Archive for February, 2010

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Abigail King’s Inside the Travel Lab

February 23, 2010

Examining travel from the scientific angle, Abigail King aims to take readers a little further with her analytical style of travel.

Abigail King's thinking-person travel blog

“Inside the Travel Lab brings you global stories on the art and science of unusual journeys,” she says.

“So that you can indulge your dreams and inject some curiosity about the rest of the world.”

She explores bridges, learns about global ecology and contemplates the place travel has in the medical world.

You won’t find any travel guides here.

What you will find though, are well thought out and beautifully written accounts of travel destinations around the world.

Whether you’re headed to Marseilles or Tenerife, if you’re a thinking traveler, you’ll love Abi’s style.

Carrie Leary’s on the Journey4Haiti

February 23, 2010

I had the pleasure of meeting Carrie Leary when I was in Phoenix, Arizona last year.

She sent me an email informing me that she would be off to Haiti and raising funds for the rebuilding effort there.

Carrie Leary has just arrived in Haiti

She’s just started up a blog to chronicle her experiences and she will no doubt be making a big difference over there.

Her blog’s called Journey4Haiti.

It is an initiative of the Journey Church in Peoria, Arizona and Open Door Haiti.

Her most recent post is a photo montage of work at the Sacred Heart relief hospital.

The generators are not running very often, so her posts are usually brief, but what she does managed to share with us in such a short frame of time is an incredible feeling of hope for Haiti’s future.

Sarah V.’s “Wandering Off” with her family in tow

February 23, 2010

Stay at home mom of one, Sarah V. has been on all kinds of adventures, big and small.

Whether it’s a trip to the beach or a visit with Mickey Mouse at Disney World, you can rest assured they’re having fun.

Sarah V. in North Carolina

“Our daughter has stood face-to-wing with a stealth bomber, posed for photos next to the world’s largest pecan, and explored the Cowboy Capital of the World,” Sarah says.

“She’s met Cowboy Kringle, splashed in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and walked through the cloisters of an 18th-century mission church.”

Sarah also writes about their adventures to faraway places like Hawaii, but she loves day trips closer to home.

One of her favorite things to do is get in the car, turn on the GPS, and see where the road takes her.

Sherry Ott’s personal blog

February 23, 2010

She was one of those “late travel bloomers”.

Sherry Ott got her first passport when she was 30 years old for a trip to Turkey.

Sherry Ott's personal blog is a wonderful inspiration

This must mean that the longer you wait, the harder the travel bug bites.

At least that’s the way it was with Sherry.

Six years later, in 2006, she left her executive IT career behind, hung up her briefcase and put on her backpack.

“My travels took me around the world solo to more than 23 countries writing and photographing the unique cultures,” she says.

“I volunteered and taught English and computer skills finding a love of teaching that I never knew existed.”

After that, she sold everything and moved to Vietnam to teach ESL and perfect her travel writing and photography skills.

From her homebase in Saigon, Sherry has been traveling around the the lesser known parts of Asia.

“I love traveling off the beaten path – living with locals; reporting on their culture and usually trying anything they feed me,” she says. “I’ve been on the road now for 3 1/2 years – and there’s no end in sight!”

Check out her latest posts on the Annapurna Circuit, getting caught in a rockslide and finding a mouse in her bed.

Engaging writing with a wonderful sense of humour, Sherry’s blog is one to follow.

Emma Healey helps you find your perfect holiday

February 23, 2010

The discount travel website, Holidayholiday.co.uk has a company blog where a team of writers and editors list relevant deals and travel information based on the content on their site.

Emma Healey is one of the writers of that blog.

Emma Healey shares insider knowledge about travel deals

“HolidayHolidayblog.co.uk offers travel news, worldwide holiday destination guides, hotel reviews, travel advice and information on traveling, plus live updates from HolidayHoliday agents traveling all around the world,” she says.

“The blog often lists exclusive holiday ‘deals of the day’ plus special holiday offers only available to HolidayHolidayblog readers.”

What you will most certainly find is up to date travel information, like an update on the service changes in Madeira since the landslides yesterday (luckily, there are none), and last minute Valentine’s Day getaways.

Marta and Chris take “a travel around the world”

February 23, 2010

Chris and Marta are an Italian couple who moved to London in 2002.

After climbing the corporate ladder and achieving what they thought was success, they realized that “after all, the 9-5 rat race sucks”.

Marta and Chris

So they decided to quit and pursue their dream of traveling around the world.

As they go, they are blogging about it on A Travel Around the World.

“We don’t pretend to be travel writers or photographers, but we only want to tell people who have always dreamed of taking the plunge that is never too late, you don’t need to be rich or do much planning,” Marta says.

“In fact we packed and left London in a flash, only the time required to give our notice.”

One of the most fascinating parts of their site is the detailed description of the travel gear they packed for their big adventure.

I also enjoyed their top 10 adventures on the east cost of Australia.

Kyle and Bessie Crum are on their own path

February 23, 2010

In 2008, Bessie and Kyle Crum sold almost all of their stuff and from Guatemala to Mexico and Buenos Aires almost entirely by bus.

Kyle and Bessie in the Bolivian salt flats

They have seen parts of active volcanos fall apart, witnessed soccer riots, swam in a mud volcano, ridden bikes in the world’s driest desert, and created innumerable memories along the way.

They also wanted to give back, so they worked at a non-profit in El Salvador for three months and in a medical clinic in Honduras for one week.

Due to poor financial planning and a lack of want to return back home, Bessie and Kyle took jobs teaching English in Korea, where they currently spend most of their time entertaining kids from 3-12 years old and trying not to be baffled by Korean society.

Marcelita Rinda tells it like it is

February 22, 2010

I have to say that I simply love Marcelita’s blog.

There’s not a lot of travel content in it, but her style of English is one of a kind.

She writes in a constant stream of poetry-like prose, it’s simply entrancing.

English is not her first language so she communicates as best she can with her vocabulary, and the phrases she invents are simply beautiful.

Sundaymorningwakeupearly is Marcelita’s personal blog.

“I wrote everything in my mind, feelings, thoughts, dreams, hopes, share interests,and traveling part,” she says.

“My blog doesn’t have any rules. I wrote what I saw. I wrote what I felt. And sometimes it makes my blog full of complained and jealousy.”

Her blog post from her trip to Jogjakarta is raw and emotional, as is her photo series from the trip.

I really hope that she travels some more and shares her stories with us.

Laura Hoot knows vacation rentals

February 22, 2010

There are deals to be had in the great wide yonder that is the vacation rentals market.

Laura Hoot finds the best ones three times a week and puts them up on the VacationRentals.com blog

“It’s unique because people usually only hear about hotel or airfare deals, so they’re really missing out,” she says.

“We’re talking three-bedroom vacation rentals that cost $300 a week…stuff like that!”

So, I decided to put her promise to the test.

I found quite a few deals for the price she promises, including a rental in Hilton Head, North Carolina and some rooms for rent in Boulder, Colorado.

So if you’re in the market for a cozy cottage or a villa by the sea, make sure you check out Laura’s blog before you book your next rental.

Russell Slater’s on the road in South America

February 22, 2010

It’s the familiar travel blogger story, once again.

Man travels to a foreign land. Man writes blog to inform family and friends. Blog takes over man’s life.

In this case, Russell Slater went to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

“At some point, the writing bug hit me and I wanted to write about all and sundry,” he says, “my experiences, my thoughts on different places, general musings on minute details, anything that seemed as though it needed expressing.”

I really enjoyed Russell’s rants on Montevideo and Couchsurfing in Argentina.

It’s definitely not something you’ll find on just any travel blog.

“I doubt any of my articles will be recommended by the tourist boards of any of their towns,” Russell continues, “but I certainly think they will offer a different point-of-view, both honest and mired in a love for the small intricacies of life.”

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