Travel-Write.com: Travel Notes Blog

The Fall of The Berlin Wall:

November 9th, 2009

When East Germans were squeezing themselves through cracks in the Berlin Wall, twenty years ago today, I was in Colombia enjoying the preparations for Cartagena's 'independence festivities'; oblivious to their cries of joy.

Even though chinks in the Iron Curtain appeared at the Hungary/Austria border - near Sopron - in August of 1989, I would wait until April, 1992 before I visited the former Soviet Republics; for a tour around what had recently become the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).



I don't think I'd have stayed in Europe, even if I could have predicted the events of 9th November, 1989 but I would like to visit North Korea before the Korean peninsula is reunified.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Networked Blogs on Facebook:

June 24th, 2009

Having upgraded the Travel Notes Blog to match the recent TravelNotes.org website changes - and made sure it looked fine in both IE8 and Firefox - I started reading around some of my favourite travel blogs and stumbled on the NetworkedBlogs Facebook application.

Now I can easily keep an eye on Facebook users who follow the Travel Notes Blog, and hopefully discover some more interesting travel-related blogs to read.

NetworkedBlogs also works as something of a blog directory and is easy to browse by Topic, Popularity or Region.

I've even added their search results to the Travel Notes Toolbar.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Branding on Twitter:

April 7th, 2009

Hopefully, this will be my last blog post about Twitter. If I want to add anything else, I'll just edit this post or create a page on the Travel Tweet Directory.

Looking through (mostly) travel-related Twitter profiles it seems I could probably offer some of the people who follow me on Twitter a little advice.

For most people, it's pretty clear; they are on Twitter as themselves. They have a decently cropped photograph as an avatar, use their real name, fill in location and add a short bio.

Some people even jazz up their profile page with an interesting background image.

Perfect.

Far be it for me to tell you 'how to' use Twitter but if you're reading this, then you might be looking for some 'branding' tips; or at least my thoughts on them.


Your Twitter Profile

The first place most people will look, if they're thinking about following you, is your profile. So make a good impression; or at least the impression you want visitors to your Twitter profile page to have about you.

Remember, 'Honesty is the Best Policy'.

Of course, there are those who may just follow you automatically, through various websites and software applications that use the Twitter API. Or because it's what they do.

I wouldn't really class these as followers but number generators. The numbers might make you feel good but I'm sure you'd feel better if the numbers were lower and the people following you were genuinely interested in at least some of your tweets; maybe even replying to you and passing on (or referencing) some of your tweets to their own followers.


Username and Real Name

Account Settings is where you can make your changes.

The 'Username' will be on the Twitter URL - and changing this can create broken links, if other websites are already linking to you.

It's one thing having a Twitter username that relays what you're about, but unless you're representing a well-known brand, tourist destination, or large hotel, it's probably a wise choice to reveal your real 'Name' in your profile too.

This will help people connect to you, on a more personal level.


More Info URL

If you have a web presence, this is the place to link to 'more about you' or your website/blog front page.

I don't really understand why people link to their Twitter profile here, as it's the page we're already on.

I can't really get to grips with why people link to a LinkedIn page either, unless they don't have a web presence (outside of all their 'social' media haunts).

Add a link to your Twitter profile from LinkedIn (if you use it) by all means, but if you have an online property, then why not create an about page on your own URL as well - and send your Twitter profile link to there?

At least this will bring people directly into your own Internet space from Twitter, then link to LinkedIn from your own domain (if you must).

Let LinkedIn work for you, sure, but make your Twitter profile work for you before it works for LinkedIn.


One Line Bio

'About yourself in fewer than 160 chars' - Now how hard is that?

We're only allowed 140 characters for our tweets but Twitter has kindly given us an extra 20 characters to play with here.

I'm surprised at how many people choose to ignore this space; waste it with silly ✩♕ ☁ ☟♘ ☯; tell us what their website is about (except for established brands); or the property they're trying to rent out - and not about themselves.

Is your website or holiday home doing the tweeting?

Hopefully, you are!

Of course you can be the founder of a travel website or owner of a holiday home, and it makes sense to say so.

So who are you? What are you about?


Location

Please, is an iPhone number really a location?

I don't want to call you, or come round to your house, but I wouldn't mind knowing roughly where you're from.

Having a proper location also makes it easier for people to find you on Twitter (and related directories), if they're interested in a particular destination.


The Picture



This is not really doing you any favours at all.

Change the picture here.

But before you do, think about it; are you really that bike, that flag, that baby, or that front door?

Is a squashed up version of the logo you use on your website really something your potential new followers will want to look at when you tweet to them?

If you're not really a brand, just be yourself.

Another thing to think about - is that Twitter will squeeze your photo into a 73x73 pixel square for your profile page, so maybe submit a photograph that is already cropped into a square.

Submit a larger photo (but not smaller), by all means; as this will be seen when people click on your profile image. Just be careful that the picture is not too large, if you've taken the effort to create a stunning Twitter background in the next step.


Design

If you're really serious about branding yourself on Twitter, this is the place to polish it off.

You can change design colours to match the feel of your own website and, with a little imagination, you can make your Twitter background say almost anything about you.

Instead of using a logo, house or landscape on your profile picture, you can incorporate these sort of images here.

Getting the background image looking right can be a little tricky though, as it aligns top left and the content scrolling over your background image will vary depending on screen resolution and size.

Put the most important visual information in the first 245 pixels of the left column.

You can test how the background will look in different screen resolutions here (in Firefox Browser).

In most cases, choosing 'tile background' will not be the option you wish to select.

If you're not comfortable creating an original background image, Twitbacks offer a free service - with a little free branding for them thrown in.


Branding Yourself

Even if your goal on Twitter is to get more people to stay in your holiday home, use your travel agency, or visit your website, getting them interested in you (and what you can share) should probably be your first priority.

Once people are interested in you, the person, they may recommend 'what you're about' to their friends or followers later.

As more and more people follow through to your profile, make the most of this opportunity to get them interested in you.

Present a human image of yourself and use all aspects of your profile page to represent you better.

Then all you need to worry about is making an even bigger impression, with your tweets.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Travel Writers and Photographers - Think Like Editors:

April 6th, 2009

Sorry folks, it's rants time.

The Internet medium has allowed just about anyone to call themselves a travel writer or photographer; even a 'published' travel writer.

However, some of the material I've been looking at recently almost makes me cringe and cry out for more editorial control.

There are articles about top things to do or see by people who have probably never left their computer screen to research a travel destination in their life, illustrated by photographs they've 'borrowed' from elsewhere online; often without even giving credit to the photographer.

There are also far too many blog posts created just to link to another blog, which again masquerades as something of a 'travel article'; inspired by yet another blog post, which may eventually lead us to the real source.

That wouldn't be so bad, if people didn't use Twitter to send the link to their hastily mashed up effort at writing; just for their following flock to waste their time clicking around to reach the real story.

If people can't create original content, then why not use editorial judgement and link to the original article from their tweet?

There's also the increasing use of Twitpic to push out photographs (through Twitter) of 'travel photography'. I was even duped into looking at some that were taken through a car window.

Then there's a link circulating to something claiming to offer tips on taking better travel photographs; but the photography used to illustrate this only shows that the photographer still needs to work on the tips.

Not one of the photographic examples stands out enough to be worthy of publication in traditional media.

Tip number 10 was 'Take a lot of photos and don’t delete them'.

Well, well..... I'd say take plenty of photographs by all means - but delete the duds; unless your intention is to show me how not to take photographs, as a way of producing something better.

My number one travel photography tip would be to look at magazines like National Geographic and be inspired by the great pictures produced by the professional photographers who do get published.

Look at the framing and exposure of these images and train your eye to see what makes them so special. Then be critical of the pictures you take that aren't.

So to all of you who claim to be travel writers and photograpers, perhaps it's time to start thinking like an editor and be selective in what you (as publisher) choose to publish.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Travel Notes 2.10:

March 29th, 2009

I've made another tweak to the Travel Notes design and should probably call it Travel Notes 2.10 - as we look forward to 2010.

Hopefully, I won't be tempted to change the look and feel again; at least until we have upgraded all the pages; some going back to version 0.97 - when Travel Notes™ was first launched.

I know, it's embarrassing.

Since our first release, in 1997, there have been many changes in web design and what people expect from their Internet experience.

There is also a lot more competition for viewer loyalty and a lot more noise to sift through; to find the real gems.

Some websites we used to like haven't kept pace, while others have exceeded all expectations.

There's also a lot more e-mail in our inbox and the spam has become ridiculous.

We've also dabbled with database driven content, travel forums and open mailing/discussion lists.

While there were some advantages, the moderation and verifying of all the different forms of user-submitted content just took up too much time. Some sites don't bother to use the power of editorial control, and seem to do quite well, but it's not something that I'm comfortable with.

It takes a keen eye to spot the 'fake reviews' and see through the tricks of cunning marketing hopefuls. Just look at how many 'Press Releases' are around.

Social Media on Travel Notes

Social media has really exploded lately, which is very exciting as I have always embraced the idea of travellers coming together in the form of an online network; having established the 'Network of Travellers' - in The Tropics of Geocities, way back in 1996.

That's why I've now created a Directory of Travel Tweeters on Twitter and will be adding Google's Friend Connect to the newly designed pages on Travel Notes™.

This is a great way for fellow travellers to come together across a large number of websites, so please join us to add your comments.

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

This is really something I need to apply to myself more often, and have a new personal work plan to try and help me stay focussed.

Mondays - Africa & Middle East.
Tuesdays - Asia & Oceania.
Wednesdays - Europe.
Thursdays - Latin America & Caribbean.
Fridays - Canada and United States.
Saturdays - General Travel.
Sundays - Travel Articles and Videos.

Of course, 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy' so I will continue to travel and connect with friends online; as work can be fun too.

Follow Michel on Twitter - @TravelTweet.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

F1 Grand Prix 2009:

March 27th, 2009

With the Australian Grand Prix getting the new Formua 1 season underway, on Sunday, I've done the research for you all again; to preview the season ahead, and refreshed the Monaco GP article.


Ayrton Senna - © Michel (@TravelTweet)

► Formula 1 Travel Article.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Google Street View - Where To Travel?:

March 25th, 2009

Google's Street View has been making the news in the United Kingdom more than Twitter lately, as some people were quick to complain about privacy issues.

Offically launched two years ago (25th May, 2007), with San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, Miami, and New York City featured, 'Street View' finally rolled out across the UK; on March 18th, 2009.

The Tour de France route was trialed in July, 2008 and then the 'Google camera car' went driveabout Down Under; focusing the lens on Adelaide, Albany, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Broken Hill, Broome, Cairns, Canberra, Geraldton, Hobart, Karratha, Melbourne, Mount Isa, Perth, Rockhampton, Sydney, and Tamworth.

Major French cities (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Lille, Toulouse) were added on October 14th; closely followed by Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, and Valencia) and Italy (Florence, Lake Como, Milan, and Rome).

You can even view the Valencia F1 street circuit.

New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown, and Wellington) was then opened up to the eye of the world in December, 2008.

Although the Google Map now has plenty of blue markers, there's still nothing in Latin America, Africa, The Middle East or Asia; except for Japan (Chiba, Hakodate, Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, Saitama, Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, and Yokohama).

With so many places to choose from, it's now getting difficult to decide where to travel to from the comfort of your own home.

I zoomed into Europe, moved the map away from the centred United States and zoomed in some more.

Then, instead of trying to peer into the windows of the coffeshops and Red Light District in Amsterdam, I decided to take a drive with Google..... away from London and the new releases..... and down to Lake Como.

If you haven't used the new street view before, view the Google Street View Video.

Street View on Twitter.

Street View Cures the Homesick Blues:
Announcing Street View's arrival in The Netherlands and United Kingdom.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Getting Thousands of Followers on Twitter:

March 19th, 2009

Firstly, the disclaimer:
I don't claim to be a 'Twitter expert' (like many people do, and probably are); nor claim to be a 'travel expert' (like many people do, and probably are not); although I have been to more countries than most and use Twitter in a way that appeals to me.

There are quite possibly more 'marketing pros' and 'experts', according to some of the Twitter profiles I've seen, than there are things to market; unless they're all supposed to be pros at marketing themselves - which some people clearly are, while others fail miserably.

Anyway

Having spent a lot of time on Twitter lately (probably too much) looking at travel-related Twitter profiles I have to ask: If you want - or already have - thousands of followers, is it really worth it?

To get thousands of followers - and keep them - (celebrities excluded) some people tend to follow, or follow back, thousands of people; presuming it's the 'done thing to do'.

This means you'll have more tweets pouring in than you can probably handle and may even miss the sweet tweets from the tweeps you're really interested in.

Credit to the Twitter masters who seem to cope with this, but even some of them admit that they aren't really reading the tweets of all the people they 'follow' but do check the @Replies.

I guess this could be a guage of who's really following and interested enough in what they're following - by the replies received.

The reply feature, however, can also be open to abuse; and with the thousands of people you're following, replying to the thousands of people they're following, it can soon seem like you're sitting in a communications centre with all lines open and plenty of wires crossed (unless you turn the @replies off in your settings).

To Some People, Twitter Seems To Be a Numbers Game

To keep up with the numbers, there are all sorts of tools available to help find people who are more likely to follow you back; to alert you of who isn't following you back; or - heaven forbid - decides to follow you no longer.

Then there are the people who get offended by others, who don't follow back all their followers, and are not afraid to make a tweet about it.

As Evan Williams, founder of Twitter (and Blogger) said, on Mar 12th; in reply to a concerned Natali Del Conte:

"Please ignore follow-ratio nazis. They're confused about what makes Twitter work. To each their own."

And that would be my advice: forget about the numbers; be true to (and about) yourself; use Twitter how you want to; and just be thankful that, beneath all the numbers, there are some people who really are interested about what you have to share online. Aren't there?

Personally, I like to see an interesing mix of tweets from the people I follow and hope to provide the same.

Do I really appeal to thousands of followers? Probably not, if they all expect me to follow them back and get offended if I don't.

To those who do follow me on Twitter, I thank you!

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Upbeat About Offbeat Guides?:

February 4th, 2009

Read about the latest travel guides to hit the Internet and see what all the fuss is about. Could this spell the end for Lonely Planet?



There's obviously going to be a lot of hype surrounding Offbeat Travel Guides, because David Sifry - founder of Technorati - is also behind this project.

The concept is simple, as David explains in this video interview: you enter where you’re going to, where you’re coming from, your name, and when you’ll be there. You can even add the hotel you'll be staying at, if you wish.

A behind the scenes search (Technorati knows all about live web-crawling) grabs background information on your destination from Wikipedia, Wikitravel and 'other sources'; uses the dates you entered, to search for what's happening according to Zvents, Upcoming and Eventful; then gives you a graphical AccuWeather weather forecast, to give you an idea of what to pack; and even produces street maps showing your precise location, if they found your hotel.

Try it, by all means.

Of course, you could just as easily search 'What's on When', Wikipedia, Wikitravel, other travel-related resources - and even the weather - by switching around in the TravelNotes toolbar; visit the official tourist information websites from the Travel Notes destination pages; or even watch the weather videos before you go. For free.

So What's so Upbeat About Offbeat Guides?

If you're strapped for time, don't have the TravelNotes toolbar installed, or just don't like searching around the Internet to do your own research on your travel destination (which is often half the fun) then Offbeat Guides could be made for you.

Marina Kosmatos, who spent four years working for Lonely Planet, is also on the team - to help curate some of the travel content.

However, I feel Offbeat Guides are a little ambitious by claiming to have over 30,000 destinations covered; as some of the more 'offbeat' destinations I tested didn't return enough quality information to justify the asking price.

At least you can try before you buy and deselect the information you don't need; to keep the weight of the guide down - but not the price.

Pricing

The full colour printed guide comes in at the hefty price of $24.95, while a downloadable PDF guide costs just $9.95.

Travel Guidebooks are considerably cheaper than Offbeat's printed guide, but are often out of date before they're published; and you don't get the money-back guarantee that Offbeat Guides offer, if you're not satisfied. There's also a support forum, if you're having problems.

Each seperate destination means purchasing another guide; but if you're doing your own research, all it costs you is your time.

Affiliate Program

Offbeat Guides also offer an affiliate program.

To make affiliate programs work though, you need to spend time on them - and believe in the product.

Just sticking up links and banners is easy enough but, to succeed, you will also need to know what's working and what isn't.

Therefore, the need for statistical data is vital.

Personally, I'd like to see 'which destinations people are looking into the most', 'which destinations are being purchased' and 'best conversion rate for destinations researched - to destinations purchased'.

At the moment, these sort of statistics aren't made public (even behind the affiliate dashboard).

There are banners and a widget available, for affiliates to promote Offbeat Guides with.

If you don't want to provide free branding on your site though, you'll need to make sure you put the correct affiliate links on the images provided and maybe even open up the widget javascript, edit it slightly and call the 'Powered by Offbeat Guides' edited (affiliate id on link) version from your own server.

Added 5th Feb, 2009:
The banner code in the affiliate section now generates the affiliate id.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Using Google Earth to Find Drugs in Switzerland:

January 31st, 2009

Thanks to satellite images from Google Earth, Swiss police were alerted to a cannabis plantation outside of a small village in Eastern Switzerland.

In part of a larger police operation last year - that resulted in the arrest of 16 people and seizure of over a ton marijuana - Zurich police narcotics specialist, Norbert Klossner claims this was an 'interesting chance discovery'.

How long would it take you to find the field?



Click on the picture to reveal the cannabis field's location.

TravelTweet on Twitter.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Twittering, Twits and Tweets - The TravelTweet Directory is Taking Shape:

January 27th, 2009

When I first looked around Twitter, I was a little overwhelmed by all the noise.

Searching for tweets about travel, or users with travel in their name on their profile, was easy enough; especially once I added the search to the TravelNotes Toolbar.

Note:
Searching for 'a term used in tweets' or 'name on user profiles' are two separate processes and meant going to different pages on Twitter to perform the search.

As a power user, I can now highlight a word on the page, and quickly switch the toolbar search - to get to my destination faster.

Try it!


Why The TravelTweet Directory

I'm sure there are already plenty of blog posts and lists around devoted to certain Twitter interests and 'top people' to follow; even software and websites specifically set up to try and help you choose who to follow - mostly based on 'popularity': MrTweet, Twitterholic, and Twitter Grader, for example.

If you just want to follow people that thousands of other people follow, it's easy enough to do (by following the 'followers'); but I didn't really see anything helpful that looked at travel and sorted the Twitter users into meaningful categories; to assist those looking for the 'right people' for them!

That's why I decided to try and make some of the travel twitter listings more meaningful, by sorting the Travel Companies and Travel Tweeters - by category.

The list is by no means complete; but as I continue adding to the TravelTweet Directory, I hope you find it useful.


Travel Companies on Twitter

Travel Companies are sorted according to the field they work in, to make it easier to find them.

As well as a direct link to their Twitter page, there's an @Link; where you can automatically tweet them (if you have a Twitter account and are logged-in).


Travel Tweeters

Travel Tweeters are individuals, listed by location.

Hopefully, if you need travel advice about a certain location, they'll answer your call for help.

You can tweet them by clicking on their photo or go to their profile by clicking on the link.


Getting Listed on the TravelTweet Directory

To stand a chance of being listed, the travel tweeters will need to have a photo on their profile, along with name, location and bio revealed.

After all, it helps to know who's doing the twittering; from where.

Listings are not subject to a TravelTweet following in any way (although you might get listed quicker if you do follow me), nor is having a Twitter presence a guarantee of a listing.

It's what you're doing with your Twitter account and your twittering coverage related to travel in general (or your location) that counts.

You can Send a Tweet to me on Twitter, whether you're following me or not; but you will need a Twitter account.


TravelTweet

Technorati Tags: Twitter, travel, directory.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

A Twittering Must Have:

January 22nd, 2009

Useful Twitter Tools on The TravelNotes Toolbar:

As tweets need to be under 140 characters in length, it makes sense to use an URL shortening service when posting links to something worth tweeting about.

We have added tinyurl and bit.ly to the Travel Notes toolbar; so that users can create a short URL when they are visiting a page they want to Twitter about.

The bit.ly service even lets you track clicks (just put a + after the link).

These are located in the drop-down Travel menu - then Web Tools.

Long URL Please is also in there; handy for revealing all those shortened URLs - posted by others - when you're on a Twitter page.

And just to complete the experience; with 'Twitter' selected from the search box choices, you can easily search tweets when you're on another website.

You may also choose to search for 'Twitter Users'; and even select to 'Tweet From Toolbar' when a thought occurs to you (or highlight text on a webpage and press go).

You could even leave the 'Tweet From Toolbar' search field blank and press go, to tweet that you're tweeting from the toolbar.

To get to your own Twitter page from the toolbar, clear the toolbar search box and - with Twitter selected - just press go.

Toolbar users can also search bit.ly, Blinkx, Brightcove, Clip Syndicate, Daily Motion, Delicious, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Gmail, MySpace, Technorati, Travelistic, TurnHere, WhosTalkin? and You Tube - as well as a host of travel-related sources.

Not to mention listen to Live Streaming Internet Radio and watch popular tv programs for free.

Just message me on Twitter (or through the toolbar) if you'd like to see anything else added.

Download The TravelNotes Toolbar.

Technorati Tags: Twitter, toolbar

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Inauguration Day Live:

January 20th, 2009

As the sun rises over America and sets in the Far East, millions - if not billions - of people who can't make it to Washington, D.C. will be glued to their television sets or sitting on the edge of their chair; close to a computer screen with an Internet connection.

If you're one of the latter, and overloaded servers don't start crashing under the strain, then here are some suggested online resources to keep an eye on.

Live Inauguration Day Coverage



Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies:
As THE official source from the United States Government, this should probably be the first place to click to.

If you arrive at the senate early, you could get yourself into the inaugural atmosphere with some historical background on inaugurations past; maybe with a briefing on the chronological order of previously sworn-in Presidents.

The Live Show starts at 9.30am EST for video coverage and 11-11.30 am for audio of the swearing-in ceremony.

CBS Inauguration 09:
The all-day simulcast will be followed by an exclusive Inaugural webcast at 10pm EST; hosted by Katie Couric, who will look back at the historic day with a host of CBS reporters, political experts, pundits and special guests.

C-SPAN's Inauguration Hub:
Watch the 'control room' live video feeds from key events surrounding the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. Direct your own programming by clicking on the streaming thumbnails that look the most interesting for that moment.

CNN on Capitol Hill:
Watch live streaming video with your Facebook friends right beside you.

Fox News:
Their Hulu coverage is not a lot of good for viewers outside of the United States, but you can catch up with the Inauguration Blog.

MSNBC Inauguration Dashboard:
Latest coverage from Washington, D.C.; with video, slideshows and blogs.

Twitter and Current TV:
Starting at 11.30am EST, real-time Twitter messages - or 'tweets' - will be added to the live broadcast of Barack Obama's Inauguration. You'll need to add #current to your 140 character tweet.

Before the event, you can keep up with what others are saying on Twitter by visiting #inaug09 or #inauguration.

You can even follow TravelTweet on Twitter - Tweet Tweet.



Other places you might like to visit are the Associated Press, BBC, New York Times, and Online NewsHour.

Latest Obama Videos.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Inauguration 2009:

January 19th, 2009

Some two to three million people are expected to crowd into Washington D.C. tomorrow, for the inauguration of Barack Obama; as the 44th President of the United States of America.



Unless you get there very early, it's going to be extremely hard to get a good viewing spot along the parade route from the U.S. Capitol to the White House.

Washington hotels have never had it so good and DC restaurants began taking reservations right after the election day results were confirmed.

And today, on Martin Luther King Day, all roads to the nation's capital will be filled with coaches taking Americans wishing to be a part of the dream.

Washinton DC Weather Video.

If you're in Washington D.C for the 2009 Inauguration, you can submit your videos to the Travel Notes collection.

Metro Plans for Inauguration Day:
Washington Metro is running on a rush-hour schedule from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Inauguration Day. Stations closest to the festivities will be closed for security reasons Tuesday until after the parade. Others close to inaugural balls will close early.

The formal inaugural program - to take place on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol - begins at 11.30am on January 20th, but the musical prelude will begin much earlier (at around 10am).

Security checkpoints for ticket holders will open at 8am and ticket holders are encouraged to arrive by 9am at the latest, to allow ample time for security screening.

Inauguration Celebrations:
Along with the ten official balls, there are dozens of unofficial celebrations at venues throughout the region.


Technorati Tags: Washington DC, Inauguration, inaug09

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Win a Trip to Western Australia:

January 18th, 2009

You and a friend will fly with Emirates to Perth, via Dubai and stay for 3 nights at The Richardson hotel, Perth (4* superior), before flying north to the coastal town of Broome for 3 nights at the Cable Beach Club (4* superior).

Relaxed and refreshed, you'll begin a six-day, 4-wheel-drive overland adventure along the Gibb River Road through the stunning Kimberly region.

You'll spend two nights at Imintji Wilderness Camp, one night at Marunbabidi Wilderness Camp and two nights at Ungolan Wilderness Lodge (luxury tented camps, including all meals) and discover the beauty of Windjana Gorge, swim in cooling pools above outback waterfalls, marvel at Aboriginal rock art and then explore Mitchell Plateau.

The adventure concludes with a helicopter flight over the Mitchell Falls. After this, you'll take a scenic charter flight back to Broome, then return to Perth for your flight home.

All transfers are included and accommodaton is based on two people sharing and is room only (unless otherwise stated).

Terms and Conditions

Open to any resident of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, aged 18 years or over.

Entrants must locate places on a map of Australia in the fastest possible time and complete a tie-breaker.

The winner will be the person who correctly locates all the (five) places in the fastest possible time.

Closing date is 31st January, 2009.

Valid for travel Apr 16-Jun 30 and Aug 11-Oct 31 and must be booked by the winner at least two weeks prior to the departure date - and no later than 30th September, 2009.

Valid for flights departing from Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.

Note: Even if you're not eligible to win the competition, you could have fun testing your knowledge of Australia by placing the five pins in the right places - then plan your own Western Australia Tours.

Play The Game!

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

New Requirements For Entering The United States:

January 12th, 2009

As from today - 12th January, 2009 - all nationals and citizens of Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries - including the UK - will be required by law to obtain a travel authorisation prior to travelling to the United States under the VWP.

We used to be able to fill in this form on the plane but now travellers to the United States will be required to fill out the Electronic System for Travel Authorization online, before they travel.

Before attempting to register under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), it is advisable to first check your eligibility to travel under the Visa Waiver Program.

Visa Waiver Program travellers should also be aware that unauthorised third-parties have established Web sites, which charge visitors seeking to travel to the United States under the VWP, for information about ESTA and for submitting ESTA applications on behalf of the traveller.

These Web sites are not endorsed by, or affiliated in any way with, the United States government. The U.S. government does not charge a fee for ESTA.



You can submit your application for free at ESTA.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

New Ice Rink in New York City:

November 29th, 2008

When in New York City, enjoy the American Museum of Natural History's new state-of-the-art skating rink; open through February 28, 2009.

Located on the Arthur Ross Terrace, on the Museum's north side, The Polar Rink offers magnificent views of the glowing Rose Center for Earth and Space and is surrounded by Theodore Roosevelt Park.



Skaters glide around a 17-foot-tall polar covered in twinkling lights.

Non-skaters can enjoy the splendor of The Polar Rink from surrounding benches on the Terrace under trees adorned with lights, or from the glassed-in North Galleria adjacent to the rink; where hot cocoa and snacks are served.

Opening Hours:
12–8 pm Monday–Thursday
12–10 pm Friday
11 am–10 pm Saturday and holidays
11 am–8 pm Sunday

Tickets cost $10 for adults; $9 for students and seniors; and $8 for children between the ages of 3 to 12. AMNH Members get a $2 discount.

Enter the Museum via Columbus Avenue and 79th Street to purchase tickets for The Polar Rink.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Mumbai Madness:

November 27th, 2008

Mumbai came to a halt as a co-ordinated terrorist attack in India's financial centre targeted two luxury hotels - the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi - a Jewish centre and even the Cama Hospital.


Indian Commandos Battle Islamist Gunmen.

Almost 24 hours after the initial attacks, Indian authorities fought fires at the hotels and continued to pursue the gunmen.


Mumbai Massacre.

Local police reported that 125 people had lost their lives and over 300 were wounded.


Mumbai in Chaos.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Christmas Countdown Starts Early:

November 6th, 2008

Is it just me or does the Christmas countdown start too early?

Christmas is still seven weeks away yet the Regent's Street lights (London) have just been turned on; with the theme 'Wish Upon a Star'.

My wish is that they'd save the Christmas countdown this for the first of December - or even December 6th.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

World View - Phone Photography:

October 29th, 2008

Do you like using your mobile telephone to capture those special moments?

Personally, I only use the mobile to make telephone calls, although it does have all the whistle and bells on it; including WLAN and GPS navigation.

However, when I'm lugging my back-breaking digital SLR kit around, I do see more and more people waving their telephones in the air to record what's in front of them; even my girlfriend does it.

If you have some amazing images on your mobile phone, you can show them off to the world and stand the chance to win the trip of a lifetime; courtesy of Sony Ericsson - in their World View 2008 Competition.

PRIZES

The global Expert’s Choice winner will receive a trip of a lifetime to one of five destinations worth approximately £10,000/12,500 EUR.

The global People’s Choice winner will receive a trip of a lifetime to one of five destinations worth approximately £5,000/6,250 EUR.

Closing date is October 31st, so enter today!

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Down at The Planet:

June 4th, 2008

My apologies for the on-off situation with Travel Notes lately.

Our server is located at The Planet (Houston); where there have been major problems over the last few days. I believe they had an electrical blow-out.

Not only were the servers affected with massive down-time (like two days) but the DNS servers were troubled too.

Then just when things started to propagate again, the generator failed.

The sites are working again (for now) but I was up until 4am trying to find another host. I've made a few contacts but still haven't moved anywhere.

I need reliabilty fast, because apart from the TravelNotes.org website I also have a number of other domains on the server - 1800-WorldCup.com, 1800-Olympics.com, Travel-Write.com, 1800-France.com, 1800-UStravel.com and 1800-Canada.com among them.

We did have a number of domains hosted elsewhere, until the hosts gave up the ghost recently. So basically I've had all my eggs in one basket; which is not a clever thing to do.

1800-WorldCup.com is also covering the Euro 2008 Finals live; held in Switzerland and Austria, over the coming three weeks. The tournament starts on Saturday and changing hosts right now will mean more downtime while the new DNS propagates again.

It's a catch 22 situation and I'm close to panic.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Website Hosting:

April 26th, 2008

Just when I was feeling content that we had almost renovated all the destination pages and checked the dead links, the hosting service we used for 1800-Countries.com, Meta-Travel.com, 1800-Olympics.com and 1800-WorldCup.com websites pulled out of their data centre and closed down operations.

Sadly, although they had a notice on their homepage, I only found out about the closure the day everything went dead; having been on the road a lot lately.

Rather than spend time looking for another host, I've moved these properties onto the main Travel Notes server.

The Olympics and World Cup pages are static HTML, so that wasn't a problem to get back online, but the database tables for the favourite countries travel articles, meta-travel forums and topsites were lost.

While the travel forum was becoming too much hassle keeping the spammers at bay, we were using the topsites directory for our link submissions.

As I didn't keep a back up of the registered users on my hard-drive, I don't feel like building the database content up again from scratch; especially when there's so many other projects that need my attention on Travel Notes itself.

Alas, I now need to go through and change all these links; although we have hastily set up redirects and put 404 pages in the sub-directories to try and soften the blow of not getting to where you expect to go.

I apologise for the inconvenience and hope that the new projects we're working on will excite the travel community.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

The Guide to Travel Guides:

April 2nd, 2008

Travel Guides are a Godsend and a tremendous amount of research has gone into them, but they can be a little patronising at times.

Don't cling to them religiously, as many travellers do. They are not the bibles that they are made out to be, and are often out of date before they are published.

Travel Guidebooks.

To get the most out of guidebooks, use them sparingly for basic orientation, then discover the towns and cities on your own.

The information on museums and places of interest are great when all other signs look foreign.
But when it comes to hotels and restaurants, every one to their own taste and budget. Believe me, the gems are never in black and white for all to see. If word gets out, the bargains rise in price with popularity and the 'recommended' places are usually full of foreigners - us, the tourists.

Wandering around on your own, you will be delighted when you discover reasonably-priced, quality rooms and gourmet restaurants dishing up a local ambience; without the need for reservations.

Just because it isn't in the book, doesn't mean that you are entering a hell-hole, or a den of thieves. More often than not, you will encounter a haven of tranquillity that didn't see you coming.

Don't be the type who can't wait to to write to say that 'it wasn't like they said in the book'. Open your eyes, and explore for yourself!

The publication date should be printed on the inside page of the book.

Lonely Planet usually gives the first publication date, the date of publication of the copy in your hands, and when reprinted with travellers' updates.

They have an army of followers who freely update their books; often without credit. The biggest of credits, must go to Tony and Maureen Wheeler, who started it all with their overland trip through Southeast Asia.

Don't be fooled by the rogues at Hachette, who took it all a little further.
Le Guide du Routard, Vietnam (in French), which I bought near the end of 1996, boldly stated 1997/98 on the cover, and even had ©1997 inside.

Ok, we're not talking Turner Broadcasting repeating yesterday's news here, but even new seems old already.

As an example of how quickly things change:

I wanted to praise a particular hotel in Hanoi that offered us a beautifully furnished, spacious double for $20 a night (a bargain), and a delightful restaurant not far from the station whose food and service were excellent for the moderate price. Well........

The Cuu Long hotel changed our room, after two nights, and only told us about it when we came in at eleven in the evening. (We paid $15 for the smaller room, and moved on the following morning).

And, after going out of our way to return to the Hanoian Bar + Restaurant, because of a special dish that was so tasty two days before, the noodles on the next occasion tasted like pre-packed Pot Noodles, without enough water added to them before being fried.

So take the guides' recommendations with a pinch of salt.

Which Guide Is Best?

This debate is always served up with a large dose of opinion, and our list does not serve to put one guidebook above the other.

Besides, we have no money for lawsuits.

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet:
If you're travelling on a shoestring, then LP is probably the one for you. My favourite guides to China, India and Asia, but many people use them for Europe too.

Lonely Planet guides cover general history and give good detail about the places to visit. The 'Getting There and Away' sections are always good for the border crossings. Plenty of simple maps to give you an idea of where you are, and of course they always hunt out the cheapo cafes with the best banana milk-shakes; if you're prepared to trust the milk in some of those countries.

Use the prices as a reference point only, as some of the guides are a few years old, and as I've already pointed out, a lot can change overnight. Some Lonely Planet recommendations might even have closed down.

Let's Go

Let's Go:
Let's Go Europe, by a group of Harvard students, was the pamphlet that started it all. Let's Go now claim this to be the best selling international guide. There are a lot of Americans coming to Europe, granted.

Personally, I prefer them for Let's Go: USA. I figure the students can tell us more about their hometown in North America.

The Let's Go guides attract the young crowd looking for the low-down on nightlife as well as what to see during the day.

Rough Guides

Rough Guide:
I used the Rough Guide to West Africa, in lieu of Lonely Planet. Maybe not so good on the map score, but I found the music section and other cultural snippets more worthwhile than some of the opinionated comments in Lonely Planet.

Footprint Handbooks

Footprint Handbooks:
The South American Handbook (updated annually) is the daddy in this series; quite possibly the 'Mother of All Travel Guides'.

I first used this guide to South America when it was still a 'Trade and Travel Publications' title and included Central America and The Caribbean.

The hardback travel guide contained so much information that even the thin paper and fine print wasn't enough to save it; as The Caribbean and Central America sections became guidebooks in their own right.

In the 1990sTrade and Travel also published guides to India, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Moving into 2008, Footprint have now printed 80 travel guides to hundreds of destinations; introduced city guides to London, Dublin, Edinburgh and Rio de Janeiro; and even a Surfing Europe (2nd Edition).

Rick Steves

Rick Steves:
Rick Steves has really come through the backdoor in the travel guide market, especially with Americans visiting Europe.

'Europe Through the Back Door' helped open the way for more travel guides on the most visited places in Europe: Italy, Paris, London, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Scandinavia.

The Mona Winks Guide is also a great travel companion when visiting The Vatican and other famous museums.

Michelin

Michelin:
I first travelled in Europe without a guidebook whatsoever, just a collection of Michelin maps. I still think their maps are the best, and their green guides are often overlooked by people covering guidebooks.

If you intend to really see a country, and that means by car and not by train, then you would do well to a have a Michelin or two in your glove compartment. They also have great pocket guides for many of the major cities in Europe.

Bradt Travel Guides

Bradt Travel Guides:
Bradt publish travel guides to all corners of the world, from Antarctica to Zanzibar, as well as guides on rail travel, wildlife, backpacking, and hiking.

The first Bradt travel guide was written by Hilary and George Bradt, in 1974, on a river barge floating down a tributary of the Amazon; in Bolivia.

From their base in Boston, Massachusetts they went on to write and publish four other backpacking guides to the Americas and one to Africa.

In the 1980s Hilary continued to develop the Bradt list in England, and also established herself as a travel writer and tour leader. The company's publishing emphasis evolved towards broader based guides to new destinations; usually the first to be published on those countries (such as Mali and Palestine), complemented by hiking, rail and wildlife guides.

Cadogan Guides

Cadogan Guides:
The Cadogan Series aims itself more at the culture vulture. Dana Facaros is credited with many titles, and really does know Italy.

I have also bought Peter Neville-Hadley's China: The Silk Routes.

Peter also ran the popular Oriental-List for people travelling to China, and you didn't need to buy the book to join.

Eyewitness

Eyewitness Travel Guides:
Eyewitness, from D.K. Publishing, have expanded on their popular Italy Guide series.

Eyewitness Travel Guides are illustrated guidebooks where every significant landmark, building, museum, and gallery (as well as major shops, hotels, and restaurants) are illustrated on the page alongside interesting and practical information.

These are great books to look at before and after travel too.

Fielding

Fielding:
A growing selection of guides here too. My favourite was Fielding's the 'World's Most Dangerous Places'.

Fodor's

Fodor's:
I've seen people carrying Fodor's Guides around Europe and the States, but I've never looked inside one myself. How do they rate?

Frommer's

Frommer's:
I've never used these guides either, but many people do. They're quite outspoken about their claims as well.

Insight Guide

Insight Guide:
These travel guides, from APA publications, are a little special. The quality of the photography is excellent; they even used some of mine in their Insight Guide: Peru, and the articles are written by journalists.

I would even recommend supplementing something like a Lonely Planet or a Rough Guide with an Insight Guide.

If you don't have the room for an Insight Guide on your travels, they really do give an insight into the people and culture and make a good read while you're waiting for your day of departure.

Be wise, and get an insight into your destination before you go. There are even slim-line (Insight Pocket Guide) versions to major cities around the world.

Karen Brown

Karen Brown's Guides:
Explore old towns and friendly villages with cosy cottages, quaint country inns and ancient castles in Europe and California.

Regardless of your travel budget, you will find delightful accommodations and sightseeing highlights that the editors have personally experienced.

Berlitz

Berlitz:
Pocket sized phrasebooks to get you out of a muddle.

It's one thing finding a hotel or restaurant without a guidebook, but it helps if you know a few words of the local language when you get there.

Berlitz are the world leader in language learning for the traveller, and their phrasebooks slip into your back-pocket or a hand-bag easily.

Mini travel guides are also available.

And There's More

That's already quite a list of travel guides I've presented but if you go into any travel bookshop you'll see even more travel titles.

AAA, Access Guides, Adventure Guides, Avant-Guide, Baedeker, Berkeley, Best Places, Blue Guide, Cheap Eats & Sleeps, Culture Shock!, Essential, Globetrotter, Great Destinations, InsideOut Guides, Insiders, Just Marvelous Walking Tours, Knopf, Moon Handbooks, National Geographic Driving Guides, National Geographic Park Profiles, National Geographic Traveler, Off the Beaten Path, Open Roads, Passport Travel, Sierra Club, Simple Guide, Time Out Travel and Travel-Smart among them.

If you don't want to go where the crowd goes, then you will use your chosen travel guide sparingly.

This list is also only a guide to the travel guides, and there are many more out there covering what might be termed as 'speciality travel'.

There are guides to Bed and Breakfast in New Zealand, guides to Travel in the Outback, the Complete Guide to Walt Disney World, and even guides to airports.

However you like your travel, there will be an author or two who have penned enough words about it to publish the book:

Adventure, Air Travel, Budget Travel, Business Travel, Ecotourism, Family Travel, Honeymoons, Senior Travel, Solo Travel, Special Needs, Student Travel, Travel with Pets.

Then there are the travel tips; the 'learning from the experience of others' type of book, or the travel book with pretty pictures:

Beaches, Cruises, Essays & Travelogues, Food & Lodging, Pictorial, Reference, Spas, Tips, Tourist Destinations & Museums and Travel Writing.

Travel Literature

I always like to read good 'travel books' when I'm on the road; sitting in a moving train or waiting patiently for a ferry.

Some of the best authors even make the humble travel book read like quality literature.

The Literary Traveller:
There are travellers who have returned to write a great book, and then there are great writers who travel. Find out more about travel writing at its best.

The Travel Guide Web Sites

Become A Travel Writer:
Travel writers and photographers can gain more exposure for their work (and maybe earn a little extra money) by getting published on Travel Notes - The Online Guide to Travel.

Bradt Travel Guides:
You don't get to read the travel guides here but you do get a snippet about the country, chapter outlines and a little something about the writers.

Fodor's:
Online mini-guides to destinations around the world.

Footprint Handbooks Online:
Get a foot in the door by reading snippets from their handbook destinations.

Frommer's:
The 'Frommer's Outspoken Encyclopaedia of Travel', as it used to be called, is quite a big one; with plenty of travel tips in destinations around the world.

Karen Brown's World of Travel:
Karen's website has improved tremendously since we first listed it and recommended that you buy the book rather than visit the website, as there wasn't much there. Now it seems that if you visit the website you might not need to buy the book.

Knowhere Guide:
Knowhere's not your average guide to Britain. No postcards and purple prose, but you will get to know where the youth hang out around the island.

Let's Go:
Selling guidebooks is the motto here; especially as their community section doesn't always seem to work.

Lonely Planet - Thorn Tree:
Sure they want to sell more of their guide books, but the Thorn Tree message board area is an excellent hangout for budget travellers.

Moon Handbooks:
Moon have improved their website tremendously; to now include destination information and maps.

Rick Steves' Europe:
If you're a fan of Rick's, you'll be able to read up on his latest tips, catch him on the television or even go on one of his European tours. Maybe we'll surprise him one day ourselves.

Rough Guides:
Rough Guide offer the complete text of their guidebooks online but when you're stuck in Timbuktu and your printed copy is all crumpled you may just wish that you had bought the book.

And of course, we like to sell ourselves too; so just choose your destination from our sitemap: TravelNotes.org - The Online Guide to Travel.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

Travel Notes - April 2008:

April 2nd, 2008

The Africa section is now updated, we just have to hunt out the dead links.

While doing the link-checking on the North America pages I realised that the Canada page was getting too long and looking scruffy.

It really was time to split Canada up into Territories and Provinces - Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory.

When I get the time, I'll have to split those pages up even further but things are looking better organised now; although some of the pages need a little more content.

I'll be working on that.

Work in Progress

The time spent on the Canada project means that the Airlines and Airports sections were pushed back in the line list of things to do.

I was in Elba over Easter, so that material still needs to be added to the Italy section, which also needs some serious work on it. As I'm also off to France again this month, I really should spruce that section up too.

Did I also mention that we also have a large back-log of travel articles and links to add?

I'm sure you get the picture; there's just not enough hours in the day.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)

F1 Travel Guide - 2008:

March 13th, 2008

With the Formula 1 season revving up for the 2008 start this weekend in Australia, I know I've left my F1 Travel Guide a little late.

But the article has been totally updated with all this season's race fixtures and all the links checked and altered where necessary.

There are two new street circuits to visit this season: Valencia (August 24th) and Singapore (for night racing, on September 28th).

I fancy making the trip down to Valencia myself but don't think I'll manage (or afford) to travel to Singapore the following month; unless anyone feels generous enought to sponsor me.

Hopefully I'll get around to updating the Monaco GP article soon.

If you want to travel to one of the Grand Prix races this season, read the article.

noreply@blogger.com (travelnotes)