"There is a kind of old-time charm and innocence there that you just don't see in many places anymore," said iReporter Diana Korczynski about Canada's smallest province. See snapshots of lovely Prince Edward Island.
Travelers with Labor Day weekend plans along beaches in Hurricane Earl's path should proceed with caution, check road conditions and confirm lodging plans before starting out, safety and tourism officials say.
With a dozen humanitarian missions behind her, Ashley Judd has ventured to Africa to challenge the relationship between valuable minerals and unspeakable violence.
Bomb squad investigators were at Miami International Airport on Friday after a suspicious item was spotted in a baggage screening area, authorities said.
Typhoon Kompasu hit central South Korea Thursday morning, causing much of the metropolitan area's subway service to halt, toppling trees and resulting in widespread power outages along the west coast, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Most air travelers have little to be happy about when it comes to airline food these days. But if you splurge on business or first class, the dining experience can be deluxe and luxurious, especially on international flights.
Where do Romans go for a cup of gelato? A local food writer steers us beyond tourist favorites to six artisanal gelaterias churning out creative, all-natural flavors.
Good news for folks who consider their pets part of the family. The Mo's Nose app—based on a children's book series of the same name—is your go-to guide for pet-friendly travel. This GPS-enabled tool helps you sniff out everything from groomers, dog parks, and kennels to hotels that welcome canine guests. Does your pooch have a deep dark secret you can't wait to crack? Oddly enough, you can even search pet psychics across America. Released on August 19, this app is compatible with iPhones and iPod Touch and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store.
Moxie enjoys a bedtime time story with Whitney in her VIP (very important pet) luxury suite with more than 227 square feet of space (Courtesy Best Friends Pet Care)
This week also saw the opening of Walt Disney World's Best Friends Pet Care, a 17,000-square-foot luxury pet resort. Just like their owners, pets can stay in a wide range of rooms, from the budget to the swanky. Accommodations start with 32-square-foot indoor rooms and move up to 226-square-foot Very Important Pet suites, which come equipped with televisions and private backyards. Amenities include a nature trail for relaxing walks with owners and a splash-around pool. The property welcomes more than just dogs—it boasts a Kitty City pavilion, as well as boarding areas for birds and small mammals. Hamsters love Mickey, too!
As much as I loved my cat and rabbit growing up, vacation time was a human-only affair. All this talk of pet travel got me wondering: Do Americans really take their pets with them on vacation, or is this a niche market reserved for spoiled pageant dogs and cat ladies?
Let us know—have you ever traveled with a pet? What kind of pet did you take? Where did you go? And did your dog watch television while you were there?
Launched this year by a co-founder of Reddit.com and a co-founder of BookTour.com, the new flight-search site Hipmunk swaps hyper-specialized travel tools for sheer simplicity. There are just three mandatory search fields to fill on the home page—and nothing but a cute cartoon of a chipmunk in aviator's goggles to distract you from the task at hand.
The flight results are displayed on a single-page bar graph, color-coded by airline, which makes comparing dozens of options incredibly easy, and user-friendly pop-up windows show the down-and-dirty details of each flight without taking you away from the results page.
Then there's my favorite part: You can sort the list by price, departure time, or "agony," which factors in stuff like duration, layovers, and number of stops.
It may not be revolutionary, but Hipmunk's offer of streamlined service with a knowing wink is probably enough to win this site a healthy following.
Jazz à la Villette (through September 12)
The city's premier jazz festival takes place every fall in and around the Parc de la Villete (19th arrondissement). The 2010 lineup includes Afro-Cuban stars Chucho Valdés and Archie Shepp, proto-rap pioneer Gil Scott-Heron, and some high-energy Klezmer from David Krakauer and SoCalled. Ticket prices begin at €12 (about $15), and the full program of events can be found here.
Visit the presidential palace—or Palais de l'Elysée—for free during Heritage Days (September 18-19) (Courtesy Thomas Faivre-Duboz/Flickr)
Journées Européennes du Patrimoine/Heritage Days (September 18-19)
During one weekend every year, hundreds of Paris museums and monuments open up for free and host special events for the public. Crowds flock to peek behind the curtain at the presidential palace (Palais de l'Elysée) and hundreds of other monuments. The official website, which includes events in cities across France, is hard to navigate, but you'll find a program of events organized by arrondissement here.
Festival America (September 23-26)
This annual literary festival celebrates authors from all over the Americas and features some very special readings. Many are just outside of the city in Vincennes (near the classical music festival listed below), but you'll find one of the best around the corner from the Eiffel Tower: Richard Russo at the American Library on September 23. The full program of events is here.
Portes ouvertes des ateliers de Ménilmontant (September 24-27)
The east side of Paris has the city's highest concentration of working artists, and the last weekend of September promises to open the doors to their studios. This annual event provides a good excuse to ramble through the Ménilmontant neighborhood near the Père Lachaise cemetery. Stop by the organizers' office at 43 rue des Panoyaux (20th arrondissement) to pick up a map of participating studios, or visit the website for more information.
The Paris Techno Parade (September 25)
While techno music isn't every traveler's cup of tea, watching this annual parade is a fun way to witness what French youth culture looks like today. Traffic will be blocked for hours on this Saturday afternoon while thousands of young people dance in the streets. To catch a glimpse, line up along the parade route somewhere between its starting point at Denfert-Rochereau around noon and its final destination at Bastille at 8 p.m.
Bonus: two August events that are continue through September:
Festival Silhouette (August 28-September 5)
This festival picks up where the Cinéma au Clair de Lune leaves off, screening free outdoor films in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont (19th arrondissement). The format for this one is short films, which are screened each night at 10 p.m. following free concerts that begin around 7:30 p.m.
Festival Classique au Vert (August 7-September 26)
Free classical music concerts take place every Saturday and Sunday afternoon in the beautiful Parc Floral. This flowering garden inside the Bois de Vincennes (12th arrondissement) is a great place to picnic with friends before and during the performance. Entry to the Parc Floral is €5 (about $6.50), but the concerts are free.
We're aiming to tackle a biggie in the travel industry, so send us all the questions you have about cruising now.
For obvious reasons, the cruise industry portrays the big-ship experience as being wonderful for every kind of traveler under the sun -- families, couples, big groups, adventure-seekers, partiers, and so on. But let's be honest: Plenty of travelers have no interest whatsoever in cruising. Perhaps they're scared they'll feel trapped on a boat, or they are worried about being overwhelmed by crowds on ships that accommodate thousands. Or perhaps they're turned off by the types of travelers they assume they'd encounter on a cruise, embodied by the little rhyming ditty that says cruise passengers fall into one of three categories: newlywed, overfed, and nearly dead.
In our Trip Coach story, we want to set the record straight and answer all your concerns about cruising as honestly as possible. But first, we need to hear from you. So whether you're a diehard or novice cruiser, someone who is mildly interested or someone who never pictured him or herself on a big-ship cruise, send us your questions now. You might want to know:
So what kinds of travelers really go on cruises?
What are the big differences among cruise companies? How do I figure out which is right for my group?
When (and how) do I book to get the best deal?
How (and when) should I book excursions to get the best deal? And how do I figure out what excursions are right for me?
Do the glitzy enormous new cruise ships live up to the hype?
Which cabins are worth paying extra for?
Are the special on-board restaurants that cost extra worth the money?
What are the hottest, most interesting ports visited by cruise ships today?
Wow, we're going to have a lot of ground to cover in this story. So do us a favor and tell us which issues you find most pressing and most puzzling -- and if you want to chime in with your own answers and insights, by all means do so. We'd love to hear from you.
Now is the time if you've been wondering about any part of the cruise experience. We'll address as many cruise questions as we can in an upcoming issue of Budget Travel.
In the past,Orbitz has earned our kudos in the past for its customer-friendly attitude. The company's Price Assurance program sends an automatic refund if another Orbitz customer books the same hotel room for the same night for less. And with the Enhanced Low Price Guarantee (which we blogged about last fall) travelers who find their hotel room for a lower price on another site can get a refund for the difference and a $50 discount on a future Orbitz booking. Plus, Orbitz also shows up-front prices with taxes and fees included—a particularly nice feature for us budget travelers.
Orbitz was founded as an airline-booking site 10 years ago and has lost a little ground to other huge OTAs who have focused on hotel bookings, like Expedia and Priceline. Orbitz CEO Barney Harford was quoted in the Chicago Tribune recently, saying his focus for the past year has been: "hotel, hotel, hotel."
So, it's no wonder Orbitz is working to improve its hotel search. Now, let's get to the good stuff!
What's new: Orbitz now displays its hotel search results in a pleasing, easy-to-navigate template. Each hotel has "tabs" that you can click on to get photos, a list of amenities, and a map. You can "save" hotels to go back to later, and of course you can sort all results by lowest price, star rating, or location.
Here's what's exciting, at least for a quick decision-maker like me: You can compare hotels side-by-side on the same web page, without having to navigate away. For instance, I decided to check out hotels in Paris. In the "photos" tab, I found a photo of a guestroom in each hotel. By scrolling down, I could quickly look at what my room would look like in each hotel, without having to click elsewhere (or line up different web browsers, which I have admittedly done before).
This gets even cooler when you use Google Street View. Within the same framework of the search-results page, you can click on the "map" tab and then click on "street view." Spin it around and see what the hotel environs are. I was completely in love with a hotel on the outskirts of Paris (an all-suites property that started at just $133!) until I realized, via street view, that this place was right by the airport. Like, depressingly close—I could see the airport in street view.
Naturally, Orbitz's new look and feel isn't perfect; I wish there was an "under $200" search option, which would be great for budget travelers. Also, comparing hotels side-by-side is certainly nice, but there's no way to move the hotels around within the search results, so there's still a lot of scrolling. And I couldn't figure out how to get into my saved hotels and compare those side-by-side—the saved hotels appear as just a list.
But, overall, it's great to see a huge OTA like Orbitz freshen up its look. The question is, what do you think? What else would you like to see from Orbitz in the future?
We just unveiled our sixth-annual Extra Mile Awards—in which we salute the forward-thinking companies and people working to make your vacation simpler, more affordable, and way more fun. One of the trends we spotlight is how Motel 6, Red Roof Inn, and Holiday Inn have taken the concept of the traditional roadside motel and flipped it on its head, each initiating a massive design overhaul and totally redefining what it means to stay somewhere on a budget.
While it hasn't yet reached the sheer numbers of those three chains, Super 8 has also launched a room redesign that's just getting off its feet.
A relative newcomer to the remodel game, Super 8 has completely revamped two properties so far (in Mount Laurel, N.J. and Pennsville, N.J.), with plans to have 13 more renovations finished by early next year. Highlights include a Frank Lloyd Wright–inspired theme emphasizing horizontal surfaces, modular wall units/media centers that can be configured to maximize space, and regional artwork inset in headboards—so when you wake up you actually will know where you are.
While the cable cars are much celebrated, the F-Line Market Street Railway is another historic transit option that shouldn't be missed. (Thanks, reader Jaime Raba for reminding us about them!)
The F-Line runs from Fisherman's Wharf, along the Embarcadero, and up Market to the Castro. The brightly colored vintage streetcars were imported by the city from places around the world, from Australia to England, Philadelphia to St. Louis. On any given day, as many as 20 different trolleys are on the street. Perhaps the most notable is the 1934 open air roofless "boat tram," strung with lights that came from the seaside resort town of Blackpool, England. Kids (and kids at heart!) will especially get a kick out of riding the train and hearing the old-fashioned bell ring at each stop. History buffs should stop by the SF Railway Museum south of the Ferry Building for exhibits and more information. Check out the website for a background guide to the origin of the different trolleys.
The F-Line runs every 5-20 minutes from approx. 6:00 AM until 11:20 PM. As a part of Muni, transfers work throughout. $2 for adults, $.75 for youth and seniors, and free for kids under 5. streetcar.org
Museum, 77 Steuart Street, (415) 974-1948, Free, Open Tuesday–Sunday 10:00am–6:00pm
I'm leaving soon for Florence, where I'll be renting an apartment, seeking out the best bars for an aperitivo, and exploring what's new since my last visit. The sandwich shop 'ino and the Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia in Piazza Santa Maria Novella are high on my list. I'm also curious to find out more about the young mayor's ambitious plans.
So I've got my questions, but I'm wondering what you would like to know about Florence? Maybe it's something about Florentine etiquette, local markets and shops, how to tackle the world-famous museums, or where to find some green space in the crowded city. Now's your chance to ask, and I'll see what I can fit in.
Ordinarily, I'm proud to see my hometown earn a top spot in a ranking. But when the pest control firm Terminix released a list this week of the 15 most bedbug-infested cities, and I saw New York at spot number one, all I could do was shiver. And itch.
Ew.
To make matters worse, three cities from Ohio, the state where I was born (and where my heart still resides) made the top 10.
On the bright side, I suppose, when my mom visits this weekend from Dayton, she can brag about upgrading from an 8th-place ranked city to the number one hot spot. Or not.
Double ew.
This naturally got me to thinking (i.e. worrying!) about what I could do to protect myself from being exposed to the blood suckers. I started to look into the matter, and it turns out, Budget Travel already has me covered.
In our February 2005 issue, we published a handy guide to protecting yourself from the pests in hotels when you travel. Tips include checking the bed sheets closely for tiny blood spots—the true "calling card" of bed bugs, according to the article, and avoiding putting luggage on the bed, where they can crawl into your suitcase—and then make the trip home with you.
Here, then, I turn the matter over to you: Have you encountered bed bugs at any hotels or popular tourist attractions lately? Have bed bugs driven you insane? Do you have any creative tips for avoiding picking them up? (And have you enlisted your beagle for help?)
Let's learn from each other on this one and, hopefully, avoid taking home any pesky, unwanted souvenirs on our next trip.
Even with the growth of fare tracking services, price guarantees, and super-powerful flight search tools, it's hard to shake the nagging feeling that if you'd just timed your search a little differently, you'd have paid less for your flight.
Two economists have taken up the cause of calculating the elusive booking sweet spot and determined that the best time to purchase airfare is eight weeks in advance of your departure. As reported in the Guardian, economist Makoto Watanabe's research also suggests that flights are cheaper in the afternoons. (Incidentally, he compared the airfares to theater tickets, which tend to follow a different pattern and become cheapest at the last minute—on performance day.) In their report, Watanabe and his colleague Marc Möller write:
"When we book our flight to London weeks ahead we have to account for the possibility of unforeseen events which make our trip to London impossible. In order to make consumers take their chances, airlines have to offer advance purchase discounts. As a consequence, ticket prices increase as the travel date approaches."
This analysis sounds reasonable to me, but I'm not convinced that their eight-week rule will apply from one route to the next. It's not the kind of hard-and-fast rule that travelers might hope for—and no replacement for setting up fare alerts or checking predictions based on historic data for your specific route.
The Guardian published sample data on booking an EasyJet flight from London Stansted to Munich that supports the eight-week rule, with a cheapest price of £19.99, compared to two weeks in advance at £62.99 or 12 weeks in advance at £25.99.
But when I priced out a round-trip flight between New York City and London on Kayak.com—a longer-haul flight and with the added factor of comparing across various airlines—I found that the eight-week advance price of $661 on Virgin Atlantic was cheaper than the four-week advance price ($759, American), however slightly more expensive than the 12-week advance price ($632, Icelandair).
Then I tried nonstop routes on Kayak.com between New York City and Atlanta. The results showed that the cheapest point was to book four weeks in advance ($189, Airtran), rather than eight weeks out ($289, Delta), 12 weeks out ($309), or one week out ($209, Delta).
How does Watanabe's research compare with your own travel booking experiences?
As the splashiest luxury hotel in the city, it is no secret that the David InterContinental attracts the glam crowd. Even our favorite "Material Girl," Madonna, has stayed at this 555-room modern abode, fully equipped with a pool deck that acts as a tranquil safe haven by day/chic outdoor lounge by night.
From oil spills to overdevelopment, there is no telling which of our favorite beaches will be destroyed next. Our top seven picks for must-see beaches on the verge of disappearing include breathtaking shorelines from Phu Quoc, Vietnam to Saugatuck Dunes, Michigan.
Dining is one of the most important aspects of travel. Take a look at our top picks for the best restaurants worldwide and be sure to plan your next trip accordingly!
From brainy toilets that do most of the work for you, to bubble baths drawn with drinkable bubbly, we found eight extraordinary bathrooms that will make you want to skip to the loo.
Plan your next family trip to the Atlantis Hotel in Paradise Island, where bigger definitely means better! This Bahamian behemoth has all the fixings, from a massive casino to underground shark tanks, for an adventure-packed getaway.
Visit New York's Central Park before it gets too cold out! Fall is the perfect time of year to curl up with a light blanket and watch the leaves turn beautiful shades of red and yellow. Here is a list of our favorite things to do in Central Park.
Yes, Oregon is known for its breath-taking coastline, but Cannon Beach really deserves a tip of the hat. This cozy beach town consists of a long strip of tastefully weathered shingle buildings, ice cream shops, bike rentals, and, of course, the soothing sound of waves crashing on the famous Haystack Rock.
Since 1960, this 79-room glam hotel has rolled out the red carpet for aristocrats, fashionistas, and divine divas, including Julia Roberts, Mariah Carey, and Oprah. This being Capri, where boats are as common as scooters, the hotel also maintains two motorboats and a 72-foot yacht for guest use.
Bring out your inner Elizabeth Gilbert and Eat, Pray, Love your way through six of our favorite gelateries in Rome. From avant-garde shops with flavors such as hot chili and cinnamon-ginger, to more traditional shops using only natural ingredients such as 85 percent pure cocoa and carefully sourced hazelnuts, these gelateries will be staples on your next Roman holiday.
On your next trip to Asia, choose the road less traveled--you can thank us later. Although Laos may not be as big a tourist trap as its neighbor, Thailand, it is incredibly well preserved and the perfect place to immerse yourself in the culture. This quaint city is marked by its French colonial influence, peppered with ancient Buddhist temples and a gorgeous 16th-century wat.
Welcome to a new feature on the blog we're calling Library Fridays, where we're teaming up with our National Geographic Books division to provide you excerpts and sneak peeks of some of our upcoming titles. Our inaugural excerpt, The Last Speakers, is one I'm particularly excited about. Part travelogue, part anthropological study, the book is National Geographic Fellow K. David Harrison's autobiographical story about his efforts with the Enduring Voices project, which aims to preserve obscure languages threatened with extinction.
Stretching eastward from Moscow lies a vast land that spans eight time zones. Most people think of it as a barren, snowy wasteland, or place of exile for dissidents. Yet Siberia would be the place I came of age as a scholar and a linguist and forged lasting intellectual and emotional connections. The many adventures I had there radically shifted my view of language and gave me a whole new understanding of how people organize knowledge and communicate.
My original semester as an exchange student in Eastern Europe somehow morphed into a five-year sojourn, and I began to explore the peripheries. I used to loiter at the Kazan' railway station in Moscow, watching trains arrive from Baku and other exotic places and listening to some of the minority languages of Russia. I visited the local mosque to hear Tatar spoken, and the fruit market to hear Georgian spoken by the watermelon vendors. I felt drawn eastward, but visa and legal restrictions on foreigners held me back.
Finally, one day in 1996, I heard that travel restrictions had been lifted. On a whim, I packed my backpack and went directly to Kazan' station. I stood in line clutching $200 in rubles and, when it was my turn, asked for a ticket to Tuva. The surly ticket clerk behind the window, without looking up, said, "There's no such place." When I persisted, she assumed that I was simply mispronouncing Tula, a Russian city where samovars are made. I shouted back at her through the little gap in the ticket window, insisting that a place called T-u-v-a did exist and thinking to myself that she could verify it if she would only heave her bulk up out of the chair and look at the enormous map of Russia on the wall behind her. People behind me in the queue tried to shoo me away, grumbling that I was delaying their purchases. However, being loudly rude in Russian, and with an American accent, sometimes gets results. I stuck to the ticket window, and eventually we reached an understanding. The ticket vendor sold me a train ticket to Abakan, the nearest city to Tuva where trains go.
Tuva had captivated my imagination by the simple fact that, in the late 20th century, people there still lived as nomads, in collapsible felt houses, making their own ropes, saddles, cheese, and wool. Protected by mountains, with no railroads, few airplanes, and no paved roads leading in or out, many Tuvans migrate seasonally, following their animal herds to greener pastures. I couldn't wait to see it with my own eyes.
What to do in Abu Dhabi? A smattering of suggestions...
Have your hands patterned with henna
at the Abu Dhabi Library and Cultural Centre. This stately complex,
across from the Grand Mosque, houses nearly two million volumes.
Rise early and get to the vegetable market
at Port Zayed by 6 a.m. for your pick of fresh fish, fruit, and other
produce. (There are plans to move the market farther inland soon.)
Take a ride on a traditional abra boat
along the man-made waterway that winds through the Shangri-La Hotel,
Qaryat Al Beri. Make stops at the on-site suq (market) and spa.
Sate your sweet tooth in style at the Emirates Palace hotel, where chefs go through 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of edible gold topping every year.
Check the schedule for the next WOMAD(World
of Music, Arts, and Dance) festival. The multiday event, part of a
series of worldwide festivals, features dozens of world-class
performances.
For the rest of the list check out 10 Abu Dhabi Must-Dos at National Geographic Travel online. Photo: Thomas Linkel, laif/Redux
A few weeks ago, we introduced a new magazine feature called "Ask a Park Ranger" where we track down the best advice from the experts about our national parks. We'll be featuring the results in a column in the magazine and here on our blog. Here's our first question.
Q. My husband and I are planning a trip to Acadia National Park on Maine's Mount Desert Island in
early September. We made reservations to camp at the Seawall campground. Can you suggest a two-day itinerary
(hikes/photo ops, scenic drives, etc.) that would introduce us to the
famous and, perhaps, overlooked gems of the park? What should we not
miss? -- Kara L.P.
A. We asked park ranger Wanda Moran, who's spent over 18 years at Acadia, for her advice. "Fall
is my favorite time here, it's cooler, there are fewer people, and it's
really great hiking and biking weather," she said. "Acadia isn't a very big park,
so two days will give them plenty of time to explore." Moran recommends a hike along the beach near Seawall, and a visit to the Bass Harbor Head Light to watch the sunset. "My
favorite hiking trail is the Beech Mountain path on the west side of
the island; there's several different ways to climb it, some moderate,
some more strenuous. On the way up you'll get a nice view of Long
Pond, and at the hike's peak it offers a
gorgeous views out to Blue Hill Bay and the Cranberry Isles." Moran notes that all of the ranger-led programs run throughout the fall, including their boat cruises, walks, talks and hikes. And be sure to visit for the Night Sky Festival if you can, which runs from September 9-13. They'll be offering panel discussions, photography workshops, a night boat cruise, and a "star party" on Cadillac Mountain.
Have a question about the National Parks? Submit them in the comments or email us at Travel_talk@ngs.org. And look for more tips on Acadia in the November/December issue of Traveler.
Singapore's Changi Airport just recently opened a 40 foot twisty slide in its Terminal 3. Passengers who spend at least $22 in the airport shops will receive tokens for two rides down the slide. This is the latest addition to the airport, which also features a butterfly garden and a rooftop swimming pool. [YouTube]
Atlantic City celebrates the launch of HBO's latest period drama, Boardwalk Empire, about bootlegging during prohibition by offering rooms for the decidedly throw-back price of $19.20. [Hotel Chatter]
And this is one way to get through airport security. [Vagabondish]
Many of our readers have responded to Daisann McLane's latest column in our September issue, "The Lies We Tell," in which she discusses posing as a jewelry designer when visiting a gem dealer in Jaipur, India, and other instances when she's twisted the truth while traveling. An excerpt:
...when I travel, I'll improvise extravagant new identities for
myself only with shopkeepers, hoteliers, and strangers I'm absolutely
sure I'll never see again. I try on the hats that, but for a few twists
of fate, I might have worn (as well as some I would not have):
anthropology professor, Peace Corps volunteer, Hare Krishna devotee. If
I meet someone who my gut tells me could become a friend (or someone
who--hello Facebook--might know one of mine!), I make sure I keep it real.
Some of you were astounded, saying that we had condoned lying or posing under false pretenses. "What kind of article is this, an encouragement to lie as we travel?" reader Jim asked. "I could not believe my eyes when I read her tacit approval of lying to others." Others saw the practical benefit: "As long as it's not illegal, stretching the truth can keep you safer. I once had to fake my way out of an angry protest mob of hundreds," wrote Dave.
For some like Raechal, it was the artifice of adolesence: "Growing up in a divorced family with my mother in Maine and my father in California I would travel by plane, train, and automobile between the two homes. Quite often I would pretend to be someone else, traveling for some other reason to elicit different responses from people. It was a form of amusement for an adolescent during a long and tedious trip."
And for others, it was a white lie, depending on the circumstance. Writes Marce: "I have double citizenship, and sometimes I introduce myself with one or another depending on the situation."
This weekend I took advantage of a free Zozi deal I blogged about last week and tried out stand up paddleboarding for the first time. After driving about an hour southeast of Washington, D.C., to YK Kiteboarding and Stand Up Paddleboarding in Maryland's Chesapeake Beach, I got my sea legs, so to speak, on a wide and surprisingly stable board and managed to hold my balance while cruising the bay without falling off. I wouldn't quite say I'm a master, but I did take home enough tips to share them.
Stand up paddleboards are boarded two ways: either you step directly on the far side of the board with one foot, then the other, or you climb on the board with your knees and then raise yourself to a standing position. I chose the former, as it seemed slightly less complicated, though it was odd to feel as though you're stepping on water.
The paddle is quite long, and can reach up over your head as you're switching hands. The owner of the rental company recommended making a scooping motion with the paddle as you move it from front to back. (I really have no idea whether I succeeded in doing this, but I do know my arms got a workout.) I typically took about two to three strokes on each side of the board before switching.
The same rules apply to weddings as they do to paddleboards. Don't lock your knees while standing too long or else you'll end up falling over. It's best to bend them slightly and try to ensure that your weight is evenly distributed.
The Boston Public Library has just opened an exhibit of hundreds of postcards depicting the city in the early 20th century. It's a companion to their popular exhibit of vintage travel posters which opened earlier this year. Both are on display at the Central Library at Copley Square. [Boston Globe]
How do you make 11 million Brazilians in São Paulo disappear? Hint: it involves soccer. [The Offside]
And because we know you're curious, our good friends over at Neatorama have compiled a list of beer facts from around the world. One thing of note: Arthur Guinness has a 9,000-year lease on his brewery in Dublin, so the iconic stout should be around for a long, long, time. And Nevada tops the U.S. in beer consumption, with 44 gallons per person consumed each year. [Neatorama]
Photo: Vintage postcards courtesy The Boston Public Library under a Creative Commons license
Jeff Probst travels a lot. As the host for CBS's Survivor, he knows a thing or two about zipping around the globe and what happens when you drop everyday people into exotic countries. Curious to know what he's learned from a life on the road, Andrew Evans caught up with Jeff on a steamy beach in Nicaragua, where he's currently filming the show's 21st season, to find out how the man behind Survivor handles his extensive travels and what it's like to sleep on the Great Wall.
How many countries has Survivor taken you to?
18 countries over 11 years.
What's the best part of traveling with Survivor?
All the things you experience, like sleeping on the Great Wall of China or visiting Samburu tribes in Kenya. We spend so much time in each area that we usually develop friendships with local families or the locals who work on our show. Those connections are very rewarding. In the Amazon, most of our locals had never earned any money before--their lives were based on barter. But there are times when bringing money into a community via local hires and spending with local vendors can kick-start a city into new growth.
As a person who travels constantly, do you have any "survival" tips for fellow travelers?
I've learned to be much more prepared than I was before Survivor. I am always thinking about where I am heading, what papers I need, etc., and I always carry power for my phone and laptop along with snacks for layovers because most airports are not like LAX with a coffee shop and a "food court" in every terminal.
In your opinion, what makes someone an "Intelligent Traveler?"
Thinking ahead and anticipating problems. One of the downfalls of traveling with Survivor is that our security team meets me when I land and take off in any foreign country. They handle my passport clearances and visas. They are always thinking forward, anticipating problems. But they take such good care of me that I have to really pay attention to what is happening, so that when I'm traveling without Survivor, I still remember what to do! More
Travelers
who missed being in New Orleans to observe the fifth anniversary of
Hurricane Katrina will have the opportunity to discover what really
happened during the storm beginning this October 26, when the Louisiana
State Museum opens an exhibit devoted to the hurricane and the wild,
wet weather that has influenced the Gulf Coast in its history.
Living With Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond is a $7.5 million exhibit opening at the historic Presbytere in the
heart of the French Quarter. "Visitors to New Orleans will see and
experience what happened, and see how the region has rebuilt itself to
be better than it was before," said Louisiana State Museum Director Sam
Rykels. Rykels and his curators hunted down and found iconic artifacts
to display -- like the Fats Domino's water-damaged Steinway piano
(above) salvaged from the musician's Lower Ninth Ward home and a tarnished
menorah, retrieved from a flooded synagogue in Lakeview, an affluent
neighborhood. Also in the exhibit: videos that relay stories of
survival and rescue like Ken Bellau's - the professional bicycle racer
commandeered a loose boat and proceeded to rescue some 400 people from
their homes. (Watch one of the videos after the jump.)
Though the State Museum of Louisiana is housed in the
Presbytere, a 219-year-old building, it boasts some thoroughly cutting edge technology -- QR codes -- a bar code that will immediately link smart phone
users to in-depth additional information. In the museum's case, the
QR code for its upcoming exhibit Living With Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond links visitors to the exhibit's Facebook page where they can upload their own thoughts or experiences.
Prince Charles will open his private gardens at Clarence House to the London public from September 8-19 in an effort to promote sustainable living. The event, billed "A Garden Party to Make a Difference," is part of his nationwide Start initiative, which encourages people to eat locally, consume less energy, and travel sustainably. [In Transit]
The Smithsonian just got a little greener. Jane Henson, wife
and co-creator of Jim Henson's beloved Muppets, bequeathed the original
Kermit puppet and several other creations to the National Museum of American History last week. [CNN]
Never miss a mural with the new online art database MuralLocator.org. The map-based site pinpoints colorful open-air artwork in several major cities (Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, and London are all fairly well-represented) and is open to submissions from readers who spot a mural in their travels. [L.A. Times]
Photo: An artist rendering of the Garden Party to Make a Difference
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