Tag Archives: Japan

the SUNDAY TRAVEL DIGEST

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A roundup of the good, the bad and the bizarre from the world’s best travel media

The view from Terminal 5, London Heathrow | ©Greg Gross

A gritty French port city remakes its image. A problematic airliner runs into more problems. The concept of couch surfing takes a hit. And an African airline sets out to create its own low-cost spinoff.

MARSEILLES — THE UN-PARIS
For years, this French Mediterranean port city had a three-pronged image problem in the eyes of would-be travelers:

  1. It was old and rundown.
  2. It was the gateway to the rest of Europe for illegal drugs from abroad, and
  3. It wasn’t Paris.

But as the New York Times is reporting, a wave of new hotels and restaurants, coupled with a revitalized waterfront and better public transit, coupled with great Mediterranean climate, great beaches and a lively ethnic mix, is prompting visitors to view Marseilles in a better light.

All of a sudden, not being Paris doesn’t seem like such a handicap.

DREAMLINER: THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES
When a Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrived in Japan last month for a week of tests with All Nippon Airways, it looked as if the Dreamliner was finally ready to leave its history of problems behind.

Comes now word that Air India has been told by Boeing that it won’t be getting theirs until December, a delay of two months. The same report, from India’s DNA (Daily News & Analysis), says that even after the tests, ANA is still waiting on its first Dreamliner.

Two months is no big deal, right? Especially for a state-of-the-art new airliner that promises more comfort and fuel efficiency.

But Boeing is already more than three years late delivering the Dreamliner. In those three years, the cost of each airplane has gone up by more than half, to nearly $200 million.

The DNA story doesn’t really tell us how Air India officials reacted to this latest delay, but I’m guessing they’re not amused.

Meanwhile, Boeing’s main rival, Airbus, is building a new fuel-efficient competitor to the Dreamliner.

Will this fiasco ever end?

ALSO CHECK OUT:
Delta does Africa

BED AND BEWARE?
Since 2008, there’s been a growing buzz about Airbnb, an online service that has more or less institutionalized what’s known as “couch-surfing.”

Basically, Airbnb hooks up people looking for a cheap place to stay with people wanting (or needing) to rent out part of their home — all over the world. The owner makes a little money; the renter saves a ton over regular hotels. It’s made world travel affordable to more people — in some cases, for the first time in their lives.

It’s also made Airbnb into a billion-dollar enterprise.

Lately, however, we’ve seen another side of this arrangement.

As reported in Tech Crunch, one Airbnb host in San Francisco described coming home to her apartment to find it had been robbed and wrecked. And the initial response she got from Airbnb was less than sympathetic.

Much less.

Another came home to to find that his place not only had been vandalized, but that his Airbnb guests had left “meth pipes everywhere.”

Airbnb is now scrambling to make things right. Meanwhile, the cops are after the cretins who ruined the lady’s apartment. Hopefully, their next out-of-town guest lodging will have bars on it.

Still, the whole episode reminds us that it’s not just the buyer who needs to beware.

TONY x 2 — “THE LAYOVER” IS COMING
We told your earlier that Anthony Bourdain was producing a spinoff to his popular cable TV foodie/travel show “No Reservations” for the fast-approaching fall season. Well, we now have a launch date.

The folks at Eater.com has the particulars here.

VISA-FREE TRAVEL
When it comes to freedom to roam the world without visas — and without the accompanying visa fees — where you live matters. And on that score, our good old US of A is one of the best places on Earth from which to hold a passport.

But not the best.

According to the British financial magazine The Economist, the country whose passport will let you visit more of the world’s countries without a visa is Sweden, tops on a list of 20 nations.

Actually, they’re in a three-way tie with Finland and Denmark, with Germany and Japan close behind.

The United States? We’re sixth.

You can see the entire list in The Economist graphic here.



And now, here’s this week’s Digest:

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AIR
from USA Today
Long flight delays that leave passengers sitting endlessly on the tarmac had been thought dead and gone thanks to tougher new federal aviation rules. Surprise: they’re making a comeback.

from Associated Press via Yahoo! Travel
All over the country, airlines operating small passenger planes to and from rural American airports are getting millions of dollars in federal subsidies, even if they aren’t carrying a single passenger.

from News.com.au (Australia)
Among the videos offered these days to passengers on flights of the Australian national airline Qantas is a documentary film entitled “The Female Orgasm Explained.” Uhhh…

LAND
from the New York Times
How to beat the high cost of roaming abroad. Not you, your cellphone.

from NewsLeader.com
Delaware is great cycling country.

from USA Today
Ten great places to explore urban neighborhoods in North America. What makes this list remarkable is that one of their top ten urban communities is in, of all places, Detroit.

Also from USA Today, ten of the best cities to explore by bike. And unlike the first list, most of these winners are west of the Mississippi.

from Fox News
A collection of ten common travel scams around the world. See, learn and avoid.

SEA
from Cruise Critic
Size is not the only way in which all cruise ship cabins are not created equal. Cruise Critic readers weigh in with their choices for the best lodging at sea.

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AFRICA
from HowWeMadeItInAfrica.com
Getting in the air game: Kenya Airways putting together its own low-cost regional airline to serve East and Central Africa. The name: Jambo Jet, the word “jambo” meaning “hello” in Swahili. If they embrace and maintain high maintenance and safety standards, KA could launch a revolution in regional African air service.

from We Blog the World
A night in Dakar. The capital of Senegal may be called “the Paris of Africa” by some observers, but it’s decidedly more African than Parisian. And that can be both a good and a bad thing.

from The Guardian (London UK)
This definitely is not a good thing: Piracy of the sort that has terrorized fishing boats, freighters, oil tankers and even cruise ships off the coast of Somalia are now on the upswing off West Africa. Naval officers and maritime officials in Nigeria are meeting with the US Navy to plot countermoves.

from France 24
Speaking of Senegal, an historic bridge in the old colonial capital of Saint-Louis is getting a much needed makeover and safety refit.

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AMERICAS/CARIBBEAN
from TravelingCanucks.com
Foodies’ delight: the Vancouver Summer Night Market.

from Airbnb
Spend your vacation in a treehouse. No? Not even if the trees in question happen to be the tallest and oldest living things on Earth?

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ASIA/PACIFIC
from the New York Times
Five months after the disastrous earthquake/tsunami/nuclear emergency, travelers are still trying to figure out how to deal with Japan. Those who set their fears aside are finding bargains.

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EUROPE
from Smarter Travel
Five cheap European travel destinations, four in Eastern Europe and the fifth being Turkey.

from The Spectrum
A cruise down the Mekong River reveals the breathtaking beauty and bitter history of Vietnam.

from EuropeBudgetGuide.com
The ST crew didn’t list Poland among their cheap Euro-spots, but they could have. Cheap eats in the city of Krakow, a burgeoning tourist destination in one of Europe’s cheaper destination countries.

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the SUNDAY TRAVEL DIGEST

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A roundup of the good, the bad and the bizarre from the world’s best travel media


BOURDAIN BUZZ
Anthony Bourdain, TV’s favorite antihero/contrarian/rebel-without-an-apron chef, has got a new TV show coming out this fall.

Anthony Bourdain

It’s a spinoff of his successful No Reservations globetrotting gastronomy gig, arguably the most popular show on cable television’s Travel Channel (which offers an amazing variety of shows that seem to have little, if anything, to do with travel).

It’s supposed to be called 24-Hour Layover.

Bourdain — or Tony, as his fans call him — is about as unpretentious and unstuffy as wealthy and world-famous TV chef who never actually cooks anything on TV can get.

And I mean that in a good way.

Oh, you want details about the show? The Huffington Post spilled a few of the beans here.

CELEBRATE JAPAN — AND PRAY
Long before Tokyo became the capital and cultural heart of Japan, that role was filled by Kyoto. Through wars, natural disasters and even Time itself, it remains unshaken and unspoiled.

©Chiharu | Dreamstime.com

July is the month that Kyoto traditionally celebrates the Gion Matsuri, a month-long festival held as part of a purification ritual to satisfy the gods who govern natural disasters — like earthquakes.

Which is likely to give this year’s Gion Matsuri a special poignancy.

Events are scheduled throughout the month, including some spectacular parades, featuring some floats that would put my beloved Mardi Gras in New Orleans to shame — like the one seen here at right.

Kyoto was untouched by this year’s catastrophic earthquake/tsunami in northern Japan and is not affected by the nuclear emergency that followed, so you can travel to this beautiful ancient city without worry.

If you can’t make it there this year, then vicariously jump on that float and send up your own prayers and good thoughts for the Japanese people during this important month in the country’s cultural life.

STRASBOURG IN SUMMER
I first fell in love with Strasbourg about four years ago during the Christmas holidays. I wanted to see how the birthplace of the European Christmas market celebrated Noël, and I wasn’t disappointed. Ever since, I’ve automatically associated Strasbourg, the capital of France’s Alsace region, with long nights, cold days, and hot, spiced wine, vin chaud in French.

But while Christmas may be “the big thing” in Strasbourg, the city and the region surrounding it are just as worthy of a visit in spring and now, in summer, as London’s The Independent points out.

Regardless of which season you choose to visit Strasbourg, getting there is a breeze thanks to France’s high-speed train, the TGV. From the United States, you can fly into Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG), jump on an eastbound TGV without even leaving the airport and be in Strasbourg in a little over two hours of quiet, fast comfort.



And now, here’s this week’s Digest:

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AIR
from USA Today
The FAA and air traffic controllers agree on new rules to combat excessive fatigue on the job. Hopefully, this means no more controllers falling asleep on duty.

from USA Today
Should babies be banned from First Class on jumbo jets? Malaysia Airlines says “Ya!” (‘yes’ in Malay) — and they’re doing it.

from the Wall Street Journal
Do airplanes cause rain?

LAND
from SOSF.com
That’s short for “Streets of San Francisco Bike Tours.” Think The City is too hilly for fun and comfortable group rides? These folks beg to differ.

from laist.com
And speaking of bikes, can it be that the world capital of four-wheeled neurosis, aka Los Angeles, is finally discovering the bicycle?

from Forbes
The ten coolest places to get your vacation on in Latin America, as seen by a Brazilian travel outfit. SLIDESHOW

SEA
from InnerSea Discoveries
When it comes to cruising Alaska, bigger may not necessarily be better.

from Chris Cruises
The Zumba exercise craze comes to Princess Cruises.
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AFRICA
from Uncornered Market
Want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain? Here’s a breakdown on what you’ll need, and what you’ll need to do.

from allAfrica.com
Namibia opens a self-drive tourism route designed to show off the beauty of the flora, fauna and people of the Okavango River region. It’s one of 61 such routes created on the Mother Continent by an outfit called Open Africa.

from allAfrica.com
Want to get a taste of the caliber of film-making going these days in Africa? Check out The Mirror Boy — shot on location in West Africa. But this isn’t a Nollywood production. It was filmed not in Nigeria, but in the Gambia. Don’t sleep on this one when it comes to the States.

from allAfrica.com
US Embassy: Nigerians wanting to visit the United States have to apply for a visa a year in advance…at least. The reason: more applications than the embassy can handle.

AMERICAS/CARIBBEAN
from Gadling
If you’re thinking about visiting Cuba, you need professional help. Here’s where you can find some.

from the San Francisco Chronicle
Mexican chocolate. It’s nothing like the Hershey’s chocolate syrup you mixed into your milk as a kid. It’s way better. How it’s made, how it tastes and the best parts of Mexico to enjoy it.

from Food & Wine via Yahoo! Travel
How and where to stay in or near some of America’s most beautiful national parks — five-star or under the stars, your choice.

from CNN
NOW HIRING: State tourist police in Guerrero, Mexico. REQUIREMENTS: Must be gorgeous.

from France 24
Need a good laugh? Head to Canada.

ASIA/PACIFIC
from The Guardian (London UK)
If that ultra-modern new high-speed train connecting Beijing and Shanghai leaves you longing for just a touch of the old China, here are a few of the extraordinary things you’ll finding waiting for you at either end of the line that can take you back in Time.

from msnbc
China opens the word’s longest ocean-crossing bridge. How long is it? If you run across it instead of driving, you will have completed a marathon…and change. Officially, it’s 2.5 longer than the old record holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in New Orleans. And the NOLA is already crying foul.

from the Los Angeles Times
An American couple tries to breathe new life into a still wounded Cambodia, one tourist at a time.

EUROPE
from France-Best-Restaurants
You keep hearing about all these fabulous Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, but who knows where actually are? These guys do.

from Budget Your Trip
Ten free things to do in London. Being one of the priciest world capitols on the planet, anything free is worth noting.

from CNN Travel
Despite its economic crisis and turmoil on the streets, Greece is actually expecting tourism to pick up this summer. The source — patriotic Greek-Americans, using their vacation dollars to try to help their homeland.

from the San Francisco Chronicle
Bored with bicycling through the wine country in California, France or Chile? How about a bike tour through beer country instead? I’m speaking, of course, about the Czech Republic.

TV and travel

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How did I get hooked on travel so young? Blame it on an Egyptian cinematographer and a young black comic from Philadelphia.

There’s a movie out called “Midnight in Paris” whose biggest star is, well…Paris. Such is the power of place that some cities possess.

Which got me thinking about the films and TV shows that stoked my love of travel as a kid.

There was “N.Y.P.D.,” (not to be confused with N.Y.P.D. Blue, which came out decades later), which gave me my first real glimpse of New York City — warts, grit and all.

It’s West Coast equivalent was “The Streets of San Francisco.” Having partly grown up in the Bay Area made watching “Streets” a special treat.

When “The Graduate” showed Dustin Hoffman on an AC Transit bus down Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley near the University of California campus, I had to smile. I’d been on that campus, that street, even that bus!

But the most important to me by far was “I Spy,” which made TV stars out of the late Robert Culp and a young black comic from Philadelphia named Bill Cosby. I loved it.

Why? Because these guys went damn-near everywhere.

Unlike most TV shows of that era, “I Spy” went to real places — Athens, Rome, Florence, Madrid, Venice, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Acapulco, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Mexico and Morocco.

(This was made possible by a young Egyptian-born cinematographer named Fouad Said who adapted a van to carry filmmaking equipment just about anyplace. His “Cinemobile” quietly revolutionized the film industry.)

I hardly paid attention to the storylines; I just wanted to see where in the world they would end up next. And I told myself that, God willing, I’d see those places myself someday.

Those were major days in America. Selma and the >Freedom Rides had already happened. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were now law.

Now, I was watching a black guy and a white guy traveling the world together — as equals.

Wow.

A decade later, I took my first real overseas trip, to Japan. For any first-timer, Tokyo is major sensory overload. A sprawling cityscape. Seas of pedestrians. Rivers of cars you don’t recognize, all on the “wrong” side of the road. A visual blizzard of signs you can’t read.

But when we arrived at our hotel, the New Otani, seen here, I knew exactly where I was.

I’d “been there” before, with “I Spy.”

Maybe I really could manage this behemoth world capitol.

See, Mom? TV didn’t completely rot my brain, after all.

CYCLING: Africa gets her roll on, Part 1

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What’s a bicycle to you? A child’s toy? A way to burn off some calories? Something to do tricks on? In Africa, it’s a lot more than that.

For me, searching the Web is a lot like travel. I never know where it’s going to take me or what it’s going to teach me.

A couple of weeks ago, a small item on Twitter turned up from a young European cyclist who’s planning a 3,500-mile solo bicycle tour of Africa.

My first reflexive, clichéd thought: He’s nuts. But it made me curious.

So I decided to see what I could find about cycling on the Mother Continent.

Two weeks later, I’m still getting an eduction. It turns out that bicycles are becoming a factor in Africa — not merely for sport or travel, but in its very development, and in ways I never would’ve guessed.

All over sub-Saharan Africa,

For years, individuals and charitable groups have been collecting old bikes and shipping them to Africa to be donated to individuals, families, entire communities. But what's going on now has gone far beyond that.

They're teaching people how to ride. They're teaching bike maintenance and mechanics, even how to manufacture their own bikes. In rural areas, bikes are being used for everything from cargo carriers to ambulances.

Then there’s Craig Calfee of Santa Cruz, CA, a serious bike designer who not only creates bikes out of bamboo, but actually has spent time teaching people in Ghana how to build them themselves.

As you’ll see in subsequent blog posts, they’re doing it now in Zambia, as well.

Am I crazy? Probably. But Calfee is totally serious — and more to the point, so are his bikes.

To understand why is this a big deal, you need to either spend some time in Africa, or just use your imagination.

Imagine that the only water available in your household for the day’s cooking, drinking or any other purpose is in a well two miles from your house. Now imagine that you are the one who will have to walk to that well, pump the water into your bucket or 5-gallon can, and carry it back.

Several times a day, every day of your life.

Imagine that the old joke about having to walk for miles just to get to school every day is no joke at all.

Imagine needing to move 50-pound sacks of rice or cement or some other heavy load, the kind for which we’d simply use a pickup truck. Only you don’t have a pickup and can’t afford one.

This is daily reality for a lot of people in the world, and especially in Africa.

A bike doesn’t need perfect roads, or even paved roads. It doesn’t need expensive gasoline. Unlike the donkey that so many people up and down the Mother Continent still use to haul goods, it doesn’t need to be fed.

And as you can see in the video above, you can carry incredible loads with it.

My admittedly cursory search of the Web turned up 17 different organizations around the United States devoted to getting Africans up and rolling on bikes. I don’t doubt for a minute that there are more:

Akerfa
ARAS
Bikes for Africa
Bikes not Bombs
Bicycles for Humanity
Bicycles Against Poverty
Bikes for Rwanda
Bicycle Uganda
Bikes for the World
Cycling Out of Poverty
IBike.org
Kona Biketown
Mike’s Bikes Foundation
Project Rwanda
Re-Cycle.org
Village Bicycle Project
Wheels to Africa
Zambikes

It’s hardly an all-American effort, either. I found similar groups in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Most important of all, though, may be the homegrown cycling groups, everything from school groups an competitive racing clubs to cycling activist organizations springing up across the Mother Continent.

To them, this is not just recreation. This is practical, sustainable and potentially life-changing transportation.

Not everyone in Africa views bicycles in such a glowing light, as The Economist magazine pointed out a few years back:

“Cycling enthusiasts blame the sweltering heat, potholes, and the dumping of Chinese bikes unsuitable for glutinous dirt roads for the ascendancy of belching minivans, even over short distances…Indeed, Africans tend to turn their back on bikes as soon as they can afford anything with an engine.”

From one African country to another, good roads, knowledge of safe cycling, use of safety gear like helmets and reflectors are all hit-and-miss (which may well be the worst choice of words ever associated with cycling).

And driver indifference to the presence and safety of riders may be worse in Africa than it is in the United States — if that’s possible.

What’s more, bicycles tend to be viewed with indifference by African government leaders and policymakers who look to the developed world for inspiration in planning transportation — and see nothing but large highways and big cars.

But even The Economist concludes that, despite all the shortcomings and stumbling blocks, “with low purchase and running costs, the humble bike could be a key to mobilising rural Africans and unclogging the cities.”

Maybe that young Dutch cyclist is on to something. Little by little, the Mother Continent is getting her roll on — and not just as practical, efficient transportation.

Cycling for sport, and for travel, also is catching on in Africa.

And that’s next.

NOTE: The listing of the above organizations does not represent any kind of endorsement by IBIT or me. I list them here solely as a research aid for anyone interested. As always, do your homework on these outfits before you commit any of your precious time, or even more precious money.

If anyone would like a listing of cycling clubs or advocacy groups in Africa, please leave me a comment on this blog. And if any of these outfits ask how you heard about them, be sure to tell them about IBIT!

ALSO CHECK OUT:
CYCLING: Africa gets her roll on, Part 2

the SUNDAY TRAVEL DIGEST

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A roundup of the good, the bad and the bizarre from the world’s best travel media

jumbo jet terminal, Roissy CDG airport, Paris | © Greg Gross photo

SUMMER FARES — SURPRISINGLY TASTY
The folks at Smarter Travel are reporting that summer airfares, usually the high season for the airlines (as in high prices), are generally holding at unexpectedly affordable levels.

I don’t believe it, either, but they tend to keep pretty good tabs on the up and down movement of airfares, and they swear it’s true.

You can read the details on the ST site here.

They also say that if you’re thinking about traveling this summer and haven’t booked your flights yet, you probably shouldn’t wait a whole lot longer.

Now that, I do believe.

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THE RETURN OF PAN AM — sort of
Speaking of airlines, Pan Am, the big dog of international air travel during the 1960s and a few decades before, is coming back.

Not to your airport, but to your TV set.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a TV series depicting the lives of Pan Am’s stewardesses (that’s what they were called back then, not “flight attendants,” so don’t go there, okay?) will be airing this fall on ABC.

It’s produced by the same folks who created the very popular and successful series Mad Men, so you know what to expect.

Bring the drama!

For more details, read the Times story here.

In addition to the promised “passion, jealousy and espionage,” here’s hoping the series gives viewers a taste of what air travel was like back in the day when it was exciting, semi-glamorous and actually something to look forward to.

In other words, nothing like it is now.

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CUBA — with a twist, but not quite libre
The new rules governing Americans’ ability to legally visit Cuba will be taking effect in a few weeks. Actually, they’re not really new rules at all, but the old rules nullified by the Bush administration.

Will this enable more American travelers to visit Cuba without having to resort to the subterfuge of traveling through Mexico or Canada or some other third country? Yes.

Will they enable you to travel to Cub freely, the way the rest of the world does? Not quite. There are still some humongous catches.

And the anti-Castro Cuban-American lobby in Florida, which has held America’s Cuban policy hostage ever since Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgenico Batista in 1961, is holding onto like a drowning man to every one of them.

You can read the details in this Associated Press story, courtesy of Yahoo!, here.

The utter illogic of the continuing US trade embargo against Cuba — which is the real reason why you can’t freely travel there — has already been spelled out here by IBIT. It hasn’t started making any more sense since then.

In fact, the only thing that makes less sense than the embargo itself is why the Obama administration continues to tap-dance around it.

I mean, if you can “boss up” enough to ignore the sovereignty of a foreign country and the mood swings of a government armed with nuclear weapons to stage a night raid to cancel the world’s most wanted terrorist, how much of a spine does it take to retire an illogical, obsolete and ultimately failed economic embargo?

Just sayin’, Mr. President.


And now, here’s this week’s Digest:

AIR
from the BBC
Does frequent flying make you fat?

from USA Today
Airlines aren’t the only ones competing for your business; airports are, too. Don’t believe it? Check out this newly refurbished Terminal 2 at San Francisco International. So welcoming and comfy, you may think twice about leaving.

LAND
from Frommer’s
Short of cooking for yourself, the best way to lower your food budget when you travel is street eats. Unless your last name is Trump, you can’t eat in three-star Michelin “restos” every day. Lots of cities have street food that’s tasty, filling and cheap. But some stand above the rest. SLIDESHOW

from Frommer’s
There was a time when their poor furnishings, ill-suited locations and all-around tackiness made the term “extended-stay hotel” something more appropriate for a prison inmate than a traveler. But the extended-stay joints are stepping up their game, to the point that the concept may now be worthy of your consideration. SLIDESHOW

from Mother Nature Network
Modern passenger rail isn’t all about speed. On some incredibly scenic routes, the journey itself is still there destination. Here’s MNN’s list of nine, one of which is right here in the United States.

from Frommer’s
How to beat the pickpockets (and no, not by going all Bruce Lee on them!).

SEA
from USA Today
Mutiny on the Love Boat? Passengers from the MSC Opera speak out about a three-day power outage that left the ship adrift in the Baltic Sea in nightmarish conditions — and left some passengers in a mood to revolt.

from USA Today
Do you lose your credibility as rockers if you end up playing gigs on a cruise ship? KISS, greasepaint and all, will be playing aboard Carnival Destiny for four nights in October, so I guess we’ll find out then.

from the San Francisco Chronicle
Up for a little Mexican adventure? The Sea of Cortez has lots to offer.

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AFRICA
from the New York Times
Want an authentic wildlife experience in Africa, minus all the tourist nonsense? The Simanjiro Plains in Tanzania just might be what you’re looking for.

from Traveldudes
How to live like a local in Capetown, South Africa.

from Globetrooper
Seven tips for climbing the tallest mountain in Africa.

AMERICAS/CARIBBEAN
from the New York Times
Viña del Mar is Chile’s seaside Mecca on the Atlantic.

ASIA/PACIFIC
from Gadling
When it comes to decorating big trucks, America’s good ol’ boys have nothing on Asia. In Japan, they call it “dekotora,” and it’s enough to send your eyes into sensory overload. If these rides were “pimped” any more, they might not be legal.

from Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
Naoshima Island in Japan is a tiny bastion of culture that draws art lovers like a magnet. Just try to avoid the height of tourist season. It really is a tiny island.

from the Times of India
A taste of agritourism, Indian style. Get a feel for life in rural India, that different world outside the giant cities and their massive crowds.

EUROPE​
from HotelChatter
When you feel like getting frisky during your Scandinavian travels, the Venusgarden Hotel in Malmö, Sweden has everything you need to get your freak on, including on-site coaching. Yes, coaching!

from Europe UpClose
The Greek islands to escape to when you want to escape the tourist mobs escaping to the Greek islands.

from the New York Times
As time passes, the former East Berlin becomes ever more livable and lively. And a couple of American expats are helping the process along with a restaurant serving — what else? — American food.

JAPAN: Updated travel alert

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State Department says the area beyond the 50-mile radius of the Fukushima nuclear power complex is safe.

The U.S. State Department has revised its April 14 travel alert on Japan following the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster there:

“…while the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant remains serious and dynamic, the health and safety risks to areas beyond the 50-mile evacuation zone…are low and do not pose significant risks to U.S. citizens.”

You can read the entire revised travel alert at the State Department’s travel site here.

(Meanwhile, on the ongoing situation in Greece about threats to and attacks on people of color by groups of right-wing thugs, State’s response remains the same: Crickets.)

WTF: Disaster tourism?

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Starting to pick up a little buzz about people actually trying to get into Japan — not as rescuers or relief workers, but as tourists. If it’s true, it’s not just wrong. It’s sick.

There may be a few folks who want to be able to say “I was there” during the ongoing earthquake/tsunami nuclear catastrophe in Japan.

I personally haven’t come across anyone admitting to this, or even openly contemplating it. But the possibility that this would even cross someone’s mind is, to say the least, stunning.

It’s not new. There’s even a term for it: Disaster tourism. You can look it up.

We saw it during the last horrific tsunami in the southwest Pacific. We saw it in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

There’s even a Web site devoted to what its creator calls “grief tourism,” complete with multiple lists of worldwide disaster or tragedy scenes for the traveler, and as far back in time as the volcanic eruption at Pompeii.

Think I’m making this up? Here’s the site.

I suspect that disaster tourism is a blood relative of poverty tourism or “poorism,” only this somehow seems worse.

I wouldn’t mind going to Japan if there were something I could do that could actually help. I’d much rather visit once things once that shattered nation has been restored.

But now, for nothing more than curiosity — or even worse, bragging rights? Are you serious?

The one redeeming aspect of the nuclear emergency is that it probably will squelch such ideas, at least for most of those so inclined. But perhaps not all.

Never underestimate the human capacity to do something monumentally stupid for the sake of cheap thrills.

STATE DEPT: “Avoid Japan”

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Just in case you couldn’t figure it out for yourself, Washington DC is making it official: Now is a REALLY bad time to be planning that dream trip to Tokyo.

You know the situation in Japan following the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown must be severe when the State Department feels compelled to issue two travel alerts on the same day.

That alone should be enough to tell American travelers that this might not be the best time to be visiting Japan. But just in case, the latest State Department alert spells it out bluntly:

“U.S. citizens should avoid travel to Japan at this time.”

If you’re already in Japan, or just arrived, here are some basics that State thinks you should know, starting with the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which may already have suffered a partial meltdown and is leaking radiation. By this time, you should be nowhere near that facility, but just in case you hadn’t heard:

“The Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) has recommended that people who live within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Okumacho evacuate the area immediately. Japanese authorities have confirmed that the situation remains serious. U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Fukushima Prefecture should follow NISA instructions to evacuate and comply with Japanese government personnel on the ground. More information on the status of the nuclear facilities and on areas affected by power outages is available on NISA’s website, www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english. You can find more information on radiation emergencies from the Centers for Disease Control Emergency Preparedness and Response’ website at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation.”

There’s a little good news, but only a little:

“Flights have resumed at all airports that were closed by the earthquake, except Sendai, Sado, Iwate-Hanamaki, and Misawa Airports. In Tokyo, most public transportation including trains and subways are operating. Many roads have been damaged in the Tokyo area and in northern Japan, particularly in the Miyagi prefecture where government checkpoints have been established on damaged roadways. In Iwate Prefecture, toll road highways are restricted to emergency vehicles only.”

There’s more:

“Temporary shortages of water and food supplies may occur in affected areas of Japan due to power and transportation disruptions. Telephone services have also been disrupted in affected areas…

Even if you’re in Tokyo, safely away from the areas hardest hit, you may still be affected:

“U.S. citizens currently in Japan should be aware that rolling power outages are scheduled for the Tokyo Metropolitan area and in northern and central Honshu. Tokyo Electric Company reports that three-hour outages may occur in various regions, including Tokyo, starting the morning of Monday, March 14. Please monitor the Tokyo Electric Power Company website, http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html, and local news media for specific information and schedules for the planned outages. Radio stations in the Tokyo area that have emergency information in English include the U.S. Armed Forces station at 810AM and InterFM (76.1FM).”

Bottom line: Unless you’re part of some relief effort or rescue team, don’t plan to traveling to Japan until further notice. If you’re already there, heed the instructions of local authorities, stay informed and keep yourself safe.

And maybe, in the midst of one of those rolling blackouts, when everything goes dark and silent for miles in all directions, pray for the people of Japan.

JAPAN: Earthquake disaster

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Prepare to have your travel plans disrupted or even canceled in the wake of the magnitude-8.9 earthquake and devastating series of tsunamis.

Anyone with travel plans to Tokyo or northern Japan should check immediately with their airlines and other travel providers.

You already know the chaos unleashed on northern Japan by Thursday night’s magnitude-8.9 quake and subsequent tsunamis, some of them up to 30 feet high. They’ve already experienced aftershocks stronger than magnitude 7.

Now, there are reports of warnings by Japanese authorities of another possible very strong quake to hit central Honshu, the main island of Japan, which includes nearly all the country’s major cities, including Tokyo.

Power has already been knocked out in large sections of the huge Japanese capital. Trains have been stopped and stranded passengers are walking on the tracks to reach safety.

Under these circumstances, no one should expect non-essential travel to be allowed into Tokyo or elsewhere into Japan for the next 24 to 72 hours.

Even if you can find alternative Japanese airports accep[ting international flights, ground transportation into Tokyo or any major Japanese north of Tokyo figures to be a major mess right now.

Anyone with travel plans to Japan over the next three days should contact their airlines and other travel providers to determine their status. If you have travel insurance for your trip, contact your insurance carrier immediately.

If you have loved ones in Japan, especially anywhere in or near the areas already hit buy the disaster, go to the U.S. State Department Web site Friday morning for information on contacting the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

Those of you who are citizens of other countries should check with the Web sites of your nation’s embassy or consulate in Japan for information about the safety of your friends or family. Expect, however, to have extreme difficulty getting through by phone.

Meanwhile, please join me in praying for the people of Japan.

Passports: The 63 Percent Solution

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©Quinton Davis photo

Two out of three Americans don’t have a valid passport. We have the power to change the world, maybe even destroy the world, but two-thirds of us can’t even legally step out and see the world?

That’s just embarrassing.

The good news from our State Department is that after the number of American passport holders dropped by nearly 3 million in 2009, the numbers began to creep upward again last year, albeit by a measly 400,000.

About 114 million of us have passports, which makes us about 37 percent of the population, well above the 25 percent mark that stood for years.

The bad news: That means that 67 percent of us are without a passport. We still have about the lowest per capita rate of passport holders of any nation in the developed world.

In some respects, we may not be as “developed” as we think.

CAN’T GO ANYWHERE
Nowadays, the lack of a passport can be pretty limiting to a person. Forget about seeing any part of Europe, Asia, Africa, Central or South America.

Forget about taking a cruise anywhere, except Hawai’i or maybe one of our quasi-colonies in the world: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

In today’s post-9/11 world, you can’t even drive across the border into Mexico or Canada without a passport or a passport card.

What’s up with this?

We’ve long been living on a kind of cultural island, protected by friendly neighbors north and south, buffered by the world’s two largest oceans to the east and west. Behind those shields, the American nation grew powerful and rich.

We also grew isolated, and a lot of us were just fine with that, so long as we remained powerful and rich.

STUCK ON THE PORCH
One decade into the new century, things are a bit different. Waves of technology — from the telegraph and the airplane to the telephone, the computer and finally the Internet — send information, culture and people back and forth across the planet almost as easily as air travels over water.

No place is out of reach anymore. The world is well on its way to becoming one large neighborhood, joined by commerce and communications.

But here we sit, two-thirds of us afraid to venture off our sheltered cultural porch, fearing and loathing large parts of a world of which we know little or nothing.

Is this how a great nation behaves?

It’s holding us back economically. A lot of the great opportunities today are turning up beyond our shores, but only those who are culturally agile will be able to make the most of them.

It’s also endangering our safety, because our lack of understanding of the world we live in makes it harder for “we the people” to make smart decisions about our dealings with other nations.

OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD
Whether we like it, understand it or not — and let’s face it, we often don’t — we are a part of this world. We need to be able to function it, thrive in it, get along with others in it, take our full and rightful place in it.

And after four centuries of second-class citizenship, that especially applies to black Americans.

There are places in the world where an ambitious young man or woman who’s got the skills and the drive can find success, regardless of their “paint job.” And if you do a little traveling, you’ll see that for yourself.

That’s why I love seeing see talented young black 20somethings and 30somethings making their way out into that world with determined hearts and passports in hand, making names for themselves as students or professionals in virtually every corner of the globe.

In the process, they’re finding that they can more than hold their own, anywhere.

Writing this blog has afforded me the chance to connect with some of them, and through my Out There series, you will, too. They inspire me, and I hope they inspire you. I’m proud of them.

I just wish there were more of them.

Time to step into the sunshine, America…and step off the damned porch.

GET YOUR PASSPORT!
The State Department has a Passports Page with all the information you need to get you started on the process of obtaining a passport. If you have a computer and printer at home, you can print out the application and mail it in, along with a regulation-size photo of yourself and the required fee.

This link from State will show you where you can apply nationwide. You can search by state or city, or just enter your ZIP code.

You also can apply at your neighborhood Post Office, the advantage there being that their fee includes taking your passport photo on the spot, instead of forcing you to make a separate trip.

If you need a passport in a hurry, there are passport agencies that will expedite the process for you — for an additional, naturally. The bigger your rush, the bigger the fee.