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NFT Is 'Not For Tourists,' But It Is For Your iPhone

November 4, 2009 at 9:00 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

These days, it seems like not a week goes by without some new and hyped release of an iPhone travel app, of course today is no different. From the people who brought you the little black NFT Guides, otherwise known as the brilliantly-named "Not For Tourists," comes the shiny new $4.99 NFT iPhone app.

If you're at all familiar with the layout of a printed NFT Guide, then you'll be instantly comfortable navigating the app by fingertip; it's almost as if the books were designed based on the app and not the other way around. And yes—$4.99 is pricey, but we're talking about a book's worth of content here, when the book is usually about $12.95.

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Free Book For Women Travelers Teaches 25 Bandana Tips

October 15, 2009 at 1:18 PM | by Jennifer Kester | 0 Comments

Ladies will want to order a free copy of the conveniently purse-sized book 101 Tips for Women Travelers. The tips were compiled by Harriet Lewis, the vice chair of Overseas Adventure Travel, a company that caters to Americans 50 and older. Despite the company's audience, the tips don't target seniors. For that matter, most of the tips aren't even gender-specific.

Disclaimer for the guys: You'll find tons of good suggestions in the book that you can use, but you'll also encounter a few girly tips, like using panty liners to extend the use of your lady drawers and help you feel oh so fresh while you're on the go. But overall, the advice is good for all travelers. For example, fabric softener sheets pull triple duty by making the ripe clothes in your luggage smell good, repelling mosquitoes and warding off bedbugs. Then there are some super-specific recommendations that won't be applicable to most people, like be sure to sit sidesaddle on a camel to avoid getting a urinary tract infection.

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Attention Medieval Vikings: Visit Skotland At Your Peril

Where: Iceland
September 26, 2009 at 11:11 AM | by Victor Ozols | 0 Comments

The modern travel guidebook genre is usually traced to Arthur Frommer's seminal 1957 book Europe on 5 Dollars a Day, but tips on making the most of your time abroad have been published in some form or another for centuries. A 13th century Viking travel guide, for example, highlights some of the potential pitfalls of visiting Scotland. A nifty story in the Telegraph points out that the Norse Vikings, as fierce as they may have been, were no match for some of the rougher tribes of Scotland and Ireland, who were said to butcher invaders on arrival.

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The CDC Adds Medical Tourism To Its Travel Health Guide

August 17, 2009 at 9:14 AM | by amandak | 0 Comments

Nervous about traveling abroad because you might pick up some flesh-eating illness or other? Fear no more: the Center for Disease Control has just released the 2010 edition of the CDC Health Information for International Travel, the yellow bible which contains everything you need to know about staying healthy while you're outside the United States.

This new edition has got a section on medical tourism, so you can figure out which cheaper country is the safest to get your next bit of cosmetic surgery. It's also got advice on newly popular destinations that your local doctor might not know too much about, including Mount Kiliminjaro, India, China and Nepal.

At 540 pages in hardback, this is no backpack travel guide, but instead is something you have to digest thoroughly while you're planning your trip. And while we of course advocate traveling safely and healthily, we're not quite sure we'll be keeping this book at our bedside before our next trip abroad. Perhaps someone else could read it and tell us the important bits?

Related Stories:
· International Travel Health Guidebook Gets Updated [AJC]
· Medical Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

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Technology Gets Smacked Down by Old-School Guidebook in Moscow

May 26, 2009 at 5:11 PM | by juliana | 3 Comments

The folks over at Condé Nast Traveler recently sent three writers on a mission to Moscow and gave each of them a different tool to use in completing some touristy activities. One writer was armed with an iPhone, the other was given a new BlackBerry Bold phone and the last writer was left with an old-school guidebook from Eyewitness Travel.

Interestingly enough, the writer saddled with the guidebook ended up completing the required tasks much faster than the other two with the internet at their disposal. And here's why:

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Don't Get Too Lost In Seville

Where: Seville, Spain
April 23, 2009 at 2:07 PM | by egw | 6 Comments

It's hard to know whether the experts are giving you useful information or just the same old song and dance. That's why we're introducing Guidebook Says to commend or correct other travel media. Feel free to commend or correct us in the comments below! This week, we head for the sol in Seville, Spain.

Sevillemay have just been killed 4-0 in football by FC Barcelona, but it's still a major tourist destination for first-time visitors to Spain who want to get a taste of the countryside. At just a train ride away from Madrid, it imparts a vastly different sense of the country -- but what's as real as a bullfight and what's as fake as the flamenco fans they sell in gift shops? Just in time for the Feria de Abril beginning next Tuesday, we make the call with the help of a few travel authorities, below:

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Disgruntled Tourist Finds More Scrutiny, Less History In the Dominican Republic

April 2, 2009 at 12:35 PM | by egw | 0 Comments

It's hard to know whether the experts are giving you useful information or just the same old song and dance. That's why we're introducing Guidebook Says to commend or correct other travel media. Feel free to commend or correct us in the comments below! This week, we zero in on the Dominican Republic, a recent Field Trip subject.

Guidebook Says... "At airports, neither immigration nor customs officials pay much attention to tourists carrying an ordinary amount of luggage." -- Lonely Planet

Jaunted Says: Our single suitcase and carry-on were much more meticulously searched in the D.R. on the way out than when we passed through customs in San Juan. Zippered pockets were opened, books were flipped through, and at one point we were asked to describe the contents of a small clutch ("Uh... lip gloss?")

Only because of the guys in front of us did we know why: They had hid what looked like either fruit or cooked meat in their checked bags (wrapped in underwear, tee hee).

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South Africa Field Trip: A Coast-to-Coast Guide

September 29, 2008 at 10:35 AM | by Jaunted | 0 Comments

Our Southern Africa embed Jill Nawrocki recently ducked out of Namibia for a field trip to South Africa.

They say the best things in life are free, and if you're traveling across South Africa's coast and looking for the definitive guide to lodging, dining and adventure, that couldn't be more true. That's because our bible for the three-week adventure along the Garden Route and into Swaziland wasn't a Lonely Planet South Africa or even (dare I say?) Jaunted.

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Share Your Travel Scam Stories for Cash and Fame

August 7, 2008 at 12:15 PM | by kjb | 0 Comments

If you cashed a check for a Nigerian prince and you're still waiting on that payout, then have we got an offer for you!

World Swirl Press is looking for stories related to all kinds of travel misfortunes. If you've been pick-pocketed, scammed by your travel agent, kidnapped or were positive that he was a she or she was a he, then they want to hear from you. You'll even get paid if your story is selected, but just how much hasn't yet been decided.

Don't forget the details, as they want to know about every little miserable misfortune of your personal travel hell. If you've got a winner just bop on over to their site and submit away. They're accepting stories through the end of this year and hope to go to print sometime in 2009.

Related Stories:
· World Swirl Press [Official Site]
· Travel Writing coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jepoirrier]

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SEA Field Trip: Guidebook Gets It Right

June 26, 2008 at 3:30 PM | by ced138 | 0 Comments

We used Lonely Planet: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Greater Mekong while traveling Southeast Asia. Here's where it led us in the right direction.

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SEA Field Trip: Guidebook Gets It Wrong

June 26, 2008 at 3:30 PM | by ced138 | 2 Comments

We used Lonely Planet: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Greater Mekong while traveling Southeast Asia. Here's where it led us astray.

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Speaking of Beijing: New Zagat Guide Debuts

Where: Beijing, China
June 2, 2008 at 12:30 PM | by pbb | 0 Comments

Our recent foray into Beijing was more of a cultural primer for first timers and Olympics-watchers. But what to do if you need the nitty gritty details like which restaurant pours on the Commie kitsch and which nightclub has an awesome 80s night? The newly released Zagat Beijing has all the info you need, crammed into a super-slim volume perfect for packing.

A couple warnings: Like most Zagat guides, the Beijing book tends toward the pricey, and while we actually think the quote-packed descriptions are cute, perhaps you don't. And when it comes to cultural stuff, the background info in this book is a little skimpy. (Just one paragraph on Tiananmen Square? Really?)

Still, if you're just headed to the city for a week or so, do you really want to haul around a couple hundred pages of Chinese history you'll never actually read? We'd rather just know that Red Capital Club is the place to eat and that we should rock our leg warmers at Alfa.

Related Stories:
· Zagat [Official Site]
· Beijing Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Beijing Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Tim and Nina Zagat]