National Geographic Traveler – Interview Series [Teaser] from Matador Network on Vimeo.

(Get inside advice from National Geographic Traveler’s editorial staff: Keith Bellows, Amy Alipio, Norie Quintos, Marilyn Terrell, Kathie Gartrell, and Dan Westergren. Offered only to students of www.matadoru.com)

Content creation has changed

We forget so easily what life was like five years ago.  In many places it hasn’t changed a great deal, but in the online world things move so fast that five years probably equates to about fifty.  Twitter and Facebook have both become part of the digital furniture in that time, both of which–like Google–are merely advertising businesses masquerading as something far more interesting.  The blogosphere is similar, it’s changed so much.

Noise on the internet has been cranked up significantly; it was once fairly easy to get noticed as a blogger if you had a nice looking site and a a well timed interesting message–that’s how Make Travel Fair won its recognition early on.  Once Twitter came along and Facebook opened up to brands, a blog was no longer the only means of creating content and engaging people in a discussion.  Some said the blog was dead.

To be an ‘influencer’ and a useful asset for advertisers you no longer even need to blog; you can tweet, Facebook, instagram, foursquare and tumble your way to a noteworthy Klout score.

Having the support of a community is vital

The Matador Network has stayed abreast of these changes remarkably well, and built a community that understands it.  MatadorU is a 12 chapter insight into how popular content is produced, what you need to do as a successful blogger, and how you can get on track for a multi-media career as a photographer, writer, or both.  It’s not only a classroom but a community of people asking and enquiring about the same things as you… how do press trips work? how to I get on one? how do I pitch a magazine? how can I make my writing better?

Learn how to write beyond your blog

I’ve learnt that if you are serious about writing then your blog should not be the only home for it, you must reach beyond if you want to generate some income from your efforts.  A few people may still be lured by the illusion that you can actually make a living from blogging, and hope that soon they’ll be raking in advertising dollars.  I’ve never met anyone who lives comfortably in the western world and makes a living from their blog; which leads me to believe that it just doesn’t happen. Either they live a nomadic life, hopping between countries where living is cheap, or are supported by a partner who makes a good living.

Next month I will feel like a writer and photographer when I get on my press trip, and it’s thanks to the help of MatadorU and its community that I’ll be there and that I’m beginning to write in places other than this blog.

Yes there are affiliate links in this post.

New York Apartments / Flickr photo by echiner1

The “subletting” bill – which has been passed by senators and is currently awaiting final approval from the state governor – has been designed to crack down on illegal hotels that cause problems for permanent residents by depleting the local housing pool and creating noise and security issues. However, it is feared the ban will affect growing online networks, such as AirBnB, Craigslist, Crashpadder and Homeaway, which allow travellers to find short-term accommodation in privately owned properties.

Continue reading this article @ Going Local Travel

The images are maps of cities around the world that show the location of all photos currently available in public Flickr and Picasa search APIs.

• Blue points on the map are pictures taken by locals (people who have taken pictures in this city dated over a range of a month or more).
• Red points are pictures taken by tourists (people who seem to be a local of a different city and who took pictures in this city for less than a month).
• Yellow points are pictures where it can’t be determined whether or not the photographer was a tourist (because they haven’t taken pictures anywhere for over a month). They are probably tourists but might just not post many pictures at all.

1 – London

Locals & Tourists - London / Flickr Photo by Eric Fischer

2 – New York

Looks like it’s only tourists taking photos on the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island.

Locals & Tourists - New York / Photo by Eric Fischer

3 – San Francisco

Tourists love photographing the view on golden gate bridge and Alcatraz, locals not so much.

Locals & Tourists - San Francisco / Photo by Eric Fischer

4 – Paris

Camera toting tourists in Paris far out number local photographers. A trip out to Versailles is popular.

Locals & Tourists - Paris / Photo by Eric Fischer

5 – Tokyo

Well dispersed points of interest.

Locals & Tourists - Tokyo / Photo by Eric Fischer

6 – Chicago

Wrigley Field is a tourist spot.

Locals & Tourists - Chicago / Photo by Eric Fischer

7 – Washington D.C.

Tourists love the Mall and the Tidal Basin and many make the trip out to The National Zoo, National Cathedral and Arlington National Cementery.

Locals & Tourists - Washington D.C. / Photo by Eric Fischer

8 – Seattle

Tourists love the Museum of Flight, Seattle Waterfront, Belltown and Seattle Center.

Locals & Tourists - Seattle / Photo by Eric Fischer

9 – Taipei

Locals & Tourists - Tapei / Photo by Eric Fischer

10 – Toronto

Locals & Tourists - Toronto / Photo by Eric Fischer

Got Milk? / Flickr photo by cwalker71

Up to the late ’80s, the village had a milk shop. A lady would sell you fresh milk delivered to the shop that very morning by local producers. You had to bring your own bottle. Over time, the milk shops closed, fresh milk was sold in milk cartons, and long-life milk became more and more popular. I always use it, but it’s nothing like the milk I used to drink when I was a kid.

The good news is that the “latteria“ is coming back…

Continue reading this article @ At Home in Tuscany

Post Office Travel Money Card

It’s not everyday you get asked to test out a product so the opportunity to explore this new offering from the Post Office was quite a pleasant surprise.

The Post Office is often the place i’ll go to change money before a trip away, because it’s convenient and because there’s no commission taken from the exchange.  Trying out their new Travel Money Card is something that I would probably have got around to eventually but being incentivised to write about the experience here by the Post Office certainly sped up my interest in it.

The idea is that you preload the card with currency and use it whilst you’re abroad instead of your bank account.  It’s good for ATM withdrawals, in-store payment, all the tasks that a regular VISA Electron card can manage.  I picked mine up from the Post Office, loaded it up with some US dollars, activated the card over the phone the next day and I was ready to go.  The card does deduct a fee for withdrawing money from ATMs but using the card in-store to pay for items is free, this is how I decided to use it.  It was on my recent trip to Miami that I gave the card a try and it worked perfectly.  It was only declined once in a supermarket, the rest of the time it was fine.  I brought my card home with some dollars still on it but they will sit on there happily until my next sojourn.  If you do run out whilst you’re away it is possible to top-up over the phone.

On my last big period of travel I carried a Nationwide Debit card which allowed me to withdraw money from ATMs around the world with no charge.  This has since changed slightly and there is now a small fee involved, a fee that Nationwide previously absorbed but decided they could no longer afford.  This makes the Travel Money Card a great option for carrying money abroad from my experience, I’ll be using it again.

At the Cooperage / Photo by Dan Petroski

I could easily write to you about the barrel making process, “once upon a time, in a forest far, far away…” however, that would be boring.  I have created a photo slideshow that takes you through the barrel making process.  This is a snapshot of the forest, the selection of wood, work in the saw mill and cooperage from forest to finished product.

The making of a wine barrel can take up to 180 years.  The trees of the French forests Nevers, Allier, Troncais, Vosges, Bertranges etc. although 70% privately owned, are all under the watchful eye of a government agency to protect and preserve the natural habitat and safeguard the industry.  Oak trees which the Agency deems suitable by age and quality are harvested once a year, after October auctions.  The age of the trees can be no less than 50 years and at their peak 180 years old.  The Agency releases an auction catalog broken down into parcels from each particular forest.  The good coopers send their top arborists out to inspect the quality of the wood and estimate their bidding prices.  Each parcel of forest comes to market every ten years or so and once the auction is completed, winning bidders have until March to harvest the selected trees.  Unlike grape farms with diverse soils and micro-climates, the quality and character of these forests remain pretty stable throughout.

When the trees are harvested, the wood is processed almost immediately.  However, the preliminary staves will be seasoned in natural elements (air, wind, rain, snow) for 24 to 36 months.  The photos that you will see are not one tree going from harvest to barrel room.  The seasoning process along with the geography tends to be the determining factor to great barrel production.  What you learn from tasting barrel samples in French caves (part-two of my trip) is that it is not the level of toast that the barrel has to offer, but the wood itself.  Just like winemaking, great forests will produce great barrels.  Enjoy the photos and let me know if you have any questions.

Note: these photos were taken with my camera phone; so, please don’t take offense to the quality.

Dan Petroski is Assistant Winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Napa Valley. Dan has an MBA from New York University and worked as an Ad Exec in New York for several years, before switching it up and trading his suit for a move out west.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

For those of you who, like me, somehow missed this book when it first came out, here’s the scoop.

After a failed attempt to climb K2, Mortenson descends from the mountain ill and disoriented. He washes up in the village of Korphe in northern Pakistan, where villagers help him get better. He is grateful but isn’t sure how to  thank them properly, until he sees village children holding their lessons outdoors because they have no school. He promises to come back and build one.

Continue reading this article @ Facing the Street

Hilary Bradt MBE

She’s written or co-written thirteen travel books, and is off to Cambodia next week, so we managed to catch her for a few minutes in between polishing her new MBE and packing for her next trip.

GTC: You’re famous for creating the Bradt range of travel guides. What first inspired you to travel, and then actually sit down and write about it?

It was probably an advantage that I didn’t go abroad until I was 16, and did my first overseas trip without my parents when I was 18. By that time I was mature enough to indulge my interests – art and natural history – and relish the adventure. So I wrote long letters home. The desire to share my experiences in this way led naturally to the first guidebook and numerous articles.

GTC: What do you think makes your style of guide so different from the mass market of other guides available (not mentioning any names!).

There are various factors: an emphasis on history, culture and wildlife, as well as the unusual destinations that we specialise in. Most of all, though, it is the freedom we give our authors to induldge their enthusiasms. Our books are not formulaic, which we believe leads to better writing and so a more enjoyable read (check them out at Bradt Guides).

Continue reading this interview @ Girls Travel Club

Google Latitude screenshot

The other day I was having a bar-room chat about coincidental run-ins. I mean those times when you randomly bump into someone on the other side of the world, or someone you haven’t seen for many years. I’ve had a fair few of these and they never fail to blow my mind.

“And for all the people that you do run into,” I said to my drinking buddy, “imagine all those you just miss. If you’d been five minutes earlier, you would have walked straight into an old colleague. Or we could be sitting here in this bar and one of our long-lost university friends could be having a drink three doors down.”

Continue reading this article @ Going Local

Photo: We use Moleskine Notebooks everyday

Next time you take a city break make sure you get hold of the appropriate Moleskine City Notebook and start to build your own personal handwritten guide and scrapbook. On subsequent visits your family or friends will be able to return to the places you enjoyed, make new entries in your notebook and continue to build a very unique view of the city. The personal value of your Moleskine will undoubtedly increase over time.

Each hardback City Notebook (9 x 14cm) is complete with 36 pages of relevant urban maps and contains adhesive sheets of tracing paper so that you can annotate and draw on routes taken and places visited. There’s a street directory, 76 blank pages,  96 tabbed pages for keeping details of places to stay/eat, shops and attractions.

Amsterdam Athens Atlanta Bangkok Barcelona Basel Beijing  Berlin Brussels Boston

Florence Frankfurt Hamburg Hong Kong Istanbul Kyoto Las Vegas Lisbon London Los Angeles

Madrid Chicago  Copenhagen Dubai Dublin  Miami Milan Montreal Moscow Munich

New York Paris Philadelphia Prague Rome San Francisco St. Petersburg Seattle Stockholm Tokyo

Toronto Turin Valencia Vancouver Venice Vienna Washington DC  Zurich