04.15.05
This is the Sound of Globalization
In today's New York Times Arts section, Jon Pareles examines the state of world music in his story This is the Sound of Globalization. Pareles sees world music as a vibrant and loosely-defined genre that, thanks to the internet, is extremely accessible. He begins the article with "Would that the state of world music were the state of the world. In the music, boundaries are wide open, curiosity leads to cooperation, memories are long but the lessons of history are positive ones." He examines CDs released in the past year from 16 different countries, and the article includes audio clips and a sampling of upcoming world music concerts in Manhattan.

Endangered Machu Picchu
If you've dreamed of visiting Machu Picchu, you might want to get on it. The legendary Inca citadel has become overrun by tourists, and, according to an AFP story on Yahoo, the United Nations is threatening to list it as one of the world's most endangered monuments if the Peruvian government doesn't do something about it.

04.06.05
To Go or Not to Go?
After years of nurturing people's love of travel, the website BootsnAll has realized the error in its ways and launched a site aimed at discouraging travel. The site --Don't Go -- gives reasons why people should stay home, such as foreigners are too liberal and a lot of countries have creepy snakes. Of course, the site's launch date -- April 1 -- gives away its true intent of providing travelers with a laugh. Bootsnall also launched another site called Why Go, with daily inspirational reasons why people should travel.

03.21.05
Welcome to the first issue of Restless Me
When I started this no-budget website of alternative travel writing last fall, I figured I'd receive a handful of stories and have a readership of about 14 (that includes family). Instead, hundreds of stories and queries poured in, and even more e-mails supporting the site's concept. It turns out there actually is a lot of enthusiasm for this kind of travel writing. An even better surprise was the quality of the writers who contacted us. Not only are they passionate about traveling, but they're passionate about  -- and skilled at -- crafting stories that convey to readers a sense of place and an appreciation of culture. That mindset is reflected in all of this issue's stories, from the intrepid wanderlust of Andrea Fischer, a lone American woman exploring Iran, to the travel-inspired poetry of Allison Manning. I hope you enjoy this and future issues of Restless Me.

--D.M.

03.08.05
A Talking Tour of Beirut, Lebanon
As the simmering opposition to Syria's 15-year occupation of Lebanon began to boil over, writer Lee Smith was exploring the once war-torn city of Beirut that is now enjoying a rebirth. His story appears in the online magazine Slate.

02.21.05
Restless Me writer's
guidelines updated
Due to the volume of quality submissions to Restless Me, we've had to adjust our writer's guidelines. The most notable change is the response time to queries from two weeks to up to eight weeks. For questions or comments about the changes, drop us an e-mail.

12.06.04
Restless Me adds events section
We've added a page for events and festivals around the globe, just in case you feel you need an excuse to go to Addis Ababa or Rio. We plan to expand the page, so if you know of any events we should add, let us know.

11.29.04
Exploding the writer's block myth
Truck drivers never get "truck driver's block." Firefighters never get "fire-fighter's block." So why should writers get "writer's block?" That's the question tackled by Roy Peter Clark, Senior Scholar at the Poynter Institute, in an article on the institute's website. The institute is a school for journalists, and their website is a great resource for writers. Clark's article, Let It Flow, is Part 32 in his phenomenal series on Fifty Writers' Tools. What do you think: Is writer's block legit? Or is it just a lame excuse for procrastinators? Take up the debate in our forum.

11.29.04
Has Nepal become too dangerous?
Rebel violence last summer and a deadly bombing in early November have forced travelers to think twice about visiting Nepal. In an online story, Outside Magazine weighs the risks of traveling to the mountain kingdom.

11.21.04
Trekkers campaign to save Everest
A top British trekking company has joined environmentalists in petitioning Unesco to place Mt. Everest on a world heritage danger list because of global warming. It is the first time Unesco has been asked to danger list a site due to climate change. The region's sherpas already report milder winters and rainier springs, and there is concern that melting glaciers could cause catastrophic flooding in the region. The story appears in The Guardian.

Is Thailand
happiness on Earth?
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has made "Happiness on Earth" its new slogan to attract tourists to the country.  The old slogan, "Amazing Thailand," had been around for two years, and besides being old, said the TAT governor, it also carried "both positive and negative connotations." The governor said the underlying theme of the new campaign is that "every hour in Thailand is happy hour." Hell yeah! The TAT also launched a river-based tourism initiative to promote the 41 river routes across Thailand.

11.08.04
World Toilet Summit marks cleaner Chinese thrones
The World Toilet Summit kicks off in Beijing, China, on November 17, and city officials will use the event to showcase how they're transforming the capital's notoriously foul restrooms, which have long disgusted visitors. "Toilets represent the level of development of a country, a region," says one official. "They also represent a region's spiritual and material civilization." How true that is. The article appears on the CNN webpage.

11.04.04
U.S. warns travelers in Guatemala
The state department says violent attacks against tourists have increased in Guatemala, and is warning people not to travel on that country's highways in tour buses or vans. Read more.

11.02.04
Exploring Vietnam's H'mong tribe
Anyone who has traveled to Vietnam can appreciate the country's diversity. Nowhere is that diversity more apparent than among the country's mountain tribes, as travel writer Gary Tippet discovered when he visited the H'mong people of northwest Vietnam. His story appeared in a recent edition of the Sydney Morning Herald.