7 reasons to spend the holidays away from home

by Katie Hammel on

Christmas is traditionally a time for family, but it can also be the ideal time to travel. Who says you have to stay home for the holidays? Here are seven reasons to spend the holidays traveling.

Travel deals

While the holiday season can be one of the most expensive times to travel (especially with those annoying extra fees), it can also be a time of great deals to certain destinations. Especially when you compare what it might cost to fly home to visit family within the US, the price for flying to an international destination may seem downright cheap. Last year, it would have cost my husband and I $400 each to fly to Florida to spend time with my family. For $200 more per person, we opted to go to Spain for 10 days instead.

Check out last-minute flights both on and around the holiday and you might be surprised at what you find. And don’t be afraid to fly on Christmas Eve/Day or New Year’s Eve/Day. This year, I saved $400 on my ticket to South Africa by flying back at 11:30pm on New Year’s Eve.Experience Christmas in another culture
Stockings hung by the fire, leaving cookies out for Santa – these are great traditions to enjoy with your family, but why not try something new this year. So how Christmas is celebrated in Italy, or Mexico, or Russia. Spending time around the holidays in another country can provide you with a unique look at another culture as you see how those people celebrate this special time of year.

Free days off
Many companies shut down for a few days over the holidays, which means you can use a few extra free days to pad your supply of vacation days. A trip that may have used up seven days will only require four if you schedule it from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day.

The end of December is often a better time to request time off as well. Many offices that do stay open operate on only a skeleton crew due to slower business around the holidays.

No taking sides
For children of divorced parents, the holidays can be an exercise in juggling. Add in two sets of in-laws, and you’re looking at four holiday commitments over 48 hours. The rushing and clock-watching is enough to drive you straight into a vat of eggnog. And if you put your foot down and say you can only commit to one family per day, well then you’re playing favorites about the different families.

Instead of rushing from house to house, giving each party just a few hours, schedule a special day with different branches of your family tree before Christmas and then spend the holiday stress free.

Two words: Christmas bonus
If your office still gives out a holiday bonus (lucky you!), what better way to spend it than on an unforgettable trip. Before you have a chance to be “practical” and put the cash towards home improvements, or to slowly spend it on meals out and new clothes over the next few months, take that chunk of change and put it towards a trip you’ve been dreaming of.

Give back
The holidays are a time of giving, so why not use this time to take part in a voluntourism group. Spread your charity work around the globe by heading off a volunteer vacation.

Escape the commercialism
Christmas should have more meaning than presents and parties, but it’s hard to separate the meaning of the holiday from the commercialism that threatens to overtake it, especially when you are bombarded by ads reminding you daily just how many shopping days are left. Escape the onslaught and head to your version of paradise. Lounge on a deserted beach, go mountain climbing, trek through the dessert or just retreat to a little cabin in the woods.

And as a bonus, if you are traveling with a companion, you’ll now have one less person to buy gifts for. Just consider the trip a present to the both of you.

10 Ways to Give the Gift of Travel

by Annie Scott on

Does all the rushing around of the holiday season make you want to get away? You’re not the only one. In fact, it might just behoove you to give someone the gift of travel this year. There are more ways to do so than you think — and ways in all price ranges. Here are ten ideas:

10 Ways to Give the Gift of Travel

1. Airline miles. Airline gift cards are tricky; you sort of feel like a jerk for giving anything less than $100. However, if you have some spare miles floating around from those last few business trips, you can get them transferred to somebody else — and that’s a great gift. Check with whatever airline you fly most for their procedure. Alternatively, you can donate your airline miles to charity in someone’s name. Johnny Jet explains how here. ‘Tis the season.

2. Hotel gift cards. Almost all hotels, from the budget set to luxury boutique hotels and bed and breakfasts, offer gift cards. Some will allow you to purchase a number of nights and spa treatments, etc., and some just go by dollar amount. The easiest way to give this gift is of course to get it for free. Luxist is giving away Four Seasons gift cards through December 10 here.

3. Zipcar membership. Zipcar offers “an alternative to car rental and car ownership.” If your recipient is 21 years old or older, they have a valid driver’s license, and meet a few other criteria here, you can gift them with membership or a dollar amount, and totally claim you gave them a car. Zipcar has also set up a Get Zipcar site so that you can send a message to your parents that says “I’d like to come home for the holidays” or a silly message like “Happy BMW to me!” and encourage them to get you a car.
4. Food. It may not be as good as the real thing, but food is part of the essence of travel. If you know your friend is just dying to go to Paris, why not take them to the best local French restaurant to let them enjoy the Parisian cuisine? Alternatively, you could buy them a cookbook or, even more generously, make them a gift card good for one meal from the country of their choice cooked by you.

5. A guide to the city where they live. Sometimes, you don’t have to leave home to travel. Staycation! Most of us don’t go to our local tourist haunts very often (and for good reason), but guides to your own city can alert you to cool features you didn’t even know your town had. Series like City Walks can help you explore your local area in a whole new way.

6. City Pass. Know someone who’s already planning their next trip? Get them a City Pass. The price varies by city, but the pass will get them discounts as high as 50 percent on major attractions and enable them to skip ticket lines.

7. Boat trip. Almost every city has a body of water with boats on it, and you probably almost never ride them (unless you live in Staten Island). Museums are great, but nothing takes you away from your usual routine (literally) like getting out on the water. You may just be traveling up the river and back, but simply changing terrain can feel like a mini-vacation and give you a whole new perspective on a place.

8. Give something they have to travel to use. Examples: a tent, skis, fabulous swimwear, an enormous backpacker backpack. This is a good idea for someone who deserves a vacation but needs a little push.

9. Give language-learning software/books. Another way to inspire someone to travel is to get them excited about another language. You have to know someone pretty well to know that they’d like to learn a language (and which languages interest them), but a question like “If you could learn any language in the world, what would it be?” should get you all the information you need. If they seem excited, get them a simple book or go whole hog and get them Rosetta Stone’s TOTALe package. Once they start to learn the words, it won’t be long before they skip town.

10. Invite someone to your home. If you have out-of-town friends or family, one way to give them a travel gift that costs you nothing is to invite them, officially, to come visit your city and stay in your home. Even if you’ve known them for years, people can feel awkward about asking to stay with you instead of forking out the cash for a hotel. Make a pretty invitation good for a four-night stay (it’s a good idea to specify the length, so they don’t feel like they’re asking for too many nights or, conversely, overstay their welcome), and the likelihood of them coming to visit will greatly increase.

Happy shopping to you all, and happy holidays!

Gadlinks for Friday 11.27.2009

by Brenda Yun on

It’s Black Friday! I hope you all survived the mall madness. We can look forward to more Christmas lights and even more shopping deals through the weekend and then Cyber Monday! It will be an exciting few days for sure. Here are a few exciting travel reads from across the web, too.

‘Til Monday, have a great weekend. Don’t spend too much money!

More Gadlinks here.

Through the Gadling Lens: great gifts for the travelling photographer

by Karen Walrond on

I don’t know about you, but this holiday season has completely gotten away from me (note to self: do not travel again anytime between Halloween and Christmas, particularly if Thanksgiving comes late in the year). We’ve managed to get our holiday decorations up, but we’ve hardly done any Christmas shopping so far, and time is running out and …

… *sigh*.

Anyway, if, like me, you’re starting to run out of time, and you happen to have a photog in the family who likes to travel (or happen to be the travelling photographer, and are looking for some ideas for hint-dropping purposes), here’s a list of some great gifts you might want to consider:
1. A camera bag. Even if your favourite photographer already has a camera bag, trust me, s/he wouldn’t mind another. The trick about buying a good camera bag however, is to ensure that (a) there’s enough padding inside to cushion the camera from any possible impacts, and (b) it doesn’t scream “camera” while walking in crowded public places or airports.

Personally, I enjoy my Crumpler backpack (shown here) — it’s got a padded section for my camera, my laptop, and a bit of room for other things — and it doesn’t look like a camera bag. In addition, Loewpro also has a great selection of camera backpacks and other bags, and some of them don’t look very distinguishable from any other type of non-camera bag.

And for those who use point-and-shoots, there are some great small padded pouches out there for you to toss in your bigger bags, but still keep your camera (or other camera-related stuff) safe. Check out Etsy for handmade, unique options.

2. A small travel tripod. Until recently, I thought of a travel tripod as a sort of gadgety luxury — but last month, when I taking a photograph of the Houses of Parliament in London at dusk, trying to balance my camera on a rain-slicked banister, and petrified the camera would take a tumble into the Thames below, I realized that perhaps a travel tripod might be something great to have at the bottom of my camera bag.

Travel tripods come in all shapes and sizes (and capabilities) — check out Pedcopods and Gorillapods for two more popular versions.

3. Mailable photo frames. This idea actually comes from one of my colleagues, Sarah, at Shutter Sisters — these handy little photo frames that are actually customizable postcards. Says Sarah: “When I was on vacation in September, I sent my daughter Cadence’s best friend custom postcards using the mailable photo frame from Photojojo (I’d print my shots at a local Wolf/Ritz and mail the postcard from wherever we happened to be).”

This seems like a great stocking stuffer for a loved one who is planning an extensive trip in 2009, and is intent on taking a camera along — a great way to receive very personal news from far away, and then display it immediately! Awesome.

4. A subscription to a magazine known for its photography. I don’t mean this in a read-Playboy-for-the-articles way, I’m talking about periodicals that are famous for their cutting-edge imagery and contributing photographers. Shutterbugs are always looking for inspiration, and I, for one, would love a subscription to a magazine like American Photo, National Geographic, or Vanity Fair, to name a few. Figure out what type of photography your loved one is inspired by, and shop accordingly. Not only will the magazine provide some cool ideas for capturing images, your recipient will have some good reading to take along with them on those interminable flights. Bonus.

5. A cool camera strap. Earlier this year, I went on a trip with 12 other women — we all rented a home on the Oregon coast for a 4-day getaway. As it happened, a large percentage of us were photographers — which meant that cameras were everywhere. I have to tell you, whether you’re a Nikon fan or a Canon fan or a whatever-other-brand fan: cameras look a LOT alike. At times it became damned near impossible to tell the difference from one camera to the next — and God help you if you just rested your camera somewhere for a minute. Sometimes I thought I’d never see my camera again.

A few of the more savvy of our group, however, had replaced their camera’s store-issue camera strap with some really distinctive straps, making it easy to spot their camera from 10 paces. When I returned home, I purchased a couple for my own cameras. I think they’d make a unique gift — and as with the camera bags, Etsy is a great place to find some unusual ones.

6. Picture frames. I have to say, I’m awful about displaying my photographs in my own home — yet there’s nothing I love better than visiting someone’s home that has tons of photographs around, chronicling their travels and their lives. If your favourite photographer is similar, why not buy a few cool frames to nudge her into showing her work with pride? And on a related note, consider a gift of this book, with all sorts of great ideas on how to display your photos. I purchased it a couple of months ago, and it’s truly inspiring. I haven’t actually used any of the ideas yet, but maybe if someone buys me some picture frames …

7. Practical paraphernalia. It’s not particularly romantic or clever, but photographers can never have too many memory cards or polarizing filters, batteries or microfiber lens clothes for their cameras — just make sure you know the size of their lenses or the make and model of the specific camera, and go for it. In the alternative, if you’re afraid that all of this sounds far too technical to trust to your own judgment, a gift certificate to a local camera specialty store would always be welcome.

8. Fun stuff. And finally, there are some really cool things out there that a photographer might not think to purchase for himself, but would love to t
ry. Consider purchasing a Lensbaby, a lens which focuses one point of an image, and then warps the outer edges, creating a cool effect (see Willy Volk’s example to the right). Or, how about a super-secret spy lens: this handy contraption allows you to point your camera in any direction, misleading your subject into thinking you’re taking a picture of something else. Fantastic.

And finally, although this is technically not for still photography, it’s unreal how many photographers I’ve spoken to who said they want the Flip Video Camcorder for Christmas. And starting at US$ 149.99, for a camcorder, this is a real bargain.

Happy shopping everyone! As always, keep sending your great questions to karen.walrond@weblogsinc.com, and I’ll try to tackle them in upcoming posts. In the meantime, keep clicking.

Karen is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. You can see more of her work at her site, Chookooloonks.
And for more Through the Gadling Lens, click here.

Gadling’s Gift Guide: $250 upwards

by Scott Carmichael on

Recession reschmession.

If the current economic mess does not bother you one bit, or you were able to snag yourself a piece of the $700 Billion bailout pie, then this list of travel gifts is just for you.

Forget cheap luggage, as part of the traveling elite you should only settle for the best of the best. Here are some gifts that should help give you some ideas on what to get yourself, or a loved one who was really, really nice this year. I’ll start at $250, and make my way up to cool $1 Million.

Timbuk2 Checkpoint Ballistic fabric rolling suitcase

We’ll start off with our feet firmly on the ground, and offer a couple of reasonably priced travel products. Timbuk2 have been a very popular luggage and bag manufacturer for quite some time, but they only recently introduced their first rolling suitcase.

The bag features removable skateboard wheels, internal secret pockets and is available in 2 sizes. The medium bag is suitable for carrying on board with you, but the large one will have to be checked.

At just $250 ($275 for the large), it is very nicely priced, and certainly something I’ll be adding to my “been a good boy” list this Christmas.

Where: www.timbuk2.com
Price: $250 for the small, $275 for the large

Watch HDTV on the road with the Slingbox PRO-HD

The Slingbox has long been one of my personal favorites. With Sling, I can watch my home TV, no matter where in the world I am. If I am stuck in an airport lounge, I can tune into local home channels on my PDA. When I arrive at my hotel, I open my laptop and watch some stuff off my DVR.

Until recently, the only limitation was that the streamed content was in a fairly low resolution. The $299 Slingbox PRO-HD changes that.

This remote TV streamer can finally capture your home TV signal, and send true HD content over the Internet. Of course, you’ll need a very beefy home broadband connection, as well as a sturdy connection at your destination.

But once you have it all setup, you’ll be able to sit back in your hotel room, and watch some HD content streaming over the Internet from thousands of miles away.

Where: www.slingmedia.com
Price: $299

Suunto X10 wrist-top computer

GPS, digital compass, barometer and altimeter. These may sound like the instruments used on the flight deck of your next trip, but they are actually a couple of the features in the new Suunto X10 wrist-top computer.

The watch features a Google maps compatible GPS receiver, PC connectivity, an internal rechargeable battery and can even tell you the time in up to 330 feet of water.

Where: www.suunto.com
Price: $499

Archos 7 multimedia Internet tablet

When it comes to multimedia on the road, Archos have one of the best products on the market. The new Archos 7 combines multimedia playback with Internet and email access. The device has a high resolution 7″ display and can be purchased with 160GB or a whopping 320GB of storage.

With that much storage, you’ll be able to carry enough TV and movie content to keep you entertained for over a month. The built in browser and online media tools allow you to surf the web or download more content when you are in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot.

With the optional accessories, you can even add a helmet mounted camcorder or an FM radio remote.

Where: www.archos.com
Price: From $449 (160GB) to $549 (320GB)

Sony Vaio TT ultra portable notebook with Blu-Ray player

Laptop computers do not get much sexier than this. The Sony TT has it all; 4GB of memory, 256GB SSD drive, an LED backlit display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, webcam, noise canceling headphones, carbon fiber frame, a Blu-Ray player/recorder, fingerprint scanner and an HDMI video output.

All these goodies make it the most expensive ultra-portable notebook in the world. When you add a second battery and a laptop case, you’ll pay just under $4500 for this 2.8lb beauty.

When everyone else on your flight is watching the latest Rob Schneider flick, you can pop in a Blu-Ray disk of the Dark Knight (or Wall-E if you are traveling with kids).

Where: www.sonystyle.com
Price: From $2095 up to $4500 depending on the configuration

How about a nice picnic in the English countryside?

As a young lad, I absolutely loved picnics. There is something magical about having jam cakes and lemonade surrounded by nature. If you have someone special in your life you’d like to impress, then why not hop on board your Gulfstream and have Harrods deliver one of their magnificent hampers.

For a mere $7300, you can purchase the Harrods “Chairmans Choice” hamper. Filled with delicacies like Beluga Caviar, 30 yr old single cask Macallan and a bottle of dry Y de Château Y’quem to rinse it all down.

Of course, Harrods will gladly cater to the less well off, and have hampers starting at just $80. If things are the other way around, and this hamper seems too cheap, then check out the “Snow Queen Hamper” from Fortnum and Mason. The Snow Queen retails for a staggering $37,000.

Where: www.harrods.com
Price: £5000 ($7300)


Henk Suitcase

The “Henk” suitcase is without a doubt one of the most expensive pieces of luggage you’ll ever own.

Even if you are used to dragging your Louis Vuitton through the airport, the $31,000 Henk “travel friend” is surely able to impress even the most luxurious traveler.

Henk suitcases are handmade from technology usually reserved for Formula One and aerospace parts. The suitcases feature innovations like retractable shock absorbing wheels, a central locking mechanism and several anti-theft measures.

Each case can be completely customized to match your desired color, inside and out. The case can be made from a variety of leathers as well as carbon fiber. The end result is the kind of luggage simply too valuable to ever consider ha
nding over to the airline, so make sure you have access to a private jet.

Where: www.henk.com
Price: EUR 25,000 ($31,000 USD)

Netjets Marquis card – the ultimate giftcard

Some people celebrate Christmas with a giftcard for Starbucks, others might be more content receiving a Netjets Marquis card. This fractional ownership card is perfect for those of us that do not want to commit to a long term plane leasing program or if you just need a backup plan when your own Gulfstream is getting an oil change.

The card comes with 25 hours of prepaid flight time on one of the planes in the Netjets fleet.

At just $126,000 it is one of the quickest ways of gaining access to your very own private jet. As with most giftcards, this one also comes with some hidden fees. The recipient will have to pay for his or her own landing fees, deadhead fees and you will even have to pay the same $2.50 September 11th security fee as the commoners at the airport.

Where: www.marquisjet.com
Price: From $126,000

107 day Cunard cruise with a 24 hour butler service

Fancy getting away from it all? How about a pleasant cruise on board the Queen Victoria, the newest liner in the Cunard family. Once a year, this magnificent vessel departs Southampton for a 107 day/night cruise around the world.

You’ll get to spend some time in fantastic places like New York, Curacao, the Panama Canal, Cabo, Auckland, Sydney, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Istanbul and Athens.

The “cheap” rooms for this 107 day cruise start at a modest $22,000, but to travel in true luxury, you’ll have to fork over $72,731 (per person). This may seem like an insane amount of money, but that works out to just $680 per day. And when you realize that this includes your room, all meals and the impeccable service, it isn’t that bad a deal at all.

The suite is one of the “Queens Suites”, and comes with a 24 hour complimentary butler service, fully stocked personal bar, personalized stationary, board games, a computer games console and fresh fruit delivered to your room every morning. You even get to pick your own kind of pillow and duvet.

You’ll need to start packing soon though, the ship leaves January 2nd 2009. If you really, really like to spend some time on a cruise ship, you could consider buying your own 4 bedroom suite on the Magellan. This residential cruise line will gladly sell you their top of the line home on a ship for a cool $18,000,000.

Where? www.cunard.com
Price? $72,731 (per person, based on a 2 person occupancy, single occupancy is $145,349)

Leading Hotels of the World round the world trip

There are many “experience” packages out there for travelers, but none of them come close to the “round the world in 80 days” experience put together by the Leading Hotels of the World group.

$1 Million dollars gets you an 80 day trip where you will travel from continent to continent in the luxury of a private jet. Forget the hustle and bustle of the airport, or the horrors of the security checkpoint, this is the true way to enjoy seeing the world. Of course, that price is per person, so unless you plan to travel alone, you’ll need fairly deep pockets.

While you are burning through your money, you’ll even be able to say you were doing some good, because 10% of the price will be donated to the Elton John AIDS foundation.

Where? www.lhw.com
Price? $1,000,000

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