Happy Fourth of July

World Hum’s Most Read: June 28-July 3

What We Loved This Week: Def Leppard in Greece, Austrian Competence and Freedom in Colombia

The LAX Theme Building, Then and Now

As a Woman, Can I Really Travel Without Much Fear for my Safety?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

Inside Slum Tourism

With mixed feelings, Rob Verger recently signed on for a tour of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. He looks back on the experience—and the photos he was allowed to take.

Break Bread and Brie in France

Great cheese abounds in the land of Gaul, but dig in and you risk committing any number of faux pas. Terry Ward explains how to partake of the nation’s famed fromage with savoir faire.

10 Wanderlust-Inducing Summer Concerts

Call it world music or global pop or the sound of the world hum. Ben Keene reveals 10 acts on tour that are sure to transport you. Plus videos.

Bryan Mealer: ‘War and Deliverance in Congo’

The former AP correspondent traveled up the Congo River. Frank Bures asks the author of “All Things Must Fight to Live” about following in the wake of Joseph Conrad. 

A Journey Into ‘The Second World’

Some bureaucrats joke that they would never claim expertise about countries they had not at least flown over. In an excerpt from his new book, Parag Khanna argues that real global understanding can only come from serious travel.

‘The Worst Guidebook Writer Ever’?

Lonely Planet author Robert Reid reviews Thomas Kohnstamm’s “Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?” and weighs in on the controversy surrounding it

How Bad is the Violence in Mexico?

Hi Jim:

Though you hear about stuff on the news, I founf traveling in Mexico quite safe--especially in the Yucatan and across the border from Texas.

Aaron Burr, The VP who shot Hamilton and also the great greast grandson of the preacher Jonathan Edwards, was almost Emporer of Mexico. (You got to love the Whig party for dramatics!)

With NAFTA, say hello to the future country of North America.

John M. Edwards

As an American living in Mexico I see the negative effects of the narcos on everyone- people trying to make a living, tourists, real estate sales--- the problem is real.  The rich like it the way it is, the poor have no power and the Mexican middle class has given up hope and taken their families to the USA.

I lived in a small retriement coomunity, South of Guadalajara, for over 2 years, Crime, other than drugs, was non-existent..As an example,Guadalajara with a population of over 6 million, only had 1 murder, a month on average, Compare that with any USA major city.! But I agree, there is a significant difference in the upper class and middle/lower.They mistreat their lower class worse than we do in the USA.  But don’t mess with the drug lords, or you’ll be dust..Avoid the border towns and tourista areas,