Professional honeymooners: dream job or nightmare?

by Laurel Miller on

Does a half-year working honeymoon sound like your idea of a dream job? If so, you might want to contact RunawayBrideandGroom.com, an Irish travel agency catering to destination weddings and honeymoons.

But wait- there’s more! You’ll also be paid 20,000 euros (about $27,000). “The Ultimate Job” is the latest in a series of promotions designed to capture the public imagination and serve as a “brilliant” marketing tool for people and places. The idea was inspired by last year’s blockbuster “Best Job in the World” campaign in Australia.

Winners will travel the globe for six months, and get paid to test out the most romantic wedding and honeymoon destinations around the world. More than 1,000 couples have already applied for the chance to be sent to resorts in Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States. You don’t have to be Irish to apply, but you do have to tout Ireland as part of the process.

Hopefuls have until April 7 to apply for the “horrendous assignment” — as the company teasingly calls it (hee.) — which starts mid-May. B.Y.O. Viagra and UTI medicine.

The winners will be asked to blog about their experiences a few times a week, “when they can get out of the hammock after sipping a glass of champagne,” says Rosemarie Meleady, managing director of RunawayBrideandGroom.com. Assuming they stay sober long enough, they must also write for The Irish Times once a month.

While 182.5 days of globetrotting is a dream job for many (mainly real travel writers), it would still test the limits of even the most solid of couples. Here’s hoping the company also throws in a good divorce lawyer.

Galley Gossip: The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010 – book giveaway!

by Heather Poole on


I have an announcement to make, a very big one. But first I must tell you about a wonderful book, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010: True stories from around the world, edited by Stephanie Elizondo Griest. It’s an anthology full of fascinating travel tales by interesting women from all walks of life. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, or where you’re going – or not going – there’s something for everyone in this book. And I’m giving copies away to two lucky Gadling readers! (Details at the bottom of this post)

It’s the kind of book that makes you want to travel, or at least go to your local Pakistani restaurant and order the chicken haleem extra spicy, which is exactly what I did right after reading The Heat Seeker, by Alison Stein Wellner. My mother, who also read the book, couldn’t stop laughing over the phone as she recounted the story, Desert Queen, written by Diane Caldwell. I don’t think she’ll be planning a trip to the desert anytime soon. And neither one of us could get over Design a Vagina, written by Johanna Gohmann, which caused my mother to shriek, “I would never!” as if I actually thought she might.

Travelers Tales writes…

This best-selling, award-winning series presents the finest accounts of women who have traveled to the ends of the earth to discover new places, peoples – and themselves. The common threads connecting the stories are a woman’s perspective and lively storytelling to make the reader laugh, cry, wish she were there, or be glad she wasn’t. From climbing a volcano in Ecuador to running a kennel for pariah dogs in India to helping prepare meals in Iran, the points of view and perspectives are global and the themes eclectic, including stories that encompass spiritual growth, hilarity and misadventure, high adventure, romance, solo journeys, stories of service to humanity, family travel, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

In The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010:

  • A search for the perfect wave in New Zealand provides a lesson in love
  • Curiosity leads to an understanding of political activism and human rights in Burma
  • A childless American is adopted by a six-year-old and becomes part of the family in Italy
  • Cultural understanding deepens in surprising ways through language lessons in
    Vietnam
  • On a fact-finding mission in Afghanistan, a retired professor learns that peace is
    everything
  • A day on a nude beach in the Netherlands gives a self-described “prude” a new appreciation of body types, and comfort with her own
  • …and much more.

So…can you guess who the “prude” on the nude beach might be? ME! That’s right, my essay, An Ode To B-Cups, is also included in the book! (Read an excerpt HERE.) I’ll even autograph the books….if you want. Just let me know.

HOW TO WIN:

  • To enter, simply leave a comment below – or better yet, share a travel tip! – whichever you prefer.
  • The comment must be left before April 2, 2010 at 5pm Eastern time
  • You may enter only once.
  • Two winners will be selected in a random drawing.
  • Two Grand Prize Winners will receive a free, autographed copy of Women’s Best Travel Writing 2010, edited by Stephanie Griest
  • Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
  • Book is valued at $17.95
  • Click here for complete Official Rules

GOOD LUCK!

Photos courtesy of Travelers Tales and Photorisma

Rolf Potts to lead travel writing classes in Iceland, Paris

by Grant Martin on

Our old friend and colleague Rolf Potts is leading not one but two travel writing work shops this year, each among some of the most inspiring settings in the planet, Reykjavik, Iceland and Paris, France, respectively. While the latter is part of Rolf’s normal circuit, this year brings the addition of the Iceland course as part of Angela Ritchie’s Ace Camps.

At a cost of $1950, the Iceland course begins on August 1 and will involve 5 days of travel writing workshops and 7 nights of accommodation with all food provided. Airfare will need to be booked separately. The Paris writing workshop runs from July 1-28.

Here at Gadling we’ve been visited by Rolf before – you might remember his dispatches while on the Marco Polo Didn’t go There book tour, a month-long look inside the world of a traveling author through middle America and the release of a new publication.

Were one to emerge from the writing courses with 10% of the descriptive, gripping narrative power that Rolf possesses, I’d consider the investment worth it. Research and sign up for the Iceland course here, while information on the Paris course can be found here.

Submit your travel writing to TBEX ’10 Community Keynote

by Mike Barish on

TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange) is preparing for its second annual event after a successful gathering of travel bloggers and writers in 2009. This year’s event, TBEX ’10, will be held in New York on June 26-27 and will include a new session focused on highlighting the best in independent travel blogging. The Community Keynote will feature readings of some of the best travel blog posts in nine categories and aims to honor the amazing writers who write about travel not for money but to share their stories and passions.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Hey, I have a travel blog. How can I submit one of my posts for consideration?,” you should head over to the TBEX ’10 Community Keynote page for all of the details. Even if you’re not able to attend TBEX ’10, your writing could be featured. So, no matter where in the world you are located, you could be honored at this fantastic session.

The nine categories that will be featured at the Community Keynote are:

1. Twinkle in a Traveler’s Eye – The Ideas That Inspire the Trips

2. In Transit – The Perils (and Joys) of Transportation

3. Talking to Strangers – The People You Meet

4. Spit or Swallow – Culinary Conundrums

5. The Power of Places – Inspiring Destinations

6. You Did What? – Adrenaline Rushes and Adventures

7. Love at First Flight – Tales of Romance on the Road

8. Trips & Falls – Embarrassing Tales & Travel Fails

9. Home, Bittersweet Home – Reverse Culture Shock & Many Happy Returns

The session will be hosted by the talented Seattle-based writer Pam Mandel of Nerd’s Eye View and Gadling’s own Mike Barish (hey, that’s me) who also blogs at his own site (and apparently strays into third-person writing from time to time).

So, what are you waiting for? Look through your archives, find your best, most unique and awe-inspiring blog posts and submit them for consideration today! Your work could be featured at the TBEX ’10 Community Keynote (and that’s pretty damn cool).

National Geographic Student Expeditions expand for 2010

by Kraig Becker on

The popular and successful National Geographic Student Expeditions program is gearing up for another outstanding year, adding new options for high school students looking for an adventurous and educational escape this summer. The lucky travelers have their journeys enhanced further by the inclusion of National Geographic experts and trip leaders designed to deliver travel experiences unlike any other.

Of course, many students spend their summer traveling, but the Student Expeditions program offers some unique options that aren’t available elsewhere. While on their journey, each student will select an “On Assignment” project in the area of interest that includes photography, travel writing, filmmaking, exploration, archaeology and ancient culture, climate and geology, marine biology and conservation, Earth science, and wildlife and conservation. Those projects can take such forms as a photo portfolio, a travel film, or a short story, with a focus on capturing the culture and natural wonders of the locations visited.

The students are guided in their assignments by handpicked experts, such as National Geographic photographers, writers, or researchers who join their expeditions for anywhere from three to seven days. These experts are generally well known in their field and offer years of experience and expertise to the next generation of explorers on the trip. For example, when traveling through Tanzania, the students will be joined by Anna Estes, a wildlife ecologist who has conducted research in the Ngorongoro Crater, while those selecting Australia as their destination of choice, will see the country with photojournalist and filmmaker Ulla Lohmann.As if that wasn’t enough all of National Geographic’s trip leaders are college graduates who are working in journalism, photography, science, and similar fields. Each has insightful and extensive knowledge of the destination the students will be visiting, and in order to ensure the best experience possible, the ratio of trip leaders to students is roughly six or eight to one.

The 2010 schedule offers 15 exciting trips, lasting three weeks in length, to such destinations as Costa Rica, Iceland, Peru, China, India, and more. New to the schedule this year are expeditions to Alaska, Hawaii, and Tuscany. You can check out the entire list by clicking here, and high school students interested in joining one of these trips can fill out an online application here.

For a great look at what one of these trips is like, check out this wonderful video from a student expedition to Peru. Why couldn’t this have been an option when I was in high school?!?