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May 30, 2008
A picture is worth a thousand words
The mesh conference took place last week in Toronto. Founded by a number of Canadian entrepreneurs and journalists, this three-day event focused on how the Web is changing the way we work, live and play. Sponsored by Edelman, I’ve been lucky enough to go every year and learn about trends and insights in the new media space.
One of the mesh founders, Mark Evans, formerly of the National Post, works with an interesting travel site called PlanetEye. It’s a resource designed to help travellers quickly “research, organize and share their trips” using both a community of contributors and local experts.
What caught my eye when I first visited the site were the jaw-dropping travel photos at the top of the main page. They are all geo-tagged and mapped out to each of the destinations. Browsing the destinations brings up a nifty, zoom-able map with bubbles of the photos taken in each part of the city, country or world you’re currently looking at.
It’s an excitingly visual way to plan travel and search destinations. Imagine choosing which attractions, hotels or restaurants you visit based on how visually appealing they are? I came across a photo of a fruit market on Gage Street in Hong Kong, not far from where I used to live, that immediately brought me back to that wonderful part of the world. Not to mention that it made me think about going there again!
PlanetEye also builds on that premise with community user reviews and rankings of different hotels, restaurants and attractions. Currently some parts of the world have more photos uploaded than others, but if you believe a picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to travel, then take a few minutes to explore this site.
Posted by rob.manne at 5:02 PM
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May 22, 2008
Parlez vous Francais?
I recently decided to brush up on my high school French in preparation for an upcoming vacation to France and Brussels. Through i-Tunes , I discovered some very useful podcasts from Survival Phrases.
The short segments provide enough language lessons to help you get by on a trip. Rather than learning how to conjugate the verb "to be," you learn how to order a meal in a restaurant or get directions to the train or bus. Additionally, the host provides helpful cultural hints such as tipping habits.
When you visit the web site, which you are encouraged to do during each lesson by a friendly host, you can download a written lesson in PDF format.
Survival Phrases offers a number of language lessons depending on where you might be traveling. In addition to French, you can learn Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Filipino, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Vietnamese.
I would highly recommend Survival Phrases if you’re headed to a foreign country on vacation or a business trip and you don’t speak the language.
I leave for France tomorrow, so I will let you know how my French fared upon my return.
Au Revoir!
Posted by mia.casey at 4:10 PM
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Youth Travel on the Rise
The number one reason why I love to travel - because it really does broaden the mind. Based on a recent industry report released by the World Youth, Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation and UNWTO, youth travel is not only on the rise but is an opportunity area for tourism organizations. The most enlightening statistic is that "80 percent return home more tolerant and respectful of other cultures as a result", which if this segment continues to grow will only (hopefully) mean good things for the future.
Within this report it also mentions the improvement in accommodations, specifically hostels as well as term I had not yet heard: "flashpaker" (extension of youth backpacking into 30+). Kathleen Crislip does a good job of explaining this in her Student Travel Blog. I can't help think this expansion of backpacking and budget-conscientious travel really just underscores the intrinsic rewards and meaning of travel in the rawest sense. I'm traveling to Spain this year and, not having backpacked as a student myself, am looking forward to traveling in a slightly different format than I'm used to. Packing light, staying in hostels and really exploring a country that will be so wonderfully foreign to me.
Posted by claire.woll at 9:37 AM
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The idea of Youth Travel is really great, it's always useful and the fact that "80 percent return home more tolerant and respectful of other cultures as a result" is another proof for that.
Posted by: Zara at May 26, 2008 5:26 AM
The idea of Youth Travel is really great, it's always useful and the fact that "80 percent return home more tolerant and respectful of other cultures as a result" is another proof for that.
Posted by: Zara at May 26, 2008 5:26 AM
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May 5, 2008
Culture of Cruising
I recently embarked on a voyage to the Caribbean with my mom, sister, brother-in-law, Aunt and three cousins on Royal Caribbean's "Serenade of the Seas."
Before this trip, I had been on a couple of cruises, but was not a huge fan of cruising (particularly because of one cruise that my family still refers to as "the cruise from hell")
However, after 7 nights on the Serenade enjoying Caribbean cuisine, sea turtle encounters, piano bar tunes, and what my cousin termed "nap excursions" in the stateroom, I'm now a cruise convert and have another voyage planned to Alaska on Princess Cruises at the end of June.
As this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article points out, not only do cruises offer great value to the consumer, but the cruise industry is expecting to make it through the current economic downturn without many disruptions.
But who is cruising?
Well, besides myself, there is a whole world of cruise enthusiasts ready to set sail and also ready to share their experiences at websites and online communities like CruiseCritic.com. I discovered this site through my aunt, who won't make any decision on excursions unless the members of Cruise Critic provide favorable reviews. Members, some who have 25-plus cruises under their belt, offer extensive reviews, plan meet-ups on different ships, share photos and more.
I'm only on cruise number three, but perhaps someday I'll have 25 under my belt!
Posted by rachel.rosenberg at 6:53 PM