Travel Blog
Rolf Potts, Don George on “Talk of the Nation” *
by Jim Benning | 11.28.05 | 1:17 PM ET
They’re appearing on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation today to discuss LP’s new travel anthology, By the Seat of My Pants: Humorous Tales of Travel and Misadventure. Audio will be available on NPR’s site later today.
* Update: Rolf just wrote to say he was bumped at the last minute so that Simon Winchester could appear. That’s show biz.
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Yahoo! BuzzForget “Finger Lickin’ Good.” How about “Eat Your Fingers Off”?
by Jim Benning | 11.28.05 | 12:51 PM ET
Doug Lansky ruminates on bad translations in Sunday’s Kansas City Star, pointing out a few fine examples in a world where between 350 million and 1 billion people now speak English as a second language. Among others, he cites KFC’s slogan “Finger Lickin’ Good,” which was mangled in China to become, “Eat Your Fingers Off!” Writes Lansky: “Even in a country where some people regularly eat dog meat, snake blood, scorpions and grasshoppers, this was rather unappetizing.”
Attack of the Bedbugs!
by Jim Benning | 11.28.05 | 12:36 PM ET
Bedbugs are “spreading through New York like a swarm of locusts on a lush field of wheat,” according to Sunday’s New York Times, and one exterminator told the paper, “Some of the best hotels in New York have them.” The rise of affordable global travel, among other factors, is being blamed for the pests’ resurgence.
Graham Defends “Suicide Tourism”
by Michael Yessis | 11.28.05 | 8:33 AM ET
Earlier this month, Roger Graham shut down his Web site promoting Cambodia as a great place to commit suicide in an effort to avoid a confrontation with local authorities. That didn’t happen. According to a Reuters report, the provincial governor of Kampot has filed a lawsuit against Graham, accusing him of defaming the province.
Travel-Themed Theater: It’s a Trend
by Michael Yessis | 11.28.05 | 5:29 AM ET
Earlier this year we wrote about Plane Crazy and Baby Taj, and now a third travel-themed play has come to our attention: The Light in the Piazza. According to that flimsy journalism maxim that two examples is a coincidence but three makes a trend, we’ve got ourselves a winner.
On the Road to Chapel Hill, Off the Road Through Chile
by Michael Yessis | 11.27.05 | 11:12 PM ET
The Sunday travel sections feature a couple of fun road trip stories. In the Washington Post, Ben Brazil chronicles a drive through three music-obsessed college towns in the Southeastern U.S.: Athens, Georgia; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
We’re Back, and So is Tor Martin Johansen
by Michael Yessis | 11.27.05 | 9:43 PM ET
The 21-year-old Norwegian’s unlikely tale takes our prize for the oddest travel story to emerge during our brief Thanksgiving break. According to an Associated Press report, Johansen dozed off on a short flight from the central Norway city of Trondheim to his hometown of Namsos via Roervik. When he woke up, he was back in Trondheim.
Thanksgiving: When “Travel” Becomes a Bad Word
by Jim Benning | 11.23.05 | 12:52 PM ET
‘Tis the holiday here in the U.S. when the media regale us with travel horror stories as roughly 37 million Americans hit the road and nearly 22 million catch a flight. For its part, the Los Angeles Times published a column today in which the writer takes on the role of a creepy pilot. If you need a pick-me-up, USA Today columnist Joe Brancatelli shares a tale of one frustrated traveler who was bumped from a flight due to overbooking during the holidays—and then took the airline to court and won. We’ll be taking the next few days off. Back Monday.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Your Host for Carnival in Rio
by Jim Benning | 11.23.05 | 12:32 PM ET
Because we’re in California, we’re constantly coming across amusing items about our governor. In the latest, LA.Com has posted an old video of a younger Schwarzenegger in Brazil, narrating a travel show of sorts, and proclaiming his appreciation for Rio, as well as the butts on its women.
Melbourne Man Jailed in Frequent Flyer Scam
by Michael Yessis | 11.23.05 | 10:15 AM ET
Austin Perrott took advantage of computer system irregularities to amass 17.6 million frequent flyer miles on nine different airlines. Today he was sentenced to six years in jail.
“Japanland” Author Karin Muller’s Top Travel Books
by Jim Benning | 11.22.05 | 11:56 PM ET
We often publish lists of writers’ favorite travel books when we interview them or review one of their books. So when Terry Ward reviewed Karin Muller’s “Japanland” recently, she tried to track down Muller to get her picks. Muller was out of reach, though, and we published the review without them. Then yesterday, Ward received an e-mail from Muller: “I’m so sorry for having been out of touch all these weeks….I know that in our modern age it’s hard to find a place that can’t get email, but the Mekong river in Cambodia apparently qualifies.” Apparently so. Of course, that sounded like a perfect excuse to us. Muller graciously included her three favorite books, and now her list, along with brief explanations, can be found with Ward’s review.
Get Your End of the World T-Shirts!
by Frank Bures | 11.22.05 | 10:48 PM ET
We already knew about the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, a kind of Disneyland dedicated to providing a glimpse of what life was like during the time of Jesus Christ. And this month Esquire reports on the new Creation Museum in Hebron, Kentucky, where visitors can see dinosaurs like those Adam and Eve rode around on. Now, in December’s Vanity Fair (the story is unavailable online), Craig Unger reports on a huge trend in travel: Evangelical tourism.
Global Exchange’s 2006 “Reality Tours”
by Jim Benning | 11.22.05 | 2:46 PM ET
Back in 2001, when World Hum wasn’t yet a year old, we published a story by Jeff Spurrier about the eye-opening “reality tour” he took of Tijuana, Mexico with a San Francisco non-profit called Global Exchange. It sounded like a great experience, and I’ve been following the travel offerings from the human rights organization ever since.
Mark Twain: Travel Writer
by Jim Benning | 11.22.05 | 1:50 PM ET
Mark Twain the travel writer seems to be a relatively hot commodity these days. National Geographic Society has published a new edition of “Following the Equator,” Twain’s reflection on his 1895-1896 around-the-world trip. And The Lyon’s Press just released Mark Twain on Travel, a collection of some of Twain’s travel writing.
Smokers, How Far Will You Go to Smoke That Cigarette?
by Jim Benning | 11.22.05 | 12:57 PM ET
Hopefully not as far as a French woman did recently. The woman confessed in an Australian court that she “drunkenly tried to open an airplane door mid-flight to smoke a cigarette,” the AP reports. Yikes. Fortunately, a flight attendant stopped her before she was able to do any damage.
