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.
In the wake of Thomas Kohnstamm abusing them for publicity, Lonely Planet has decided to show how classy an outfit it is with... a recipe for world-class pub crawls?!
We know most of the people who are dumb enough to tote an LP guidebook--besides those nice new National Parks guides of course--will probably rate getting wasted in a foreign pub as the greatest thing ever. But do lager louts really deserve a play-by-play?
For a great pub crawl, you need a few ingredients: · a city with pubs in profound proximity · a forgiving transport environment (you don't want cars bearing down on you as you stumble towards your goal) · good weather (try crawling on ice--not fun!) · an established drinking culture (you don't want to be the boorish outsider who's annoying the locals)
There you have it, Lonely Planet-carrying tourists: No boorish outsiders, please!
Uh-oh. Guide book writers tell lies. Not a big surprise to us, but poor Lonely Planet must be decidedly unimpressed by what former author Thomas Kohnstamm has said in his soon-to-be-released book Do Travel Writers Go To Hell?
LP must surely be wishing that Kohnstamm would go to hell, because he's claiming, among other things, that he wrote a guide book to Colombia without ever setting foot in the country. He claims he wrote the guide in question from his base in San Francisco, getting info from a girl he was dating who happened to be interning at the Colombian consulate.
The story goes that Lonely Planet--and probably a whole heap of other guide book companies--don't pay their writers enough to actually research everything that needs to go into a book, and their policy is not to accept any freebies. Whether this news goes down as a "we can't trust Lonely Planet" or a "Kohnstamm's a big cheat with a newly released book to sell" story remains to be seen, but if you're heading to Colombia, perhaps some other guide book might be a better choice?
We're always on the lookout for the next travel tidbit that's going to ease our trip. If you're headed abroad for a holiday getaway in France, China or Japan, look into getting yourself some spiffy Lingolook Flashcards. The size of a passport, Lingolooks offer travelers the most useful phrases to help them get by in a language that might not necessarily be their native tongue.
The cards are double-sided and fan out neatly in your hand, making them discreet enough to carry, but easy enough to refer to if you get really stuck.
Inspired by a moment when they were lost in Japan, Lingolook's founders realized that asking strangers for help from a 10-point font guidebook on the street is, well, just awkward. The cards are easy to understand and you'll likely remember the 75+ included phrases quicker too.
Buy a set for $12, and you'll also get a free e-version, which is perfect for displaying on Blackberries, iPhones and PDAs. Italian and Spanish versions are on the way in '08. Just imagine, you'll blend right in with the locals--at least linguistically.
A bunch of Swiss computer geeks who also love their pubs are about to launch a website that they think will change our traveling lives. Or at least that part of traveling which involves finding a pub that suits our tastes.
Localina aims to use a database of 100,000 bars, pubs and clubs from across the world along with international Location Scouts to help match you to your kind of pub. That means that you can input the details about your favorite local pub back home, plus the destination you're traveling to, and it will spit back a recommended pub to match your taste.
It's reminiscent of Amazon.com's attempts to recommend books, CDs or DVDs you might like, judging by your previous taste, and it might just work. Sounds great in theory, but we're a bit wary. If you travel to another country and end up sitting in a pub just like your local, maybe it would've been easier if you'd just stayed at home?
Lonely Planet's busily launching another slant on their popular travel guides with the Encounters city guide series. A bunch have just been released, including Barcelona, Hong Kong, London and Las Vegas.
The big slogan for the Encounters series is "Discover twice the city in half the time": yep, they're aimed at busy travelers, short breakers and anyone who gets bored fast. Lonely Planet calls these people "urban adventurers" but that seems to be taking things a step too far. The new guides feature a pull-out map and a schedule of festivals and other events that get a city shaking.
We accept that some people really do only have "half the time" to spend in a city, but it sounds a bit like these guides will push you to an "attraction one, click, attraction two, click" snapshot travel mentality. And surely urban adventurers are guys who abseil down skyscrapers, not ones that rush around following the pull-out map?
DK Eyewitness, king of pretty, giant glossy travel guides, has re-launced their website.
The new site allows for you to make your own travel guide, picking and choosing from destinations and locations, and have the resulting travel mashup guide bound and sent to you via snail mail. Cool.
To enter the competition, simply choose 5 dream destinations. Then follow the instructions to submit your choices in the drawing. YOu will also have to subscribe to the sites newsletter to get a chance at the dream trip.
To get you in the mood for both St. Patrick's Day and the DK Eyewitness contest we have added one of those pretty photos we were talking about above.
While holding a travel guide book in your hands as you traipse through Paris or Prague or Rome feels so comfortable, like a security blankie, there's a big chance that the information in there is outdated.
Have no fear! All the latest news on your travel destinations can be found---wait for it--online!
Ever hot on the trail of technology, the folks at Lifehacker asked visitors for their favorite, modern ways to investigate and explore new cities. While the editor's vote still goes to a good ol' podcast, readers are chiming in with additional suggestions. Wikitravel gets a nod, as do the following sites: Geocaching, Yelp, and the online home of Not For Tourists guides, where pdf versions of paper guides are free. Some Lifehackers also like to make use of their smartphones for on-the-go research.
"Human interaction" gets a few votes too--you can download that on a Blackberry, right?
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by kjb
