tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1488286 2009-07-09T16:50:33-04:00 budget travel strategies • European budget airlines • travel news and trends • cool stuff & local objects TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54f8093238833011571e7116d970b 2009-07-09T16:50:33-04:00 2009-07-09T16:52:27-04:00

Finland has been interesting, inspiring, and mystifying. The past week's tour of Helsinki, Turku, and Kuopio has been fab and on occasion dizzying. I've experienced my first smoke sauna, fought off mosquitoes in a rainy spruce forest, wondered at the...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54f80932388330115709bd6a2970c 2009-06-30T12:30:55-04:00 2009-06-30T12:36:43-04:00

A very interesting article by Sean Carney and Leos Rousek in the Wall Street Journal yesterday argues that Wizz Air is very adeptly taking advantage of what has become a weak Central/Eastern European budget airline market. As SkyEurope stumbles—the airline...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54f809323883301157072e808970c 2009-06-26T16:06:29-04:00 2009-06-26T16:06:29-04:00

Earlier today on Twitter I won a free ticket on Jet2 to Belfast by being the first person to name the seat of Northern Ireland's Assembly. Now I've got to find a way to plan a trip that will allow...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68489109 2009-06-25T12:55:06-04:00 2009-06-25T12:55:06-04:00

A flurry of buzzy briefs: 1. Taiwan's Tourism Bureau is running a huge competition for travel writers. It's a complicated and multistage affair, which involves setting up an itinerary, following it, writing about it—and then, if you're lucky, winning a...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68413547 2009-06-23T14:13:54-04:00 2009-06-29T17:49:09-04:00

I'm not in countdown mode for my Nordic adventure quite yet, but I have been very busy of late—with the cryptically aforementioned Project K as well as a huge backlog of other obligations. Two notes. 1. Two local faves made...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68283533 2009-06-19T11:15:00-04:00 2009-06-19T11:20:47-04:00

Travelmole's Bev Fearis is reporting that British outbound tourist numbers are down sharply in 2009. Citing provisional figures from the International Passenger Survey, Travelmole observes that overseas trips in the first four months of 2009 are down 16 percent in...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68208361 2009-06-17T12:59:41-04:00 2009-06-17T20:23:41-04:00

There's a sheerly fantastic post on the EuroCheapo blog today on how to nab cheap European train fares. Written by Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries of hidden europe, the post is indispensable for budget-oriented travelers who don't want to be...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68167981 2009-06-16T13:19:18-04:00 2009-06-16T13:19:51-04:00

Air Berlin, in partnership with Niki, just announced its city tour pass, a great summer air pass for travelers aged 18-27. For €199, participants get five air passes for air travel between 34 destinations across Europe and beyond. Pass holders...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67978671 2009-06-12T10:33:25-04:00 2009-06-17T20:25:33-04:00

I'm in San Francisco on a three-day working trip, burrowed away with Nathan on what he's calling "Project K." Two things. First, Terminal 5 at JFK, as Rob Verger pointed out earlier this week in his World Hum posts on...

Alex Robertson Textor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67847147 2009-06-08T13:18:38-04:00 2009-06-08T13:18:38-04:00

Portland is the promised land for food that is both good and cheap, and the city's hundreds of food carts are partially responsible for the city's reputation as a place to fill up well for little. Portland's food carts are...

Alex Robertson Textor