A Curious Mind

Silverjet Folds, Mass Luxury Finished? --The Huffington Post, 5/30/08

The all-business class airline Silverjet folded today, provoking these thoughts from me on the demise of "mass luxury" for the Huffington Post.

A bit more info for those geekily and freakily interested in income statistics. When I was Editor-at -Large at the late, lamented American Demographics magazine, one of the side benefits was the uncanny nerdy ability to spout statistics about the US population. It's a skill I no longer have, alas, which I believe makes me less fun to have at cocktail parties.

If I thought people were engaging in too much self pity over not having a housekeeper or a new car, I liked to break out my favorite downer stat: how little money most Americans live on. I think most people of a certain socioeconomic group assume that most two-income households easily crack $50,000 a year, but, that's not true: median income today is well shy of $49,000. And because I have always either lived or spent a lot of time in New York City, I was often assured that these rules simply didn’t apply to New York where everyone simply had to earn more just to survive.

Hogwash. I had to look back to 2003 to get the kind of data I wanted, but back then, in the US, median household income was $43,564, and about 14% earned $100,000. In New York City, median income was actully lower $39,937, and only about 15% earned over $100,000.

Oh, that includes the outer boroughs though. So just in Manhattan (or New York County) it’s higher: median $47,415, and about 24% earned $100,000 or more, but that still means that the vast majority of people in Manhattan ain’t rolling in it –it’s just that the ones that are are making out really well.

You can read much, more more on this page at the Census Bureau's website.

How to Tell a Great Vacation Story --The Street, 5/27/08

Take any interesting vacations lately?

Please don't answer that question until you read my latest column for The Street. I got the idea for this story when I attended the Inc. 500 conference this past September. I overheard attendees making vacation-related but eye-glazing, snore-inducing small talk, and thought to myself: this must stop.
 

The Indy 500, or America, in the Round --The Huffington Post, 5/25/08

I attended the Indy 500 on Sunday, and it was quite a spectacle, as I relate on The Huffington Post. Here's a slide show of what I witnessed!

Pack Your Skillet--The Street, 5/15/08

I am more of an appreciator of fine cuisine than I am a preparer of it --I joke that my specialty is making reservations.  So I was out of my element to say the least when I entered Chef Nimmy Paul's kitchen in Cochin, India, for a cookery class! She actually prepared the dish that you see at the left, while I watched in awe.  Here's a story for The Street about great culinary classes around the world.

The Auschwitz Pilgrim? --Huffington Post, 5/7/2008

As I mentioned a few days ago, I visited Poland last May, and wrote a couple of travel stories about my time there. I also had personal reasons for making the trip, as my grandparents were originally from Poland, survived World War II and the Holocaust, and eventually rebuilt their lives in the Bronx.

I'm working on a larger piece about all of this, but here's the start of my thinking, for the Huffington Post, about the day I visited Auschwitz. A few images from Birkenau from that day:

A Wild Pair --Robb Report Luxury Resorts 2008

In this year's edition of Robb Report's Luxury Resorts, I report on Singita Sweni and Lembombo, luxury safari lodges in Kruger National Park in South Africa.  They definitely earned their place on Robb Report's annual 100 best places to stay list --and the spa on the property is the only place I've been where a baboon watched my massage! Read the story here. I wrote about how to to take a safari in a hurry for TheStreet earlier this year.  

Vacation in Alaska, Where a Dollar's Still a Dollar --The Street, 5/1/2008

I'm just back from London, where it now very nearly takes two dollars to buy one British pound. The situation is just a little better with the Euro ($1.50 for 1 euro) but that weak dollar makes everything so much more expensive.
I've spent a lot of time in Alaska recently, and it's a great place for a foreign-feeling adventure without having to convert currency. Here are the best ways to experience Alaska, in my latest for The Street.

Four Hours in Krakow --Business Traveler, April 2008

I visited Krakow, Poland, last May, and quite by accident, happened to be there for the city's 750th birthday. It was quite the party, and on the night of the major festivities which centered around an outdoor concert, Old Town was packed with patriotic Poles --to the point of near panic for me!

I'm still working on several stories that have come out of that trip--my family is originally from Krakow -- but in the meantime, my latest piece for Business Traveler, a Four Hour Guide to this most lovely city, has hit the newsstands. The story is not available online yet, but in it, I craft a perfect Krakovian afternoon, including a walk from Old Town to the former Jewish neighborhood of Kasimierz, which takes you past Wawel Castle, pictured here. If you're interested in planning a Jewish themed trip to Krakow, by the way, I've just learned of this site, which seems quite handy.

Serenity Now: Finding Peace on India's Waters --TheStreet, 4/21/2008

I made a trip to India last month, stopping in Bombay, Udaipur and Kerala. After a few days in Bombay, I concluded that Suketu Mehta's book about Bombay, Maximum City, was aptly named --never have I been so exhausted!
So it's a little ironic that the first story that I've written from this trip was about relaxation, but after spending several days among 13 million people, the time I spent at the Lake Palace and on the Backwaters felt the very definition of tranquil. Here's the story.

Baltimore's Golden Fences Come Down --The Huffington Post, 3/29/08

I was in Baltimore last week, where I caught the end of a controversial art installation, which closed off a beloved  city park to the public with golden chain link fences. You can see what I wrote about it here. Aso, The Baltimore Sun has a lovely photo gallery of the installation in its glory.

I was only able to snap a few pictures before my camera battery died, what you see below is a protest sign, and the fences in the midst of being dismantled.

 

New Reasons to Visit Nashville --TheStreet, 3/24/2008

I've got family in Nashville, Tennessee, so I've spent a lot of time there over the years. In my latest story for TheStreet, I look at the best way to spend a weekend in Music City.  It's a place where there are plenty of ways to scratch your country-music itch, even if you're not ready to change careers and give it all to the music gods.

Mush! The Iditarod Begins --The Huffington Post, 3/2/2008

Here are some images from the ceremonial start of the 2008 Iditarod. (A few of my first thoughts about this are on The Huffington Post.)

A full range of canine emotions on display here! Over the next few days I'll build a slide show with more images, be sure to check back.

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.

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.

Is New York City Not the Best City On Earth? --Huffington Post, 1/28/2008

I did a little musing on my own hometown, and the whole concept of anointing a city "best". (I think it's all very arbitrary and idiosyncratic.)
I thought I'd provoke a chorus of passionate New York City defenders, but that's not happened...yet. 

How to Take a Safari in a Hurry: TheStreet.com 1/23/08

A South African safari is one of those vacations that you might dream about for very long time --imagining yourself climbing into a Land Rover under that big dome sky, and bouncing across the veldt, dotted with iconic, low spreading fig trees, until you spot a herd of elephants -- and then cautiously following your armed guide, single-file, to take a closer look.

Then, as the sunset paints the green and tan grasslands rosy, stopping to take in the view while you sip a cocktail and snacking in some biltong (South African jerky) -- until your guide picks up the low rhythmic sound of lions communicating with each other. You’ll track the lion pride down and ride along with them as they prowl.

A safari really can be like this-- but South Africa is very far away, and the vacation time that you can afford to take seems very short.  But no need to put off your safari dreams for retirement, as I discuss in my latest column for TheStreet.com

Learning to Ski in Aspen --The Huffington Post, 1/14/2008

My second dispatch on Aspen --this time, focusing on learning to ski --has run in the Huffington Post. To get a handle on why I found the first day of ski lessons so difficult, I gave Dr. John Eliot, performance psychologist, a call. I first spoke to Dr. Eliot for a story I wrote for Inc. a while back, he's currently on sabbatical from Rice University. He gave me great insight into why skiing is difficult for adults, why it's easier for kids but may be harder for teenagers, and how to best prepare your mind for learning a new physical activity like skiing. Have a listen to our chat here. Download alison_stein_wellner_interviews_dr. John Eliot 1.mp3

Have the Beach to Yourself In Honduras --TheStreet.com, 1/7/08

The Caribbean island of Roatan in Honduras is capturing a great deal of media spotlight these days --I've contributed to that with a story forthcoming in Men's Journal --but there are several other places to enjoy a watery vacation in Honduras, as I report in this story for TheStreet.com .

From Hitchikers to Private Jets: The Season Begins in Aspen -Huffington Post, 12/20/2007

I'm in Aspen now, and the high season, which will start on the Friday before Christmas, is just about to begin. For right now, it's a bit quiet, and the big excitement is that Heidi Klum is here (because husband Seal will be performing), and the scuttle is that paparazzi got kicked out of the lodge at the Buttermilk mountain where they were lying in wait for pics of Klum and brood on skis.

Aspen is about ideas, and one idea here is that celebrities can be free to just chill out and not be bothered by their celebrity -while getting, of course, the full-fledged celebrity treatment. This doesn't make any sense if you stop to think about it for a moment, but what can you say about a place that has officially sanctioned, apparently town government-installed "thumbing stations" for hitchhikers, and at the same time enough private jet traffic that you must clarify whether you have arrived at the public or the private airport when arranging transport into town?

Read the rest of this report on Aspen, the first of two, on the Huffington Post.

How to Pick an Awesome Scotch --TheStreet.com, 12/20/2007

I met Johnny Walker, the director of wine and spirits for Malmasion, an excellent boutique hotel chain in the UK, while I was in Scotland over the summer, and immediately knew I wanted to write about him. Here's a fun little story for TheStreet.com about Walker's picks for the best in scotch.

Is Searching for Local Food Snobby? --Huffington Post, 12/12/07

I've just started to blog about travel for The Huffington Post, which is the fifth most-read blog, according to Technorati.
Here's a link to my first piece, about local food in Nashville and whether it makes me snob to want it.

Four Hours in Shanghai --Business Traveler, October 2007

I took a great trip to China this past spring, hitting Hong Kong, Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai. Here's a story  that I wrote with Andrew Collins, fellow writer and partner in crime on this trip, on how to spend four hours in Shanghai --the only city I've ever been to that made my native New York seem old and fuddy duddy.

Four Hours in Beijing --Business Traveler, October 2007

Here's a story about the best way to spend four hours in Beijing --a city so large that it can take at least four hours to figure out how to read the map (which is probably outdated anyway). The picture at right is in the Imperial Garden, inside the Forbidden City.

Into the Wild --Inc., October 2007

The senior managers of Timbuk2, a San Francisco-based manufacturer of messenger bags, gathered on a gently sloping granite ledge at an altitude of 12,000 feet, overlooking the blue-gray shimmer of one of the dozen or so Ice Lakes, slopes of stubby pine trees, and beyond onto ragged peaks. It was the middle of June, but snow still mounded on the ground. A thunderstorm had just skirted the campsite and the wind screamed constantly, cold and fierce.

These four men and two women lead a growing company of 70 employees back at sea level, where they'd typically be worrying about things like financing, brand management, e-commerce, and retail sales. But for the past four days they'd been in the backcountry, and their concerns had been somewhat more basic: Would that small blister turn into a festering sore? Would those dark clouds bring rain? Does that bear paw print in the mud mean there's an actual bear nearby?

The group was halfway through a seven-day backpacking trip organized by the National Outdoor Leadership School, or NOLS. Accompanying them were two NOLS instructors and me; I'd tagged along to see what would happen. It had been nearly 100 hours since any of us had had a shower, or used a flushing toilet, cradled a cell phone to our ear, or run our fingers across a keyboard. As the sun started to set, the temperature, which had hit the high 80s when we'd set out from the town of Lander, Wyoming, just four days before, was hovering just above freezing.

To read the story, click here.

Fresh Air--Business Traveler, July/August 2007

It's a balmy evening on a curving, café lined street. Men and women in suits walk briskly on their way to evening cocktails, the perfectly coiffed teeter on high heels, toting couture-filled shopping bags, while young intellectuals fiercely debate issues of the day through plumes of cigarette smoke. Just beyond, in a leafy and flower-filled park, mothers mind their children playing near a fountain, while silver-haired ladies walk their tiny dogs.

You know you're in a European city— but Warsaw?  Here's my story about one of my favorite urban destinations.

 

West-Most: Hong Kong -- Business Traveler, July-August 2007

Exploring the convention scene in Hong Kong, the quintessential urban experience.

Can't Stand the Heat? --Inc., July 2007

It's really hot and humid now, which means that my story in Inc. is just in time! To get in the proper mood for this story, might I suggest you take a look at this informative guide to the worst that summer has to offer.  And then, skip the three S's--sand, surf, and sweltering temperatures--and head to one of these delightfully cool destinations instead. From New Zealand, to Iceland, to Portland, Oregon, there's no reason to sweat it out this season. (You can read this in the form of a slideshow here, if you desire.) Plus, snowsports without the snow.

Tried & Tested-- Business Traveler, June 2007

Here's my review of Qantas business class --a flight across the Pacific just might be a remarkably effective cure for the common cold!

South Africa, Found --Men's Journal, May 2007

The Western Cape of South Africa, anyone? I look at this gorgeous area as a dream vacation-home destination in the May 2007 issue of Men's Journal.

Download MJSouthAfricaClip.pdf

 

Four Hours in Frankfurt--Business Traveler, May 2007

Frankfurt is all about two Cs: commerce and connections (via plane to other places). But if you leave the boardroom or the airport, you can definitely spend a more than pleasant afternoon.

Amazing Facts about Moving --USA Weekend, May 13th, 2007

Some 40 million Americans move house each year, and the summer is the time the moving vans get in gear. Here's the low-down on the cardboard box and bubble-wrap set. (Click image at left to read.)

Bright Lights, Bigger City --Continental, March 2006

 

Almost missed that this story had been published. (I guess I haven't been on an airplane recently!) Anyway, here's a story on the Manhattanization of Las Vegas. It has very little to do with casinos, which to me, at least, is an impressive trick for a story about Vegas.

Rolling up the Sidewalks

When I'm traveling, I always find it super-creepy when a bustling downtown turns into a ghost-town at night. Sidewalks should always have people on them, I say. In various different positions.

Most places in the United States, though, are subject to this spine-tingling effect. In many places, daytime population is higher than nighttime population, as commuters flow in to do their thing, and then flee for home at night.

In some places, the effect is more pronounced than others. For example, 30,000 people come to work in Lake Buena Vista Florida, but there are only four full-time residents. (And you have to wonder about who they are.)  Other places that bring the crowds by day but drive them out each night: Teterboro, NJ, East Garden City, NY, Tysons Corner, Va. Beverly Hills also has a similar dynamic: 45,000 people live there, 90,000 people work there. So that's one thing that Beverly Hills shares with Teterboro, at least.

In a very few places across the country, though, there's more of a vampire dynamic: daylight drives the throngs away. So either these places are packed with the un-dead, or, the residents who leave for work each day don't hire people in great numbers to manage things while they are out. In Aurora, Colorado, for instance, the population drops by 18%, or 50,000 people during daylight hours. Other vampire towns: Mesa, Arizona; Long Beach, California; Arlington, Texas, and Virginia Beach, Virgina. 

(You can have fun with the Census data in Excel format here. )

Alison's Portfolio: Places

Why Shrinking Cities Sprawl. Sierra Magazine. For most people, the word "sprawl" conjures up images of boomtowns in the rapidly growing West and South, like Las Vegas, or Nashville, or Atlanta. But metropolitan areas with stagnant-or even declining-populations can also suffer from sprawl. To read, click image at left. 

 

 

                        
Shining Stars. Yankee Magazine, April 2003 Just about every week, somewhere in New England, the Red Star Twirlers take the stage. Ranging in age from just six years old to 20, the 36 girls in this troupe flip, twist, toss, and twirl a baton in ways that defy both gravity and the imagination. One performer balances an 18inch baton across the bridge of her nose; another rolls a still- twirling baton across her back, then catches it-still rotating-in her other hand. Still another Red Star throws her baton far into the air, snakes her hand between her egs, and catches it behind her back before tossing it to another twirler. All of these  acrobatics are perfectly timed to music, interspersed with dance moves. All of the twirlers beam from ear to ear.Download shining_stars.pdf