For me, occasional stylistic dislikes and substantive disagreements don't take away from the fundamental originality and worthwhileness of a blog. For example, Lucky's recent post "Why I Travel" was really good and the scores and scores of comments in response were sometimes even better.

But that having been said, I of course I have no use whatsoever for his travel "philosophy"; I like art, architecture and culture generally and am actually interested in history. Chasing after whooping cranes in South Texas and alligators (and even a crocodile!) in South Florida was a lot of fun, too. And have you ever taken one of those little 45-minute Maid of the Mist cruises under Niagara Falls? Or seen most of the world's Vermeers in one place? Or Michelangelo's David up really, really close? I can barely imagine focusing more on the airplane food on the way there, or on what kind of welcome gift or upgrade the hotel gave me.

So I'm still a fan. His stuff is frequently both original and compulsively readable, and I occasionally learn something interesting as well. I still laugh every time I think of his day-by-day reporting on his hunt for La Compagnie's inaugural flight. Plus, I might need an extra laugh or two more than some people.