Intelligent Travel

Global Eye: Italian Leather

Photographer: Senior editor Norie Quintos, Washington, D.C.

Getting the shot: The shot was taken in Florence, Italy, in October 2007, using an Olympus Evolt E-410.

The details: Florence is known for its style. There are fashionably dressed men and women everywhere you go. Those that aren’t dressed up tend to be tourists. The city is also known for its leather goods. You can smell the hide as you walk through the famous Leather Market in the San Lorenzo area. As I passed this busy storefront window downtown, I had to stop. The scene seemed to encapsulate perfectly the city’s fashionable style and penchant for leather. I would have bought a pair if not for the euro sticker shock.

This picture caught our eye while we were looking through pictures from Norie's recent Italy trip. It seemed like a line of grandes dames casually waving hello.

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Traveler Put to the Test

Even with the amount of information available on the Web, nothing beats getting off a plane with a weathered guidebook in your hands. The Denver Post's Ricardo Baca recently put our Italy guidebook to the test, as well as eight others.

Here's what he had to say:

National Geographic Traveler: Italy

Reader demographic: You're educated and appreciate world-class photography and display. You're not interested in an exhaustive collection of sights, hotels and cafes; rather you're willing to allow your guidebook to curate your trip with its own exclusive taste.

It's all in the name: Names don't get more reputable than National Geographic. They don't disappoint, although the offerings are very limited.

Known for: Natch, National Geographic is known for its unique photography. And since these books — like the Eyewitness brand — are printed full-color and magazine- style, the sublime photos get supreme treatment.

The Fortune Cookie's Fortune

What's better than a great meal? Dessert. And better than dessert? Dessert with a side of destiny.

That's right. I'm talking about the infamous fortune cookie. These tasty treats have completed Chinese-food meals in America and around the world for decades. Except in China, oddly enough. And there's a reason for this. The fortune cookie isn't actually Chinese.

According to an article by the International Herald Tribune, the fortune cookie comes ("almost certainly") from Japan. Yasuko Nakamachi, a dedicated student researching at Japan's National Diet Library, has found compelling evidence that traces the cookie's origins to Japan, including an 1878 book (Moshiogusa Kinsei Kidan) about an apprentice in a senbei store (essentially, a bakery). In the book, the apprentice is making tsujiura senbei, or "fortune crackers." So, these "crackers" appeared in Japan almost 30 years before Japanese and Chinese immigrants in California claimed to have invented them. Nakamachi has traced the cookie's U.S. roots to between 1907-1914, or even earlier:

Prior to World War II, the history is murky. A number of immigrant families in California, mostly Japanese, have laid claim to introducing or popularizing the fortune cookie. Among them are the descendants of Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant who oversaw the Japanese Tea Garden built in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in the 1890s. Visitors to the garden were served fortune cookies made by a San Francisco bakery, Benkyodo.

...Nakamachi is still unsure how exactly fortune cookies made the jump to Chinese restaurants. But during the 1920s and 1930s, many Japanese immigrants in California owned chop suey restaurants, which served Americanized Chinese cuisine. The Umeya bakery distributed fortune cookies to well over 100 such restaurants in southern and central California.

We won't explain the entire history of the fortune cookie here, but the IHT article is definitely worth a read.

Photo: Agus Sutanto via Flickr

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Gaga for the Grenadines

It's cold as anything here in the nation's capital and we're dreaming of unspoiled Caribbean beaches, so we'd like to give a shout out to the Grenadines. While some sustainable-tourism panelists argued that cruise culture is taking its toll on the island chain, the Grenadines scored a decent 77 on our Destinations Rated: Islands survey, putting it in the top 20 best islands and tied with Dominica for the top Caribbean island.

So where are they and how soon can we get there?

The Grenadine chain includes 600 islands (many uninhabited) covering about 60 miles in the West Indies, namely St. Vincent, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, and Union Island. In the north, the islands are part of the nation known as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, while southern islands such as Carriacou are incorporated into Grenada.

And now for the goods. Our sustainable tourism experts said:

Beautiful destination for yachting and high-end tourists. Water is scarce so resources must be carefully managed. Good environmental awareness among the local population, who guard their islands zealously. Yachting discharge into the ocean is a problem. Given their fragility, there is need for strict development controls. Otherwise, attractive, friendly people, and good quality of life.

Another panelist bemoaned the behavior exhibited by visitors, especially cruisers:

Visitors are not sensitive to their impact on the environment, especially marine. Many yachties do not see themselves as being 'on' the destination, and is even truer of cruise ships, which boost arrival numbers while doing little for the islands' economies.

Ouch! But, to end on a happier note, another expert added:

One of the last, best hopes of the Caribbean. Bequia is a gem and the Tobago Cays, though overrun with boats, remain the best place to snorkel in the region. The only inauthentic place is Mustique and the two private resort islands.

Ever been? What's your take?

Photo: junksnowgirl via Flickr

Zut Alors! Paris' Car-Sharing Program

Earlier this month, Paris’ beloved leftist mayor Bertrand Delanoë announced plans to begin a city-wide car-share program, which will be modeled after Paris’ current (and wholly successful) bike-share program, Vélib. All I can say is, “yikes.”

I just returned from a month–long séjour in France, and tested out a similar version of the Paris pedaling program in Lyon, which is actually where the idea of a cheap, advertising-subsidized plan was created. The concept, in my opinion, is pure genius. The program clears up traffic congestion, reduces carbon emissions, and allows tourists to get a more authentic look into the city’s culture. It’s amazing how much more of the city you can see when traveling above ground. Plus, I managed to avoid paying anything by returning my bike every 30 minutes and exchanging it for another one. (The first 30 minutes are free.) That, my friends, is also pure genius.

That said, the idea of using the same system with cars is daft. It turns a smart, eco-friendly idea into a messy, untested nightmare. Monsieur Delanoë should let this concept sink shamefully back to the drawing board.

Tasty Destinations

Food + Travel = IT's best friend. That's why we couldn't wait to read Saveur magazine's 10th annual "top 100" list of tastiest destinations around the world. Greek wine from ancient fruit, 2004 White Burgundies, and the cevapcici – "smoky, skinless sausages"--of the Balkans made the list (as did Euell Gibbons, the Grape-Nuts guy, and chopped liver – although we're not sure why), but here are some of Saveur's U.S. picks, which require you to look no further than your own backyard:

Competition BBQ: Saveur calls it the United States' "most beloved national pastime," and for good reason: According to Carolyn Wells, co-founder of the Kansas City Barbeque Society, the number of official BBQ competitions per year has reached 600. Saveur says that the best part about the "sport" is that "the fans are as generously compensated as the players. Attendees get to eat to their hearts' content and bond with fellow 'cue fanatics amid a haze of fragrant wood smoke."

Cincinnati chili: Oh, Ohio. Essentially, this tasty Midwest dish is spaghetti with chili. But it's one of the best chilis in the world. According to Saveur, it comes from Greek and Slavic immigrants, and is a "distant cousin" of pasticcio. Saveur has tips for how to order it the next time you pass through Ohio: order your chili "'two-way' (served on spaghetti), 'three-way' (with the addition of grated cheddar cheese), 'four-way' (with cheese and chopped onions), or 'five-way' (with cheese, onions, and stewed kidney beans)."

Nashville, Tennessee: Like any fabulous meal, a "best of" food list wouldn't be complete without dessert: GooGoo Clusters, invented by the Standard Candy Company in Nashville, have been an American favorite since 1912. We agree: claiming to be the world's first "combination candy bar," the GooGoo is made out of the finest ingredients--milk chocolate, marshmallows, caramel, and roasted peanuts.

Photo: Suwandi Chandra, via Flickr

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How Is Your City Feeling?

We can't help but think that Eric Weiner's research for his new book, The Geography of Bliss, would have gone a lot easier if he'd paired up with Erik Krikortz, the installation artist behind Stockholm's Emotional Cities project. The Internet-based artwork asks people to answer a simple question: "How Are You Today?" and rate their feelings on a scale of colorful smiley faces. Factors like how well you slept, whether you had any physical activity, and how inspired you felt are all part of the equation. The results are then averaged and aggregated by region to get a sense of how a city is collectively feeling. Right now, for example, Washington, D.C., is rather green, while the rest of the world is feeling a bit more yellow.

Erik then went further and negotiated with a building company in Stockholm, where he resides, to project the corresponding colors on huge panels on the side of five buildings. (A live Webcam shows how the lights change with Stockholm's moods.) The result is a very public display of the emotional status of the city, sparking conversations about how we interact with each other and influence our feelings. IT Editor Janelle Nanos spoke with Erik about his own feelings on the project, and where he plans to take it next.

What was the impetus for this project? Did you originally envision it as a work of public art?

When I started working on the project one year ago, I had just launched a similar project, Colour By Numbers, together with the architect Milo Lavén and the interaction designer Loove Broms, also based on a light installation connected to an Internet platform. (In Colour by Numbers, people interacted with the light installation using their mobile phones, though.)

All my projects are staged in public space and/or online. I find that these two arenas are the most interesting places where art can meet an audience in a non-inbreed atmosphere. Also my projects are based on the participation of people and they often do not even exist without people taking part.

How did Emotional Cities evolve out of your other work?

When coming up with the original idea for Emotional Cities I was studying psychology, and in my art I was playing around with concepts on how to publicly discuss basic psychological issues with strong connections to society and politics. "How are you today?" has very political implications if you take the question seriously and discuss it on a collective level.

Hence the project was a product of these thoughts around psychology and society. It was both productive and interesting to use a light installation again as a huge communication tool.

Which cities are currently participating in the project? Where do you plan to take the project next?

Almost a thousand cities already participate in the project. At emotionalcities.com anyone can participate and the project has started to spread internationally. The light installation in Stockholm, at Hötorgshusen (the Hötorget buildings) will be up until March 1 and might come back again next autumn when it gets darker.

In February there will be a light installation in Seoul, South Korea. Next autumn there will probably be a major light installation in Washington, D.C. (in time for the U.S. elections). Other Swedish cities are also in the pipeline. I dream of setting up light installations in cities like New York, Paris, and Tokyo.

Why do you think it's important for us to gauge our emotional status not only as individuals, but as a group?

I think the reflection of life is essential for our individual lives and the foundation of our culture. If you know why you feel bad (or good), you can do something about it. The same goes for our society.

Cinematic Road Trip: Arizona

John Ur makes a pitstop on his Cinematic Road Trip to give us a taste of Arizona.

Back when I was just a wee lad, my mental map of Arizona included nothing but orange sand. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could live there. To me, any desert must be like the Sahara I’d seen on TV. I had no perception that different types of deserts could exist in different climates.

Fast forward some twenty years and my perception of Arizona hadn’t much changed. I expected to see a flat, dry and sandy land sprinkled with a town here and there. Much to my pleasant surprise, Arizona is much more diverse in landscape than I pictured. True, in the south, the land is largely dominated by saguaro cacti and the rugged landscape of the Chihuahuan Desert (as can also be seen in southern New Mexico and West Texas), but as you move north from Phoenix toward Sedona and Flagstaff, the elevation gains about 5,000 - 7,000 feet, with Humphreys Peak topping the state at 12,633 feet above sea level.

Heading north through the state, you will see the landscape shift from the flat desert land in the south to the wonderful red rocks of the central region. Sedona boasts an impressive amount of rock formations, each with their own particular name (based roughly on their shape: Coffee Pot, Bell, Cathedral Rock, etc.). Flagstaff and areas further north are surprisingly green and maintain a moderate climate throughout most of the year due to their elevation. And then, of course, there is the Grand Canyon, which sits in the middle of an enormous canyon country that stretches north into Utah and Colorado and south into Mexico’s famed Copper Canyon. Did you know you could ski in Arizona? Me neither. 

Marilyn's Miscellany: Bermuda Sports

Marilyn starts off the day with a bunch of items to get your heart pumping...

Bermuda Sports

My new Bermudian son-in-law-to-be informs me that for an authentically Bermudian good time, you can't beat Cup Match, a two-day cricket competition between the east-end and west-end cricket clubs on the island, commemorating the end of slavery in Bermuda in 1834. At more than 100 years old, the event has become so popular that the government declared it a two-day public holiday, when businesses shut down and families set up tents and camp in parks and on beaches (not allowed at other times). There's a wacky Non-Mariners' Race where participants construct ridiculous and barely seaworthy floats and generally have a good time.  This year the event falls on July 31-August 1. Bermuda scores three for sustainability: Those attractive, white, stepped roofs on houses channel rainwater to underground cisterns, gas costs about $7 per gallon, and only one car per family is permitted on the island, so most people ride scooters or take the cute pink-and-blue public buses or high-speed ferries.

Flight of the Platypus

I knew about the knitting bloggers like Lolly, but did you know there's an organization called Motorcycle Bloggers International?  One of my favorite members of this group is Flight of the Platypus, which records the author-physicist's motorbike travel escapades in Chile, including some impressive photos of the Chilean alps and an alarming encounter with a cow.

Walking the Basho Walk

Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, the inventor of haiku, took a 1,200-mile hike in 1689, and along the way he composed magical poems that future generations of Japanese schoolchildren would recite by heart. Basho spent five months wandering the mountains, villages, and shores of Japan, carrying nothing but a knapsack, a change of clothing and writing materials. His book, Narrow Road to a Far Province, describes a spiritual journey as much as a physical one, but contains some funny travel commentary about staying in guesthouses:

“Fleas and lice biting; / Awake all night / A horse pissing close to my ear.”

Pilgrims today follow his trail, which has changed a lot in 300 years. In the February issue of National Geographic, novelist Howard Norman embarked on his own journey in Basho’s footsteps, and discovered a a mix of cell phones and temples, sweatshirts and teahouses, pilgrims and Godzilla. Photographer Michael Yamashita relished the challenge of shooting this story, having photographed the trail once before in the 1980s for Nikon. This time around he noticed that “Even in the countryside Japan has prospered so much in the last 20 years it’s unrecognizable between then and now.”

Photo: courtesy Chris Fagg

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Teen Trips that Make Us Long for High School

There's not very much that can make us want to go back in time and re-do high school. But when we heard about a set of trips being offered by National Geographic Expeditions, we seriously considered retaking calculus for a chance to come along.

Expeditions has partnered with Putney Student Travel to create a new series of travel programs geared for high school students. Better to get the travel bug early, after all. Then you'll have more time to see everything. And with a great list of destinations, including  Belize, the Caribbean, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Galápagos, India, Iceland, Ireland, Mali, Peru, Spain and Tanzania, there's certainly plenty to see.

Student Expeditions will pair National Geographic's expert writers, photographers, scientists, and explorers with students for three-week "On Assignment" trips that will focus on a whole bevy of fantastic offerings: writing, photography, documentary filmmaking, culture and arts, Spanish language, archaeology and ancient culture, climate and geology, wildlife and conservation, music and dance, and spiritual traditions. As part of the trip, students complete projects like writing a short story, shooting a portfolio of photographs, editing a documentary film or presenting findings from an archaeological dig. Even better, students get the opportunity to give back to the places they visit.

“In crafting these expeditions, our aim has been to build in opportunities for adventure, cultural immersion and community service throughout the trip,” said Lynn Cutter, National Geographic’s senior vice president for Travel and Business Development. On many trips, students can participate in such service projects as helping to build a house, clearing forest trails or tutoring students in English. At the end of the trip, students will receive a community service certificate which can be applied towards their schools’ community service requirements.

Students in the 9th through 12th grades are eligible to participate in the trips, and must submit an application with a 150-300 word statement to apply. Get more information and apply online here.

Photo: Putney Student Travel

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16 Percent "Bored More Than Usual"

Is the Writers Guild of America strike changing your leisure habits? Entertainment Weekly's recent poll says yes: 27 percent say they are going to bed earlier. 22 percent are cleaning the house more. 21 percent are reading more magazines. 20 percent thought the WGA was golf-related. And a whopping 40 percent are reading more books. Conan O'Brien says he tried reading a book but ended up burning it for warmth.

Looking for a good read? Check out our Ultimate Travel Library and Don George's monthly column, Trip Lit, featuring great new books with a sense of place. Or you could subscribe to Traveler magazine and get our great stories and photography (not available online) delivered effortlessly to your home. On the other hand, you can always watch Professional Bull Riders.  Pleasant dreams!

Photo: Hilary Galanoy

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Where in the World?

Our technologically-savvy friends at National Geographic Maps have been quite busy in the past few months. They've taken the 416-page, 12 1/2 x 18 1/2-inch Atlas of the World and created Atlas Explorer for the Web, without compromising the quality and depth of the maps. Check out the Geophysical, Geopolitical, or Human Footprint views and be sure to zoom in on your areas of interest using the + or - buttons on the side. They've also started publishing a fascinating Map of the Day with map-related news and historical events for each day of the year pulled from the Society's archives. You can follow the route that British explorers used on their doomed trek to the South Pole, or see what Georgetown looked like on the day the university was established.

And if you have a little extra time on your hands, be sure to check out the Atlas jigsaw puzzles. With 23 different puzzles and a satisfying "click" sound when you fit the pieces together, you'll be a geography whiz in no time.

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Belizean Musician Andy Palacio: A Remembrance

World music enthusiasts around the globe are mourning the unexpected death of Andy Palacio, Belizean musician and leader of the international movement to preserve Garifuna language and culture.  Palacio’s latest album Wátina (“I called out”), released in 2007, propelled him onto the international stage and sparked a cultural revival in his home nation of Belize. 

In November 2007, Traveler’s Susanne Hackett had the fortune to meet “Andy P,” as he is affectionately known in Belize, and travel the country’s Garifuna coast with him and his band, camcorder in hand.  The trip was a homecoming for Andy, who had just finished a whirlwind international tour, during which he won the prestigious world music WOMEX award and the UNESCO Artist for Peace award. His arrival also happened to coincide with the annual Garifuna Settlement Day celebrations, where Andy was the headliner and received a hometown hero’s welcome. 

The video below is a compilation of the footage gathered on this trip.

Strange Planet: Boulders of Maori Legend

 

Between the cities of Dunedin and Oamaru on New Zealand's South Island is Moeraki, a small coastal town home to famous rock formations. According to Maori legend, the Moeraki Boulders are gourds that washed ashore (on what is now Koekohe Beach) when the Araiteuru canoe was wrecked hundreds of years ago.

But every myth has a scientific explanation: The boulders are calcite concretions, formed over 60 million years ago in seafloor sediment. The spherical boulders formed in a pearl-like process that took as long as four million years (due to crystallization of calcium and carbonates), and the soft mud that contained the boulders surfaced due to wind and rain. The boulders vary in size—up to ten feet (three meters) in diameter—and can weigh several tons each.

Photos: Jeannette Kimmel

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Baby, You're Electric!

The next time you're shoulder-to-shoulder on the subway, in a bus terminal, or on an airplane, don't get too aggravated — that heat leaving your body (and your neighbors') may be the next source of renewable energy.

A Swedish state-owned company, Jernhuset, has found a way to harness the energy produced by the 250,000 bodies rushing through Stockholm's Central Station, the largest train station in Sweden, each day.

Jernhuset's Karl Sundholm explained that the body heat would be absorbed by the building's ventilation system. The heat would then be used to warm up water that will be pumped through pipes over to the new office building nearby. The building will also house a small hotel and a few shops when it opens in 2010.   

"All people produce heat, and that heat is in fact fairly difficult to get rid of. Instead of opening windows and letting all that heat go to waste we want to harness it through the ventilation system," Sundholm told the AFP.

"This is old technology, but used in a new way. It's just pipes, water and pumps, but we haven't heard of anyone else using this technology in this way before," he said, adding that Jernhuset expects the system to bring down heating costs in the building by up to 20 percent.

If you can light an office complex with 250,000 commuters, imagine what you could do with the New Years' party-goers in Times Square, or the 75,000 sweaty bodies (not to mention the tailgaters) at the Superbowl...

Photo: seadipper via Flickr

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Travels with the Mouse

Would you travel with Disney? More and more people are doing just that. Disney's tour-outfitter arm, Adventures by Disney, which began a mere three years ago with six tours, focused mostly in the American West, has expanded to 17 separate itineraries, including China and Australia. Senior editor Norie Quintos, the magazine's resident tour expert, recently returned from an Adventures by Disney trip to Italy with these thoughts.

"Authentic, immersive, and experiential," are how Ed Baklor, senior vice president of the Burbank-based company, describes the trips. These are all buzzwords I (and our magazine) love. And in truth, everyone on my tour—young and old—enjoyed themselves (including me and my kids, by the way). But it did get me thinking, can a Disney trip truly be authentic? And what is authenticity anyway?

Is it hitting the expected high spots (Colosseum, Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's David, and a gondola ride) with minimum waits in line because Disney had pre-booked admission? Is it the appearance of no, not Mickey, but another costumed character playing Venetian Marco Polo edu-taining the kids with tales of his voyages? Is it the hands-on pasta making lesson at a Renaissance castle in Tuscany? Or the appointment to create your own Carnevale mask in Venice? What about the opportunities to stop and shop at The Disney Stores in Florence, Rome, and Venice? Or the liberal gifting of Disney-logo pins and baseball caps and canvas tote bags to the guests?

Cozumel's Cruise Ships Go Eco

We were heartened to hear last week that Cozumel had signed a groundbreaking partnership to help support eco-friendly practices in the popular cruise ship destination. Over the past year, Conservation International has worked with Mexico's tourism board, the city's local government, and 17 cruise ship industry leaders to hammer out the details of an initiative that will promote sustainable practices in the region. IT Editor Janelle Nanos spoke with Seleni Matus, Conservation International's advisor to the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative, just a few hours after she returned from Cozumel. Still a bit tired from her hectic week (and an overnight flight) she was kind enough to fill us in on what's in store for the initiative.

What are some of the big issues that you're looking to tackle with this initiative?

One issue in particular was to improve or enhance the awareness of cruise ship visitors about Cozumel's natural heritage. We also recognized that [tour providers] themselves needed to work more diligently to promote the importance of protecting their natural assets.

What are some of the ways that you plan to do this?

We've developed a 30-second video that we've negotiated to have shown on all the major cruise lines destination channels. It's a message from the Cozumel community to tourists showing the highlights of their natural heritage and inviting them to protect it by leaving a light footprint. It's already being aired on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Celebrity cruise lines. We also plan to create "passeos"–interpretive corridors that will serve as a passageway to the cruise terminal and airports. They’re transforming open areas into passageways containing targeted conservation messages and powerful images. And all tour operators decided to tackle waste management issues, working with municipal government to create onboard recycling programs for tour boats and marine sites. That extends to training the staff, installing the bins, and incorporating the [recycling] message into the message they give visitors. Now that they have started these small projects, they're motivated to tackle the larger issues.

This is a big step for Mexico, as no initiative of its kind has ever been signed before now. Can you give us a sense of the feelings you saw down there?

I think at the event, when they saw the breadth of the work that they had all done...on a local level, they were all frozen. They could see people stunned and inspired at themselves when they took at step back and really understood what they had accomplished at the event itself. For the cruise industry in Cozumel, they feel they have broken down the barriers that have kept them working in their respective silos. The private sector and government tend to have very divergent views on what the problems are, it's hard to find a common ground. It was pretty inspiring actually.

Read More: Check out IT's coverage of Mexico, the Carribean, and Central America. Catch up on several recent posts which look at the cruise industry's best and worst practices.

Photo: courtesy Conservation International

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Global Eye: Northern Thailand

Woman of the Karen Hill Tribe

Photographer: Swoan Parker, Brooklyn, New York

Getting the shot:  The shot was taken in Chiang Dao, Northern Thailand, in November 2007. My camera is a Nikon D200 with a shutterspeed of 1/250 seconds and an aperature of f4.5.

The details: The Karen hill tribe, with a population of approximately 300,000 inhabitants living in northern Thailand, is the largest minority group in that region. The Karen occupy lowland areas engaging in agriculture and the cultivation of rice as well as being skilled at weaving. The Karen wear woven v-neck tunics of various natural colors and turbans.

While visiting a Karen village in the beautiful, peaceful, mountainous area of Chiang Dao, just north of Chiang Mai, I came across this woman sitting on the steps outside of her home. She was sharing conversation in her local tribal language with my guide, Boontan Kamla. There was such a warm spirit about her. She allowed me to “see her soul” and capture the warm nature of her people that was evident in my every interaction.

IT loves how positively genuine this woman appears. Check out those fantastic smile lines on her face!

Want your own photos featured on IT? Add them to our Flickr pool.

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Alaska's Guests Keep Warm with Recycled Oil

The 1.5-mile wide Mendenhall Glacier may be just around the corner, but you'll be plenty warm at Juneau's Westmark Baranof Hotel. The 196-room hotel, owned by Holland America, combines vegetable oil with fuel oil to heat the hotel.

The hotel is the only place in the city that collects used cooking oil. The ingenious process is good for the planet, saves thousands of dollars in fuel costs, and rids local companies of the headache of disposing of used oil, which they used to have to ship to the lower 48 states for removal, creating an added expense.

For nearly two years the hotel has collected about 200 gallons a week from McDonald's and other restaurants and hotels in town. That added up to 10,000 gallons last year, Andy Krone, chief engineer at the Baranof, told IT. "It's a good thing for the business community," said Krone. "It saves us money and its good for the environment." Most guests don't even know that they're being kept warm by the grease left in the fast food fryer.

Rethinking Shanty Towns

Generally speaking, travelers tend to eschew slums in their urban itineraries. But Robert Neuwirth—a journalist who spent two years living in four squatter communities in Brazil, Kenya, India, and Turkey—considers these shanty towns vibrant neighborhoods worthy of exploration. After all, one in six people on the planet are considered squatters (that’s one billion people), an astounding number expected to triple by the year 2050. His adventures led an influential book on the topic, Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World, as well as a blog, Squatter City. IT's Katie Knorovsky caught up with him recently to get his take on the rise of “poorism”—so-called “reality tours” that offer excursions through urban slums.

What role, if any, should squatter communities play in a responsible traveler’s itinerary?

That’s a difficult question. There’s a phenomenon that goes on in Rio’s Rocinha—normally the [tours] come through the community I lived in. They come through as if on safari—they come in literally on Jeeps. The people in the community are OK with it, but to me as an outsider it was sort of weird. It smacked of "look at the wild animals in their habitat." There was kind of an element of unreality to it. But I do think it’s really important for travelers to understand that these communities exist and that the cities they go through are not just fancy bars and hotels. The desire [to learn about these communities] is really important.

So what would be a better way to learn about squatter communities?

You don’t really understand a community by driving through on a Jeep. If you go to Rio, you should be aware that in many cases the guy serving you breakfast at the hotel probably lives in a favela. If you start asking him questions, you might even get an invitation. That’s a more honest way to go into these areas, and the bulk of the money [for these types of tours] goes to the tour operator.

Or, just walk in, which takes a certain type of person. You have to be clear on where you’re going, and I guess you have to be a calm and confident person who knows what’s going on around them and doesn’t get fazed easily. I’m from New York, and I remember New York from the 70s and 80s. Crime was rampant. You developed this sixth sense—when I walk I can tell who’s walking behind me. But I don’t want to overplay the danger in these communities; 99.9 percent of the time they’re not dangerous at all.

The Genuine Article: Parisian Passementerie

Traveler's authentic shopping columnist Laura Morelli is back this month with an lesson in scouting out the ornamental trimmings, fringes, tassels, and pom-poms that make up the distinctively French art of passementerie .  This "art of embellishment" fed the desires of wealthy French nobles for opulent flair on nearly everything they could touch. Morelli writes:

The French monarchy and noble classes kept the city's artisans busy churning out deluxe interior fabrics and table settings, prestigious coaches, along with shimmering jewelry, lace collars and cuffs, custom shoes, and powdered wigs to adorn themselves as fancifully as their abodes.

Though sadly, the popularity of powdered wigs has declined, Paris remains the world's fashion capital thanks to the work of these artisans. Morelli writes that authentic passementerie shops can still be found in pockets of the city:

Some of today's best artisan passementiers are clustered in the Bastille district of southeastern Paris. In the Middle Ages, this area of town was home to the furniture trade guilds: cabinetmakers, joiners, metalworkers, and specialists in inlay and marquetry. Today, though undergoing gentrification, the area retains some of the flavor of an old-fashioned working-class district, with hole-in-the-wall workshops that transport visitors light years away from the posh avenues of the rest of the Right Bank.

Read more: Check out Traveler's website to find Morelli's current article and to see her columns from months past. Look through IT's own archive of shopping tips. And visit Traveler's Authentic Shopping guide before heading out on your next trip to ensure you can do better than souvenir T-shirts this time.

Photo: Jacqui Hurst/Corbis

Walking Taiwan: Modern Monk

National Geographic researcher Jeff Chen just finished his 17-day walk across Taiwan for a project he called a "A Walk on My Ethnic Lines." We loved his interaction with a modern-day monk he met on the road...

I told mother I wouldn’t walk at night, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re a lazy college student who usually gets a late start to the day. About a week ago, as we walked down a mountain road at night, a van stopped to offer us a ride. We approached with caution to find only the kindest of all earthly creatures: William, the driver, and his two golden Labradors.

We hop in and he hands me a card.

“Read the card, and you’ll know why I picked you up,” he says.

The card read, “All for one, one for all.” He explained that he was a fellow backpacker and that his club had handed out these cards for its members to share with the world.

The basic concept: Help the world feel at home in your part of the world and others will do so to you in their parts of the world. That night, we stopped at a 7-Eleven (or 7-Enlighten as we like to call it now), and William helped map out some great destinations. He dropped us off at a world-class sleeping spot, a fishing port, where we woke up to the freshest of all starts.

Fast forward a few days and about 60 miles, a simple twist of fate puts us back in touch with William. We’d been walking along the main road and we hear a yelp. The van swerves to the side of the road. He tells us to get in.

Nominate Your Favorite Geotourism Changemaker

Here at Intelligent Travel, we're always looking to promote innovations in sustainable travel. And now, National Geographic and Ashoka Changemakers' Geotourism Challenge offers you a way to join the global dialogue on protecting the places we visit.

If you're a geo-savvy traveler, alert to the quality and character of the destinations you visit, and you know of people who work to sustain, enhance, and preserve the culture and environment of a place for future generations, we want to hear from you. Let us know where you have been and what you found.  Based on your travels (or experience in your own locale), nominate a person, place, business, or organization that’s doing things right.

Join National Geographic and Ashoka's Changemakers in the global search for the most innovative ways to demonstrate and advance geotourism, defined as "tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place – its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents." Help preserve unique places for future generations of travelers.

Visit the Geotourism Challenge site to nominate, debate, and collaborate on ideas and learn more about how you can get involved. The Challenge is open for nominations now, and for entries beginning January 30.  All nominators who tell their first-person stories become eligible to win one of two trips from World Hotel Link.

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The Inn at Little Washington Celebrates 30 Years

From time to time Hotel Central editor Susan O'Keefe likes to check in with industry folks—from GMs to chefs and housekeeping staff—for a behind-the-scenes chat. She begins with a talk with Patrick O'Connell, proprietor and chef of the acclaimed Inn at Little Washington, an elegant English country hideaway in Rappahannock County, Virginia, tucked in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains about two hours from Washington, D.C.

At the end of this month (Jan. 28), the Inn will celebrate its 30th anniversary. A gala dinner will be held on April 9 in Washington, D.C. that will benefit YouthAIDS. Foodies can snag one of the 500 tickets at $575 per person (includes wine and gratuity). Guests dining at the Inn's five-star restaurant from now until February 8 (except for Tuesdays and Saturdays) will receive a gratis glass of Dom Perignon champagne and a $30 gift certificate compliments of Patrick and his staff.

Happy Anniversary Patrick. After 30 years and receiving nearly every award ever bestowed on a restaurant and inn, where do you go from here?

We just keep going and continue doing what we're passionate about. We're becoming a self-sufficient farmstead with the recent addition of our own agricultural area that includes an orchard of Montmorency cherries—a small but full-of-flavor cherry that will be used in our jellies and clafouti dessert in the restaurant. We're raising a colony of bees for pollination and for creating our own honey, we'll introduce sheep and llamas that will graze in a meadow. We've developed a network of local farmers who custom-grow vegetables that aren't the size of my leg—small zucchini and eggplant that are flavorful. Pathways to this area will link to the inn and cottages and allow guests to walk to the orchards, see what's growing in the herb and vegetable gardens—all featured in our dishes daily.

You added your kitchen ten years ago and designed it to look like the dairy room of Windsor Castle. Anything new being added to the Inn?

This past summer we added the Claiborne House—named for my good friend Craig Claiborne who was the food editor of the New York Times—a fabulous two-bedroom hideaway with its own dining room, a library filled with Craig's cookbooks, living room, media room, and formal garden created by Dutch landscape designer Guy Williams. Craig celebrated his birthday in this house. We also have added the Gamekeeper's Cottage, a two-story retreat that is a departure from the opulent interiors of the Inn, and features a decor that I call "elegant rusticity." It has limestone floors, a stone fireplace, a large soaking tub, and an outdoor dining pavilion with pastoral views.  Every detail looks as if it's been there forever. It will allow guests to have a closer connection to nature.

What are some of the signature elements of the Inn that a guest can expect during their visit?

The Inn offers a sense of place, but also a sense of personality. We gauge every guest's mood from the moment they set foot in the door, and make it our mission to make them happy and have their experience be life-changing. There are fresh flowers everywhere, our Dalmatian greets guests wearing a strand of pearls (appropriate since 30-year anniversaries are celebrated with pearls), tea is served daily in the library, breakfast can be brought to your room, if you prefer.

Bono in 3D

So it's not exactly travel, but it's certainly a pretty authentic experience. U2 3D, a new digital 3D film featuring everyone's favorite global crusader, Bono, will be released by National Geographic Entertainment on January 23rd. The concert was filmed in South America during the band's Vertigo tour and has been getting rave reviews in the press. It had its premiere screening at Sundance Film Festival on January 19, but for those of you who didn't make it out to Park City, Utah for the show, here's a quick preview...

Bungalow Bounceback

Better known for its Prairie-style architecture in the heart of Frank Lloyd Wright country, Chicago has long dismissed its endless rows of brick bungalows as humdrum. The basic homes were built for the city’s working class—mostly immigrants—in the 1920s as an urban respite, located just four to eight miles from downtown.

But the current issue of the National Trust’s magazine, Preservation, reports that after decades of quietly subsisting, the so-called “bungalow belt”—some 80,000 homes strong—has benefited from a new boon of popularity.

More than just a question of historic preservation, reviving the bungalows has become a means of providing affordable housing, creating a green housing stock, and revitalizing Chicago's neighborhoods.

"The initiative started with virtually no knowledge on the public front about what a bungalow was—it was an old house that your grandmother used to live in," says Jim Peters, director of preservation planning at Landmarks Illinois. "Now, a bungalow is a desirable thing to have. People have seen the quality of these buildings, have seen how they can be adapted and upgraded. That wasn't the case 15 years ago."

The bungalows have emerged as a model for the convergence of historic preservation and sustainability, not only because of their eco-friendly restorations, but also because they're an alternative to new construction in the sprawling exurbs.

Six of the bungalow neighborhoods were recently added to the National Register, and the renowned Chicago Architecture Foundation added two bungalow tours to its lengthy roster of offerings.

White Winter Wonderland

Looking for a true winter getaway? Art aficionado Anna Heineman recently traveled north to Ironwood, Michigan, for a weekend of snow, skis, and soup.

For a cozy and romantic adventure, take a trek north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In Ironwood, you'll find 600 acres of cross-country ski trails, where you can wind among the birch trees, pines and hemlocks, and glide over rolling hills and along rivers. The trails support classic and skate cross-country skiers, as well as those with novice and advanced skills. 

Lodging ranges from the luxurious Hilltop House, which is has a knotty-pine interior and 18-foot ceilings, to rustic cabins with no electricity. The three-bedroom Hilltop House holds a family or a group of friends comfortably. Cook dinner in the enormous kitchen, or take a Jacuzzi soak after a loop or two around the trails.

Culinary Trailblazing

Natchitoches, Louisiana is famous for its meat pies. It's also where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed.

We've been excited to see of a growing number of states promoting tourism through culinary trails. These tours offer a "taste" of each region's recipes, and are quickly cropping up across the country.

In Indiana, a state where both Wonder Bread was born (in 1921) and Johnny Appleseed was known to roam, you can dine like a local on the Hoosier Pie Trail, one of several trails sponsored by the Indiana Foodways Alliance. Lancaster County in Pennsylvania Dutch Country has the Ale Trail and the Sweet n' Salty Trail, among others, and Canandaigua, New York, jumped on the bandwagon with a tour of local wineries and farmer's markets. Madison, Wisconsin, is planning eight culinary trails, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. And the International Culinary Tourism Association will hold a symposium in New England this April, with the planning of regional and state food trails a major goal of the meeting. We could go on and on. And we will. Because frankly, this is exciting.

After its restaurant scene made an impressive, post-Katrina comeback, Louisiana is planning a culinary trail, reports CNN. "We're having a ball with it," J. Gary Ellis told IT. An ICTA board member and president of Compass Marketing, Ellis was one of the architects of the Louisiana trails program. The food tours will include "culinary assets from all over the state," from five-star restaurants to roadside po'boy stands, says Ellis. Louisiana will partner with Foodtrekker.com, a new site sponsored by the ICTA that's currently in Beta and will launch officially in March.