Barrack Obama Presidency: any effects on travel?
By Nick | November 15, 2008
We’ve heard about the economy, taxes, the war, change, and change from the Obama camp for the last several months, but now that he’s officially the President elect, inquiries are being made on the other issues still out there - like travel.
Not much has really been said about anything regarding travel, obviously, so don’t really expect too drastic of changes. However, there has been some recent discussion. Here’s a roundup of news and ideas involving the Obama camp and the travel industry.
Obama to remove travel restrictions on Cuba?
Recent rumors about Obama and Cuba state that the travel restrictions, along with the embargo on Cuba, will probably be removed under the Obama administration. The US seems to be the last country in the world supporting the embargo against Cuba - Jamaica, a country who’s tourism would suffer if Cuba’s travel ban was lifted, even supports an end to the embargo.
I’ve predicted this for some time now because globalization makes the elimination of such archaic policies inevitable. The Cold War is over, we trade with many other communist nations (China??), and their our very close neighbor who could provide many benefits for Americans through trade and travel.
Obama more realistic travel security measures
Easing travel restrictions to promote travel will be part of Obama’s change in philosophy to US tourism. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Travel News | No Comments »
GeckoGo.com Review: Brand New Social Travel Planning Community
By Nick | September 6, 2008
If not evident already, I love web 2.0, online travel networks, and I now bring you a review of GeckoGo. First off, GeckoGo is basically a brand new travel recommendation and planning network, or ‘new blood’ according to my top ten travel social networks. So now Budget Globetrotting’s take on GeckoGo’s travel planning…
First Impressions
First, according to the site:
“travel planning made friendly” and “the fun and easy way to find out where to go and what to do based on your specific interests”
As for my first impressions- they were okay - clean layout, easy to navigate, etc. A drawback is that you have to sign up right away before testing out the service, but sign up is pretty quick and easy fortunately. As a travel guide connoisseur, I quickly jumped to the map to read some country reviews, where I became really really impressed with how much content is already on the site. The major destinations (the Paris Travel Guide for example) have the typical paragraphs and pictures to give prospective travelers a general overview of the country - but where I was really impressed is in the comments on the guides by participating members. The travel community seems to be very active at GeckoGo due to the amount of comments that are already up. For a site to only be live for 2 months and have that much participation, I was impressed.
More Review…
But moving elsewhere in the site, users have the ability to contribute their own guides, build their personal profiles, and connect with other travelers by adding them as friends - sot it’s a true social travel network.
Finally, one of the more unique features is under the “answers” tab, which acts as a type of Yahoo answers for travel. Members can ask a question that will hopefully be answered by an expert, and are encouraged to help out answering as well obviously. Pretty nifty, and with an active community, definitely a feature to watch out for.
Conclusion:
While most of the review has showcased the average, expected, and good features, the site does have its drawbacks as well like everything. The main drawbacks are
1. the required, immediate sign up which is just kind of annoying. and
2. the guides aren’t as intuitive as they seem. most of the specific categories under a country on the left, like “natural environments” and “politics and economy,” are empty and have no added content yet.
However, I think the site is worth checking out. While the guides aren’t perfect yet, that’s expected with a new site. But if the community involvement keeps up as the site grows, that is honestly all that matters, and everything else will fall into place. So check out geckogo if you have any travel questions and are looking to connect with fellow travelers.
Topics: Travel Websites | 1 Comment »
How to Build Your Resume while Traveling Abroad
By Nick | September 3, 2008
As a business student, I’ve quickly learned that nearly everything is about the resume. Volunteering, student / community groups, steady jobs, etc. While surely they have other benefits, if you didn’t expect to get anything in return, I’d guess a majority of poor students and very young professionals would be less likely to participate in such activities when they could be working or partying.
So where does traveling fit in my resume boosting attempts? Well, nowhere yet, but here are some travel options for students or young professionals that can help out your resume.
State Department Internship
Arguably the most legitimate Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Budget Travel Tips, Free Accommodations | 1 Comment »
BootsnAll CheapTicketLinks.org cheap airfare search review
By Nick | August 25, 2008
My personal favorite travel network, BootsnAll.com, is a comprehensive community and network of travel tips, blogs, articles for prospective travelers seeking travel info for literally any location. The forums are the best on the net for travel topics and questions and seem to make the backbone of the network in my opinion. So when I was contacted to review their online booking site CheapTicketLinks.org, I agreed because of my high regard for the network. Much like the title suggests, the site offers a good search option when looking for Cheap airline tickets.
As for the site, it just offers a simple, easy to use search for flights, hotels, or combinations for your packages. Somewhat like other cheap airfare searches popping up online, the search returns a link list of other airline ticket providers (Kayak, CheapoAir, etc.) and transfers you to their sites with your dates and what not. The site doesn’t actually have it’s own fares, but instead just refers you to other providers in a simple easy to use fashion.
While the site is not revolutionary nor completely original, I think it fits in nicely with the rest of the Bootsnall network and is functional, one stop search tool that many BnA members and visitors will enjoy using. BnA is KISSing and it should work well, so check out CheapTeicketLinks.org when you need to find some flights or hotels, fast.
Topics: Budget Airfare and Airlines, Online Travel Booking | No Comments »
Noise Canceling Headphones Review: Plane Quiet Platinum
By Nick | August 11, 2008
For the past week or so I’ve been breaking in my set of Plane Quiet Platinum Noise Canceling Headphones in order to be able to share my thoughts on this brand new headphones coming from the “Outside the Box” group, and able to be ordered directly from ProTravelGear.com. If you’re too lazy to read, or in a hurry to get some noise canceling headphones - here is my early conclusion for you - these noise canceling headphones are very affordable and a great deal at only $99, so you won’t be disappointed for not spending the extra $200 for the comparable Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones.
But looking at them closer, here are my first impressions + commentary. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Travel Gear | No Comments »
Top 10 Travel Social Networks and Communities
By Nick | August 4, 2008
social networks are more powerful than ever and web 2.0 has brought us tons of social networks available to travelers exclusively. While most of them generally have the same, overlapping features, their functionality, community, users, and feel vary pretty greatly. So here are the top travel social networks and travel communities available online today.
Newer Blood
There are a bunch of very new, not so established travel social networks, some that even just opened up to the public in beta.
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Dopplr - This sleek, very web 2.0 site has a large variety of features. It’s very easy to navigate, and lets users create trip itineraries and find travel tips created by other travelers. You can share your trips with others and find connections. Most importantly, Dopplr is all about integrating other popular services you already use into the site, like Twitter, Facebook, Calendars, and Flickr photos so it meshes well with your online lifestyle. |
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Trip Wolf - This very new social travel community just launched July 2008. I like this site because of it’s personal nature, and it reminds me of a Facebook for travel because of its “friends” and “travelers” features. TripWolf’s “travelers” allows you to find “gurus” of destinations who can help you plan your trip, so it’s personal nature is a huge plus. Since it is brand new, it’s not as full as most other sites, but in time TripWolf can be great. |
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Trip Say - Trip Say is still in beta invite only, so it is very new as well. This travel social network reminds me of Digg.com and is big on social voting (thumbs up, thumbs down, etc) and quick tips/comments on destinations. It is very easy to navigate, guide-like site with many integrated features like photos, nearby destinations, maps, groups, and links outgoing to more comprehensive guides on a destination. |
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Trip Hub - Trip Hub is a social travel site that takes on a little different focus. Trip Hub is centered around groups planning trips together. It’s arguably the best group trip planning tool and website that allows users to invite travelers, share itineraries, map out their plans, and create travel blogs. |
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Driftr - Similar to TripWolf, Driftr is a Facebook-esque travel social network site that lets people have friends, create profiles and trips, and research others’ trips. For your tirps, you can share photos, and tips on where to eat, what to do, etc. It has a slightly cleaner, less cluttered design which is awesome and easy to navigate and use. Unfortunately, it’s still very new and small, but with a few thousand more users Driftr could be great. |
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World66 - World66 is a travel community that is more based on travel articles and guides rather than actual networking with others. The site has some new forums which aren’t too active yet, and also has new blogs and gallery features. |
Old Timers
Several older travel networks and communities don’t quite fall under the “2.0″ category because of their age and designs. But, they are still very very useful and have much more content than the new blood sites, which might be the most important thing anyways.
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Virtual Tourist - Virtual tourist is the web’s largest travel community and social network. With over a million members, there are member tips, guides, and photos on literally every place on earth. It has a sort of archaic, but functional, design but makes up for it with it’s massive amount of relevant, helpful travel facts, guides, and tips, as well as forums. |
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BootsnAll - BudgetGlobetrotting’s favorite travel forums by far. This comprehensive travel community revolves around the message boards, where forums are loaded with great guides and tips that come from the best user base around. The users and community is very friendly and helpful, and contacting individual travelers with questions is a great solution to answer your travel questions. |
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Lonely Planet Thorn Tree - Publishing giant lonely planet has the second best forums and community online. The boards are very active and busy just like Bootsnall, and there’s a lot of helpful information on different travel destinations worldwide to assist you in your travel planning. |
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Trip Advisor - This age old travel site got an updated 2.0 look and feeling, but is not one of my favorite travel communities. It’s focused around free travel guides and information, but lacks a sense of community with other members. |
Topics: Travel Blogging, Travel Websites | 5 Comments »
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