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Travel

  • Rodeo is Turning America’s Whitest Big City Black

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    3 min read

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    Tressie McMillan Cottom writing for The New York Times:

    In the historical scope, it makes sense why protracted conflict marred this city. It is less obvious what a Juneteenth celebration would mean for Portland. The city does not have Texas’ history with enslaved people. It does not have the cultural history of the American South. And it is not a central part of the Great Migration story of Black history.

    The Portland rodeo is a celebration trying to fasten Juneteenth’s specific story of freedom from slavery to universal themes of place, home and equality. Now that Juneteenth is a federal holiday, communities across the country are doing the same complicated dance. This nation still has not fully acknowledged its national debt to slavery. How can it find a unifying national message around Black freedom without acknowledging white accommodation of slavery? A rodeo is as good a way to explore those tensions as any other. Like a rider wrestling a bull beneath bright lights, reconciling national narratives is not a pastime for the faint of heart.

    […]

    Like every story about enslavement and the American West, you cannot talk about Juneteenth in Portland without talking about land. “Ivan very intentionally had the rodeo here at the Expo Center,” Oregon State Senator Lew Frederick said. The Expo Center is near Vanport, a formerly Black working-class enclave built around the shipping industry in the 1940s. A massive storm, followed by flooding, wiped Vanport off the map in 1948. Frederick says there remains a notion among Black Portlanders that the flooding was a convenient excuse for displacing the city’s thriving Black enclave.

    Having the rodeo near Vanport is a way of saying that this is an event for you, for us. And that we remember. For State Senator Frederick, Juneteenth is not only about commemorating news of freedom for Galveston’s enslaved people. It is also about remembering in places where a lot of effort has been made to forget. “That’s what Juneteenth is managing, to tell the history that we have not been told. So it can be told in an Oregonian way.”

    Black Cowboys have been around since long before the cattle-driving era, but sadly pop culture has diminished their myth and legend. These folks deserve every right to commemorate Juneteenth and reclaim their much deserved piece of Western Heritage. Bringing people together to acknowledging and reconcile history over song, pageantry and bucking horses sounds like a superb idea. I know where I wanna be next Juneteenth. I’ll see y’all in Portland.

  • LA Metro Says TAP Transit Cards May Support Apple Pay Later This Year

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    1 min read

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    According to this official tweet from LA Metro:

    It’s happening! It’s long been known that LA Metro has been working on upgrading its TAP system, and it’s about time. Contactless payments are clearly the future. New York City has had it for nearly a year (although, not all 472 stations support it yet). I wonder if TAP contactless will be live by the time iOS 14 hits the ground running?

  • Check out the Nordic island that has its own little cloud

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    1 min read

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    The cute little island is called Lítla Dímun. It’s part of the Faroe Islands, which is a self-governing archipelago about 450km southeast of Iceland. Despite the proximity, the islands are actually owned by Denmark.

    Supposedly, visitors can visit most of the islands, but Lítla Dímun is off limits due to wildlife preservation and pretty frequent has inclement weather which obstructs the view of the island. Atlas Obscura recommends getting a glimpse of the island from the villages of Hvalba or Sandvík, on the island of Suðuroy. But, looking at maps, it appears you can likely trek from Trongisvágur to Hvannhagi, a spot the overlooks the bay, from what looks like the remnants of ancient caldera:

    Standing at Hvannhagi looking toward Lítla Dímun
    Múlafossur Waterfall, another tourist favorite on the Faroe Islands.

  • Chinese tourists are allegedly being recruited to spy on the US

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    2 min read

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    The people of China are vacationing more than ever before. A while back I came across a story where Chinese tourists swarmed a tiny village in Austria. Who could blame them, UNESCO World Heritage Sites are breathtaking places to visit.

    In 2018, there were 2.9 million Chinese travelers to the United States. Each year, that number has been in decline. But China’s boom isn’t slowing down. In 2010, we knew it was just warming up. As travelers from the People’s Republic of China ebbs and flows, there’s been some espionage lurking underneath.

    This story centers around a Chinese tourist, Qingshan Li. He was visiting the US under a tourist visa in San Diego, California. Li was allegedly caught attempting to purchase military munitions under suspicious circumstances. Justin Rohrlich at Quartz reports:

    One of the items Li was allegedly after, a Harris Falcon III AN/PRC 152A radio, is designated as a defense article on the United States Munitions List, and subject to international arms trafficking regulations. This means the Falcon III, which provides US troops in the field with National Security Agency-certified encrypted communications, cannot leave the country without a special license issued by the State Department.

    Li had agreed to pay AB a total of 50,000 renminbi, or roughly $7,200, for the radio. He knew AB was already under investigation for export-related crimes and believed AB “was attempting to get rid of the radio in light of AB’s entanglement with law enforcement,” according to court filings.

    What’s old is now new again. This isn’t the first, nor the last time we’ll be seeing foreign actors participating in freelance espionage while vacationing abroad. Popular tourism spots such as Tallinn, Estonia’s capital used to be hotbeds for KGB activity during the Cold War.

    While the he largest immediate threat to the US is cyber-security and Russia’s election interferences — we can expect to see more of this tried-and-true method of “freelancing spying” from other countries, not just China.

  • Curbed Marfa Travel Guide

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    2 min read

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    Executive Editor at Vox, Mercedes Kraus, penned a travel guide for would-be visitors to Marfa. Marfa is located in West Texas. Heck, even the Simpsons visited Prada Marfa:

    The Simpsons, S30E11: “Mad about the toy”

    Texas, is well known for many things. A couple of venerable and memorable characters from Texas’s past include Sam Houston and Lyndon B. Johnson. A few of my personal favorite things about Texas: the tall skies, grassy hills, semi-arid desert landscapes, swell thunderstorms, quiet dive bars, and loud honky-tonks. It’s easy to forget that Texas has a substantial art culture in Marfa. But, its there damnit! It has frequently been overshadowed by larger-than-life subjects such as Austin’s tech boom, and of course Texas oil booms.

    You can read the entire travel guide here at Curbed. But, I loved this pro-tip on arting and getting to know locals in Marfa:

    For art: Don’t let anyone tell you to skip Chinati. I recommend either the full tour ($25) or all three self-guided tours ($30). The self-guided are “the sheds” (where I experienced a visual symphony), the Dan Flavin buildings (for your Instagram fulfillment), and the new Robert Irwin—an artwork and experience that is in fact an entire building. The thing that I think you, a fan of this newsletter, would really miss if you don’t do the full tour is the arena. If you are unable to take the Judd Foundation tour (see above), you must do the full Chinati tour so that you can experience the arena. (Pro tip: get to know your docent—locals in Marfa are super friendly, will give you great tips, and might even invite you to a local party or happening.)

    For context, The Chinati Foundation was founded based on Donald Judd’s ideas and principles. Honorary Texan, Donald Judd is essentially Marfa’s Patron Saint of Art. For good reason too. If not for him, Marfa would look a helluva lot different.

    Mercedes is on-point about getting to know your locals too. Don’t be shy. Texas’s state motto is, after all simply, friendship. You might just make a friend. Having a Texan in your contact book is like personally knowing a hobbit. Cherished, magical and kind.

  • Word on the Water, a Floating Bookshop in London Kings Cross, Regent’s Canal

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    1 min read

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    The whole idea of a floating bookstore is just so quaint and charming. The interior of Word on the Water is probably exactly what you are imagining. Bobbing up-and-down in London, England at Regent’s Canal, is the utterly unique Word on the Water bookshop.

    It’s has cozy corners, thick carpets and a complimentary hardwood interior. The dimly lit hull interior is stuffed with tall stacks of books for reading. My idyllic nap decor if we’re being completely honest. The exterior features planks that over-extend over the canal sidewalk for laid-out books for passerby customers. I wonder if the unique bookstore has a book on boat speak?

    You can read more about Word on the Water at Atlas Obscura, here.

  • Micronations

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    2 min read

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    Very few micronations exist. Microsnations, by definition are self-proclaimed (and often unrecognized countries). Only about 67 exist, as of writing according to research from Quartz. My favorite tid-bit from Quartz’s research is the micronation Zaqistan, which is located in Utah. If you’ve ever been to Utah, you know how comical this is. There is, and I am not understating this — nothing out there.

    Don’t believe me? That’s ok. Here is Zaqistan on Google Maps. Take a peak at that aerial view. Here are the coordinates for your GPS if you ever want to trek out there: 41.440006, -113.427229

    If you really want to go the mile you can apply for a passport from Zaqistan’s (or is it Zaq Landsberg’s) website:

    Zaqistan is small, remote and bound on all sides by the United States. It is as of now unrecognized by any other country. It is NOT POSSIBLE to travel to Zaqistan without going through the United States. Zaqistan is a fledgling, developing nation.

    There are no living facilities, no roads, and no water in Zaqistan, it is not possible to live in Zaqistan. We currently visit Zaqistan for only a few days of the year, and no one lives there year round.

  • The New York City Subway Map as You’ve Never Seen It Before

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    1 min read

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    I love interactive stories like these. This story, was written by Antonio de Luca and Sasha Portis at the New York Times. It begins here:

    In 1979, responding to complaints from riders that the subway map was difficult to use, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority hired the Manhattan design firm Michael Hertz and Associates to create a new map.

    That map. The problematic Massimo Vignelli (RIP) subway map designed in 1972, and it was cool-looking but wow, was it unusable:

    No wonder Vignelli’s map only lived 7 years. It’s pretty difficult to find these lying around anymore, but you can find them for sale on eBay. You used to be able to even find them at old subway stations, still plastered up on waypoints or platform corkboards.

    Portis and de Luca did an outstanding job on this interactive Times story. If you enjoy trains or even New York history, you’ll love this story. Read it here.

  • Mount Fuji Cutting Through the Clouds

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    1 min read

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    Just unbelievably beautiful.

  • Southwest Airlines to Leave Newark Airport as Toll of Boeing’s 737 Max Grounding Grows

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    1 min read

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    Amie Tsang for the New York Times:

    Southwest, reporting second-quarter earnings, said that as a result of the troubled jet’s grounding, its passenger numbers had declined, its costs had increased and it had lost an estimated $175 million in profit. Operating income for the second quarter was $968 million, $4 million less than the same period the year before.

    Kind of remarkable. I wonder how much worse this will get before an airline sues Boeing for losses.