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

What’s Your Travel ‘Dealbreaker’?

The national park was on our itinerary, anyone who knew anything about this World Heritage site assumed it involved hiking and wooden boardwalks over streams and waterfalls, and yet this seasoned traveler on our tour wore high-heeled boots for the all-day trek.
“Didn’t you bring any other shoes?” we asked incredulously as she slipped through the spaces on the boardwalk.  “Yes, of course,” she answered like we were idiots, “I brought LOTS of high heels!”

Cool post, Eva.

I was once in an interesting Florida town with someone I thought was an interesting travel companion for the day.

We were taking a leisurely stroll down one of the few unique non-stripmall retail streets in the city when I paused in front of a particularly compelling shop to look at something on display.

The guy shot me this blase look and just said, “I don’t do windowshopping.”

My heart totally dropped. I hadn’t even been about to walk inside - I was just stopping for a look. And I’m no shopping junkie, but I knew our fun together was over then and there.

When men judge women by their looks or bodies, women complain that it’s shallow.

But women—especially women who think of themselves as attractive—will judge a man by far shallower criteria, such as his goatee or his dislike of cheese.

Women gleefully engage in activities for which they excoriate men.

Hope women remember that the next time they’re dumped for being fat or flat-chested.

Interesting post.

A friend of mine in North Carolina likes to travel alone or with people he meets on the journey. We all know what a bad travel experience can do to a friendship/relationship, but maybe that’s because our expectations are great. When we travel, we are out of context and sometimes we want a lot out of our traveling companion (like comfort, entertainment, understanding, etc.) We are probably less forgiving than we would be at home. I’ve had rather disappointing traveling experiences with nearly all of my friends (and I’m sure the feeling is mutual!) I’d rather travel on my own because of that, though I’d probably still travel with all of them again if I had to.

Nice post Eva!

In SE Asia, my deal breaker involves geckos - if a travel partner can’t deal with little lizards in a room or restaurant, I can’t travel with them.

Hey Eva

Deal breaker for me - being an extremely picker eater, complaining about foreign dishes, and letting your guests/hosts know it without remorse!.

Not to be confused with being allergic to certain foods :)

Great post because there are so many stories…
One guy treated flight attendants like his own personal servants and was quite condescending. I wanted to shrink into my seat. Another wanted only to eat and stay in expensive places and buy expensive things to take home, but had no interest in museums or culture. We were in Milan and he rolled his eyes when I said I wanted to see Da Vinci’s Last Supper.
I much prefer traveling solo these days.
boldlygosolo.com

First off, this is a Hall of Fame quote: “I’ve been to Paris. They have one in Vegas.”

My dealbreaker: Excessive volume. Can’t stand being on he road with someone so loud it draws attention or their voices echo through museums. When by chance I’ve ended up with travel companions like that, I escape asap.

I was involved with a two year relationship with some one that was more about traveling on cruise ships and Vegas. I was more into going to cities like Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Interior Mexico, etc. She was so concerned that I wanted to move to any of the above cities, basically anywhere out side of Texas. Her rationalization was why go to any of the mentioned cities, people are the same everywhere, cities have the same thing etc. Of course she never lived any where else, never been any where out side where the cruise ship would drop her off, I could never agree with her rationalization. This was deal breaker as soon as it started. I could never convince her the difference between San Antonio and New York

I utterly detest people who use “do” as a description of their approach to the trip. E.g. “We’re going to do Europe in 10 days, on a bus tour” or [this was actually said to me by a former friend, after we’d seen glaciers in Patagonia] [sic] “Well, I’ve done glaciers now, so I can check them off my list.”

I hesitate to dive into this neurotic hornet’s nest. But I must. High heeled hikers, stewardess abusers, cheese haters, loudmouths. We need to at least try to educate these dolts. Not dump on em. And this is coming from a staunch misanthrope.

Nice post, Eva.

Wow, some good stories here! Thanks for joining in, everyone.

I thought of another one… I met a fellow traveler at a bus station once who thought ruins were “boring” and “just a bunch of rocks”. We were in Turkey, on our way to Ephesus. He had just come from Greece. And I just kept thinking, “Why? Why are you here? This is piles-of-rocks central!”

TambourineMan - we are helping them! Shame heals all wounds, doesn’t it?

I just re-read my comment...and plead temporary insanity.

If I traveled half-way around the world with someone with the opportunity to experience great food and drink and they stepped to the bar and ordered ... a Budweiser, well I’d probably have to kill them.

Great post, Eva!

Someone who didn’t appreciate anything different, or learn anything new.  I’ve traveled and lived all over the world .  Many, many Americans only want a Big Mac, a coke, met Americans or go home.  Why bother to travel to Shang Hai when you can access those at home?  For example, in Europe I learned the warmth and wisdom of walking down the street arm in arm with your same sex (platonic) friend, or hug and kiss same sex people.  We Americans could learn to not be so homophobic that we can’t touch our friends.  In Asia I learned to keep a no shoe house because it extends the life of rugs and floors, reduces pollutants in the house, and housework.  I’m sure there are lots of other things to learn from other cultures, but these are the first two that popped into my head.

Grizzly Mom - the other reason they keep no-shoe houses in Asia is that they know what ends up on the ground there.  Once you’ve witnessed the cacaphonic chorus of a couple million Beijingers hawking lung-oysters onto the sidewalk in the morning, you will never, ever consent to allowing another shoe to be worn inside your house.

http://www.savourasia.com