Travel Articles
From my first article - a 1992 profile of Warsaw for the San Jose Mercury News - I was hooked on travel writing. There I was, on the road for years and years, and here were people willing to pay me to talk about what I was doing. Talk about an ego trip.
Please note that, like everything on nickselby.com, the articles here are posted to serve as a showcase for my writing, programming and information design. While I hope you enjoy reading the travel stories, none provide travel advice, current information or tips. And I'm sorry, but I probably can't answer any questions about that bus connection, train journey, hotel, hostel, pyramid, ice-breaker or nature preserve either...
Prague: Paris To A New Generation
Prezanians rebel, even with victory [1993]. When dissident playwright Vaclav Havel became Czechoslovakia's first post-war democratically elected president, he deemed the presidential palace to be far too opulent a place in which to get things done. He promptly moved the home of his emerging nation's government to his modest apartment,... [Read article]
Prezanians rebel, even with victory [1993]. When dissident playwright Vaclav Havel became Czechoslovakia's first post-war democratically elected president, he deemed the presidential palace to be far too opulent a place in which to get things done. He promptly moved the home of his emerging nation's government to his modest apartment,... [Read article]
Please...Don't make Me Go To Vorkuta
In 1994, when I ran into John Noble, coordinating author of Lonely Planet's Russia Ukraine & Belarus, at the Travellers Guest House in Moscow about a month into the research of that book's first edition, I brought up something that had been worrying me for weeks. "Please," I begged, "don't make... [Read article]
In 1994, when I ran into John Noble, coordinating author of Lonely Planet's Russia Ukraine & Belarus, at the Travellers Guest House in Moscow about a month into the research of that book's first edition, I brought up something that had been worrying me for weeks. "Please," I begged, "don't make... [Read article]
In The Steam: A Russian Banya
There's a level of clean that can be attained, Russians say, only through the rigorous action of a ritual Russian banya. A combination of dry sauna, steam bath, massage and plunges into ice-cold water, the banya is a weekly event that is as much a part of Russian life as,... [Read article]
There's a level of clean that can be attained, Russians say, only through the rigorous action of a ritual Russian banya. A combination of dry sauna, steam bath, massage and plunges into ice-cold water, the banya is a weekly event that is as much a part of Russian life as,... [Read article]
Checking Out The Russians In The Hoosgow
The most unique thing about St. Petersburg's new Holiday Hostel kept distracting me as I walked through, checking for bugs under the beds or other tell-tale signs of sloppiness (I didn't find any). What I was hearing was shouting, and it was coming from...right...next...door. Look at it as a selling... [Read article]
The most unique thing about St. Petersburg's new Holiday Hostel kept distracting me as I walked through, checking for bugs under the beds or other tell-tale signs of sloppiness (I didn't find any). What I was hearing was shouting, and it was coming from...right...next...door. Look at it as a selling... [Read article]
How To Read A Guidebook
Near the registration desk at Jakarta's most famous youth hostel, Wisma Delina, I watched with growing disbelief an exchange between the owner and an angry backpacker. "A room," the owner said, "costs 13,500 rupiah per person." "No it doesn't," insisted the backpacker, fervently jabbing at a listing in his well-thumbed... [Read article]
Near the registration desk at Jakarta's most famous youth hostel, Wisma Delina, I watched with growing disbelief an exchange between the owner and an angry backpacker. "A room," the owner said, "costs 13,500 rupiah per person." "No it doesn't," insisted the backpacker, fervently jabbing at a listing in his well-thumbed... [Read article]
An Autobahn Experience
With the dollar so far down against the Euro, it feels as if the only favorable exchange rate left to Americans is one of distance: you still get 1.6 kilometers for every mile. When the crowds of the Oktoberfest have taken their toll, and you've just about overdosed on museums and... [Read article]
With the dollar so far down against the Euro, it feels as if the only favorable exchange rate left to Americans is one of distance: you still get 1.6 kilometers for every mile. When the crowds of the Oktoberfest have taken their toll, and you've just about overdosed on museums and... [Read article]
The Island That Time Forgot
At least once a month, a few dozen Amelia Island residents don Civil War uniforms, move into Fort Clinch and live like 19th-century soldiers and citizens. No one around here bats an eye, but then again this is an island of eccentrics. Lots of them. "We didn't have no mosquitoes... [Read article]
At least once a month, a few dozen Amelia Island residents don Civil War uniforms, move into Fort Clinch and live like 19th-century soldiers and citizens. No one around here bats an eye, but then again this is an island of eccentrics. Lots of them. "We didn't have no mosquitoes... [Read article]
New Highway Screams Between Mexico City and Acapulco
Stretching more than 150 miles between Mexico City and Acapulco, the Autopista del Sol, or Sun Highway, slashes through the rugged countryside of the southern highlands, reducing the smog-to-surf commute from eight hours to just under four. Although the drive is truly a pleasure, when a 150-mile stretch racks up... [Read article]
Stretching more than 150 miles between Mexico City and Acapulco, the Autopista del Sol, or Sun Highway, slashes through the rugged countryside of the southern highlands, reducing the smog-to-surf commute from eight hours to just under four. Although the drive is truly a pleasure, when a 150-mile stretch racks up... [Read article]
Warsaw's Back. No, Seriously.
"How much," I asked my travel agent in December 1990, "is a ticket to Warsaw"" She looked at me with an expectant grin and said, "I don't know. . . . How much"" Back then, directly after the fall of the Soviet hold on Eastern Europe, traveling to Warsaw for... [Read article]
"How much," I asked my travel agent in December 1990, "is a ticket to Warsaw"" She looked at me with an expectant grin and said, "I don't know. . . . How much"" Back then, directly after the fall of the Soviet hold on Eastern Europe, traveling to Warsaw for... [Read article]
What, Me Worry?
Steven Caron has time on his hands, and with unique reason. For with all the talk in the U.S. media about the dangers of Russia and the "Mafia-controlled businesses" there, the congenial 26-year-old Californian entrepreneur has such reliable Russian business partners there's not enough to keep him busy. "It runs... [Read article]
Steven Caron has time on his hands, and with unique reason. For with all the talk in the U.S. media about the dangers of Russia and the "Mafia-controlled businesses" there, the congenial 26-year-old Californian entrepreneur has such reliable Russian business partners there's not enough to keep him busy. "It runs... [Read article]
It's The Taxis, Stupid.
Violence is the No. 1 concern of foreigners contemplating a trip to the United States, according to participants at a Pow Wow round-table discussion that included top tour operators from Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Australia and Venezuela [1994]. The panel, hosted Tuesday by Bob Dickinson, Travel Industry Association... [Read article]
Violence is the No. 1 concern of foreigners contemplating a trip to the United States, according to participants at a Pow Wow round-table discussion that included top tour operators from Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Australia and Venezuela [1994]. The panel, hosted Tuesday by Bob Dickinson, Travel Industry Association... [Read article]
The SoBe Boom
It used to be called "God's Waiting Room." And even today, if you mention Miami Beach to people who haven't been here or read about it lately, they might conjure up an image of octogenarians mingling poolside while Aunt Sadie implores them to wait half an hour before going into... [Read article]
It used to be called "God's Waiting Room." And even today, if you mention Miami Beach to people who haven't been here or read about it lately, they might conjure up an image of octogenarians mingling poolside while Aunt Sadie implores them to wait half an hour before going into... [Read article]
Trainride Of A Lifetime Aboard Copper Canyon Railway
Whenever you buy an economy class ticket, you're gambling that what you give up in luxury will be compensated for by the people you meet on your journey. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but on the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway, a segundo class ticket is a hands-down winner.... [Read article]
Whenever you buy an economy class ticket, you're gambling that what you give up in luxury will be compensated for by the people you meet on your journey. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but on the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway, a segundo class ticket is a hands-down winner.... [Read article]
London...On The Cheap
Americans staggered by British price especially after the dollar's summer plunge, may find it hard to associate the word "cheap" with a vacation here. "It's more expensive than Norway here," said shell-shocked Chicago resident Tom Day. "Gas is almost $7 a gallon!" Americans find they're charged extra for things that... [Read article]
Americans staggered by British price especially after the dollar's summer plunge, may find it hard to associate the word "cheap" with a vacation here. "It's more expensive than Norway here," said shell-shocked Chicago resident Tom Day. "Gas is almost $7 a gallon!" Americans find they're charged extra for things that... [Read article]
Surviving Oktoberfest
Alosius, the Bavarian fairy tale goes, descended from heaven to deliver a note from God to the Bavarian government, but got so sidetracked drinking beer in the Hofbrauhaus that he never got around to making the delivery. If Bavarian beer is reason enough for one man to give up his... [Read article]
Alosius, the Bavarian fairy tale goes, descended from heaven to deliver a note from God to the Bavarian government, but got so sidetracked drinking beer in the Hofbrauhaus that he never got around to making the delivery. If Bavarian beer is reason enough for one man to give up his... [Read article]
Pow Wow: America's Biggest Tourism Event
It may have a funny name, but if you're in the travel business in the United States, the Discover America Pow Wow constitutes the most important five days of the year. The Pow Wow is a one-stop tourism shopping mall bringing U.S. travel producers together with their international buyers, who... [Read article]
It may have a funny name, but if you're in the travel business in the United States, the Discover America Pow Wow constitutes the most important five days of the year. The Pow Wow is a one-stop tourism shopping mall bringing U.S. travel producers together with their international buyers, who... [Read article]
A Warm Welcome In The Russian Far North
Though it's been open to foreigners for a while, getting travel information on Russia's Arctic Kola Peninsula remains a little tricky. Bureaucrats walk an unfamiliar line. Trained by Soviets, they're unwilling to divulge information, but a desperation for foreign visitors and their cash requires openness. The results are often amusing.... [Read article]
Though it's been open to foreigners for a while, getting travel information on Russia's Arctic Kola Peninsula remains a little tricky. Bureaucrats walk an unfamiliar line. Trained by Soviets, they're unwilling to divulge information, but a desperation for foreign visitors and their cash requires openness. The results are often amusing.... [Read article]
48 Hours In Helsinki
Helsinki swings in summer, when its northern locale gives it 23 hours of daylight, and Helsinkians stay out for most of it. And celebrations commemorating the 250th anniversary of Suomenlinna, Helsinki's stone fortress on an idyllic little green island at the city's south, are in full heat this summer. Both... [Read article]
Helsinki swings in summer, when its northern locale gives it 23 hours of daylight, and Helsinkians stay out for most of it. And celebrations commemorating the 250th anniversary of Suomenlinna, Helsinki's stone fortress on an idyllic little green island at the city's south, are in full heat this summer. Both... [Read article]