Is the Travel Blogger Show worth your time?

by Grant Martin on

The market for travel blog conferences is quickly starting to saturate, with the Travel Blog Exchange, Travel Bloggers Unite and the Travel Blogger Show now available for any wayward writer looking to network and learn more about the blogging community. Remaining this year is the Travel Blogger Show, an arm of the The Trade Show (largely geared for travel agents) that’s held in Las Vegas this September 11th.

Knowing full well that a blogger’s budget is limited and that quality and relevance matter, I took a moment to ask David Appel, CEO of Tripatini and show organizer about some differences that TBS might have over TBEX or TBU:

How is the Travel Bloggers Show different than TBEX?
“Tripatini as an online travel community and blog attracts a much broader, more inclusive audience than TBEX, to begin with – we’re not just bloggers but also travel industry and regular travel enthusiasts, from basic backpacker to hyper-luxe. Add to that the fact that our other main event co-sponsor is the American Society of Travel Agents, which brings a lot of travel trade into the equation and lets us take an approach that speaks not just to all those fun and doughty characters we’re so fond of in the travel blogosphere — along with those who want to be them — but also business people, public relations folks, and more.”

What can aspiring writers hope to learn at TBS?
“We’re aiming to provide a little for everyone, whether you’re a blogging newbie or a seasoned veteran. We had a great lineup at our first conference last year in Orlando, including the likes of Chris Elliot, Matt Kepnes, and – well, Kim Mance of TBEX, as it happens. And this year we’re shuffling the deck a little, with not just Gadling on board but also stars like George Hobica of the highly successful AirfareWatchdog and Wil Klass of SpotCoolStuff. They’ll be offering their own takes on what every blogger needs to do or do better, such as SEO and monetization; finding new audiences; taking it viral; how to best use blogging as a business person to promote yourself or your clients; and how to survive and even thrive in the fast-evolving blogosphere of the future.”

So there you have it, TBS delineated in two succinct ways. Come out to visit your favorite bloggers — we’d love to see you.

[flickr image via Laser Guided]

Random Acts of Debauchery on San Francisco’s Barbary Coast

by David Farley on
In the 1850s, the San Francisco Herald published a story that began like this:

“There are certain spots in our city, infested by the most abandoned men and women, that have acquired a reputation little better than the Five Points of New York or St. Giles of London. [It] is crowded by thieves, gamblers, low women, drunken sailors, and similar characters, who resort to the groggeries that line the street, and there spend the night in the most hideous orgies.”


In Herbert Asbury’s “The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld,” he writes about random acts of debauchery on San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. Some favorites include a saloon called the the Fierce Grizzly, literally named because there was a live bear chained by the door. The bar served a milk cocktail, usually mixed with gin or whisky. When a preacher showed up one day at the Fierce Grizzly hoping to get some material for a future sermon on the den of iniquity that was the Barbary Coast, he was offered a glass of such “milk.”
“What do you call that?” he asked after taking a sip and then a larger sip.

“Just milk,” said the bartender.

“Ah!” the preacher exclaimed. “What a glorious cow.”

Not to be outdone, the Boar’s Head also offered entertainment involving the animal kingdom. Asbury writes, “The principal attraction was a sexual exhibition in which a woman and a boar participated.” He didn’t go into detail, leaving it to our wildest imaginations.

In the next few days, I’ll go searching for the debaucherous spirit of the Barbary Coast in San Francisco today. Let us hope there are no pigs or bears–at least not of the animal variety–in my future.

National Park Service prepares for its second century

by Kraig Becker on

Last week the National Park Service celebrated its 95th anniversary. Over the past nine-and-a-half decades, the NPS has been protecting and managing some of America’s most amazing wild places, with the charge of ensuring that those places are “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” That hasn’t always been an easy task however, and now more than ever, the parks face incredible challenges. Yesterday, the Park Service released a comprehensive plan that will chart its course over the next five years, leading up to its centennial in 2016, and beyond.

In that plan, which is entitled A Call to Action: Preparing for a Second Century of Stewardship and Engagement, the Park Service challenges its employees and partners to work together towards a common goal, namely preparing the NPS for a second 100 years of service. The plan outlines 36 different areas of opportunity for the Park Service in which they can more fully engage visitors in the parks, continue to preserve America’s favorite places, improve educational outreach, and become more efficient as an organization.

A Call To Action identifies a variety of goals for the Park Service, including creating a “State of the Park” report for each of the 50 States, studying the economic impact that parks have on surrounding communities, and finding ways to enhance cultural diversity across the entire system. The report also acknowledges the importance of addressing the impact of climate change and establishing a national parks endowment, amongst other things. In short, it is an ambitious, important outline of where the Park Service wants to go by the end of its first century, so it can be better prepared to serve in its second.

The National Parks Conservation Association, was quick to praise the Park Service plan as well. The organization’s President, Tom Kiernan, called A Call To Action “a very strong and important step towards ensuring our spectacular national park landscapes, wildlife, and American history and heritage are better protected for future generations.” But the NPCA says that for this plan to succeed, it needs the support of Congress and the President. With a $600 million annual budget shortfall, the Park Service obviously faces serious difficulties in completing its mission on a yearly basis.

U.S. national parks continue to be very popular travel destinations for both Americans and foreign visitors alike. With this plan, the Park Service has set its sights on the future, while identifying its biggest challenges and ways to overcome them. Those challenges, at times, can seem very daunting, but the Park Service, the NPCA, and their partners are prepared to take them on.

Five (almost) labor-free recipes for Labor Day

by Laurel Miller on

I love to cook. Just not for myself. What I truly enjoy is feeding family and friends, but indoors or out the last thing I want to deal with is a labor-intensive meal–especially when it’s hot. So, in honor of the upcoming holiday weekend, I’m sharing five of my favorite, late summer recipes. They feature easy-to-find ingredients, regardless of where you live, but if you can purchase the produce and meat at your local farmer’s market or from another sustainable source, so much the better. In my opinion, the key to great food (especially where home cooks are concerned) lies in the quality of the ingredients. Even if you’re visiting friends, local ingredients can be adapted or found for these travel-friendly dishes.

The following require little in the way of skill, prep and clean-up, leaving you more time to enjoy the final days of summer with the ones you love (or want to impress). All of the following serve two, and can be easily increased to serve a large dinner party or barbecue.

1. Pancetta-wrapped pears (or peaches) with blue cheese
Allow one piece of fruit per person, and be sure to use ripe, but not mushy, produce–softer pear varieties such as Bosc, French Butter, or Warren are ideal. Halve each piece of fruit, and core or remove pit. Brush cut surfaces lightly with olive oil, and wrap each half in a piece of good-quality bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto (you may want to use a wooden skewer or toothpick to secure it during cooking). Grill over medium-hot coals (start with one half of fruit; if it’s taking too long, wait until coals are hot) until bacon or prosciutto is crisp, and fruit is slightly caramelized. Serve with lightly dressed bitter greens, and garnish with a creamy, non-assertive blue cheese such as Original Blue, Blue d’Auvergne, or Bleu d’Basque.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Pink Thistle]2. Panzanella
I can’t claim credit for this Tuscan classic, but it should be in every cook’s repertoire. Tear a loaf of day-old, country-style bread into 1-inch pieces, drizzle with olive oil, and toast until golden brown. While bread cools, halve one pint of miniature tomatoes, and cut 2 to 4 medium-size tomatoes (I prefer to use a mixture of heirloom varieties for the best color and flavor) into chunks. Place bread in large bowl, and add tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and one tablespoon of good Balsamic or Sherry vinegar. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss with hands until ingredients are combined. Just before serving, tear basil leaves into small pieces and toss into salad.

3. Fingerling potato and haricot vert salad
Scrub 1-1/2 pounds of fingerling or new potatoes, halve or quarter them, and place them in a large saucepan or stockpot of cold water. Boil until tender, and drain. Pinch stems from 1/2-pound of haricot vert, blanch until tender (the younger and thinner they are, the better they’ll taste), and drain. Finely mince one medium shallot, and one clove garlic. Add shallots and garlic to small saucepan with 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil and heat on low until the the shallots and garlic are lightly sizzling (they shouldn’t brown) and the oil is fragrant. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of Champagne or white wine vinegar, and add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard (optional). Coarsely chop one large handful of Italian parsley. Place the potatoes and haricot vert in a serving bowl, and add enough of the shallot vinaigrette to coat potatoes without making the salad soggy. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, add parsley, and toss to combine.

4. Grilled ribeyes with mustard-herb butter
Heat grill until coals are hot. While grill is heating, take a 1/2-stick of room temperature, unsalted butter, and place in small bowl. Add 1-2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard (or as needed), finely minced herbs such as chives, parsley, or chervil, teaspoon minched shallot or garlic and a pinch of salt. Mash ingredients together with a fork until desired flavor is reached.

Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on counter, and place butter at one end of the plastic wrap, shaping it into a log. Roll the butter up (be sure not to roll the plastic into it) to form a tube, and twist the ends of the plastic. Chill until ready to use. Pat steaks dry and generously season both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and grill until medium rare. Arrange a small mound of bitter greens in the center of each plate, add a steak, and top each with an ounce of butter. Serve immediately.

5. Grilled peaches with raspberries and ricotta
Heat grill until coals are hot. Halve peaches, and brush cut surfaces very lightly with olive oil to prevent sticking. Grill until the cut side of the fruit is soft and caramelized. Serve in a shallow dish or bowl with raspberries and a large dollop of good-quality ricotta, Greek yogurt, unsweetened whipped cream, or fromage blanc. Garnish with chopped, toasted pistachios.

All recipes except panzanella copyright The Sustainable Kitchen®

[Photo credits: tomatoes, Flickr user wayneandwax; greens, Flickr user burntfat]

Getting Weird Where Time Stands Still: Marfa, Texas

by Paul Brady on


“I’ve been here about a year and a half,” says my tour guide, a young yoga instructor who also works at this art museum on the grounds of a former army base in Marfa, Texas. “It feels longer.”

Marfa is like that. Pulled from obscurity by the Chinati Foundation, an art museum started by contemporary sculptor Donald Judd, it’s now a tiny raft of a town in the sea of the high desert of West Texas, an island of civilization where you can buy feed for your livestock around the block from a gourmet grilled cheese shop.

This October will be the 25th anniversary of the creation of Chinati. With the occasion comes some perspective on what’s changed and what remains the same here in Marfa, where time seems to move more slowly than the puffy cotton clouds dotting the deep blue canvas of the giant Texas sky.

Traveling the American Road – Marfa, Texas


Marfa continues to boom. El Cosmico is the second hotel from the owner of Thunderbird, if you can really call it a hotel. It’s more a hippie RV park, with refurbed trailers for rent, yurts and teepees and, when those sell out, space for tents. There’s a hammock grove, in the shade, where architects play euchre, weighing down the cards with wooden pieces from a chess set. (Chess is too cerebral, I think, for people hanging out in hammock groves.) The showers and toilets are open to the air.

Miniature Rooster is a new restaurant along the main drag of Highway 90, with fantastic curry, steak and chicken and waffles. Run by two business partners who met at The Inn at Little Washington–another awesome kitchen in the middle of nowhere–Uday Huja moved to Marfa from Las Vegas to open with his friend Rocky Barnette, a native of Asheville who’d already staked a claim in West Texas.

Anagrammatically named coffee shop Frama is next to the only laundromat in town, Tumbleweed, a small operation just around the corner from Padre’s, a dark bar set in a former feed store with an outstanding game selection, everything from air hockey to Pac Man, and an old-time juke box with rock and funk hits for the times when live acts aren’t in the house.

But it’s not all hip spots here: Marfa Burritos is a small kitchen where Border Patrol agents, plumbers and travel writers sit around tables protected by clear plastic tablecloths to devour tortillas filled with beans, steak and hot sauce for $4 a pop.

On a Friday night, “everyone” is out, hitting bars like Padres and Planet Marfa, catching bands, playing pool and ladder golf. A 24-hour play festival is on, too, with teams working through the night to conceive, write, rehearse and execute seven-minute productions. They’ll hit the stage on Saturday night, after I’ve already left for points west.

In the morning, I see the weekend thespians out by the rail tracks, practicing lines under the farmer’s market canopy, just a short walk from the grain elevator, the Paisano Hotel and the silver water tower, looking like stage dressing from a backlot parked here to lend the authentic feel of a West Texas whistle stop. The tower, stamped with MARFA in black, is the tallest building in town.