We love Lucy (our ancestor, that is)

Take a look at how travel journalism began in Europe: It started with the spread of mass-produced maps, books, and images like the ones here in our online slide show. The first European mass-printed travel map, the first secular illustrations of the New World, and other images shown in this slide show are from a collection of 60 original works on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., through mid-September, titled "Fabulous Journeys and Faraway Places: Travels on Paper, 1450-1700."

Four different readers will get to report a big story for us. If you think you have the best story suggestion ever, send us a pitch. It can be anywhere in the world as long as the idea behind the trip is unique. Include some background on what makes the destination special (is it a place people don't know about? is something happening that we should know about?), why you think other people would care, and why you're the person to write it. Use this form to submit your dream assignment.

The Toronto/New York indie culture magazine Vice has teamed up with Spike Jonze, one of the most celebrated directors of music videos, to create a website stocked with (non-music) videos on a variety of surprising subjects. Many of the short clips are mini-travel documentaries. One dude tours toxic plants in Toronto. Another scours the Caribbean for unusual sexual practices. In general, the Vice mag folks go where most travelers fear to tread. The travel clips are generally short and silly. There's one exception--a particularly well-made video of a trip to Chernobyl, which is nine-minutes long and rather depressing. It's bizarrely compelling to watch as a handheld radiation-counter goes beserk, and it's poignant when the camera zooms in on the fading posters that hung in school buildings in the nearby town. You can catch these quick flicks at VBS.tv. Related: Chernobyl, of course, was one of the destinations on BudgetTravel.com's 2007 "Not List," celebrating the places you don't want to visit. Elsewhere: Despite urban legends to the contrary, Chernobyl has not become an animal paradise because of the lack of interference by humans, says the New York Times. Photo by icanteachyouhowtodoit via Flickr.

It's not too late to squeeze in a summer getaway! One place to start is Travelzoo.com's grab bag of Labor Day discounts, everything from an oceanfront suite in Myrtle Beach ($79) to an air/hotel package for Bermuda ($499). Other great resources are the aptly named websites Lastminute.com, formerly Site59.com, and 11thhourvacations.com. For ideas on where to go, try our special section devoted to long weekends and our list of favorite road trips like the Colorado Rockies and Virginia's Northern Neck. If you are heading south in Virginia on September 1, you might want to make the laid-back town of Irvington part of your itinerary. Read These Grapes Are Made for Stomping. Related: A new road trip planning tool. Photo: A statue of boys having some last summer fun, snapped by Ray, Flickr/Creative Commons. It's of a bridge in Singapore -- by the Fullerton Hotel.