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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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