Lions and Tigers and Bears - oh my!

Just kidding, I don't think there are bears in Africa. This is a nifty place though that has giraffes roaming its grounds freely. I wonder if they eat the flowers in the garden like the deer that mess with the gardens in the mountains here. I suppose that comes with the territory. I think it'd be worth it.

Venice is sinking man and I don't wanna swim....

Venice - my god, check out this picture!

Survival Drama - For Reals Yo

OK wow, thank you Mental Floss for being so consistently awesome. If you're not a regular reader of Mental Floss, you should be. Then you can be an obnoxious smart-ass like me.
Today I found an article called The Un-Funniest Vacation in Europe on their site about a Survival Drama experience that you can pay for in Lithuania.
Apparently some enterprising Lithuanians had an empty Cold War era Soviet bunker and thought that tourists might enjoy paying the equivalent of $220 USD to be treated like crap as a soviet citizen for 2.5 hours. And they were right. People love it.
I wonder what other Survival Dramas will surface in the future? Kind of like being in a Survivor TV show without it dragging on for a long time, the drama, or the eating of bugs. Hm. Doesn't sound too bad really.

How Does the Global Economy Affect Travel?

I'm not a political scientist or economist by any means, but I wonder about things like this. The US of A is in a recession. Canada is not in a recession interestingly enough despite all the fear-mongering going on. Recessions are caused by mass panic, fear, etc among other things. We are apparently in a global recession. Is a recession a psychological state? Are the good times over? Perhaps the recession in USA is more of a fair, realistic wake-up to people who've been living beyond their means. And they're not the only ones who do it, it's a common belief among first world nations that they are entitled to live at a certain level of lifestyle. If we saved 10$ a day instead of spending it on lattes and random crap, maybe this would equal the loss of money in the economy that is attributed to the recession.

So how does the 'global economy' affect travel? First, since when did we have a global economy? Why does it seem like the concept of globalism is being pushed down our throats lately? It's almost as if people want us to be so used to hearing about it that we're being brainwashed into liking it. Who says we have to like globalism? How exactly did this become the be all and end all - one too many beauty pageant queens spouting world peace? Who's the top dog in a global state? Does it supercede democracy?

If people are saving their money more than ever - like me, then they are bound to travel less. For example, I went on 1 exciting trip in 2006, 3 in 2007 and 2 in 2008. If I go anywhere in 2009 it will probably be Mexico again, west side b/c it's closer. Maybe a last minute deal, week long all-inclusive for $1000-1500 sort of thing.

How will a recession affect travel writers? I predict there will be more travel writers in third world countries, and that there will be a marked increase in writing about cheap adventures in more remote areas. Any travel writers/bloggers out there with an opinion on this?

Thank you James Bond

Lastnight my BF and I saw the Quantum of Solace. There's nothing like a good espionage film to whet your appetite for travel. I left the movie not entirely sure what the Quantum of Solace was but I also knew I wanted to go to Sienna and explore Bolivia. I didn't think it was as good as Casino Royale, and it reminded me of the Star Wars prequels that start out explaining trade embargoes in that I was confused but entertained. My two cents.