archives: News
Hello, Dolly!: Latest Hurricane News
Hurricane Dolly made landfall earlier today in the coastal region of Texas and northern Mexico. While locals brace for gale-force rains and winds, a [...]
Big In Kosovo: Passports
It’s been five months since Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia - an act that sparked violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in t [...]
What would you do with $100 billion?
In Zimbabwe, the answer is: not much. The troubled country has just introduced a $100 billion banknote - according to this CNN story, it is equivalen [...]
Sleepless in SEA? (or JFK, LAX, or ORD?)
If you’re a regular Pulse reader, then you know that every few weeks or so I’m due a new rant on the American airline industry. ItR [...]
What have you watched on YouTube lately?
Photo by Shht! (Creative Commons) Thanks to a U.S. district court, media megalith Viacom Inc. could be about to find out. Last week, in the latest r [...]
From Diplomat’s Daughter to FARC Hostage: Ingrid Betancourt Timeline
1961: Ingrid Betancourt is born in Bogota, Colombia. Her father, Gabriel Betancourt, was Colombia’s Minister of Education, assistant director of [...]
Ingrid Betancourt: LIBRE!!
I couldn’t have been happier to come home last night to the news from journalist and Colombia-based Matador member Richard McColl that Ingrid Be [...]
Bye-bye backpacker, hello flashpacker?
Guest Editorial by Matador member Matt Kepnes Somewhere before my bus broke down in Australia, I was called a flashpacker. Despite being on the road [...]
Police Blotter: News from Mexico City
Every week is a big news week as far as the police of Mexico City are concerned, and the MCPD’s PR folks clearly have their jobs cut out for t [...]
Save Our Archives!
Photo by moriza (Creative Commons) ‘Wow,’ someone said to me the other day, after I’d finished telling him about my recent career [...]
Megabus or Megabust?
If you’re a budget traveler, I’ll bet you’re already hip to the cheap tickets for the so-called Chinese buses that run between Chi [...]
Reality Check: South Africa
Photo by Lollie-Pop (Creative Commons I can still remember the first time a college professor opened my eyes to the way ‘Africa’ (and, o [...]
Afro-Latins: No Longer the Silent Minority
A few years back, my husband and I had some Spanish teachers over for dinner. They were lovely people and we’d enjoyed a spirited conversation [...]
Picks of the Week: Update from Zimbabwe
The grim ins and outs of the Zimbabwean ‘elections’ this spring have been tough to keep up with. Vote-rigging, intimidation and violence, [...]
You can bet your bottom dollar…
that I’ll be avoiding all these new bag charges that US airlines are imposing. After the April announcement that they’d be charging a & [...]
SOBRO, Represent!
SOBRO, in case you didn’t know, is the hip new name for the South Bronx (or, if you prefer ‘Da South Bronx). Imagine my surprise upon fin [...]
On Bad Terms with Tourism?
I’ve just cleaned out my mailbox after being on the road for six weeks, and a bundle of magazines and review copies of travel related books now [...]
‘It all starts with respecting yourself’
Adam Beach isn’t just one of the more high-profile Canadians in Hollywood these days - he’s also almost certainly the most high-profile Ab [...]
Call Me Cynical…
I’m an airplane seat scavenger, picking up the newspapers and magazines other travelers have left behind. That’s my only excuse for readi [...]
Big in Canada: Vegan KFC
Photo by bigbold (Creative Commons) Check your calendars, folks: April Fool’s Day was more than two months ago. So, yes, this is for real. Aft [...]
Sunshine Guaranteed…or Your Money Back
So, you’ve plugged away in your cubicle all year and can FINALLY see your vacation days on the horizon. Your bags are packed, you’re on y [...]
NY Times: Manitoba is a Must-See
Photo by Matt Callow (Creative Commons) Imagine my surprise when, scanning the New York Times list of 31 closer-to-home places to visit this summer, [...]
“Oh give me a home…”
If you’re a writer, you don’t need me to tell you about that creeping feeling of anxiety that swells up at the end of each month when yo [...]
Here’s one way to spend your ‘economic stimulus check’…
Photo by babasteve (Creative Commons) I came across this grim story on TheRoot.com yesterday about fistula - a potentially life-threatening conditio [...]
Can Cell Phones End Poverty?
That’s the question Sara Corbett asked in a recent New York Times Magazine article about the varied uses of cell phones around the world. Corb [...]
How To Get Aid To Burma
Photo by khaipi (Creative Commons) One of the more agonizing aspects of the Cyclone Nargis aftermath has been watching Burma’s military rulers [...]
Battle Over Border Searches Heats Up
Photo by androog (Creative Commons) An unlikely coalition of activists is warning travelers to think twice about the data on their laptops before cr [...]
Attn. All Wired Travelers!
Photo by Jace (Creative Commons) For those of you who travel fully wired, the airport internet service provider, Boingo, is offering a promotion for [...]
