Be on TV

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s your big chance to get that travel show you’ve always wanted. The folks at the Travel Channel
are looking for a couple to be part of a new show based on the book 1000 Things to Do Before You Die, the Lifelist
book that is all the rage these days. They are looking for folks who will get to do things like visit the pyramids in
Egypt or Raft the Grand Canyon or swim with dolphins. I know, you’re eyes are bugging out right now. You’ve got a pen
in your hand and are breathing heavily, wondering when I will get to the point.

OK, OK, here’s the rub.
There are a few small rules. First, you need to be able to travel for up to four months without returning home. So quit
that crappy job. Hey boss, I’m going on safari in Africa, for free…and I’m going to be on TV, so take that Xerox toner
and, well, you know what you can do with it. OK, next. You have to download and fill out a questionnaire and an
application/release that says you will not hold the Travel Channel responsible for getting eaten by a lion on
safari…even if they covered you with hamburger and left you on the savannah overnight.

Then, and here
comes the tough part, you have to make and send to the Travel Channel folks a short videotape of you and your partner
(lasting no more than three minutes) showing how well you get together, what you look like on camera, how you sound,
and why you are inspired to travel. Pls. no Paris Hilton films! Then, finally, send in some pics of yourself. Couldn’t
be easier ,right? So what are you waiting for, get going!

Brainy Holidays

by Neil Woodburn on

If
you’re the type who likes to take your brain on vacation with you and actually use it, then spare a moment to
consider some of the following “research holidays.”  Built around the dual themes of learning and
research, these vacations combine the challenge of learning with the adventure of travel. 

Mark MacKenzie of The Independent does a nice job summarizing a few of the better options
that are available for those of you with Indiana Jones aspirations.  For more detailed information, check out the
article here.  

Shangri La River Expeditions – Jump in a kayak or
raft and help geoscientists map out river tributaries in western China.  No prior geoscience experience necessary.

South Africa’s Kuruman River Reserve – Work with the Earthwatch
Institute to monitor Meerkat breeding.  No prior meerkat breeding experience necessary.  Earthwatch also has
141 other projects to choose from if meerkats don’t float your boat.

Hawaiian Volcanos – Aspiring vulcanologists can travel to Hawaii to
measure volcanic activity with the United States Geological Survey (USGS).  Don’t expect to spend much time
kicking it on the beach, however.  “Volunteers must be in top physical shape.”  This means lots
of trekking around with heavy research equipment.  Brain and brawn required on this one. 

Antarctica – The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has a variety of
volunteer positions available that ranging from cooking for the scientists to being a molecular phylogeneticist. 
Go now and experience Antarctica before it melts. 

Travel and Leisure's 50 Romantic Places

by Erik Olsen on

For the most part, I don’t do a lot
of linking to Travel and Leisure Magazine. I think it’s a fine glossy,
and I’ll often pick it up and thumb through it, but the clientele it serves, I think, tends to be a bit more, shall we
say, sybaritic, that the average gadling reader. The magazine tens to be about luxury travel, and the ideal gadling
experience, I think more often involves tents than gilded bathroom fixtures. Now that said, we are very much into
romance and love. It’s a wonderful thing to take an adventure with your spouse or significant other, and sometimes
along the road, you really want to find a place that caters to your every whim,  where you might drop a bit more
cashola than usual because you feel like you deserve it.

And so I offer this great little list of places to
go on your next romantic trip. From exotic places like the Capella Lodge at Lord
Howe island in Australia,  to the Losari Coffee Plantation Resort & Spa in Indonesia, and the Snaefell Peninsula in Iceland, there are some seriously cool recommendations here,
enough adventure, love and luxury here to experience in a lifetime.

Travel Innovators at T&L

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s one for travel buffs who are eager to know more about the folks behind the world of travel and tourism. I
didn’t think I’d find this very interesting when I first stumbled upon it over at Travel and Leisure, but I spent some time with it and
think it’s rather cool. The list here of those who are "changing the way you travel in the 21st century"
lists 35 innovators, a wide range of people who’s ideas are having amajor impact on the world of travel.

It’s an impressive group, from the guy who had the brilliant idea that it would be good to provide people with more legroom on airplane flights, to how
we’re going to all be checking email
at 35,00 feet, to a scientist who
developed a non-addictive sleeping pill, and the guys who pioneered building luxury
hotels in unorthodox destinations (about which we’ve blogged several times), it
really is a fascinating look at folks who, in some small (or large) way, affect each of us as we travel.

WorldMapper Maps

by Adrienne Wilson on

Anyone who enjoys looking at
maps as much as me and the geeky blogger over
at Geeky Traveller do, will have a field day checking out these maps found at WorldMapper. Don’t count on finding
your way around Durban, Montevideo, or Hollywood with this particular map. The map reflects international tourist trips
made in 2003 and territory size shows the proportion of world international tourist trips to that territory. WorldMapper
does the math by explaining it like so:

"In 2003 665 million international tourist trips were made.
Dividing this by the world population would mean 10.7% holidayed abroad. However some people make multiple trips, so
less than a tenth of the global population make tourist trips abroad…"

My math may not be that
hot, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on according to this map. The swelling above tiny
shriveled up Africa in red is mostly Western Europe which happens to be one of the world’s most popular destinations
for international tourists. Geeky Traveller makes a good point noting that the traveler
that likes to avoid tourists will find this map very useful.

There are several other maps like the one
above depicting Tourist Origins, Tourism Receipts, and Tourism Profit to name a few. See WorldMapper for the rest.