Gadlinks for Wednesday 7.8.09

by Brenda Yun on


Happy hump day! To get yourself over the week’s speed bump, here are today’s travel reads.

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks here.

Great American Road Trip 2009: The fly and drive combo New Mexico to Montana and back

by Jamie Rhein on

For the past seven summers, ever since we moved back from India, we’ve embarked on a Great American Road Trip. The first was the mega version that put 10,000 miles on a new Ford Taurus station wagon in three months. Mind you, this was in 2003 with a 10 year-old and a 1 ½ year old-and without video games, computers or a DVD player.

This year’s version is a fly drive combo. Three months for tootling around between the Atlantic and Pacific is harder to come by-three weeks, doable. Without a burning desire to drive through the Midwest to get to Montana from Ohio like last year when I waxed poetic about Wisconsin’s cheese curds, we flew on Northwest Airlines (aka Delta) over those endless corn and soybean fields to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sure Albuquerque is no where near Montana, our main destination, but there’s a reason for the detour.

I used to live in Albuquerque. So did my husband. Between us, we have loads of friends we haven’t seen since that first road trip. Besides, Albuquerque is a budget destination with cheap flights to get there and inexpensive car rentals for heading out on the open road IF you rent away from the airport (more on that later).

When planning a Great American Road Trip, I highly recommend the fly then drive option. One year we flew to Denver and drove to Montana. Another year we flew to Seattle. With a limited time frame, the flight cuts out the parts you don’t necessarily want to see and provides the time to see those places that you do. If you’re going to be renting a car when you reach your main destination, why not head a few states away for the opportunity to explore the bounties in between?

For us the bounties might be a national park, the largest metal sculptures in the world, a mom and pop restaurant with regional food, or a town that a highway bypassed. Sometimes we know where we’ll stop before we head out, or one of us notices a point on a map and says, “Let’s stop here.”

In the next few weeks, as we’re traveling in a Toyota Sienna van through New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Montana, where the landscape and people have a flavor so unique I could return again and again, I’ll fill you in on the places we’ve stopped and give some Great American Road Trip how-to suggestions.

We passed by Arches National Park a week ago. It’s been a busy week. Stay tuned. Ghost towns, neon and great eats on the way.

[The first photo was taken two years ago at the parade at Flint Creek Valley Days in Philipsburg, Montana where I am now. The second photo was taken last year at the pheasant family sculpture, part of the Enchanted Highway, on the way to Regent, North Dakota.]

Gadlinks for Monday 7.6.09

by Brenda Yun on


Aloha, Gadling readers! Another week is upon us. Here are this Monday’s Gadlinks.

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks here.

How to visit Los Angeles without a car

by Mike Barish on

Los Angeles is known for a lot of things: celebrities, beaches, smog and police chases, to name a few. But, when it comes to planning a trip to LA, perhaps the fact that will stick out the most is that LA is a car town (which explains the smog and police chases). Los Angeles is a sprawling city that is really several towns and neighborhoods that are connected by a series of highways that stretch for miles.

As such, when you’re planning a trip to LA, somewhere on your to-do list will be the task of renting a car. But what if you don’t want to spend that money? Or contribute to that smog? Or be chased by police? There has to be a better way! As I prepared to head to LA last week, I decided to skip renting a car. I asked my friends on Twitter and Facebook if I was crazy and received these responses:

“It can’t be done.”
“You’re insane, Barish.”
“People will stare at you if you walk more than two blocks.”

Not a lot of optimism there. Was I crazy? Can you visit LA without a car? Well, I endeavored to do just that. Join me, won’t you?
It’s worth noting that I was only in Los Angeles for two days. While not a lengthy stay, I did have a packed agenda. I needed to attend three meetings, a dinner and a charity event. My challenge: to make all those activities happen without having a car of my own. How did I do it? It was simple really.

Airport Shuttles – Before arriving in LA, I had made a reservation with SuperShuttle. A one-way trip to or from LAX costs $16, and they have discounts if you book round trip or use a discount code. Sure, we meandered to my hotel in West Hollywood while dropping off other passengers, but, 90 minutes after my Virgin America flight touched down, I was in my room. That’s not terrible and and it’s cheap. I took the SuperShuttle back to LAX two days later and arrived with time to spare.

The Internet – First, the bad news: Google Maps and HopStop don’t include Los Angeles in their transit directions. Now, the good news: The Los Angeles MTA website provides detailed transit directions with astonishingly accurate time estimates. It fast became my best friend when I needed to take…

Buses – Yes, people take buses in LA. Despite what my friends and native Angelinos told me, I found the bus routes to be quite convenient. I caught a bus right outside my hotel and, three miles and 30 minutes later, I arrived a half-block away from Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles for my first meal in LA. I transferred between two buses while traveling the 13 miles from my hotel to the Skirball Cultural Center in the Santa Monica Mountains. Sure, it took me an hour, but the buses delivered me practically door-to-door.

Selfishness – My first night in LA, I was staying at the Mondrian. It’s home to SkyBar, which is a bit of a hip scene. So, when I offered to schedule one of my meetings at the other person’s office, she quickly suggested that we instead meet over drinks at my hotel. I quickly agreed and avoided having to commute anywhere. Is this cheating? I had my meeting, avoided all transportation and had some delicious mojitos. Seems fair to me.

Rely on Friends – I had dinner plans with a friend while I was in town and we decided to eat in Venice. In order to get us eating sooner rather than later, she offered to pick me up from my hotel and give me a ride to the restaurant. We used the time in the car to catch up and she was happy to do me the favor. And, at the end of that charity event that I attended, a very nice business contact of mine offered to drive me back to my hotel. It may have been out of pity (or maybe it was because I’m charming), but it got me to where I needed to be and only cost me a profuse series of thank yous (thanks again, Sarah).

Walk – Shockingly, you can walk places in LA. So long as Point A and Point B are in the same neighborhood. I walked the mile or so back from my lunch meeting in Hollywood to my hotel and enjoyed working off the meal. And no one stared at me!

Taxis – I actually wanted to avoid taxis. I had been told that they were expensive and they’re not much better for the environment than just having my own car. But, I had left my sunglasses at the Mondrian (after checking out) and had to be at a meeting in 30. The only way I could manage to be on time was to take a cab back to the hotel and then to my meeting. The four mile, 30 minute errand cost me $27 (including tip) and proved my friends right about one thing: cabs in LA are beyond pricey.

Trains – The LA Metro was great for…oh, who am I kidding? Everyone I spoke to said that the Metro was useless and, as far as I can tell, they’re right.

I spent roughly $33 dollars on SuperShuttle trips, $5 on buses and $27 on a taxi. That’s $65. Or, less than the cost of a rental car for one day (and that taxi fare was only necessary because of my carelessness). I used the time on buses to check email and I didn’t contribute to the smog or get chased by the LAPD.

I will concede that I managed without a car for two key reasons: I was able to isolate much of what I was doing to one neighborhood (Hollywood) and it was a short visit. But I hope my point was made. LA can be done without a car if you plan in advance, impose on some friends and don’t mind getting asked by at least three people if “you lost your license because of a DUI.”

Photos by flickr users biofriendly (top) and stevelyon (bottom).

Beating the recession on the Appalachian Trail

by Kraig Becker on

Yesterday we introduced you to one of the world’s classic treks in the from of The Appalachian Trail. Turns out you might not have needed in introduction at all, as according to NPR, many Americans are heading to the AT to beat the recession.

According to the story, a number of hikers who have lost their jobs, have decided to take advantage of their time off, and spend some extended time on the AT. The more adventurous are even electing to thru-hike the entire 2175 mile length, which generally takes anywhere from five to seven months to complete.

Some of the hikers that NPR spoke to saw the loss of their jobs as an opportunity to do something that they might not have the chance to do later on in life. Most are young, still in their 20’s, and don’t quite have the responsibilities that will come as they get older, such as families, a mortgage, or well established careers. They’re focusing on the long distance hike with the hope that when they are finished, and they return to civilization, the economy will be showing signs of recovery.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy website estimates that it will cost somewhere between $3000-$5000 to hike the entire length of the trail, which runs from Maine to Georgia, crossing a total of 14 states in the process. Most of that is spent when hikers leave the trail behind and return to town, where they tend to splurge on hotels and restaurants. While that is a large chunk of change to spend on a single trip in the middle of an economic downturn, overall that’s a fairly inexpensive trip considering the length.

So, if you’ve found that you have a little extra time on your hands, and some severance pay burning a hole in your pocket, maybe you should consider taking on the AT or some other extended adventure. After all, the economy is going to turn around at some point, and when it does, we’re going to be expected to go back to work!