Travel Blog
Africa: Has the Continent Benefited from the ‘Awkward Embrace’ of Celebrities?
by Michael Yessis | 01.04.07 | 1:26 PM ET
When movie stars like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie travel to Africa, performing good deeds and drawing attention to the plight of the continent’s poorest, what does it really accomplish? Chris Tenove addresses the question in a terrific story in this month’s issue of The Walrus.“Why do celebrities campaign for Africa’s poor?” Tenove writes. “Self-promotion plays a role. In the competitive arena of stardom, you can’t afford to stand aside while your peers burnish their halos before the camera’s adoring gaze. It’s not as if celebrities need to go looking for causes, however. Causes come looking for them. Non-governmental organizations compete for publicity, government contracts, and charity dollars, and a celebrity endorsement can mean as much to an aid organization as it does to a sportswear manufacturer. But a more profound motivation lies at the heart of celebrity involvement.” Tenove’s story traces the phenomenon of celebrity involvement in Africa back to a 1984 BBC news report seen by the then little-known rock star, Bob Geldof.
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Yahoo! BuzzWar Tourism Comes to El Salvador
by Jim Benning | 01.04.07 | 11:54 AM ET
Nearly every country has to have a little war tourism, right? The U.S. has Gettysburg. Cambodia has the Killing Fields. Now El Salvador wants in on the action. According to the AP, the country is making the most of its 12-year civil war, which ended in 1992 and left 75,000 dead. “For a fee, former guerrillas will take visitors on tours of former battlefields or mountain hideouts, while museums display war memorabilia,” a story reports. Among the top destinations is Perquin, a mountain town where FMLN guerillas once established their headquarters. Visitors can stroll the “Museum of the Revolution,” which features uniforms and what remains of Soviet weapons. El Salvador is apparently the first Central American country to build a tourism business around its civil war history. What’s the hold up, Nicaragua?
New Rallying Cry in Boston: The Japanese Are Coming!
by Michael Yessis | 01.04.07 | 8:18 AM ET
Los Angeles leveraged former Dodgers’ pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii‘s popularity to help lure Japanese tourists to town. Seattle and New York rely on the Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki and the Yankees’ Hideki Matsui respectively for the same thing. And now Boston is looking to cash in on the latest Japanese baseball superstar to come play in the U.S., Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. William MacDougall, CEO of Tourism Massachusetts, “expects Massachusetts this year will win at least 20,000 extra visitors from Japan, worth an additional $75 million in economic impact,” according to a USA Today story by Barbara De Lollis. “The new Japan connection could even help the city win non-stop air service between Boston and Japan.” After his performance in last year’s World Baseball Classic, we knew Matsuzaka was good. We just didn’t know he was winning non-stop international air service good. Impressive.
Driving Afghanistan’s Ring Road
by Jim Benning | 01.03.07 | 5:12 PM ET
Further evidence that some of the most compelling newspaper travel stories don’t appear in the travel section: Paul Watson’s front page account in the Los Angeles Times last week of his seven-day drive along Afghanistan’s Ring Road. “On the way,” he writes, “we managed to avoid a Taliban ambush, a potential kidnapper or highway robber, a suicide bomber and a gunman who fired close enough to take off one of our heads.”
National Geographic Adventure’s Top 2007 Destinations
by Jim Benning | 01.03.07 | 1:54 PM ET
Where to go this year? The world is wide open, but some countries seem particularly good choices now. For the December 2006/January 2007 issue of National Geographic Adventure, I worked with editors on a list of six countries offering compelling reasons to visit soon. Among them: China (now’s a great time to check out the new train to Lhasa); Morocco (for a major splurge before a visit to the High Atlas Mountains, spend a night at the historic, Winston Churchill-approved La Mamounia hotel in Marrakech, due to reopen this year after a renovation); and Brazil (TAM airlines is now flying nonstop between Miami and Manaus, making a visit to the Amazon easier than ever). To further stoke some wanderlust and inspire, the magazine celebrates the feats of a number of travelers, including the “new Magellans,” Colin Angus and Julie Wafael, who recently circumnavigated the globe by walking, cycling, skiing and, yes, rowing.
Rick Moody on Iceland’s ‘Garden of Eden’
by Michael Yessis | 01.03.07 | 9:25 AM ET
In Defense of Caribbean Tourism
by Michael Yessis | 01.03.07 | 8:20 AM ET
Few regions of the world are as dependent on tourism as the Caribbean. “Nonetheless, the literature on Caribbean tourism is surprisingly critical,” writes Orlando Patterson in an interesting opinion column in the New York Times. “Foreign anthropologists complain about the ‘tourist gaze’ and the distortion of local cultures; local chauvinists declaim that ‘tourism is whorism.’” Patterson, a professor of sociology at Harvard, calls these charges “largely puerile.” Tourism, he suggests, “enhances residents’ awareness of indigenous cultures, and it supports large numbers of entertainers.”
New Travel Warnings for Thailand
by Jim Benning | 01.02.07 | 3:03 PM ET
A slew of countries have issued travel advisories for Thailand after bombs exploded in Bangkok New Year’s Eve, killing three people and injuring dozens of others, including tourists. World Hum contributor Newley Purnell is in Bangkok and has been writing about the bombings on his blog. “The mood is calm in Bangkok today,” he reported yesterday.
Photo by Jim Benning.
Iyer and Theroux: Two Very Different Perspectives on the Op-Ed Pages
by Jim Benning | 01.02.07 | 1:54 PM ET
Kerouac’s Northport Years: ‘Hey Jack, Does This Mean You’re Back On the Road?’
by Michael Yessis | 01.02.07 | 7:54 AM ET
Colin Thubron Awarded Commander of the British Empire
by Michael Yessis | 01.02.07 | 7:42 AM ET
Colin Thubron, whose Behind the Wall finished at No. 23 in our countdown of the top 30 travel books of all time, has been awarded the Commander of the British Empire. Others gaining recognition from the British government include writer Alexander McCall Smith and singer Rod Stewart.
Related on World Hum:
* Colin Thubron and the ‘Shadow of the Silk Road’
* Bill Bryson Becomes Made Man in Britain
The Year in World Hum: A Look Back at 2006
by Michael Yessis | 12.29.06 | 7:45 AM ET
A well-traveled and growing community of readers. Loads of engaging travel stories. A much-appreciated pat on the back. It’s been another terrific year at World Hum, and 2007 promises to bring more great dispatches from around the globe. For our last weblog post of the year, though, we’re taking a look back. Here are the most popular posts—weblogs, stories, interviews, anything—for each month of 2006. Happy reading, and Happy New Year!
January: The Art of Writing a Story About Walking Across Andorra
February: Truth in Oxiana
March: Conan O’Brien: ‘Hasselhoff is Big in Germany, But I’m the King of Finland’
April: Freedom of the Seas: The New Biggest Cruise Ship
May: Report: Passenger on Virgin Atlantic Flight Had Ebola Virus
June: World Hum’s Top 30 Travel Books
July: Anthony Bourdain in Beirut
August: Around the Globe with No Clothes On
September: Oprah Takes a Road Trip, Pumps Gas For First Time Since 1983
October: Oprah Winfrey, Amanda Congdon and the New Golden Age of the Cross-Country Road Trip
November: USA Today’s Seven New Wonders of the World
December: Pico Iyer: On Travel and Travel Writing
Photo: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino’s flickr photostream. Creative commons.
Three Travel Books Crack Entertainment Weekly’s Nonfiction Books of the Year List
by Michael Yessis | 12.27.06 | 7:40 AM ET
R.I.P. James Brown
by Jim Benning | 12.26.06 | 5:14 PM ET
In honor of the Godfather of Soul, who died yesterday, we ventured deep into the World Hum archives and dusted off Anthem Soul, Rolf Potts’s dispatch about his encounter with “Sex Machine,” “Popcorn” and other Brown songs in a Syrian hotel. In its own modest, travel-centered way, we submit, it’s a fine little superbad tribute to Brown.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Paris and ‘The Places in Between’
by Michael Yessis | 12.22.06 | 8:02 AM ET
It’s a week of classics—and perhaps emerging classics—here at the Zeitgeist. This week, we travelers are showing our love for Paris, Irish pubs, the Hawaiian islands, the wonders of the world and Rory Stewart’s walk across war-torn Afghanistan.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Paris: 36 Hours
Most Viewed Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Belgium has a ‘War of the Worlds’ Moment
Most Popular Travel Podcast
PodcastAlley (December)
808Talk: Hawaii’s Premier Podcast
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
* The New York Times selected it as one of the top-10 books of 2006, and it’s back on top after Bill Bryson’s nine-week reign.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (current)
SeatGuru
Most Viewed Story
World Hum (this week)
How to Down a Pint in a Real Irish Pub
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Most Dugg “Travel” Story
Digg (current)
The World’s Top 100 Wonders: How Many Have You Seen?
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (current)
How to Complain Effectively
* Solid advice for holiday travelers.
Most Read Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Storm Snarls Holiday Travel
The Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” Button Travel Zeitgeist Search
And for those who, like me, will be driving for the holidays this weekend, here’s how to survive a blizzard. Safe travels and happy holidays.
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