March 27, 2007
Some of you are familiar with my long-term dreams of seeing much of the world on foot, and in so doing experience people and cultures at a slower pace. But until that day comes, (sigh), I’ll still be caught up in the hustle. So that means that when we travel we want to do it fast and efficiently.
There are some solid road-tripping tips for doing just that over at VroomVroomVroom. The geek in me thinks that applications like the Radio-Locator, a site that lets you find the radio station that plays your type of music in every city along your route, is a whole lot of fun. But the traveling Bedouin is drawn to applications like Ridester and eRideShare which are a sort of modern-day platform for hitchhikers to meet up with people headed their direction in order to hitch a ride.
On a more serious note, the article got me thinking about all the great times I’ve had on road trips in the past. (I once drove from Atlanta back to the Toronto area with only a couple of stops, and from Baltimore to Toronto with just a few stops.) I’m not sure whether it’s the relative isolation of driving cross-country surrounded by nature, or the confined space possibly sharing the course with another person, but having been a road-tripper since a child, I have and idealized notion of cross-country driving.
Having known a lot of wanderers who have taken really bad motorcycle road trips in the past - such as being caught in a hailstorm near Salt Lake City, or briefly going under a transport truck - it’s kind of cool to see that web 2.0 applications haven’t ignored the travel market. Road-tripping is still a romantic notion for some people (aside from silly movies like Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle or the horrible Road Trip with Tom Green), but there’s nothing wrong with planning a vacation. And there are some really useful apps in the VroomVroomVroom list, to help optimize your roadtrip.
Posted in vacation planning, roadtrips 
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March 13, 2007
Sharon Sarmiento writes an entertaining article about nomadic web workers (called Digital Bedouins) who are following in the footsteps of Lost Generation writers like Ernest Hemingway and Henry Miller. Don’t forget travel writers like The Lost Girls, who are travelling the world and blogging about it. (They just won The Travvies for best group blog.) I’ve actually been dreaming of doing this since 1999, and still plan to some day.
She mentions mentions Henry Miller, who wrote a number of books while in Paris. After reading (most of) his Tropic of Capricorn “novel” (both entertaining and revolting), it inspired me to write a short story, Fall From Grace, about a geek who sells everything but his clothes, Boblebee backpack, laptop, cellphone and pager (this was in 2002, when people still used pagers). He then wanders around the city (probably New York) trying to find himself, living with friends or in hostels, or even on the street. The character started out as an NYC stockbroker but ended up as a geek with some savings. The story is incomplete, but I’ll post it somewhere once it’s done.
Knowing people myself who have lived in the streets in Toronto, and having done it myself (in Ottawa) to see what it’s like, I can very much see more and more Digital Bedouins who actually travel and still manage to earn a living. The only real issues to work out is tax and citizenship. Canada has some law that says you need to live here at least 3 months (maybe 6?) each year to continue as a citizen. A lot of people become expats this way, because they get tired of the back and forth. I know someone who teaches English in Vietnam; he’s been there near 20 years now. Rarely returns to Canada - maybe once every ten years. I don’t know his status, but I assume he’s in limbo.
As I mentioned previously, I’ve been wanting to walk around the world and record my travels. Being a Digital Bedouin makes sense. I can download language lessons on the fly, get paid by PayPal, and if PayPal extends their credit card beta test to countries other than the US, pay for things with credit card. (The card would simply take money from my PayPal account.) I could withdraw cash in local currencies in many countries, or book flights and hotel rooms online with credit.
Aside from the logistics, issues of taxes, and ensuring that I have Internet access when needed, I can’t see many drawbacks of travelling the world this way. It’s not something for everyone, but for Digital Bedouins, it’s an exciting way to live.
Posted in travel writing, globetrotting, nomads No Comments »
March 11, 2007
Thinking of doing some long-term travel? If you’re planning to be gone for more than a few weeks - say a few months, a year, or even a few years - your life will likely be severely affected. Family and friends might be affected as well, not to mention your boss and teammates at work. The Lost Girls (who recently won the Travvies - congrats) wrote a informative post about how they quit their jobs to travel, how they prepared, how they broke it to others.
It was great reading this post because about nine years ago, I had a plan to travel around the world for 10 years. This was before blogs and working online from home. I never did it, for a variety of reasons, but I still hope to some day. This time, though I’ve have only myself to report to, since I work from home online as a freelance writer and publisher.
Now that I work online, though, it’s just as tough to go away, even for a short time. For example, my planned move to Toronto has been delayed until I can figure out how I’ll work online during the transition. It’s not easy. (I’ve been using Schmap to plan part of my move, and Craigslist Toronto filtered through Yahoo Pipes to find cheap apartments/ rooms).
Of course, if I plan to travel the world some day, I have to do some serious planning. Any blogs of mine that are written by others are fine, though I have to figure out how to pay them on time, other than making sure that I Internet access on a laptop no matter where in the world I am. That would suffice for my updating my own blogs, accessing my bank accounts, making my bill payments, and ensuring I’m getting paid. (Obviously, I’d have to cut back on the freelance writing, with the exception of maybe travel writing.)
So now, all I have to find out is what my technological options are for essentially ubiquitous Internet access that doesn’t cost a fortune. If solutions exist, then I plan to probably start some initial travel within 3-4 years, after I’ve saved up some money. The only thing that bothers me is all these RFID-enabled passport, etc., which I ghostwrite about elsewhere, and may delve into here, as it applies to travellers.
Posted in vacation planning 1 Comment »
February 24, 2007
[With apologies to Jimi Hendrix] Wonderfulinfo has a very cool compilation of pictures of the world’s top skyscrapers. You’ll note that the biggest ones have ceased to be in North America and Europe - many are in Asia or the Middle East. (Toronto’s CN Tower does not count because it’s classified as a free standing structure, not a skyscraper. I believe the latter actually has floors.)
My fave is the one in Dubai that looks like a sailboat’s sail - but it really doesn’t belong in the list in terms of height, maybe just for interesting design. Now, some of the bigger ones are not even finished yet. For example, the one in Shanghai, China, is so big - 300 floors - that it’s completion date is 2020. It makes me shudder just thinking about riding in the elevator. (I get vertigo at excess heights.)
If you’re wondering about the structural integrity, Frank Lloyd Wright, one of my architectural heroes, envisioned a mile-high skyscraper - called the Illinois - in 1956 and sketched it out. He felt it was feasible. But the Illinois and several other skyscraper designs were never built. (There’s a heck of a lot of structural engineering that would have to go into such buildings to ensure that they were safe.)
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February 24, 2007
Want to follow a cleaner lifestyle and live in a “green” apartment? Milan, Italy will be the home of a special two billion euro Santa Giulia partment complex designed by architect Norman Foster. The complex is 120 square hectares and described as a “city within in a city”. Part of the “green” aspect includes solar panels, heat pumps, and co-generation technology (whereby any heat generated in electricity generation is used for heating).But the units don’t come cheap, costing around Euro 1.7M apiece. The complex is expected to be completed in 2010 and to house 60,000 people.
Posted in places to live No Comments »
February 23, 2007
Roam4free reports that Ryanair is giving away a million free flights as part of a promotion for the 6 Nations Gaelic rugby games in Dublin. But only if Ireland beats England. This is so Irish fans can fly to England. The “free” flights are only one way, and passengers have to cover taxes and any other charges.
So “free” is a bit misleading. However, there are a number of ways to get free flights (or at least effectively free; you may have to pay up front.) Here are a few quick tips, which I’ll expand on in the future.
- Airline miles.
Airline mile points for credit card purchases can add up to free flights. Of course, you’re really paying for that with the cost of purchases and your credit card interest. (Read about how you can make money with 0% APR credit card balance transfers.) But if you have to have a credit card and you like to travel, get an airlines rewards credit card.
- Frequent flyer miles.
Go on a trip and earn points towards another trip. What could be simpler? Each country has its own such promotions, usually available directly through specific airlines.
- Win tickets.
Radio or TV stations, or even magazines, have promotional contests where you get to fly somewhere and see some celebrity doing something supposedly important. Sometimes “free” tickets are part of a vacation package.
- Through work.
If your company sends people all over the country/ world on work, you may be able to combine a bit of vacation time. Some companies have you get something like an American Express card in your own name. You pay upfront with your card but get reimbursed. So if you’re really lucky, you can get the resulting airline miles promo points assigned to your name.
- As a globetrotting reporter.
Obviously, this isn’t without it’s dangers, but wherever you go on assignment, you won’t be paying for flights or accomodations. Watch the nightly news and you’ll notice that certain reporters always seem to be out of country. Whether that’s by choice or not, I don’t know, but I suspect mostly by choice.
- As a travel writer.
Travel writing and photography can at least defray your vacation costs. If you get good at it and do it full-time, it could more than pay for your flights as well.
- As a music writer.
This isn’t as true as in the past, but big music magazines such as Rolling Stone used to fly out their best writers to do the big interviews, sometimes outside of the United States. I never managed that when I published my old mag, Chaos Review, but Sony did give me a limo ride with Underworld as I accompanied them to their TV interviews.
- As a travel blogger.
This seems to be a growing niche. Technorati lists over 21,000 weblogs having something to do with travel (even if it’s tenuous). Now unless you have an ultra popular travel blog, you probably won’t score free tickets, but if you turn it into a reasonable money maker, you might make enough each year to take a “free” trip.
There are other professions which essentially cover the cost of your flights, though I’ve only included a few.
Posted in discount vacations No Comments »
February 23, 2007
Good travel writers have always been in demand. While some print newspapers have shrunken their Arts and Entertainment sections, travel is too huge an industry to shrink the Travel section.
Opportunities include general “destination” articles as well as restaurant reviews (especially for restaurant guides), or even “local cuisine” articles.) You have both newspaper and magazine editors as your potential clients.
If you’re just starting out, you’ll probably have to go on vacation first, snap some high-quality photos, write some articles about the location, available tours, points of interest, the culture and cuisine, and then try to sell an editor on some writing. Once you’ve got the first gig, it’ll get easier to propose the idea before you go.
Remember to think 2-4 seasons ahead. Get an editorial calendar for the magazines you want to write for, and remember that they usually want a ready-for-press story 3-6 months before publication. If you want to cover a winter locale, you need to do it about a year in advance (or go to a different hemisphere).
Now, rarely will you be given free flights and accomodations even as a veteran travel writer, but it does happen. However, if you give editors what they want and keep your mind open to inexpensive vacation ideas, find good discount packages, etc., your writing and photography fees will eventually at least break even. If you do it full-time/ professionally, you could also earn a living from it. (Don’t forget the photos. Take a course at your local community college or a distance course through NYIP.)
Posted in travel writing 1 Comment »
February 18, 2007
Schmap Player is an incredibly cool free mapping application that you can download with or without maps. There are free downloadable maps for dozens of cities for Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
What’s It For?
It’s great for vacation planning or even for a move. In fact, I spent 20 minutes earlier planning my move to Toronto (later this year), finding a few affordable hotels I can stay at until I find a suitable work/live studio. It can also be used to publish an events schedule for a reunion or other get-together.
How Is It?
So far, I only have good things to say about Schmap. The interface is clean and easy to use. Map points of interest often have contact information such as phone numbers, email addresses, and/or links to web pages. If you have Firefox 2.0+ web browser, you can install a plugin that let’s you make phone calls via Skype by clicking on the number.
It’s a great little app with so many features that I’ve barely begun to try them all. Once nice little feature is that after you’ve selected some points of interest (one or more categories), you can “play” a sequence that steps through the information for each point.
What Else Can It Do?
Other features include recommended tours (per city), directories, photos, historical information, and details about distinct neighbourhoods. If you’ve done a tour and written your own reviews of points of interest (malls, stores, clubs, theatres, restaurants, etc.), you can publish your own “schmaplet”.
A schmaplet is a web page with a Google map showing the points reviewed and a set of photos. When you mouse over a photo of a point of interest, information about that point will be displayed. You can use schmaplets to create an events agenda for any large function such as a conference or reunion, and publish an interactive guide to schmapletts.com.
Conclusion
What’s great for travellers is that because this is a standalone app, you don’t need the Internet except for downloading maps. So you can install Schmap and a few maps beforehand on a laptop and take it with you as you travel.
I did create a screencast image, but until I can convert it into a web format and upload it, I only have the screen snapshot at top. I haven’t done justice to all the features available, so I recommend you try it for yourself. The only disappointment is that there are no maps for Asian, African, and South American countries.
Posted in software, maps, vacation planning 1 Comment »
February 18, 2007
Of the several dozen websites I’ve started (but not necessarily maintained) in the past two years, this is the first time that the default WordPress first post’s title is appropriate. Hello, world! indeed.
This weblog is one of my typical hybrid sites. The focus this time is on travel and culture, with a healthy dose of politics, events, and the global village (in general) that we seem to live in today. I reserve the right to interpret those topics/ subtopics to even include posts about relationships, but only if there is some geographical thread.
I’m a wanderer at heart, and I’ve not only lived in about ten different places in my life, but I’m part of a family that has visited a lot of places individually and collectively. This includes Canada, the United States, India, and stopovers in England and Dubai.
One of my goals about nine years ago was to spend to ten years walking around the world. I’ve put that plan off for the time being, but plan to still do it some day. Until then, I’ll blog about travel and the world in general. There’s a lot I could say here in this post, but I’ll expound and expand over time.
Posted in misc 1 Comment »
