Having given up on getting up in the dark for dawn photo shoots, I have discovered a good alternative in photographing at night. Paris is like an enormous studio, each monument with built-in accent lighting.

Just one of last night's shots is featured on the photoblog.

Even with GPS in hand, I can rely on my poor sense of direction to send me the wrong way. I may be on the right street, but at any intersection, it's normal for me to take the wrong turn.

I've learned to just go with my directional instinct, no matter how misguided. So far, I haven't walked off a cliff. Instead, I've been rewarded with discoveries that sometimes lie just a few steps off my intended path, like this fanciful creation parked at the door of a cycle shop on the rue des Boulets in Paris.

Chinese New Year reminds me that a new year can start any day of one's life. Here are a few of my favorite sites celebrating this week's beginning of the Year of the Dragon.

• Based in Taiwan, Carrie Kellenberger shares her experience of last year's Year of the Lion Lunar New Year Celebrations in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Borneo.
• From Malaysia, Wilson Ng & Rachel Ting's PlacesandFoods.com blog features their Neroteca Meatilicous Chinese New Year 2012. Alas, no dragon meat appears among the many carnivorous treats. 
• In Southern California, Kayte Deioma lists all the Los Angeles-area Chinese and Vietnamese New Year celebrations planned throughout January and February This week, Disneyland Resort celebrates from January 20 through January 29. You can also catch the Golden Dragon Parade on Saturday, January 28, in Chinatown.

Where is your favorite place to celebrate Chinese New Year, or any other new beginning?

Photo credit: Daniel Y. Go/Flickr Creative Commons

Don't forget to add your ten bucks (or more) to help Passports with Purpose reach our $80,000 Room To Read fundraising goal.

Prize entries close at 11:59PM PST on Friday, December 16.

Besides the two prizes featured here on Writing Travel thanks to the generous donations of Authentic Seacoast Resorts and Think Tank Photo, there are dozens of other super travel-related prizes you could win for only $10.00.

Just a few of the many great donations:

• Bike and cruise the coast of Thailand.
• Raft and camp the Lower Salmon River.
• Spend nine days in Costa Rica or eight days in the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies.
• Explore the Central Market in Florence or spend a week in an apartment near Assisi, Italy.
• Enjoy a year's worth of Boingo internet access.
• Fulfill your European rail travel dream with a 15-day first class Eurail Pass. 

Check out the donation page for more and make your choices now.

Even if you don't win now, you'll win later at tax time: all donations are tax deductible.

Passports with Purpose 2011, the travel bloggers fundraiser, begins today, November 30, and runs through December 16 with the aggressive goal of raising $80,000 to build not one but two libraries for children in Zambia in partnership with Room To Read.

For more information about how to donate and possibly win one of the valuable prizes secured by the dozens of participating travel bloggers, check out the PwP donation page.

I'm delighted to be promoting two prizes this year. Authentic Seacoast Resorts is again donating a getaway to their properties on the scenic eastern shore of Nova Scotia. My newer partner, Think Tank Photo, has provided a top-of-the-line camera backpack that anticipates the needs of professional photographers. (Officially, the Think Tank backpack is being sponsored by my photoblog, but I hope no one minds if I introduce both prizes here.)

StreetWalker® HardDrive camera backpack by Think Tank Photo, retail value $190

In my never ending quest for the perfect photo bag, I've tried almost every brand and system. Think Tank Photo's StreetWalker® HardDrive has become my primary bag for storing and transporting my camera gear and 15" MacBook Pro locally, on the road, and in the air. It's one of the few bags I own that can accommodate my 70-200 lens mounted and ready to shoot along with all the other lenses I don't want to leave at home. In fact, it has so many handy pockets and compartments, it can hold just about all my photographic bits and pieces. I have to be careful not to load myself down with more than I really need.

Think Tank has designed the StreetWalker® Harddrive backpack with a slim vertical profile, so you can navigate crowded urban settings and public transportation safely with your photo gear. The backpack also features an easy-to-manipulate built-in tripod/monopod mounting system. The adjustable contoured harness and air channel provide a comfortable fit for both men and women of a large range of sizes.

As a visual person, one of the things I like best about this bag is that I can see all my gear when it's packed. The cover opens fully to reveal camera, lenses, and flash, and the compartments for smaller items inside the lid are made of see-through material. Visit ThinkTankPhoto.com to learn more about the StreetWalker® Harddrive and the company's comprehensive catalog of professional photo gear.

Product photos © Think Tank Photo LLC.

Experience the secluded beauty of Nova Scotia’s scenic Eastern Shore with a getaway package from Authentic Seacoast Resorts, retail value $365

The Authentic Seacoast Resorts’ getaway package for two includes a one-night bed & breakfast stay at the award-winning luxury property DesBarres Manor Inn, lunch at the harbor-front Rare Bird Pub and Eatery, a tour (with tasting, of course) of the Authentic Seacoast Brewing Company, and a round of oceanside golf at Osprey Shores Golf Resort.

Although I've not yet traveled to Nova Scotia or the other provinces of Atlantic Canada, I've visited often in my imagination and through the stories of friends and family who have spent time there. Again this year, the Authentic Seacoast Resorts have donated a getaway to a place that occupies a huge segment of my travel fantasy map, the town of Guysborough, Nova Scotia, and its environs.

As I mentioned last year, Guysborough is famous among middle-aged folk music aficionados as the hometown of the musical Rogers brothers, the late Stan Rogers, whose memory is celebrated every summer during StanFest, and his younger sibling, singer-songwriter Garnet Rogers.

If I weren't a travel blogger, I might never have learned that Guysborough is a wonderful place for other reasons beyond its place in folk music history, beginning with the historical DesBarres Manor Inn.

The historical property was built in 1837 for J.W.F. DesBarres, a Supreme Court Justice. Now a 10-room country inn with the amenities of a boutique hotel, the DesBarres Manor Inn is one of Atlantic Canada's top culinary destinations. DesBarres Manor's culinary honors include the 2008 Nova Scotia Cuisine of the Year Award and the 2009, 2010 & 2011 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, and the 2009 Canadian Wine Annual Where to Eat & Stay in Atlantic Canada. 

All stays at DesBarres Manor Inn include luxury amenities: waffle-weave robes, 600-threadcount bedding, breakfast for two, afternoon tea or coffee, a Taste of Nova Scotia guest reception, even a complimentary yoga mat. Free wireless high-speed Internet access is available at the inn as well as at Osprey Shores Golf Resort.

Included in your prize package is lunch for two at the Rare Bird Pub and Eatery. I've studied the menu closely and made my selections. It has to be Chedabucto Bay Seafood Chowder for starters. I'm willing to share an order of steamed local mussels in garlic butter and white wine. Then I'll have Greg’s Fish & Chips because I can't pass up hand-battered halibut. That is, of course, unless there's a tempting daily special. 

Here's another thing I would probably never have known had I not taken up travel blogging: Guysborough is home to the oldest commercial brewing operation in Atlantic Canada, dating from 1659 and an enterprising Acadian, Nicholas Denys. Today, the tradition continues in the Rare Bird Pub with the Authentic Seacoast Brewing Company. As the winner of the prize package, you'll be treated to a tour of the brewery operations at the Rare Bird and a tasting of the Authentic Seacoast Ales produced there with pure, unchlorinated deep artesian well water, freshly ground hops, and Canadian-grown malted barley. Just a thought here: perhaps you should take your brewery tour after your round of golf at Osprey Shores.  

Even if you don't love golf, you shouldn't miss a chance to play the Osprey Shores Golf Resort for its breathtaking views of the bay. Or maybe you could pretend to play golf, so long as you didn't impede someone else's game. As for me, I'd stash my Think Tank Photo camera bag in the golf cart and focus on lining up shots of a different kind.

Fine print: The Authentic Seacoast getaway must be redeemed during 2012 and is not available on holiday weekends. Additional nights can be reserved at the prevailing rate.

Photo credits: Authentic Seacoast Resort.

Heartfelt thanks to the Passports with Purpose founders and general sponsors

Passports with Purpose was founded in 2008 by a group of four Seattle travel bloggers, Debbie Dubrow, Michelle Duffy, Pam Mandel, and Beth Whitman, the bloggers behind Delicious Baby, WanderMom, Nerd’s Eye View, and Wanderlust and Lipstick, respectively.

In 2008, PwP raised money for Heifer International; in 2009, PwP funded construction of a school in rural Cambodia, and in 2010, a village in India for a group of perpetually homeless people, members of India's Dalit caste, who were once known as the untouchables.

Thanks also go to this year's generous Passports with Purpose sponsors: Round the World With Us, Traveller’s Point, HomeAway, and Good 2 Go.