Thanks to Susan Cohn for sending The Wall Street Journal’s article that details the ongoing debate about a proposed Hawaii state law holding Hawaii guidebook writers “personally liable for deaths or accidents at spots they recommend.” (Also see our BATW Facebook page, Facebook.com/batw, for an...

Lunch in France has been listed by the United Nations as one of mankind’s most cherished cultural treasures, alongside the Peking opera and Spanish flamenco dancing. While many around the world raised eyebrows, it came as no surprise in Paris where for centuries, people have been convinced that...

BATW says, “Welcome!” to our enthusiastic new webmaster, Dick Jordan.  Thank you for volunteering, Dick.  As webmaster, Dick will deal primarily with the part of the website members get to after they log-in (the private or members-only section).  He may also deal with technical matters...

Marybeth Bond traveled to the World Heritage Site of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in January and has already placed a number of posts (including several videos) about her memorable trip on her blogs, The Gutsy Traveler and http://marybethbond.wordpress.com/.

International tourism is heralding the good news of a complete recovery from the decline suffered under the impact of the global economic crisis of the last two years.  The reason for the current optimism is the actual performance last year (2010), which was forecast to reach levels of up to 50 million...

glass of red wine in Napa Valley (photo © April Orcutt) The BATW would like to thank the following wineries for their generous contributions to our annual holiday party held aboard the Jeremiah O’Brien on December 11, 2010. Artisan Family of Wines, a wine company based in Suisun Valley under the...

Morton Beebe and John Jerney, who is working with Morton on his South Pole expedition, offer a timely tale of warning to “highly experienced” BATW members.  John writes: Mort has been having an unfortunate and very unfair ordeal with the National Science Foundation. After initially awarding...

Just as jumbo jets transformed a pastime of the privileged few on cruiseliners into an age of mass tourism, it was the back-packing hippies who transformed tourism from a pastime of visiting places merely to see and relax into an interactive experience with people and cultures. The hippie, counter-culture...

Thanks go to Dick Jordan, who got an early “heads up” about Beta magazine from BATW member David Page, who is a “Contributing Editor At Large” for Matador: Matador, the popular on-line travel Website, has launched a new print magazine, Beta.  You can find the eight reasons for...

cover of Tom Wilmer's "Wine Seekers' Guide to Livermore Valley" Congrats go to Tom Wilmer, whose latest book, The Wine Seeker’s Guide to the Livermore Valley, is the first wine-guidebook for that valley. Tom will be signing books at the Big White House Winery and the First Street...