Beyond the kebab: Foodie blog Istanbul Eats now in print

by Meg Nesterov on


Last night in Istanbul, a side street in the Galata neighborhood on the European side of town was packed with people eating Turkish street food such as çiğ köfte, salted cucumbers, and börek pastries, and drinking cold Efes beers and Turkish wines. The occasion was the publication of the book Istanbul Eats: Exploring the Culinary Backstreets,
a compilation of food and restaurant recommendations from the blog of the same name. So full of local foodies and fans of the blog that the event was broken up early by the Turkish police unaccustomed to boisterous Tuesday block parties.

Started by American expats Ansel Mullins and Yigal Schleifer last spring, Istanbul Eats is billed as “a serious eater’s guide to the city.” You won’t find any five-star restaurants, international chains, or tourist traps on Istanbul Eats; the blog focuses on small, traditional eateries; street carts; and mom-and-pop shops. Many of the establishments are only open for lunch, serve no alcohol, and take no credit cards. What you will find is authentic, often surprising, and always satisfying food. The pocket-sized book combines reviews with mouth-watering photography and visitor-friendly maps and info.

For now, the book is only available for sale online and in shops in Turkey, but is a must-read for anyone visiting Istanbul and looking to take home a taste of Turkey. If you want to read up on the culinary scene before your trip, the blog has a full archive of restaurant reviews, round-ups, and features on local favorite dishes. Afiyet Olsun!

Blog it or Facebook it or Tweet it or … – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

Let friends and family share in your road trip adventure by posting details along the way via your blog, Facebook, Twitter or other social media site. People at home are curious about your adventures, and seeing your update may trigger a memory or suggestion they have to improve your trip.

With a smartphone such as the Apple iPhone, Motorola Droid or Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, it’s a snap to post a status update of your trip or take and upload a photo or video of a roadside attraction. Smartphone Facebook apps and apps such as Bloglive make it easy to upload your content.

Of course, don’t do any of this while driving. Wait until you’re stopped, or have a passenger do the posting.

Successful travel blogger offers extensive course in making your own blog profitable

by Catherine Bodry on

About to take a trip and hope to make a little cashola off your travel blog? Head over to Travel Blog Success (being launched today!), a website offering in-depth instruction on how to make your blog profitable.

Travel Blog Success was created by David Lee, the founder of GoBackpacking.com. In advance of a 20-month, 22-country round-the-world trip, Lee started and maintained GoBackpacking, which was successful enough to now warrant roughly ten employees.

And now Lee has created Travel Blog Success, a website that intends to help writers “build a better travel blog.”

The extremely thorough site not only offers podcasts, a forum, and its own blog, but also a 12-lesson course covering every aspect of travel blogging. Lessons range from design, content, and SEO to photography, video blogging, and both beginning and advanced methods for making money. There’s even one lesson on the realities of blogging on the road.

The service isn’t free, but for anyone who is new to blogging and serious about making money from it, the fees are probably a decent investment. A one-time $75 payment gets you immediate access to everything, or you can choose to pay $29/month for three months.

The ultimate road trip: 12,500 miles across Africa on a motorcycle

by Sean McLachlan on

Thomas Tomczyk is serious about motorcycles. He’s done three motorcycle trips across India, from the steamy southern tip all the way up to the frozen highlands of Ladakh. Now he’s starting his childhood dream–an epic trip 12,500 miles (20,000 km) across Africa.

His zigzag tour will take in 22 African nations including South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, the Saharawi Republic, and Morocco. . .

. . .before he ends up skinny, exhausted, and happy at my house in Spain, where my wife will fatten him up with her excellent paella.

Full disclosure: Thomas is a friend of mine. We covered the massive Hindu pilgrimage of Kumbh Mela together in 2001 and barely managed not to get trampled to death by hordes of naked holy men. But even if I didn’t know him, this trip is so thoroughly cool I would have reported on it anyway.

Thomas isn’t just going on vacation; he’ll be visiting innovative grassroots projects that are making life better for the average African. Through his website Africa Heart Beat he’ll be telling us about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, such as creating a job center for landmine victims in Mozambique, an AIDS theater group in Botswana, and a Muslim-Christian vocational center in Mali that’s bringing the two communities together.

“The idea of crossing Africa came to me when I was 10,” Thomas says.”A large map of the world hung above my bed in a small Warsaw apartment. I would study the geography of each continent, its road and railroad network. The most prominent continent would be Africa, placed in the middle of the map, right above where my head would rest on the pillow. The idea stayed in my mind for years. I would eventually learn to ride motorcycles in India and cover the Horn of Africa for publications in Poland and US. In January 2009 my grandmother passed away and I decided it was time to do the trek I’ve been thinking about for so long. Traveling for travel’s sake was past me, and I decided I needed to find a purpose as I travel, something that would give meaning to the journey and benefit others.”

While 20,000 km is a long way to ride, he’s done it before in India. His longest journey there was 20,000 km on a 1950s technology 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet. I’ve ridden that bike and it’s a monster– heavy and tough enough for the task. This time he’ll be probably picking up a KTM 640 LC Adventure, a lighter but rugged off-road bike from a dealer in South Africa when he flies there Thanksgiving Day.

He’ll be crossing some very remote areas but will keep in touch as much as possible with an array of communications equipment. There will be regular updates on his blog, Facebook page, and YouTube channel. On the day after Thanksgiving, when Thomas is safely in Johannesburg and on the first day of his eight-month journey I’ll be writing about some of the gear he’s bringing along and share some advice he has for covering your own journeys as you do them.

Know of a project Thomas should cover? Tell us about it in the comments section!

Enter to win Sosauce’s “Decorate Our New Digs” postcard contest!

by Brenda Yun on


Sosauce, a self-proclaimed “travel geek blog,” is looking for the most unique, engaging, and breathtaking postcards that celebrate the saucy side of travel. If you have a favorite travel photo, turn it into a postcard and help them decorate their boring white walls and turn the office into a travel haven. The contest involves mailing a postcard that features your favorite photo. Sosauce will show it off – not only in the office – but all over the web too. Special prizes are waiting for the most unique, engaging, and breathtaking photos of people, architecture,and landscapes.

Anyone can enter! You can submit a postcard for any, or all, of the following categories:

  • People such as locals, workers, natives, portraits
  • Architecture such as historic buildings, monuments, museums
  • Landscapes such as scenery, mountains, nature, the outdoors

The winning prizes for each postcard category include all of this:

  • $50 gift certificate to a restaurant of YOUR CHOICE
  • $20 gift certificate to the Sosauce Store or a FREE Premium Account
  • Editorial bio-pic in the New Faces of Sosauce blog series
  • Online promotional campaign c/o Sosauce
  • YOU as the Featured Photographer of the Day on Sosauce

Each photo will be judged by the Sosauce team in New York City according to best combination of photo composition and creative sense of place. All you have to do is hop on over to Sosauce for to enter. The steps are a little involved, but you get a few cool freebies for going the extra mile.

Instructions after the break.

1. Join Sosauce if you haven’t already
2. Choose a photo from your Sosauce albums to submit for any, or all, of the postcard categories (people, architecture, landscapes)
3. Turn your travel photo into a postcard using the Sosauce Store (Be sure to read the Sosauce User Guide for additional help and instructions with this)
4. Have the Sosauce Store send your postcard to YOU first, then fill out the following on the back of your postcard:

  • Location the photo was taken (destination, city, country)
  • Date the photo was taken (guesstimates allowed)
  • Category you’re submitting for (people, archicture, landscapes)
  • An interesting fact about the photo (i.e. something that is unknown to most tourists regarding that destination)

5. Mail your completed postcard with your full name to the Sosauce office: 151 Lafayette St. Suite 4R New York, NY 10013
6. Enter up to 3 postcards, limit 1 per category.

After going through all that trouble, Sosauce will mail you some saucy stuff as a thank you for entering the contest:

  • 25 FREE hi-res photo prints from the Sosauce Store
  • A Sosauce bottle opener
  • A Sosauce Chili sticker