See the Megacities

March 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

More people are leaving rural areas for the city-and as it turns out, they are mostly going to the world’s 21 largest megacities, which are densely populated cities with 10 million people or more. These frenetic locations are major hubs for the latest fashion, food, technology, and modern culture. Travel to a a megacity on your next trip to see why so many people gravitate to these places.

  • New York City: People have always flocked to the Big Apple to live out their dreams as artists, musicians, and writers. It is one of the most significant places in the world for finance, fashion, and all other cultural concerns.
  • Mumbai (Bombay): The richest city in India is the nation’s Bollywood film center and the headquarters of many corporations. The Indian independence movement started here.
  • Mexico City: This former capital city of the Aztecs has many fascinating pre-Colombian historical artifacts and a rich modern culture as well. Members of Mexico’s hundreds of indigenous cultures flock to this prosperous city.
  • Tokyo: The largest megacity in the world is also home to the Japanese Imperial family. Proceeds from its active financial sector help to support an active and innovative culinary culture. Tokyo has many different festivals for visitors to enjoy throughout the year.
  • Cairo: Referred to by natives as the Independent Republic of Cairo, this noisy and bustling place is the biggest city in Africa. Its diverse attractions include the Geniza, which is a large collection of Judaic manuscripts, a couple of opera houses, and a museum for Egypt’s famed antiquities.
  • Moscow: This city houses the Kremlin, home to the nation’s leader. It is well known for its exciting nightlife and new wealth.
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Indulge Your Inner Steampunk at the Maker Faire

March 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you spend more time in your garage workshop than in your living room, you might enjoy the annual Maker Faire. The Faire is put on by Make Magazine and it focuses on do-it-yourself crafts, science projects, and other feats of engineering. The first Maker Faire took place at the San Mateo Fairgrounds in California, but there are now similar Faires in Detroit and Queens, and there used to be one in Austin as well. There is one in the UK in 2011.

If your idea of a fun vacation includes learning how to weld or solder, taking your kids to play at a life-sized mousetrap, or hanging out with science aficionados, this is a great place. Past Maker Faires have included exhibits of solar chariots, robots that breathe fire, and computers that you can wear. Boosters of the Faire credit it with fostering a creative community that reclaims used gadgets for new and innovative uses, getting people together to make things for fun rather than for work, and pushing technology in new directions.

Of course, the Maker Faire is also about the arts as well as technology. In addition to the latest iPhone hack, you may also see elaborate sand patterns, knitted wedding cakes, giant spider sculptures, a dress made from binder clips, and cars covered in legos or markers. You can also enjoy gourmet foods and lessons on urban farming and sustainable living. You could never dream of so many uses for Tesla coils as are employed at the Maker Faire. It’s a lot like a reborn Foxfire magazine, but with more gadgets. Hope to see you at the Maker Faire this year!

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Design-Your-Own Literary Tour

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you get up in the morning and think ‘gee, I would rather stay home and finish that book than go to work today,’ or if you perhaps stayed up late to finish it in spite of your better judgment, then a literary tour may be a good consideration for your next trip. Travel to the places that have inspired your favorite writers to love and to loathe. Here are just a couple suggestions to get you started:

  • Southern Gothic: Do you love the works of Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner, John Grisham, Mark Twain, Kate Chopin, Tom Robbins, or any of the other writers who populate this literature-rich region of the United States? You can start out in Oxford, Mississippi, home of Faulkner and the place where Grisham studied law. You can revel in the rich intellectual life of the University of Mississippi (not to mention the college football) and enjoy the outdoors during much of the year, owing to its pleasant climate. Stop by Savannah to understand Flannery O’Connor and enjoy the rich history and beautiful architecture.
  • Hemingway Tour: You could also pick one particularly peripatetic author and follow in his or her footsteps. Ernest Hemingway, author of The Old Man and the Sea and The Sun Also Rises, started his life in the town of Oak Park, Illinois. His life, his reporting career, and his four tumultuous marriages took him all over the world, from Italy to Chicago, Toronto, Paris to Africa and Cuba, the Florida Keys, Pamplona, and Idaho, where he died by his own hand. He rubbed shoulders with some of the best known writers of his time, including Gertrude Stein and Pio Baroja. He led a dramatic life with many accidents, alcoholism, and mental illness.

No matter who wrote your favorite books, they wil give you a fascinating window into the places where you choose to travel.

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