Roadtrippin’ with a theme – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

Road trips are meant to be fun and adventurous. Up the stakes by picking a theme for your trip!

Choose a theme that you and your travel buddies agree might be interesting, and do your best to center your stops and sightseeing around this theme. The possibilities are endless:

  • Food theme: Eat only barbecue across the Southeastern U.S.
  • Sports theme: Pit-stop at small town parks for quick games of touch football
  • Souvenir theme: Collect tacky knick-knacks from truck stops and gas stations
  • Couch theme: Limit your overnight stays to only couch-surfing

Super Bowl XLIV – Your guide to Fort Lauderdale

by Annie Scott on

Super Bowl XLIV (number 44) is upon us. The grand Saints vs. Colts event will be taking place at Miami’s (well, Opa Locka’s) Sun Life Stadium on February 7, 2010, with kickoff at 6:30 pm ET. As this is the 10th time Miami has hosted, you surely know by now that attempting to stay in Miami is like trying to get a ride for two on Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Surrounding areas, such as Fort Lauderdale (just 25 minutes away on a clear day), are the way to go.

Despite what the internet would have you believe, Fort Lauderdale is not just full of randy old people. There’s some pretty cool stuff to do there, and if you happen to be visiting one of their 33,000+ accommodations for the big game, you can find out what’s shakin’ in their free e-guide, The Essential Guide to the Big Game, available in PDF here.

The listings include Best Sports Bars, Best Clubs/Lounges, Spas, Gametime Food and other dining options, Golfing, Gambling, Nature, Best Places for Kids and more.

“We are looking forward to welcoming football fans from across the country and hope that they will get to experience as much of the destination as possible during their visit,” says Nicki Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Conventions & Visitors Bureau. “There’s so much fun here they may never want to leave and the ‘Essential Guide’ will help them take advantage of the best that we have to offer.”

Don’t forget they have 23 miles of beach. Fort Lauderdale is lookin’ pretty good. Still need Super Bowl tickets? Visit Ticketmaster today to pay $1,450 to $237,300 per seat. Holy jockstraps, Batman!

Intrepid Travel sympathizes with World Cup Widows

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Every soccer football soccer fan in the world knows what’s going to happen in June. The World Cup is coming to South Africa. The die-hards will find their way to the festivities, with many leaving the ladies behind. If you’re among the world’s World Cup Widows, should you be stuck at home? Hell no! Get your own trip off the ground, and put yourself as far away from anything World Cup-related as possible!

For travel in June and early July to certain destinations in Asia, Australia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, Intrepid Travel is offering discounts of up to 15 percent for those “left behind” by World Cup fever, as long as you book by the end of April.

“At Intrepid Travel we understand that for some people there is more to life than sports. So, while your partner sits glued to the television, living every high and low of the World Cup, get your friends together and head off on an Intrepid Travel small group adventure,” said Intrepid Travel U.S. President, Tiffany Richards.

The discounts start at 5 percent and increase with the number of fellow widows you recruit. Two traveling together can save at this level, with three securing 10 percent and four or more cutting 15 percent off the price. And, the prices are definitely accessible, starting at $720 a person for a nine-day excursion in Bali … before the World Cup Widows discount is factored in.

Guys, don’t worry: there’s a World Cup Widowers variation on the deal, too.

Nepali festival features elephant football

by Sean McLachlan on

The annual Chitwan Elephant Festival in Nepal always brings large crowds to honor South Asia’s favorite animal. This year, as this funny video shows, visitors were treated to a football match between two teams of elephants.

That’s football in the Nepali sense, meaning soccer, not American football. Thankfully the elephants weren’t tackling each other.

The festival has been going on for six years now and is sponsored by the government as a way of promoting tourism. Nope, it’s not an age-old cultural treasure like Kumbh Mela, but it’s still pretty fun. Chitwan is in southern Nepal and its main tourist attraction is Royal Chitwan National Park, home to many elephants, rhinos, and other wildlife, as you can see in this photo.

Other events included a race, with local champions beating rivals from as far away as Slovakia. Here’s a video of that event.

South African sex workers call for decriminalization during World Cup

by Sean McLachlan on

As South Africa gears up for the 2010 World Cup, the country’s sex workers are starting a campaign to have prostitution decriminalized.

The drive is being spearheaded by the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), an organization that strives to protect the health and human rights of sex workers. SWEAT’s website documents numerous cases of harassment by police and the public. SWEAT fears that this harassment will only increase during the World Cup. The organization wants to have sex work permanently decriminalized, or at the very least for the duration of the World Cup.

The globe’s biggest football (soccer) event is expected to draw 450,000 visitors, some of whom will want to pay for sex. This has raised the concern not only of sex workers, but health workers as well. With South Africa being the source of an estimated 17 percent of global HIV infections, the potential for a major spread of HIV is very real. The South Africa National AIDS Council has stated that if prostitution were legal then it would be easier for the sex worker to demand safe sex. It would also make it easier for sex workers to get abusive clients arrested.

At the moment the government is not considering a change of policy. South Africa, despite its large sex trade, is socially conservative and there is resistance to even talking about these issues. And if even free-loving Amsterdam is clamping down on its red light district, sex workers in South Africa have a long fight ahead of them.