TSA ban on lithium batteries

The State Department has approved new passport cards that can be used by U.S. citizens instead of a passport when traveling to other countries in the western hemisphere. New technology in the cards will allow them to be read from up to 20 feet away, rather than be swiped through a electronic reading device. The card will cost $45 for adults, compared with $97 for passports. The card will not be good for travel outside of the western hemisphere. Crack reporter Jane Engle has the details at the L.A. Times. RELATED What are the passport rules again? ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG What's new in travel this week.

This year, a documentary film called 20 Seconds of Joy will race around the world's film festival circuit, telling the story of gorgeous Norwegian B.A.S.E. jumper Karina Hollekim. Karina has dived more than 400 times off of cliffs and other tall, fixed objects—with parachutes or wingsuits, of course. The movie focuses on her successful jumps as well as the day in 2006 when she crashed into rocks at about 60 miles an hour. Here's why she likes the sport: "It forces you to feel. Extreme fear, then relief, then happiness. In my everyday life, I don't feel that much: But in the air, it's like being in love." If the film is a hit—and I bet it will be—B.A.S.E. jumping events might soon draw far larger crowds of spectators than they currently do. For example, Bridge Day in Fayetteville, W. Va. currently draws tens of thousands of visitors every year, but fresh attention to the sport could draw more than 150,000 visitors >next Oct. 18. Here's the trailer for 20 Seconds of Joy: Update 1/16: Here's another cool video about base jumping with a wingsuit. ELSEWHERE Six name-brand Backpacking Tents are for sale for under $100 each via the >Travel Gear Blog.

If you are on Facebook, the social-networking site, you can click here to see the profile for Bud Travel. You can even add Bud to your list of friends. More than 500 other readers already have. EARLIER Let other magazines have their so-called Hot Lists--Budget Travel's Not List is a lot more fun. It's all the trips we don't want to take, like an hour-long "mile high club" flight or a simulation of an illegal border crossing in Mexico. And who better to walk you through the 2007 Not List than our own dapper mascot, the one and only Bud Travel? See the slide show by clicking here.