The International Herald Tribune

"The people must know before they can act,

and there is no educator to compare with the press."

- Ida B. Wells, 19th century journalist, newspaper editor

One of the great appeals of travel is the opportunity to completely get away from your everyday life, your everyday world - I suspect that's where the travel term 'getaway' comes from.



It's an incredibly liberating feeling/experience - especially if you travel to a foreign country. This is accomplished in several ways, but the two of the most noticable ways are: a) U.S. local and national news updates are largely absent; b) foreign travel tends to expose you to not only the local and national news of the country you're in, but also the local and national news of the continent (or region) you're visiting.

Mr. Gorgeous

Reading the morning papers in Paris

Back 'in the day,' before Ereaders and iPads, a traveller had to lug their books with them. And once you got to a country where English was not the official language - you were out of luck, except for rare precious finds like Galignani's. But, since 1887 in Europe (1928 worldwide) there has been one constant source of world news, written in English - the Paris published, New York Times affiliated, International Herald Tribune (IHT).

Librairie Papeterie

My neighborhood newspaper stand in Paris

Every morning in Paris starts the same: Peter and I leave mom and the children sleeping and take Coco for her morning walk - our route is always the same. Our first stop is a two+ block-long stroll to our neighborhood newspaper stand - where we buy copies of the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times (the London published international business newspaper). Next we stroll to one of our two favorite neighborhood cafes and sit at our favorite table.

Petit Dejeuner (Parisian Breakfast)

Of course, one cannot properly read the morning paper without an accompanying delicious petit dejeuner and yummy cafe creme.  Oui, this is absolutely essential!

Cafe Creme

On the final leg of our daily morning Coco walk ritual:

baguettes and croissants (for the family) 

and the IHT for mom ;-) 

The International Herald Tribune (IHT)  is divided into 6 compact global sections: Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Americas, and the U.S. And within each of these regional-world sections are the sub-sections: business, technology, science, health, sports, opinion, style, travel, jobs, and real estate (while devoted to global busniess news, the Financial Times has similar sections). Okay, right about now you're asking: "Temple, where does reading foreign/English newspapers fit into the whole getaway-liberating-travel-experience?" Here's how...

Reading IHT offers an integrated view of the world. I don't mean that the sections are seamlessly bound. I mean that the reader is able to get a real-time glimpse of the world, where the U.S. is integrated into a comprehensive 'understanding.' Reading IHT gives you a better understanding of the nuances of global life (poltical and cultural) - nuances that are, sadly, mainly lost in U.S. only newspapers. Also, it's very interesting to read about the mundane lives of different peoples. Yes, I require all of my students to read IHT (a lot of the content is available online for free).  

I read IHT whenever I'm overseas. But I enjoy the newspaper so much, I've always wanted to have it delivered to my home. For years it was not possible, but recently the New York Times has offered IHT subscription services. Because the IHT is published in, and shipped from Paris, a daily home paper delivery is very expensive: $420 per year (EEK!) and, since I live in the Midwest, the papers would be at least 2 days old.

When I got my latest Sony Ereader,  I learned that I can buy a $14 monthly subscription (from Sony's Estore) to IHT delivered directly to my reader. Better yet, I can buy a daily issue for $1 - this is an affordable fitting alternative for me because, with all of the daily reading I do, I rarely have the time to read the newspaper, cover to cover, daily. Barnes & Nobles' Nook has the same Estore offer, but Amazon's Kindle only offers the monthly rate :-(

Reading the International Herald Tribune digitally works for me while I'm State's side, but when I'm in Paris (or overseas), I'll always visit my neighbhorhood newstand and read it over petit dejeuner and cafe creme, in my favorite cafe; while cuddling with Mr. Gorgeous, with Coco on my lap...

Happy Reading!

Vivre! Rire! Aimer!

Temple