Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Eva Holland

I loved touching down in Whitehorse, the capital of Canada’s Yukon territory, and being surprised by some of its more “worldly” touches—pho, sushi, Starbucks—and the way they sit comfortably alongside a definite frontier vibe in this onetime Gold Rush boomtown.

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

Photo by lilit via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Over at Jaunted, blogger JetSetCD has opened up a conversation on those oh-so-tempting, oh-so-corny souvenir passport stamps.

You know, the ones from places like Checkpoint Charlie, Machu Picchu and so on. And then, beyond the stamps from major tourist sites, there are the just-so-I-can-say-I-was-here countries—Liechtenstein, San Marino and the like—that charge for their entry stamps, too. So, Jaunted asks, are novelty passport stamps worth their price? Or are they just as bad as “buying those horrific gift spoons”?

I have to admit, I’ve never actually been faced with the question before. But I love my passport stamps, and I can’t see putting a set of fake East/West Berlin markers into the mix. On the other hand, though it would irk me to pay, I’d probably want proof that I crossed Liechtenstein’s borders. What about you?

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

That’s how much California officials estimate a high-speed rail system linking the two cities will cost. Jon Gertner’s excellent story in the New York Times Magazine gets at why it’ll cost that much and how plans are developing.

We’ve been tracking the high-speed rail dreams in the U.S. for years, and this is one of the stronger pieces on the subject.

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

The Oecophylla smaragdina packs a flavorful punch. Kristin Luna explains how to get a taste.

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

What do you do, as a pack of popular movie bloggers, when your popular movie blog gets the axe? If you’re Nerve.com’s Screengrab team you go out in style, with a list of the best and worst movie endings of all time.

A couple of beloved travel movies made the list—Screengrabber Andrew Osborne takes aim at the “slap-dash” conclusion to “Easy Rider,” while he praises one of my all-time favorites, “Before Sunset,” for its sublime final moments: “Delpy does a shuffling little dance. Hawke sinks into the couch with a silly grin on his face. And we all learn that the most romantic words of all are not ‘I love you’—they’re ‘Baby, you are gonna miss that plane.’” Amen. And so long, Screengrab.

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

Photo by wit via Flickr (Creative Commons)

I met a woman at a party a few months ago who, when she witnessed my eyebrow-raising eating prowess, revealed she knows of a few secret dining spots: places only known by the covert band of dining cognoscenti, a cabal of eaters who fetishize the idea of eating in places that no one else knows of. I know, it’s exciting. I tried to extract the information from her that night with the grace of a tooth-pulling dentist, but she wouldn’t budge.

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

On the intersection of place, politics and culture

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

For those budget travelers who sometimes prefer to spend money on our drinks than on our meals (who, me?), Matt Gross has a helpful run-down of New York City’s free bar snacks. I can vouch for the tasty popcorn at Temple Bar.

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

Photo by irishflyguy via Flickr (Creative Commons)

As more and more premium passengers move to coach, airlines are desperately trying to find ways to reduce costs and update their fleets. The latest experiment: reducing seat pitch (the distance between a point in your seat and the same point in the one behind you) to make room for a dozen or so extra passengers.

American Airlines assured Travel Weekly that the seats should seem roomier in spite of adjustments to cram in even more. A spokesman described the new sliding feature to preserve legroom “like a La-Z-Boy recliner.” Just, you know, wedged in between 159 other recliners.

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

Photo by Jeff Moss via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Remember One Week, aka Canada’s “Into the Wild”? Well, the movie may never have made it to U.S. theaters, but it landed on DVD this week—and while I wouldn’t count on it being stocked at your local Blockbuster, I can confirm that Netflix is on the ball.

But is it worth a rental? I caught it on an Air Canada flight a few weeks back and had mixed feelings.

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

We did arrive in Seattle....about three weeks ago. I have been without a computer for FOREVER!!! I am not kidding I think I was close to loosing it. Okay, if you must know I have lost it, but now it is found and Oh Happy Day!

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论    

发贴者 healthlifeblog 时间： 6/20/2009 0 评论