Picks from the Travesphere

Just recently, Richard, from A Month in Venice, wrote a post detailing a few of his favourite Travel Blogs. He also invited other bloggers to add to this list with their own favourites from the travesphere.

Being indecisive, I couldn’t narrow it down to just one addition so I just had to say what the hell and add a couple from my rather long list of regular reads. Go on, say it – I just don’t care, do I?

My first addition is leaveamerica.info – Worldwide Travel on a Budget, run by the very amiable Nia. Now, I find this particular travel blog appealing as, although it has the dependable theme of travel on the cheap, you never really know what you are going to get next. It’s random. And I like random.

And my second addition? Well, it has to be Stacey’s Rambling Traveler. If you haven’t seen or read it yet, I thoroughly recommend paying a visit to the rambler and enjoy all that is on offer.

As always, I enjoy discovering new travel blogs. One great method of uncovering new reads is by following recommends and learning of other readers favourites. So, if you run a blog and would like to join the party by sharing your favourite travel blogs then why not knock up a similar post, add your favourites to the list, and post it encouraging others to do the same? Not only can we all benefit from a modicum of link love from sharing the one list and the blogs therein, but, more importantly, with so many travel blogs and travel bloggers out there the chances of highlighting some previously unheard of blogs are high.

If you want to share your favourites, all you need do is write a quick blurb on your recommended reads, add them to this list, and then put the new list below like this.

___________________Start Copying Here___________________The Originals

• Leave America
• Rambling Traveler
• Go Budget Travel
• A Month In Venice
• TravelMinx
• Budget Globetrotting
• Ubertramp
• GoBackpacking

___________________End Copying Here_______________________

Groovy. Now let’s see what else we can come up with!

Social Travel Networks: Do We Need Another?

With the internet running head on into its Web 2.0 phase, we’re seeing social networks popping up all over the shop. A little while ago I even flirted with the idea of jumping on the bandwagon and creating a community aspect on ubertramp.com. But, after seeing just what else was already on offer among the other social networking sites (especially those focussing more on backpacking and travel), I decided that my time would be better spent reading Strunk & White’s ‘Elements of Style’, improving me grammer n spelling, and attempting to polish my writing skills. Although some of you may find this hard to accept, I feel there is still room for further improvement… Read more

Pigs in the Toilet: A Serialised Travelogue

A couple of weeks a go I received an email telling me about a site called Pigs in the Toilet. With the excessive surfing that I do, how this one stayed under the radar I will never know.

Pigs in the Toilet is a travel “blog-book” that Jeff is publishing online in short, bite-sized instalments. The story follows him (and others) on a six-month trip from Tokyo to Paris.

Yes, it sounds like just about any other travel blog. But it isn’t. For one, Jeff took this trip in 2001. More importantly, though, it reads like a book. There is a storyline. There are chapters. There are characters.

Unfortunately for Jeff, there is no publisher. Hence, we get to enjoy publication in a blog-like format. Or, as Jeff puts it, “a highly experimental experiment in experimental publishing.”

And what’s with that title, Pigs in the Toilet? Jeff says that the nominal purpose of the trip – aside from having a good time – was to verify a legendary anecdote he’d had heard from a friend. He claimed there were pigs in some Chinese toilets.

The story is not limited to this quest, of course, integral as it was. In fact, Jeff promises that the “other discoveries” are much more substantial…

There is, for example, his discovery of a French girl who decides to tag along with him.His discovery that young male travelers can make money modeling nude in Hong Kong, and his discovery that he is *not* the first Westerner to discover China.

Jeff uploads new instalments twice a week. He’s already on installment 32, but he promises there should be at least 30 more.

It certainly is an entertaining read so why not check it out. You can even subscribe to get each new instalment delivered right to you inbox.

Good work, Jeff – and I look forward to part 33!

If you wish to discover more of these goodies as I do, just click the orange button for your eternally free subscription to Ubertramp.com.

Shiny Stuff for Backpackers

Recently, I was asked to run a profile on www.thisnext.com’s Summer Getaway Guide, and give some recommends for backpackery type items that would come in handy on the road. Since I’m such a good egg, I agreed. And no, of course the chance of gaining a bit of extra publicity for Ubertramp.com didn’t even enter my mind.

In simple terms, I was asked to have a scoot around the site and look for shiny objects that, if I were to put my hand in my pocket, would consider purchasing and taking on one of my trips.

Now, I’m personally not on the verge of blowing the dust off my credit card and placing an order as, to me, it’s a wish list – the kind of stuff that would be lovely to receive at Christmas if planning to fly to far off lands soon afterwards.

Oh, one more thing, this ISN’T a sales pitch. I get no backhanders from it, no commission, or anything of the sort. It’s not an advert, I just thought I’d share this list of shiny and (semi) useful things with you lot, because I’m nice like that…and clearly too idle to write a separate and different post on Ubertramp. The phrase ‘2 birds and one stone’ comes to mind.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the list I forwarded. Read more

8 Recommended Travel Reads

I don’t know about you, but with so much travel orientated material on the web I find it difficult to know where to look and what too read. nevertheless, lately I’ve been doing a lot of looking, and even more reading. There’s some great stuff out there, and here are just a hand full of superb travel orientated sites that I would like to share with you all.

Marshmallow loving Araptirop continues his Backpacking Odyssey through East Africa, providing us with an insight into his adventure through a rich and somewhat humorous writing style. With the bureaucratic morass of Ethiopia now behind him he faces new challenges in Uganda.

Sick of the daily grind, Glen and Isla had a “Sod it. Why not?” moment four months ago and hit the road. So far their journey has taken them from the United Kingdom to Asia, with their Last known Location being Hong Kong Island. Some super photos and a great blog for that vicarious travel fix.

Canadian Chris may even catch Glen and Isla as he goes the other way, traveling from Asia through to England on $5,000 Moose Bucks (or Canadian Dollars, for those that aren’t as hopelessly sarcastic as me). Guys, keep your eyes peeled for a pack with red maple leaf on Currently in Laos, he still has a long way to travel (and hopefully lots more absorbing travelingchris.com Blog entries to post) , and I wish him safe passage and good travel karma. The lucky so and so…

Rambling Traveler Stacey never ceases to come up with the goods in her blog. With a recent flurry of superb photos to drool over and many alluring travel posts, this blog has to be seen. Viewing her updates has almost become as much a part of my morning routine as wishing I were back on the road sooner, having that ‘morning scratch’, and putting the kettle on!

Do you desire to live a life of temperance? Want to give your travel buddies the slip because they get up too early, ’scratch themselves’ too much, and only make brews for themselves? Then the tips from Paul at www.travmonkey.com may be right up your street. Travmonkey’s ‘ Control My travel ‘ experiment, coming up in April, will also be one to watch.

Timen’s ‘Experience Traveling’ site In My Allstars has a plethora of useful travel tips and information geared toward gaining a better insight into the world in which we live and travel. Regularly updated with ‘news, views, and ‘how to do’s’, this is definitely a site worth bookmarking.

Nomad4ever’s spirited journal defines traveling lifestyle issues in Asia. This site contains many a good snippet of information, specialising to a degree in Indonesian affairs close to a traveler’s heart, such as a cultural insight, visas, and the mechanics behind travel within Indo. Although some may say I am slightly biased toward this site, as my next lengthy trip will see me once again revisiting this vast and magnificently diverse country, I still maintain that this is a worthy read for all.

248 days until the adventure begins! Dave at GoBackpacking.com sets off for his solo Round The World Adventure in December 2007, however, the boots are already on! Before the ‘Big Off’ he invites us to share his previous travel experiences, and his plans, saving strategies , hopes and fears for the forthcoming trip on his blog. Considering the high quality of content on offer at this current time on the site in general, this travelogue promises to be a real spin during the RTW extravaganza.

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