Posts from — February 2009

There’s a fun post at Matador of 15 not-to-miss Australian travel experiences.  Some (like charter a fully crewed luxury yacht) I’m afraid I’ll sadly have to miss, and some (like gambling away my travel budget at the Crown Casino Melbourne) I’ll happily give a pass. Others (watching the sunset over Uluru, braving the waves at Bondi, or wine tasting in the Hunter Valley) I can vouch for. But I lust after Queensland and the Northern territories, Kakadu and the Kimberly. My score: 3 out of 15.

I thought I’d have a lock on this list; I’m more of a town aficionado then a city-girl, and it is my home country, after all, but I only got nine out of twenty. I haven’t explored the eastern seaboard as much as I’d like and this beautiful slideshow makes me want to head east.

The selections: [Read more →]

I have a love/hate relationship with these sorts of  lists…let’s face it, “top visited” translates to touristy, crowded, and littered with souvenier shops. And yet, there is usually a reason people want to visit these places—the reason is often great natural beauty. Sometimes these spots are loved to death, but  you can find your quiet spot, or an off-season moment to discover  just what makes a place so popular.

I’ve seen 19 of the 25 top visited American  tourist spots, and have found something to love about most of them. The  two most appalling misses on my list are  the Smokey Mountains and Niagra Falls. I’ve also missed Busch Gardens in Tampa, but I feel as though I’ve seen more than my share of theme parks, so I feel no pang of regret there.

I love oddball festivals. One of my favorite memories of Belgium was the “Kattenstoet”, a festival held every 3 years in Ypres.

It supposedly commemorates a time in the 15th century when rats got out of hand in the Cloth Tower where woven goods created locally were stored before shipping. The town locked cats in the tower to combat the problem, but then, well, the cats (and their kittens) got out of hand. The answer (I was told) was for someone who drew the short straw to climb the Cloth Tower Belfry and throw the cats off the roof. [Read more →]

I’m the first to admit that Twitter often baffles and overwhelms me. But some traveling Twitter gurus are experimenting with Twitter in interesting ways. Long before the mainstream news media had picked up the US Airways flight 1549 crash into the Hudson, twitter followers of Janis Krum saw a photo of the event, snapped on Krum’s iPhone. Twitterer “2drinksbehind” tweeted a photo and comments when the Continental Airlines flight slid off the runway and burst into flames in Denver. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai were also on twitter before they were reported. 

But besides the rapid dissemination of travel disaster news, there is potential for Twitter to change the way we all travel. Stuck in Newark overnight? (Why does that always happen to me?) Twitter for recommendations of where to stay or what to do. Shoes stink? Gary Arndt twittered for advice when his sandals started to smell on the road, and got plenty of deodorizing advice.

[Read more →]

National Geographic Traveler just came out with an article offering 57 ways to cut vacation costs. Some of them are pretty obvious, and some seem a little obsessive–looking for public bathrooms on the street to avoid impulse buys leaving restrooms in stores, for example (if you gotta go, you gotta go).

But there are some useful links and interesting ideas for saving money while traveling. I never thought of deleting cookies in my browser before ordering hotels of airfare online. According to the authors of this article, some sites may quote a higher price than is available because of cookies that store your previous purchase history.

 Another 2009 round-up list has been released; this one is BootsnAll’s Top 10 Destinations for Independent Travelers in 2009. 

Here are their picks:

Walking Tall release

• Tasmania, Australia
• Siem Reap, Cambodia
• Bariloche, Argentina
• Panama
• Bangladesh
• Sardinia, Italy
• Senegal
• Berlin, Germany
• Damascus, Syria
• Columbia

I’ve been to only two of their picks, but several are in my must-do list. But Berlin? Wouldn’t be my pick. BootsnAll’s backpacking traveler readers tend to be far more interested in nightlife than I am.

It’s that time of year—time for the ubiquitous New Year Travel round-up, and for budget minded travelers (and who isn’t, this year?)  Budget Travel Magazine’s Top Ten Destinations  2009 is an interesting read. Their picks include Austin, Washington DC, Hawaii, Budapest, Reykjavik,  Berlin, Cambodia, Panama, and Mexico.

Islands rank high in travel daydreams. Everyone has a list of islands. Travel and Leisure’s 2008 Best Islands is one of the most recent, but if you want to really delve into island dreams,  National Geographic Traveler’s Nov/Dec 2006 issue listed 111 of the best islands and archipelagos and ranked them in terms of sustainable stewardship.

It’s a little light on iconic tropical beaches-the 522 experts polled found that crowds and cruise ships can kill and island quickly. I don’t know how many of these picks have since been defiled by development (the article ran in 2006), but it is great daydream fodder. I’m clearly island deficient-of the 111 ranked, I’ve only seen 15. 

 Islands Magazine has several  island lists:  Check out the 23 best islands for snorkeling , the best islands for art , and, if you want to dream really big, the best islands to live on.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently released their “Dozen Distinctive Destinations” list for 2009.  The destinations chosen, they say “offer an authentic visitor experience by combining dynamic downtowns, cultural diversity, attractive architecture, cultural landscapes and a strong commitment to historic preservation and revitalization”.
2009’s Distinctive Destinations include:

Santa Barbara, California
Athens, Georgia
Saugatuck-Douglas, Michigan
Virginia City, Nevada
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Buffalo, New York
Lititz, Pennsylvania
Bristol, Rhode Island
Hot Springs, South Dakota
Franklin, Tennessee
Fort Worth, Texas
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

It’s kind of a relief not to see Washington D.C. on the list. It’s a lovely town, but it seems to make every list in an election year.