Is the “best job in the world” winner too busy working to blog?

by Katie Hammel on

Ben Southall became the envy of many when he beat out 34,000 other applicants and was awarded the “best job in the world” – the chance to spend six months in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef region. He even got to bring his girlfriend along for the adventure. In exchange for priceless experiences and A$150,000, Southall was to detail his adventures on regular blog posts.

But, according to The Courier-Mail, some people feel that Southall hasn’t keep up his end of the bargain. Since the job started on July 1, Southall has logged just seven posts. Tourism Queensland blames difficulties with Internet access for the skimpy posting and says that they are pleased with Southall’s performance so far, especially given his hectic schedule. Tourism Queensland also claims that Southall has conducted over 50 interviews and has a documentary crew filming his every move. From what is posted on the blog, it does seem as though Southall has a very busy schedule, with dawn-to-dusk activities planned nearly every day. Tourism Queensland also said that they were looking at ways to clear up Southall’s schedule a bit.

Hopefully they can work things out and allow Southall more time to blog. And if it turns out that Tourism Queensland isn’t pleased with his performance, I’m sure they’ll have no trouble finding a willing replacement!

NY Times realizes Twitter is useful for travel

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It takes the NY Times to catch up with the world around it … especially when technology is involved. Hey, the newspaper wouldn’t be in so much financial trouble if this weren’t the case. But, they don’t get it wrong; the reporters over there just take a bit longer to grasp what’s happening.

So, I was pretty psyched when I saw in the “Frugal Traveler” column that Twitter can be used to get dinner reservations – even when you’re on jury duty! Did you know that you can just peck a few characters into your cell phone or Blackberry and send it to thousands of people who might have an answer?

The Frugal Traveler is not ready to “Twitter [his] way across the country,” but the Gadling team is.

Blogging fearlessly from Havana. How?!

by Abha Malpani on

One of my favorite country blogs of all time is that of Yoani Sanchez, the 32 year old blogging secretly from Havana. To write on her blog, she has to pretend to be a tourist and go to a hotel to access the Internet.

Of the 11 million people who live on the island, only about 200,000 have open access to the web — they are mainly government employees, researchers and academics, to whom the government has given permission. The rest of the Cubans can access email and a few Cuban sites from certain public spots (for example the post office), but everything else is blocked.

I first found out about Yoani on the IHT last year, and have been reading her ever since. She reports beautifully (both in Spanish and English) on happenings in Cuba — she is probably one of the only authentic sources of information coming out of the island without censorship, and she always sounds fearless.

A couple of weeks ago she was chosen by Madrid’s El Pais newspaper to get the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Prize, but she was not allowed to leave Cuba to receive her award in Spain. To add to this, I read that she made the Time Top 100 list of influential people, which is phenomenal and much deserved.

But, what I fail to understand is that, with all the international exposure she has been getting — certainly magnified by being featured in Time Magazine alongside the likes of Obama, Andre Agassi, Lance Armstrong and Oprah Winfrey — how on earth is she still getting away with her secret blogging? Does the Cuban government have any idea? She must really disguise herself well, and her German must be flawless to be able to get away with this for almost a year. Surely authorities must know — why aren’t they stopping her?

I don’t wish they catch her, I just don’t see how in such a tight regime she has been getting away with this for so long. It almost makes it questionable, no?

Local Bloggers Revealing Country Secrets

by Abha Malpani on

The political situation of many countries doesn’t allow much freedom of press; what gets printed is thoroughly watch-dogged. That’s kind of messed-up when you realize that the media is the one thing that keeps us connected and informed about the rest of the world.

I remember when I lived in Dubai, I saw journalists fearing to write about anything outside the standard protocol of the publication. I would get bored senseless reading the local publications and as a budding writer, would get itchy palms when some meaty news would come to me through the grapevine, that of course, would never see the day of light. Until we started blogging!

I think blogging has taken to new levels our insight into otherwise forbidden cultural information of cities. Secret Dubai Diary, UAE Prison blog (blocked in Dubai) and Neurotic Iraqi Wife, are some blogs I read for raw insight into lives of people and culture in these countries. Others such as Sex and Dubai and controversial Beijing blog of Zhao Jing have unfortunately now been shut down.

There was great story in the IHT recently about underground bloggers in Havana who are screaming out to let people know the realities of life in Castro’s city.

My only contribution to the free press cause is being part of Global Voices and Reporters Without Borders. Both blogs are fighting for freedom of press and doing their best to provide untainted feeds and news from around the world.

It takes solid guts to blog on the edge, as it could result in imprisonment and/or deportation. I don’t know if I’d have the balls.

Travel Micro-Blogging with Twitter

by Dave Luna on

I always enjoy travel blogs. They’re a great way to update your friends and colleagues with stories, pictures, and videos. However, the thought of spending precious vacation time updating a website doesn’t appeal to many. If this has stopped you from chronicling your own journeys, you should give this alternative a look.

It’s called Twitter. It’s a free service that lets users post short messages via cell phone and instant messaging client to a personal website. Think of it as blogging with text messages. It’s an ideal substitute for full-on blogging since an internet connection is not required and it takes only a few seconds to update. You’ll have to keep your messages brief, but you can update often to fill in the blanks.

Your friends (and stalkers) can follow your activities on your Twitter page. They can also choose to receive your updates as text messages and instant messages. You’ll never lose touch with them even if you’re thousands of miles away!

A fun exercise is getting your point across in exactly five words. Here are some examples of that based on recent Gadling posts:

Want to see it in action? Check out my Twitter page. Do you have a Twitter account? Leave a link to it in the comments.