Fortnighter launches, providing customized expert travel advice

by Meg Nesterov on

Ever wish you could have a travel magazine or guidebook written just for you, catering to your specific interests and full of up-to-date travel advice? The new travel website Fortnighter offers just that–customized itineraries written by professional travel writers.

How does it work?
Start with a destination, specify who you’re traveling with (solo, as a couple, or with friends), and the number of days (currently 3, 5, or 7). You’ll be quoted a fee of $100 – $200 depending on the number of days and given a questionnaire to fill out with your interests and specifications. One week later, Fortnighter will send back a PDF with a detailed run-down of what to do and where to eat and stay (check out a sample itinerary here).

How can I trust the travel advice on Fortnighter?
The contributors have written for all the big travel outlets, from the New York Times to Condé Nast Traveler to Fodor’s guidebooks, travel frequently both for a living and because it’s what they love. All itineraries come without writer bylines, to ensure that their advice comes without bias or influence from hotels or restaurants. Plus, we can personally vouch for the site – it was founded by writer Alexander Basek, a friend and colleague to many of Gadling’s contributors.

Why should I pay for travel advice?
If you’ve ever spent time on Trip Advisor or other user-generated websites, you’ll know that sometimes you want expert advice from people who travel extensively, not just people who want to complain about the airplane movie or that their towel wasn’t folded into the right animal. Just because Joe Blow loves a restaurant featured in all the guidebooks doesn’t mean a single local would eat there, and you might miss out on a great small hotel if they don’t have a fancy website optimized to come to the top of your Google search. Fortnighter writers are selected based on their personal expertise and experience, and are often located in the destinations they write about to provide local recommendations. It’s a fraction of the cost of a customized tour, and you can do it independently and at your own pace.

Sound good to you? Check it out at www.fortnighter.com and share your experiences with us.

Hang with Hardy at writers’ workshop weekend in Britain

by Tom Johansmeyer on


If you’re a big fan of Return of the Native or Jude the Obscure, there’s a travel package that’s perfect for you. Built around the chance to hang with Thomas Hardy’s ghost – or, should we say, Thomas Hardy in ghost form? – Summer Lodge Country House Hotel is bringing four writers under its roof for a unique weekend of literary bliss. Guests will be able to learn how to make it as a writer from some heavy hitters, specifically Roger Collins, Marcelle Bernstein, Eric Clark and Jim O’Connor. Of course, there’s always the possibility that Hardy himself will weigh in with a few tips.

Roger Collins is an actor, broadcaster and writer, who counts his weekly International Herald Tribune column “The Frequent Traveler” among his claims to fame. Marcelle Bernstein is a novelist, nonfiction writer and journalist and has written Body & Soul and Sacred & Profane, both best sellers that later became feature films and television dramas. Eric Clark is an investigative journalist, and Jim O’Connor is an advertising copywriter who has pushed everything from forklifts to Australian rum.If you want to get in on the action, Summer Lodge’s Writers’ Weekend package includes two nights in a classic double room, a full English breakfast every day, champagne and canapés upon arrival and a three-course dinner Saturday evening. You’ll also be able to attend three writer workshop sessions over two days, sip tea and coffee during the events and receive a signed book by either Eric Clark or Marcelle Bernstein.

“Summer Lodge has close associations with Thomas Hardy,” says General Manager Charles Lötter. “He lived nearby and the hotel is at the very heart of the Wessex landscape he immortalized. The village pub, the Acorn Inn is featured in his novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles as The Sow & Acorn. What’s more, in his capacity as an architect, Hardy was asked to design the upper floor and the drawing room of Summer Lodge by the 6th Earl of Ilchester in 1893. So you could say the house is haunted by him – although I’ve yet to bump into him myself.”

BootsnAll call for guest writers

by Annie Scott on

BootsnAll wants more content, and that’s where you come in.

You’ve probably heard about AOL’s arm, SEED, which allows you to submit articles to a number of AOL sites (such as Gadling, everyone’s favorite) for consideration. It’s great because some of our readers are just as good at this as we are, and it enables them (you) to get paid to blog with us.

BootsnAll is launching a similar program called the BootsnAll Travel Writer Platform which is targeted specifically at those of you who would like to be professional travel writers. Basically, you can sign up to write about what you love and get paid a “base pay of $100-500/month with profit sharing of 30-40%” — not too shabby!

If you’re interested in becoming a BootsnAll Travel Writer, just send in your application by March 15, 2010. Watch the video above for more info, and visit the website here to apply.

Where on Earth? Week 43 – Isla Negra, Chile

by Brett Atkinson on


Where on Earth this week is the small beachside town of Isla Negra, 80km south of Valparaiso in Chile. This is one of three houses that Chilean poet and diplomat Pablo Neruda maintained in his home country. Up the road in Valpo, La Sebastiana cascades down the rugged hills of the port town, and further south in Santiago, La Chascona is a suitably bohemian and rambling abode in the arty suburb of Bellavista. And which of the three homes was reputedly Neruda’s favourite? Casa de Isla Negra of course…

RoadJunky Looking for Travel Writers with Flavor

by Adrienne Wilson on

In my eyes the Internet has enabled so many talented and not-so-talented some bodies and nobodies to sit up during late night hours, burning the midnight oil, typing up a storm to later divulge beautiful heart-felt pieces or thought provoking political essays from their minds or even bland pull-my-finger material. Really, sometimes it’s hard to surf through it all without wasting a whole lot of your precious time. The point is – the worldwide web is this incredible vessel allowing those with a voice and a decent typing speed to become “writers.”

With that out the way I wanted to let you know that RoadJunky is seeking travel writers. By this they are looking for people with flare and flavor who probably aren’t so good at taking precise notes on hotel and restaurant addresses in Caracas, but have a very cool story to tell instead. They want to know what it’s really like to travel THERE to that place that YOU went, because every experience like every voice is different. Got it? Comprende? Capeesh? So now onto the guidelines – writers should have an edge and desire to cover areas in Central and South America, Europe and South East Asia. Oh, and they pay a little sumthin’ sumthin’. Now get your finger out your nose, check out the submission guidelines, samples and get to whipping something up!