Dave Freeman, an advertising exec who co-wrote the wildly popular book, “100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can’t Miss” has himself died.

Freeman was only 47. According to the Los Angeles Times, he died after falling and hitting his head at his home in Venice, Calif.

The point of his book: live every day like it’s your last. And Freeman did a pretty good job at that — in the short amount of time he was allotted, he managed to cross off about half the things on his book’s list.

Did you know that zoos attract more visitors annually than all U.S. spectator sports combined??!!

Amazing, huh? Actually, I stole the above from an AP review of a new guidebook called “America’s Best Zoos: A Travel Guide for Fans and Families.”

It points out that we visit our hometown zoos, but we don’t bother to visit Dumbo when we’re out of town.

Maybe that would change if there were more programs like San Francisco’s “Woo at the Zoo” night; it features, uh, the romantic lives of our animal buddies. But as the website notes, this is for people “21 and over only“. Sorry kids.

Radar Online has a new and improved list of places you don’t ever wanna see.

And I thought this list would be hard to top. I humbly stand corrected.

Radar’s list includes diseased petting zoos, brain-damaging midway rides and a hotel in Virginia Beach that Radar says “has plenty of availability since it won traveladvisor.com’s distinction as the dirtiest hotel in the United States‘.”

Oh, and don’t miss the section on cruises, where you can take your pick of “rampant food poisoning” or capture by Somali pirates.

Well, these 10 vacation destinations are not exactly IN hell but I guess you could say these hot spots (ha) are hell-ish.

Included in the list: Papua New Guinea (dissed because of disease), North Korea (for their interesting ideas on good governance), and Yakutsk, Russia (where temperatures often drop to minus-58F). I saw the list in this Reuter’s article, so don’t yell at me, I didn’t make this up.

Did the U.S. make the list? You betcha! Oklahoma City is #5.

I’ll let you guess why (HINT: funnel-shaped windiness).

Again — I didn’t choose any of these. Chill.

Back in the 60’s, Disneyland had a cool, house-of-the future you could poke around in.

How cool? Well, according to an AP report in USA Today, it was “pod-shaped” and loaded with all the gizmos: “oddities included hands-free phones, wall-sized televisions and electric razors.” Electric razors!

Now, they’re doing it again. The new “future house” will open in May. Want to know what’s inside this one? This is good, keep reading.

We’re off to cover the biggest travel event in the West. The Los Angeles Times Travel and Adventure Show is this weekend, and we’ll have stories, photos, vacation ideas, and news on everything else that has to do with travel and adventure when we return next week!

Now, we’re not ones to encourage drinking in any way. But if you are a world traveler who likes to enjoy the occasional cocktail, it can be helpful to know which countries specialize in which drinks. What’s their national drink of choice, if you will.

Well, those crazy kids at Forbes have put together a list of the top 10 signature drinks from around the world. It’s a little cultural, a little decadent, and a lot of booze. Keep reading for a look atwhat I believe to be the scariest drink on the list. It involves rotted shark meat. That’s all I’m saying…

It’s 9-degrees in Chicago as I write this (or, as The Weather Channel puts it oh-so-cheerily, “It feels like -12!”).

So why does a certain travel website suggest freezing New Yorkers should check-out a “Sunny Getaway” to the City-of-Big-Shoulders? (Thanks, Upgrade: Travel Better).

But wait, there’s more: CNN runs a loony AP article on how tourists gush about the glories of Chicago in winter time.

Gush! But wait, it gets better!

Just click “more” and see for yourself.

Hey, who says you have to stay in your home country to get busted? Nobody!

Pack your bags, hop on a plane, and start causing trouble in a foreign land. In case you’re wondering which foreign cities offer you the best chance of getting arrested, Gadling (source: the LA Times) has put together a Top-Ten List. Keep reading to see if your favorite destination cracked the top ten…

OK, so the House that Uncle Walt built isn’t really banning kids, but one of Disney World’s restaurants doesn’t want your youngsters to dine with you. Victoria & Albert’s, Disney World’s only AAA Five-Diamond rated restaurant, will no longer allow children under the age of 10 through its doors.

Just so you know, dining at this fine establishment runs you a minimum of $100+ per person, harp music fills the air, and a dress-code is enforced. Not really a place for the little ones, I suppose.

Of course, I think you’re better off grabbing a funnel cake and a bucket of popcorn and heading to Expedition Everest, but maybe that’s just me.