Global Bloggers Network

How to build your travel blog as a business

Keith — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:41:56 +0000

Janice and Keith conducted a workshop on “Monetising Your Blog” at the Travel Bloggers Unite Conference in Innsbruck in August 2011. In this workshop, they talked about the stages of growth (starting out as a hobby blogger to developing a strategic plan for the blog to make it a sustainable business). The video of the workshop and the slides can be found below.

Grow Your Blog As A Business

View more presentations from Keith Jenkins

Tokyo National Museum

Keith — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:00:21 +0000

The Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park is housed in an impressive building from the early 1930’s featuring elements of what is called the “emperor’s crown style” – a mix of Western Art Deco and Eastern sweeping forms. Two stories of well displayed and lit materials, with plenty of opportunities for resting, this museum was a pleasure to visit. Although the collection is made up of more than 87,000 items, thus making it the largest museum of Japan, only a selected number of items is always on display, never overwhelming visitors.

To continue reading, please visit Travels with Zen-Aida.

Medieval Italy is Alive in Bergamo

Keith — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:36:01 +0000

Inside the stone walls that surround Città Alta, the upper town of Bergamo, Italy, a medieval city continues to thrive. In the 17th century, Venetians built the walls to protect the town from Milan. Today, residents and university students live and shop here, dine at local restaurants and lounge in the sun on the Piazza Vecchia. For baby boomer travelers, history and life meld in Città Alta, providing an authentic look at Italian life in a medieval town. That’s what Alan and I discovered on a northern Italian road trip guided by Claudio Fontana of A La Carte Italy Tours.

To continue reading, please visit My Itchy Travel Feet.

Darjeeling – steeped in stories

Keith — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:14:59 +0000

Stop two on my IndiaTourism-sponsored road trip was three nights in Darjeeling, known as the “queen of the hill stations,” and home of the “toy train” and of course the “champagne of tea.”

I have long wanted to visit Darjeeling and when I was researching and planning my trip, I set my heart on staying at the Windamere Hotel. I had also set my heart on getting up at 4 am to drive from Darjeeling to Tiger Hill to watch the sun rise light up the great Himalayan range on my 50th birthday. Luckily for me, both IndiaTourism and nature cooperated.

To continue reading, please visit Breathe Dream Go.

Exploring the Cote d’Azur on a Seabourn Cruise Excursion

Keith — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:54:52 +0000

When cruise ships visit Monaco, baby boomer travelers have several choices for exploring. They can wander the streets of Monte Carlo, the elegant European gambling capital, perhaps stepping inside the casino made famous in the James Bond films, Golden Eye and Never Say Never Again. If there’s time, boomer Francophiles might want to book a longer cruise excursion into Provence, where the French countryside is awash in lavender, if your timing is right. Another option is to peek into the lives of the rich and famous along the Côte d’Azur.

To continue reading, please visit the My Itchy Travel Feet blog.

Song of India

Keith — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:46:32 +0000

Song of India, a new book about a one-year odyssey in India, is now available. Written by GBN member Mariellen Ward, the book is getting great reviews!

Visit Breathe Dream Go to learn more about this book.

Orta San Giulio: Northern Italy at its Best

Keith — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:44:54 +0000

Cobblestone streets, a 1580′s era town hall with a frescoed facade, outdoor cafes on a plaza bordering a mountain lake, a fairy tale looking island in the middle of that lake – atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. This is exactly what Alan and I hoped to find on our baby boomer adventure in Northern Italy.

To continue reading, please visit the My Itchy Travel Feet blog.

Consider Us

Editor — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:58:55 +0000

Well, as most of you out there know, the United States, as well as Japan, Sweden, and the U.K., have issued a “terror alert” to warn their citizens of potential terrorist activity in Europe in areas that are frequented by travelers…places like Belgium and France where I’ll be traveling in less than a month (I’ll also be going to the Netherlands, but I haven’t seen it mentioned specifically…yet). The alert itself is fairly vague and supposedly, it’s not meant to discourage travel to Europe, it’s meant for us to be more vigilant and alert while we’re there. The U.S. (and other countries) don’t want to get too specific because apparently, the intelligence the government has gathered doesn’t name specific targets but they suspect the attack may be like the “commando style” attack that took place in Mumbai two years ago.

The warning does intimate a “potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure”. “Tourist infrastructure”, hmmm…that would be places like subways and crowded places like the Eiffel Tower (which has been evacuated twice in a month for bomb threats), which I’ll be visiting in November.

To continue reading, please visit GlobeDiva Travels blog.

Hiking on Montana’s Stillwater Trail

Editor — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:37:25 +0000

Last week I wrote a post about why Alan and I traveled to the Stillwater River Valley in Montana. During our explorations, we discovered an excellent hiking trail system at the end of Forest Road 400 in Nye. With only a 500′ elevation gain in the first three miles to Sioux Charley Lake, it’s very doable for baby boomer hikers. We filmed a video to give you a first-hand look.

Stillwater Trail No. 24 is located in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness near Custer National Forest, not too far from Red Lodge. During our time on the trail, we passed many hikers carrying fishing poles. The trail is also shared with horseback riders accessing the back-country.

To continue reading, please visit My Itchy Travel Feet blog.

Oldest Hiking Trail In Germany – Rennsteig

Editor — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:06:51 +0000

" src="http://www.globalbloggersnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/4-Rennsteig-in-Thuringia-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />The Rennsteig along the ridge of the Thuringian Forest in central Germany – in the south of what used to be the German Democratic Republic – prides itself on being the oldest hiking trail in Germany.

Gut Runst!

It is also the only trail which – as the official literature insists – has its own form of hiking etiquette: while hikers on other trails may greet one another with a friendly “hallo” or “Guten Tag”, the Rennsteigers merrily wish each other a “Gut Runst!” Thankfully, to my son’s and my own great relief, this turned out to be total bunkum.

The Rennsteig is also the only trail in Germany that has its own song. I know what you are thinking now, and yes, there are reasons why the Rennsteiglied never quite made it to the top of the international charts.

To continue reading, please visit Easy Hiker blog.