Best of the Web – Roaming Tales: Travel links for 17 August

Today brings another bumper collection of links to great travel content on the web. I hope you enjoy it – let me know in the comments. If I link to you below, please pay it forward and give link love to someone else.

Debates, trends & reflections

Island caretaker. I was less than complimentary in my recent post on Ben Southall in his post as Tourism Queensland’s island caretaker. But I did enjoy his video of diving at the Cod Hole in Lizard Island and his recent post on Wilson Island. I took a special interest since I’d considered Lizard Island for my honeymoon but decided to go to Wilson Island instead. It feels a bit uncanny that Ben and his girlfriend Bre stayed in the “Isolation” tent-cabin that my husband and I stayed in but I guess it’s not that surprising since there are only six guest cabins on the island. He also had Lynda and Nathan as his hosts, which is funny because I was there for their first week working on the island. Meanwhile, it seems that Tourism Queensland agrees with me and many of the commenters on this blog that Ben has too much on his itinerary and they are now advertising for helpers.

By the way, I’m very much enjoying Anny Chih’s blog. Canadian Anny was a finalist for the island caretaker job and she decided to go to Queensland anyway. Right now she is stuck in Brisbane for work but she still manages to entertain us with tales of eating Tim Tams and she is generous with sharing what she has learned about job hunting in Brisbane with other backpackers.

Why travel? Penelope Trunk has written a thought-provoking post on why travel is a waste of time. I don’t agree with her because I love travel and I think I’ve benefited by doing it. However, she makes some really good points, including the fact that some of the lessons of travel can be learned at home.

Guests and hosts. Joyce Wadler writes about the guests from hell and the hosts who give too much in the New York Times. If that’s not your problem, then perhaps check out Jen Epting’s piece on Matador on how to be a great host. Meanwhile, Valerie Insinna talks about how to deal with conflict in a homestay abroad, also on Matador.

Unplugged. Beth from Wanderlust and Lipstick on unplugging from the world when travelling. How many of you travel with your laptop and mobile phone?

Voluntourism. Steve Jackson at Our Man in Cameroon takes a hard look at volunteer-tourists and missionaries and whether anybody benefits.

Travel regrets. Robin Locker from MyMélange on her travel regrets.

Vacations for health. Brenda Wilson on NPR reports on the link between vacations and good health.

Blogging v journalism. Matt from NomadicMatt reopens the old debate about blogging versus journalism in the travel space. Personally, I think it’s a false dichotomy.

In defence of museums. After Roger Wade at BootsnAll recently wrote about why museums are overrated and “real culture” is to be found outside, Eva Holland at WorldHum has responded with a spirited defence of museums.

Lesson in gratitude. Modern travellers have it good compared with their Victorian counterparts, according to this picture gallery from the UK’s Daily Telegraph. (Link via WorldHum).

Travel companies on Twitter. Darren Cronian at Travel Rants has gone incognito to investigate how travel companies are using Twitter.

Staying at home. Ellen Perlman on Boldly Go Solo argues it’s not a vacation if you stay at home, whether you call it a ‘staycation’ or not. That doesn’t mean you need to go far… Kayt Sukel writes on Travel Savvy Mom about exploring your own backyard and letting children immerse themselves in nature. And it seems camping is at a record high in the UK, according to the Times.

Home is where the heart is. Susie of Arabia writes about her mixed feelings on returning to Saudi Arabia after a visit back to the US.

Places

Arctic plunge. I have finally found someone who is just as crazy as I am! Kristin Luna from Camels & Chocolate and I have both been swimming in the Arctic Ocean in our bikinis, three years apart.

Nicaragua. I wrote a guest post for Travelojos on Nicaragua and why it’s emerging as a tourist destination.

New Mexico video. I love this video from the Galavanting girls who took a trip down to Taos, New Mexico. It’s both funny and informative and never drags.

Egyptian temples. Jessica Wilson from FushMush explores the temples of Egypt – Luxor and Karnak in this post.

Town of books. Heather Cowper has written a post on literary Hay on Wye on the English-Welsh border for Europe a la Carte.

Banksy trail. John Lee writes about visiting Bristol on the trail of street artist Banksy, originally published in Canada’s Globe and Mail.

Jefferson pilgrimage. On Intelligent Travel, Sarah Aldrich learns more about Thomas Jefferson, one of the American Founding Fathers, through books and travel.

Syrian cities. Lara Dunston from Cool Travel Guide is back in Syria (she wrote the Lonely Planet guide book to the country) and she says Damascus is buzzing right now. Lara says Aleppo is Syria’s second most atmospheric city after Damascus and has a great souq (market) and charming boutique hotels, though the location of the Aleppo Sheraton is unbeatable.

Costa Rica for baby boomers. Doris Gallan writes a guest post for the Travel Experta on what makes Costa Rica a great destination for baby boomers (links to part three – also check out part one and part two).

Saigon. Liz Ledden has written a great guest post on the ever-changing Vietnamese city of Saigon for EverTheNomad.

Gorillas in the mist. Molly Feltner tracks gorillas in an newly reopened national park in the Congo, and writes about it for Intelligent Travel.

Coral gardens. Margaret Neopomuceno writes about saving the Coral Triangle in the Philippines for Intelligent Travel, while Wendy Bone writes about ‘coral restoration’ in Indonesia after the tsunami for BootsnAll.

Eating in Montana. Antonia Malchik on Perceptive Travel Blog on where to eat after exploring the beauty of Whitefish, Montana.

Vancouver Island. Tobias Nowlan for Intelligent Travel on wildlife watching in Vancouver Island in Canada – think whales, wolves and sea otters!

Vienna. Cristina Dima writes a guest post for Europe a la Carte on why she fell in love with Vienna, Austria.

Parisian pastry. Angela Nickerson at The Gypsy’s Guide interviews pastry chef David Lebovitz in Paris.

Elegant Stockholm. Jeanne, the mum of Soultravelers3, contends that Stockholm is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. What do you think?

West Africa. Laban Carrick Hill has written a beautiful piece about Ghana in West Africa for the New York Times. I love her powers of description and narrative structure.

Western Australia. Ben Keys shares his 10 don’t-miss places in Western Australia for Matador – a great resource for me as an Australian who has never made to the west coast. I take issue with his contention that this is the “real Australia” though – what does that even mean? Sydney is real and with one-fifth of Australia’s population it is also pretty representative of the nation. I guess it depends whether you are going for people or landscape.

Morocco by numbers. Jen Laceda on Folie a Deux on real-life prices in Morocco.

Ramadan. Virginia Jealous writes for The Australian on the rhythms and rituals of Ramadan in Banda Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia. Meanwhile, Joyce Hanson has written for Brave New Traveler on five ways travellers can embrace Ramadan.

Wild horses. I love the sound of taking a three-day ride at the Wild Horse Sanctuary in Mount Lassen, as described by Christine Delsol in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Tea serenity. This tea plantation in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia looks wonderfully serene. Thanks to Cate at the Caffeinated Traveller for sharing.

Route 66. Begin your road trip at Route 66 in Chicago, says Dominique King at Midwest Guest.

Practicalities

Grandpa’s ashes. Can you take human ashes on a plane? Janelle Nanos at Intelligent Travel needed to find out.

Cinque Terre lodging. Jeanne from Soultravelers3 shares her best tip for lodging in Cinque Terre, Italy.

Flight attendants. Darren Cronian from Travel Rants writes about passengers’ experiences of dealing with airline cabin crew.

In-flight WiFi. Ed Perkins writes about in-flight WiFi for the San Francisco Chronicle – coming soon to a plane near you.

Indian summer. Most travellers avoid India in summer because of the heat – Mariellen Ward argues this is a mistake on Matador.

Chartering a yacht. David G. Allan on the New York Times gives the lowdown on chartering a yacht in the Greek Islands in response to a reader’s question.

Trapped on the tarmac. Joe Sharkey writes about the rights of airline passengers for the New York Times. Meanwhile, Robin Locker at My Mélange shares some tools that travellers can use to improve the odds of not being delayed.

Airport transfer. Jane L. Levere looks beyond the cab and explores the growing array of options for getting to the airport, for the New York Times.

Road trips. Sheila Scarborough shares her tips on planning a road trip with children and why she prefers backroads on Family Travel Guide.

Couchsurfing. Save money by using couchsurfing to see the world, writes guest poster Baker on Get Rich Slowly.

Photography

Canadian paddling. Beautiful photo from a paddling river trip in northern Canada from Carlo Alcos on Matador.

Nepalese trekking. Photo essay on the landscape and people of Nepal from a trekking trip north of Kathmandu from Tabatha Smith on Matador.

Chilean girls. Kymri Wilt from MiraTerra offers this charming photo of two girls peaking over the wall of the football stadium in Natales, Chile.

Shelly beach. Peter Carey from The Carey Adventures takes a photo of the shelly beach in Iluka, northern NSW, Australia.

Rural mailbox. Another picture from Peter Carey’s recent trip to Australia – an old milk jug reused as a mailbox. I love this because he says it’s really common in the country in NSW and Queensland – and yet it’s not something I’ve ever noticed before.

Carter’s trousers. Kelly from Travellious photographs the statue of Jimmy Carter in Rapid City, South Dakota from the waist down. (I love her comment about going on a road trip with nature lovers).

Varanasi colour. Colourful pics from Varanasi, India from Beth at Wanderlust & Lipstick.

Michigan. Tim Marks from the Wandering Photographer brings us this statue in Detroit commemorating the underground railway that took slaves to freedom in Canada. Then at the other end of the state, he took these pictures of Copper Harbour on Lake Michigan.