Ode to the expat newspaper

One of my favorite things about traveling, in addition to foreign supermarkets, oddball museums, and miniature toiletries, is the local English-language expat newspaper. When I’m home in New York, I tend to get all my news online, either directly from news websites through specific searches or curated from friends’ links on social media (one of the best sources for news from US newspapers is Canadian NY1 anchorman and New Yorker favorite Pat Kiernan‘s site Pat’s Papers). Sorry US newspapers, I know I’m part of the problem. But while I’m traveling, I love to grab the local newspaper over hotel breakfast or in a coffeeshop and learn about local issues, news, and phenomena.Last month in Malaysia while reading the New Straits Times, I learned about how competitive the Chinese are at a kite flying festival and how southeast Asian children have to be taught to detect sour milk. The travel section reviewed a new hotel in Penang with a first impression of “adequate” and the Niexter insert written by Malaysian teenagers taught me all about malapropisms. A couple at our hotel told me they came to Penang after reading an article on the Hotel Penaga’s renovation from the paper in Kuala Lumpur.

It was from Istanbul’s Today’s Zaman that I learned about the excellent expat community and online forum I’ve become a part of in the last year, and I now have friends who have worked at Zaman and their competitor the Hurriyet Daily News. When I first visited Turkey in 2008, I recall reading an interesting editorial in one of the papers about how stealing things from airplanes like safety cards can cause delays, as the plane can’t take off without enough for everyone. The torn out article is long-gone, but I’ve retained the factoid and it keeps me honest on airplanes (though I’ve been tempted to take a souvenir from some eastern European airlines). When the Hurriyet turned 50 this year, writer Jennifer Hattam wrote a great piece on the particular challenges of not only translating the language of news, but the cultural specifics and background as well.

Expat news doesn’t only come in print form. I tweeted about expat news sources and read how writer Lisa Bergren relies on the BBC for news as well as comfort, and CJGuest recommends Al Jazeera from the Arabic world, the German Deutsche Welle, NHK from Japan, and Russia Today from the Russian Federation. Gadling’s own Grant Martin likes the South China Morning Post and the more western Sydney Morning Herald.The local English-language paper doesn’t always have the freshest content, the most stellar writing, or the coolest layout, but it provides an invaluable look into regional and national issues. Expat news can also provide a lens through which to see world news through local perspectives, and help us keep in touch with the sentiments and opinions in our home countries and cultures.

Gadling readers, do you have any favorite news sources abroad? Please feel free to share in the comments.

Photo courtesy Flickr user Ed Yourdon

Expanded Delta Airlines seating options excite tall (and cheap) travelers

Think about your last flight: Were you comfortable the whole time, or did you feel more like a sardine shoehorned into a tin can?I’m always the sardine – guess that’s what I get for being six foot tall and cheap.That might be changing now, thanks to some old-fashioned airline innovation.

The Sydney-Morning Herald reports that Delta Airlines is getting ready to offer “economy comfort” seating that will offer four additional inches of legroom and 50 percent more reclining.

Better yet – the new seating class is offering free liquor.The price? An extra $80 to $160 each way. High-level Delta frequent fliers will receive the upgrades for free, according to the Herald.

Five aircraft models are set to get the new seating option, including the Boeing 767.This is probably the most exciting development since some airlines started handing out those delicious Biscoff cookies on early-morning flights. After all, airlines are finding any way to tack fees onto our fares, so why not spring for a little extra comfort while you’re at it?

The price really isn’t all that bad either – and this is coming from someone who has seriously considered hiding her dog in her purse to avoid the pet surcharge.Yes, I did think about it – and no, I didn’t do it. Would you pay the added fee for the extra legroom on your next Delta flight?

[Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images]

The world’s most disappointing tourist attractions

The Taj Mahal. La Sagrada Familia. The Grand Canyon. These are places that give visitors goose bumps and must be seen in person. The kinds of places that photographs just can’t do justice. I know that when I arrived at the Taj Mahal my jaw dropped. I was in awe. But not all travel destinations live up to the hype. All to often, you arrive at your prized spot only to snap a perfunctory photo and get back into your rental car feeling disenchanted and cheated. The Sydney Morning Herald did us a solid and put together their list of the world’s most disappointing tourist attractions.

Included on the list are Buckingham Palace (“It’s just a big grey building.”), the Spanish Steps in Rome (“It’s hard to get excited about a flight of stairs…”) and New York’s Times Square (“And what’s there to look at once you arrive? Billboards?”).

I missed the Spanish Steps when I was in Rome because I decided to take a nap instead of joining my friends on that walk. Their reaction when they returned to our apartment? Some shrugged shoulders and a lot of “meh.” And living in New York, I can tell you that Times Square is nothing more than one of Dante’s outer circles of hell, filled with sidewalk hustlers peddling schlock and not much else.

Take a look at their list and let us know what you think. Ever been underwhelmed by a famous landmark? What places have lived up to your high expectations? Drop us a line in the comments.


Click the pictures to learn about some unusual amusement parks, from R-Rated “Love Land,” to a park with a ride called “Dog Fart Switchback.”

Alternatively, click the images to learn about the most unusual museums in the world — covering topics from funeral customs, to penises, to stripping.



The best cocktails in the world

According to Genevieve Swart of The Sydney Morning Herald, the term sundowner, meaning sunset cocktail, originated in Africa, where they have some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.

Swart has taken special pains (and pleasures) in finding the most beautiful places on the planet for sundowners. Her list includes hotel and restaurant locations in Cape Town, Santorini, Zanzibar, Norway, Brazil, Cambodia, and Florida — yes, Florida. She even found the best drinks! Would I like a Veligandu Secret in the Maldives? Yes, I would!

Unfortunately, I’m stuck in New York for the moment – but I bet I can find a patio on the Hudson River where they’d be willing to bring me a drink and tell me I’m in Asia. This “sundowner” idea is great!

[via The Sydney Morning Herald]