture too much like that of a mushy apple. I don’t mind the flavor, it’s not like I’m offended by it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat it. When I mentioned to a host at dinner—she was an immigrant to Hawaii— that I was determined to master the purple paste, she gave me this advice: “Don’t bother. It’s like oatmeal or grits or any other staple food—if you didn’t grow up with it, it’s never going to taste that great.” I’m guessing she’d done some time herself trying to master this essential part of the traditional Hawaiian diet.
Poi is in the news. More accurately taro is the news-maker, or kalo—that’s the Hawaiian name for the crop and it’s what poi is made from—because of Native Hawaiian efforts to protect the plant from genetic modification.
The Bulimic Duck
by David Farley | 03.09.09 | 2:00 PM ET
The Fat Duck, located just outside of London, is one of the world’s most renowned restaurants. The chef and owner, Heston Blumenthal, has concocted a menu that revolves around molecular gastronomy. Imagine nitro-scrambled bacon and egg ice cream, Douglas fir puree and oyster passion fruit jelly, and you’ll get the idea.
For the unadventurous eater, those might sound like heave-inducing taste combinations, but that might not be the only reason for a good post-meal puking at the Fat Duck. In the last month, hundreds of eaters have followed their meals at this esteemed eatery with projectile vomiting and diarrhea, which is never a good sign if you’re a chef. As a result, Blumenthal has closed the restaurant until investigators can figure out what’s going on. So far, they haven’t found anything, only one expert has suspected something called “winter vomiting disease,” a reaction similar to the contagion of yawning, but this time its with ... well, vomiting.
Shanghai Barbie: Tourist Magnet?
by Julia Ross | 03.09.09 | 1:20 PM ET
Every time I visit Chicago, I’m amazed at how the city’s American Girl flagship store continues to draw moms and daughters from across the Midwest; I never fail to see them marching up Michigan Avenue, giant American Girl shopping bags in hand. Hotels in the area have lapped up the phenomenon, offering packages with kitschy extras like “one exclusive American Girl bed for your little doll to keep for future slumber parties” and a “free in-room movie showing of Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front.” Apart from the boost to tourism, the trend is a masterful case study in 360-degree branding.
Now I’m wondering if Shanghai is courting a similar fate with last Saturday’s opening of China’s first Barbie flagship store. The store, which includes 900 different kinds of Barbie dolls, a spa, a bar and a line of Barbie-themed clothing for adults, could well become a tourist mecca for Chinese girls and their mothers, who weren’t able to get their hands on the doll in their (pre-economic boom) childhood years. If the store is a success—and I have a sneaking feeling it will be—we’ll see how long it takes nearby hotels, vendors and restaurants to co-opt a little Barbie magic. The gravity-defying doll hasn’t survived 50 years for nothing, after all.
For full Shanghai Barbie immersion, check out this Yahoo slideshow of the mega-store. It’s certainly in keeping with the brand’s image: six storeys, all glowing pink.
‘Le Sandwich’ on the Rise in Paris
by Eva Holland | 03.09.09 | 12:45 PM ET
Good news for Paris-bound travelers on a budget: tough times mean the lowly sandwich—never a French staple—is becoming more and more readily available. Writes This Just In’s Meg Zimbeck: “The French are finding it increasingly difficult to justify the time and expense of a sit-down lunch. Restaurant groups say that the sit-down trade has plummeted by about 20 percent, while ‘le sandwich ne connait pas la crise’—the sandwich knows no crisis.” The blog post includes a list of tasty (pear-walnut-Roquefort sandwich, anyone?) and affordable bakeries where you can get your budget lunching started.
Remembering the Concorde
by Rob Verger | 03.09.09 | 12:01 PM ET
Last week marked the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the Concorde. The plane, the only supersonic commercial aircraft, was in service between 1976 and 2003. In 2000, the fiery crash of an Air France Concorde claimed 113 lives.
I saw a Concorde for the fist time this weekend, on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. Inside the plane, I was struck by the narrow, claustrophobic cabin in the pencil-thin fuselage, the tiny windows and tightly packed rows of seats. Outside, I loved seeing the cool sweep of its delta wings and its stunningly narrow nose.
Rajasthan Gets Zipped
by Julia Ross | 03.09.09 | 11:00 AM ET
Move over Costa Rica, India is onto your game. The Neemrana Fort Palace hotel in Rajasthan now offers the country’s first zip line tour, which allows tourists to zip to five platforms and listen to local guides expound on the history of the forts and palaces below.
I suppose it’s a new twist on a long-running tourist money-spinner, though I doubt the history lectures are the main draw. More important, is the concept appropriate to the setting? This Guardian reviewer, who found the experience “fresh,” claims the environmental impact is minimal. It’s one thing to zip through jungles looking for howler monkeys; in this case, I think I’d prefer to explore the area by foot.
Hot Sheets!
by Alexander Basek | 03.09.09 | 10:19 AM ET
Linen reuse programs in hotels: are they helping the earth or just passing the burden onto the guests? Those little cards appeal to a sense of environmental guilt and ask guests to conserve by keeping hotels and sheets a second or third day, but Jill Hunter Pellettieri suggests that hotels view these programs in terms of reduced energy and water costs alone. The nerve! It’s not surprising the businesses would act business-y, but it galls nonetheless.
I expect fresh sheets every day, especially at a higher-end stay. (At some pensions, you might not get them even if you want them). A bed with fresh sheets every day is a luxury, and, well, that’s something that’s nice to have at a luxury hotel.
As for the hotels getting greener, weatherproofing the windows or using recycled materials is a lot better for the environment than a tsk-tsk note asking to leave the sheets for days on end. Go down that road, and a Ryanair-operated chain of hotels where you have to bring your own sheets could be close behind.
Travel Movie Watch: Pixar Takes to the Sky
by Eva Holland | 03.09.09 | 9:11 AM ET
The animation giant has dabbled with travel before—“Cars” landed on our list of great travel race movies not so long ago—and now, its latest offering looks set to take viewers on the road (or in this case, into the air) again. Up is due out in May, and follows the adventures of a grumpy old man who turns his house into a flying machine and takes off to see the world, accidentally bringing a Boy Scout in tow. Unlikely premise? Well, sure. That’s why it’s a cartoon. But I’ll bet Pixar has some fresh and fun things to say about adventure and the life-altering power of a great journey. The trailer is below.
