From the swivellin' chair...

Green: 12 Photos from Travellers around the World

2009-11-02T23:50:00Z

1. The thumb nail sized Eastern Dwarf Tree frog on an Aloe Vera stem, Byron Bay. Photo by joffre

2. Coffee smoke through the trees. On a monastic island in Lake Tana near Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Photo by kiwilara

3. Neatly planted rows of green tea grown at the famous Boseong plantation, South Korea. Photo by joffre

4. Rainforest foliage. Tongkoko Reserve, North Sulawesi. Photo by baluba

5. Sit down. Photo taken in the United Kingdom by Ardy

6. An ancient Shilla burial mound (ie. Tumuli) in Gyeongju, South Korea. Photo by joffre

7. Near Timbuktu. Photo by LuisDafos

8. Brazilian Parrot. Photo taken in Brazil by hayden111

9. The annual dyeing of the Chicago River for St. Paddy's Day. Photo taken in the USA by edav867

10. Does the cat know the secret behind this green door in Dubrovnik, Croatia? Photo by dinah1

11. The one. Photo taken in the United Kingdom by averynkh

12. Lost in green. A white egrett in the peanut field. Photo taken in Nicaragua by marlis

***

Every month, Travellerspoint holds a photo competition for our members with a specific theme. The photos above are the top voted pics from our Green Competition.

Congratulations to joffre, whose photo of the Eastern Dwarf Tree frog won the competition this month. Joffre wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook, and an increase of his photo upload limit by 5GB.

kiwilara wins a Globetrotter's Logbook as well as a 5GB increase of his photo upload limit on Travellerspoint by coming second.

If you missed out this time, there's always next time. You can now submit photos for our Architecture Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Tradition Photo Competition.

Check out the results of past competitions:

Green: 12 Photos from Travellers around the World remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The Hippo Roller Challenge

2009-11-18T23:52:00Z

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while might remember the interview I did with Rob and Pol Summerhayes a few months ago. Rob and Pol are on a cross-continental bike trip from South Africa to Wales. Along the way they're raising funds for two great charities.

One of those charities was The Hippo Roller. Never heard of a hippo roller? Neither had we until we started reading Rob and Pol's blog. A hippo roller is a simple invention designed to help rural impoverished communities with limited access to water. The roller is a large drum that can hold 90 litres (24 gallons) of water and can be pushed along the ground, making it much easier to transport clean drinking water. It's a simple technology that has the capacity to make a huge difference in places where water is scarce.

Cool, huh?

We think so anyway. That's why we're launching The Hippo Roller Challenge to raise funds to buy hippo rollers. Our goal is to donate as many hippo rollers as possible, while also continuing to make our user-generated travel guide the best travel wiki out there.

The way this challenge works is very simple: The more people contribute to our wiki travel guide, the more hippo rollers we will donate. There are six milestones along the way, and whenever we reach a milestone, we'll donate a designated number of hippo rollers. Here's how it breaks down:

When we reach 15 million characters in the guide, we will donate 1 hippo roller
When we reach 16 million characters, we will donate 2 hippo rollers
When we reach 17 million characters, we will donate 4 hippo rollers
When we reach 18 million characters, we will donate 8 hippo rollers
When we reach 19 million characters, we will donate 16 hippo rollers
When we reach 20 million characters, we will donate 32 hippo rollers.

The challenge will run from November 2 to February 28. If we've reach 20 million characters in the wiki travel guide, we will have donated 63 hippo rollers! At US$ 105 each (including transport), that's a total donation of US$ 6615, an amount we'd be delighted to be donating! There's actually a slight headstart on reaching the first milestone, as there are currently 14,084,982 characters in the guide.

Of course, we could just donate the money, but where's the fun in that? We want you to be a part of this. So, are you with us?

Getting Started

So you want to get involved, right? If you're not sure how to get started, here are a few good starting points:

Write about your hometown or nearest tourist attraction.
Write about the last place you went to on holidays.
Write about the events and festivals in your country or city
Write an article about family-friendly activities in your city
Write a guide to eating out in your hometown
Put together a language phrasebook
Or check out some of our other ongoing guide projects

If you've never written for the wiki travel guide before, here are some great guides to help you get started:

Now, that's all from us for now. We're really excited about the potential for this challenge and look forward to seeing how many hippo rollers we can donate! Keep an eye on this blog for updates about how the challenge is progressing. There's also a thread on the Hippo Roller comp in the forum if you'd like to chime in.

The Hippo Roller Challenge remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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13 Amazing Photos Depicting Decay

2009-10-06T06:05:29Z

1. Bathtub Cat, Portugal. Photo by Makini.

2. Tblisi backstreet, Georgia. Photo by Utrecht.

3. Vehicle abandoned in the Danakil depression sulphur area. Probably abandoned 20-30 years ago and has just been attacked by the sulphur. Photo taken in Ethiopia by kiwilara.

4. Rubbish "embedded" along a mountain stream in Manali, India. Photo by joffre.

5. Roses of rust. Photo taken in Namibia by Ofelia.

6. Early 16th Century gate near the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, Delhi, India. Photo by dinah1.

7. Abandoned oil rig in the desert of Namibia. Photo by Ofelia.

8. Pripyat School, Ukraine. Photo by RedMonkey.

9. Decayed body of a wild goat at northern Spanish mountains. Photo taken in Spain by piroclast.

10. Door in the 11th Century Village of Sentendre. Hungary. Photo by david.byne.

11. Rural decay, New Zealand. Photo by Spearsy.

12. Rustic mail boxes. Photo taken in China by mskaye.

13. Amazingly clean washing aamongst decaying buildings in Mumbai. Photo by dinah1.

***

Every month, Travellerspoint holds a photo competition for our members with a specific theme. The photos above are the top voted pics from our Decay Competition.

Congratulations to Makini, whose photo of the cat on the bathtub won the competition this month. Martin wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook, and an increase of his photo upload limit by 5GB.

Utrecht wins a Globetrotter's Logbook as well as a 5GB increase of his photo upload limit on Travellerspoint by coming second.

If you missed out this time, there's always next time. You can now submit photos for our Tradition Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Green Photo Competition.

Check out the results of past competitions:

13 Amazing Photos Depicting Decay remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Claire and Chuck

2009-10-06T00:35:59Z

Our featured members this month are Claire and Chuck (aka claire312), who are on a year-long road trip by motorhome around Europe. It's an adventure that's been five years in the making, so I was interested to catch up with them to find out more about why they wanted to do this trip, how they planned it, and how it's been so far.

Claire and Chuck.

You'd been planning this trip for five years. Wow! It must be great to finally get out there. So far, has it been worth the wait?

Claire: It took me awhile to get adjusted, but that’s looking back after 30 days of travel. We hit the ground running. When we first arrived we had so much to do to get started: buy the camper, buy some things to outfit it (sheets, pillows, blankets, some kitchen items, etc.). That took several days plus we were dealing with jet lag. While Chuck’s reaction was to sleep a lot, my reaction was to become wired. So, I spent a lot of time doing more research while he slept. It worked out. We got into the hang of things fairly quickly, learning to live together very closely 24 hours a day. The camper is great but we had a hard time finding where we had put things. It’s gotten much easier. We’re only missing a mitten, a sock and a travel towel at this point. To answer your question, it has absolutely been worth the wait. I only wish we hadn’t had to wait so long!

Chuck: Absolutely!

What originally inspired you to spend a year in Europe?

Claire: I took an art class in 8th grade. The teacher showed us slides of his trip to Florence. I was immediately inspired to go to Europe and had it as a goal from that point on. I think it’s the very interesting cultural differences and eccentricities mixed in with a sense of familiarity that I find so compelling. It’s hard to pinpoint what it was that attracted me but it’s always been there and remains.

Chuck: I have only been abroad once before for any length of time – 5 weeks in (the former) Yugoslavia and Greece. I enjoyed it so much that I knew then that I would like to return for a longer visit.

What attracted you to the idea of travelling/living in a motorhome? Have you done something similar before?

Claire: This is a really fantastic way to travel. It’s not about savings, but about lifestyle. We love the campground life, surrounded by other campers, mostly Europeans and a few Brits. No other Americans. I had done this 20 years ago for 6 months and never quite got over it. It just wasn’t long enough to see all the things I wanted to see and enjoy the lifestyle. Travelling/living in a motorhome allows us a lot of freedom. We can base ourselves in one place and bike or take public transportation or we can simply drive to where we want to go. There are thousands of campgrounds and plenty of free spots to camp as well. The campgrounds are really deluxe small resorts with very nice bathrooms, fresh bread and croissants in the mornings, beautiful settings, swimming pools, restaurant, café, and often free WiFi. It’s wonderful to just relax and hang out between sightseeing.

Chuck: I liked the idea of meeting similarly-minded people, wanting to meet other travelers living abroad, as well as experiencing what live is like for locals. I liked the idea of the convenience of having a ready-made bed to crawl into at the end of a busy day, knowing where I was going to sleep. It is also cheaper than staying in hotels, for example; but, this was primarily a life-style choice.

You have a bit of an itinerary worked out. How fixed is it? To what extent are you just working out your next step as it comes?

Claire: The itinerary was based on which countries we wanted to see, climate, and time of year, and something called the Schengen Agreement. As U.S. citizens, we are only allowed in the Schengen EU member countries for 90 days. This means we must be out of the EU for 90 days, staying in a non-member country. We planned it so we would end up in Turkey and Egypt for the 90 days out during winter. Other than that, it’s pretty loose. We do seem to be working out our next step as it comes. I try to find 2 or 3 campgrounds ahead based on areas we want to visit. We don’t really plan further than that.

Chuck: We have an over-arching itinerary for the sequence of countries and our duration in them – five weeks each in our favored countries and less time in the rest; but, we have only scheduled time in a few cities; for example – Paris (because it is Paris) and Amsterdam (largely because it was our arrival point and we needed to provision the camper). We also face the “visa” restrictions of the Schengen Agreement. This is partly driving our 2 months in Turkey and 1 month in Egypt – we wanted to visit both; but the duration is determined by the Agreement. Also, we must adjust to contingencies; for example, our camping car broke down near Le Mont St. Michel and we have been here a week; this means that we now have less time to cover most of geographical France in the rest of the allotted 5 weeks. Choices will have to be made; we don't want to sacrifice regions, so we will probably visit fewer areas or sites within each region; for example, there will be fewer Chateaux toured in the Loire Valley.

What have been some of the highlights so far?

Claire: The excitement of actually being in Europe when we arrived in Amsterdam was huge. We both loved Amsterdam and found it to be a very user-friendly city for arrival and getting around. The metro is wonderful and our first campground was a short walk to the metro. I think one of my best memories will be biking through the De Hoge Veluwe National Park to the Kröller-Müller Museum and Sculpture garden in Arnhem, Netherlands. This is a 13,000 acres park with wonderful bike paths. They even have what they call White Bikes for free use. Pick up at the start and drop off at the museum, picking up another to get back to your car. The sculptures were really fun and amazing and the museum has the second largest Van Gogh collection in the world.

Chuck: I would say that the Eiffel Tower, especially lit up at night, exceeded our expectations. Versailles was almost beyond belief – the grandeur of the surroundings and the excellent tour guide greatly increased our appreciation of this site.

In the Arnhem area, we not only walked across the notorious “Bridge too Far,” but we biked from our excellent campground to a wonderful 13,000 acre forest and visited the marvelous museum and sculpture garden, there.

What are some of the places you're most looking forward to travelling through?

Claire:

Krakow, Poland
Berlin, Germany
Lake Como, Italy
Sicily
Egypt
Scotland

Chuck: I have only been abroad once before for any length of time – 5 weeks in (the former) Yugoslavia and Greece. I knew then that I would like to return for a longer visit. So, almost everything is new and exciting for me. I am especially looking forward to being in some of the provincial areas of France, Rome, Venice, Sicily, Turkey, Egypt and Scotland.

Thanks for the interview Claire and Chuck! If you'd like to read more about their travel adventures, be sure to check out their blog, European Adventures.

***

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Claire and Chuck remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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14 Photos that Reveal a Patterned World

2009-09-08T01:47:13Z

1. Outdoor Laundry in Mumbai, India. Photo by dinah1.

2. Buddhas on the wall. Photo taken in Taiwan by chyidean.

3. Palm. Photo taken in Seychelles by baluba.

4. Fern leaf. Photo taken in Ecuador by marlis.

5. Staircase in Ljubljana Castle. Photo taken in Slovenia by dinah1.

6. The biggest atrium in the world, [Shanghai. Photo by Utrecht.

7. Zebra skin. Photo taken in Tanzania by hayden111.

8. Reflections of Life. Photo taken in Ulan Bator, Mongolia by joffre.

9 Wine Bottles on Display. Photo taken in Cinque Terre, Italy by dinah1.

10. Sunflowers. Photo taken in Uruguay by hayden111.

11. Fruit store, Montevideo. Photo by snatterand.

12. Corners. Photo taken in Turkey by gocebe.

13. Medersa Ali ben Youssef, Marrakech. Photo by Utrecht.

14. Human kaleidoscope. Photo taken in Taiwan by chyidean.

***

Every month, Travellerspoint holds a photo competition for our members with a specific theme. The photos above are the top voted pics from our Patterns Competition.

Congratulations to dinah1, whose photo of laundry hanging to dry in Mumbai won the competition this month. Dinah wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook, and an increase of her photo upload limit by 5GB.

chyidean wins a Globetrotter's Logbook as well as a 5GB increase of his photo upload limit on Travellerspoint by coming second.

If you missed out this time, there's always next time. You can now submit photos for our Green Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Decay Photo Competition.

Check out the results of past competitions:

14 Photos that Reveal a Patterned World remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Travellerspoint nominated for 2009 Travolution Awards

2009-09-01T02:36:03Z

TravolutionAwards_finalist

Travellerspoint is a finalist in this year's Travolution Awards. We're among some pretty stiff competition in the Best Travel Information Website category. Lonely Planet, WAYN, TripAdvisor — that's just a few of the other sites we're up against.

Of course, we would never have been nominated for a category like that if we didn't have an awesome community of members who put a lot of time into helping other travellers, be it through the forums, the travel guide or through our brand-new blog of travel advice, Travel Unravelled. To all of you, thank you!

We find out later this month if we win. Suffice it to say our fingers are crossed!

Travellerspoint nominated for 2009 Travolution Awards remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Brendan Harding (Zaksame)

2009-08-31T04:52:25Z

This month, we put Brendan Harding (known around Travellerspoint as zaksame) on the spot. Brendan is a passionate writer who abandoned the working world to focus on his writing. In 2006, he started a charity working to provide basic eye care services to the people of a remote area of Kenya. We caught up with Brendan to find out more about his writing, charity and - of course - travel.

How long ago did you leave the working world to focus on writing?

My last full-time paid job was in 2002 when I worked as a graphic designer for a large print house here in Ireland. I left that company to continue my career in graphics as a free-lance designer but I found myself with a lot of free time on my hands as I waited for clients to come on-stream.

It was during this free time that I started writing again – something I hadn't done since the early nineties when I lived in Russia. Once I started writing again it was just like filling in the final piece of a jigsaw that had been missing for a long time.

So in answer, there wasn't really a date on a calendar when I said I'm a writer now, but an evolution which dove-tailed neatly into my existing life.

That must have been a daunting experience. Who or what encouraged you to do it?

It has most certainly been daunting at times (and continues to be) when the bills are due and solutions are hard to find. It really is like doing an apprenticeship and gathering the information, the knowledge and the contacts that it takes to make some kind of a living from my writing. Just like an apprenticeship, you don't get paid much but you continue to hope that one day, in the future, you can make a life for yourself using all the components you've gathered along the way.

I had a wonderful English teacher in school who taught me the love of the written word, so I guess it was this one thing that really made me want to write. Also a strange thing happened one day in my home town's public library: I found a leaflet for a creative writing degree and put it in my bag, when I arrived home later that day a copy of that same leaflet had been posted to me by someone, who to this day I still don't know their identity. Subsequently, I enrolled in the course and over the next couple of years whilst studying, writing took over my life completely.

Together with your colleague Bernard Jennings, you've started up a charity called Asante, which provides eye care services in a remote, drought-afflicted part of Kenya. What first inspired you to start Asante?

My colleague Bernard Jennings is a well-known optician in Ireland and it was through his friendship with a Catholic nun named Sr Goretti Ward that the whole thing came about. Sister Goretti, who was based in my home town of Carlow for most of her life, moved to rural Kenya when she was 65 – a time when everyone else wants to retire and put their feet up. On one of her visits home she was having her eyes tested by Bernard when she happened to mention the wonderful work an optician could do in her remote Kenyan village. On Christmas eve 2006 - after several beers it has to be noted - Bernard asked if I'd be interested in traveling with him to Kenya and write about what I saw. And so it began.

In Kenya I was gripped by the inequality of life to such a degree that on our first evening in the bush we decided that our clinics shouldn't become a one-off arrangement. Since that first year, we have returned annually and brought several other opticians along with us. Through an alliance with the Kikuyu Eye Hospital in Nairobi the numbers of people tested have risen to over 1500 and from that number almost two hundred people have had their sight restored completely or partially. We continue to raise money from the people of our home town and from the business community of the area; without them nothing would happen.

What are the main challenges and obstacles to running a charity like Asante?

We've been really lucky in running Asante in the fact that we have people on the ground already - the nuns of the Mercy community in Kenya - who pave the way for our arrival each year. They organise our calendar and get the word out into the communities of our arrival. Often when we arrive at a village we wonder if the people will turn up, and always they arrive, usually having walked many miles in murderous temperatures to get there.

Having said that, the logistics involved can still prove a headache with simple things like equipment going astray in transit. After the post-election violence of 2007/8 we had safety concerns of course, but these proved to be unfounded and existed only in our minds.

Asante (which by the way means 'Thank You' in Swahili) now runs pretty smoothly and most of the organisation involved is in the raising of funds.

How much have your travels and experiences in Kenya shaped your world view?

I was a late bloomer to travel and didn't get to travel until I was thirty years old. I had seen all of my friends leave Ireland during the recession of the eighties and was always so envious of the stories they told on their visits home. When I did travel in August of 1990 it was to the Soviet Union, Moscow in particular and I knew the very moment, on my first night in Moscow, as I walked in Red Square that there was a big world out there waiting for me. I went on to spend five years in Russia and got to see a large portion of the country in that time, every new sight and every new person I met seemed to make up for the years of lost traveling.

But Kenya has really changed my perspective on life, so much so that I feel I will end up going back there to live at some point. It is our undying devotion to materialism that has upset me most since my first visit. It really saddens me at times to see people complain over trivialities when almost all of us have everything - and more - we could ever use in a hundred lifetimes.

One day near Tsavo, in the south-east of the country, as I sat at a railway station in the terrible heat a small child was watching me from the doorway of a crumbling, mud hut. After a short time of watching me, half-hidden from sight, she boldly walked up to me carrying a bowl of maize porridge and offered to share it with me. It was all she had. Her smile was as big as the plains of the Masai Mara and to this day she is still never far from my thoughts. If that's change, it's change I'm happy with.

Do you have any trips planned for this year?

Let me start by saying I'm open for any assignment!

But the truth is, unless I'm commissioned to travel for a newspaper of some other publication it's unlikely that I'll get to travel before next spring. I've been to Asturias, Cantabria, Galicia, Portugal and Kenya this year and also spent a fantastic week here in Ireland at the West Cork literary festival in Bantry. There's still an awful lot to see and do in Ireland.

In the future I would really like to spend an extended period of time in my favourite place; Croatia. I have an idea for a travel-novel set on a Dalmatian island and would love the chance to go back and learn the language allowing me better access to the hidden Croatia.

But even if I'm not traveling physically between one place and another, I am continuously traveling in my mind.

You can some of Brendan's writing and see his artwork on his website.

***

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Brendan Harding (Zaksame) remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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17 Stunning Landscape Photos

2009-08-03T05:17:50Z

1. Tree trunks in Deadvlei, Namibia. By Ofelia

2. Franz Joseph Glacier, New Zealand. By aimsuk

3. Light Magic. Mt. Fishtail from the Base camp at the time of Sunset, Nepal. By sirishbc

4. Mountain Moon Magic. Annapurna Range at dawn, Nepal. By sirishbc

5. Storm Brewing Over Porter Heights, New Zealand. By dinah1

6. Milford Sound, New Zealand. By bruntonal

7. Salinas Grandes - Prov. Jujuy y Salta - Argentina. By JOSE_MARIA

8. Mount Sunday. Mount Sunday was the location for Edoras and Meduseld in the film "Lord of the Rings". It is a rocky outcrop in the Canterbury Plains next to the Southern Alps in the Rangitata Valley in the Ashburton District. By dinah1

9. Beautiful sunset at Stockton Beach, New South Wales, Australia. By lauradj

10. A cold day in Venice. By gcsmith

11. Vietnam - Halong Bay. By AC Frieden

12. Beautiful Reflections on Lake Wakatipu. This photo was shot on a very calm day on the Way to Glenorchy, New Zealand. By dinah1

13. Peyto Lake. Icefields Parkway, Banff National Park, Alberta. By bobrk607

14. Antarctica. Wonderful landscapes and of course, penguins. By marlis

15. "Snow" on Bonaire. Salt mountains. By marlis

16. Wet salt... Photo taken in Bolivia by Rinoa

17. Croatia - Dubrovnik. By AC Frieden

***

Every month, Travellerspoint holds a photo competition for our members with a specific theme. The photos above are the top voted pics from our Landscapes Competition.

Congratulations to Ofelia, whose photo of tree trunks in Deadvlei won the competition this month. Maaret wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook, and an increase of her photo upload limit by 5GB.

aimsuk wins a Globetrotter's Logbook as well as a 5GB increase of his photo upload limit on Travellerspoint by coming second.

If you missed out this time, there's always next time. You can now submit photos for our Decay Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Patterns Photo Competition. Voting is now live.

Check out the results of past competitions:

17 Stunning Landscape Photos remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Jennifer Johnson (Jennylynn)

2009-11-16T04:04:25Z

For the latest installment of the Talking Travel series, I decided to interview Jennifer Johnson, known in these parts as jennylynn. Jennifer lives in Seattle with her husband and she's been busy over the past few months blogging about trips around her local area and further afield. Her easy-to-read writing and wonderful eye for photography make for a great blog, which I can heartily recommend.

In this interview, Jennifer shares a little more about her passion for travel, photography and more.

Jennifer at the Pyramids of Giza.

Why did you decide to start a blog?

In the past as I traveled I kept a series of hand-written travel journals. They now sit on a bookshelf and collect dust. I would often send emails back home to friends and family updating them on my journeys, but essentially I was rewriting everything from my journals. It just didn’t make sense and was quite time consuming. I started my blog primarily to share my journeys with the people who know me best, but as time goes on I have received lots of positive feedback from people all over the world. Now I write with the goal of inspiring others to travel. Visiting foreign places, exposure to new cultures, and learning from new people promotes compassion and understanding and breaks down stereotypes. Additionally, I want to express to readers that travel is accessible to every one. I reiterate this frequently on my blog, but we are capable of making great discoveries right within our hometowns. Often the most memorable journeys are the ones that have a special meaning or purpose, and these can take place right within your neighborhood!

What inspires you about travel?

I am inspired to travel because the world is completely accessible and available for discovering. In my life I want to utilize every opportunity to learn everything I can about this amazing place we call home. I can read every history book or guidebook, but nothing truly compares to walking through the streets where locals live and work in some obscure city on the other side of the globe. I want to look back on my life one day and know that every moment was lived to its fullest and no opportunity was missed. The world is literally our playground for discovery and knowledge, why not conquer it all?

You recently went on a cruise up to Alaska. Was that your first time on a cruise?

On my recent trip to Alaska my husband and I traveled by cruise ship for the first time. I can’t say that it was the highlight of the trip. There are definitely benefits to taking a cruise, but personally I found it difficult to be trapped on a boat as we are passing by beautiful scenery. I would have rather been on the shore, exploring by foot. When stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway we were only given a limited amount of time in each location and I found that difficult to work with. Travel is essentially freedom, freedom from work, chores, and life in general, and I definitely felt that we lacked a lot of freedom on the cruise. On the other hand, we could have never reached as many places if we traveled in any other way. Alaska is so enormous that we could have spent weeks exploring on our own and never gotten as far.
 
One of the things I really love about your blog is all your photos, which add a lot of colour to your entries. What kind of camera do you use?

Photography for me is a love hate relationship. Although I love capturing moments on camera, sometimes I wish I could just leave it at home. Then I could stop worrying about fiddling with aperture and shutter speed settings and just experience the moment without all the hassle. Recently when I was traveling in Greece, a taxi driver saw me messing with my camera settings and he said to me, “The greatest photos are not taken with a camera, but are made through your eyes.” I definitely identify with that notion, but at the same time when I upload the photos and one stands out, I feel a sense of accomplishment that makes it worth all the fuss. That being said, I use a Canon Rebel XT with an 18-55 mm lens and a Canon Rebel XSi with a 55-250 mm lens. I always carry my trusty tiny Nikon Coolpix camera in my purse as it has proven itself very useful when I least expect it.

You blog quite a bit about Seattle, where you live. What are some of your favourite places in Seattle?

I absolutely love Seattle. The diversity ranges from the grungy University District to the artsy Fremont to the rich and wealthy Microsoft Executives living in nearby Redmond and Bellevue. There is literally a neighborhood to meet every need. Discovering each of them is just part of the fun of living here. My favorite areas of Seattle include Queen Anne Hill (the views are breathtaking), Pike Place Market, and the communities of Ballard and Fremont (so many yummy places to eat at!). I blog a lot about Seattle because I enjoy discovering the many quirks of home and consider this a form of travel. Although I may not be trekking around the globe nearly as often as I wish, I can still make travel a part of every day.

Do you have any more trips planned for 2009?

My next trip is in October. My husband and I are going to Maui and Kauai along with a dozen or so of our closest friends and family to renew our vows on the beach. We had such a private, small ceremony when we got married that we thought it would be fun to celebrate in style! Other than that, we have small trip planned to the Olympic Peninsula and lots of weekend getaways up our sleeves. I am also known to make last minute travel arrangements, so who knows where I could end up!

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Jennifer Johnson (Jennylynn) remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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16 Great Photos of Animals

2009-07-07T06:08:12Z

1. Kangaroo boxing. Photo taken in Australia by sdaber1.

2. Cat And Dog in Porto. Photo taken in Portugal by ririthings.

3. Wet Crab. Photo taken in Costa Rica by robjwood.

4. Young Iguana. Photo taken in Netherlands Antilles by marlis.

5. Lovebirds. Photo taken in Beijing, China by snatterand.

6. Dalmation Poser. Photo taken in Japan by hayden111.

7. The "Elefant Seal Singers". Photo taken in Antarctica by marlis.

8. Zebra family. Photo taken in Tanzania by hammarn.

9. Arrogant. Photo taken in Oman by erodrigo.

10. Ostrich 2. Photo taken at Saigon Zoo, Vietnam by Wardsan.

11. Namibian Lions. Photo taken in Namibia by Ofelia.

12. Tom Cat. Photo taken in USA by Ardy.

13. Eye of the Zebra. Photo taken in Parc Safari, Hemmingford, Canada by snowgirl.

14. Desert Museum Barn Owl. Photo taken in Tucson, Arizona by EMA375.

15. Waterbucks. Photo taken at Kruger National Park by soupatrvlr.

16. The lucky 8. Photo taken in Northern Ireland by eTRAVEL.

Every month, Travellerspoint holds a photo competition for our members with a specific theme. The photos above are the top voted pics from our Animals Competition.

Shelley's photo of the two kangaroos won the competition this month. Shelley wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook, and an increase of her photo upload limit by 5GB. Congratulations Shelley!

Congratulations also to ririthings, who won a Globetrotter's Logbook as well as a 5GB increase of his photo upload limit on Travellerspoint by coming second.

If you missed out this time, there's always next time. You can now submit photos for our Patterns Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Landscapes Photo Competition. Voting is going live in the next 24 hours.

Check out the results of past competitions:

16 Great Photos of Animals remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Sander

2009-07-02T02:37:03Z

This month, I interviewed Sander for our Talking Travel series. Sander is a travel-loving web developer from Holland who you're sure to have come across if you've spent much time on the Travellerspoint forums. In this interview, we chat about how travel has impacted his life, his thoughts on travelling with laptops and his future travel plans.

You travelled for two and a half years after you finished studying. Looking back, how much do you think those two and a half years of travel impacted your life?

Trying to imagine my life without that period, I come up with a life which is recognizable only in vague outlines. I'd still be working in IT, and I'd have the same friends (in this country at least), but the qualitative difference would be huge. Travel has made me a much more confident person; where once I neurotically triple-checked every little detail about everything and was preparing for things weeks in advance, now I revel in my ability to leave things like packing my bags until the very last minute, and still bring exactly (and only) what I need. I'm far less anxious or stressed out about things I can't influence, and a lot more willing to attempt changing things which I can influence. Travel also allowed for meeting vague acquaintances from online communities, many of whom have progressed to being genuine friends, whose lives have shaped and enriched my own. And I only ever was able to start up my own web development company here in the Netherlands because being a freelance web developer was the norm in Australia, and taught me how easy and good it is to be your own boss.

The Opera House and Harbour Bridge

On your profile, you describe that trip as a real soul-searching sort of trip. I find it interesting that many people seem to have trips like that. Why do you think travel is such a good way to answer (or at least try to answer) some of life's big questions?

I think the main reason is that when you're travelling, you can rediscover who you are, free from the constraints of everyday life. When at home, people know you and have expectations of who you are and how you behave. You have obligations and responsibilities, deadlines, routines and recurring events. In the midst of all of that, it's really hard to first find the time to thoroughly think through how the web of all these things affects you and steers you in certain directions, and to then actually effect changes.

When you're travelling, there is no one who knows you. No one wants anything from you, no one expects you to do anything. You don't have to try to explain or justify your actions, not even to yourself. At the same time, you're exposed to a much wider variety of experiences than you would at home, where most days the horizon barely stretches far enough to cover the distance from home to work, and so you can discover how you react to and feel about a wider variety of input. Moreover, where the same things would also hold for a short vacation, the difference with long-term travel is that a vacation is mostly seen as a break from your life (and so what you do during it has their air of "it doesn't really count"), while long-term travel by necessity has to be your life. You have to act in a sustainable manner; be a person who you can continue to be for years. What you do and experience during this time counts - but the only one who'll *know* about it (no matter how many blog posts or emails home you write), is yourself.

Of course you're starting out on travel still set in your old ways, and a lot of these ways really belong with who you are. Yet other ways are formed through social pressure, and so can slowly bend back to their natural inclinations over the months and years where that pressure is missing. Changing your life isn't a particularly swift process, and at least for me there was no all-consuming moment of epiphany. Rather, as over the many months of my trip I mulled over aspects of my life and what I put value in, I was able to come to a series of small conclusions and value-adjustments, and keeping those in mind, I was able to later re-align my life to be more to my liking.

I very much don't have all the answers, but what travel has taught me is to keep examining my life and the choices I make, including the ones where I'm not at first aware that I'm making them, and to adjust who I am to the result of those choices, or to make different choices next time, to get closer to who I want to be. I have many memories of long bus journeys where I'd gaze through the windows without seeing anything of the landscape I was passing through, instead mentally reviewing conversations and events and realizing how those had affected me. Having these times is one of the things near-inherent in long-term travel, and in itself a minor reason for me to keep returning to it. I've occasionally feared that I'll become so familiar with the travelling lifestyle that it itself becomes a routine with set expectations and constraints, but so far the world
has been vast and varied and unknowable enough that this hasn't been a realistic fear.

You're a web developer by trade. Do you take your computer with you when you're travelling?

Heh, the question of whether or not to take a laptop while travelling is such a common one on the forum that I could nearly dream my response to this. Yes, I take a laptop on any trip lasting more than a handful of days. I'd do this even if it wasn't for the ability to do web development work (which I try not to do when I'm just travelling). My reasons for this can be summed up in two words: security and convenience.

The main part of the security aspect is the old computer security adage, "If a bad guy has physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore". This means that for anything where you care about security, such as online banking, the private conversations you have over email, etc., using a public computer (whether to be found in an internet cafe, at a hostel, or wherever) is batshit insane from a computer security point of view. The only thing protecting people in everyday life is the law of big numbers: There's not nearly enough criminals (and they're not nearly advanced enough) for a significant percentage of public computers to have been compromised in such a way that a random travelling user of that computer will suffer the consequences. However, the damage which can be done to your life (or the lives of people you care about) if you're the unlucky person to hit that compromised computer, right when you were writing that email with really private information, is just way too large to trust in "being lucky". Beyond that, for me personally I enhance my security by sending a large percentage of my emails encrypted with OpenPGP and use various other tools, all of which wouldn't be found on public computers, and so I need my personal computer with me to be able to do these things.

The convenience aspect starts with having all my bookmarks right there, continues to being able to burn DVDs with photos at the end of the day (during my last three-month RTW trip, I took 33 DVDs worth of photos; needing to have those burned at internet cafes would've been a royal pain) as well as being able to review and edit and email or upload those photos, and from there on meanders to lots of other little communication-related activities. I live a large part of my life online, with friends in a vast number of timezones, and online communities which over the course of the last decade have become a second home. Having all of that in easy reach is a great goodness. When I first set out travelling in 2003, bringing a laptop along was rare. Yet on my RTW last year, I was barely able to enter a hostel's lounge without seeing half a dozen laptops, and WiFi seems to have become a standard service offered at most any hostel. This easy connectivity greatly enhances the value of carrying around a laptop, so the choice to do so has only become easier.

What are some of your favourite places to visit in the Netherlands?

I'm quite partial to the Japanese Garden at Clingendael, though its very limited opening times (just a few weeks each year) combined with my travelling habit means that I'm hardly ever in the country to enjoy it. The city centers of Delft and Leiden (both student cities) always appeal to me, particularly this time of year, when nice weather results in a wonderful bustle of activity. Beyond those, favorite places are tied to specific times of the year: the flower fields in spring, the polder on a snowy winter's day, any wooded area during autumn, any dike alongside a canal when a storm is brewing and I have the need to struggle against the wind on my bike, or fly along with it.

Lake Tekapo.

Do you have any dream destinations you want to visit one day?

I do indeed, and the list is ever-growing. Right near the top of it are Patagonia, Iceland, the Himalayas and of course Antarctica. (Also, do places you've visited before count? If so, Lake Tekapo all the way!) I love wild and barren places, where nature shows its true power, as well as mountains to conquer and admire views from. My absolute dream destination, which it would take a near-miracle for me to ever actually visit, would be the Îles Kerguelen, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, far to the southeast of Africa. The only people who ordinarily get to visit it are French climate scientists, but I would love to one day hike my way across a part of the main island, photographing the gorgeous desolate landscape, glaciers and birds without count.

Speaking of which, do you have any trips planned for this year?

None, actually. This will be the first time in six years that I'm not out of the country for three months or more. I do have the tentative idea to go see some cities come September/October; probably Rome and Budapest, and if timing happens to work out with acquiring a next big project to work on, I might yet go and take a vacation of a couple of weeks somewhere (Croatia? Estonia/Latvia? Ireland? Iceland?), but mostly I'm focusing on 2010/2011 with planning: 2010 will be the last year during which I can enter Canada on a Working Holiday Visa, an opportunity which I don't intend to miss, and hope to make the main part of a new RTW trip. I've come up with some crazy itineraries to include the aforementioned dream destinations of Patagonia and the Himalayas in the same trip, as well as familiar old mainstays such as Australia and New Zealand to get to hang out with all my friends there again. It's still completely unknown what the final trip will look like, but I'm having a lot of fun with exploring options.

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Sander remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Win the Ultimate Aussie Road Trip with World Nomads

2009-06-25T00:18:34Z

Picture this: You and a mate. A campervan. Six weeks to explore an Australian state, make a mini-documentary about it and go in the running for a $10,000 prize.

Sound good?

World Nomads are putting on an awesome competition for seven pairs of keen adventurers to win themselves an Aussie roadtrip. Each of the seven pairs will be flown over to Australia, given the keys of a campervan, $1000 worth of petrol and free access to some top Australian attractions.

That's where the second stage of the competition kicks in. With digital video camera and laptop on hand, the seven teams will be tasked with the challenge of making a mini-documentary about their trip. The team that makes the best documentary stands to win $10,000, as well as two Virgin Blue domestic flights. That six week holiday could easily turn into 6-month trek around Australia - all at someone else's expense.

Learn more about the competition at http://vantastic.worldnomads.com/.

Win the Ultimate Aussie Road Trip with World Nomads remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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14 Captivating Photos of Kids by Travellers

2009-07-10T01:57:15Z

1. Keeping the tradition. Photo taken in Japan by Ardy.

2. Kids in Mozambique church. Photo taken in Mozambique by jayms.

3. The picture was taken in the jungle of Northern Thailand. This kid had never seen a camera before. I started shooting and we all start laughing and fun was in his eyes all the time. Photo taken in North Thailand by danicors.

4. Storm. Photo taken in Sudan by tylax13.

5. Baby in the arms of her mother, at an HIV/AIDS-clinic in Arusha, Tanzania. Photo taken in Arusha by Makini.

6. Flying boy. Photo taken in Laos by jayms.

7. Kid swimming in Ganges River, India. Photo taken in India by jayms.

8. Our World. Photo taken in Nepal by sirishbc.

9. Little superstar. She likes light and to be photographed inside a busy museum. She wants to understand how the tornado is created as she awaits the formation at top of the simulation platform. Photo taken in North Carolina, USA by eTRAVEL.

10. Holy Water. Photo taken in Amritsar by Ardy.

11. Baby hanging onto her mother, carried in the traditional Masai way. Photo taken in Tanzania by Makini.

12. On a visit back to Pasto I was invited to visit some Colombian school kids. Photo taken in Colombia by dancordner.

13. Francisky. Photo taken in Venezuela by paperix72.

14. Boy at the beach of Tarrafal, Cape Verde. Photo taken in Cape Verde by Makini.

Every month, Travellerspoint holds a photo competition for our members with a specific theme. The photos above are the top voted pics from our Kids Competition.

After being a runner-up in the last two competitions, Ardy finally took top spot this month with her brilliant photo of a young girl in Japan. She wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook, and an increase of her photo upload limit by 5GB.

Jayms was the runner-up this time, with his photo of kids in Mozambique. He scores himself a Globetrotter's Logbook as well as a 5GB increase of his photo upload limit on Travellerspoint.

If you missed out this time, there's always next time. You can now submit photos for our Landscapes Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Animals Photo Competition. Voting is going live in the next 24 hours.

Check out the results of past competitions:

14 Captivating Photos of Kids by Travellers remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Rob and Polly

2009-05-27T03:05:11Z

Rob and Polly Summerhayes are two Travellerspoint members about to embark on a cross-continental bike trip from South Africa to Wales.

After spending the last two years working in South Africa - Rob worked in a local hospital and Polly volunteered for a charity supporting vulnerable children - the couple have decided to cycle home and raise money for charity while they're at it.

As they're about to set off on their trip, I thought I would ask them a few questions about the inspiration behind their bike trip and their experiences in South Africa over the past couple years.

Whose idea was it to do this bike trip?

Rob took the job in Mseleni hospital that a friend of ours, Ian Burnell, was due to do. Ian died just before he would have come out here. When we were making our preparations we were not at all surprised but slightly amused to find Ian had only a one-way flight and we spent some time musing over how he would have got home (he had in the past hitchhiked across Eastern Europe to Moldova).

Eventually this led to musing over how we would get home. Rob, being rather fond of our little red Suzuki4x4 wanted to drive that home. Polly thought that was a rubbish idea, suggesting instead cycling. Rob thought that was a rubbish idea but eventually he came around.

Have either of you been on big bike trips before?

No, well it depends how you define big; we cycled from South to North Wales once – think that’s about the furthest!

How long do you expect the trip to take?

We’ve allowed 8 months pedaling 5 days a week for the whole distance and we are also stopping off for 3 months in Rwanda where Rob is going to work in a rural hospital. So we should be home in just under a year.

You've lived in South Africa for the past two years. How has your time in South Africa impacted your lives?

Rob: As a Dr trained in the UK, working in Rural SA has been quite a challenge. I rapidly had to learn how to do a Caesarian Section, general anesthetic, manage trauma and AIDS – none of which I had seen before. Frequently I have to work out of my Comfort Zone which has the potential to be very stressful. However I quickly realized that a reliance on a relationship with God could keep me going and keep me sane! I have come to relish this feeling of having a new and exciting challenge everyday rather than the nice controlled lives we lead back home. When things are out of our immediate control we see the real need for God – which is why I think so many Africans have such amazing spiritual lives whereas we Westerners have money and insurance policies instead!

Pol: I’ve been struck by the friendliness and generosity of the local population. There is very little bitterness towards white people in this area – despite the terrible things that have happened in the recent past.

It seems that the poorer people are, the more generous and thankful they are for what they have. The other day I ran over a chicken. I went and found the owner to apologize and give her the scrawny dead bird. She was thrilled:

“Nkosi Yami, Nkosi Yami. Ngiyabonga, Ngiyabonga!”

“My God, My God. Thank you, Thank you!” She exclaimed holding her hands heavenward.

Initially I thought it must be someone else’s chicken & she thought I was giving her a gift – but no it was her bird – she was thrilled because road kill is usually taken by the driver!

I’ve also learnt that helping is a two way street. You can’t just go somewhere “to help” people. You must go to “help and be helped”. People from all walks of life have so much to offer and living in community helping one another is what’s important.

Had either of you spent much time living overseas before you moved to South Africa?

We had very little experience of Africa but Rob spent some time traveling and working in a Leprosy hospital in Nepal before we were married.

I was amazed to read in your interview on Canton's Community Website that Zululand has the highest concentration of HIV sufferers in the world. What are some of the major factors contributing to the HIV/AIDS problem in South Africa?

The answer to that question is very complicated indeed. Lots of people have written books on it.

Things that have struck us are HIV could have been handled much better in South Africa, which is a very wealthy country, but with massive inequality. For a long time the government were in denial which to an extent is still a problem.
There are also cultural and educational issues which fuel the epidemic. 30 years ago the status/wealth of a Zulu man was defined by the number of wives and cows he had. Now days it is generally frowned upon if you have more than one wife (unless you are Jacob Zuma!) - however it is extremely common to have many lovers and condoms are seldom used as most young ladies want kids.

However there is hope. The government and communities are starting to tackle many difficult issues. Antiretrovirals are now widely available in SA and work amazingly well. It is not unusual for young people to come back from the brink of death, put on 20kg and lead a normal life again.

With this trip you're aiming to raise £25,000, which will go towards buying a 4-wheel drive for a local charity in Zululand and 120 "hippo rollers". For the uninitiated, what is a hippo roller?

The 4x4 will be invaluable for the local charity to access vulnerable (usually orphaned/abused and often HIV+) children in the community.

The Hippo Roller is a device used to roll hippos out of the local lakes to provide communities with a protein rich food source…

Another type of Hippo Roller is a barrel-shaped container that rolls like a wheelbarrow with little effort making it easier for villagers to transport life-giving fresh water to their homes.

These barrels improve access to water for needy households by making it possible to collect 90 litres of water (4 times the amount possible using traditional methods) in less time, with greater ease resulting in better health and more time for other activities – like school!

Women and children bear the brunt of responsibility for collecting water, spending 4-7 hours per day walking, waiting in lines to fill containers, and carrying them home. This prevents many children (especially girls) from attending school and completing even a basic education.

A Hippo Water Roller typically lasts between 5 and 7 years yet some of the originals distributed over 10 yrs ago are still functional. A roller currently costs £55 to manufacture.

The Hippo Roller improves lives instantly. It's an African solution to an African problem.

Hippo Rollers in action.

How can interested people support you?

Check out our blog and spur us on!

There will soon be a Just Giving account that you can donate to as well - we don’t want people to subsidise our adventure. We are simply asking you to give generously to our chosen projects.

Maybe you could give a lump sum of £10 or £20 or sponsor us per km – how about 1p/km? If you don’t think we’ll make it all the way home we dare you to sponsor us 10p/km! (We will pedal an estimated 12,000km).

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Rob and Polly remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Yellow: 13 Brilliant Photos from Canada to Ethiopia

2009-11-16T10:19:46Z

1. Canola fields, Alberta. Photo taken in Canada by bobrk607.

2. Varanasi Roof Top Boys. Photo taken in Varanasi, India by Ardy.

3. Toucan upclose. Photo taken in Brazil by Utrecht.

4. Boa vista. Deserto viana. Photo taken in Cape Verde by paperix72.

5. Eiffel Tower. Photo taken in Paris, France by SheIsFree.

6. Yellow leaf. Taken inside Ormeau Park... one of Belfast's beautiful urban parks which was formerly considered as the future site for the Stadium of Belfast. Photo taken in Belfast, Northern Ireland by eTRAVEL.

7. Capo verde. Photo taken in Cape Verde by paperix72.

8. Tree snake. Photo taken in Costa Rica by hayden111.

9. Capoverde. Deserto viana. Photo taken in Cape Verde by paperix72.

10. Old lady at Schwedagon, Yangoon. Photo taken in Myanmar by tarmo.

11. Sun behind the clouds at Sunset. The sun was on its way down and it nipped behind these low clouds. Photo taken in Barbados by Sunniebgi.

12. Sulphur Pools. Sulphur pools in the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia. Photo taken by kiwilara.

13. Dinner is served. A couple of yummy yellow birds found at a market during a motorcycle trip to Sa Pa in Northern Vietnam. Photo taken in Vietnam by The Rasmus.

Every month, Travellerspoint throws a travel photo competition with a unique theme. The photos above are the favourites from last month's Yellow photo competition.

Congratulations to bobrk607 for winning with his photo of canola fields in Alberta. Ardy was the runner-up, with her photo of two boys in Varanasi. Bobrk607 wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook and an increase of his photo upload limit by 5 GB. Ardy also receives a Globetrotter's Logbook and 5GB increase of her photo upload limit. If you can't get enough of the theme 'Yellow', and happen to be swinging by Rome, you might want to check out the Yellow, a youth hotel that rates really highly with our members.

If you missed out this time, there's another opportunity just around the corner. You can now submit photos for our Animals Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Kids Photo Competition. Voting will be kicking off in the next 24 hours.

Check out the results of past competitions:

Yellow: 13 Brilliant Photos from Canada to Ethiopia remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Music: The Universal Language

2009-07-10T01:57:19Z

1. A government sponsored musician strikes up a tune in the entrance chowk to Jaisalmer Fort. Sure, he was doing it for the benjamins (baksheesh benjamins?), but he was engaging, friendly, and he knew what he was doing with his chunk of wood. Good on him. Photo taken in Jaisalmer, India by elcapitan.

2. Pakistani Border. Photo taken on India / Pakistan border by Ardy.

3. Jazz. Photo taken in the USA by janetomich.

4. Havana, Cuba. Photo by marlis.

5. Havana, Cuba. Photo by marlis.

6. Udaipur Musicians and Dancers. Photo taken in Udaipur, India by blytonrtw.

7. Love Strings: The cello that serenades couples on their wedding days. Photo by wershwie.

8. Praga. Photo taken in Prague, Czech Republic by paperix72.

9. Irish weekend musician inside Carrickfergus Castle playing traditional Irish songs. Photo taken in Northern Ireland by eTRAVEL.

10. Child playing Drum. Photo taken in Indonesia by rungtip.

11. Bandoneon player in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo by marlis.

12. Irish musician inside a castle in Northern Ireland. Photo by eTRAVEL.

Every month, Travellerspoint throws a travel photo competition with a unique theme. The photos above are the favourites from last month's Music photo competition.

Congratulations to elcapitan for winning with his photo of the musician in front of Jaisalmar Fort. Ardy was the runner-up, with another shot taken in the Indian sub-continent. elcapitan wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook and an increase of his photo upload limit by 5 GB. Ardy also receives a Globetrotter's Logbook and 5GB increase of her photo upload limit.

If you missed out this time, there's another opportunity just around the corner. You can now submit photos for our Kids Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Yellow Photo Competition.

Check out the results of past competitions:

Music: The Universal Language remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Michael Johnson (Lavafalls)

2009-03-31T00:40:35Z

Next up in the series of interviews with members is Michael Johnson, known around these parts as Lavafalls. Michael's been a Travellerspoint member since January 2008, but in that time he's been a prolific contributor to the wiki travel guide, sharing a wealth of first-hand information about China, his native Chicago and elsewhere. I thought I'd find out a little bit more about his interest in travel, his passion for China and his travel plans for 2009.

Posing in front of the Statue of Liberty.

When did you make your first big solo trip?

Well that is a weird question. Technically it would have been when I was 18 years old. My high school had a deal where if you could put together a community service project you could graduate a month early to do it. So I found a Habitat for Humanity build in a small Maori village on the Bay of Plenty and went for 2 weeks. Afterwards I did a road trip with some of my co-volunteers down the west coast of the South Island.

When I was 22 in the summer of 04 I went to Ecuador with a class. Afterwards I traveled solo for about a week and half. The first really big “solo” trip I did was from Singapore to Hanoi over 7 weeks during my first Chinese New Year in ’06. I called the trip the bird flu tour because everyone was freaking out about it then. I decided just to embrace it.

So you've obviously had an interest in travel for quite a while. What is it about travel that appeals to you?

What is it about travel that interests me? Well since I was small child I was always interested in explorers, I was the kid that always read the picture books on explorers. Learning about new and interesting places always excited me and to this day it does. I think as an adult what interests me in travel is seeing how similar and different places and people can be. I like to go to places that seem out of time and the modern world hasn’t slammed into them too hard. One of my favorite places I have traveled to is Mongolia for this very reason. People still living nomadic lifestyle and in touch with the land that they have traditionally lived on.

At the same time I like to travel in order to flush out my life. It is so easy to get stuck in the routines of life to the point were everything starts to become a formula. There is a certain freedom that comes from being on the road and not knowing where you will be in a few days or only having a rough idea. Personally I believe this is good for me because this reshuffle of my life makes me a lot happier. After a big trip I can re-adjust things in my life because the routine has been broken.

Did you travel much as a kid?

My family did travel a lot. We did a lot of outdoors stuff such as skiing, hiking and camping. Saw lots of national parks and other beautiful places. One really big trip we did was going to Brazil for a bar mitzvah. That was super cool, even though I was only nine I remember it very clearly. Another really cool trip was rafting the Grand Canyon; I think that trip is what really made me love the outdoors.

You've travelled quite a bit around China. What initially attracted you to China?

Well that is a funny story. I have always had a slight interest in China mainly stemming from human rights stuff I did in high school and college. Right before I graduated from college I flipped out, the standard 23 year old way and called my dad. I had originally looked into working in China but decided not to. Well after the call with my dad I decided to give it a second chance, I called and they said I had 24 hours to make up my mind. So I decided and went.

Although I was bit shocked when I arrived. I had never been to a country that didn’t use my alphabet and when I saw all those characters on the board in the Shanghai airport I went “Holy crap! They actually use these things.”

China does have such a unique culture. Did you experience culture shock?

I had some really bad culture shock a few times. After living in China for a about three months there was a period of time when I was not working I was lying in my bed watching DVDs and eating Pringles. That lasted about 3 weeks and I actually came out of it quite quickly after it was over. Although to this day I really can’t eat Pringles because I just ate too many of them.

There were other brief moments. In the expat community in China we use the terms China moment, China Day and the worst of all the China week. And it wasn’t a normal week without the occasional China moment, such as the ladies at the department store really trying to sell you sheets and throwing different ones into your cart. Or when you misunderstand the bus ticket office window, because she said there was an afternoon bus but really there wasn’t but if I was Chinese I would have understood that.

At the same time though most cultures I have noticed have more in common than not. I just feel it is more natural to try and focus on the difference than on the similarities.

Sunset over Qinghai Lake, China.

For people visiting China for the first time, what would you suggest is the one place they must visit?

That is a huge question. Well the easy answer would be Beijing or Yanghsou. I personally feel Shanghai is a bit overrated but maybe living there for a year made me bored of the place. I think the key part behind any China trip is balancing the different aspects of China. China has amazing culture, traditions, natural beauty and weird things. Most people just focus on the culture and traditions and I feel they get burnt out. Some of the most beautiful places I have ever been to have been in China. These beautiful places range from Namsto Lake in Tibet to the mountains outside of the Monastary near Boyan Hot Inner Mongolia.

The strange is the hardest to find, yet the easiest if you are looking the right way. One example is on an overnight bus ride from the border of Mongolia to Beijing. Along the side of the highway were giant bronze statues of dinosaurs for several kilometers. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Other examples are stumbling upon weird markets in random small towns or watching a cop walk out of a pink light barbershop just to adjust his pants.  

Do you have any travel plans for 2009?

I am going on a weekend trip to Montreal in April and then maybe a big trip to China this summer. A friend might actually come this time! We are thinking of starting where the Great Wall enters the ocean, then follow it out west camping, hiking and drinking beer the whole time! Then there is a chance I might be going to my best friend’s wedding in a small village in northern Thailand this Christmas. Somehow I am supposed to start grad school this fall.

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Michael Johnson (Lavafalls) remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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10 Photos of Beaches Around the World

2009-03-10T05:28:46Z

1. Boeing landing on Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles. Photo by Utrecht.

1. Star not in the sky . Bohol, Philippines. Photo by juneeeee.

3. Fraser Island Shipwreck. Fraser Island, Australia. Photo by thedever.

4. Spirit of Africa. Late in the evening, a storm approaches and an old boat stranded on a Zanzibar beach catches the last of the light. Tanzania. Photo by marni-j.

5. Legian Beach, Bali, Indonesia. Photo by CatAttack.

6. Taraffal Beach, Cape Verde. The patrons of Taraffal beach. Photo by Makini.

7. Relaxing. Thailand. Photo by Makini.

8. Iceberg beach, Iceland. Photo by Utrecht.

9. Happy toes. Mexico. Photo by ssshauna.

10. When the sky and the sea both blushed together. Sunset on the sea beach of Mandarmani, India. Photo by Reshmi.

Every month, Travellerspoint throws a travel photo competition with a unique theme. The photos above are the favourites from last month's Beaches photo competition.

We had joint winners: Utrecht and juneeeee. They both win a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook and an increase of their photo upload limit by 5 GB.

If you missed out this time, there's another opportunity just around the corner. You can now submit photos for our Yellow Photo Competition.

Meanwhile, be sure to vote for your favourite photo in the Music Photo Competition.

Check out the results of past competitions:

10 Photos of Beaches Around the World remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Izzy and Marisa

2009-09-24T00:04:14Z

Izzy and Marisa (aka. triptime) set out in September on a round-the-world trip together, scarcely eight months after they first met. Their journey has taken them through the United States and South America, while they have contemplated their lives and their relationship. Meanwhile, they've been faithfully blogging about it on Travellerspoint at Marisa and Izzy's Blogsite.

For this month's installment of the Talking Travel series, I talked to Izzy about what this trip has meant to them both.

Why did you both decide to do this trip?

Before ever meeting, we had both decided we each needed a trip like this in order the get to the next phase of life. There was something out there in world that would release those answers once the decision was made. Within a couple weeks of dating, Marisa told me she was taking time out to travel within the year and asked if I would be interested. I had been waiting a long time for someone to ask that question...

You actually only met a year ago, in February. Has this been a bonding experience for you as a couple?

Wow, has it! The bond was strong right off the bat, but with planning, preparing, sacrificing and now traveling we have truly become one. We were willing to take the chance, knowing this amount of time with anyone can be hard, challenging and/ or detrimental. I had asked a friend back in LA, a month or so after making the decision to take the trip (he had done one similar the previous year), if he had any advise... he answered, "Do you love her? Don't do it unless you do." This still rings true. A trip like this puts patience, acceptance and compromise to the ultimate tests - an amazing learning experience if you pass. Having so much time to enjoy the company of someone you love is invaluable. We've had time and experience now to help us harmonize as a couple. I think travel like this should be a prerequisite to marriage.

What was the number one thing you were worried about before you set off on this trip?

Finances were definitely a major concern. We were trying to go into the trip at 50/50 with our money, making sure we were equally invested. I had a solid base, but Marisa was struggling to make last minute money. Really, our only tiffs so far have been about money and budgeting. Once we put that behind us, it's been clear sailing.

What have been some of the highlights of your trip so far?

Our road trip from LA to NYC (before flying to Peru) still ranks at the top of our travels. From the amazement of the Grand Canyon, to meeting each others friends and family (not to mention my first time in New York City!) this part of the trip metaphorically seemed like the honeymoon - full of young energy and anticipation, while South America has been more like the marriage -day to day problem solving adventures that take patience and thoughtful response, learning every bit of the way.

How expensive is a trip like this?

It's as expensive as you want it to be, period. For us, we have made many little mistakes along the way that have added up. We are currently spending around $1,000 USD a month each (not including our original around the world plane tickets). The more savvy you are and the more sacrifices you are willing to make, the cheaper it becomes. Most of the time, traveling as a couple has saved us money because we were able to share costs of lodging, food and fun.

Judging by your travel map, your plan is to travel till September. What then?

The ultimate question. We have been struggling with this question for the past few days as we make major changes to our trip and lives. The new plan is that Marisa is heading back to Mexico (where she lived for eight years prior to LA) this week to reunite with the ashram and orphanage that she helped start, while I continue traveling for a few months. Travel has taught us both so much about ourselves and each other. In Marisa's case it's given her great clarity about what she wants to do in life and where. She has found what she was searching for through this journey and soon I will join her and explore the place she wants to call home to see if it also for me. Our love for each other has only grown stronger through all of our experiences and we have faith that this change in plans, although a challenge, will be yet another blessing along our journey.

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Izzy and Marisa remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Winter: 15 Beautiful Photos by Travellers

2009-02-09T05:12:52Z

1. Skating meteor. Quebec, Canada By snowgirl.

2. Midnight snow in Munich, Germany. By StephenJen.

3. Berry ice. Albany, USA. By artsMark.

4. Jokulsarlon, Iceland. By Utrecht.

5. Today's Ice Age. Fox Glacier, New Zealand. By loumoscrop.

6. Into the void, Sweden. By Makini.

7. Lake Louise late May, Canada. By matorm.

8. Ice Blue. Albany, USA. By artsMark.

9. Lone Monk, Koya-san, Japan. By jwongyboy.

10. Lighthouse in Gaspesie, Quebec, Canada. By snowgirl.

11. Vodici holidays in the village of Bitushe, Macedonia. By roberts.

12. Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand. By kiwilara.

13. Picnic spot, New Zealand. By loumoscrop.

14. Powdered Great Wall, China. By kkkookie.

15. Winter in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. By LuisDafos.

Every month, Travellerspoint throws a travel photo competition with a unique theme. The photos above are the favourites from last month's Winter photo competition.

Congratulations to snowgirl, whose amazing photo "Skating Meteors" from Canada was this month's winner. She wins a $500 voucher from HotelClub.com.au as well as a Globetrotter's Logbook and a 5GB increase of her photo storage limit on Travellerspoint. Runners-up StephenJen will also receive a Globetrotter's Logbook and a 5GB increase of their photo storage limit.

We've changed the format of our competitions somewhat, so there are actually two competitions running at the same time. Right now, you can vote for the best photos in the Beaches photo competition. Or you can start entering photos for the new Music themed photo competition. Find out more about the competition here.

Check out the results of past competitions:

Winter: 15 Beautiful Photos by Travellers remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Marlis

2009-01-14T03:46:31Z

Every month (or so), I interview someone from the Travellerspoint community for the Talking Travel series. Today, I have an interview with Marlis for you. You've probably seen Marlis around the forums, but you've almost certainly seen some of her photos featured on the Travellerspoint home page. In this interview, Marlis tells us about her travels in 2008, plans for the new year and her love for photography.

Marlis on her Antarctic cruise.

Happy New Year Marlis! Did you do much travelling in 2008?

Let me first wish you and all TP members a very exiting New travel year.

2008 was a good one for me, traveled as much as I could. You know how it is when you have a business, there are slow weeks when you can go away and let your assistant take care. In 2008 I started early with my dream trip to the most southern place in the world, Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia in Argentina, where the trip to the Antarctic Peninsula started. It was really a unforgettable experience. Flying in a little plain over the Beagle Canal and some days in Buenos Aires at the end were also highlights of the first trip of the year.

Before I had left I had booked already the next flight to Buenos Aires for April. My brother who lives in NZ and Germany had asked me to give him some tips about places he should visit in South America, so I booked for him accommodation (through TP) for the whole trip and told him and his wife that I feel very sorry that I can't meet them so short after my big trip. Big surprise when they came from Chile I was waiting in Buenos Aires at the Airport. We had seen each other last time 9 years ago in NZ so we enjoyed for 2 weeks BA and Iguazu together before they left for Brazil and I made on my way home a 1 week stop in Ecuador again to visit my godchild.

In October I had the feeling that I needed some days just to relax and study for my exam for my Dutch passport, besides shopping for my business in Ecuador. In Vilcabamba I found the perfect place, not too high and with a pleasant climate, spoiled myself at the spa, enjoyed the Bavarian food (hostel owners are from Bavaria, Germany) so it was more a relaxing vacation then travelling.

What about 2009? What are your travel plans for this coming year?

Right now I don't know where to go, Patagonia or Brazil - maybe I should flip a coin. At the moment I only have tickets to BA booked but should make a decision soon since I leave on the 5th of February. For later this year I have no plans yet but this may change, depending on how much the economy situation will affect my business.

Anyone who's browsed through your photo gallery will know that you take some beautiful photos. What kind of camera do you use?

Olympus 5050, Olympus E 100 RS, Olympus E 520/70-300mm and 14-42mm Nikon Coolpix 8800. The E 100 RS is my favorite. It's fast and has a very good lens. The other ones have more pixels but are slow compared to the E 100.

Fire at Torres del Paine, Chile. Photo by Marlis.

How long have you been interested in photography?

This question brings back childhood memories. My brother's hobby was photography and his bedroom was also his darkroom. I was fascinated when he was showing and teaching me everything from taking a photo till the print. Not realy a surprise that I was later working as a photographer until I left Germany.

One of the things I find on trips is that it's easy to get distracted by always wanting to get a good shot. You see something beautiful, so you want to take a photo. But as a result, you don't stop to enjoy it and really experience the place. Do you find this?

Yes, but only when I have to follow like a sheep a guided tour so I try to avoid it and arrange a private taxi tour or walk around alone. I really hate it when I can't take my time to enjoy the places where I am. I like to sit down and watch the people passing by, talking to the vendors at the flea markets and watching painters or street performers.

You're originally from Germany, but you've been living in the Netherlands Antilles for the past 17 years. What attracted you to the Netherlands Antilles?

Actually it's 18 years now that I've lived here on Bonaire, one of the 5 Islands of the Netherlands Antilles (this is changing). It was love at first sight; this was my place and I could feel it: Tranquil and peaceful, multicultural and unspoiled, no ghettos, the climate, the language, easygoing on Island time but with some influence from Europe/Netherlands.

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Marlis remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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旅游社区

2008-12-30T19:45:56Z

Travellerspoint is now available in Chinese!

Travellerspoint 旅游社区 (Simplified)
Travellerspoint 旅游社區 (Traditional)

Peter announced this a few days ago in the forums, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a quick post for the blog too. As Peter mentions, this is a monumental task, as aside from the translation of the site as a whole itself, the code for the entire site has been adjusted to allow for multilingual settings.

Unlike pretty much every other site I am aware of, on Travellerspoint you don't have to choose just one language if you speak more than one. Say you speak both English and Chinese, then you can add one in as a second language. When you do this, content on Travellerspoint in both languages will be shown! The forum will not just be Chinese, it will also have the English forums showing. Pretty nifty and if we're not mistaken, a leap forward from anything else out there on the interwebs. Can you tell we're excited about this?

More information in Peter's forum post or just head over to http://cn.travellerspoint.com or http://tw.travellerspoint.com.

旅游社区 remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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13 Images of Rural Life

2008-12-02T09:01:40Z

1. Rice paddies at sunset near Yangshou, China. By saintjason.

2. Off to market in Sapa, Vietnam. By robjwood.

3. Curious children at an abandoned palace in rural Rajasthan, India. By Ardy.

4. Windmill in the Alblasserwaard, Netherlands. By Utrecht.

5. Bringing in the timber, India. By dinah1.

6. Salinas Grandes, Argentina. By JOSE_MARIA.

7. Traditional farming methods in Ankober, Ethiopia. By kiwilara.

8. Wooden church, Iceland. By Utrecht.

9. The very quiet, unspoiled hamlet of Gropina in Tuscany, Italy. By david.byne.

10. The good ol' swimming hole, Cambodia. By Daver141.

11. Ox cart in hill country, Myanmar. By john7buck.

12. Golden fields of wheat on the way to the terraced amphitheatre of Moray in the Sacred Valley near Cuzco, Peru. By joffre.

13. Wall and houses in the little village of Faial de Terra, located on the large island São Miguel of the Azores, Portugal. By Makini.

Every month, Travellerspoint throws a travel photo competition with a unique theme. The photos above are the favourites from last month's Rural photo competition.

Congratulations to saintjason, whose photo of rice paddies in Yangshuo was this month's winner. Jason wins a $50 Amazon voucher, a Globetrotter's Logbook and a 5GB increase of his photo storage limit on Travellerspoint. Runner-up robjwood will also receive a Globetrotter's Logbook and a 5GB increase of his photo storage limit.

If you missed out this time, be sure to check out our new competition. This month, the theme is Winter. Find out more about the competition here.

Check out the results of past competitions:

13 Images of Rural Life remains copyright of the author Peter, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Photos in your Moblog Entries

2009-07-10T01:56:58Z

So Dodgey has been asking about why you can't put photos exactly where you want them in your moblog entries (those email entries you email or MMS to your blog). To be honest, I thought we were limited here due to some technical restraints, but Sander made a great suggestion the other day on how to work around this, so today while it was raining outside and my wife and daughter were having a nap I decided to give this a shot. I'm going to use my daughter Malia as a model for the photos, but any photo should work (jpg/png/gif etc.).

Here's photo number one; inserted automatically in this position. Text should continue under the photo.

The 'problem' basically was that in the past if you added or attached photos to your email, it would always put those at the very end of your post. Whilst that's a good first step, Dodgey wanted to include the photos exactly where he had planned them, and seeing as I've run into this myself, I could certainly see the added value of this!

Here's photo number two; inserted automatically in this position. Text should continue under the photo.

So, how do I do this I hear you all asking?!

When writing an email that you plan to email in to your blog, put [img] whereever you want to have the photo inserted. Then attach the photos in the order you want them inserted and hit send. The photos will be uploaded as they are regularly and inserted in the same order you have attached them.

QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE

Q: What if I just want to attach them at the back of the email like I always have?
A: Go for it, nothing has changed. Just don't add [img] to your text anywhere!

Q: What happens if I attach 5 photos, but only include [img] 2 times?
A: It will put the first 2 images where you have the [img] tags and the remaining 3 photos will be put at the end of the blog entry. Nifty? I think so!

Q: What if I attach 2 photos, but include the [img] tag 9 times?
A: It will replace the first two instances of the [img] tag, and the remaining ones will just say [img]. A good example of this in action is this very blog post

Q: What if I want to add in photos from another site in my emailed in blog entry?
A: We're so cool, that's always been possible! So let's say I decided to include a photo of a different Malia, like the one on this page on Flickr. I just have to include the tag with the proper image link in it and it will add it to your blog entry. In this case, the photo is located at http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3254/3008257287_6fc70d5538.jpg , so I type [ img=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3254/3008257287_6fc70d5538.jpg] (remove the space right at the very beginning) would insert the photo whereever you put it, like right here:
Malia Obama, creative commons from Flickr

There you have it; this entire post was emailed in and I haven't done any editing on it whatsoever. Everything down to the links added in right here in Apple Mail, but any old email system would work. MMS should also work, but I'm not even sure if you can add multiple photos to an MMS?

Thanks for the suggestion Sander and if anyone has any questions; please ask in the comments or reply to the forum thread.

Photos in your Moblog Entries remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Talking Travel with Gretchen (aka. Isadora or "TP Mom")

2008-11-01T17:32:58Z

Fifteen vacation days a year may limit Gretchen's (aka Isadora) travel opportunities, but that hasn't stopped her from being one of Travellerspoint's most active members, with over 12,000 forum entries, a ton of photos uploaded and a lot of additions to the wiki travel guide. All this activity has earned her unofficial status as "Travellerspoint Mom".

I figured it was about time to turn the spotlight on our TP Mom.

Isadora with her husband, TP's Beerman.

You're known on the forums as the "Travellerspoint Mom". How does it feel to be charged with the maternal responsibility for an entire online community?!

Wow! You are one tough interviewer, Dr. Pepper! Did you know there's a soft drink named after you? You're world famous! Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to digress... What was the question again? Ah, how does it feel to be charged with the maternal responsibility for an entire online community - right... To be honest with you, it's absolutely lovely. It's downright communal. Seriously. Look at it from my perspective - there are no nappies/diapers to change, no one is asking for the car keys or money for their travels, they all want to spread their wings and fly to unknown destinations, and I don't have to feed them. Granted, I'm a pretty good cook (ask those who have visited Isa Manor) but that number of daily meals would break the bank. Ultimately, being TP Mom just requires me to do what I have always done - answer people's questions honestly, give them support and let them fly. As you stated, it is a community and my ultimate goal is to be TP Great-Grandmom. (With 12,000+ posts, I'm off to a good start. Just don't tell anyone how I really earned them.) I'm not sure I would have been so liberal had I had my own children but I would hope so. I know how I felt growing up and being constrained. I don't want anyone to feel they can't go somewhere or do something because someone else doesn't see the point. Go! Explore! Enjoy! Fly! Don't forget to send post cards! Maybe call once in awhile!

You know this question isn't fair... You promised to start with "What is your name?" or "What's your favorite color?" or "What is the capital of Ancient Assyria?". I can answer those easily. (By the way the answers are Gretchen, purple and Nineveh.) Maternal responsibility is... well... a responsible question... By the way, are there martinis served during this interview? Okay, back to topic (a favorite Moderator comment) - I like the TP Mom distinction because it means that members know me, trust me and feel comfortable with me. Most of them like martinis too. And, the occasional spanking - it just comes with the territory. (Ummmm, you do know that there are about 172,686 members who don't know I'm TP Mom... Just thought I'd pass that along... Don't mind me...) What's the next question?

How did you first discover TP? Why did you decide to stick around?

Okay, now we're getting to the easy stuff. Phew!! I was beginning to worry that all of your questions were going to be of the "How does it feel" genre and I was panicking. How's the weather feel down in Melbourne? I hear it's about 14C during the day. We're about the same! Go fig! Oh, what was that again? How did I discover TP and why did I stay? Good questions. I've been asking myself the same things since 2005. Kris (beerman) and I were planning a trip to Panama because we'd read about the large ex-pat population and wanted to check it out for ourselves. I searched several different websites but experienced a "zero comfort level" with all but TP. I posted my first question on January 19, 2005. It received no responses by the time we left for Panama and I neglected to check back after we returned. All this time, I've been waiting for a reply and then I was outta here. Until you began this interview little did I know someone responded the day before we returned from our trip. (Yup, found that old thread.) I guess it's too late to quit TP now... I could but what would be the point. I'm TP Mom. If truth be told, we've stuck around because we've met some awesome people on this site, including Sam and Pete. You've met them, right? (Oh, have I got stories for you...) Again, seriously, we love the community and feel "at home" here. We have been "embraced" by total strangers who, over time, have become some of our closest friends. To date, we've been to 4 TP Meet-ups and have met 16 other TPers (including the above mentioned Overlords and the famous Cupcake) plus additional non-members who just had to see what this travel forum thingy was all about. (Don't tell anyone this either but the real reason I stick around - I'm co-moderator of Off Topic - how fun is that??!!! Oops - and I keep speaking for beerman ... Bad Isa...)

When was your first big overseas trip?

It all depends on how you define "big" or "overseas" or both. My first "big overseas" (meaning Atlantic Ocean) trip was September 2006 when we traveled to Ireland for a TP meet-up. It was also the year the American team lost the Ryder Cup trophy to the Europeans in Dublin and I had to pay Jase007 $5.00USD. No, not because I like him so much, I just lost the bet. (Hahaha - this year he lost and has yet to pay up. Kris is still waiting by the mailbox for that 10BPS.) Again, I digress... Anyway...

Prior to Ireland, my first "big overseas" trip was Jamaica in 1985 with my dad. My mom had passed away and we didn't want to spend Christmas in the deep dark depths of snow and depression. (Midwesterners, ya know. Insert Minnesota accent here. Sort of like a Canadian accent but different. We don't say "eh" at the end of everything.) Christmas had been her favorite time of year so we chose to celebrate it in our own way - in the sunshine. I even got my diving certification so I could see the things she'd always been afraid of under the water. (She had nearly drowned years before and always had a certain apprehension when I would go swimming.) It may not qualify as a "big overseas" trip but it will always be one of the most important trips I have ever taken. It brought me back together with my dad (a relationship that had been teetering on disaster for some time) and allowed him to see me as an adult. Okay - a bit maudlin but a defining moment nonetheless. We continued those trips for the next nine years until he passed away. Sorry, not to take away from Ireland... We had a wonderful time while in Ireland and met several TP members in the process. We can thank Pardus for taking us on a whirlwind tour of the country over 10 days (driving the circumference of Ireland). Since then, we have had Pardus, Jase007 and Purdy visit us at Isa Manor. Hopefully, we'll get back to the Emerald Isle to visit them soon. (Okay, Pardus has visited us 3 times - but he just doesn't take no for an answer.)

What do you look for in your travel destinations?

Free room and board - with a view. Nothing tacky, mind you. It has to be upscale, pool, jacuzzi, mini-bar, full breakfast (none of this continental breakfast - stale pastry and a cup of coffee stuff) and free laundry service. Okay, I'll be blunt - 6 star service, nothing less. Hey, I'm 55 years old and I enjoy creature comforts like clean sheets, a real bed, and a private bath. Yes, I'm, joking. Sort of. It really boils down to the type of "vacation" we're looking for at the time. Kris has 15 days of holiday leave so it doesn't bode well for 10 months of "on the road in S. America or Australia or S.E. Asia". If we want to relax, dive, eat, drink and just do nothing - we choose the all-inclusive resort packages. If we want to see particular regions, we do the cross-country driving tours. (Yes, there are people who will say, "take the buses" but with only 15 days and a whole country to scout out, spending most of it on a bus isn't all that appealing.) We book accommodations for the first/last nights then point to a spot on the map and we're off.

Regardless of which style vacation we choose, we do make a point to explore and experience the country and culture. Not too horribly long ago, during one of our "get out of Dodge" Jamaican trips, we were invited to visit some friends at the Desnoes & Geddes Brewery in Kingston - home of the world famous Red Stripe Beer. The car rental agency in Ocho Rios gave us a bright red Daewoo Llanos, pointed in the direction of Kingston and said, "Don't get killed." We think they purposely put us in a bright red car to warn everyone crazy Americans were behind the wheel and likely to drive on the right (wrong) side of the road. We didn't. The 60-mile tour de force through Fern Gully and over mountains and across one-car-width-wide bridges took 3 hours but we got there... In one piece and no accidents. We dodged cows, goats and little children walking to school. The children watch for traffic but the livestock... Well, let's just say they don't seem to have a very long lifespan when tethered to road signs. Kris and I also ended up making a deal somewhere along the way. The more nervous I became, the more I was allowed to sing - with increasing volume. By the time we arrived in Kingston, the poor guy was almost completely deaf. I was fine because the car had stopped moving. Did you know that Jamaicans not only speak English and Patois, but they have another whole language spoken in car horn and flashing headlights? It's amazing and if we ever decide to drive in the country again, we might be able to teach "Horn-Honking as a Second Language" to pay for the trip. Oh, yes, our friends were happy to see us but forced us to leave after a few hours so we'd be back in Ocho Rios before dark. We also had to promise to call when we got back though they beat us to it - 4 messages - each one more frantic than the last. That trip prepared us for Ireland - where they also expected us to drive on the right (wrong) side of the road. We did. But only for one block. Okay, maybe two.

I guess the lesson here is: "It doesn't matter your style of travel or the destination. Just be open and understanding of the local culture.

What are some of your favourite holiday spots in the USA?

Hmmmm... This is a hard one... They aren't the "big attractions" that most people want to see such as the Grand Canyon or Yosemite or the Redwood Forest. And, that's mainly because I haven't been to any of those places myself. I'm guessing if I say "my own back yard" people will think it's too Dorothy-ish. You know - Wizard of Oz. (Wonderful movie. You should watch it. It's not about Australia. And I like the flying monkeys the best.) What was that? Oh, okay, back to the topic...

First on my list is New Orleans, Louisiana. It's been years since I was there but I want to go back in the worst way. The culture within the city and throughout the whole state for that matter is unique and distinctive. I contemplated moving there at one time but then life got in the way. Oh well.

Second on the list is Crystal River, Florida. There's a Best Western right on the river and the dive shop next door rents pontoon boats. The hotel is neither here nor there but it is convenient. The manatees come up river in the winter and calve there in spring. We've discovered the secret to finding their hiding places and have been rewarded with hours of sightings. Kris had one mother almost knock him off his feet when he got into the river to cool off. She was just checking him out. Our best friend and his family live 20 minutes away so we try to get down there yearly - for the manatees and our friend. The Rainbow River is right there also and it's beautiful. It's crystal clear, 23C all year round and great snorkeling. Back to Crystal River - the best burgers for miles and miles in any direction are right next door to the Best Western too, at a place called Crackers. It's on the right side and the dive shop is on the left - can't miss either of them.

Third would be Yellowstone National Park. I've only ever seen a small portion of the park and it's another "need to go back" destination. There is no other geological site in the world like it. Did you know that the Yellowstone sits on top of an active volcano? Check it out, it's pretty cool!

Last would have to be my own back yard. It's not much to look at but when we get TP visitors, it's the place to be. Martini anyone? We can do Mojitos too.

Do you have any future trips planned?

Do I have any future trips planned????? You mean like actually planning a trip and then actually going there??? You mean like leaving home and the safety of TP???? No, no, no!!!! You're interviewing TP's most vicarious traveler. I let everyone else do the planning, traveling and blogging about their adventures. Sometimes they even send me post cards to prove "we've" been such and such a place. It's a great way to explore the world - cheap too. Besides, it will probably be snowing soon and beerman will be lucky just to get to work let alone to an airport.

Okay, I see by the look on your face that you're not falling for that one. Understandable. We do talk about future trips all of the time. The one with the greatest potential for being next is another driving tour. We have our favorite music artists who sing about different towns and cities in the US. Such a trip would take us to (in no particular order because we haven't plotted out a map yet) Nashville, Pascagoula, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Vicksburg, and a few more. If we time it well, we'll be able to visit some friends during the Jazz & Heritage Fest in New Orleans.

Another one on the list harkens back to my dad and his time in the South Pacific during World War II. I have "cats eyes" (semi-precious gems) that he gathered from a beach in Guadalcanal. I have one of the U.S.S. Denver's war room rubber maps of Peleliu. I have a journal he kept during that time and it lists all of the islands he visited. I plan to see them all for myself before too long. It may not be tomorrow or even next year, but I will get there.

Anyway, there are my answers and I'm stickin' to 'em. You're still one tough interviewer, Dr. P.! Did you know there's a soft drink named after you? You're world famous. They even have a jingle: "I'm a Pepper, He's a Pepper, She's a Pepper, We're a Pepper, Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too? Be a Pepper ~ Drink Dr Pepper."

Check out these past interviews in the Talking Travel series:

Talking Travel with Gretchen (aka. Isadora or "TP Mom") remains copyright of the author dr.pepper, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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