Weather sites for travel

I have my favorites around here, you know wunderground.com, intellicast.com and the old standby weather.gov (not the commercial one).

But what about overseas?  Sure you can select one of the others, but usually better info can be had from the government sponsored site, like this one for Iceland (http://en.vedur.is/).  Even if in a foreign language, Chrome can translate the pages.

Always check to see if one is local at your travel destination!

Ray Harryhausen RIP

A true artist. Ray Harryhausen passed away earlier this week.  See his website for details.  I met him briefly at the Monster Bash Conference a decade or so ago, and I am glad to have had the opportunity!

History and Tourism

There is a good historical review of tourism prepared by Towner and Wall (1991).  The basic premise is "The historical perspective is described and a chronological survey of historical tourism research is presented, with emphasis on the ancient and medieval worlds, the Grand Tour era, and spas and seaside resorts."

I believe it is an essentially reading for all tourism students.

Five Themes of Geography

I have blogged about the five themes of geography before (link)  (link), so this is nothing new.  For teachers, there is a lesson plan from the National Geographic Society.  Another good site is the about.com one.

So how does one use "movement" in a exploration of Tourism?

Miscellaneous Themes in Tourism

Check out these Tourism themes:

Adventure tourism, Atomic Tourism, Backpacking, Culinary, Dark Tourism, Film / TV , Last Chance Tourism, Literary tourism, Pilgrimage, Slum/ghetto tourism.

For example, Dark Tourism can be defined as the act of travel to sites associated with death and suffering.

And Last Chance Tourism is where tourists explicitly seek vanishing landscapes or seascapes, and/or disappearing natural and/or social heritage.

Which have you done?

Sierra Club's Dangerous Trails List

Want to have a high adventure?  Check out these trails.  I would have added the Lion's Trail on Mt. Washington, the Mt. Lafayette Range or any exposed mountain trail on the east coast when the weather changes.

Gosh, even Mt. Monadnock, the northern terminus of the M&M Trail can be nasty in the winter.

Time to get ready for National Trails Day 2013.

Is eating out cheaper than cooking in?

The report from gobankingrates.com raises this question and I am not totally convinced.  The report states;


"The cost of food at home has risen drastically over the past decade. According to statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the monthly cost of food for a family four under a low-cost plan has jumped by 38 percent from $601.50 in February 2003 to $830.30 in February 2013.


But is that adjusted for inflation?  
Is the dollar meal good for you, the environment and does it provide funds for a living wage for the restaurant employees?   I think not.  And how many people are still hungry?

Consider the price of food as part of the total household budget.  Back in caveman days, (cavepeople), the average family probably spent 75% of their time (or budget) for food.  Today it is probably 20%.  So food is cheaper today, right?  See this report noting cost of food over time.

Consider this timeline for the US.  Prices vary but it was a simple time....