MetaFilter posts tagged with travel and tourism

On the Road, On a Postcard.

sarabeth — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:18:48 -0800

The Motel in America. In a different America, where the novelty of driving cross-country and the charm of the highway strip drew droves of tourists--and their automobiles--from coast to coast in the name of exploration and recreation, motels provided a home away from home for weary travelers. While many of the great motels of the mid-twentieth century have disappeared from the national landscape, the linen postcards left behind in the Motel Morgue can give us a glimpse into what this era of American tourism and leisure looked like.

My New York

shivohum — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:32:20 -0800

My New York : artists, writers, professionals, and New Yorkers of all stripes talk about what they look forward to seeing in the city this fall.

The last resort

MrMerlot — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:33:32 -0800

Martin Parr is a celebrated English photographer who has a reputation for being both preoccupied and inspired with notions of consumerism, foreign travel and tourism. Now you can actually go on holiday with him. The School of Life, a maverick cultural institution in London, is offering a weekend away with the sardonic snapper in the Isle of Wight. Parr has described the Isle of Wight as like "a living theme park, like stepping back into an England of 20 or 30 years ago". For the princely sum of £500, you get to stay in Parr’s favourite seaside hotel, and join him for visits to the Brighstone holiday centre, the Needles, Ventnor beach and "other landmarks of the Isle of Wight tourism scene". According to the website, Parr will discuss his photography as well as his collections of souvenirs and postcards, and train your eye to see the "ugliness in beauty and the horror in leisure". Future holidays with cultural figures are planned by the School of Life, including a tour of the "overlooked delights of Heathrow airport" with philosopher Alain de Botton and an exploration of the M1 motorway. To my mind, this reminds of the sports tours where past greats are paid to guide you around famous stadiums and then sit with you at dinner trading old anecdotes. But does this cultural-history-as-holiday have other antecedents, I wonder?

Tourist Planning

netbros — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:19:20 -0800

A View of America ― Aquariums, beaches, gardens, monuments, parks, zoos, etc. This site aims to describe American attractions that tourists may find interesting. Listings are sorted by state and by category. Also includes recipes, jokes, and puzzles. The site has been around for ten years and continues to grow with age.

Top Tourist Spots Americans Can’t Visit

LarryC — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:56:25 -0800

Top Tourist Spots Americans Can’t Visit. Some will take this as a challenge.

...And Ruby Falls

Miko — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:29:55 -0800

See Rock City. See Seven States.

Embarrasment of Riches

telstar — Fri, 11 May 2007 19:29:14 -0800

Poorism or Poverty Tourism is a growing trend among otherwise thrill-jaded first world tourists and is engendering a lively debate as to whether "poorists" are helping the impoverished areas they are guided through, or are merely gawking voyeurs.

Date with a Transvestite Spirit Medium

homunculus — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:49:08 -0800

Burmese Daze: In which the author submits to the pleasures of a transgender spirit possession festival in Burma. [Via Disinformation.]

Nothing To See Here

chrismear — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:36:23 -0800

Nothing To See Here A guide to "some of the world's lesser-signposted places to go - attractions that may not be all that attractive; coastal towns they forgot to close down; high streets that haven't been homogenised; oddities and one-offs."

FAA space regulations

gunthersghost — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 19:39:42 -0800

Terrorists not allowed in space (the FAA would like to regulate commercial space flights)

Dark Tourism

ND¢ — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 08:57:36 -0800

Katrina Tours! As has been widely reported, tours of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina have begun. What motivates people to engage in "dark tourism"? Is it harmful or helpful to the region? Is it just plain creepy?

The Thousand-Year Spa

matteo — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 06:20:13 -0800

Hotel Godwin. Five-star luxury in Berchtesgaden, Hitler's mountain retreat.

Freedom to Travel

yankeefog — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 08:49:39 -0800

Information for Disabled Travelers Travel may be a basic human right, but it's one that some find harder to exercise; from getting past clueless immigration officials to dealing with a constipated service dog on a cruise ship, tourism presents special challenges to the physically disabled. Fortunately, there's a wealth of information online, including accessibility info for Eurostar trains and specific airlines (the latter courtesy of The Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality), and first-hand accessibility reports from Global Access, Access-Able Travel Source, Rebecca's Travels, The World On Wheels and The Gimp On The Go.

A Manx Notebook

plep — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 10:31:32 -0800

A Manx Notebook. Many things related to the Isle of Man.

Ice Hotel

bluedaniel — Sat, 10 Jul 2004 14:37:21 -0800

The Ice Hotel, a working 5,000 square metre hotel made entirely of 30,000 tons of snow and 4,000 tons of ice.

El Viaje al Infierno

ed\26h — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 03:48:20 -0800

That most peculiar of spectacles the Fiesta de san Fermín (Running of the Bulls) seems to still exist and will be going ahead tomorrow. The event is held in parallel with Feria del Toro (the Bullfighting Fair); the run itself seems to be in the interests of transporting the bulls to the fair while getting them good and angry, confused, scared and weakened in the process. Being that the event is in honor of Saint Fermín, when the San Fermín church strikes 8am, the bulls are released and the runners get underway, trying to avoid them on their just under 1km trip. On arrival at the Plaza del Toro (Bullring) they are herded into corrals and later released so the crowd can watch the matadors kill them in traditional bullfighting fashion [wmv: 380k | 150k | 56k]. Of course, many people are not really so keen on this event; and it seems PETA will be holding one of their typically daft protests. Can't people just throw tomatoes at each other or something?

A Sightseer's Guide to Engineering

plep — Sun, 21 Dec 2003 13:42:40 -0800

A Sightseer's Guide to Engineering. Engineering sights around the USA.

See America!

anastasiav — Mon, 22 Sep 2003 09:54:11 -0800

I have to travel the highways and byways of America by car and train a great deal, and its much more fun if you actually see America on the way. Two of my favorite sites for finding offbeat attractions and tasty eats are By The Way Magazine and Roadside America.

lillitot — Sat, 13 Apr 2002 23:50:53 -0800

Sneaky! Grr . . . A few months ago, while surfing for wreck diving info, I stumbled upon this page as a main link entitled Nightlife in the Philippines. Because it promotes outright trafficking of women, I made a ruckus and sent an email complaining about it to the site admin and our government's Department of Tourism. (Prostitution, BTW, is illegal in the Philippines.) Shortly afterwards, the site admin removed the main link. So how come it's still on the site via this page? I know Southeast Asia (the Philippines second only to Thailand, I think) has a rep for cheap beer and women, but I HATE the fact that many foreigners (like the owners of this shop,) feel that they can buy anything they want while on vacation in third world countries, and that it's alright to perpetuate the trafficking of Filipino women under the guise of tourism. Bah.

shagoth — Mon, 15 Oct 2001 16:49:53 -0800

It's not germ warfare... and it's not terrorism, but it is the strongest argument to put off that Hawaiian vacation this winter to date. Nothing like a little tropical disease to take the shine off of paradise. I wonder what else is passing underneath the radar with this whole war on terror thing.

tamim — Fri, 05 Oct 2001 13:21:05 -0800

Best of Manhattan 2001, the annual guide published by the New York Press might come in handy in case you are visiting New York City to boost our tourism industry. If you already live here, you may want to pick up a free copy on your way to the subway. New York's other free alternative weekly still has their Flash powered Best of NYC 2000 along side a depressing obit to NYC's dying night life on their site. Time Out New York's city guide, and the restaurant reviews in the best 100 and the 2001 Eating and Drinking Awards might come handy for weekend plans. And if you really want to see a hidden treasure of NYC, you may want to go see the Panorama of The City of New York, a 'living model of the City,' first built for the 1964 World's Fair, at the Queens Museum of Art.

tamim — Fri, 01 Sep 2000 05:21:14 -0800

It turns out there are three bike tours in New York City. You can also run or blade through the the city. The Super Roll is a lot less tiring than the bike tours or the marathon.