Travel Blog
Tony Horwitz on World Hum’s Top 30 Travel Books
by Rolf Potts | 08.04.06 | 4:12 PM ET
Back in May, World Hum’s Top 30 Travel Books of all time included Tony Horwitz’s Baghdad Without a Map, which occupied the number 26 slot. Curious about Horwitz’s take on the World Hum Top 30, I e-mailed him asking which travel books he might have included.
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Yahoo! BuzzSaudi Arabia Lifts Photo Ban for Tourists
by Michael Yessis | 08.04.06 | 3:44 PM ET
Napa Valley, California
by Ben Keene | 08.04.06 | 3:35 PM ET
Coordinates: 38 30 N 122 20 W
Area: 754 square miles (1,953 sq. km)
Bavarian beer baths are fine for some, but the more sophisticated may prefer a Chardonnay massage—a truly intoxicating way to de-stress. Popular among the Parisian upper class in the 18th century, the
long relaxing soak in a barrel of wine once thought to reduce the effects of aging has now become an exfoliating rub-down in the 21st. And California’s Napa Valley, famous for its Mediterranean climate and abundance of wineries (roughly 300), happens to be one of the few places where such a spirited spa treatment can be found. A narrow valley that stretches almost from Mount Saint Helena to San Pablo Bay, Napa Valley actually produces only about 5 percent of California’s total wine.
—.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is the editor of the Oxford Atlas of the World.
Japanese Theme Parks Offer an “Abridged Grand Tour For the Fast-Food Generation”
by Michael Yessis | 08.04.06 | 3:02 AM ET
One of the highlights of a trip I took to Japan a few years ago was a visit to Spa World, an eight-story resort located in the Shin-Sekai section of Osaka that aims to transport its visitors to far-off countries and continents and, sometimes, back through time via re-creations of spa and bathing experiences from around the globe. Like the smiling mechanical crabs I saw hanging on restaurant walls and the “Three Minutes Happiness” store I visited, I chalked it up as just another piece of Japanese kitsch. Earlier this week, though, the New York Times added some perspective with an interesting story about the country’s penchant for building meticulous theme-park re-creations of other countries, including the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. “These parks, some of which cost as much as $2.5 billion to build, are by and large a product of Japan’s ‘bubble economy’ of the 1980’s, a response to the newfound interest in travel that was spawned during this period of frenzied economic growth,” writes Katie Kitamura. “Many opened shortly after the 1990 crash of the Japanese economy.”
De-Politicizing the French Fry
by Terry Ward | 08.03.06 | 9:48 PM ET
Francophile that I am, I was glad to hear a short snippet on the NBC Nightly News yesterday evening mentioning a menu change on Capitol Hill. “Freedom fries” and “freedom toast”—so dubbed on congressional cafeteria menus when tensions rose between Washington and Paris during the looming invasion of Iraq in 2003—have quietly reverted to their original monikers, French fries and French toast. A USA Today blog noted that, back in 2003, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, angry about France’s anti-war position, “wielded his legislative authority over the House cafeterias and mandated a change of menu, which had been suggested by Republican colleague Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina.” The blog goes on to say that there are no official comments from the hill on the decision to re-Frenchify the names.
Tourists Reconsidering Trips to Mexico
by Jim Benning | 08.03.06 | 2:45 PM ET
The AP’s Mark Stevenson reports today that political protests and drug-related crime and violence are cutting into Mexico’s tourism economy in a big way. Although no tourists have been harmed in Mexico City, Acapulco or Oaxaca—three cities where protests or violence have recently occurred—more than a few visitors have nevertheless canceled trips. “In Mexico City alone, hotels, restaurants and stores are losing $23 million a day, according to the city’s Commerce, Services and Tourism Chamber,” Stevenson reports. The Mexico City protests stem from last month’s presidential election, of course—supporters of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have taken to the streets and plazas. The director of Mexico City tourism promotion told the AP: “If this goes on for a week or 10 days more, some hotels are going to be in a desperate situation.”
Photo by Jim Benning.
“Pagan Holiday,” “Lost Cosmonaut” in Boldtype
by Michael Yessis | 08.03.06 | 10:12 AM ET
Rory Stewart’s “The Prince of the Marshes”: Excerpts on Slate
by Michael Yessis | 08.02.06 | 8:04 AM ET
All this week Slate is featuring excerpts from Rory Stewart’s new book The Prince of the Marshes, which focuses on his experiences as the Governor of Maysan province in southern Iraq. Stewart is also the author of the acclaimed The Places in Between, a chronicle of his walk across Afghanistan in 2002.
In Cuba, ‘Fidel Has Always Felt Revulsion Toward Tourism’
by Michael Yessis | 08.02.06 | 6:40 AM ET
With word coming out of Cuba that Fidel Castro has temporarily handed his presidential powers to his brother Raul, American travelers who’ve long wanted to visit Cuba legally may be wondering whether that day is now on the horizon. It’s obviously too soon to say, but for now, they can find a terrific glimpse inside present-day Cuba in the July 24 issue of the New Yorker. The well-timed story by Jon Lee Anderson, written before the latest news story broke, focuses on how the rest of Fidel’s reign might play out.
Inside the Life of a Buenos Aires Tango “Taxi Dancer”
by Terry Ward | 08.01.06 | 5:13 PM ET
‘Paris Is Fabulous!’ Or What Not to Write on a Postcard Home.
by Jim Benning | 08.01.06 | 8:00 AM ET
Even in the age of e-mail, plenty of travelers send postcards home. But why do they inflict so many cliches and superlatives on people they care about? “We claim it’s simply to stay in touch, but brief introspection will lead us to the real motive—to demonstrate that our life is much better than our friends’ or family’s at this moment,” writes Patti Miller in the Sydney Morning Herald. “We have the opportunity, at least for a couple of weeks, to create an enviable life.” But if you are a traveler who wants to “earn the right to have your card posted on the fridge, writing-side up,” Miller has several good tips.
World Hum’s Most Read Stories: July 2006
by Michael Yessis | 08.01.06 | 6:42 AM ET
Our 10 most popular stories posted last month:
1) Anthony Bourdain in Beirut
2) The Crown Princess, The Norovirus and Titanic
3) Zidane and the Head Butt Debated Around the World
4) Anthony Bourdain Evacuated from Beirut
5) Bali’s Bargaining Ballet
6) The Sound of Sunshine
7) How to Find Good Gelato in Italy
8) Reading Rushdie in India
9) Vanuatu Tops “Happy Planet Index”
10) Thomas Pynchon: Travel Writer?
Baseball Stadium Wanderlust: Tapping Into the ‘Route 66 Mentality’
by Michael Yessis | 07.31.06 | 4:11 PM ET
Cass Sapir is in the midst of a road trip to watch baseball games in all 189 of North America’s major league and affiliated minor league stadiums. Alan Schwarz recently caught up with the 27-year-old documentary filmmaker and his 2002 Honda Accord at a game in Frederick, Maryland (stop No. 126), and his story in Sunday’s New York Times offers an interesting look not just at Sapir’s quest but the American tradition of the summer baseball road trip.
Travel Writing for Pleasure: The Joys of Keeping a Journal
by Michael Yessis | 07.31.06 | 2:38 PM ET
Deborah Burand wrote a short but sweet story for Transitions Abroad a few months back about keeping a travel journal. As far as I can tell, the magazine didn’t post it online but Utne has reprinted it in its July/August 2006 issue. “My first journal is housed in a small, pink, spiral-bound notebook, the kind you can buy in the corner drugstore,” she writes. “The pages are yellow and brittle with age. An entry from the first day of my family’s cross-country drive to California reads, ‘The loveliness of this morning is to me a good omen that we shall find beauty everywhere on our trip.’ I have to admit I am more than a little in love with the eager 12-year-old who wrote those words, trying on grown-up ideas the way she once tried on her mother’s petticoats and long dresses.”
The Hold Steady Pays Tribute to Kerouac’s “On the Road”
by Michael Yessis | 07.31.06 | 12:45 PM ET
The upcoming album from The Hold Steady will be called “Boys and Girls in America,” part of a line from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Lead singer Craig Finn told Billboard magazine, “The line goes, ‘Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together.’ Basically, the songs are about guys and girls, and love. It’s not a concept-type record like the last one—it’s more of a theme record.” The Hold Steady will likely be performing some of the new songs this weekend in Chicago at Lollapalooza. I’ll be there, and I’m looking forward to seeing the band for the first time. Via Syntax of Things.
