Another example of why I love Los Angeles: Tehrangeles — that part of L.A. that’s home to an estimated half a million Iranian expatriates. This week I explored several blocks of Westwood Boulevard comprising part of Tehrangeles — I sampled some delicious saffron pistachio ice cream — and my slideshow based on the trip is up at World Hum. It includes this shot of phone books devoted entirely to L.A.’s Iranian-American community. I found these stacked outside a Tehrangeles shop.

Unless you really want to, of course, in which case, I’m here.

I’ll be teaching a couple of travel writing classes in the coming months, beginning with a three-hour workshop called Writing the Personal Travel Essay Saturday, June 20 at San Diego Writers Ink. I’ve taught a few classes there at their downtown loft and it’s always a lot of fun, with a good turnout of ambitious and thoughtful writers.

In August, I’ll be returning to the annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera, just north of San Francisco, to teach a three-day class on travel writing and the internet. Organized by Don George of Lonely Planet and Salon fame, the conference draws a great mix of students from around the country, and the faculty is the best you’ll find anywhere. Feel free to drop me an email with questions about either of these.

Photo of Sausalito marina by wili_hybrid via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

I spent the weekend in Palm Springs checking out a bit of Modernsim Week, a celebration of modern and mid-century architecture, art and design. The best thing I did was to pick up a $5 map entitled “Modern Palm Springs” published by the Palm Springs Modern Committee, which points out dozens of innovative buildings designed by the likes of Albert Frey, William Krisel and Richard Neutra — all within a several-mile radius. Moments after I set out with my map, I snapped this shot.

For an introduction to the revival phenomenon, check out Gary Warner’s story in the Orange County Register, as well as the Modern Committee’s website.

I wouldn’t have anticipated it, but for me, the most powerful moment of Barack Obama’s inauguration didn’t come during the swearing-in ceremony or his speech. It came at the end: the moment former President Bush boarded the helicopter near the Capitol and departed, his chopper moving away from the seat of power, becoming ever smaller as it receded into the distance. We experience departures all the time, but few so symbolic for so many people around the world. What a sight. Travel as history.

(Reprinted from World Hum)

Last night, after months of work, we finally posted the newly redesigned World Hum. I loved the old design, but it was in dire need of a fresh look, and it was a bit prehistoric in its architecture. This site, designed by the Travel Channel’s Joe Rivera, is a huge improvement.

It’s got everything a newfangled travel website should have: big, splashy photos, great stories, like this piece by Anthony Bourdain, engaging voices like Tom Swick, and video, including this short piece about the redesign itself, and another about a recent reading we had in New York City.

We kicked off the new look with World Hum’s Top 40 Travel Songs of All Time. Dozens of World Hum contributors voted. One of my all-time favorites is number 10 on the list.

Now the real fun begins: filling out the new site with more great travel stories, videos and images.

Because you can’t argue with mariachis.

–Sept. 30, 2008

I put some of Paul Theroux’s books, including “The Old Patagonian Express” and “Riding the Iron Rooster,” at the top of my list of favorite travel books. His latest, “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star,” is among his best. So I was happy to interview him recently for World Hum. Among other things, I asked him whether he reads much travel writing these days. His reply:

“I don’t. I read books by my friends. Now and then if a book comes along that’s a real ordeal, I read it. I’m not looking for a well-written book. I’m looking for a book about something that appeals to me, an ordeal appeals to me, a place I’ve never been that’s written about in a penetrating way. I’m not looking for someone just joyriding or a stunt, someone riding a bicycle somewhere or whatever it is. But people used to talk about the death of the novel. That’s a kind of normal reaction to too much of something. But there will always be travel books, as long as there are places to go.

–Sept. 1, 2008

Canada’s Globe and Mail recently asked for my take on the ethics of traveling to places like Burma with oppressive governments.

– Aug. 1, 2008

I’ll be talking travel writing and the internet at the Sept. 20-21 conference.

–July 15, 2008

Is internet access ruining travelers’ experiences overseas? I mull over the question in a slide show on World Hum.

–June 12, 2008