Oprah’s 10 terrific reads for 2009 showcase diversity and travel

by Jamie Rhein on

Regardless of what one thinks of Oprah, it’s hard to argue that the woman doesn’t have her thumbprint on some mighty great stuff. Her “10 Terrific Reads for 2009,” for example, is filled with suggestions that capture the flavor of travel, adventure and diversity. Many of them are about people from one country who have been brought to another by life’s circumstances or their drive to explore.

If you read these 10 books, I’d say you’ll have a thought-provoking and enlightening journey through certain parts of the world, particularly Africa. Before you head out on your next journey, pick up one of these and pass it on.

Here are the 10 books with the countries that provide the setting or settings. For a summary of each book, click each title.

  • The Bolter, Frances Osborne–Kenya (Great Britain connection)
  • Dreaming in Hindi, Katherine Russel Rich–India (U.S. connection)
  • Little Bee, Chris Cleve–Great Britain (Nigeria connection)
  • Blame, Michelle Huneven–U.S. (This one doesn’t have a cross-cultural component but is compared to Sand and Fog which is one of the best novels showing cross-cultural connections gone wrong that I’ve ever read.)
  • Losing Mum and Pup, Christopher Buckley–U.S. (Another without a cross-cultural component, but loss of parents is cross-cultural and Buckley’s dad, William F. Buckley certainly had a lot of opinions about the world.)
  • Zeitoun, Dave Eggers–U.S. (Syrian connection) I met Dave Eggers. He’s as wonderful in person as his writing reflects. Truly splendid. I’m buying this one.
  • Say You’re One of Them, Uwem Akpan–Kenya and Rwanda. Akpan is a Nigerian writer.
  • Some Things that Meant the World to Me, Joshua Mohr–U.S. Part of this novel takes place in Home Depot in San Francisco. Doesn’t the bring up an unusual mix of images?!
  • The Invisible Mountain, Carolina De Robertis–South America. The reading guide mentions Argentina.
  • Strength in What Remains:A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness, Tracy Kidder–Burundi and U.S.

Tell your travel disaster story and win a $10,000 trip

by Katie Hammel on

Does misfortune seem to follow you when you travel? Ever been delayed on the tarmac for 10 hours, arrived to find your luggage was lost, your hotel had burned down, and you’d misplaced your passport? If you’ve got the mother of all travel disaster stories, Travel Guard insurance wants to hear from you.

On December 1st, they’re launching a contest to find the worst travel tale of woe, and the person deemed to be the “World’s Unluckiest Traveler” will be awarded a $10,000 dream vacation.

Every month, one winner will be chosen (by votes) to receive a Flip MinoHDTM camcorder. Another winner will be chosen at random from among the people for voted for that story as the worst. Each month’s “worst” winner will then be entered to win the fabulous grand prize, a (hopefully disaster-free) trip worth $10,000.

So if your travels have left you broke or beaten down, get your story ready and turn your travel disaster into something positive.

Woman makes bomb threat to delay boss’ plane

by Katie Hammel on

At some point, most travelers will either come close to missing a flight, or actually miss it and have to wait for the next one. It’s not a fun situation to be in – praying that you make it, or that your flight is delayed just a few minutes so that you can get on it, and then sitting in the airport for hours if you do miss the plane – but it’s certainly not one that justifies faking a bomb threat.

Yet that’s exactly what one woman is accused of doing in order to help out her boss, who was running late to catch his flight from Miami to Honduras.

Officials at the Miami Airport received a call and an email on Wednesday saying there was a bomb on the American Airlines plane. They searched the plane, but found no bomb, and then traced the email to 31-year old Claudia De La Rosa’s computer. She was arrested and is now being held on $7,500 bail.

During questions, the woman said that she had made her boss run late and, worried that he would miss his plane, she decided to call in the bomb threat. She figured the bomb search would delay the plane long enough for her boss to arrive and get on the flight.

A little lesson for the over-achieving assistants out there: no job is worth getting arrested for and calling in a bomb threat is never a good idea. Just let your boss miss his plane.

[via USA Today]

Gadlinks for Friday 11.27.2009

by Brenda Yun on

It’s Black Friday! I hope you all survived the mall madness. We can look forward to more Christmas lights and even more shopping deals through the weekend and then Cyber Monday! It will be an exciting few days for sure. Here are a few exciting travel reads from across the web, too.

‘Til Monday, have a great weekend. Don’t spend too much money!

More Gadlinks here.

Stop the plane! Coyote crossing

by Annie Scott on

Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina is having an unusual problem which is increasing in frequency: Coyotes, one of our Top Ten Most Badass Animals Native to the USA, won’t stay out of the runways.

You’d think the noise, the frequent airplanes zooming by, and the lack of much flora or fauna in the area would deter them, but no. “The critters can wreak havoc, causing delays in takeoffs and landings. In September, an American Eagle jet struck a coyote on a runway,” reports the LA Times.

Apparently, airport and federal wildlife employees have been attempting to scare off the coyotes using cap guns and bottle rockets, but they’ve taken things a step further — or should we say “taken things a step out of their backyards from the 1950s” — and drafted up a wildlife management plan for the Federal Aviation Administration to review. The proposed solution is age-old: Build a better fence. (And keep the grass cut.)

[via LA Times]