I grew up in Florida so it's only natural that I was born with an innate love of bone-chilling, heart-pounding, hair-raising amusement-park thrills. But like most junkies, I eventually tired of the same old thing and went in search of new kicks. This is how I became obsessed with America's weirdest theme parks. Check out my top five picks below.

5) The Holy Land Experience - This theme park is a Vegas-style miniature version of certain sights in Israel. It boasts Judeo-Christian "thrills" such as the world's largest indoor model of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea Scrolls cave, and a faux-Jerusalem street market. But there are no rides, making this park lower on my list.

4) Dollywood - America's favorite buxom blonde has her own amusement park and it's a knee-slappin', foot stompin' good time. Only at Dollywood could you enjoy a sawmill-themed roller coaster, watch an "artisan" make soap, and then top off the day with some delicious meat on a stick. Dollywood is jolly good, y'all.

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Posted in Family & Kids, Guides & Planning, Offbeat, Road Trips, Theme Parks
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An article in the Wall Street Journal leads with this statement: You'll never look at, or reach into, an airline seat-back pocket the same after reading this.

The columnist goes on to describe a number of disgustingly horrific things passengers do on planes; things they would never do in most public settings. Let’s just say that after reading this, I’m operating under a strict BYOB policy. That is: Bring Your Own Blanket.

The truth is, there may not be much you can do to stop the bad behavior of other passengers, but there are some coping tactics that you can use to make the flight as enjoyable as possible. I talked to The Window Seat editors to get their tips on manufacturing some ambiance on your next flight, even if the guy next to you happens to be picking his nose.

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Posted in Air Travel, Offbeat
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Every city has its characters. They’re the eccentric local fixtures whom everyone knows by name; they’re the self-appointed representatives of their cities’ imaginations; they amuse and sometimes frighten tourists; to encounter them anywhere outside their cities would be difficult, if not impossible, to imagine. In my eyes, they’re the lifeblood of a city’s local color—encountering them, knowing them, and occasionally spotting them around town make me feel more at home in a city than anything else.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member alex_nyc

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In the battle of the YouTube all-stars, Battle at Kruger reigned supreme, snagging the 2007 YouTube Video Award in the Eyewitness category.

I watched the 8-minute opus for the first time this weekend, and (like 27 million others before me) sat glued to my computer screen as lions stalked a buffalo calf, battled a crocodile for it, and staged a Sharks-Jets-style showdown when the young buffalo’s herd returned. And the most amazing part of all? The gnawed-on calf survives the tug-o-war.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member sjmclaughlin

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Posted in Adventure Travel, Entertainment, Offbeat
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Walking around Rio proved hazardous for me earlier this year, but only because I was looking everywhere except where I was going. Early on, my artist friends made sure I didn’t miss the explosion of art crawling up buildings and curving around walls, and I had my eyes—and my camera lens—on Rio’s world-class street art for the rest of the week.

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Posted in Europe, International Travel, Offbeat, South America
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Normally, this blog is about getting out of town. But as the dollar weakens and the economy remains top of mind in this election year, I’d like to shift the focus for a moment on getting people in town.

A message promoting The Travel Industry Association's Discover America Partnership just popped in my inbox with the headline Foreign Press Continues to Bash U.S. Travel Experience While America Remains Silent.

A few of the unfavorable headlines include:

Coming to America Isn't Easy
US visa requirements and airport entry procedures have become the stuff of legend. (The Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 28)

Business Travel to USA Is Unpopular
Conferences are moving to other countries with simpler entry conditions where travelers are not made to feel like potential terrorists. (German Financial Times, Feb. 19)

Fortress America
Why hassle yourself to go to America, when the Caribbean is there, the Maldives, all of these other markets? (The Irish Independent, Feb. 16)

America - More Hassle Than it's Worth?
Brits visiting America down 11% since 9/11, despite the weak dollar. (The Guardian (UK), Feb. 12)

Travel to America? No Thanks
It's already a nightmare, but now they want to make entry into the USA tougher. So let's not go. (The Sunday Times of London, Jan. 20)

Photo Courtesy of Mike Wroblewski.

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Posted in Offbeat, Travel News
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Last week was a bizarre one for travel-related news. In India, a pregnant woman on a train thought she was making a routine bathroom visit and instead gave premature birth to a babylet who fell through the toilet and onto the train tracks--and the baby survived. In Egypt, a study-abroad student lost one-third of his body weight after boarding with a host family who, allegedly, didn’t give him enough to eat during his stay. And, tragically, in the waters off the Bahamas, an Australian tourist was fatally bitten by a shark during an encounter in which bloody fish parts were used to attract the predators to tourists who shelled out the big bucks for a cageless dive.

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Posted in Offbeat, Travel News
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Rick Steves shows us Europe off the beaten path. Jacques Cousteau plunged us into fascinating underwater habitats. And Anthony Bourdain brings culinary bravado from around the world right to your T.V. screen.

Now, video artists Lauren Tabak and Alexa Inkeles take us along on intimate city tours by those who know the inner workings of the urban world better than most: Rock stars.

Why rock stars? Being an aspiring one myself (albeit on a relatively small scale--insert self-deprecating laugh track here, please), I can personally attest to the vibrant social life of the musician trying to move on up in a fast-paced industry. What gives rock stars such a well-framed perspective on city hotspots is that they know where the good times are. After all, it is their job.

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Posted in Offbeat, San Francisco, South America
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Cupid’s arrow still hasn’t found me. (I think he needs to invest in GPS.) But, it’s managed to find Lisa Tabb. She’s been married 10 times.

Co-Authors of Beyond Vegas: 25 Exotic Wedding and Elopement Destinations Around the World, Lisa and her husband, Sam Silverstein, eloped in 10 of the world’s dreamiest destinations.

“We chose places that embodied romance,” Lisa said. “But also [places] where people could duplicate our experience and had short residency requirements.”

Lisa and Sam wanted each of their weddings to be special – and official – so they obtained marriage licenses and scheduled officiants each time, “repeating our vows again and again and again,” she said.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I pried into Lisa’s love life to find out about their most memorable experience and if there are future plans for more wedding bells.

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Posted in Guides & Planning, International Travel, Offbeat, Q & A
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If you're still looking for Mr. Right or Ms. Walks-on-Air this February 14th, you might wonder if your chances would be improved by a visit to Valentine, Texas or Valentine, Nebraska. Recently a single friend suggested I write a travel blog called: You Don't Have to Go to Alaska to Meet the Man of Your Dreams. She wanted me to figure out where the most single men live so that she could vacation accordingly.

The travel matchmaker is in. After quite a bit of research, I have some basic findings to report. If you're looking to meet a single guy, go west. If you're looking to meet a single girl, it's time to visit the East. As this helpful map from National Geographic shows, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, and Miami are chockfull of single women.

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Posted in Austin, Bars & Nightlife, California, Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas, New York City, Offbeat, San Francisco, Texas
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Richard Branson, Virgin entrepreneur extraordinaire, wants to bring space travel to the masses. Well, sort of. He wants to bring space travel to the moneyed masses. For $200,000 and at least a $20,000 deposit, you too could sign up for glory hereby only experienced by the world’s astronauts.

Oh, but what glory it is! Imagine being rocketed up into the upper-most regions of the sky until you get a true alien’s-eye view of the Earth. From space, you’d be able to see cloud masses and continents, bodies of water and polar ice. The g-forces would be extreme, but once you’d hit weightlessness, you’d be able to float around for a full five minutes, taking everything in, before returning to your home planet.

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Posted in Adventure Travel, Offbeat, Travel News
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I’ve toured Canada’s Ice Hotel, sipping fruity cocktails from glasses made of ice and exploring rooms with dragon-shaped beds carved out of - you guessed it - ice! Next offbeat hotel experience on my list: sleep in a drain pipe. Now, that’s just plain weird.

Strange but simplistic accurately describes Linz, Austria’s Das Parkhotel, an urban concept inspired by the city’s annual Electronica Festival. The sleepery, however, is more of a project than a hotel. Three concrete cylinders sit in a park and feature almost all the basics. What’s missing? A restroom. You’ll have to walk a few minutes to get to that, so keep your fingers crossed that Montezuma’s revenge doesn’t hit at twilight.

But, the best part is the cost: pay as you wish. Guests leave a Euro amount that they can afford to fund the project. (Don’t be stingy! Think of it as supporting the arts.)

Photo by Dietmar Tollerian.

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Posted in Hotel Travel, Offbeat
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I grew up in Panama City, Florida, one of the weirdest corners of America, a place where we boil peanuts and signs read, "No shirt. No shoes. No problem!" When I travel I'm much more likely to choose Dollywood over Hollywood, Austin over Dallas, or Versailles (pronounced ver-sails), Kentucky over that silly palace in France.

Maybe that's why I love Alaska. Recently I had the opportunity to see how life is lived in this rugged state. Around every corner awaited a new oddball thrill. I'll never forget when our tour director gleefully pointed out the town of Wasilla. Among its many attributes, Wasilla was the 2003 Duct Tape Capital of the World, consuming more tape per capita than anywhere else. Plus, each year there is a Duct Tape Ball (moved to Anchorage due to popularity) where Alaskans show their passion for the silvery stuff by making gala duds out of tape.

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Posted in Offbeat, Alaska
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Let’s face it--Americans have always been about bigger and better, from 10-gallon hats to Big 10 universities. And who can blame us? We’ve always been a country of hardworking go-getters. We deserve high quality. Travel should be no exception to the rule.

One problem with this approach, though, is that the usual desired effects of travel--mental health, bonding, fond memories--are not always easily quantifiable. What we end up remembering as our “best” travel experiences are often spontaneous, and even mundane. You can’t predestine everything.

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Posted in Budget Travel, Industry Beat, Offbeat, Road Trips
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Waiting in line and killing time at the airport tops the list of common complaints for any frequent flyer, but be bored at the airport no more! From spas to local eats, many of the nation's top airports may actually give you reason to get to your gate extra early. Check out these airport finds:

Austin-Bergstrom International
When you go to a place known for its “family-style” servings, you know it has to be good. A requisite stand-by for barbeque-lovin’ Austin residents, Salt Lick BBQ made its way to the West Terminal of Austin-Bergstrom, giving visitors of the Texas capital a tender taste of Texana as soon as they step off the plane.

Boston’s Logan International
If you’re leaving the east coast, but don’t want to leave all that fresh seafood behind, stop by Anthony’s Pier 4 Lobsters in Terminal B – where the term “carry out” takes on a whole new meaning. Lobsters can be packed live for 48 hour take out. But, just so you know, bib and melted butter not included.

Chicago’s Midway International
Change up what you're listening to or consider bringing a musical gift. Revered as “the top independent music retailer in the country,” George’s Music Room found its second home just beyond Chicago Midway’s security checkpoint. The original store opened in 1968 in Chicago’s fabled west side and has since been known to stock local and hard-to-find Blues records, as well as the latest hits.

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Posted in Air Travel, Offbeat
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