The Titanic Awards

Name Pam Mandel
Who? She started blogging as an expat in Austria over 10 years ago has since had her work featured by Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, MSNBC, and USA Today. She was the contributing editor for travel at Blogher for five years and blogged about Hawaii for World Hum. She’s written guidebooks for Thomas Cook, radio stories for WGBH Boston (NPR), and travel stories for World Hum, Perceptive Travel, Scanorama, International Living, and more.  Find her entertaining and insightful travel musings on the web at Nerd’s Eye View.
Countries Visited 28
Age 46

Titanic Nominations
1. Worst Airport The international terminal at LAX. After being yelled at and herded by airport security, I proceeded to spend a horrible week there one evening while waiting for a delayed flight.The only food available was from a rattling nearby vending machine. All the restaurants were before the shouting TSA staff –  going hungry was more appealing than facing the guards again.
2. Worst Hotel Thuan Loi Hotel (Chau Doc, Vietnam) in a border town on the Mekong.  Dirty nylon sheets, mosquito nets punched full of holes, windowless cell-like rooms, and a perpetually damp bathroom floor. To exit the room, I had to climb over a spiderweb of daisy chained extension chords. That bedbug ridden guest house in Kargil, India, seemed positively cozy by comparison.
3. Worst City for Driving Pisa, Italy. I’ve had to transit Pisa four or five times and each time, I’ve exited the city and gone back in, exited and gone back in because I cannot find the correct way out. The last time, I seriously considered abandoning the car and looking for a job.
4. Worst Car Rental Experience Honolulu, Hawaii. “I tried to return the car downtown last night, but the building next door to the return lot was on fire.” I will not soon forget the look on the airport rental car agent’s face.
5. Worst Toilet Some forgotten village, Bahawalpur Province, Pakistan. It wasn’t so much a toilet as it was two vertical stacks of bricks over a pile of… yeesh. Every morning, a child-servant would come with a bucket and a spade to remove all the waste from the previous day.

(2 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)

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uncategorized Blogher, Nerd's Eye, nerd's eye view, Pam Mandel, world hum

Name Michael Yessis
Who? Co-founder, co-editor WorldHum.com. The site has won Lowell Thomas awards from the Society of American Travel Writers, including, in 2006, the gold award for best Internet site. Michael is the former destinations editor at USAToday.com and former editor of Texas Journey and New Mexico Journey magazines. More at MichaelYessis.net
Age 40
Countries Visited 30+

Titanic Nominations
Worst Overland Journey Riding in the back of a truck on a twisty, bumpy, dirt road in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains — while sitting near a guy who was stoned and waving a machete.
Worst Tourist Trap Rock City. Maybe Fairyland Caverns just aren’t my thing.
Worst Scolding Received At a J-league soccer game in Osaka, we were fortunate enough to be invited into the home team’s cheering section. After a poor showing by the home team in the first half, we were among those chewed out by the leader for apparently not cheering well enough.
Worst Meal Vegemite in Australia. How does anyone eat that stuff?
Worst Encounter with a Resort Entertainer After spending 36 hours getting from Los Angeles to Aruba, I only wanted to have a drink and go to sleep. I made the mistake of having the drink by the pool and I ended up being pulled on stage as part of a limbo show.

Famous Travelers aruba, fairyland, jamaica, lowell thomas, osaka, rock city, USA Today, vegemite, world hum, worldhum.com