Time Travel: Feature article in Delta SKY

February 4th, 2012 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Flying Delta this month? Bored by the in-flight television? Wondering what to do on the summer solstice at Uaxactun, Guatemala this year?

Then look for my feature article, “TIME TRAVEL,” with Guatemala photos by fellow Moon author Al Argueta, in the in-flight magazine, Delta SKY.

“This December marks the end of the Maya Long Count calendar, and the region will be celebrating the equinoxes and solstices in style. But fear not, experts say the world will still be around in 2013. By Joshua Berman….”

I take the year 2012 and break it down by auspicious dates, with suggested tours and hotels for each celebration — the article features Merida, Mexico; Uaxactun, Guatemala; Caracol, Belize; and Copan, Honduras. The article is not available online, only in your seat-back… let me know if you spot it in the wild.

Speaker in Denver: Misunderstanding the Maya Calendar and 2012

January 28th, 2012 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

I’m excited for Dr. Ed Barnhart’s talk at the Denver Art Museum on February 19, 2012, “Misunderstanding the Maya Calendar: 2012 & Why You Shouldn’t Worry.”

The esteemed Dr. Barnhart is the head of the Maya Exploration Center, the man behind the Palenque mapping project, and a featured expert in my book, Moon Maya 2012, where he discusses travel in the Mundo Maya, and offers other insights on Maya concept of time.
“Join archaeologist Dr. Ed Barnhart as he attempts to separate fact from fiction and calculation from conjecture in a lecture about the 2012 and the Maya calendar. This talk will discuss the foundations of the 2012 phenomena, the pseudo-science behind many of the claims, and how much of it has absolutely nothing to do with the Maya.” [LINK for DETAILS]

Article and Slide Show on 2012 Tourism in the Maya Region

December 30th, 2011 | By Joshua | No Comments »

My first column in Huffington Post Travel appears today: “The Maya World Braces For 2012 Apocalypse, Tourism Boom.”

Despite the title and the hundreds of comments debating the end of the world, my article has absolutely NOTHING to do with an apocalypse. It is about tourism to Mexico and Central America, which has been quite depressed for some years now. Hopefully, foreigners’ genuine curiosity and interest in the Maya people, culture, and history will result in a boost in these regions next year and hopefully the Maya themselves will benefit.

LINK–>

Tranquilo Traveler in HuffPo’s ‘Weird News’

December 25th, 2011 | By Joshua | 5 Comments »

In a Huffington Post Weird News article entitled “Dec. 21, 2012: Will End Of Mayan Calendar Bring Doomsday?” by David Moye, I serve as a voice of reason after a long list of possible apocalypse scenarios.

2012 is expected to be a bigger deal than Y2K when it comes to doomsday-predicting and bunker-building, reports Moye who goes on to discuss people who fear the comet Elenin, solar storms, Planet Nibiru, and unusually fierce weather, all of which have been linked by a few worried souls — without a shred of evidence — to the end of the Maya Long Count calendar.

“Meanwhile,” writes Moye, “if you’re unsure of who to believe about how to deal with the end of the Mayan calendar one year from now, you could always do what travel writer Joshua Berman did: ask the Mayans themselves. Berman is the author of Maya 2012: A Guide To Celebrations In Mexico, Guatemala, Belize & Honduras, and says there are 10 million Mayans still living in the region…

“‘I haven’t spoken with a single Mayan or Mayan expert who believes there will be an apocalypse,’ Berman said. ‘Instead, there is going to be a lot of celebrating and parties. They hope to increase tourism by 10 percent this year.’” [LINK]

2012 Deadly Awakening: Crackling story set in Mérida and Chichen Itza

December 12th, 2011 | By Joshua | No Comments »

I met writer Beryl Gorbman over a taco lunch in the Chichen Itza Salon in the conference center in Mérida, Mexico, and I admit, I was skeptical when she handed me a copy of her mystery novel, 2012 Deadly Awakening (Intelligent Life, 2010). I’d just completed a self-guided crash course on Maya studies, plowing through a pile of non-fiction books, most fairly fascinating, regarding 2012 and Maya time-keeping, but also fairly dry and dense. There are hundreds of such titles out there, but never had I seen a fictional treatment.

When I finally cracked open 2012 Deadly Awakening a few months later, I was drawn in and swept back to the Yucatan. “The scene in Merida is chaotic and tense,” reads the description. “People think that the world is about to end, as it is the end of the Maya long-count calendar. Other people think humanity will evolve to a higher form of consciousness. You wouldn’t think these are ideals people would kill to protect, but they do. Thousands of spiritual tourists have descended upon this once-peaceful city, creating chaos. People die, and die very badly.”

Enter a New York City detective (more…)

Second Reference to 12/21/2012 discovered in Mexico? Probably not, say scientists.

November 25th, 2011 | By Joshua | No Comments »

As always, when it comes to anything having to do with Maya 2012, your first assumption should always be “don’t believe the hype.” That seems to be true with the new story by Associated Press today, “Mexico acknowledges 2nd Mayan reference to 2012.” Until now, the only known direct reference to December 21, 2012 is a 1300-year-old inscription on Tortuguero Monument 6, found near Tabasco, Mexico. Headlines today are announcing a possible second reference to 2012 on an artifact known as the “Comalcalco Brick,” the sketch of which is pictured above. Interestingly, the mere mention of a second ancient reference to 2012 (which, by the way, is probably NOT even a reference to 2012), even one which says nothing about any event or prophecy, is still apparently a license for the media pull the A-word (“apocalypse”) back out of their pockets.

But Dr. Edwin Barnhart, Director of the Maya Exploration Center and a former student of Linda Schele, who assembled the team which broke the code of Maya hieroglyphics in 1973, has seen photos of the brick and told me in an email that he is “of the opinion that [the Comalcalco Brick] does not reference 2012, or at least there is not enough information to say. It would be like finding a broken tombstone that said December 21st and concluding that it was said December 21st, 1968.” (more…)

My Maya 2012 Travel Blog at Moon.com

November 23rd, 2011 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Yes, I’ve been double-blogging. It’s been a few months now. I’m posting puro Mundo Maya travel in the year 2012 so be sure to bookmark it if that’s your bag, baby. There will be nuggets and spin-offs from my books, and updates and announcements as I hear about special travel opportunities in the year 2012. I suspect I’ll be giving away some free stuff too. Some posts will be duplicated here, since there it is plenty of natural overlap between the Maya world and tranquilo travel, but most will be moon.com exclusives.

(more…)

Science says 2012 date is important, but it is NOT The End: book review of David Stuart’s The Order of Days

November 6th, 2011 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Few Mayanist scholars command the experience and authority of David Stuart, a professor of Mesoamerican studies at the University of Austin who literally grew up amid Maya archaeological sites (his parents were also archaeologists) and who began his prodigal Maya studies career at the age of 8. Over the last few decades, Stuart has been responsible for some of the biggest breakthroughs in the decipherment of Maya iconography and hieroglyphics and he has authored numerous books on the subject. In his newest, The Order of Days: The Maya World and the Truth about 2012 (Harmony Books, New York, 2011), Stuart explains basic Maya ideas of time and calendrics while also addressing misconceptions about 2012. For, as one reviewer put it, 2012 is “an embarrassing situation to serious scholars,” many of whom have felt compelled to publish similar explanations. Still, I’m glad the 2012 hub-bub spurred Stuart to write The Order of Days, one of the most grounded, fact-based, academic-yet-readable books I’ve read on the subject.

I’m a newbie Mayaphile with many questions and in this book, Stuart clarified many things I’d been wondering about. Like, for instance, the difference between the Aztec calendar round and Maya calendars (and why they are so often confused); or a big-picture explanation of the Maya’s “deep time” inscriptions and what they mean for the bak’tun ending in 2012. I loved the mini-lectures about each of the most famous Maya stelae, vases, inscriptions, and murals — objects I’d seen before, but never accompanied by such concise explanations. (more…)

Interview in today’s Charlotte Observer: Foreign Correspondent page

October 23rd, 2011 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Thanks to John Bordsen, Travel Editor of the Charlotte Observer, for interviewing me in his foreign correspondent column this week: “Mayan sites worth the trip” has me rating ruins and discussing the Long Count, Tulum, and extra-terrestrials. Enjoy.

Merida, Mexico: New photos from the capital of the Yucatan

June 24th, 2011 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan, totally lived up to the hype I’d heard — namely, that it was such a lovely and remarkable colonial town. I had a chance to visit in June, 2011. Merida is not only a fun-loving city of over a million Yucatecans who love to eat and dance in the streets, it is also one of the best bases for exploring the Yucatan Peninsula’s Mundo Maya, with day trips galore to archeological sites, caves, and haciendas. Enjoy these shots.