We're kind of obsessed with browsing Instagram for travel inspiration and, every other Friday, we'll bring you 10 of our favorite shots that impart major wanderlust. Don't forget to follow our own shots on Instagram under "jaunted," "hotelchatter" and "vegaschatter."
· Photo via photosbylinda — God, Budapest looks so good in black & white.
· Photo via contax_h — Awesome escalator symmetry at HKG.
· Photo via nytimesfashion — The night before NY Fashion Week...so lovely at Lincoln Center. ]]>
One of the top tourist sites to visit in Beijing is the Forbidden City, the former Imperial Palace.
We told you the other month how powerful it was arriving at Tiananmen Square—which sits across from the Forbidden City—but today we're telling you what NOT TO DO when you actually step inside the imperial walls. As always, these are just our tips so by all means, please add your own!
So without further ado, here is the Jaunted guide of What Not To Do In The Forbidden City: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes.
5. Don't pay for your tickets with a credit card
Both locals and tourists mostly pay cash in the city, and the admission booths only had one window that accepted credit cards. Since we don't read or speak Mandarin or any other Asian language, there was a bit of back and forth with the cashiers about which one had the credit card machine. Save yourself the trouble and bring 40 RMB ($6.35) with you, per person. ]]>
Okay, sure we're totally obsessed of late with iPhone photo-sharing app Instagram (find us by searching for user "jaunted" within the app!), but it's been a thing for us that, before embarking on a big trip, we'll not only download the best city maps and guide apps for our destination, but we'll also look around for new photo apps to up our iPhoneography game.
Thus, before hitting the road to Singapore, we bought four awesome iPhone photo apps that really worked so well, we were spreading their gospel by word of mouth. Now it's time to share them with you:
· Diptic
Perhaps you've seen these uploaded into Instagram and wondered "what the heck?" Yea, this app essentially allows you to combine several photos from your iPhone into one, combined spread much like setting up one of those old-school family photo frames that ends up dusty on a mantle. The layouts are flexible, and you can adjust each picture for size, color, brightness, etc before saving the finished triptych. See another example here.
- Cost $0.99 at the iTunes store]]>
Last week when we hopped off to Singapore on the inaugural run of the Singapore Airlines A380 JFK-FRA-Sin, we tweeted a quick photo of our baggage before boarding. This is it. Yes, that's all of it for two full weeks of both business and fun; everything we need is there in an 18" four-wheel Titan hardshell carry-on and a lightweight "personal item" purse from Y-3, which comfortably fits both our laptop and DSLR.
Immediately after sending the pic, we were blasted with replies and emails wondering how we could pack so light and not be a backpacker or weekender. It's quite simple, really; practice makes perfect and we recently returned from three weeks around Thailand with almost the same set, except swapping a larger Filson Field Duffel for the Y-3 purse. See a pic of it for proof here.
In addition to practice, we pack by two rules: never roll or bunch anything (we fold flat and stack in a Flight 001 Spacepak) and if it all can't comfortably fit spaced out on a double bed, then some things still must be cut. Here's a full list of all that made it with us to Singapore in those there bags:]]>
We've got bad news, good news and awesome news.
The bad news: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is wrapping up and will end tomorrow, January 13. That means no more fun gadget announcements and breathless product release liveblogs on your favorite tech news sites.
The good news: Thanks to CES, Ford teamed up with in-flight WiFi provider Gogo to offer a free 30 minutes of WiFi on flights heading into or out of Vegas during the CES dates. Sure, that means the free internet access from 35,000-feet comes to a halt tomorrow, but wait... ]]>
The whole of Australia is consumed with the Summer tennis circuit currently touring around the country, and the pinnacle of the tennis season down under is marked by the Australian Open played in Melbourne. As the only grand slam tennis tournament held in the Southern Hemisphere, the city is showcased not only as a sport capital, but the cultural capital of Australia.
Melbourne is located on the southeastern Aussie coast and it boasts a vibrant cafe society and an avant garde fashion scene. Originally established during the Australian gold rush, Melbourne's rich history and causes it to be called the "Paris of Down Under." If your plans bring you to the city for tennis, plan to soak up more experiences than just seeing top seeded Novak Djokovic or Caroline Wozniacki. ]]>
The city of Acre (Akko in Hebrew) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in Israel. Probable references to it stretch back to the 16th century BC, and over the centuries it's been ruled by everybody who was anybody in the Middle East. The Canaanites, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, British and now the Israelis have all had it at one time or another. The upshot is that there's been lots of time to build and tear down and rebuild the walls around the Old City, photographed here.
The entire Old City has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The problem is that it used to be something of a trap for the many travelers who came to see the ancient sites, many of whom promptly got lost in the winding roads. But over the last few years the Israeli travel and tourism people have made a major effort to make the city more tourist-friendly, posting maps at entrances and in squares. Recently signs have even appeared all over the city to direct people around. ]]>