Hooray for the weekend! I have big plans. They include a three-day getaway to the Oregon Coast (whose virtues we’ve already discussed) and not wasting two hours at Sex and the City (which Betty and I expressed doubt and concern about, just based on the trailer). I’ll be trip planning for my upcoming adventure at [...]
Entries from May 17th, 2010
Free Bikes and Van Goghs
May 29th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Dutch bikes, Dutch language school, Obsessed with the Dutch, Recommended sights
South African Township Tours: Cultural Exchange or a Trip to the Human Zoo?
May 27th, 2010 · No Comments · Africa, Blog posts by Betty, Urban archipelagos
When you land at Cape Town’s International Airport, you must travel for miles along a highway where people live in the most despicable of conditions. It doesn’t take a social scientist to realize that tin shacks and no plumbing equal violence and disease. Women and children line the highway watching the cars zoom by. It’s [...]
Tags:Africa·Cape Town·cultural exchange·South Africa·townships
Cities Can Be Magic
May 26th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Novelty, Urban archipelagos
I have a deep and abiding love of cities. Some people long for wide open spaces. Not me. There’s nothing better for filling up the novelty-meter than time spent walking a city end to end. Which is why I love this announcement about freely available pianos sprinkled all over New York City, part of an [...]
Fail ‘o’ the Day: Did We Say Hotel? We Meant Motel.
May 25th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Fail 'o' the Day
Recently, I figured something out that seemed significant to me. I have no hotel in L.A. that I’ve ever stayed at twice. Each and every one has had some fatal flaw. Admittedly, I’m hampered by two things: A hope for a stylish interior, and a desire for ample amounts of the single most important hotel [...]
Tags:hotels·Los Angeles
Vegas. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
May 24th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Blog posts by Betty, Fail 'o' the Day
Las Vegas pretty much stands for everything that I hate in the travel industry. Artificial everything. Horribly unsustainable. Tacky to no end. I was recently there for work, and I walked around like a wilted flower. If you’re there on business, most likely you’re staying at the conference hotel and are forced to walk through [...]
Tags:Las Vegas
Quick Post: What in the World Are We Good At?
May 20th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Good design, Quick Post
This morning, I’m pouring over this infographic from Information is Beautiful, showing the world’s number ones. Seems like a good source for cocktail conversation.
When Good Ideas Backfire on Travel Companies
May 19th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Novelty
I’m a fan of the blog Travel 2.0. Troy talks about the intersection of social media and travel, which I appreciate. (We’ve posted before about why travel–and travel writing in particular–seems behind the social-media curve.)
Sometimes, though, there’s an extra chapter to the story after the blog post happens. Read his summary of a cool campaign KLM did involving free, personalized luggage tags.
Tentless, Yurtless Camping
May 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Novelty
To hate camping is akin to hating pets in the Pacific Northwest. Here, there’s nothing better than a day spent walking the trails to some far outpost, gorp in hand, dog off-leash, to sleep under the stars in some contraption designed by REI. A friend of a friend lived in an electricity-free, running-water-free yurt, hiking [...]
Visiting Marilyn Monroe in L.A.
May 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Celeb spotting, Recommended sights, Urban archipelagos
Is it creepy to sightsee a cemetery, camera in hand? I had a blast at Paris’ Cimetière du Père Lachaise (with a great interactive tour here), so it didn’t strike me as weird to bust out the photography when at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Marilyn Monroe’s final resting place. The lipstick traces are fun. [...]
Tags:Los Angeles·Paris