First Step to a Great Airplane View: Get a Window Seat

Dead Sea Scrolls Go Digital

The Ethics of Nicholas Kristof’s Travels

The Art of Noticing: ‘People Don’t Notice That Noticing is Important!’

A Tourist With a Shovel and a Hoe

When she arrived in Kenya to volunteer with the Maasai, Daniela Petrova looked down her nose at tourists there to have a good time. But was her own motivation much different?

How Should I Spend My Time in Spain?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

Paul Theroux: Invisible Man on a Ghost Train

Jim Benning asks the author of “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star” about his new book, aging and the challenge of disappearing in the age of the BlackBerry

Eat Ceviche in Lima

Grab a Cusqueña and get comfortable. As Nicholas Gill explains, a trip to a Peruvian cevichería can be an all-day immersion in good conversation and raw seafood.

Unsentimental Journeys: Wrestling With Paul Theroux

Bronwen Dickey considers “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Great Railway Bazaar”

My Travels, My Feet

After taking one too many headless torso shots of herself, solo traveler Sophia Dembling started snapping photos of her feet around the world, from the Grand Canyon to Red Square

Seven Reasons to Have a Foreign Fling

Sure, having an overseas romance is fun. But Terry Ward points out seven other benefits to cross-border love, mon petit chou.

Another Hot American on Television Botches a Geography Question

Interesting. To be honest, the Tennessee twang in the voice is more painful than the lack of geographical knowledge.

What seems heartening is that despite the washed-up celebrity’s desperate attempt to appear “cute”, the kid (our real future) was jotting down the correct answer within seconds. Even I had to think about it for a moment. ;)

"Hungry, that’s a country?”
Classic.

I love the 5th grader’s little cheeky grin while she’s floundering around.

“I thought Europe was a country… Wait, is France a country?”

Are we sure this wasn’t staged? (I am kind of hoping it was.)

To be fair, I definitely didn’t know that Budapest was the capital of Hungary when I was in grade five. But France? Europe? Ouch.

awwww… poor Southern Belle

Y really can’t believe it. I think that not knowing geography at that extent creates a HUGE barrier for understanding each other.

How are you going to explain to someone like that, that not all Muslims are terrorists? Or that Cuba is in the same continent than US (actually, closer than Europe!)

The article in Gadling says it’s a generalized situation in the US, not only American Idols know so little, so It’s really to worry about.

Wow. Amazing. What’s worse is that people replying to this article can’t even spell Hungary.

Even after watching the video clip and seeing the name of the country spelled out for them.

Now, Bukarest (No, not Budapest) is the capital of which European country? HINT: They don’t speak French there.

Er, I think the mis-spelling was an attempt to capture the way she was saying it, like it was a two-syllable word. I think TambourineMan was being ironical. Is that what you were doing with Bucharest, too? I’m getting confused now… :P

I don’t think it was staged, Eva—unless Jeff Foxworthy wants to risk his fame and fortune reprising the quiz show scandals of the 50s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiz_show_scandals

I love the look on the 5th grader’s face, too. He’s the best thing about all of this.

Do you really think you need to know geography to be compassionate?  I’m genuinely curious.

Hi emily, I think that you can be compassionate without knowing geography, but up to what extent are you going to understand the other’s problems?

I mean, If you live in Brasil, can you understan a war caused by the lack of water? It would seem ridiculous.

If You live in Sweden, can you understand there are actually poor people in the World?

And in the case of the US, can You understand not all iraquis are Terrorists?

Perhaps the problem is our definition of “geography”.

Dave, please see Eva’s post. And put a dictionary on your Christmas list.

aqui_c

I think that your first two questions are separate from the third.  In terms of those, I think you can understand through analogy, or through thinking about all the ways you use water, or how to get through even a single day without money or anything purchased- So no, I don’t think that you need to know very much specific geographical knowledge.  You just need to understand the idea of difference.

In the third question I think that it is very very simple.  You just need to think about serial killers or cult leaders, and realise that people anywhere can be better or worse.

I agree with Michael!!!

The look on the 5th grader’s face, too. He’s the best thing about all of this.

http://www.JohnDennerRocks.com
http://www.John-Denner.com

...and history is sometimes well related to geography.  Hitler promised Mussolini Hungary so that Italy would control the farmlands that are really somewhat lacking in Italy herself.