Thu 20 Nov 2008
This is the first of seven entries in the Inspire Me Africa Photo Contest. Vote for your favorites on Monday December 1, 2008.
“Photos from Kenya.”
Submitted by: Mara
Loading ...Wed 19 Nov 2008
Pazzo Ristorante in Springfield, Massachussets
Posted by Anil P. under Food , NEW IMAGES! , Travel JournalLeave a Comment
Although I missed the Basketball Hall of Fame, I was able to eat at Pazzo’s Ristorante, right outside. This photo is about as fuzzy as my quick tour through Massachusetts.
Tue 18 Nov 2008
What Are The Most Important Travel Related Issues For Obama? [POLL RESULTS]
Posted by Anil P. under Polls[2] Comments
On election day in the US two weeks ago I ran a poll asking what are the most important travel related issues for the next president?
It looks like the environment is a priority for many of you as well easing visa restrictions.
What's The Most Important Travel Related Issue For The Next US President? (Pick up to 3)
- Reducing the enviornmental impact of traveling (67%, 4 Votes)
- Easing visa restrictions (50%, 3 Votes)
- Passenger Bill of Rights (33%, 2 Votes)
- Airline maintenance outsourcing (33%, 2 Votes)
- Lowering gas prices (33%, 2 Votes)
- Improving public transportation (33%, 2 Votes)
- Funding for rail infrastructure (17%, 1 Votes)
- Promoting travel and inbound tourism (17%, 1 Votes)
- Modernizing air traffic control (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 6
Loading ...Since the poll ran Obama was elected president, so let me ask you these two questions:
- How can the Obama administration reduce the environmental impact of traveling?
- What steps should be taken to ease visa restrictions to the US without jeopardizing security?
Please feel free to leave your ideas, thoughts, and comments to foster a little discussion. I’ll add my ideas and tackle the issue sometime in December.
Mon 17 Nov 2008
Hadley Massachusetts in Black and White
Posted by Anil P. under NEW IMAGES! , Travel Journal[3] Comments
All of these photos of the small town (population around 4,700) were originally taken in color.
Fri 14 Nov 2008
Entering Hadley, Massachusetts
Posted by Anil P. under NEW IMAGES! , New State Blog Location[2] Comments
I pulled into Hadley, Massachussetts today on a foggy cool morning.
I took a number of interesting pictures in the seemingly tiny and almost 500 year old city. I’ll post the entire album from Hadley on Monday.
Thu 13 Nov 2008
Quick Things To Post On Your Travel Blog When You’re Traveling Too Much To Write
Posted by Anil P. under Advice , Tech[4] Comments
Maintaining a travel blog requires experience traveling, making it difficult at times to keep writing new posts when you’re on the move. Yesterday I suddenly realized my December travel schedule is looking more hectic as I hop all over the US and in Asia. Balancing traveling with writing is a dilemma all travel writers and bloggers face from time to time.
Luckily there are a number of quick ways to post quick, good material, in advance, without jeopardizing your schedule.
Pictures You’ve Taken
The easy way out is to post some travel photos you find online or from other blogs. However it’s much more interesting for your readers to see photos that you’ve personally taken (here are mine) - even if you don’t feel they’re ‘good enough’.
- The pictures and posts that I don’t feel are ‘good enough’ are usually the ones that generate the most feedback. Don’t fret too much and hit “publish”!
- Include yourself in some of the pictures since most of the travel photos you post are likely to be of other people.
Chop It Down
Almost any written post can be cut down, even ones as short as 200 words. Make a short series of a post that you would normally run on one day. You can even incorporate pictures into the flow and potentially turn one regular post into a week’s worth when your traveling.
Wed 12 Nov 2008
6 Days Left To Enter Inspire Me Africa Photo Contest
Posted by Anil P. under ContestsLeave a Comment
People have begun sending me their inspiring photos from Africa and of African culture from all over the world. The number of entries is great so far, but I’d like to turn it up in the last few days.
Remember, the pictures don’t necessarily have to be from Africa, they can be examples of African culture (including food) from all over the world.
Send me your best pictures to foxnomad@foxnomad.com before next Tuesday, November 12, 2008 with ‘photo contest’ in the subject line.
There are 5 prizes being offered for the Inspire Me Africa Photo Contest including a Casio Exilim digital camera and $75 cash. For full details check out my original post announcing the contest.
Wed 12 Nov 2008
All travelers have that inner list of secret places we’d really like to adventure to. These places are rugged, isolated, nobody knows about them and they are cheap. That is, until one day we hear about them on the nightly news or find out a buddy has already been there.
Now, that place isn’t so cheap anymore, everyone and their mother’s been there, and it’s about as rugged as Monaco. I’m not going to try and teach you how not to procrastinate and get to your secret cheap places - since I can’t do it myself - but there are some warning signs that you should look out for and watch as they progress. As soon as you see them, hop on the next flight out otherwise you’ll have missed out on your cheap destination.
The Stages of Losing The Cheap Destination
- The Neighbors Are Getting Expensive - As Thailand gets pricey it makes Cambodia and good alternative. A good alternative until it gets popular enough to become expensive itself. Having neighbors with booming tourism industries is a good indicator that travel will increase in a given region, which ultimately raises prices.
- Government Freedoms - Russia, China, and Egypt all have booming tourism industries fostered in part by the opening up of their governments. I’m not saying these are the most democratic nations in the world, but that they’ve freed their systems enough to encourage travel and not make people scared to go there.
- The Big Screen - Countries usually show up in action movies when they’ve got a bad reputation, then in historical pieces as they modernize, and once its in a chick flick as an exotic destination it’ll soon be overrun with tourists.
Tue 11 Nov 2008
During my last trip to New Delhi, India I stayed in the luxurious Taj Palace Hotel, unlike my first trip to Bangalore where I stayed in a nameless hotel completely infested with cockroaches. I’ve also slept with the little critters in the US (New Jersey), Turkey, and with mice in Minnesota.
Traveling on a budget to various places is inevitably going to have you sharing a hotel room, hostel, or airport floor with cockroaches. The little insects are somewhat disconcerting at first and can make your skin crawl but they generally don’t mind you. That said, there are some easy steps you can take to make peace with your 6-legged friends and keep them from disrupting your sleep.
- Wipe Down The Sinks - You’ll see fewer roaches running around if you don’t leave any drops of water around the bathroom sink and bathtub. The moisture and humidity attract the bugs especially in the middle of the night.
- Leave The Light On In The Bathroom - This may seem a bit excessive for some of you, but having spent the night in hotels where the bathroom was crawling with the buggers I found leaving the lights on to be effective. It doesn’t keep them all from showing their faces, but certainly reduces their numbers.
- Keep You Bags Zipped - I’ve been focusing on the bathroom for a good reason - cockroaches don’t generally leave its vicinity. That said it’s still a good idea to zip up your suitcase and backpack pockets so you don’t have any hitchhikers.
- Think Down Not Up - Cockroaches naturally prefer high places to lower ones so hiding your clothes on top of closet shelves is not the best idea. Believe it or not, if you’re roach-paranoid, leave your belongings on the floor, away from walls. (If you’re still having a hard time, pull your bed out a little away from the wall.)
- Stay Cool - Both in your head and in your room. Lower temperatures encourage the bugs to stay in the (warm and toasty) walls and not on your bathroom door.
There are also several natural cockroach repellents.
Mon 10 Nov 2008
How To Figure Out What Aircraft You’re On To Get The Best Seats
Posted by Anil P. under AirLeave a Comment
Many of us don’t know what type of airplane we’re flying in until we get on board, if we care to find out at all. There are some good reasons to look up what type of aircraft you’ll be getting on before your next flight - it’s easy to do and but you need to know why first.
- Find The Best Seats - You won’t be able to find the seats with the most legroom, closest power outlets, or other amenities if you’re ignorant of the aircraft you’re flying on. Take advantage of SeatGuru and reserve the best seats on every flight.
- Use The Secret Seats - Many popular airplanes like Delta’s 757 or USAir’s 737 have secret seats, which aren’t the standard aisle or emergency exit seats either. When booking your next flight find out the aircraft you’ll be flying on so you can request a secret seat by calling the airline ahead of time.
If you’re particularly fearful of flying you can examine the airplane’s safety card or check out how many times your aircraft has crashed.
How To Find Out The Type of Airplane Before Your Next Flight
In most cases you can get this information as you’re booking online underneath your flight itinerary. (Click seat map on Expedia or current seat availability on Travelocity.) You can also get this information by calling the airline directly, or better yet calling a travel agent or local airline office for this information, they’ll usually give it to you for free. (It’s faster than calling the main airline number.)
This can get confusing however if you’re given more than 1 flight number. Code-sharing allows airlines to extend their routes without actually adding planes and if you’re booking under one you’ll almost certainly have 2 flight numbers. As SeatGuru explains,
