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BEFORE THE CONFERENCE:
Let’s all meet, roam around Wicker Park Fest, see some bands, soak up the sun and just generally chill out.
THE RENDEZVOUS POINT:
Bon Bon Vietnamese Sandwiches
2333 W. North Ave., Chicago, IL, USA
SATURDAY, JULY 25, NOON ON THE DOT!
Suzanne aka Nomadicant will be there too.
RSVP by emailing me or commenting on this post please!
BBC came up with a list of 50 places to see before you die and see them you did! TravelPod bloggers have covered all of them. How many places have you seen? Will you see them all before you die? I’ve seen 11, how about you?
Willandluce on Guano Point in the Grand Canyon
We woke up just in time to catch our transfer to Boulder City from where we boarded a small prop plane and after a bumpy flight over the Hoover Dam, landed at the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. There waiting for us was a helicpoter which then took us down the 4,000 foot drop into the pits of the Canyon and landed us on the banks of the Colorado River. – Willandluce
Stevenmoody snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef
We had a total of 3 stops each with about an hour to an hour and a half free time to snorkel around the area. It was amazing to think I was 60 km away from land and I was snorkeling in the ocean which was only 10 meters deep where we were! Saw so many amazing things in the water including the Nemo and Doris fish! A turtle and a Shark!!! I tried to swim close enough to shark and got within about 15 foot of it and just about got a picture. – Stevenmoody
Lgthib at Sanibel Island, Florida
While walking over the inland waterway to get to Bowman Beach, the girls spotted a manatee and watched it amble under the foot bridge we were on and swim off into the distance. The tide was too high for great shelling today on the sand, but Bri & Gabi went in the water and dove for shells, finding lots of nice treasures. Squadrons of pelicans flew low across the waves, and groups of White Ibises marched along the wet sand probing for food with their long, downward curving bills. – Lgthib
Leehorscraft and friends on the South Island
We arrived at Lake Rotoiti, which was mind blowing, possibly my favourite bit of scenery in NZ. The lake is beautiful, surrounded by gorgeous snow-capped mountains. It took my breath away. – Leehorscraft
Horvathck1 climbing to the top of Lion's Head Mountain
Today after work the interns arranged a hike up Lion’s Head mountain because of the full moon. It is apparently tradition here in Cape Town. The trail wraps around the whole mountain, beginning as gravel/clay paths, and ending with large boulders you must climb with ladders, chains, and just your bare hands and feet (with shoes, of course). It was a challenging but REALLY fun hike, and the view from the top was my favorite thing I’ve seen yet!!!! There was a group of South Africans singing at the top–it was an incredible experience. We just sat, talked, and watched the sun set and the full moon come up, while eating some bread and cheese, and some brought wine. To be sitting at the edge by myself, thousands of feet above the city, legs dangling, and watching the golden/orange ball sink under the horizon of the ocean was probably a highlight of my life so far — a moment I will never forget. The beauty of God displayed in his creation tonight honestly left me speechless. I wish I could wallpaper my room with that 360 degree view. – Horvathck1
Nomadic1 at India's Golden Temple
Once you enter the complex you find yourself in a massive high walled courtyard with a huge, square pool of water in it that takes up all but the edges of the courtyard. In the center of that pool sits the aptly named Golden Temple. It was just after mid-day and the sun was shining brightly causing the gold covered temple to gleam. Supposedly, the temple is gilded with over 750 kilograms of pure gold. It certainly looked it from where I was standing. – Nomadic1
Kirstine of Andyandkirstine outside her hotel in Las Vegas
It’s entertainment at its most vulgar. It’s the only place I have ever visited in the world where it seems you can get anything you want at any minute of the day. Just walking up the street slurping on our yard of frozen margarita in novelty glasses, we saw a midget elvis shaking his pelvis in the street and a rap-off eight mile style which was being filmed..awesome. – Andyandkirstine
Tracymiller visited many of the sights in Sydney
I made my way to the water where there are an array of different harbours. I found myself in Darling harbour to start which is quite touristy but very pleasant and picturesque. This is where i spent most of the day, just taking in the sights such as the Maritime museum, the aquarium…which i usually don’t bother with but was well worth it with a grand display of sharks, dugong, sting rays, plethora of fish and what not…all in a huge walk-in aquarium, so that itself took 2 hrs. And the rest of the time just took pictures of the harbour, and enjoyed the sun and the waterside cafes. Then i walked to Port Jackson harbour where the iconic Sydney Opera House is, for dusk to get some pictures…was a bit slow as it was dark by the time i found it. – Tracymiller
Pelooyen under the Brooklyn Bridge
Sitting under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. The view is PHENOMENAL. I have always wanted to be here and now I am here. I just sit and soak up the view, as well as take lots of artsy photos. I am amused and fascinated by a orthodox jewish school excursion who are taking the kids to see the bridge for the first time. – Pelooyen
Martininindia in front of the Taj Mahal
I’m not exactly the most euphoric person out there, but the Taj Mahal is simply marvelous. We went at 6am before the tourist crowds arrived. The white palace looks exactly like on pictures, but there is something hypnotizing about the monument that doesn’t let you take your eyes off it. Kipling called it “the embodiment of all things pure”, for me it’s more the emanation of perfect harmony. No matter from what angle or distance you look at it, it always looks balanced and never overbearing or pretentious. Anyways, in the morning light, you can see the countless nuances of the white marble; every single building block and every gem in the marble inlay unique, but as a collective the perfect unity – ‘e pluribus unum’. I don’t want to push the analogies to far, but I get a similar sense when I look at an Indian bazaar or busy street: ordered chaos. – Martininindia
Mady142's three sisters in front of the "Three Sisters" mountain range
We drove to Canmore so that I could get a photo I’ve wanted to get since I was in Banff with Mike in 2004. The 3 sisters in front of The Three Sisters mountain range. – Mady142
Kkherbst and friends at Uluru
Then we checked out the cultural center briefly before doing a very short into walk at Ayers Rock. That’s the large rock you always see when they advertise Australia. We watched the sun go down on it while drinking some beers and having some quality relaxation time before heading to the local grocery store to pick up candies for the night. – Kkherbst
Claraz8's family at Chichen Itza before her wedding
Leading up to our wedding celebration we had a week packed with amazing adventures. Friends and family began arriving on Saturday the 20th and we had a blast. From scuba diving off the Isla reef, to dinner in Playa del Carmen, to Chichen Itza and cenotes on Wednesday, and good old fashioned lounging around at the beautiful Le Meridien pool the week could not have been any better. – Claraz8
Codownsean at Machu Picchu
It is breathtaking and awe inspiring and I really just cannot beging to take in what I’m looking at. The sense of expectation after the 4 day hike and the sense of reward are conflicting and I just find it so hard to take in. We carry on down the trek – stopping at every corner for a different photo. Truly unbelievable and already – this has become the new highlight of the trip. Surely nothing else can surpass this. – Codownsean
Reneltrek enjoying the sunshine in Niagara Falls
The Canadian side has the best views. The city is one big roadside attraction. I have not seen so many people since Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was an international crowd; we didn’t hear a lot of English. The Falls are a natural spectacle surrounded by a carnival. At night they had fireworks and a light show. It was a fun 4th. Niagara Falls should be experienced once in a life time. – Reneltrek
Richymariner at the monastery in Petra
Today the tour took us to the insanely vast site of Petra. The place is huge, and walking through the Siq tothe treasury is worth the price of admission alone! It is very popular and as such the best photos without too many people can be obtained later in the day (when the light is better anyway). Also took in the Royal Tombs (had a geek out moment with the scene from Mortal Kombat 2!) and took the long (but definitely worthwhile) walk up to the monastery and sacrificial high places. – Richymariner
Kmidgette on the Great Pyramid
Giza was amazing! The site contains the Pyramids of Menkaure, Khafre, Khufu, and six smaller Queens pyramids. I was able to climb all the way up to the sarcophagus rooms of both the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Khafre. Giza also includes some smaller tombs including the Tomb of Seshemnufer IV and Senegemib. This is also were you find the Sphinx. I hired a camel so that I could go off into the desert for a great view back at the pyramids! What an awesome experience! – Kmidgette
Jamierand enjoying the canal views in Venezia
We spent most of our time just wandering the streets on foot. We walked across the Rialto Bridge to the Rialto district where we found the outdoor markets. That is where we did most of our shopping, and enjoyed some excellent dinners of homemade basil ravioli, and excellent fresh produce. There are also a lot of fish vendors selling pretty much anything you can imagine. It’s a little tough to look at the waters around Venice and then go eat seafood. Not exactly the crystal clear seas we saw on the other side of the country. – Jamierand
Eastcoastrod and his wife in Maldives
The resort was spread out over two islands, consisting of a combination of beach and water villas, six restaurants, two bars, two spas and Maldives finest underwater wine cellar. There is also a diving and sea sports centre, a gymnasium, an inviting swimming pool, and beach chairs and hammocks set up all over the two islands; all this in the middle of the Indian Ocean with an endless horizon of sea, sky and clouds in sight. Indeed, Robinson Crusoe would have been so green with envy. – Eastcoastrod
Maaske and her family spent a year on the road, stopping in China
Admittedly, we can’t say we can recite the historical significance of each part and how, when and why a particular section was built but we stare in amazement at the sheer enormity of the Wall and see not stone placed upon stone but the story it tells. When I walk the Wall I know that far more than we think is possible is actually possible. The Great Wall was built 400-2000 years ago over 5000 km long on top of mountain ridges that you and I would not normally even hike. The wall is an inspiration to me that great things are possible when we work together. – Maaske
TravelPod bloggers have visited some really interesting locations all over the world. Here is just a sample of some of the strangest museums you’ll find on the planet.
Rawhideone enjoyed the Phallological Museum in Iceland
And on a lighter note, the afternoon revolves around a visit to the Phallological Museum…the only one on Earth!!! What are we talking about here you might ask? Well just as the name suggests, it is a collection of the phallus (or in local, yet still biologically correct terms, the penis), from all sorts of specimens. – Rawhideone
Jenfifi being silly at the Ramen Museum
The Ramen Museum is what it sounds like, a museum dedicated to the various types of ramen from across the country. There is an informational floor, but the real action is on the two basement floors which feature 8 different shops serving some 25 kinds of ramen. What they have done is get all of the most famous old ramen shops from across Japan to come in and set up mini shops within the museum. – Jenfifi
Strange things on display at the Kunstcamera
In my last week I visited the inside of the Church of Spilled Blood, and the museum of anthropology and ethnography (Kunstkamera) which was full of things collected by Peter the great from around the world. It included a strange, disturbing but fascinating collection of foetuses and heads in jars. Oh and a cross section of an elephant penis?! – Watchoutworld
Laurenandjack saw the inside of a human head
One interesting detour we took in Bangkok was to the Museum of Forensic Medicine at Siriraj Hospital, something we had heard about but could never really imagine. This museum showcases the mummified bodies of famous murderers and rapists, aborted fetuses in jars, car accident mangled limbs (for real!), horrendous photos of suicides, car accidents, bullet hole ridden skulls, Molotov cocktail victims, cancerous lungs and alcoholic livers, so on and so forth. – Laurenandjack
I made this video last spring. Basically, it’s just me fooling around with a Flip Video camera and talking about writing techniques that can help you improve your travel blog.
Hope you like it.
Some of the most beautiful places in the world are also sacred religious sites. TravePod bloggers have visited some of that are simply incredible. Here are 10 of them.
Jagannath was Rbair's favourite Hindu god
The cool part of Puri is that they worship Lord Jagannath, Lord of Chaos, Destruction, and Loose Change. Unlike all the other hindu gods, he doesn’t really have a shape or body. He is literally just a smiley face. So they draw smiley faces on things and are like “OMG! it is Lord Jagannath!” As we neared his main temple Jagannath Mandir, we saw the beginnings of their construction of the juggernaut chariot thingy. It is amazing. The size of this is beyond comprehension. For a little estimation stuff here, this cart is pulled by 4,000 people to make it move. Big. – Rbair
Donna321 visited the Ethiopian Orthodox cathedral
Though we couldn’t access the old church (men only) which is located adjacent to the small building which is said to contain the Ark of the Covenant (only one monk has access to its specific location and is charged with the duty of guarding it until his death), we were lucky to witness a beautiful Lenten procession taking place around the new church. After a tour of the new one-room museum located at the church, which houses a number of crowns, robes and other Ethiopian royal paraphernalia, we were treated to a viewing of an ancient bible, which we were told we were extremely lucky to see since it will supposedly soon never be seen again by the public, as priests are currently in the process of creating a copy for viewing. – Donna321
P.rajesh attended a 4 a.m. ritual at The Golden Temple
The famed transportation of the Palki (the palanquin) is indeed special. The Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs is carried from the Akal Takht, its resting place for the night, to the Harmandir Sahib at 4 in the morning – the process gets reversed at day-end with similar fervour and fanfare. The surreal serenity of the Gurudwara’s premises, with the dull gold reflecting in the still waters of the lake, combined with the soothing chants of the Prabhat Pheri (morning prayers) – all this makes for an experience you would never want to miss, and something that will find a place in your heart, irrespective of your communal leanings, or even the lack of any. – P.rajesh
Mebiner attended the feast for the Solemnity of the Virgin Mary
One of the best parts of our visit to the shrine was watching the traditional dancers outside the church in the grand plaza. There was a sort of religious dance of men in cowboy hats holding crosses and wearing sequinned capes depicting the Virgin Mary. A few steps away was a traditional Aztec group dancing to thunderous drumming. – Mebiner
Killucan2 inside one of the many shrines
Reaching the top we were stunned by what we saw. the buildings were like wedding cakes and nothing seemed real, the carvings and craftsmanship was amazing. Apparantly the temples were built in the 11th century but were torn down by the muslims in the 14th and 15th centuries before being rebuilt in the 16th century. – Killucan2
Salcat watches pilgrims ring the bell at the top of the mountain
Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada) is Sri Lanka’s 5th highest peak in the at 2243m, but it is one of the most celebrated places of pilgrimage. Every religion seems to have their own reasons to worship this mountain: – Buddhist: – there is a depression at the top which is claimed to be the sacred footprint – of Buddha himself. Muslim: – they claim the footprint is that of Adam, who first set foot on earth and had to stand on one leg in pentinence until his sins were forgiven. Hindu: – they claim the footprint was created by Shiva. Christian: – the colonial Portuguese claimed that the footprint belonged to St Thomas, the founder of the religion in India. – Salcat
Pura_vida's makeshift outfit to wear at Mecca
Amazing to be here! This is the first and original mosque to have ever been built. We believe it to have been ordered of Abraham to be built at this location by God. This is the culmination of a lot of anticipation in every Muslim´s life! - Pura_vida
Jimmyrh at the Western Wall
Today, we walked through the tunnel under the Western Wall. A friend had given me a prayer on a small piece of paper and asked me to place it in the wall as we visited, and I did so. I watched the deep devotion of many faithful jewish men and women and learned the history of this holy hill, the Temple Mount. - Jimmyrh
Stellios knows everything about going to Mount Athos
Mount Athos, known in Greece as the Holy Mountain, is a peninsula in Halkidiki, north Greece containing 20 monasteries. Although the peninsula of Mount Athos is part of Greece, it enjoys certain autonomy. The region is governed by the “Holy community” under the ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Only men are permitted to enter Mount Athos. The rule, known as the “ABATON”, forbids access to Mount Athos by any female and is enforced by law. In accordance with the procedures established by the Holy Community foreigners must obtain a written permit to visit Mount Athos from the “Mount Athos Office”. - Stellios
Travelingamanda found Bodh Gaya to be like "Buddha Disneyland"
My (possibly scamming) tour guy with the motorcycle took me to the Mahabodi Temple. This is THE temple of Buddhism as it commemorates the spot where the Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in 663 BC. The temple was built in the 6th Century AD atop the site of a temple that was erected by Emperor Ashoka 800 years earlier (200 BC). However, amazingly, there are still railings that surround the site that date from 184-72 BC. Clearly, this is cool (and old) Buddha shit. – Travelingamanda
Being the web’s original travel blogging site, TravelPod has provided a platform for travel enthusiast to keep track of and share their experiences for almost 12 years now. The site has grown organically through our strong community and we have added tons of great features over the years.
But recently, we’ve started to hear some grumbling from our rookie TravelPodders about the steep learning curve involved with getting a blog started.
And that was our main focus for this project (along with some other goodies).
Keeping everything our bloggers have come to love about TravelPod and making it more accessible to those that are just getting started on the site.
So what’s new:
Completely overhauled interface
We’ve taken all the best parts of the tools you use to create your blog and polished them off adding handy shortcuts where ever possible.
Speed improvements
Starting from scratch always has benefits and you should notice that all the pages load much more quickly. We’ve also used some clever tricks to avoid having to refresh an entire page just to make a small change.
Itinerary builder
It’s now ridiculously easy to add map pins for all those places you plan to visit so you can concentrate on writing and uploading pictures while you’re on the road.
A new Dashboard
This will be the hub of all things TravelPod with easy access to everything. This page has been designed to grow over time so new features will fit seamlessly into your workflow.
And so much more…
- Filter your list of entries to quickly find a specific entry
- A huge trip map that you can use while researching your trip or for
- A new and improved story editor with some great advanced features
- Improved photo weaving right next to the editor for a little inspiration
- Completely overhauled address book
- Profile picture cropping so you can nicely frame your face
- Fully customizable Send Entry notifications emails
- An inline help system and form validation
We want everyone to be able to share their great travel stories with the world and we really hope that these changes let them do that with a little more ease.
And this is only the beginning. Be sure to let us know what you think about the changes and we’ll be sure to continue to improve based on your feedback.
Happy Travels!
Eric
TravelPod bloggers love to experience local culture and flavour everywhere they go. One of the best ways to do this is to attend a festival. Here are some of the most amazing festivals attended by our travelers that I noticed recently:
Muddyfeet witnessed the Crucifixion reenactment
Semana Santa is a week long festival honoring of the death of Christ including many, many processions covered in the mist of frankincense and myrrh, candy stands, mournful music and the usual nightly generator to add lights to it all. There is many a grander than life sized Christ carrying the cross as well as a Christ with big purple pinkish wings. Friday and Saturday are particularly festive with entire reenactments of the stations of the cross to the mysterious cave event. (in some towns they actually nail a real person to a cross, considered quite an honored position) Almost kind of like those Civil War reenactments but more religious (and more bloody sometimes). - Muddyfeet
Markwilliams84 at a polo tournament in the mountains
A group of us who had all met along different points of out trips had all organized to meet at the famous Shandur Pass which is at an altitude of 3,810 meters and big enough to have a couple of lakes. It’s home to the highest Polo ground in the world where the best players from the surrounding valleys trek up their for a yearly competition and festivities! – Markwilliams84
Wareameye participated in the Mongolian national festival
This is the day we have been waiting for-the opening ceremonies of the Mongolian National Festival: Naadam … The ceremony starts promptly with the entry of the Festival standards into the arena and their formal placement by the stage from which the President is to address the crowd. I cannot comment on the speech as it is all in Mongolian, but our guide tells us it is the customary greetings and welcome, punctuated by much applause from the crowd. – Wareameye
Mrconfused encountered a religious procession during Tibet's new year celebrations
The ceremony began with a procession around the village and up the hillside beyond of the yellow coxcomb-hatted monks carrying some icon, accompanied by horns and cymbals, and villagers scattering masses of Buddhist confetti and letting off firecrackers almost continuously for an hour and a half. Any path the procession followed ended thick with confetti and firecracker shells. - Mrconfused
Jta at the bareback riding competition
Also worth a mention is the Calgary Stampede a huge 10 day outdoor rodeo event. There aren’t many places in the world you can walk around in a cowboy hat and not get some funny looks! The rodeo itself was pretty gripping to watch, these cowboys are seriously tough! – Jta
Heatherandrew at the Pushkar Camel Festival
For the weekend Andrew and I with nine other friends headed out on a Friday to Pushkar, and the largest mammal fair in the world. That’s right, the annual Pushkar camel festival. They estimate that 25,000 camels are traded each year. – Heatherandrew
Nybridge at Inti Raymi in Peru
Once the centre of the Incan Empire, with its four roads radiating to the corners of the Incan world, Cusco was again charging up for the spectacular Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) … The drumbeats….the parade started at around 10am with numero uno current Inca dudes at point, followed by an extensive procession of brightly costumed peoples from surrounding towns and villages. Some time later…at approx 2300hrs, numero 214 brought up the rear. This was the preliminary for the following day whereby the central plaza was awash with ancient ritual as the reenactment of the great Inti Raymi commenced. – Nybridge
The U.S. government is warning travelers to steer clear of the Roppongi area of Tokyo. A place filled with nightclubs and popular with young people.
This is because of a recent spate of drink-spiking.
Here’s what some of our travelers had to say about that area of town.
Segacs noticed the overrepresentation of foreigners in this neon-filled region.
Roppongi at night
For my last night in Japan, I headed to Roppongi, Tokyo’s ultimate nightlife neighbourhood, with a few of my hostel dormmates. Roppongi appears to be the gathering point of choice for travelers and expats; we saw English, Irish, Aussie and Kiwi spots as well as lots of American chains. Not too authentic, perhaps, but there were plenty of hip and trendy Japanese people out enjoying themselves there. I think if I lived here, I’d have to invest in a whole new wardrobe.
-from “Last day in Tokyo” – Tokyo, Japan
Str8jism ventured into the Roppongi district in the middle of the day:
Roppongi night clubs
Our next stop was a district called Roppongi. For the young people out there, this is definitely the place to go to. Aside from shops in the area, this is where all the bars, clubs, and yes gentlemen, even some nudie bars! The clubs and bars are located differently than what I’m used to that they are all in the same high rise building and each floor is a different club. I believe the higher the floor, the more upscale it is. Too bad we visited the area during the middle of the week in thee daytime.
-from “Walk-a-thon” – Tokyo, Japan
Codownsean was intrigued by this area of the city:
Roppongi district in Tokyo
Roppongi was the first glimpse of Tokyo as I thought it would be – heaving with people and the neon signs starting to appear. The Irish pub was bizarre – you get out of a lift and straight into a corridor of some high rise block and there in the corner is an apartment converted into a bar.
-from “Arrive in Tokyo – Even the Toilets Are Hi Tec” – Tokyo, Japan
If you’ve got your eyes on Paris, but only have a budget for a trip to New York City, don’t worry. You can still experience that Euro feeling.
Visit the Arc de Triomphe
Well…. not really. But the arch in Washington Square Park was modelled after it.
Washington Square Park
It’s one of Jamieshaffer’s favourite places.
There were (as always) some interesting characters there, including a guy dressed up with a cape and sword who was making a big production out of how he was refusing to perform that day out of protest for something or other.
-from “Test Entry” – New York City, New York, United States
See some European art
At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you can see all kinds of precious artwork from Europe. You can also stop by the Museum of Modern art to check out the waterlilies by Claude Monet, or as Gary_cailin found out, one of the traveling shows.
Picasso on display at MoMA
As I walked up through Central Park it started to snow. It was honestly one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen, and of course I was on my own at the time. Thanks irony, you cold hearted bitch. Next museum on my stop was the MoMA, or Museum of Modern Art to all you non-artistic plebs. Another excellent museum, but alas, once again I only got to see about half of it before closing time. There was an excellent Van Gogh exhibition on which was very impressive, even though every time I heard an American say “Van Go” I wanted to punch them.
-from “Snowing in Central Park” – New York City, New York, United States
Slurp some spaghetti
For dinner, you can spend some time in Little Italy, like Malteaser did.
Little Italy
Really amazing you cross one road and you feel like you are in another country. Little Italy is just like Lygon street but the streets and the buildings have more of a history. Saying that when it comes to prices of good Italian food we win by a mile. Size is important here, although its good to eat.
-from “New York City Day 2” – New York City, New York, United States
Last weekend’s “Hawaiian Hotel” skit on Saturday Night Live has brought harsh criticism from the Hawaiian lieutenant governor and others. Hawaiian luau dancers are depicted as angry and condescending to tourists.
Well, I can say the feeling’s probably mutual. The derision towards tourists expressed in the skit matches the attitudes our bloggers had. Here’s just a sample of the negative reviews from the other side of the table:
Luau in Kauai, Hawaii
In the evening, we joined most of the 2000 passengers from the ship on one of the many coaches to Luau Kalamaku … The whole experience was garish, shallow and completely fake. I really thought Jill was going to punch the photographer when he insisted we stand next to a half naked dancer to have our picture taken. We were back on the ship by 8:30pm so went to watch a variety show put on by the ship’s crew which was a very refreshing change from the staged Luau.
-from “The Green Island of Kauai” – Kauai, United States
Fiona_justin stopped at a luau after checking out Pearl Harbour:
Luau in Lahaina, Hawaii
We ended our week in Maui with an evening at the Old Lahaina Luau. Foe was impressed with the skill of the dancers. I was impressed with the unlimited open bar.
-from “Hanging loose in Hawaii” – Lahaina, United States
Luau dancers in Oahu, Hawaii
Trippinwithleis was not so impressed with her luau experience in Oahu.
Well this evening Meg and I went out, intentionally this time, to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a supposedly authentic luau. I guess I had all of those images from the movies ingrained in my brain because I was very disappointed when we were sitting at long tables eating a buffet style meal.
-from “Weird…” – Oahu, United States
We’re constantly making improvements to the site and there’s no one that knows TravelPod.com better than you.
Help us test new features before we launch them. It’s a great opportunity to get a sneak peak at new stuff before it’s released to the public. Plus, you’ll also get to have a say in how the new stuff works.
Thought I’d pass this little giveaway over to you:
Our sister site, IndependentTraveler.com is giving away $250 at BedandBreakfast.com on their website every week, until Feb. 26. Imagine a cozy weekend retreat in the woods, or in a little cottage by the seashore. The possibilities are endless.
You could be here
Two hundred people have died as a result of the bushfires in Australia. It’s a very sad state of affairs, and I thought I could bring some light to the situation by highlighting a few TravelPod bloggers who have experienced a bushfire first hand.
Michelleab writes from Melbourne, but she can see the smoke in the distance.
Hazy Melbourne
I live and work in Central Melbourne, and luckily so far the bushfires and at a distance – both physically and in terms of their impact on colleagues and friends. It only really hit me the other day when a few people contacted me to check I was OK. Like most travellers, I don’t keep in contact enough sometimes. Yesterday, Friday, the fires felt closer as the sky was hazy with smoke and both sunset and sunrise were blood orange due to this. Today, the smoke is worse and you can definitely smell it in the air.
- from “Victoria Bushfires” – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
One of TravelPod’s most prolific bloggers, Eddakath, is in China at the moment, but he knows what being engulfed with flames in a bushfire is like.
Tourists not welcome
Over the past several days I have been getting emails from mostly Asian friends asking about the fires but when I try to explain it to them I don’t think they can truly comprehend what a real Australian bushfire is about (or any bush fire for that matter), how powerful it is, how hot it is and how unpredictable it is. In my mind they are thinking of small patch of bush with several trees engulfed by flame and those flames being only the size of the trees. I try to explain that a bush fire such as this one can move at an estimated 60 to 100 kilometers per hour (40 to 60 miles per hour).
-from “Black Saturday Friends Family & Southern Australia” – Shangzhou, China
Shannonm is taking her family on the road in a big RV. She finds herself lucky to be safe from danger at the moment.
Shannon celebrating her birthday, safely in the north
Amazing really, roads closed, and town cut off for a month now in the North of Australia, and in the the Southern part, so hot and dry, and there terrible fire storms consuming whole towns and their inhabitants. We should feel so lucky to only have the minor inconvienience of changing our travel plans and flights.
If you’ve got some cash to spare, I’m sure the Red Cross could put it to good use.
There are expected to be over a million people attending Barrack Obama’s presidential inauguration in Washington, DC today.
I’m pleased to say that TravelPod has got its own ear to the ground, with members posting directly from the event. Get an honest account of the event and follow these travelers throughout their experience of America’s capital during this historic moment.
Globetrotters have begun an amazing travel blog and are updating it right from the National Mall.
Globetrotters at the National Mall
There is nothing like being in a crowd of excited people, all in a positive mood and thrilled to be in a place that is sure to make history. There were all kinds of people walking the streets of Washington, DC, who represented the diversity and inclusiveness of Ameirca that Dr. King spoke about; all of them their way to the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall.
-from “Test Run for Inauguration Day” – Washington, DC
Akb2iclives in Washington at the moment, and she is attending a special conference in Bethesda in honour of the event. Here is her description of the Porta-potties needed to pull off the inauguration.
Porta-potty city
DC has never faced an event so large. Reports coming out today say that there will only be one port-a-potty for every 6,000 inauguration attendees. And I am a witness to the port-a-potty city that is currently surrounding the Washington Monument. I’m used to seeing flags circled around it, but today when I accidentally drove by (still learning my way around the city that was designed to confuse invaders) all I noticed were the rows and rows of portable toilets.
-from “Blogging sooner than I thought from Washington, DC” – Falls Church, Virginia, Washington, DC
Sophiegrimm found that there were some angry revellers in the crowd, but just the thought of Mr. Obama convinced her to forgive, and not provoke any more hostility:
The concert didn’t start until 2 o’clock so in the meantime we “made friends” with two boys (Phillip and ?) while Rachel waited 2 hours for an eight dollar hot dog and hot chocolate that was cold by the time she brought it to us. We almost got in a brawl with the angry woman in the brown jacket, we nicknamed her the habitual line-crosser(self-explanitory). But we opted to avoid confrontation for our beloved Barack.
-from “Rockin out with OBAMA” – Washington DC, District of Columbia, United States
