Great American Road Trip Redux

by Erik Olsen on

Just before making this post, I decided to check how many times we’ve used the term “Road Trip” on gadling. So I decided to do a search and so many results came up, that I lost count at 40 or so. Well, here’s another. But let me say up front that this is a particularly good road trip entry. Or at least, the article that I am referencing is particularly good. It comes from our friends at Worldhum and was penned by co-founder Michael Yessis. Yessis attests that we are in the midst of a new road trip era, with more people hitting the road than ever before, and doing so imbued with the ethic of finding something out there, call it freedom, call it a break from the tedium of a desk job, call it love for the open road or a passion for fried food. Something is making us hit the road.

Yessis hit the road with his dad, a la Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and perhaps it was this trip that made him aware of his own road trip fever…or perhaps he is right, and there is something happening here. Take, for example, Oprah’s recent gallivant across the nation with her best friend (and a score of cameras and crew). Or take Rocketboom babe Amanda Congdon who, after being abruptly fired from her sit in front of a map job has taken to the road with AmandaAcrossAmerica, a site chronicling her own cross country journey. Of course, then there is RoadTrip nation, the TV show, book and (soon, right here!) podcast with one of the founders. I could go on, and Yessis does so in his article, which I suggest you check out…check out, perhaps, before planning your own Great American road trip.

Sydney Wins…Again

by Erik Olsen on

Probably the most frustrating things about this story for me is that I’ve never been to Sydney. Australia is the only continent, in fact, that I’ve never visited…a fact that distresses me a great deal. Something simply MUST be done to rectify this. But that, dear gadling reader, is not you problem. So onto the news at hand.

The news at hand is this: Sydney, the Australian cultural capital (I said CULTURAL Capital, please no emails about geographic illiteracy) has once again been selected as the world’s number one city by readers of Conde Nast Traveler. This is frightening to say, the 11th time the harbor city has won the award since it (the contest, not the city) began in 1988. That’s quite an amazing feat for a former penal colony that supported Britain’s criminal and bureaucratic castaways. OK, ok, ease up. I know that’s an old tried and true way to upset Aussies. Again, no email, please (that means you, Howie ;-)). BTW: Budget Travel Magazine has got a piece on Sydney y’all might enjoy.

Anyhoodle, the idea is that readers…apparently an itinerant bunch…selected the best city based on ambiance, friendliness, culture sights, restaurants, lodging and shopping. About 28,000 readers voted this year, giving Sydney a score of 87.7, followed by the Italian city of Florence with 86.8, and San Francisco and Bangkok each with 85.9. Why New York is not on the top of the list is a mystery to me, especially since I know both Bangkok and New York and…well, Bangkok is exciting at all, but the best? Nah. All said, though, more than ever before do I need to hustle and get these bones to the land down under.

Madrid’s Airport Wins Plaudits

by Erik Olsen on

I’m a big fan of airports. Not just because when I am in one of them it means I am traveling somewhere (which I love). I enjoy them for their look and feel. For their vibrant mood suggesting a humanity on the move, of cultures intermixing. This is especially the case when an airport is well-designed. Think of the United Airlines terminal in Chicago’s O’Hare airport. The gaping spaces above, the jazzled (new word) multicolored lights overhead as you cruise through the people mover, the broad terminal halls. It’s a lovely airport that fills you with zeal and appreciation and gladness to be alive in the 21st century. Or at least, that’s how I feel about it

Well, apparently a new airport terminal in Madrid’s Barajas International Airport, has got a lot of people talking. It, too has dazzling lofty light filled halls where passengers come and go. And it’s look is so new and appealing that it recently won a major award. Saturday m the terminal was honored with the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize, Britain’s most prestigious architecture award. The building was designed by Richard Rogers and cost $7.2 billion. It is said to double the size of the Spanish capital’s main airport when it opened in February. I have not seen it yet, but as I perused some photos of the new terminal, I decided that the next time I’m in Spain, I’m going to make a special trip to check it out.

Malcolm X Birth Site

by Adrienne Wilson on

Aficionados of African-American history should be happy to know that big plans are underway for the Malcolm X birth site out of Omaha, NE. While on a recent trip of the Omaha area, I myself rediscovered and remembered that Malcolm X was born in Omaha and quickly took off to see the controversial Black leader’s old stomping grounds located at 3448 Pinkney Street. At the present time being the state of Nebraska has a placed a rather decent sized historical marker in the area of which Malcolm and his family resided up until he was about four years old. And to be quite honest, I was very impressed with the marker and the details on the life of Malcolm X included. With the exception of a few street signs indicating it is indeed the area in which Malcolm X was birthed, the marker is the only major attraction to be found in the 10-acre green space.

Future plans include the construction of a learning center, museum, library and an outdoor amphitheater where visitors can come to study the times, writings, and teachings of Malcolm X – all of which should hopefully be finished in another two years. If you can’t wait for the project’s completion head to the Malcolm X Foundation online to find out about visiting sooner and perhaps you can stop into the African American bookstore for a conversation with Marshall Taylor. Speaking with Marshall is one of the bigger highlights as he is full of information on the organization and African American history period.

In short the exchange of conversation and the marker is an attraction worth anyone’s time.

Hungry Planet: The Book

by Erik Olsen on

It’s already been pretty much established that America is a fast food nation. In fact, a book by Eric Schlosser with that exact title pretty much spells it all out. Many of us eat our own weight in hamburgers and fries every year, and you could fill a Volkswagen with the amount of grease that oozes its way though our bodies in a lifetime.

But is America unique in this respect? I’m always reading articles about how the Chinese are becoming increasingly obese. Same with the Europeans…yes, even the culinarily snooty French. But it still raises a very interesting question: What does the world eat?

In an amazing-sounding book of photos and text called Hungry Planet, photographers Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio offer a study of families from around the world, revealing what people eat during the course of one week. Each family’s profile provides a description of their weekly food purchases and is accompanied by photographs of the family enjoying food at home as well as shopping and out in their community. There is also a main shot showing the family surrounded by, well, food. The book also contains essays by a gaggle of well-known writers like Francine R. Kaufman, Corby Kummer, Charles C. Mann, Michael Pollan, and Carl Safina. I’m actually listening to Pollan’s Botany of Desire right now on my iPod, so I’ve been tuned into these “What do we eat and why” books, shows and articles.

Anyway, I thought this was one of those really simple, but cool, ideas that reveal a lot about how we live in this fast food day and age.