A roundup of the good, the bad and the bizarre from the world’s best travel media
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Want to be among the first passengers to fly aboard Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner? Then turn toward the Rising Sun.
Welcome to “I’m Black and I Travel,” your Number One online source for absolutely, positively NOTHING having to do with Casey Anthony. It is, however, the ideal site for travel information to help you get as far away as possible from even the mention of Casey Anthony.
Indeed, she has now supplanted Lord Voldemort for the title of “(S)he Who Must Not Be Named.”
Okay, let’s get on with it.
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A DREAM(LINER) OF ASIA
Are you one of those folks who likes to be first with things?
I’m talking about the types who will sit under a blanket overnight in front of an electronics shop to be the first to buy Apple’s newest digital toy or be the first at the dealership to buy that hot new car or be one of the inaugural passengers on a brand-new cruise ship?
It’s not that often that you get the chance to be among the first to fly on a new jet airliner, but your chance is coming soon.
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a ground-breaking new airliner designed to fly farther on a single fuel load than any other before it, just finished a week of operational test flights in Japan with All Nippon Airways after three years’ worth of development snags.
ANA, which was the first airline to commit to buying the 787 from Boeing, will become the first airline to fly the Dreamliner in commercial service, perhaps as early as next month.
(They’re not as well known to Americans as Japan Air Lines, but they have pretty much eclipsed JAL as Japan’s top airline. ANA has been around since the early 1950s as a regional Japanese carrier. They started flying internationally in the mid-1980s.)
Given the troubled birthing process for this jet, however, and the fact that it still must win approval from aviation regulators before accepting paying passengers, I wouldn’t expect to see Dreamliners criss-crossing the skies until sometime in early 2012.
Meanwhile, since ANA will be flying them before any other airline, you now have reason to start planning a trip to Japan.
And now, here’s this week’s Digest:
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AIR
from Christopher Elliott via SFGate.com
Typos can be costly, especially on airline tickets and particularly on international flights. If the name on the ticket doesn’t match the name on your passport exactly, your trip may end at the airport.
LAND
from the New York Times
If you’re willing to volunteer some time and (maybe) some sweat as a volunteer, it can snag you some serious travel discounts around the world. It puts a whole new spin on the term “working vacation.”
from the Los Angeles Times
A burst of investment from cash-rich Asia is creating a wave of new luxury hotels — in Paris.
SEA
from USA Today
X marks the dock. The Celebrity Silhouette, the last of a half-dozen new cruise ships hitting the waves this year, is due to arrive in her winter port in New York in a week and could be available for you to cruise this fall. Meanwhile, here’s a little sneak peek.
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AFRICA
from the Times of Zambia
Zambia re-brands itself with an eye toward more broader, more upscale and domestic tourism. The new theme: “Zambia — Let’s Explore.”
from Lonely Planet
Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gorillas — and live volcanoes — in the mist.
from the Financial Times (London UK)
Since it opened in 1964, the Africa Centre in London’s Covent Garden served as library, resto, pub, meeting house and cultural touchstone for generations of Africans in the United Kingdom who battled apartheid in Southern Africa and ultimately won. Now there’s a new battle underway, to save this piece of modern African history in Britain from the wrecking ball.
from The Telegraph (London UK)
South Africa — and the rest of Africa — by train.
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AMERICAS/CARIBBEAN
from USA Today
Cruise ships are a great there to get to Alaska. But to really see Alaska, you need a train.
from USA Today
Alcatraz, the prison island in San Francisco Bay, makes for a chilling visit during the day, but it’s downright eerie at night.
from Rick Steves via SFGate.com
Amid the great cities, Old World history and ancient art and architecture, don’t forget that Europe also has huge amounts of natural beauty.
from USA Today
Miami turns its graffiti into a tourist attraction.
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ASIA/PACIFIC
from the Los Angeles Times
Five trends to watch in Asian travel.
from the Jakarta Globe
If you love cycling, ever find yourself in Indonesia, you have got to check out these folks. The Komunitas Ontel Batavia (Batavia Bicycle Community) regularly gets together at a traffic circle to show of their bikes. Antique bikes. Sometimes hundreds of them. And the riders dress in period costumes matching the age of their machines.
from the Los Angeles Times
And speaking of bikes, anyone who knows me will tell you that this is my dream ride — a sunrise bike cruise down Mount Haleakala in Hawaii. Twenty-seven miles, all downhill. But it’s not for daredevils.
from the Times of India
Discover Pulau Ubin, the last village in hyper-urbanized Singapore. If you can find it.
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EUROPE
from the Los Angeles Times
New museums sprout up in Amsterdam, Paris and Rome.
from As We Travel
Budget travel…in Switzerland? Is that even possible? These folks swear that it is.
from The Telegraph (London UK)
The twin riverside towns of Deauville and Trouville in France’s Normandy region give the country a second Riviera, not as universally known but no less lively.
from the San Francisco Chronicle
When it comes to Ireland, the charms of Cork just might steal you away from Dublin.