Seven Wonders of the World? Vote on Them!

by Iva Skoch on

This is following up on a post by Jamie back in February. There’s only little more than a month left to “vote” on your favorite Seven Wonders of the World, at New7Wonders. July 6, 2007, is the deadline.

Apparently, there have been a staggering 45 million votes on line so far. You can login and choose from between twenty-one buildings or man-made features currently standing.

Right now, the three leaders are the Acropolis, Chichen Itza, and the Coliseum.

The site was started by a Swiss filmmaker who wanted to raise funds to re-raise one of the Buddha statutes dynamited by the Taliban in 2001. (Price tag for the reconstruction? A staggering $50m.) Donations are welcome, and they are going to help preserve these sites.

How to Protect Yourself from Local Evil-Doers

by Neil Woodburn on

Traveling can be a risky venture, especially if you are some bigwig businessman traveling abroad. Such people can become easy targets for nefarious locals out for some quick cash or a large ransom payout. Thieves, however, are equal opportunists and if a businessman isn’t handy, any affluent looking foreign tourist will also do.

So what can you do to minimize the allure you might have for the bad guys? Business 2.0 has put together a two-page guide with some pretty easy tips for blending in and staying safe when the four horsemen of the travelers apocalypse approaches: Mugging, disease outbreak, kidnapping and civil unrest.

My favorite tip was attributed to Robert Young Pelton who carries a decoy wallet stuffed with small bills and expired credit cards. As long as you don’t get mugged twice, this trick should help protect your stash.

Go Now before They’re Gone: Conde Nast Traveler’s 20 Most Threatened Places

by Neil Woodburn on

Travel, on occasion, takes on apocalyptic proportions.

This is a fragile world we live in, after all, and it is no secret that marvelous destinations which beckon our travel spirit simply may not be around for much longer. Or, at the very least, will be so damaged by pollution, global warming, or the heavy hand of man that they will no longer be worth seeing.

This “see-them-before-they’re gone” theme pops up every once in a while in travel literature and when it does, we make sure to cover it for two reasons; we want you to go before they’re gone and we want you to do something to help prevent them from disappearing.

This month’s Conde Nast Traveler (May) has put together one of the very best compilations of “Places to see before they Die.” With an introduction by travel legend Pico Iyer, Conde Nast Traveler jumps into 20 of the most threatened locations around the globe, which, they tell us, “are just a fraction of those vanishing before our eyes.”

Six of the locations warrant an entire page in the print edition describing “what’s at stake,” “the threat,” “best-case scenario,” and “worst-case scenario.”

And don’t think these are obscure places you’d probably never visit. Many of these you’ve heard of before and even though you think you may not want to visit, you’re wrong.

The list is sad and poignant and includes such places as the Borneo rain forest, the walled city of Baku (Azerbaijan), the Jewish quarter in Budapest, the Florida Everglades, Tibet, the Galapagos Islands, Ha Long Bay (Vietnam), and more.

Take a moment and read about these places before they are written about only in the history books.

America’s National Parks: Not so Healthy for the Lungs Anymore

by Neil Woodburn on

America’s National Parks are getting more and more difficult to see. No, I don’t mean that they are more expensive to visit, or there are fewer of them. I literally mean, they are getting more difficult to see.

According to the National Park Service, air quality in many of country’s esteemed parks is worsening. This breaks my heart. Part of what draws me to the outdoors is the crisp, clean air normally found in such abundance. Unfortunately, statistics show that at places like Joshua Tree National Park (one of my favorites), clean air is no longer a guarantee of the outdoors.

In fact, according to an article in the LA Times, ozone pollution has increased in at least 10 national parks around the country; Canyonlands, Craters of the Moon, Death Valley, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, North Cascades, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia-Kings Canyon and Yellowstone.

As one might expect, the pollutants do not originate in the parks themselves, but float over from nearby communities and processing plants. Ugh. This is not a good thing. To check out the detailed National Park Service Report, click here. And then be sure to shed a big crocodile tear like that Indian in the old pollution commercials.

Bald Eagle Cam on Channel Islands

by Neil Woodburn on

Bald eagles in Los Angeles?

Despite America’s national bird still on the endangered list, the bald eagle is making a comeback along the Channel Islands just off the coast of Los Angeles.

With the possible exception of Catalina Island, most Los Angelenos have no idea that an island chain exists just beyond the crashing waves. Catalina, however, is just one of the six Channel Islands which grace the California coast. I try to make it out to at least one of them every year where I can experience the peace and solitude of nature just a 40 minute boat ride away.

Although the islands are home to many sea birds, bald eagles haven’t been seen here since the 1970s when DDT runoff from the Montrose Chemical Company near Torrance began killing them all off.

Now, thanks to a $140-million settlement against the company, researchers are reintroducing bald eagles to the Channel Islands. Success has been slow, but productive. According to the Los Angeles Times, the first two chicks were born a year ago on Santa Cruz Island. In the last month, however, the population has increased with another chick on Santa Cruz and four others on Catalina.

While this is pretty cool in itself, the reason we are bringing it to your attention is because of the opportunity to witness every move the new chicks are making in their nests. Solar powered web cams have been placed at three nests on the islands and can be easily accessed here.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the web cams have built a very passionate fan base that tunes in daily to coo over the chicks. Apparently a handful of viewers have also left the virtual world to travel to California and witness the birds in person–from a safe distance of course.

I love it. Web cams promoting tourism. Take a moment to check it out yourself. I have to admit, those chicks are pretty damn cute. I might just be jumping on a boat myself to go visit them.