A Curious Mind

Will Your Vacation Destroy Your Destination? --The Huffington Post, 2/25/08

There is a battle brewing in the Bahamas, involving all the Commonwealth's veins of lifeblood: its natural beauty, its economy, its people, and of course, tourism.

The controversy is centered in Guana Cay, an island where the San Francisco-based Discovery Land Company plans to build a 595 acre, $500 million resort. A citizens' group called Save Guana Cay Reef Association is suing the Commonwealth to stop it, fearing that leaching from the planned golf course will destroy the coral reef surrounding the island and that a marina that will be carved out of a mangrove swamp will also cause irreparable damage. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, the island has previous experience with developers. "Disney's Big Red Boat cruise ship anchored off the island for five years, and the operators dredged a channel, damaging a portion of the reef before abandoning the project in 1993."

Someone cleaned up the damage though--the very developers who want to build their new resort project. "Discovery Land cleaned up the site, which is within its proposed development. That earned it the support of some Guana Cay residents."

It's a complicated matter, and the Commonwealth's Supreme Court will eventually decide it. (To follow this story in words and images, see Erik Gauger's project, Rise Up Sweet Island.)  But the controversy, and all the arguments on either side, are by no means particular to the Bahamas.  As just one example, I wrote a story about Roatán, one of the Caribbean islands off the coast of Honduras, for Men's Journal's February issue. (The picture above left is from Copan in Honduras.) A new cruise ship terminal is under construction there, which will bring one million tourists on cruise ships per year to the island within five years--up from 300,000 per year today. The concerns there are similar: environmental damage and cultural degradation on the one hand versus economic development and the spot on the map that comes from being a tourist magnet on the other. And of course, we don't have to go abroad to find similar: off of South Carolina on the Sea Islands, there's the struggle to keep the Gullah-Geechee culture alive--here, golf tourism is also the encroaching force, and heritage tourism seen as a solution.

In this piece for the Huffington Post, I discuss how to enjoy a vacation without harming the destination. I don't really have the answers, but one big part of it is definitely spending your money locally.

Where to Find the Best Specialty Cheese --The Street, 2/25/2008

These are fine days indeed for those who love cheese. While aficionados once had to look overseas for the new and exciting in fromage, the homegrown cheese scene is now also providing excitement of its own. There are hundreds of small-batch cheese makers in the U.S. alone.   

All the cheese options can get confusing, though. So how can you best find your way through the ever-expanding cheese arena? My story suggests a few smart strategies.

Massaging Away Creationism--The Huffington Post, 2/20/08

There are lots of neutral ways that we encounter people's hands--handshakes, attaboy back pats, even brushing a stranger's hand on the subway isn't the most horrific thing. But leaving aside foot fetishes and footsie fantasies, we don't tend to have such positive associations with being touched by stranger's feet. Think about getting kicked, trampled, stepped on. And feet look sort of weird, and they smell, and they're prone to horribleness, fungi, and warts, and corns and other protrudences that are best hidden behind a pair of thick socks and a good layer of shoe leather, certainly not rubbed on our own bare skin.

In this dispatch, I ponder the connection between ashiatsu massage --which I experienced for the first time at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, pictured above -- primates and Mike Huckabee.

UPDATED: Thanks to National Geographic Traveler's blog for this link love!

Four Hours in San Francisco --Business Traveler, February 2008

San Francisco is one of my favorite cities, so it was pure delight to research this story. 

I haven't gotten around to scanning it, and it's not available online yet either, but the places that I highlight in the story are some of my favorites: The Ferry Terminal and Marketplace (for food and a ferry ride), SFMOMA, and a place I never fail to visit when I'm in the city by the bay, City Lights Bookstore.

Three Spectacular Places to Cross Country Ski --TheStreet.com, 2/20/2008

If you love a quiet, wintry landscape -- and a great workout -- there's not a lot that can beat a cross-country skiing vacation. Also known as Nordic skiing, this sport can get you out in nature during the wintertime in places where only those wearing snowshoes can follow --but at a speed that lets you cover a lot of ground. In this story, I talk about Aspen-Snowmass (Ashcroft Ski area is pictured at left), Jackson Hole and Park City, Utah. You can read more about my thoughts on Aspen here and here.

If You Like Whiskey, You'll Love Shochu --TheStreet.com, 2/13/2008

If you've seen shochu or soju on a cocktail menu recently, and wondered what it was, wonder no more.  This Asian spirit --Shochu in Japan,  soju in Korea – has long been popular throughout Asia, and the past decade has seen shochu creep from souvenir in the luggage of tourists returning home from Asia, to liquor stores and cocktail bars on the coasts and in fashionable spots throughout the country. Here's a story I wrote about it on TheStreet.com.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and a Meditation on Moderation-- Huffington Post, 2/3/2008

It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, a time for feast before the fast.  In this dispatch for the Huffington Post, I wonder about the role that moderation plays in all the revelry.

Island of the Midwinter Sun --Men's Journal, February 2008

The first thing that hits you about Roatan, 35 miles off the coast of Honduras, is that this is a different sort of tropical island. One most of the bigger-name Caribbean destinations, the boat ride to the dive site can be more like a morning commute: it takes forever, and you're worried about parking. But this is not a problem here --yet.

My story in Men's Journal looks at how this beautiful hideaway is about to be overrun by tourists, thanks to a new cruise ship terminal. Click the link below to read. And if you're looking for other ideas of where to go once Roatan is a theme park, check out my story on uncrowded waters in Honduras for TheStreet.com--the image above, left is from an island in Cayos Cachinos.  

Download MJRoatan.pdf

Mardi Gras: Just Bead It --TheStreet.com, 2/1/2008

Mardi Gras is about to begin in New Orleans, and if you've not been recently, it's time to book a trip! I've just returned from the Big Easy, where I ate a big pile of outstanding food and got an early look at some of the parades. Check out my Mardi Gras preview story on TheStreet.com.

Or, check it out on Entrepreneur.com, which reprints my stories from TheStreet.