Next Stellar Stop – Bohol, Philippines

Bohol is a place of unusual familiarity for me. Almost all my Pinoy and Pinay friends speak highly of the island if not above some of the other thousand islands. And I know one day I’ll be able to walk the lands and sail the seas with my brethren and sistren from my birth country, but until that day comes I’ll just have to make due with their reports and various others on the net like this Stellar feature.

Whitney Weis gives the facts on the island paradise becoming popular with nature tourists because of its eight distinctive regions. To the right you’ll find one of them pictured. Known as the Chocolate Hills visitors come year round even when the mounds aren’t so chocolate looking. For diving fanatics there are really a couple of great finds in Bohol, or should I say off of Bohol. Balicasag has some of the best diving in the entire Philippines according to her notes and Cabilao is perfect for adventurers wanting to go head-to-head with the hammerheads that frequent the waters. There’s much more to this 60-mile long Asian jewel, but you’ll need to see the Stellar piece for the rest. It wouldn’t be fair of me to tell you all here and besides I’ll have my stories to share one of these days.

Verge Magazine Hiring!

Only few hours remain to make the deadline for this one. Canadian publication Verge Mag is looking for a Contributing Editor with strong written and verbal communication skills. (You know, the standard skill set.) The position lasts for 9-mos, but could go longer and their ideal candidate should have a huge demonstrated interest in world issues, travel and youth engagement. You can see their full job description and requirements here and for all who know as little about Verge magazine as I do surf through the home page before jumping in to apply.

In short – Verge is Canada’s magazine for people who travel with a purpose. Deadline to apply for the gig is today, July 31.

Mastheads


Don’t know how many magazine fanatics we have out there, but I am crazy about glossies. I read them all…well, all the outdoor/travel/news ones anyway. You can have your style and entertainment mags. Not for me.

But if you’ve ever wondered who’s behind the magazines you read, wonder no longer. This site called Mastheads.org, which I discovered over at Jen Leo’s Written Road, is about one thing and one thing only: magazine mastheads. You know what a masthead is right? It’s where they put the names of all the people who make the magazine happen. Writers, editors, business folk, the publisher. Now, you will all have your own reasons for visiting a site about mastheads. Perhaps you are a writer in need of contact info. Or maybe you just like th know the names of the people behind the scenes of your favorite magazine. Whatever the case, I thought this was a rather obscure, but interesting and potentially useful site.

Guava Magazine: The Girl's Guide to Travel

Boys look away now. This travel installment is
for the ladies only, but if you choose to stay then don’t say I didn’t try to warn you. Then again you may learn a few
things or two about your female counterpart and travel companion so stick around.

Guava Magazine is what I’m getting to and while I’m not sure how long this
periodical has been in circulation – It’s the full on girl’s guide to travel. Women, think about the times you woke up
the day before or morning of your big camping/hiking trip to discover the Fairy Godmother of PMS decided to bless you
with her presence. You’ve got cramps so bad they’d put even the toughest boot camp drill sergeant to shame, but you’re
still ready to spend a day in mother nature’s kinder environments. Carpe diem, right? Well, Guava does a fine job of highlighting three hikes in the Maryland area and
lists them by mood which isperfect for those that tends to have swings. How sweet. But let’s not linger on things we
already dread, they’ve got several other articles worth reading.

Check out their 5 reasons for going on your big road trip alone
(worry about getting a flat later) and just because the ticket to Paris didn’t cost you a small fortune doesn’t mean
shopping should. Look into their best-thrift Paris guide. For the most part I’d say Guava has something for every
woman.

Plenty Magazine

It’s official now – I’ve been
diagnosed with a case of the Green Holy Ghost.  And who knew catching an eco-spirit could be so much fun?
It all started yesterday when I arrived first thing in the morn for the grand opening of a new Wild Oats market here in Tampa. I was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and
determined to be one of the first 200 to nab one of the grand opening goodie bags. After they slapped all eagerly
waiting persons with the kind of green wrist bands you’d get at a nightclub and introduced all the VIP’s including the
mayor we were let loose, running rampant  inside the natural marketplace. In their clever little marketing scheme
you could only pick up your bag at the register after you perused aisles and aisles of healthy fare. Nobody was bold
enough to go to the cashier without one item at the very least, so the smart ones plucked up little energy bars, got in
and got out. Adrienne, on the other hand ended up spending $45 bucks when my goal was to spend half.

Needless to say I was hoping there would be a 5-gallon trial size of ethanol
nestled somewhere inside, but there wasn’t. On the contrary, I did find some delicious energy bars, chocolate soy milk,
coupons and a recent issue of Plenty Magazine. Plenty? Hmm… Never heard of it
before. After just spending a few minutes looking through the glossy mag dedicated to several eco-related topics
including travel, I decided it was a fair trade off for the ethanol I had initially expected. Plenty appears to have
lots to talk about if you’re interested in finding very green events, spa destinations or food happenings for your next
vacation. Check out the online blog for frequent updates or find a magazine
in your area.

And I promise you it won’t even cost you $45.