Vintage Travel Posters From Around the World to Fuel Your Wanderlust

While we live in a world where we can quickly jet from one side of the planet to the other, there’s still something about vintage travel posters that inspires a sense of wanderlust. Reminiscent of a time when travel was more exotic, and often took much longer than today, these vintage posters seem to capture the essence of travel and adventure.Maybe it’s that essence that we’re always seeking when we set off to our next destination. Whatever it is, there’s no doubt that these posters, all pulled from an amazing collection at Boston Public Library, get us excited about making our way out into the world. From the mysterious landscapes of the National Parks of the West, to the winding railways of Europe, these posters capture travel at its very best. Consider your wanderlust fueled.
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Bikers In Paris: Artcrank Poster Show Comes To The City Of Light

Love bicycles? Love good graphic design? Love transportation-inspired art? You’ll love Artcrank.

The point of Artcrank is simple: get artists that have a love of bicycles to produce unique posters for shows in bike capitals around the world. The result is a fun combination of art and life on two-wheels around the world.

The latest showing kicks off this week in Paris at the Grand Palais, an homage to life on two wheels in the romantic City of Light, a place that has in recent years become home to a burgeoning bike culture. A lot of that is thanks to Velib, the city’s popular bikeshare system that has turned into a model for other velo-aspiring cities around the globe.

From artist Adam Turman:

“While visiting my sister in Paris, she had it in her head that we needed to ride bikes while we were there. My sister used the Vélib’ bikes to get from place to place instead of using the Metro. She said she could see much more of the beauty of Paris that way. She took me for a spin to see everything touristy and not-so-touristy via Vélib’. We rode on the Lover’s Bridge and past the Eiffel Tower, and we even did our reenactment of National Lampoon’s European Vacation scene where the family goes around the Arc de Triumph. That was the highlight of our bike ride through Paris.”

The show features top French, American and British artists and runs through June 21. Can’t make it by then? Not to worry, the show will be moved over and housed at Cité de la Mode et du Design until October 6, 2013.

North Korea poster: a conversation piece, at least?

For travel junkies, there’s a new poster that could be equivalent to putting commemorative plates on display in your home. Show your zest for hitting the road – and how it pervades your entire life – by turning your walls into a shrine to exploring new places. Start with the latest offering from North Korea, and you’ll guarantee the conversation will turn to travel the next time you have guests in your home.

North Korea has just released a new propaganda poster, celebrating the sinking of a South Korean navy ship … despite having denied being responsible for it. Forty-six people died in the event.

Of course, this poster probably wasn’t intended for mass distribution, which means you could struggle to get your hands on it. The only reason word of its existence has leaked outside the country, it seems, is because a Chinese businessman visiting North Korea photographed it. Featured in the photo, according to Radio Free Asia, is “a helmeted North Korean sailor smashing a ship in two” with the words “We will smash you with a single blow if you attack!”
Radio Free Asia adds:

The businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that high-ranking North Korean traders he dealt with “expressed self-esteem in relation to North Korea’s military strength” and told him, “regardless of U.N. sanctions, we [North Koreans have] never stopped reacting.”

“It’s hard to understand how high-ranking officials can adamantly deny North Korea’s responsibility for the sinking of the Cheonan while propaganda posters showing a ship being broken in half by a fist are in circulation,” he said.

Of course, there is a chance that this is an old propaganda poster, created originally in 2002 following a naval clash between the two Koreas. Either way, it’s a must-have or the committed traveler – far better than the sketch of your family by a near-homeless “artist” in Montmartre.

[Photo via RFA, Via Gawker, Business Insider]

Photo of the Day (1/24/07)


When I look at this picture I do not think about an establishment that will allow me to connect with close family and friends during my travels abroad. I do not think about updating my Myspace page with cool shots from the bazaar taken the day before for all my pals to sit green with envy over. Instead I wonder why the little naked baby has a laptop drawn over it in a nice pink colored paint or why the dogs and cats in the poster above wear shades. The baby makes me think of episodes of NBC’s To Catch a Predator and I imagine the animals are concealing blind rolling eyes. Perhaps I need my head checked, but what does it mean and isn’t funny how a picture, a painting and a poster can translate different things in different languages? Surely I am not the only one who thinks so???

Anyhow, major kudos to cfarivar for uploading this shot of the Faraj Internet Cafe located in Rabat, Morocco into the Gadling Flickr pool. It gave me something to think about today.