Discovery Channel Gets Into The Travel Business

by Kraig Becker on

The Discovery Channel has announced that it is getting into the travel industry by launching “Discovery Adventures” later this year. The intent is to offer adventure travelers the chance to visit the places that often are depicted on the channel’s many outdoor related television shows.

Discovery has joined forces with established adventure travel operator G.A.P. Adventures and will soon be offering 30 trips to destinations around the globe. The website for Discovery Adventures is expected to go online in July, allowing travelers to begin booking trips at that time.

This new move from Discovery is in keeping with a strategy they announced some time back to extend their brand away from just television and into markets that make sense for their demographic. For example they intend to launch a line of outdoor gear under the Discovery Expedition label as well.

Personally, I’m big fan of the Discovery Channel. What adventure traveler isn’t? Hopefully they aren’t just slapping their logo on to existing tours from G.A.P. and calling it a “Discovery Adventure”, while charging customers an extra fee. I fully expect that these trips will come at a bit of a premium, but hopefully the Discovery brand will add something as well. For example, who wouldn’t want to explore the backcountry with Bear Grylls? The meals would be interesting at the very least!

Round the world tickets for two up for grabs

by Brenda Yun on


Who ever said free round the world tickets and 49 other great travel-related prizes weren’t easy to win? HostelBookers.com has organized a fantastically simple contest to spread the word that its website offers booking prices at 4.2% below its top competitors. That research was performed by EyeForTravel.com, and the results can be read HERE.

HostelBookers partnered with roundtheworldexperts.co.uk to offer one lucky traveler the chance to win round the world air travel and hostel accommodation for two people. If that’s not enough, you can win some other cool prizes like a Sony camcorder, iPhone, iPod, as well as backpacks full of travel goodies and travel hammocks.

All you have to do is visit this site and answer the simple question at the bottom of the page. (The answer is in the first paragraph of this post. I think you can figure it out.) You have until May 8 to enter, and winners will be notified by June 1.

Good luck!

Visiting Every Country On Earth

by Kraig Becker on

Most travelers have a “life list”. That is to say, a list of travel destinations that are amongst their “must see”, such as the Great Pyramids or Machu Picchu. Others set goals to visit certain countries, selecting ones that appeal to them on some level.

That’s exactly what Chris Guillebeau did when he was 22 and working in Africa for an international charity group. At the time, Guillebeau says, that he was traveling a lot within Africa itself, and making frequent trips back to Europe as well. He was visiting a lot of unique and interesting places, and remained fascinated with the cultures that he saw.

Then, in 2006, at the age of 28, he set a goal for himself to visit 100 countries before he turned 30, somehting he accomplished last year. But in this interview for the New York Times, he admits that about halfway through his quest to reach triple digits, he began to realize that he was setting his sights too low, and has now set a new goal for himself – to visit every country on the planet before he turns 35.
Guillebeau admits that things are starting to get tougher, as he is running out of countries that offer easy access. He mentions that he’ll have to start focusing on making arrangements to get to Chad, the South Pacific, or Central Asia soon, but he makes no mention of visiting such places as North Korea or Somalia, which aren’t exactly welcoming to foreigners.

Of course, with all of this travel, Guillebeau knows all the tricks to make things as easy as possible. He generally has upgrades to first class on domestic flights, many of which he trades away to other passengers, and he recently talked his way onto a flight to Karachi, without the proper paperwork or visas to enter the country. He also knows how to play the system to get as many frequent flier miles as possible, something he shared with us a few months back.

I have to hand it to Chris. When he creates a life list, he doesn’t think small. My question is, what do you do when you hit age 35 and you’ve already visited everywhere? He better hope Virgin Galactic expands its routes, and quickly.

U.S. Calls for Limits on Antarctic Tourism

by Kraig Becker on

Following in the wake of the report released earlier this week that an “inexperienced and over confident” captain caused an Antarctic cruise ship to sink, the U.S. is calling for tighter restrictions on tourism to the Southern Ocean, and the continent itself.

According to this story in the Sydney Morning Herald, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is asking for limitations to the size of cruise ships traveling the Antarctic waters, and limits to the number of passengers that can go ashore as well. Smaller vessels would be more maneuverable when avoiding icebergs and navigating the treacherous waters in the region, and limiting the number of visitors who can go on land would help protect the fragile environment there as well.

The article notes that the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators has its own code of conduct which has similar restrictions. But following that code is completely voluntary, and with the sharp increase in tourism to Antarctica over the past decade, there is a growing fear that disaster could strike. This was underscored no only with the sinking of the cruise liner in 2007, but two more ships running aground in this past season.

There are 28 signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty, which is now more than 50 years old. Last week those nations met at a conference designed to review that treaty, and the new guidelines were proposed there. If the proposal is adopted, ships carrying more than 500 passengers will be banned, and no more than 100 passengers can go ashore at any given time. The proposal also calls for one guide per 20 passengers as well.

%Gallery-40580%

Inexperinced Captain Blamed for Antarctic Cruise Ship Sinking

by Kraig Becker on

Back in November of 2007 a cruise ship, called the Explorer, owned and operated by GAP Adventures, a well known and respected adventure travel operator, went down in the Southern Ocean. Fortunately, none of the 154 people on board were killed, or even injured for that matter, and rescue ships were on the scene within hours. But many were left to wonder how such an accident could happen.

Eighteen months after the incident occurred, the Liberian Maritime Bureau has released its report, citing an “inexperienced and over confident” captain as the biggest reason the ship went down. According to this story in the U.K.’s Independent, investigators feel that if it weren’t for the unusually calm weather at the time, this could have easily become the worst disaster in Antarctic history.

The report also sheds more details on the accident, saying that the captain of the ship ran his vessel into what is described as a “wall of ice”, traveling at a high rate of speed, seriously misjudging the thickness of that ice. The collision tore a ten foot long cut in the hull of the vessel, much larger than was previously reported, sending it to the bottom of the ocean.
The captain of the Explorer is a Swede by the name of Bengt Wiman. It was not Wiman’s first trip into the Antarctic waters, as he had made the journey many times before as a first mate. This was, however, his first trip in command of his own ship, and that inexperience seems to have shown through. The report also cites him for manuvering in the icefield after dark as well.

Frequent Gadling contributor Jon Bowermaster has posted his thoughts on the subject in a blog post on his site. He was aboard one of the first rescue ships that came to the aid of the Explorer. Bowermaster tells us that ship itself was also part of the problem, as the Explorer was more than 40 years old, and had reportedly failed inspections on more than one occasion in the past. There are some indications that its hull integrity was compromised due to corrosion in several areas, which may have also led to the ship’s rapid demise.

The report underscores a growing sentiment that Antarctic tourism may be a disaster waiting to happen. There have long been concerns about the impact of tourism on the fragile environment there. But the sinking of the Explorer, along with two more ships running aground this year, has many concerned.