Dispatches from Larry Habegger

Nov

19

The Most Traveled Person in the World

Posted by Larry Habegger

Without running a Google search or checking a current almanac, most of us probably wouldn’t know that our Earth contains 757 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces. Certainly most of us wouldn’t consider it possible to visit them all. Most of us would be wowed if we made it to 100 countries. Even 50 is pretty darn good. But all of them?

Charles Veley and others of his ilk aren’t like most of us. They want, and intend, to go everywhere. Continue reading »

1 Comment | Filed Under Adventure Travel, Africa & Middle East, Asia, Australia, Books, California, Cruises, Europe, Feature, North America, Paris, Sailing, South America, Travel

Nov

17

A Taste of Old France off the Coast of Canada

Posted by Larry Habegger

The place most people think of when hearing about a taste of France in Canada is Quebec, the French-speaking province with cosmopolitan Montreal and the walled old town of Quebec City. But San Francisco Chronicle Deputy Travel Editor Spud Hilton has a different take and a different place in mind: Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, an archipelago of eight tiny islands (only three are inhabited) off the coast of Newfoundland that not only offer a taste of France, they are France. Continue reading »

Leave a Comment | Filed Under Canada, France

Nov

14

Last Voyage of the QE2

Posted by Larry Habegger

Sometime in the 1980s the QE2 came to San Francisco and I remember thinking she was a marvel among marvels. After all, at 963 feet and 70,000 tons she was the world’s largest cruise ship and dwarfed the other vessels I’d seen over the years docking at the piers beneath my home on Telegraph Hill. Not long after, or maybe before, my memory is fuzzy, the ship was commandeered by Margaret Thatcher to serve as a troop ship during the 1982 Falklands War.

In January 2007 she returned to San Francisco, diminished in size by the behemoths that followed her. The current “world’s largest cruise liner” is Freedom of the Seas at a staggering 1,112 feet and 160,000 tons. That’s more than twice the weight of the QE2, which is almost beyond comprehension, literally holding a small town of 4,300 passengers and 1,300 crew on 15 passenger decks. Continue reading »

Leave a Comment | Filed Under Africa & Middle East, Cruises, Dubai, England, Feature, Travel

Nov

12

Outback Desert Too Hot to Handle

Posted by Larry Habegger

When you imagine exploring the dreamtime world of Australia’s Outback, especially the searing deserts of South Australia, be sure you plan your journey during the right season or you may snag more than you can handle. This year, to make sure that no one makes this mistake, officials will close the Simpson Desert from Dec. 1 to March 15—the Australian summer—to avoid tourist deaths and protect emergency personnel who might have to risk themselves to save stranded visitors. Continue reading »

2 Comments | Filed Under Adventure Travel, Australia, Camping, Desert Travel, Feature, Travel

Nov

10

Maldives to Buy Land to Escape Global Warming

Posted by Larry Habegger

I wrote on Nov. 4 about a new era in the Maldives, but it appears that the new era may be something else again. According to multiple press reports, new president-elect Mohamed Nasheed wants to buy a new homeland for his people to give them a place to go if the sea rises as predicted because of global warming.

The UN forecasts that the sea could rise as much as two feet by 2100, and since most of the Maldives is less than five feet above sea level (many areas are less than three feet), life will be precarious there. Continue reading »

Leave a Comment | Filed Under Maldives

Nov

7

What do Barack Obama, Morocco golf, and Curt the Golfer have in common?

Posted by Larry Habegger

The game of golf, travel, and Barack Obama’s victory in the U.S. presidential election are getting all mixed up this week. In a stunning upstaging of Joe the Plumber, William K. Wolfrum reveals on Worldgolf.com that Obama’s success was preordained by “Curt the Golfer,” an Illinois 22-year-old who says (and he has witnesses) that he hit five holes-in-one in the past week.

Most golfers, including many professionals, go their entire lifetimes without hitting one. Wolfrum sees Obama’s success in these five aces by a fellow Illinoisan (in golf, a hole-in-one is also called an “ace”) as clearly as reading tea leaves. Continue reading »

Leave a Comment | Filed Under Africa & Middle East, Feature, Golf, Morocco, Travel

Nov

4

New Era in the Maldives

Posted by Larry Habegger

Many years ago I stood near the southernmost point of India at Kanyakumari gazing out over the Indian Ocean. Somewhere over that horizon lay the Maldives, an isolated collection of atolls laid out like a string of gems some 400 miles away.

They’d been pulling at me since I first encountered them on a globe many years before and I’d traveled there many times in my imagination. Standing in the tropical breeze that day I knew I couldn’t visit them this time, but was certain I’d get there one day.

Continue reading »

Leave a Comment | Filed Under Asia, Feature, Maldives, Travel

Nov

4

Find Your Way via Google Earth

Posted by Larry Habegger

Google Earth isn’t news. After all, it’s been around since 2004, first as Earth Viewer, then as Google Earth since 2006. But it’s a great way to get a sense of the world beyond the horizon, a bird’s-eye preview of places on your itinerary before you leave home or to take another look after you return.

Some people who make travel their business use it to find new opportunities and plan new itineraries for their clients. Graeme Wood writes about these trailblazers in “It’s a Small World After All” in Culture + Travel magazine. Looking for a new surfing site no one has ever seen? Want to find the best camping areas in the bush to spot wildlife? Or just want to plan your own offbeat itinerary through desolate terrain? Google Earth is a good place to start.

But where do most people go the first time they explore the world through Google Earth? Home. We look for our own homes first to find our place the world.

Leave a Comment | Filed Under Adventure Travel, Feature, Travel

Oct

31

Mexico’s Day of the Dead

Posted by Larry Habegger

In the U.S. ghosts and goblins come out on Halloween, but in Mexico the celebration begins the night after, on November 1, Dia De Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. In many communities, families spend the night in cemeteries to commune with the spirits of their departed loved ones, decorating their graves with marigolds and elaborate candies of sculls and skeletons, setting up feasts of the dead’s favorite foods.

Respectful foreigners are welcome to participate in these private, solemn celebrations, and many find their own meanings in these rituals. Barbara Robertson certainly did, as she writes about her otherworldly Day of the Dead experience in Los Muertos, a story published in The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2008.

1 Comment | Filed Under Mexico, Travel

Oct

31

Australia’s (Least) Favorite Cities

Posted by Larry Habegger

Can 2500 Aussies be wrong? It’s all a matter of opinion in a survey asking what Australians consider the least appealing Australian city to visit on a holiday. The web site totaltravel.com asked users to pick their least favorite and the answers are surprising. Canberra, the capital, came in first (well, last, as in, least favorite), which isn’t too big a surprise, but Sydney came in second. In other words, one of Australia’s premier cities is the second least favorite place for Australians to visit.

Continue reading »

Leave a Comment | Filed Under Australia, Travel

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