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I was initially most intrigued by some of the wild tales of cultural differences like when Nepalese Airlines, in order to fix an engine problem, decided to sacrifice a goat on the tarmac to appease a sky god. I was also drawn to the stories of traveler confusion, like when an 80 year-old Swedish grandmother thought she was supposed to board her flight by jumping on the baggage conveyor belt at the special baggage check-in counter and tumbled down into the baggage area. And I was amazed by the range of decisions like an American pilot making an emergency landing because a man in the back of the plane had removed his trousers, while a British Airways pilot that had an engine flame out just after take-off in LA decided to press on and try to fly back to London.

I went through a video phase as well, scanning YouTube for countless hours for bizarre travel videos. Right now, I'm into a repeat-offender phase. Why do some airlines keep making the same mistakes? Of all the pets that died while flying, for example, how did Continental airlines manage to kill just over 37% of them? Why did certain flights keep getting delayed? And on the service front, why are hotels seemingly trying to outdo each other with ridiculous charges, whether it's the $7 bottle of water you thought was complementary or the internet fee (ironically free at cheaper hotels) or the delivery fees ($5 to receive a fax) or the hyper-inflated mini-bar or the $30 breakfast charge (especially when there's nowhere else to eat within miles)? What's next, a charge to sleep in the hotel bed?

One small hope is that by casting more light on these things, it might even give them a little added incentive to improve. Just a small hope.

After I made the 60-question survey about the worst aspects of travel, there were some results I expected, such as Americans being named "The Worst-Dressed Tourists," the French winning for "Worst Waiters" and the UK taking the prize for "Worst National Cuisine." There were a few I thought might be close, like the French, Egyptians, and Italians battling it out for "World's Worst Drivers" (the Italians won, followed by Indians, Chinese, Egyptians, and French).

And then there were some results that completely surprised me, such as "The Country with the Worst-Tasting Drinking Water," which was one of the closest, with India barely beating out Mexico, China, the US, and UK. But for most of them, I simply had no idea what to expect.

Who knew that Qantas flight attendants had the ugliest outfits (apart from, it seems, just about everyone in Australia) or that Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue would be chosen as the "lamest" of the Seven New Wonders of the World, or that Bangkok would win for "Worst Smelling Major City"?

One other minor observation: although over 2,000 people from over 80 countries took the survey—mostly pushed to the site from popular travel websites—I noticed the results didn't change all that much after the first 500 had taken it. 

Most of the well-known travel writers I interviewed for the The Titanic Awards grasped the concept at once.  A few were a bit puzzled by the "worst" wording and put up some initial resistance.

"But I love to travel," they'd typically protest.  Yes, I'd agree, so do I. And so do all the others who've been interviewed.  Anyone who has traveled long enough has racked up some entertaining stories, and I'd be willing to bet the vast majority of those were when things didn't quite go as planned. 

Since travel writing has become so much about the selling of the destination, there's an unspoken obligation of the writer to create an alluring escape that makes people want to go.  What's often lost, I believe, is the most entertaining part of the story.  The Titanic Awards, you might say, is like the home for misfit travel stories and gripes—the ones the travel writers perhaps wanted to tell but it didn't fit with the narrative of the story or the magazine's image.  

I want to celebrate this often overlooked aspect of travel and, in the process, hold a magnifying glass to the culprits of the travel industry who seem to get things so spectacularly wrong.  These are the bits and pieces, I persisted, that you swap with other travel writers at the bar—the least we can do is find a place to share these nuggets.   

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Doug Lansky is our guest blogger during the week of May 10th. If you have any questions for Doug Lansky, add a comment to any of his posts.

Here is more information on The Titanic Awards:

"In a nutshell, the Titanic Awards are the Darwin Awards for travel—only nobody dies." —Los Angeles Times

Everyone who's ever checked (and lost) their luggage or discovered that their hotel misplaced their reservation knows there are few perfect vacations. The Titanic Awards takes a different approach to these often spectacular travel underachievements: celebrating them.

From worst airport layout to most confusing subway system to the most overrated tourist attraction, Lansky looks at these flawed travel destinations with a gimlet eye and a sense of the absurd.