November 27, 2005
Practical Traveler
By
FRED BIERMAN
READING an online travel blog will perhaps never have the
romance of receiving a dog-eared postcard in the mail, but
intrepid travelers armed with digital cameras are finding
that keeping a blog on the road can be a compelling and
viable way of maintaining contact with friends and family.
A travel blog is a real-time
online journal that allows users to post text and
photographs to the Internet and share the Web address with
whomever they want. As travelers have become more
comfortable with the Internet and digital cameras have
become more affordable, blogging has become increasingly
practical and popular. All over the world, travelers can
stop in an Internet cafe, upload their photos and share them
with friends and family (and interested strangers)
instantly.
Three years ago, Ali Waters, a
29-year-old computer programmer from North Norfolk, England,
was looking for a way to keep in touch during his travels
across the globe. At that time blogs were just gaining in
popularity and posting photographs from a computer on the
road was still time-consuming and complicated. So Mr. Waters
wrote software that would make it all easier for him and his
fellow travelers.
"My friends and family would
write e-mails back commenting on my adventures," said Mr.
Waters, who was interviewed by e-mail from an Internet cafe
in Koh Samui, Thailand. "Like two-way electronic postcards,
but with as many images as I could post and no limit on the
amount of words - plus no two-week wait."
That was the beginning of
TravelBlog.org, a site that is host to travel journals,
allows users to post text and photos and even offers maps
that show where users are writing from and where they have
been. TravelBlog is one of numerous sites that offer - many
at no charge - travelers the ability to share a journal of
their journeys and allows readers to leave comments.
The term blog, or Web log, can
refer to almost any personal Web site on the Internet. The
travel blogs that can be found on sites like TravelBlog.org,
BootsnAll.com and
TravelPod.com, however, stand out. "Travel blogs came
out of the travel space, not out of the blog space," said
Martin Horne, the president of TravelPod, which is another
site that plays host to travel blogs. "In the big blog world
it's blogging about anything. This is vertical specific
blogging."
TravelPod was hatched in 1997
by a Canadian named Luc Levesque. At first it was just a
personal experiment, but over the last two years Mr.
Levesque's site has enjoyed enough popularity to hire Mr.
Horne and a team of seven to run the site.
Mr. Levesque, or "Lucky" as he
calls himself on TravelPod, continues to travel and post his
thoughts and photos online for the world to see. "That's one
of the reasons they brought me on," Mr. Horne said. "Because
Luc doesn't want to give up traveling."
Travel blogs often feature
beautiful photography and are now beginning to offer video
and audio clips. TravelPod is even planning to introduce a
service that will print and bind blogs for its users.
Of course if one posts
anything on the Internet any Web surfer can stumble upon it.
Many sites offer password protection to keep interlopers
out, but for some bloggers random comments and e-mail from
strangers can be a pleasant surprise.
"For most people the blogs are
for friends and family, not for virtual travelers," said Mr.
Waters of TravelBlog. "Others have found their calling and
write fantastically well and photograph as well as any
professionals I've seen."
Rachel and Dan Goddard, both
32, started a blog in mid-2004 to document their yearlong
trip across the United States, Canada and Mexico in a used
R.V. The site,
underagedrvers.blogspot.com, featured everything from
tips on how to get Internet access on the road, to cellphone
service in Canada, to entries about how they budgeted for
their trip. Their regular posts of photographs and writings
about their journey garnered them a following that served
them well on their trip.
"Random strangers would read
the Web site and write us and say, 'I live in North Carolina
off Exit 253. Come over and my wife will cook you dinner and
you can park in our driveway,' " Rachel Goddard said. "The
way we were received by people was so amazing."
Viewing a travel blog can
inspire ideas for future trips. "The element of discovery as
well as getting that first-person account is really useful
and relevant for people," said Heather Doherty, a senior
analyst at Nielsen/Net Ratings. "You can start reading about
places that you may not have even thought about going to."
Mr. Levesque of TravelPod
likens travel blogs to the tradition of written travel
journals or diaries. Travel blogs, however, can be much more
easily and quickly shared. "Travel is a special event in
people's lives," he said. "So having something like that
online with the travel maps, the photos and the comments is
sort off like the old diaries that people used to keep,
except that you get to share it with everyone as it's
happening."
What started as a way to keep
in touch is growing rapidly and allowing those who are
interested in traveling to choose from a wide variety of
real-time first-person accounts of destinations from upstate
New York to Ethiopia. Certainly not all of them are well
written, but the number of blogs out there make the
selection vast.
"We have about 21,000 bloggers
on our site right now," said Mr. Horne of TravelPod. "You
start to see the scale of our site, and we're growing at
about 30 percent a month right now. We can generate quite a
bit of content."
When both Mr. Levesque of
TravelBlog and Ali Waters of TravelPod began to blog, it was
only their extensive knowledge of software and the Internet
that allowed them to do it. Even now, starting and
maintaining a travel blog is not for everyone, but as
wireless technology continues to advance it is only going to
get easier. Kodak has recently introduced a camera that
allows users to e-mail photos directly from the camera.
Still, even from an Internet
cafe in some exotic place, as long as you can upload your
photos online, you can post them to a blog.
"It can be as easy or as
involved as you want it to be," said Ms. Goddard, the R.V.
blogger. "There are 12-year-olds out there who are blogging
every day."
•
TravelPod.com,
one of the original travel blog sites, is easy to navigate.
It is simple to join and post photos. No charge; payment of
$39 removes all advertising banners from a user's page, and
allows users to password-protect their pages so that only
friends and family can log on. Each page features a map with
your destinations and routes highlighted. Users can click on
the locations to see entries posted from there. For the more
technically savvy user, TravelPod offers the ability to
embed sound and video clips on the blogs.
TravelBlog.org
is also quite easy to navigate, and it is easy to post
photos and text. Not only is this a good site for people
looking to create their own blogs, it is convenient for the
user who wants to read about other travelers' experiences
and look at photos from various locations. On its main page
it offers a world map that allows users to read people's
journals by clicking on a particular location. TravelBlog
also has numerous travel forums featured on its home page
that deal with issues like how to prepare for a yearlong
trip or the pros and cons of traveling alone. TravelBlog is
free and is a good site for the first-time user.
Blogger.com,
which is owned by Google, is not designed specifically for
travelers, but unlike many of the other offerings, Blogger
allows users more freedom with how they post pictures and
design their sites. There are a number of design templates
to choose from, and getting a blog started is easy.
Flickr.com, one of the largest photo Web sites, makes it
easy for users to post photos to Blogger or other sites by
clicking an icon. Since Blogger is not focused on travel
blogs, however, there are no forums or easy ways to see what
travelers are blogging about or where from they are blogging
from. Both Blogger and Flickr are free.
BootsnAll,
which is at
tblogs.bootsnall.com, allows for photos and text, but
does not offer as many features as some of the other
providers. It is free, but your membership must be approved,
and that can take 24 hours. There are numerous travel blogs
on this site, and the wide array of travel features on the
main site make this a good choice for someone looking for
inspiration for a trip rather than starting a travel blog to
document one.
MyTripJournal.com
features a convenient itinerary function that is linked to a
map that shows the route taken. Unlike the other sites,
however, MyTripJournal is free only for a 45-day trial,
after which the user must pay $59 for a year, which includes
storage of up to 60 photos a month. It also offer a more
expensive version for $89 a year that includes unlimited
storage as well as a CD that contains all of the photos from
the user's site and a static html version of the blog. There
are no banner ads or pop-up windows on this site.
MyTripJournal is not as easily searchable as the other
providers, so it may not be as good for someone who is just
browsing through travel blogs for inspiration.
Contiki Holidays
is the worldwide leader in
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For over 40 years, Contiki Holidays has been taking
travelers around the world and offering them an
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individually created to include a mix of sightseeing, free
time, culture, socializing and adventure. Regardless of your
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providing you with an amazing trip at an affordable price.
How it all began…
In 1961, a young New
Zealander named John Anderson arrived in London to
embark on a journey to Europe. He didn't want to
travel alone and he didn't have a lot of money, so he
came up with a plan. He put a deposit on a minibus and
gathered a group of people to travel with. They spent
twelve weeks exploring Europe together and had a
wonderful time. At the end of the trip, John tried to
sell the minibus but no one wanted to buy it. So in
the Spring of 1962 he decided to advertise his Europe
trip again. This time, he was able to fit two trips
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the start Contiki was all about youth travel.
One of the most popular trips is the
European
Experience,
a
22-day
trip
that starts at
$1,939 (US)
Land-only.
Please check with us on departure
dates.
- A sleeping bag is needed for this tour.
Featuring: France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City,
Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Netherlands,
and Belgium (in transit)
If you’re ready for a memorable trip abroad, then this is
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Arrive London: After checking into
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experience London at your leisure.
London to Paris: A warm welcome
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of Dover and the Channel crossing to Calais, France.
Past World War I battlefields to the splendor of
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Paris Sightseeing: On our included
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Village (B)
Paris to Beaujolais Wine Region, Lyon:
We travel south and stop at Fontainebleau to see the
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near Lyon and two nights in Contiki’s exclusive
Château de Cruix. Contiki Special Stopover (B,D)
Beaujolais Wine Region: Drink in
the atmosphere, enjoy our included picnic lunch and
explore the French countryside - the choice is yours.
Contiki Special Stopover (B, Picnic Lunch, D)
Lyon to Antibes - French Riviera:
Our route today takes us south along the Autoroute du
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Antibes to Florence: First a French
perfumery then into Italy to see the Leaning Tower
of Pisa before arriving in the most fabulous of
Renaissance cities, Florence. Contiki Village (B,D)
Florence Sightseeing: Begin with
our included walking tour to see the Piazza della
Signoria, the Duomo and Santa Croce. Time is yours to
shop for leather, gold and silver, visit the many
galleries or stroll along the River Arno. This
evening, an opportunity to enjoy the colourful
Florentine nightlife. Contiki Village (B)
Florence to Rome: All roads lead
to Rome and our Contiki Village. This afternoon why
not discover the ancient ruins of Rome with a local
guide. Later, a walking tour of this ancient city will
include the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia, Pantheon
and Piazza Navona. Contiki Village (B)
Rome Sightseeing: Today, take your
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Contiki Village (B,D)
Rome to Venice: Traveling north we
pass by medieval hillside villages. Then across the
rugged Appennine mountains for the Byzantine city of
Venice. Contiki Village (B,D)
Venice Sightseeing: Our
complimentary motor boat takes you to St Mark’s
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glass and lace-making demonstrations, wander the
fascinating canal side streets and why not treat
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Venice to Hopfgarten - Austrian Tyrol:
Today we travel over the spectacular Brenner Pass.
Perhaps an opportunity to go white water rafting
(subject to weather conditions) on our way to
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Austrian mountains. Contiki Special Stopover (B,D)
Austrian Tyrol at Leisure: The
picture-postcard village of Hopfgarten is an excellent
base to make the most of the beautiful countryside and
experience a vast range of outdoor activities:
walking, cycling or parapenting. Contiki Special
Stopover (B,D)
Hopfgarten to Munich: On to
Munich, the lively Bavarian capital. Our orientation
tour includes the town centre with its historic
Glockenspiel and excellent shops. Tonight, why not
experience typical German fare in a Bavarian beer
hall. Hotel (B)
Munich to Lauterbrunnen - Swiss Alps:
Leaving Germany, we stop in the tiny principality of
Liechtenstein before traveling onto lakeside Lucerne.
A chance to see the Lion Monument before shopping for
local souvenirs. We spend a relaxing evening at our
cozy Alpine chalet in Lauterbrunnen. Contiki Special
Stopover (B,D)
Swiss Alps at Leisure: A
spectacular day where you can choose to hike the many
trails or enjoy a trip up the snow-covered Jungfrau
mountain on a cog railway that passes through the
Eiger mountain! Contiki Special Stopover (B,D)
Lauterbrunnen to Rhine Valley:
Heading north we leave Switzerland and enter Germany
for Heidelberg and an orientation tour of this
university city on the Neckar River. Then on to our
hotel in the Rhine Valley. Hotel (B,D).
Rhine Valley to Amsterdam: Today
we cross the Dutch border making our way to Amsterdam.
Visit a cheese farm and see how clogs are made on our
afternoon orientation tour. Cycle through the
countryside and explore the fishing and cheese village
of Edam. Contiki’s centrally located hotel is home for
our last two nights. Contiki Special Stopover (B,D)
Amsterdam at Leisure: After a
diamond exhibition, why not take a canal bike ride to
explore Amsterdam further, perhaps visiting Anne
Frank’s house. Tonight, an opportunity to get together
for our final night out. Contiki Special Stopover (B)
Amsterdam: This morning your
scheduled tour ends at your accommodation. After
breakfast but before 10am, there will be a transfer
for you to Amsterdam Schphol airport for those on our
fly & tour package.
Alternatively, you could choose to take a
complimentary transfer back to central London with
your driver and tour manager if flying out of London
suits you better. You will arrive in London early
evening where you can also choose to extend your stay
at either the Imperial or Royal National Hotels.
(B)
