Travel Blog
It’s the Caribbean Cruise Anna Nicole Smith Tabloid Shore Excursion!
by Jim Benning | 04.11.07 | 8:02 AM ET
It sounds twisted, we know. And to be fair, we haven’t heard about a cruise ship officially offering such an excursion—yet. But according to a TV news report, many of the gawkers outside the Bahamas courthouse where Larry Birkhead declared his odd sort of paternity victory Tuesday were cruise ship passengers who decided the spectacle should be a part of their vacation. If that’s true, it wouldn’t be the first time tourists had taken a creepy interest in the tabloid story unfolding in the Bahamas.
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Yahoo! BuzzRichard Holbrooke on Travel: ‘I Think the Ugly American as a Tourist Cliché is Overblown’
by Michael Yessis | 04.11.07 | 7:16 AM ET
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke sat for a Q&A with Dorinda Elliott in the April issue of Conde Nast Traveler, talking about his own travels and the importance of travel in understanding the world. His favorite trip? “The next one is always the best,” he says. That’s our kind of traveler.
2007 Webby Awards Nominees Announced
by Michael Yessis | 04.11.07 | 6:53 AM ET
The same day Slate’s Tim Wu took some shots at Wikitravel—and we had a few things to say about Wu’s story—the user-driven site received a nomination for a 2007 Webby Award in the Travel category. Another user-driven site, TripAdvisor, picked up a nomination, as did booking sites Kayak and Expedia. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum’s Gods of Chinatown site rounded out the top five. Rob Corddry will again host the awards ceremony, which takes place June 5 in New York City.
A Wikitraveler Goes to Thailand
by Michael Yessis | 04.10.07 | 4:44 PM ET
What’s it like to leave Lonely Planet at home and travel to Thailand guided only by resources on the Internet? It’s an interesting question, but the resulting Slate story by Tim Wu, unfortunately, poses more questions than it answers. “The Internet has long been terrible for travelers—full of sham sites designed to lure visitors to selected hotels, or, in Thailand’s case, go-go bars,” he writes. The Internet has long been terrible for travelers? Huh?
Deadly Dengue on the Rise in Mexico
by Jim Benning | 04.10.07 | 11:45 AM ET
Mexican officials are concerned about an alarming rise in dengue fever—cases have risen 600 percent in the country since 2001—and they recently dispatched teams to coastal resorts to spray pesticides and clear pockets of standing water where mosquitoes multiply. It’s “one of the primordial public health problems the country faces,” one Mexican health official told the AP.
The New Yorker ‘Journeys’ Issue: Extreme Commuters, the Beijing-Lhasa Train and More
by Michael Yessis | 04.10.07 | 7:40 AM ET
Another New Yorker ‘Journeys’ issue, another page turner. It includes a What are they thinking? piece on commuters who travel several hours a day each way for work, a lengthy examination of the impact the Beijing-Lhasa train might have on Tibet and a terrific Orhan Pamuk essay about his first passport. “[A] passport is not a document that tells us who we are,” he writes. “but a document that shows what other people think of us.”
Voters Approve Tax Hike to Fund New Mexico Spaceport
by Michael Yessis | 04.10.07 | 6:19 AM ET
Odorless Durian? That Stinks.
by Jim Benning | 04.09.07 | 5:14 PM ET
The first time a Singaporean friend insisted I try durian, that notoriously stinky Southeast Asian fruit, I feared the worst. I’d heard fellow travelers’ horror stories and read all about how the fruit had been banned in hotels and on Singaporean trains. My friend shrugged all that off and carefully selected one of the spiky fruits at a giant outdoor stall near his home, eliminating the need to smuggle it onto a train. Yes, it smelled like sweaty feet. But when we sliced it open and dug in, I enjoyed my first bites, savoring its sweet flavor and buttercream consistency. Then, after a few more bites, I started to feel a little ill, overwhelmed by the rich, nutty flavor and odor. So I’m not a big fan of durian.
Passenger on Northwest Pilot: ‘He Was Having a Fit, Swearing Up a Storm’
by Michael Yessis | 04.09.07 | 5:57 AM ET
And thus Flight 1190 from Las Vegas to Detroit this weekend was cancelled, delaying many Easter travelers. Another drunken pilot? The AP reports the serial swearer was not given a field sobriety test, but the FAA is looking into the incident.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Viva Video and Las Vegas
by Michael Yessis | 04.06.07 | 9:35 AM ET
Lots to see in the Zeitgeist this week. Travelers are taking a long look at racing in Las Vegas, sinking ships in Greece, dancing in China and Lonely Planet’s new video channel.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Bright Lights & Formula One Engines Rule in Las Vegas
* Two reasons for a look: Pulitzer winner Dan Neil wrote it, and there’s video.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Greek Cruise Ship Sinks After Rescue
* The AP has the video.
Most Watched Video
LonelyPlanet.tv (current)
miniclips
* Lonely Planet debuted its travel video channel this week.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
India’s ‘Spiritual Backbone’: Two End-to-End Explorations Down the Ganges River
* The last of Morning Edition’s five-part series runs today.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
A Little Italy on Board
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Most Popular Travel Podcast
iTunes (current)
Travel With Rick Steves
* This week Steves covers the pilgrimage on El Camino de Santiago in Spain and tourism in Iran.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
If Apple Designed A Private Jet
* It would, of course, be called the iJet.
Google ‘My Maps’ Debuts With Oral History of Route 66
by Michael Yessis | 04.06.07 | 7:44 AM ET
Another great story-telling tool, another great travel story told. My Maps, a new feature of Google Maps, debuted this week. Early entries include Jay Crim and Shekar Davarya’s interactive oral history of Route 66. It’s yet another step toward a multimedia “On the Road.” Via Gridskipper.
Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina
by Ben Keene | 04.06.07 | 7:16 AM ET
U.S. Newspapers to Canada: We’re Outta Here
by Jim Benning | 04.05.07 | 4:12 PM ET
Incredibly, reports the Toronto Star: “When The Washington Post closes its Toronto bureau this summer, it will mark the death of the American newspaper correspondent in Canada.” Wire services and freelancers will have to take up the slack. Which prompted a scholar at the Poynter Institute to remark, “Any American editor who finds Canadians boring has his or her head up their ice.” (Via Romenesko.)
Photo by dmealiffe, via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Life’s a Beach in Mexico City
by Jim Benning | 04.05.07 | 2:33 PM ET
Sort of. Mexico’s landlocked capital now boasts a $200,000 fake beach, complete with real beach sand and palm trees. The inspiration? Not a real beach, but a faux beach that opened in Paris in 2001.
The Critics: ‘Killing Che: A Novel’
by Jim Benning | 04.05.07 | 1:04 PM ET
