Archive for April, 2010

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Travel Blog Rankings for April 28, 2010

April 28, 2010

The Travel Blog Ranking score — updated weekly — is the average of the Alexa and Compete.com rankings for each travel blog.

If you would like your independent travel blog to be included in our weekly list, please read more about this list.

Top 100 Travel Blogs for April 28, 2010:

Rank Site Score
1 Everything Everywhere
The travel blog of Gary Arndt's journey to travel around the world. 		19,792
2 Danny Choo
 22,872
3 Nomadic Matt's Travel Site
 44,209
4 Chris Elliott
 53,219
5
+6 		Travel with a Purpose
 71,026
6
-1 		Peter Greenberg Worldwide
 73,368
7
-1 		Mommy Poppins
 74,286
8
+5 		Almost Fearless
 79,303
9
+12 		Go Backpacking
 93,855
10
-3 		Upgrade: Travel Better
 94,449
11
-2 		Fluent in 3 Months
 98,330
12
+4 		The Amateur Traveler
 100,825
13
-5 		WhyGo Italy
Your One-Stop Italy Travel Guide 		101,304
14
-4 		Off Track Planet
 119,480
15
+4 		Wandering Educators
 121,178
16
+11 		Mexicovacationtravels.com
 121,529
17
+29 		Travel, Work, Life
 122,281
18
+12 		The Vacation Gals
 123,235
19
+15 		Sharing Travel Experiences
 125,513
20
+2 		Delicious Baby
 128,719
21
+5 		Europe Up Close
 130,684
22
-8 		Vagablogging
 132,308
23
-11 		Indie Travel Podcast
Indie Travel Podcast serves up stories and advice from independent travellers alongside their Lonely Planet award-winning podcasts. 		138,198
24
-9 		The Cranky Flier
 140,405
25
+10 		Urban Prankster
 146,249
26
+6 		Rick Seaney
 148,691
27
-4 		Dave's Travel Corner
Offers travel articles and photo galleries from across the globe. 		154,438
28
-3 		Hawaii Vacation Blog
 155,215
29
+26 		Ciao Bambino
 165,302
30
-10 		Hole in the Donut
 165,411
31
+10 		Go Green Travel Green
 166,783
32
-3 		Calvin's Hub
 168,248
33
+7 		Mom's Minivan
 170,300
34
-16 		foXnoMad
 171,954
35
-4 		Uncornered Market
 175,745
36
+13 		501 Places
 181,089
37
+8 		Solo Traveler
 182,722
38
+6 		Wild Junket
 183,597
39
-15 		Travel Rants
 184,474
40
-4 		My Melange
 184,792
41
+7 		Go Visit Hawaii
 185,945
42
+16 		The Travel Tart
 188,844
43
-10 		My Several Worlds
 190,700
44
-5 		Europe A La Carte
 193,464
45
+21 		Canada Adventure Couple
 193,762
46
+5 		Practical Travel Gear
 194,980
47
-30 		Soul Travelers 3
A family of three from Santa Cruz, California. Two 50 something parents and their 5 year old daughter on a multi-year trip around the world. 		196,034
48
+12 		KY Speaks
 208,125
49
+15 		Nerdy Nomad
 210,695
50
+31 		Location Independent Living
 218,527
51
-1 		Johnny Vagabond
 220,557
52
-14 		Traveling Mamas
 222,601
53
+6 		My Itchy Travel Feet
 223,939
54
-7 		Kaleidoscopic Wandering
 227,805
55
+12 		Escape Artists
 234,273
56
+15 		Byahilo
 237,804
57
+22 		Musings on travel ecommerce
 245,161
58
+5 		The Real Banff
 246,847
59
+11 		Travelvice
 248,817
60
-7 		Solo Friendly
 250,702
61
-33 		Travel Blissful
 254,059
62
-5 		Mom Most Traveled
 256,104
63
+11 		Things You Should Do
 257,751
64
+122 		Business Travel Guru
 259,682
65
+10 		World Heritage Site
Personal travel guide to the entries on Unesco's World Heritage List. Links, photos and reviews. 		259,785
66
-29 		Heather on her Travels
 260,107
67
+5 		Homeboyski.com
 262,407
68
-7 		Practical Nomad
 264,183
69
+11 		John's Adventures
 268,545
70
-1 		Nomadic Chick
 269,101
71
-17 		Life Cruiser
 270,122
72
-10 		Neil Duckett
 270,826
73
-17 		The Brooklyn Nomad
 273,025
74
-1 		Travellious
 273,270
75
+56 		Happy Hotelier
 274,308
76
-33 		Twenty-Something Travel
 279,478
77
+6 		Two Go Round-The-World
 282,616
78
+11 		Travel Wonders of the World
 286,636
79
+27 		Velvet Escape
 290,154
80
+20 		Pocket Cultures
 300,000
81
+5 		As We Travel
 303,157
82
+6 		A Traveler's Library
 314,083
83
-7 		The Professional Hobo
 327,537
84
-2 		Candice Does the World
 329,141
85
+2 		Italofile
 330,037
86
+23 		Technomadia
 330,107
87
+23 		Ivan About Town
 330,130
88
+3 		Themeparkmom.com
 330,212
89
+13 		Isabelle's Travel Guide
 331,622
90
-48 		Notes from Spain
 332,745
91
+28 		ShipCritic Blog
 335,339
92
+111 		Artist at Large
 350,936
93
+1 		Around the World "L"!!
 351,729
94
-2 		Travels of Adam
 352,129
95
+29 		AdventureRob
 367,871
96
-19 		Chris Around the World
 369,855
97
-13 		Briefcase to Backpack
 370,845
98
-20 		Two Backpackers
 370,955
99
-3 		Out to Africa
Ellen and Paul's travelogues, photos and videos of their adventures in Africa. 		376,827
100
+5 		Offbeat Travel
 386,060
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Congratulations!

If your blog is on this list, you are entitled to this snazzy badge.

We already know you’re awesome, but let everyone else know by embedding a shiny gold medallion on your site or Facebook page.

Travel Blog Sites - Top 100
As chosen by TravelPod, the web’s original travel blog

Simply copy and paste the following code and add it to your website:

 <div style="text-align:center;margin:0;padding:0;background-color:#fff">
    <div style="padding:0;margin:0"><img src="http://images.travelpod.com/bin/blog/medallion.gif" alt="Travel Blog Sites - Top 100" width="120" height="145" border="0" /></div>
    <div style="text-align:center;font-size:9px;line-height:normal;width:120px;padding:0;margin:0 auto;font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:#000">As chosen by TravelPod, the web&rsquo;s original <a href="http://www.travelpod.com">travel blog</a></div>
</div>

You can find ideas on how to use it here.

International Expeditions blog

April 23, 2010

For the past 30 years, International Expeditions has been blending conservation education, hands-on environmental and community responsibility, and adventure in every tour they offer.

“As a small company, we’ve really forged a personal connection between the in-country staff, guests and the people in communities that benefit from our support of conservation initiatives,” Emily Harley says.

Emily & sea lion pup

Emily & sea lion pup

She writes International Expeditions’ blog, and she sees it as an extension the company’s mission to develop understanding of and appreciation for our world.

On the blog, Twitter feed and Facebook page, Emily combines the best of nature travel news along with stories from personal accounts of our trips by staff and guests.

There’s also recipes, green living tips, eco-news and quick interviews with popular expedition leaders.

“I want readers to get excited about the world and feel the same passion I do for the wild and remote wonders of our planet!” Emily says.

The Vagabond 3: Rob Blasko, Jade Broadus and Bob Christian

April 23, 2010

Back in August 2009, Rob, a self-described “sarcastic, fun loving braggart” entered and won a Twitter contest for a three-day trip to Sydney, Australia.

But there was a catch, he’d have to send one tweet per minute while on the trip.

That’s a total of 4,320 tweets.

Rob Blasko, Jade and Bob

Rob Blasko, Jade Broadus and Bob Christian

He brought two friends with him to help accomplish the challenge: Jade “a sassy, spunky cutie” and Bob “a wide-eyed adventure seeker”.

Together as a team, they tweeted up a storm and successfully completed the tweeting mission.

As their reward, they received three round-the-world flights.

With plane tickets in hand, they’ll be jetting off to places like Sydney, Hong Kong, and Tokyo and they’ll be putting it all down in their blog.

For now, they’ll be saving up money, doling out tips for group travel and appropriate traveler behaviour.

“Our mission with Vagabond3 is to create an interactive, online travel experience through the exploration of cities and cultures around the world,” Rob says.

“Showcasing the accessibility of travel, we aim to encourage others to pack their bags and experience global adventures of their own.”

Nate Nault’s studying abroad

April 22, 2010

The Study Abroad Blog is about Nate Nault’s experience as a study abroad student.

He’s currently living in Scotland for a year, and travels to other countries across Europe as often as he can.

Nate started this blog when he began applying for study semesters abroad.

Nate Nault

Nate Nault

“I had tons of questions about the application process, getting acclimated, course work, traveling,” he says, “and there were very few websites out there that were written by students addressing all these questions.”

What he did find, was a lot of corporate websites that had a ton of generic information that he assumes were probably written by someone who had never actually studied abroad.

Nate gives all kinds of personal information based on his own personal experience of studying in a different country.

“I cover everything from choosing a location, going through the student visa process, making travel arrangements, what to bring, what to not bring, what to do when you get to your abroad university, what to do while you’re there, and everything in between.”

On the personal end, Nate’s blog is his own way of keeping everyone back in the States up to date on his life abroad, but it also serves a much bigger purpose as a resource for the rest of the study abroad community.

So far, he’s been to the Scottish Highlands, Barcelona, Rome, London, Munich, Vienna, Prague, and Amsterdam, with plans in the works for trips to Paris and Dublin.

His more practical posts include tips and advice on flying, booking hostels and hotels, packing, where to go, and what to see.

He’s also just started an eight part email series called: “Traveling Cheap: A Guide for the Student Traveler”, where he shows readers how to enjoy a weekend in a European city for under $300.

“Studying abroad provides students with the ultimate opportunity to travel the world,” Nate says.

“We’re probably only going to have this opportunity once, so I encourage students to take advantage of every opportunity they can to travel, and appreciate every moment they’re abroad.”

Matt Gibson’s expat life in Taiwan

April 22, 2010

Founder of the popular Taiwanese magazine XPat, Matt Gibson started his own travel blog that features his published articles and original blog-only stories.

Matt Gibson

Matt Gibson

Topics range from mutant animal farms in Taiwan, to burning ghost boats.

The website will also showcase prominent travel writers and bloggers including: Rolf Potts (Author of Vagabonding and Marco Polo Didn’t Go There), Gary Ardnt of Everything-Everwhere, Matt Kepnes of Nomadic Matt’s, and more.

Matt is currently based in Taiwan where he teaches writing and freelances for various publications while writing his first novel.

He has travelled on four continents and speaks English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese (to varying degrees).

Travel Blog Rankings for April 21, 2010

April 21, 2010

The Travel Blog Ranking score — updated weekly — is the average of the Alexa and Compete.com rankings for each travel blog.

If you would like your independent travel blog to be included in our weekly list, please read more about this list.

Top 100 Travel Blogs for April 21, 2010:

Rank Site Score
1
+1 		Everything Everywhere
The travel blog of Gary Arndt's journey to travel around the world. 		22,799
2
-1 		Danny Choo
 23,287
3 Nomadic Matt's Travel Site
 37,843
4 Chris Elliott
 50,856
5 Peter Greenberg Worldwide
 69,921
6 Mommy Poppins
 81,209
7 Upgrade: Travel Better
 90,554
8
+1 		WhyGo Italy
Your One-Stop Italy Travel Guide 		97,827
9
+2 		Fluent in 3 Months
 97,956
10
-2 		Off Track Planet
 100,665
11
-1 		Travel with a Purpose
 101,858
12 Indie Travel Podcast
Indie Travel Podcast serves up stories and advice from independent travellers alongside their Lonely Planet award-winning podcasts. 		108,267
13
+1 		Almost Fearless
 110,025
14
-1 		Vagablogging
 112,033
15
+1 		The Cranky Flier
 117,439
16
+1 		The Amateur Traveler
 117,596
17
+1 		Soul Travelers 3
A family of three from Santa Cruz, California. Two 50 something parents and their 5 year old daughter on a multi-year trip around the world. 		118,874
18
-3 		foXnoMad
 119,099
19
+1 		Wandering Educators
 119,934
20
-1 		Hole in the Donut
 121,287
21 Go Backpacking
 126,866
22
+1 		Delicious Baby
 132,202
23
-1 		Dave's Travel Corner
Offers travel articles and photo galleries from across the globe. 		135,287
24 Travel Rants
 137,274
25 Hawaii Vacation Blog
 140,865
26
+2 		Europe Up Close
 146,406
27 Mexicovacationtravels.com
 146,700
28
-2 		Travel Blissful
 147,379
29
+1 		Calvin's Hub
 149,583
30
+3 		The Vacation Gals
 151,487
31
-2 		Uncornered Market
 152,800
32
-1 		Rick Seaney
 154,190
33
-1 		My Several Worlds
 154,275
34 Sharing Travel Experiences
 155,491
35
+1 		Urban Prankster
 157,231
36
-1 		My Melange
 161,826
37 Heather on her Travels
 168,539
38
+3 		Traveling Mamas
 170,669
39 Europe A La Carte
 173,234
40 Mom's Minivan
 173,741
41
-3 		Go Green Travel Green
 175,540
42 Notes from Spain
 180,120
43 Twenty-Something Travel
 183,017
44 Wild Junket
 184,477
45
+1 		Solo Traveler
 186,451
46
-1 		Travel, Work, Life
 191,640
47
+2 		Kaleidoscopic Wandering
 195,511
48
-1 		Go Visit Hawaii
 196,994
49
-1 		501 Places
 197,681
50
+4 		Johnny Vagabond
 203,346
51
-1 		Practical Travel Gear
 206,355
52
+1 		The Aussie Nomad
 209,854
53
+2 		Solo Friendly
 212,825
54
-3 		Life Cruiser
 216,825
55
-3 		Ciao Bambino
 218,013
56
+3 		The Brooklyn Nomad
 218,931
57
-1 		Mom Most Traveled
 224,273
58
+2 		The Travel Tart
 225,683
59
-1 		My Itchy Travel Feet
 229,099
60
+1 		KY Speaks
 229,171
61
+1 		Practical Nomad
 238,198
62
-5 		Neil Duckett
 239,707
63 The Real Banff
 241,066
64 Nerdy Nomad
 243,451
65 Brooke vs. the World
 243,816
66 Canada Adventure Couple
 243,940
67
+5 		Escape Artists
 244,389
68
-1 		Travel Junkie Julia
 244,980
69
+2 		Nomadic Chick
 248,985
70
-1 		Travelvice
 251,549
71
+2 		Byahilo
 258,714
72
-4 		Homeboyski.com
 261,448
73
+1 		Travellious
 261,750
74
-4 		Things You Should Do
 267,896
75 World Heritage Site
Personal travel guide to the entries on Unesco's World Heritage List. Links, photos and reviews. 		270,344
76 The Professional Hobo
 282,125
77 Chris Around the World
 290,045
78
+1 		Two Backpackers
 291,068
79
+1 		Musings on travel ecommerce
 311,232
80
-2 		John's Adventures
 314,139
81 Location Independent Living
 317,173
82 Candice Does the World
 317,567
83
+4 		Two Go Round-The-World
 319,330
84 Briefcase to Backpack
 327,445
85
-2 		Lanzarote Guidebook
 329,316
86
+9 		As We Travel
 331,370
87
+1 		Italofile
 338,952
88
-3 		A Traveler's Library
 342,459
89
-3 		Travel Wonders of the World
 344,922
90
-1 		Geotraveler's Niche
 348,943
91
+1 		Themeparkmom.com
 352,904
92
+1 		Travels of Adam
 357,782
93
-3 		Otts World
 357,894
94
+3 		Around the World "L"!!
 358,927
95
+1 		Hop and Jaunt
 365,653
96
-5 		Out to Africa
Ellen and Paul's travelogues, photos and videos of their adventures in Africa. 		368,621
97
-3 		Traveloffthecuff
 374,962
98 Traveling Savage
 387,782
99
+17 		Thom and Sean
 391,495
100
-1 		Pocket Cultures
 395,243
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Congratulations!

If your blog is on this list, you are entitled to this snazzy badge.

We already know you’re awesome, but let everyone else know by embedding a shiny gold medallion on your site or Facebook page.

Travel Blog Sites - Top 100
As chosen by TravelPod, the web’s original travel blog

Simply copy and paste the following code and add it to your website:

 <div style="text-align:center;margin:0;padding:0;background-color:#fff">
    <div style="padding:0;margin:0"><img src="http://images.travelpod.com/bin/blog/medallion.gif" alt="Travel Blog Sites - Top 100" width="120" height="145" border="0" /></div>
    <div style="text-align:center;font-size:9px;line-height:normal;width:120px;padding:0;margin:0 auto;font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:#000">As chosen by TravelPod, the web&rsquo;s original <a href="http://www.travelpod.com">travel blog</a></div>
</div>

You can find ideas on how to use it here.

Daniel and Jeni Snyder take itsy bitsy trips

April 20, 2010

If you’re a parent and you need help planning outings, trips, and vacations with your young children, look no futher

Itsy Bitsy Trips is the blog for you.

Daniel and Jeni Snyder

Daniel and Jeni Snyder

The site is run by the Snyder family: Jeni’s a writer and pediatric nurse practitioner who’s traveled the world with kids, Dan’s a journalist and documentary filmmaker who’s traveled the world for work, and their young son Will is a “bon vivant wise beyond his years”.

“We hope to distinguish our website and blog by focusing almost exclusively on babies and toddlers and by utilizing Jeni’s vast medical knowledge and real-world experience traveling with children of this age,” says Daniel Snyder when asked about the purpose of their blog.

They regularly relate their travel experiences and review cutting-edge techniques and products that they use to keep their little one happy and healthy while they’re traveling.

Even if readers aren’t going on vacation anytime soon, most of what the Snyders write can be used on the local trips they make with their young kids everyday.

One Step 4Ward with Johnny Ward

April 20, 2010

He’s an Irish guy who planned, with all his little Irish heart, to be an investment banker in London.

Johnny Ward graduated from university with an economics degree and went to teach English for one year to get traveling “out of his system,” and head back to London.

Johnny Ward

Johnny Ward

“My traveling threw a spanner in the works and it really changed my whole way of thinking,” he says.

“Three and a half years later i’m still on the road and now plan to dedicate my life to working for NGOs representing refugees across the world.”

His blog, One Step 4ward, is an ever-evolving work in progress, but Johnny has kept a diary of his time on the road and the stories he has trapped in his “crazy Irish brain” will be invaluable to the blog readers of the world.

Everywhere he goes, he travels on less than $10 AUD per day and he says that level of frugality seems to draw the best experiences imaginable.

For example, read his cheap travel guide to Bangladesh and Chiang Mai.

Cailin O’Neil travels herself

April 20, 2010

She began her travel blog and TV show last year and called it Travel Yourself.

Cailin O'Neil

Cailin O'Neil

“It is meant to be a site that would not only show my TV show but also show the making of it from beginning to end,” Cailin O’Neil says.

Travel Yourself is all about getting out in the world and traveling solo.

If you can’t find someone to go with you, don’t wait, go and “travel yourself” Cailin says in this trailer for the upcoming TV show.

Her website also promotes her personal blog Cailin Travels and guest posts she does for others.

Cailin also has a growing following on twitter @travelyourself.

I gotta say some of her signature “spinny” style videos are quite hypnotic and you will find yourself zoning out and traveling right along with her as you watch some of her videos.

So follow her travels and be inspired to get out there and “travel yourself”.

Craig Martin and Karen Bryan find top travel content

April 16, 2010

If anybody knows how difficult it is to get travel writing noticed in a sea of information, it’s successful travel bloggers Craig Martin of the Indie Travel Podcast and Karen Bryan of Europe a la Carte.

They created Top Travel Content to help bring attention to the writings of their fellow scribes.

This new blog post compiler showcases the best in travel articles from independent, niche travel sites and blogs.

Craig Martin

Craig Martin

While it centres only on Europe for now, these two have big plans to expand to all continents in the future.

“It can be hard for independent travel sites/blogs to gain exposure and for readers to find quality travel content on the web, therefore Top Travel Content is an asset to both writers and readers,” Karen says.

Site membership is open only to stellar writers whose membership in the website have been approved by the editors.

Karen Bryan

Karen Bryan

They feature one post a day that was written by a member of their exclusive group.

Other posts by members are are also stumbled, tweeted and shared on Facebook.

Top Travel Content readers are also invited to submit posts from any travel sites or blogs which they enjoy for possible inclusion as Readers’ Picks posts.

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