Tag: the jauntys View All Tags
Tags: Missed Connections / The Jauntys / New Year's Hangover / → All Tags
Most Missed Of 2008
We couldn't resist squeezing in just one more Jaunty in honor of our Craigslist-crazy Friday series. Here were the top places to meet and be met in 2008:
On the campaign trail:
Elections mean roving packs of staff going to where the primaries are for brief, frenetic, sleepless visits. If you're at your best on nine cups of coffee and two hours of sleep, you probably followed our primary series from Charleston to Indianapolis--and even to the president-elect's hometown of Chicago.
Movie tie-ins:
You didn't have to see "What Happens In Vegas" to let whatever happens, happen in Vegas. Don't forget that brawl on the set of "W." that made us happy to be alive or our Chasing Michigan series. We even followed the mustache to the scene of its hairy crimes.
In transit, of course!
It shouldn't take a wave of grounded planes, a visit to Love Field or an overnight stay in Atlanta for you to meet someone in 2009. Just tell us where you did it!
Related Stories:
· Chicago Hearts Obama, How About You? [Jaunted]
· Missed Connections in Shreveport: Mr. and Mrs. Bush Edition [Jaunted]
· Missed Connections: American Airlines Hubs Edition [Jaunted]
[Photo: kadanwa]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / → All Tags
2008: So Over
Looking back, it's hard to imagine that our trip to Sundance kicked off 2008; it feels like years ago that we were stuck in Park City traffic with Charles Ogilvie. But despite losing a travel inspiration, a scrappy new airline and any hope of keeping our shoes on at the airport, we're plunging forward into 2009.
See, now that we've handed out all The Jauntys for this year, there are new stories to break, new scams to report, new destinations to "discover," new airlines to obsess over and, 12 months from now, there will be new award winners to congratulate. So take a minute, if you must, and reminisce about the year gone by. Us? We're already planning our next trip.
Related Stories:
· 2008's Best Domestic Airline: Virgin America [Jaunted]
· 2008's Worst Domestic Airline: American [Jaunted]
· 2008's Best Travel Newcomer: BoltBus [Jaunted]
· 2008's Most Missed Industry Casualty: Skybus [Jaunted]
· 2008's Travel Media Story of the Year: Airline Fees [Jaunted]
· 2008's Worst Travel Media Moment: The Gridskipper Gutting [Jaunted]
· 2008's Best Jaunted Field Trip: Uruguay [Jaunted]
· 2008's Celebrity Traveler of the Year: Rihanna [Jaunted]
· 2008's Best Airport Photo Shoot: The Gossip Girl Cast at LAX [Jaunted]
· 2008's Best Map Mashup: The Jellyfish Invasion [Jaunted]
· 2008's Destination of the Year: China [Jaunted]
· 2008's Best Villain: Eder Rojas [Jaunted]
· 2008's Worst Travel Experience: Live Tweeting a Disaster [Jaunted]
· 2008's Best Travel Movie: "In Bruges" [Jaunted]
· 2008's Best Jaunted Embed: Tim Patterson in Cambodia [Jaunted]
[Photo of Sydney, where it's already 2009: Charles Haynes]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / Embedded Travel Guides / Travel News / → All Tags
2008's Best Jaunted Embed Is...
Travel embeds are Jaunted's superheroes: Boldly going where no tour bus has gone before, they come back with unforgettable stories of the adventures you can have by setting down the guidebook and picking up your pack. We salute all our embeds, but particularly Tim Patterson, whose series on his trip to Cambodia was an invaluable addition to our pages in '08.
Patterson's series, as outlined in his first post, was not only about getting off the beaten path but about seeing Cambodia uncoupled from its history and measuring it on its own merits, from local transit to tourist traps.
From describing the seaside town of Kep as "a steamy bath of crab meat and rose petals" to tantalizing us with the offer of orangutan boxing in Koh Kong, his eye for detail made us feel like we were really there. In 2009, maybe we will be!
Related Stories:
· Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Angkor What? [Jaunted]
· Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Kep Is For Romance [Jaunted]
· Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: How to Travel Like a Local [Jaunted]
[Photo from Patterson's report on the Phnom Tamao Zoo]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / Travel News / Movie Set Travel / → All Tags
2008's Best Travel Movie Is...
If you're like us, you see travel everywhere, so of course 2008 was a marquee year for travel movies. (Let's face it, for us, everything is a travel movie! We almost went to Passaic, New Jersey because "Be Kind Rewind" told us to.) Whether you preferred Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn strung out at the ticket counter as their dream holiday vacation gets canceled in "Four Christmases," a Hawaiian vacation via "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," flying below the radar with Bond in "Quantum of Solace" or the magnificent cross-country train sequence starring the orphans of "Slumdog Millionaire," nearly every trip we saw depicted on film made us say, "Yeah, we've been there."
Well, we haven't actually been hired guns of this type, but our favorite movie trip had to have been the one undertaken by Ray and Ken, two killers sent on a mission in Martin McDonagh's "In Bruges." The exact business of the men (played by Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell) isn't clear right away, so they fall into arguing about what to do with their off hours. Ken is a guidebook slave, while Ray would much rather take a detour from the obligitory historic sites to see what the locals are up to.
Get some sleep or get a pint? Obey your scary-sounding boss's instructions or cut loose and face the consequences? It's only later that the ramifications of the pair's decisions truly become clear. The thrilling conclusion of this flick made us simultaneously want to visit Bruges and never set foot in Belgium. Ever. If you missed it in theaters, check out "In Bruges" on DVD with your (adult) relatives. It's proof that no one returns from a trip unchanged.
Related Stories:
· Belgium Travel Guide [Jaunted]
· Movie Set Travel: Quantum of Solace [Jaunted]
· A Boxing Day Vow: Next Christmas, a Luxury Hotel in Bruges [HC]
[Photo: cinemapolis.org]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / Twitter / → All Tags
2008's Worst Travel Experience Is...
Used to be all you had to do during a plane crash was hope to live. Now you have to update your social networks with news live from the scene of the accident--and field requests for more info from the likes of Rick Sanchez. Because victims would obviously rather be slamming vodka tonics than punching 140-character messages into phones, live tweeting a disaster is the worst travel experience of 2008.
The sentiment extends, too, to the earthquake that was announced on Facebook, photos of the terrorist rampage in Mumbai posted to Flickr and the other plane crash that was documented on Twitter. It's not the wealth of first-hand information that rubs us wrong--we quite like that--it's the way our gizmos have us shackled to home. If the point of travel is to go somewhere new for fresh experiences and a change of perspective, let's resolve in 2009 to live in the moment with our new-found friends in far-away lands instead of digitally seeking comfort in the familiar of back home. Now excuse us as we cross-post this to Twitter.
Related Stories:
· The Future Will Be Microblogged [Jaunted]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / Travel News / Eder Rojas / Crime / → All Tags
2008's Best Villain Is...
Whether it was because more people acted like idiots or we just heard about more people acting like idiots, 2008 was the year of the bad seatmate. And while there are plenty of candidates among those ranks from which to draw the year's best villain, one trouble-maker went even further.
Former flight attendant Eder Rojas is accused of setting fire to an airplane while in flight, and rather than show up in court to answer charges, he's apparently fled--to Mexico?--in a move that makes him even less sympathetic than we imagined possible. Flight attendants are supposed to be keeping passengers safe not dooming them to a fiery death by sparking paper towels in a regional jet lav!
Rojas is, like all criminal defendants, innocent until proven guilty, so maybe next year we'll be issuing an apology, noting that his only crime was awful camel capping on his MySpace page. Until we hear otherwise, though, he stands as the best villain of '08.
Related Stories:
· Fugitive Former Flight Attendant Updates MySpace Status *Again* [Jaunted]
· Flight Attendant Disappears from Halfway House, Skips Court Appearance [Jaunted]
· Eder Rojas May Update Myspace Status Soon [Jaunted]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / China Travel / Travel News / → All Tags
2008's Destination Of The Year Is...
For hosting the Olympics, for capturing the world's attention, for inventive restaurants and for rebuilding quickly the Destination of the Year is China.
You may not be able to access the whole internet there and the environment is a distant concern compared to economic and infrastructure growth, but at least one white rapper from Atlanta says you're not really living if you're not visiting Chengdu.
Related Stories:
· Segway Travel: China Clearly Prepared to Handle the Olympics [Jaunted]
· Mount Everest Officially Over [Jaunted]
· Beijing's T3 Is Ready for the Games [Jaunted]
· Happily Welcoming Our New Chinese Aviation Overlords [Jaunted]
[Photo: Sprol]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / Killer Beaches / Jellyfish / → All Tags
2008's Best Map Mashup Is...
It's been a while since we so enjoyed rooting for the bad guys. While the 2008 International Plague of Jellyfish ultimately never delivered, we'll always have our Jellyfish Invasion Map as a souvenir of those heady summer days when we stared the beach-pocalypse in the face.
A spin off of our Killer Beach reports, the Jellyfish Invasion affected supermodels, surfers and adorable children alike. Lucky for us, it looks like 2009 will be even worse for jelly attacks worldwide. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
Related Stories:
· Bar Refaeli Braves Killer Jellyfish in France [Jaunted]
· Man-Made Plague of Jellyfish to Terrorize Beaches for Years to Come [Jaunted]
· Kate Hudson Flees Killer Australian Jellyfish for NYC Clubs [Jaunted]
[Photo of jellies in the Monterey Aquarium: chuck12600]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / Airport Photo Shoots / Gossip Girl / Celeb Travel / → All Tags
2008's Best Airport Photo Shoot Is...
They may have arrived officially on the small screen in 2007, but 2008 was the year we became officially obsessed with the hot young cast of "Gossip Girl." We followed them around the city, spied on them over the summer and, two weeks ago, bid farewell to a supporting character.
But as overexposed as they are, the "Gossip" girls and guys (yes, even slutty Ed) have managed to hold on to a little mystique, which is what makes this snap of Lively, Crawford and Badgley our favorite Airport Photo Shoot of 2008.
The earnest dishevelment of the players makes us believe that, unlike your Paris Hiltons or Lindsay Lohans, these cast members still aren't used to having their pictures taken in public. None of your Speidi-style cheesy composition, just a bunch of fresh-faced kids getting their own carry-ons out of the trunk. (Not to mention that whenever they travel together, they perpetuate the myth that making the show is as fun as watching it.)
"Gossip Girl" returns January 5, 2009. We can't wait.
Related Stories:
· Spotted: S., N. and D. at LAX [Jaunted]
· Season One Finale: Lily and Bart's Wedding/ The Return Of The Sweater Vest [Jaunted]
· The Last Episode Of 2008: I'll Hold Back Your Hair [Jaunted]
Tags: The Jauntys / Celeb Travel / Rihanna / → All Tags
2008's Celebrity Traveler Of The Year Is...
Under that hat, she's got a well-stamped passport: We followed Rihanna all over the world this year, and whether she was alone or traveling with that special someone, we wanted to be wherever the petite Barbadian went.
We first checked out the singer's new West Coast tattoo in 2008; from there, she was spotted at The Grammys, in Mexico City and Paris. And how could we forget her adventures with fellow R&B singer Chris Brown on Virginia roller coasters and meeting the parents?
"Take a Bow," Rihanna! Let's hope 2009 sends you and your sweetie to even more corners of the globe.
Related Stories:
· Rihanna And Chris Brown Legally Joined (In Lawsuit) [Jaunted]
· Rihanna Tattoo Map [Jaunted]
[Photo: starpulse.com]
Tags: The Jauntys / Jaunted Field Trips / → All Tags
2008's Best Jaunted Field Trip Is...
Jaunted editors and contributors traveled all over the world this year, from South Africa to the Bahamas, but nothing piqued our interest more than an undertouristed part of South America, often overlooked for Rio or Buenos Aires. That's why we're bestowing the Jaunty for Best Field Trip of 2008 to Uruguay.
Even without going in season, Jaunted editor Paul Brady--who recused himself from voting on this award, mind you--found great food, good beaches and even a premium national beer in Uruguay, a country many skip in their South American tours. Unlike in European countries, the exchange rate is still relatively favorable to visitors, and unlike on other South American beaches, you don't need to be born there to get a prime blanket spot. Try Uruguay in 2009; we'll save you a Patricia.
Related Stories:
· Uruguay Field Trip: Getting There [Jaunted]
· Uruguay Field Trip: Punta del Diablo [Jaunted]
· The Full Uruguay Field Trip [Jaunted]
Tags: The Jauntys / 2008 Travel Awards / Travel News / Travel Media / → All Tags
2008's Worst Travel Media Moment Is...
As many travel publications revamped their web offerings--and a certain couple of sites were acquired by a media conglomerate--one travel media titan fell off the RSS readers of many of its fans, if the enormous commenter backlash is to be believed.
The Gridskipper gutting took pretty much everyone by surprise. When we first reported on it, we didn't editorialize, seeing as how we didn't know the inner workings of the competition for whom we have nothing but respect. But what we are sure of is that in the wake of the site's relaunch, we managed to pick up some great travel blog talent in Victor Ozols while alums Neal Ungerleider and Hunter Walker also wrote us some great stories.
At least G'skip was spared a smackdown from Arthur Frommer.
Related Stories:
· Refereeing the Travel Media: Gridskipper Not Keeping Too Many Fans [Jaunted]
· Jaunted Makes Arthur Frommer Burn His Guidebook [Jaunted]
· Three Is a Trend: Travel Media Pro-am [Jaunted]
· Peter Greenberg Loved Thomas Kohnstamm's Book [Jaunted]
· Travel Media coverage [Jaunted]
