Laviators: A true travel trend or just a strange way to kill time?

Like a bad case of indigestion, hopefully this fad has passed, but in March Gadling‘s Heather Poole uncovered what she called the “hottest trend on the airplane since the mile high club“: airplane passengers taking self-portraits in the lavatories.

On a subsequent post Poole referred to these photographers as members of the “laviators club” and posted a second slideshow of this emerging sub-genre of the self-portrait.

But is it a trend? Or is it just bored airplane passengers looking for entertainment having already finished reading the SkyMall catalog?

Evidence that’s it’s an emerging fad:

• 185 results on a search for “lavatory airplane” on Flickr
• t-shirt in the works
• mention on another blog
• YouTube video

There’s also ample proof that this concept of laviators has fizzled (if it ever took off in the first place):

• no entry in Urban Dictionary
• no entry in Wikipedia
• eight results on a search for “laviator” on Flickr

Now, I’m not anti-photographing lavatories–and I have a slideshow of historic European toilets to prove it.

But what’s the attraction of an airplane’s restroom? If a visit to one is memorable, it’s usually not for a good reason. And taking a self-portrait in one? That’s just evidence that you didn’t do a better job preparing for your flight by using the bathroom in the airport.

(Photo: Flickr/davitydave)

Seven travel blogs you should read

As so much of my work these days involves travel writing, I figured I’d pass along a list of some of the great travel blogs that I read. These websites are excellent sources for ideas—either to write about or travel to ideally both):

• The Economist’s Gulliver—the best English-language new magazine’s business travel blog
• Gadling-–probably the best all-round travel blog
• Jaunted—a travel blog with a pop-culture tint
• National Geographic Intelligent Travel Blog—the magazine’s look at “cultural, authentic, and sustainable” travel
• Rick Steves’s Blog Gone Europe—my favorite travel-guide author shares his experiences from the road
• Road Junky—a gritty, entertaining, and useful look at travel
• World Hum—owned by the Travel Channel, World Hum “focuses not only on destinations, but also on the journey, on travel in the broadest sense of the word”

Any sites I’m missing? Please let me know in the comments.