Travel Blog
Thomas Swick’s Updated Guide to Phrases for Visitors
by Jim Benning | 07.05.05 | 2:09 PM ET
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Yahoo! Buzz“Shab bekheir, buenas noches and good night”
by Michael Yessis | 07.05.05 | 9:30 AM ET
Fossett Flies (and Lands) Again
by Michael Yessis | 07.04.05 | 10:22 PM ET
“Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare” on Book TV
by Jim Benning | 07.01.05 | 10:22 AM ET
Back to the Blog, Starting with the New Yorker and Poppa Neutrino
by Jim Benning | 06.30.05 | 1:48 PM ET
After a couple of nearly blog-free months working on the new site, we can finally take a deep breath—whew!—and get back to what we like to do best: writing about travel and travel lit. The New Yorker is always a good place to start. After making a big splash with its travel issue earlier this year, particular the profile of Lonely Planet founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the magazine has included several solid travel-related stories in its recent issues.
Write for World Hum
by Jim Benning | 06.29.05 | 6:57 PM ET
We have temporarily suspended our acceptance of new submissions and pitches. If you’ve already sent a story our way for consideration, please do not follow up. We are currently reading all previous submissions, and will respond as soon as possible.
We will renew our call for new stories before the end of 2008.
The Editors,
Jim and Mike
Rick Steves on ‘60 Minutes’
by Jim Benning | 05.24.05 | 10:55 PM ET
Our apologies for the dearth of weblog updates. We’re busy working on the next generation of World Hum. But we had to note that Rick Steves, Europe travel guru to the PBS-viewing masses, will be featured on CBS’ “60 Minutes” tomorrow night—Wednesday, May 25—at 8 p.m., 7 p.m. Central. According to a press release from Steves’ company, a CBS crew taped footage at Steves’ offices in Washington state, as well as on the road in Europe. There was no mention of Steves on the show’s Web page Tuesday.
Chernobyl. It’s the Latest Word in Adventure Travel.
by Michael Yessis | 05.13.05 | 10:15 PM ET
The flora and fauna in an area the size of Rhode Island are still radioactive, and the soil is still contaminated five inches deep, but that’s not keeping tourists from visiting the site of the world’s largest nuclear disaster. We think they’re a bit nuts. However, according to Mary Mycio’s story this weekend in the Los Angeles Times, some visitors think they’ve hit on the next great form of adventure travel. “The very knowledge of the buzzing background of radiation imbues even the prosaic act of walking down the street with an aura of excitement,” she writes. “It isn’t the same adrenalin punch as bungee jumping in the Andes, but it is a palpable sensation—like being surrounded by ghosts.” The Times’ editors, by the way, top this piece with a hall-of-fame headline: “Chernobyl Gets Glowing Reviews.”
Dave Eggers on Fiction and Travel and Climbing Kilimanjaro
by Jim Benning | 05.05.05 | 10:54 PM ET
Thomas Friedman on Book TV
by Jim Benning | 04.29.05 | 10:53 PM ET
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is framing the way many Americans view globalization, and you don’t have to agree with him to find his ideas intriguing. At noon E.S.T. Sunday, he’ll be featured in a three-hour “In Depth” segment on C-SPAN’s Book TV.
When You’ve Launched a Guidebook Company Celebrating Bohemian Charm, Should You Fly Business Class?
by Jim Benning | 04.29.05 | 10:47 PM ET
We recently noted here that the New Yorker’s travel-themed issue included a profile of Lonely Planet and its founders, Tony and Maureen Wheeler. That article has turned out to be one of the most provocative stories about world travel and travel publishing in years, prompting conversations among travelers around the globe. Among the most discussed elements of the story: the fact that the Wheelers often fly business class and shacked up in a $400-a-night room on a recent visit to Oman; that when a child beggar in Oman gave Maureen the bird, she responded in kind; and Maureen’s remark that Lonely Planet doesn’t seem as real to her as it once did.
Planet Theme Park: “Disneyland on the Ganges”
by Michael Yessis | 04.29.05 | 10:45 PM ET
Bye-bye Mickey, Minnie and Donald. Welcome Ram, Hanuman and Krishna! The latter trio will be the central attractions at Gangadham, the world’s first Hindu theme park. The BBC reports that the 25-acre theme park will open in 2007 on the banks of the Ganges, in the north Indian pilgrimage town of Haridwar. “If the project takes off, it will move on to an international level,” writes Kathleen McCaul. “The plan is to open parks in Trinidad, Bali, Fiji and Thailand - and perhaps even Orlando, Los Angeles and London.”
The Flight of the 800-Passenger Gorilla
by Jim Benning | 04.28.05 | 10:44 PM ET
Don George, the Audio Interview
by Jim Benning | 04.27.05 | 10:41 PM ET
The Battle for American Values Cruise (No Liberals, New York Times Readers or Loofahs, Please!)
by Michael Yessis | 04.25.05 | 10:38 PM ET
Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly recently announced that he’ll be the featured special guest on a Battle for American Values Caribbean Cruise aboard Holland America’s Westerdam November 13-20. I will not be sailing with O’Reilly—his American values aren’t my American values—but you can for only $1,099. Too much money? Don’t worry. According to the brochure, the trip is “tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.”
