Travel Blog
Henry Rollins Hits the Road—With the U.S.O.
by Michael Yessis | 11.16.05 | 5:08 AM ET
How did anti-war punk-rock legend Henry Rollins end up on tour with the U.S.O., supporting United States military troops in hot spots around the world like a latter-day Betty Grable? “[T]here are reasons beyond sheer love of country that influence a performer’s decision to tour with the U.S.O.,” Susan Dominus writes in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. “For Rollins, the travel provides creative fodder, but it also gives him access to places he wouldn’t ordinarily visit, among them Iraq, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar and Honduras.”
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Yahoo! BuzzAttack of the Thai Transvestites
by Jim Benning | 11.15.05 | 12:53 PM ET
It sounds more like a B-movie than real life, but apparently a gang of Thai transvestites has been robbing men in Bangkok. Their method? According to an AP story in USA Today: “concealing strong sedative pills under their tongues and spitting them down the throats of their victims while kissing, causing them to pass out so they can be easily robbed.” It’s not clear that tourists have been targetted very often, but police plan to warn visitors about the danger. Side note: The AP report describes the transvestites in question as “attractive.” Since when has the AP been rating transvestites?
It’s Geography Awareness Week. Do You Know Where Your Map Is?
by Jim Benning | 11.15.05 | 12:32 PM ET
That’s right, it’s Geography Awareness Week, and the entire nation—okay, a few geographers—are abuzz. National Geographic has posted a geography quiz in honor of the occasion. Oxford “Atlas of the World” editor Ben Keene, who writes our new Ben’s Place of the Week feature, tells us he’ll be talking up the joy of geography on radio stations around the country all week. For our part, we’d like to restate our position, which we believe to be a courageous one: We’re 100 percent in favor of both geography and geography awarenesss.
New York Times Kills JT LeRoy Travel Story Because JT LeRoy May Not Exist
by Michael Yessis | 11.15.05 | 5:02 AM ET
19-Year-Old Martin Halstead Starts His Own Airline
by Michael Yessis | 11.15.05 | 4:55 AM ET
“Baby Branson,” as the British press has dubbed him, sees himself as a James Bond type. Translation: the flight attendants on Alpha One Airlines are hot.
Ian Buruma on Protest Songs from Washington to Beijing
by Jim Benning | 11.15.05 | 12:04 AM ET
The author of the fine travel memoir “God’s Dust: A Modern Asian Journey” has written a thoughtful story in the Guardian about the state of protest music. Buruma begins by asking why Bob Dylan tunes are still the go-to music for American protests, but the article soon takes a global turn, touching, for example, on the music that fueled the 1989 student uprising in Tiananmen Square.
Travel in the Age of the Experience Economy
by Jim Benning | 11.14.05 | 2:45 PM ET
Recent research suggests you may be happier spending money on experiences such as foreign travel and adventure than on a flashy new car. According to a story in the Guardian, it all goes back to the idea of the experience economy, first put forth in 1998 in the Harvard Business Review.
You Scored a North Korea Travel Visa? Hold Everything!
by Jim Benning | 11.11.05 | 1:11 PM ET
Today’s Los Angeles Times has a terrific story about a small group of hard-core American travelers, including one Californian claiming to be the world’s most traveled person, who were recently awarded visas to visit North Korea and made the highly unusual trip. Times reporter Bruce Wallace put the visit into perspective this way: “Opportunities for American tourists to visit the secretive state that makes no secret of its loathing for the U.S. are mighty tough to come by. A North Korean visa for an American is like round-the-clock electricity here in the North Korean capital: not impossible, but rare enough to be appreciated when it unexpectedly arrives.”
Pirates Attack Five More Ships Off Somalia
by Michael Yessis | 11.11.05 | 12:50 PM ET
The bandits are being directed by a “mother ship,” according to today’s Reuters story by Daniel Wallis.
Ben’s Place of the Week: Pyinmana, Burma
by Ben Keene | 11.11.05 | 4:18 AM ET
Population: 97,400 (2005 est.)
Coordinates: 19 45 N 96 12 E
A resource-rich former province of India, the Union of Burma, or Myanmar as the country is also known, struggles economically in spite of its natural wealth due to poor infrastructure and political instability. No elections have been held since 1990 and the autocratic head of state has demonstrated little interest in democracy, preferring, it would seem, to keep the population ill-informed and dependent on black-market sources of income.
New Weblog Feature: Ben’s Place of the Week
by Jim Benning | 11.11.05 | 4:14 AM ET
Paul Theroux’s Latest Piece of Fiction
by Jim Benning | 11.11.05 | 1:16 AM ET
It’s a short story called “The Best Year of My Life.” It involves travel, and it’s in the latest New Yorker and available online.
I Want My Book TV: Nov. 12-13, 2005
by Jim Benning | 11.11.05 | 12:36 AM ET
Among the Book TV shows of interest this weekend: Storyteller extraordinaire and occasional travel writer Simon Winchester talks about his latest tome, “A Crack in the Edge of the World.” Also, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday discuss “Mao: The Unknown Story.” Chang wrote the must-read China memoir, Wild Swans: Three Daughers of China.
Adam Gopnik Profiled
by Jim Benning | 11.10.05 | 1:33 PM ET
The Paris to the Moon author has just published a children’s book, “The King in the Window,” and is profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle. “For 10 years, Gopnik has been in the unusual position of explaining the French and French culture to Americans, in his New Yorker dispatches and ‘Paris to the Moon,’ then in the stellar anthology he edited, ‘Americans in Paris,’” the paper reports. “‘The King in the Window’” may be his last book on the City of Light.”
Boeing 777-200LR Lands in London, Sets Nonstop Flight Record
by Michael Yessis | 11.10.05 | 10:56 AM ET
The plane, which departed from Hong Kong yesterday with four pilots aboard, landed at Heathrow airport in London today after 22 hours and 43 minutes in the air—and two sunrises. MSNBC, the Telegraph and many others have details.
