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.

Advice for the first-time solo traveler

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Over at Vagabondish, Amanda Kendle offers some great advice and encouragement for anyone taking their first solo trip abroad. Research your destination, she writes, and sketch out a rough itinerary of your trip, but don’t over-do it:

“The most important aspect of your itinerary is that it must be flexible. Schedule days just for traveling, and extra days for contingencies. There are so many factors which might change your plans: you love or hate a place, someone you meet recommends somewhere unmissable that you hadn’t heard about, you get sick, the weather’s good or the weather’s bad.”

Indeed. One of the biggest mistakes first-time backpackers make is overplanning. So many times, I’ve heard people say, “I’d love to stay here a few more nights, but I’ve already reserved a room somewhere else,” or “I can’t stay; I told myself I’d be in Argentina by Sunday.” If there’s ever a time when you should be able to go where you want, when you want, it’s when you’re traveling.

Another piece of advice for the first-time traveler is this: Try not to get stuck on the well-worn backpackers trail. I know it’s not easy, especially for the first-time traveler, but traveling is so much more challenging and rewarding when we step off the usual path. So how to do this? First, I’d suggest Couchsurfing, which offers short homestays with locals in damn near every city in the world, even those well off the tourist trail.

Second, though we imagine guide books to cover every one-horse town in the world, that’s not the case. Stepping off the tourist trail can be as easy as hopping on a bus to a town (or village) that’s not listed in your guidebook. Granted, it may not be the most exciting town in the world, but it will still offer a peek at a place untouched by tourism. That’s more than can be said for almost everywhere else you’ll visit.

Read the full article here, and happy travels!

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.

Airport experiment offers separate security lines for business travelers, families

by Aaron Hotfelder on

The much-maligned Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is experimenting with a new plan at Salt Lake City International Airport designed to take some of the stress out of going through security lines. The program, known as Black Diamond, offers travelers the choice of waiting in security lines labeled “Green,” “Blue,” and “Black Diamond,” borrowing the skiing terminology of the nearby slopes.

The “Green” lane is for passengers who may need extra time going through security, like those with special needs and families. The “Blue” lane is for more frequent travelers with a carry-on bag, and the express “Black Diamond” lane is reserved for business travelers and those who travel regularly. The TSA is careful to note that the levels of security in each line will be the same. (Take that, would-be terrorists!)

This program seems like a good idea for just about everyone involved. Families no longer have to endure the impatient glares of hurried business travelers behind them, and frequent travelers who are all-too-familiar with the oftentimes arduous security process get to zip through the line in a fraction of the usual time.

Of course, it’s impossible to enforce who goes into which line, since travelers evaluate their own level of travel expertise. It’s not hard to imagine families standing in the frequent traveler line (“We take a vacation every year!”), but overall I think the program makes a good deal of sense.

More here.

And read about another of the TSA’s efforts to improve its dismal reputation here.

A Map for Saturday to be shown on MTV

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Back in June, Justin Glow interviewed filmmaker and former Gadling contributor Brook Silva-Braga about his round-the-world documentary A Map for Saturday. In the interview, Brook said that the movie would premiere on MTV some time in the near future, but he couldn’t give an exact date. Well, now he can.

Brook recently informed me that A Map for Saturday will air on MTV in the U.S. on March 1 at 2:00 pm (EST, I think). The film will be a somewhat condensed version, and it will continue to play on MTV throughout the year.

Be sure to check out Justin’s review of the film, which is available for purchase right here.