Blogger Alison Brick

by Alison Brick on
Introducing Alison Brick, Gadling’s newest blogger.

Where was your photo taken: I was tapping into my inner Lara Croft at Ta Prohm in Cambodia.

Where do you live now: Berkeley, CA

Scariest airline flown: My scariest flight had nothing to do with safety or technical difficulties, and everything to do with strictly regimented attendants who stewarded with a heavy hand. As in: don’t even think about getting up when that seat belt light is on.

Favorite city/country/place: Italy for the evening passegiata. Outback Australia for the contrasting colors of the landscape. Thailand for the food.

Most remote corner of the globe visited: Possibly Torres del Paine, Chile. And the thing that proves it’s a small world after all: I ran into somebody I knew on the hiking trail. That blows my mind.

Favorite guidebook series: Something low-end, for sure: Let’s Go, Lonely Planet.

Hotel, hostel, or other: Call me crazy, but I like hostels. There’s something comfortable and lived-in about them–rarely sterile and homogenous like hotels. It’s easier to connect with other travelers there.

Favorite means of transportation: Tuk tuks! It could be the wind in the hair, or the careening through the streets between cars/trucks/bikes/motorbikes.

How did you get started traveling: Driving across the country on family road trips every summer when I was growing up. No A/C, full days of driving, and pulling into a town and trying hotel after hotel from the AAA book for a vacancy probably prepared me well for travel later in life.

Daily deal – Apple 80GB iPod Classic for $189

by Scott Carmichael on

Did you get what you wanted for Christmas this year? If you opened all your gifts and only ended up with a new sweater and a gift card to a bankrupt store, then now is the time to treat yourself to something shiny and new.

Newegg.com currently has the Apple 80GB iPod classic on sale for just $189.

This low price is quite unheard of in the world of the iPod, and usually only happens with refurbished or “last year” models of the popular player. To make things even better, Newegg will also ship it to you for free.

There are other players out there, but the iPod is still the undisputed winner, and at this price you really won’t find anything better. Included in the box is of course the iPod itself, as well as a USB cable, a docking adapter and a pair of headphones.

Money-men agree on smart destinations

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Nobody has money, and nobody is traveling. Yet, somehow, Smart Destinations found a group of companies willing to sink a whopping $7 million into it. The company also picked up $3 million in debt financing, and it plans to use this newfound lagesse to expand its range of products and the markets in which it plays.

I’ve seen (and received) worse Christmas presents.

Obviously not off the cuff, the co-founder and CEO of Smart Destinations, Kevin McLaughlin, stated succinctly in a press release, “We’re obviously very pleased given today’s economy to have additional capital at our disposal.”

NewSpring Capital, a firm in Radnor, PA (I didn’t know they had venture capitalists in Pennsylvania), led the round of investment. It was joined by Square 1 Bank of Durham, NC, which also kicked inthe $3 million in debt financing.

So, just what the hell is Smart Destinations? What makes it worth receiving $10 million? The Boston-based company deals in unlimited admission attraction passes for 15 destinations in North America. Their network includes 425 attractions, all covered by a fixed price. So, if you want to go to the Met and MoMA, talk to these guys.

Air travel observations of a former flight attendant

by Jamie Rhein on

“A gate agent stood on the counter and shouted: ‘Don’t ask us for help! We cannot help you!'” is one of the lines in Ann Hood’s recent and enlightening Op-Ed piece “Up, Up and Go Away” in the New York Times. Hood, now a novelist–her latest novel is Knitting Circle, was a flight attendant back in the day where there were meal choices and the idea that flying was special.

Hood’s essay of comparing and contrasting air travel then and now was prompted by a recent trip she took to Rhode Island where the plane didn’t get her there. It wasn’t exactly the airlines’ fault that she and a few other passengers rented a van in Charlotte, N.C. after they arrived at the airport from Miami for a connecting flight. Upon arrival at the Charlotte airport, they found out there wasn’t going to be a plane to Rhode Island for quite some time. Bad weather had created the snafu. People were facing days of waiting.

Along with looking back on how flying used to be in the good old days, Hood makes an interesting connection between the state of air travel then and now. In the 1970s, when she worked for TWA., there was a fuel crisis and flight attendants had mandatory unpaid furloughs. From what she writes, it seems as though courtesy towards passengers never wavered despite the economy.

From what I gather, Hood thinks that airlines are creating problems by not ensuring that passengers are treated well. In her mind, what good is it if passengers get off of an airplane feeling disgruntled? I have to say that I’ve generally been lucky when it comes to courtesy, although I did have Hood’s experience where the ticket counter folks were nonchalant in their treatment of stranded passengers. I haven’t flown that airlines since then.

There’s nothing worse when travel is not going well when the people who are supposed to help things run smoothly say, “We cannot help.”

At that point I wonder, who will? In Hood’s case, when you’re stranded at an airport, you help yourself.

(The photo by gas_station_sushi is of a TWA airplane in the 1960s.)

Photo of the Day (12.25.08)

by Kent Wien on

If you were unfortunate enough this Christmas to be stuck in the O’Hare airport, let me apologize in advance for our choice for today’s Photo of the Day. This shot by jameskadamson is representative of the experience for so many this Christmas.

I especially like the use of black and white, which makes the architecture stand out. The unique design is, in fact, why it was chosen for a scene from the movie Home Alone.

Nice shot, James!

Are you a Flickr user who’d like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!