Talking Travel with economist and traveler Tyler Cowen

by Aaron Hotfelder on

For several years, economist Tyler Cowen has been the man behind Marginal Revolution, one of the world’s most popular economics blogs. In addition to being an economics professor and regular contributor to the New York Times, Tyler is also well-traveled, and often discusses his thoughts on travel and world affairs on his thought-provoking blog. I recently interviewed Tyler via e-mail about his travel experiences, and whether being an economist changes the way he travels.

AH: When and how did your love of travel begin?

TC: My love of travel began relatively late. At 23 I decided to go live in Freiburg, Germany for a year. I was hooked before my first day — spent in Mainz, Germany — was over.

AH: How does being an economist inform the way you travel? What are some surprising or counterintuitive tips for discovering the best a country has to offer?

TC: Being an economist means there is always, and I mean always, something interesting to look for. In the limiting case, if a country or place is really boring, suddenly it is fascinating to try to understand how it got to be so boring. Economics suggests there is always a “why.” Curiosity is what makes travel so fun and economics gives you one way of organizing your curiosity and framing your questions.

My main tip is simply: “Go, go go!” Go. People have a status quo bias when they make decisions and they don’t take enough chances. My colleague and co-blogger Alex Tabarrok makes an interesting point. If you knew your life were much shorter you would travel to those places you always wanted to see. If you knew your life were to be much longer you would have more time to travel; again you would travel more. So, are you trying to tell me that your expected lifespan is just at that length where you shouldn’t travel more? I don’t buy it.

AH: What are your favorite places in the world to visit? Any destinations that you’d really like to visit, but haven’t?

TC: Mexico, Haiti, and Brazil are clear favorites for me. I love the New World and its sense of being fresh and undiscovered. I regret never having been to Cali, Medellin, Santa Cruz (Bolivia), or northern Chile.

AH: “I’d love to travel, but it’s just so expensive,” people always say. What is your response to that?

TC: It’s easy enough to travel cheaply. Just don’t get fixated on Europe, which is now virtually unaffordable. Stay in a rural Mexican village for a week and you will save money and have the experience of a lifetime. The U.S. dollar is still strong in plenty of countries. Is Honduras — a lovely country — really too pricey for you?

Be sure to check out Tyler’s blog, Marginal Revolution, where he’s recently discussed the costs and benefits of long-distance relationships, abolishing cafeteria trays, and congestion pricing to reduce traffic in the air and on the road.

His most recent book is Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist. His ethnic dining guide for the Washington D.C. area is available online here.

Without Baggage: A traveler’s online magazine with brains and heart

by Jamie Rhein on

Sarah, a Gadling reader, recommended to us another traveler’s online publication she recently discovered. I headed to Without Baggage to see what was there. Hank Leukart’s Without Baggage is an online magazine that delves into the world’s interesting places with a sense of purpose. The essays posted every so often evoke emotions and intellectual pursuits that aim to explore the depth and meaning of travel experiences whether one heads to Laos or Alaska.

Leukart’s latest essay, “stalking the solitary leopard” is the last installation of his three part series chronicling his trip through Botswana and South Africa. The series has the flavor of part travelogue and part critique of human existence. Hank’s writes thematically. There is a deeper meaning within the the mix of writing and lush photographs. Woven together are the specifics of place and his impressions of it. South Africa is not only a place to go, but a place to study the effects of years of apartheid. Enjoying an animal safari has to do with the willingness to be open to any experience, no matter if your original purpose is met or not.

One of my favorite essays, “i’m never leaving thailand. ever” starts:

“UM PHANG, Thailand — I’m never leaving Thailand. Ever.

Just testing. I wanted to see what how I would feel if I decided never to leave. I just finished reading Spiritland by Nava Renek, a novel about a young backpacker and her rollercoaster vacation in Thailand. . .”

Leukart continues with a discussion of Renek’s book and his own desires, plus other people’s fantasies of living in Thailand for the rest of their lives. I have had my own. My daughter would also move to Thailand tomorrow if there was a way and she could take her high school buddies with her.

Leukart has been around the world travel writing for some time now with an enviable list of print magazine and newspaper credits that attest to his passion. Like Sarah said, Without Baggage is a place to return to in case Leukart has more of the world he wants to share. In the meantime, there are plenty of essays for a leisurely approach.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader or Kellie Pickler?

by Jamie Rhein on

First of all, I really do like Kellie Pickler. She seems like a lovely person and kind. She certainly sings much better than I do and has made more money than I have–way more. I hate feeling mean, (kind of), but she was mentioned in a recent New York Times article as an example of American fondness for being dumb. Dumb might be too harsh. How about ill-informed? Not intellectual?

On the show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” Kellie Pickler didn’t know the answer to the question, “Where is Budapest?” She’s cute as a button, but she hadn’t heard of this city before and made the situation worse by saying she thought Europe was a country. (see YouTube video)

Susan Jacoby, the author of the book, “The Age of American Unreason” writes about situations such as Kellie Pickler’s geography blunders as a problem in the United States. According to her findings, Jacoby thinks there is a general hostility to knowledge. There is a funny, but very sad anecdote she presents about two men she overhears talking about Pearl Harbor and the Vietnam War. You didn’t know there was a connection? There isn’t. The two men were a bit confused. One of them hadn’t heard of Pearl Harbor. The other said the Vietnam War started after the Vietnamese dropped a bomb in a harbor. That’s interesting. Overhearing the conversation inspired Jacoby to write the book. I’m inspired to read it since I’m a befuddled wondering how people could be satisfied living in the world and have no interest in what is past the borders of where they live.

The 5th grader did know where Budapest is. There is hope. Hopefully, he’ll remember when he hits high school and after he graduates.

Do you lie when you travel?

by Abha Malpani on

I’ve just finished reading Chuck Thompson’s book Smile When You Are Lying — a good read I will write more about later — and there are many things that stuck with me (for different, random reasons). One of them is his suggestions to lie for benefits when you travel .

His argument is that travel-companies lie to us all the time (for example an airline’s “on-time” record that is always finessed in undetectable ways) so there is no harm playing the same game to our advantage. For instance: When you are booking a hotel and you are asked if you have a corporate discount, say yes and provide the name of a Fortune 500 company. They are unlikely to cross-check and you will get a better deal.

He also says: “…if you are creative and willing to sacrifice some personal integrity deals will fall your way more than not.” His examples: 1) You are prone to deep-vein thrombosis and need a bulkhead seat; 2) you just pulled a red-eye shift at work and you’re the best man at a wedding; the minute you get off the plane to have to race to the rehearsal dinner so can they block out an empty row at the back so that you can get some rest?

These lies are harmless, and looks like they have money-saving and added-comfort benefits.

I have no issues white-lying in general, especially in personal situations when it can save you from hurting someone else. For example: I’d rather say “I can’t come to your birthday because I have diarrhea” than “I hate your friends and really don’t feel like it.” As for white-lying while traveling, call me over scrupulous, but I wouldn’t be able to do comfortably nor convincingly, so I wouldn’t. Would you? Do you?

More on global happiness

by Iva Skoch on

Since Eric Weiner’s book, The Geography of Bliss tops all kinds of bestseller lists, the concept of happiness–and the concept of measuring it–seems to be high priority. Why we are so obsessed with happiness is certainly interesting, but even more interesting, I think, is that–contrary to the spiritual teachings out there–money apparently does buy happiness.

As reported by the Holland Herald, using data from the World Database of Happiness, the top 5 happiest countries are also some of the wealthiest countries in the world, despite their lack of sunshine:

  1. Denmark
  2. Switzerland
  3. Austria
  4. Iceland
  5. Finland

On the flip side, the bottom 5 are some of the poorest:

  • Tanzania
  • Zimbabwe
  • Moldova
  • Ukraine
  • Armenia

The interesting part is that most people experience a happiness dip between the ages of 30 and 50. Those are generally not the happiest years in a person’s life. Those are also, paradoxically, the wealthiest years or a person’s life. Hmmm.

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The happiest fliers in the world are the ones riding on the new Singapore Airlines A380:

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