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Budget Travel May Have a New Editor in Chief

September 17, 2008 at 4:07 PM | 0 Comments

Jossip reports that Budget Travel has a new editor in chief in Nina Willdorf. She should have no trouble getting into the groove: She used to work at the magazine and handled the first issue of its Girlfriend Getaways spinoff.

If it's true that she's set to take over, could this be a sign that the editorial content will skew more toward women and moms? It's true that women do a majority of the travel planning for families in the United States, so further tuning the budget travel mag to their sensibilities seems like a good way to pump up readership as economic woes persist.

It's not the only change at BT, either. Mediaweek says the magazine is getting a new publisher. Bernadette Haley previously worked at Quick & Simple, a budget-minded mag shuttered by Hearst earlier this summer.

Related Stories:
· Penny Pincher Nina Willdorf Named BT EIC [Jossip]
· Bernadette Haley Installed as BT Publisher [Mediaweek]
· Erik Torkells Leaving Budget Travel [Jaunted]
· Travel Media coverage [Jaunted]

Three Is a Trend: Travel Media Pro-Am

July 11, 2008 at 10:00 AM | 0 Comments

There's an old saying in newsrooms that three is a trend. And if that's the case, user-generated travel content has officially arrived. What started with Budget Travel's reader-written issue then turned into planning the Frugal Traveler's itinerary. Now Janelle Nanos from National Geographic Traveler wants your travel tips.

The editor of the magazine's Intellegent Travel blog is headed to Seattle and San Francisco and is asking readers for tips:

You guys get to decide where I'll go and here's the deal: I want you to show me. I'm going to be in Seattle the weekend of July 18th, and in San Francisco the weekend of the 25th, and I'll be blogging while I'm gone. I'll have my video camera too, and I'd love not only meet our readers, but introduce them to the rest of you.

Here's your chance at travel blog stardom, you budding fameballs!

Related Stories:
· Plan My Trip! Seattle and San Francisco [IT]
· Play Travel Agent to the Frugal Traveler [Jaunted]
· Travel Media coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: fddi1]

Erik Torkells Leaving Budget Travel

June 25, 2008 at 10:33 PM | 6 Comments

A Jaunted Exclusive

Erik Torkells, the editor of Budget Travel, will leave his magazine on July 15, a tipster tells us:

ET is leaving BT... without a new project lined up. I bet he was asked to leave. The July issue was only like 85 pages.

Actually, the July/August issue has 92 pages. But that doesn't mean Torkells is sticking around. Says the man himself:

I am indeed leaving. It's been a great run, and BT has come farther than I'd ever hoped. But I like to leave a party when it's still fun, and I wanted to go out on top--in the wake of being a National Magazine Award finalist.

Related Stories:
· Erik Torkells coverage [Jaunted]
· Travel Media coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Duke Magazine]

Travel Media: Budget Travel Embracing the WWW

April 7, 2008 at 3:47 PM | 0 Comments

Budget Travel caught our attention last year with a baby blog. Now, 730 posts later, it's finally gotten a much-needed makeover.

Blog editor Sean O'Neill filled us in on the changes:

We've added a search box, and you can now click through by month or topic or author, to find older posts...We also decided to add profile pages for our authors.

We had noticed that other great blogs, such as the LA Times Daily Deal blog, had succeeded in highlighting how their blogs are written by fun, flesh-and-blood people, instead of being--I don't know how to say this--cold and impersonal voices-from-on-high.

And this isn't the only web project the magazine has going. Its spin-off title, Girlfriend Getaways, will get its own dedicated site this week. As of now, the launch is slated for Tuesday.

Related Stories:
· Girlfriend Getaways [Official Site]
· Budget Travel Gives Birth to a Baby Blog [Jaunted]

Travel Industry Blind Item Guessing Game

March 5, 2008 at 10:50 AM | 3 Comments

We totally love the "Confessions of..." series by Budget Travel, in which tourism insiders give us some good dish on what it's really like to be a flight attendant, a Vegas massage therapist or a travel agent. The latest column comes from a travel TV show staffer, and includes a super-juicy tidbit we can't let slide.

This particular tipster was on "the production team of a TV show about backpacking" in 2005, which basically narrows it down to Globe Trekker on the Travel Channel. The confessor goes on to say:

Out of the five hosts I worked with, four were lovely. The other one let the position go to her head. Although the budget was tight, she insisted on taking her child and nanny along on the company dime for a shoot in Europe, demanded a separate apartment and constantly disrupted production schedules.

Given that Globe Trekker is about the only travel program with an ensemble cast, we're guessing the diva is one of the hosts there. (True, there's an outside chance it's a different show.) Your guesses as to the trouble-making host in the comments, please. Bonus points if you can ID the "anonymous" confessor.

Related Stories:
· Confessions of... a Travel TV Show Staffer [BT, via MSNBC]
· Blind Item du Jour: Non-Scandal Edition [Jaunted]

The Rebirth of Biloxi

March 3, 2008 at 4:06 PM | 0 Comments

We're not afraid to admit that Biloxi, Mississippi has never been high on our "To Visit" list. True, it does host killer Kid Rock concerts, but that alone won't get us on a Skybus flight to the Gulf Coast.

Budget Travel magazine, though, thinks we should reconsider. Biloxi's done a lot of rebuilding since Katrina smashed the city in 2005, and big casinos are a major draw. So too is bingeing on seafood: The city was once the world capital of oysters and shrimp.

We're not too taken by the couple of museums BT suggests, but that's no big deal when there are 26 miles of beach around to enjoy. Cruising on a replica of a turn-of-the-century schooner sounds pretty cool, too.

Related Stories:
· Biloxi, Alive and Thriving [Budget Travel]
· Beaches coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: mrbill]

Getting to the Caribbean, without the Tedious Layovers

December 10, 2007 at 3:00 PM | 0 Comments

Our friends at Budget Travel beat us to the punch with their latest feature. With tons of new non-stop flights to the Caribbean, now's the perfect time to get there quickly and cheaply--if you can sort out the complex web of routes and fares that lead to paper-umbrella-drink bliss.

Fortunately, the magazine's editors did all the dirty work for us, highlighting which Caribbean nations have non-stop flights from which US cities. (They also throw in some tips about where to stay and what to do once you arrive.) The story includes get-to instructions for almost 20 islands.

And before you think we just gripe about connections for the sake of it, consider that it's a wonderful time of year for bad weather to shut down airports. Where would you rather spend your long weekend: Curacao or O'Hare?

Related Stories:
· Easy Access Caribbean [Budget Travel]
· Caribbean Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Suburban Pity]

Spontaneous Spin to the Equator

August 28, 2007 at 9:40 AM | 0 Comments

We love a spot of spontaneous travel. You know the kind: grab a guidebook at the last minute, hop on a plane, then make all your travel decisions on the fly. Recently the crew at Budget Travel sent writer Jason Cohen on a bit of a mystery trip so he could log the pros and cons of this kind of spontaneous trip.

He and his wife Susan ended up in southern Ecuador: Guayaquil, to be precise. With no advance knowledge of the attractions, transport or accommodation in southern Ecuador, Jason and Susan stumbled around the country--spending a stack of time in buses--but still experiencing a bit of the real Ecuador.

They made sure not to miss the equator at the Museo de Sitio Inti-ñan, where there are basically trick sinks that show the water draining clockwise and counter-clockwise, depending on which hemisphere you stand in. If that's all they really got to see on their spontaneous trip, we'd still rate that as worth it.

Related Stories:
· We Have No Idea Where We're Going [Budget Travel]
· Hotels in Ecuador [HotelChatter]
· Travel Stories in Ecuador [Jaunted]

[Photo: T-Oh!&Matt]

How To Do A Belgian Chocolate Deal

May 17, 2007 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments


So you're traveling through Belgium and you suddenly think: Duh! Belgian chocolate! Gotta get some! If you've been ignorant enough to land in Brussels or Antwerp without a chocolate strategy, then we have some tips for you, courtesy of Budget Travel. Recommended shops include Burie in Antwerp, Mary in Brussels and the Leonidas chain across the country.

The biggest tip of all is good news: you really can't go wrong anywhere. Belgium has strict control on its chocolate production process so you nearly always get something tasty. Don't try to bargain with a chocolatier, as prices are set either by piece or by weight. And if you want to taste test first, the tip is to try a smaller mom-and-pop store rather than a big chain.

If you have enough willpower to have leftovers you want to take home, be warned that high quality chocolate often should be eaten within two weeks (it might contain fresh cream) and kept in your carry-on. If you can resist it.

[Photo: marjesb14]

Related Stories:
· How to Buy Chocolate in Belgium [Budget Travel Online]
· Tasty Belgium Chocolate [Jaunted]
· Chocolate Inside and Out [Jaunted]

Budget Travel Gives Birth to a Baby Blog

April 17, 2007 at 9:24 AM | 0 Comments


Budget Travel magazine** just got itself a brand new website. Our first impression? It's blue. (Though that's a lot better than lavender.)

Besides the bold new color scheme--and much more user-friendly layout--what else is new? Why, a new blog, of course: This Just In. So far, the focus is, ahem, all over the map.

Running the show seems to be Senior Editor Online Sean O'Neill who will likely get other staffers involved as the blog evolves. Editor Erik Torkells has dashed off a good number of the posts, too, which is nice to see. You've also got your standard linkage and repurposing of some info from the print edition. All they need now is a few more mentions of Jaunted, and they'll have themselves a winner!

**Disclosure: Once upon a time, this contributing editor cashed some checks from BT.

Related Stories:
· This Just In [Official Site]
· Jaunted's Blog coverage [Jaunted]

Save the World, Nix the Kitsch

January 10, 2007 at 10:35 AM | 0 Comments


Seems like the New Year's all about travelin' green. That's what plenty of mags have been preaching to us recently, stopping just short of telling us to stay home (since that'd be a really dumb thing for a travel journalist to write). Take Budget Traveler's Baby Steps to Save the Earth, which gives us all that warm cozy feeling that we, too, can do something green even when we take a holiday.

Advice ranges from unplugging appliances at home while we're gone (those little red lights we leave on are killing mother earth) to using non-disposable products: refilling a sturdy water bottle, for example, or never using a single-use camera. And they suggest turning the hotel room air conditioning off when you leave: "It may mean 10 minutes of being uncomfortable when you return, but you'll survive." Too true. But the best tip is saved for the ridiculous, useless crap some people buy when they're away:

Remember that souvenirs that look kitschy and fun on the shelf often end up in a landfill.
Or in a long-suffering friend's basement. Don't make us suffer anymore.

[Photo: -sel-]

Related Stories:
· Baby Steps to Save the Earth [Budget Travel]

Baby, You Can Park My Car Anytime

December 22, 2006 at 2:05 PM | 0 Comments


We're a little obsessed with parking these days, but it seems everyone else is too. Budget Travel editor in chief Erik Torkells showed up on CNN the other day, talking about holiday travel and how to call ahead to reserve an airport parking spot. And Sophia Banay over at Forbes.com chimes in with a report on the most expensive airport parking around.

According to Sophia, you're likely to get creamed at the cash register no matter where you park. But some offenders are worse than others: a week at Chicago O'Hare could cost you $350; at Sea-Tac a week's only $99. Erik's advice on the matter is to skip on-airport parking and drop off your ride at a private lot with a shuttle to the terminals. It may take you a bit longer, but you can reserve a spot and save some cash.

Our fave parking tip is to just avoid it: Unless you're hauling cargo for a year-long safari, pack light and take public transportation. (Come on, it's not that smelly.)

[Photo: jonpgh]

Related Stories:
· Most Expensive Airport Parking [Forbes.com]
· Erik Torkells on CNN Pipeline [CNN]
· Jaunted's LA Parking Guide [Jaunted]