Seven ways to explore the world without leaving home

by Katie Hammel on

Travel can be an escape – a chance to get away from the stress of our daily lives – but it can also be much more. Travel is about exploring a destination (new or familiar), understanding and connecting with the local culture, and seeing how people in a different place live.

Even more than the physical act of moving to a new place, traveling is about discovery, and just because you can’t get away from home at a particular time doesn’t mean you can’t still embrace that philosophy of adventure. Here are seven ways to “travel” without leaving your hometown.
Movies
Movies can take us to other worlds – real or imagined, of this Earth or not. Next time you are suffering from serious wanderlust, pick up a movie set in a foreign land. Explore the sweeping grasslands of Kenya with Out of Africa, ride the back roads of South America with Che in The Motorcycle Diaries, wander the chaotic streets of Tokyo through Lost in Translation, or explore India by train on The Darjeeling Limited.
Public transportation roulette
Travel is all about exploring a foreign place. For most of us, that doesn’t mean we need to venture far to discover a place that is new to us. I’ve lived in Chicago for three years, but there are still pockets of the city I’ve yet to step foot on. It’s easy to fall into a routine and only visit the same reliable places in your hometown, but this can lead to a feeling of boredom. Spice up your daily life by seeking out new places in your own city.

If you live somewhere with a good train or bus system, pick a weekend to play what I like to call “public transportation roulette.” In Chicago, I hop on one of the El lines and get off at a stop I’ve never visited before. Then I spend the afternoon checking out the area’s restaurants and shops. If your city has an ethnic enclave, like a Chinatown or Greektown, spending an evening wandering the streets there can also feel like a mini cultural journey.

Books
Just like movies, books can take us places (see, that poster in the Library didn’t lie!). Whether you prefer to read creative nonfiction set in a specific place or places – explore the idiosyncrasies of the Chinese with J. Maarten Troust in Lost on Planet China, ride the rails through Asia with Paul Theroux in The Great Railway Bazaar, or return to the Paris of the 1920’s in Earnest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast – or to read more about the idea of wandering (try The Little Price by Antoine de Saint Exupery), books can help keep us in a traveling state of mind.

For a whirlwind tour of the world, try an anthology like the Best American Travel Writing series. Or for a mini shot of travel inspiration, I keep a copy of Make the Most of Your Time on Earth: A Rough Guide to the World on my coffee table and flip through it often.


TV
When I start to get itchy feet but know that I don’t have a trip scheduled for a few weeks, I start renting all my favorite travel shows. I explore the world through food with Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations, or laugh along with Ian Wright and the Globe Trekker crew as I learn about destinations I plan on visiting in the future.

Food and drink
Traveling through my taste buds is one of my favorite ways to “virtually” experience a destination. In most countries I visit, I try to schedule a cooking class to learn to make at least one local dish. When I get home, I can then make that meal any time I am feeling nostalgic for the country. I can’t make fresh pasta without being transported to my honeymoon in Tuscany. Empanadas and some Malbec wine take me back to Buenos Aires, and fresh paella recalls my days in Barcelona.

Even if you didn’t learn to make a special dish while you were in a country, you can try to recreate memorable meals at home, or just pick a local specialty from a country you’d like to visit, and make it with the help of a recipe found online. If you can’t cook more than a piece of toast, no worries – just head to your local ethnic restaurant. You might not be fooled into thinking you are really in Ethiopia as you spoon up stewed meats with spongy injera bread, but a little taste of a foreign country might satiate you until your next trip.

Theme nights
Remember that episode of the Gilmore Girls when, after Rory’s big trip to Asia was cancelled, Lorelei turned the living room into a tour of the continent with food and decorations from various Asian countries? Just like that, you can host a theme night to celebrate a destination you’ve been to or are planning a trip to. Heading to Japan? Host a Japanese night, complete with sake, anime movies, sushi and geisha costumes. If you have friends of various ethnicities, take turns hosting and ask each person to tell a story about their culture’s traditions.

Cultural centers and events
A large part of traveling is learning about another culture, and while nothing can really substitute for the experience of being there, a trip to a local cultural center can help you explore the history and traditions of a culture in your local area. Fore example, in Chicago, the Irish American Heritage Center hosts traditional Irish music at the onsite pub. When I sit there and drink a Guinness, I know I’m still in the US, but if I close my eyes and listen to the the proliferation of Irish accents around me, I almost feel like I’m back in Dublin.

Cultural festivals, which often feature food, music, and art from the home country, are another festive way to immerse yourself in a foreign culture.

Bad behavior at the airport, Hollywood style and how to tips for keeping your cool

by Jamie Rhein on

When passengers show bad behavior at the airport, everyone notices. Bad airport behavior is one place Hollywood gets it right, even when scenes are a bit outlandish.

Here are two scenes that show just what can happen when a passenger is vexed beyond sanity–either due to traveling with a family member or the actions of another passenger coupled with airline staff reactions.

Perhaps you’ll see an element of yourself or someone you know in one of these scenerios. If you happen to have one of these moments when traveling for the holidays, try to keep a sense of humor. It can help.

Along with a sense of humor, there are a few tips to keep in mind to help you not go bonkers. If you do go bonkers, check in with Gadling, we’d love to tell your tale. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

First up: Rain Man. Here’s what happens when two family members have a different notion of travel. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman may be brothers, but their travel preferences don’t match.

To keep from having your own Rain Man situation, particularly when traveling with children, talk over the trip beforehand. Explain what will happen at the airport before you get there. Go over the various steps like waiting in line, going through TSA and boarding the plane. One resource that’s helpful for traveling with children is Shae By Air, a DVD made for children about taking an airplane trip.

For adults who have a fear of flying, there are resources aimed for you. Scott previewed Flying without Fear. Also, in one of his Plane Answers posts, Gadling’s own pilot extraordinaire, Kent Wien presents other tips for those afraid to fly.

Second up: Honeymoon in Vegas. If there was ever an example of passenger rage, this is it. Nicolas Cage perfectly nails the emotions. Here’s what happens when a customer service agent is overly solicitous to one very irritating customer. Tom warned about this in his post about the problem with travel professionals going that extra mile.

When another passenger is driving you nuts, try to stay calm by realizing you’re about to reach your limit. If you are in a hurry because you may miss your flight, calmly ask if you can please cut because you are about to miss your plane. I’ve seen people do this before and it works. At all costs, don’t raise your voice and start spewing spittle. It just won’t help at all.

Third up: Meet the Parents. Ben Stiller doesn’t go nuts when he’s dealing with this gate attendant’s power hungry nonsense, but her behavior does add fuel to his going bonkers behavior once he’s on the plane. Let’s call this priming the pump. The video embedding function is disabled, thus I couldn’t put it in this post but it’s an hysterical scene that’s so worth the watch.

For another example of airline personnel’s bad behavior check out these videos. This is one flight attendant who needs a chill pill.

–And, once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

The Western will never die at Old Tucson Studios

by Sean McLachlan on

The Old West was a place where there were gunfights on every street, the bank got robbed every day, and every saloon was filled with girls dancing the can-can.

Well, actually it wasn’t, but that’s the way it seems from the movies, and a lot of those movies were filmed at Old Tucson Studios.

Located a short drive west of Tucson, Old Tucson Studios is the perfect place to film a Western. There’s an entire recreated Western town there surrounded by Arizona desert, with the Tucson and Catalina Mountains providing a scenic backdrop. Oh, and the sunsets are more beautiful than anything you’ll ever see on the screen.

The main attraction at the studios is the town itself, which has provided a backdrop for seventy years of films. Movie buffs will be in a constant state of deja-vu. Wasn’t that saloon in The Outlaw Josie Wales? Isn’t that the ranch from Bonanza? In case you’re having trouble playing Spot-The-Set, there’s a seventieth anniversary exhibit on right now showing never-before-seen production stills from some of the many films that used Old Tucson Studios. A preview video can be seen here. Some of the employees are really knowledgeable, so you might want to go on one of the historical tours.

There’s plenty going on too. Costumed performers rob the bank, there are gunfights full of stunts, and even magic shows and train rides. It’s all a bit hokey, but that’s part of the fun. Kids love it.

Unfortunately there was a bad fire in 1995 that destroyed many of the buildings and irreplaceable movie history, but there’s still plenty left to give you a good dose of movie nostalgia. So saddle up and ride down to Tucson, and while you’re there you might want to see some more of the Old West attractions southern Arizona has to offer, such as the ghost towns, the Saguaro National Monument, and the Old Spanish Trail. Tune in next time when I’ll be talking about Tombstone, a real Wild West town.
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Explore London with Sherlock Holmes

by Katie Hammel on

In anticipation of the Christmas Day release of the new Sherlock Holmes movie (starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law), Visit Britain has developed a microsite to help guide fans to the London locations used in the film. The site also offers possible itineraries for a Holmes-themed tour of London.

The list of London stops on the Holmes tour includes St. Paul’s Cathedral, Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, Freemason’s Hall, Brompton Cemetery, and the Sherlock Holmes Museum. The site also suggests a drink at the Sherlock Holmes Pub (decorated with Holmes memorabilia) or walking tour, “In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes”, offered by London Walks.

For those venturing out of London, there are additional filming locations in Manchester. Cheshire, Kent, Leeds and Suffolk in England, plus spots in Scotland and Wales.

Top Ten All-Time Scariest Travel-Themed Movies

by Annie Scott on

Halloween is a-comin’. In the mood for some scary movies? So are we! That’s why we’ve made a list of the Top Ten All-Time Scariest Travel-Themed Movies for you. Don’t worry, we won’t spoil the endings, just give you the gist and the Netflix links. Watch at your own risk; you may never travel again.

The Top Ten All-Time Scariest Travel-Themed Movies

1. The Exorcist — It all goes to Hell (somewhat literally) when Father Merrin is leading an archaeological dig in Iraq and pulls Pazuzu out of the sand. Be careful what you dig up on your trips to ancient cities!

2. Psycho — Gadling does not recommend the showers at the Bates Motel.

3. The Shining — This Kubrick classic starring Jack Nicholson takes place in a hotel which gets snowed in for the winter. All hotel hallways have a similar look to them, and all will feel a little more dangerous when you’ve seen what little Danny sees.

4. The Strangers — The most recent scary flick on our list (2008) stars Liv Tyler and Australian supermodel Gemma Ward. You know that isolated vacation home, or perhaps cabin, that you long to escape to? Watch this first. (Or don’t.)5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre — Oh my gosh, people. Don’t pick up hitchhikers, and don’t enter strange houses in isolated towns where you’re investigating graveyard vandalism and corpse defilement. This is Not Getting Killed 101.

6. The Descent — Spelunking is cool and all, with the stalactites, stalagmites and fascinating species of animals who’ve evolved to live underground, but first, find out what the name of the cave is …

7. The Hills Have Eyes — If someone invites you on a road trip and you don’t want to go, pop this 1977 Wes Craven hit into their mailbox. They may reconsider.

8. Hostel — Ah, backpacking. It’s all fun and games until you visit the wrong hostel. Just remember: if you’re abroad and someone invites you somewhere promising loose women and good times, you are not that good looking. Run for your life.

9. Vacancy — Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson may not be your idea of a good horror film duo, but the concept of this movie will freak you out next time you visit an isolated hotel with no cell reception — oh yeah, and, you probably shouldn’t do that.

10. The Blair Witch Project — Ten years later, we are still laughing about the one sentence review: “Three potty mouths in a thicket.” Still, if investigating local ghost stories or taking extensive hikes is part of your regular vacation fare, make sure you’ve seen this cult favorite.

You’ll note that in all cases, we’ve linked the originals, not the remakes. That wasn’t an accident. Just sayin’.

Happy Halloween!