Relief Riders International - Life Changing Travel on Horseback

(this is a blog, not a podcast)

Welcome to Relief Riders International

This is life a changing trip on horseback - changing the lives of both the travelers and the people in the destination. Relief Riders International take small groups of travelers (about 15) on a truly unique experience. They ride horses to remote villages in India to distribute Red Cross medical and educational supplies, while staying in a wide variey accommodation, including old military forts and tents. The 15 day trip costs $4800.

Visit RRI's website (above) to see its stunning audio-visual presentation, which is powered by Dragonfly.com's multimedia web application.

See also: Experiential Travel Meets Experiential Technology: Relief Rides Come Alive

Tags: travel,tourism,India,development,Red Cross,horse,horseback

G4T #37: Travel 2.0: The Web 2.0 Travelscape

(click on the title above to download the .mp3 file)

Something new! I recorded the paper I presented at the conference I just got back from in Brisbane, Australia. This was at a meeting sponsored by the Tourism Commission of the International Geographical Union. The title of my paper was: "Travel 2.0: The Emerging Virtual Travelscape."

Interestingly, when I asked how many people had heard of the concept of "Web 2.0," only two people in the 30 or so who were in attendance raised their hands. As a regularly listeners of ITConversations.com, this was a shock to me. This major (in my opinion) social trend is apparently not getting much play beyond the blog/podosphere!

Here are a couple of links related to my talk:

- Web 2.0 Travel Tools (this is one my blogs)
- IGU Tourism Commission Website (I am the webmaster for this group)
- My Australia Trip travel blog (at MyLifeofTravel.com)

NEW: Next wave of travel websites feels like MySpace (Christian Science Monitor article)

Give me one Earth Sandwich, please

if the earth were a sandwich...

(this is a blog, not a podcast)

zefrank does some simple GIS mapping to identify places in the world that are exactly opposite from one another, and contain land (not water/ocean). The reason for doing this is so two slices of bread could be placed on opposite sides of the earth to make an "Earth Sandwich." Interesting idea, even more interesting map.

In general, it is surprising just how much of the land area of the planet does not have land areas on their opposite side of the globe. We are, indeed, a big blue marble made up mostly of ocean water! (Note that the big yellow of Greenland looks huge on this map because of the Mercator projection, which spreads the north and south poles out enormously. Greenland is actually smaller than Australia.)

According to the website:

"Possible sandwich locations: The duckie-yellow areas are places where it is possible to make an Earth sandwich such that both pieces of bread are on land. It may not be exact, but it's pretty close. In some cases, islands that should be yellow are too small to be seen on this map."

Tags: zefrank,travel,earth,planet,globe,map,GIS,sandwich

G4T #36: Planning Theory & Tourism Planners: A Disconnect

(click on the title above to download the .mp3 file)

Planning theory is a subject that uban planning students love to hate. However, most tourism planners have never even heard of it -- at least that is my impression from reviewing tourism planning textbooks. When I was a planning student, many years ago, planning theory (the what, why and how of the planners role in society) was one of favorite classes. So in today's podcast I discuss why I think planning theory has important lessons for tourism planning and tourism planners.

This podcast topic was prompted by a commentary that I recently wrote for Leisure/Loisir: Journal of the Canadian Association of Leisure Studies.

Length: 27min; 35 sec

Tags: travel,tourism,planning,urban planning,tourism planning,planning theory,rational planning,incremental planning,advocacy planning,transactive plannin

Travelography #30: Child Mixup at United & The World's Most Expensive Casino

Child Mixup at United & The World's Most Expensive Casino
(click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

In last week's Travelography (yes, I am a bit late in getting this post up), United Airlines mixed up two boys who were traveling without their parents, and almost sent to Taiwan instead to South Bend, Indiana. Singapore selects the Las Vegas Sands to build the world's most expensive casino. Malaysia stumbles in Disney discussions And summer travel costs rise with gas prices.

Airline mixes up 2 boys headed in different directions

Las Vegas Sands to build Singapore's first casino

Malaysia in talks to build Disney park

Disney says has no plans for Malaysian park

Gas prices siphon profits from tourist attractions

Tags: Tourism,Travel,United Airlines,Child travel,Singapore,Las Vegas,Sands,Casino,Malaysia,Disneyland,Disney,Summer travel,Gas prices,PCN

Have a Green [Travel] Summer - from Google Maps

Green Summer Travel

(this is a blog, not a podcast)

Google Maps has teamed up with the Earth Day Network to provide this guide to green (environmentally friendly) travel. The guide focuses on only 5 destinations in the US, and simple shows a Google Map with pins in it locating green establishments that may be of interest to visitors. Nothing earth shattering, but it does provide a primer on how to think green when traveling. [Tip #1 - search for "environmentally friendly hotel" instead of just "hotel."]

If your travel plans are still developing for this summer, you may want to check this out. (Mine were set many months ago!)

Tags: travel,tourism,green,environmentally friendly,google,google maps,earth day network,earth day,summer,travel tips

Online Travel Maps - a mini review

Online Travel Maps - a mini review

(this is a blog, not a podcast)

The folks over at TechCrunch (a new media blog site) have been comparing the different map search engines, including maps.Google.com, maps.Yahoo.com, Microsoft (local.live.com), maps.Ask.com and Mapquest.com. The competition is heated and new feature rollouts make comparisons a moving target. Their "winner" (in April 2006) was maps.Yahoo.com, which includes detailed traffic information for major cities and an easy to use interface that includes listing of services, restaurants and other places of potential interest to travelers.

Click Here to see the full TechCrunch assessment, which includes a table that compares the major features that are offered (and not) by each map.

Taking a quick look at all of the different sites listed above, I agree that the maps.Yahoo.com interface has the best combination of usefulness and usability. However, I found that maps.Ask.com has the nicest looking color aerial images of Flagstaff, AZ, which made finding my house much easier on their website than any other. And that oldie but goodie Mapquest.com, which still has a very Web 1.0 static map, had the most accurate street maps of Flagstaff.

To compete, Microsoft has added live traffic indicators to its maps, though it listed far fewer road incidents in Phoenix, AZ, than did the Yahoo map viewed at the same time. And Microsoft has a preview site of for Streetside (at http://preview.local.live.com/; also reviewed at TechCrunch). This site shows front and side photo views of streets in downtown San Francisco and Seattle. Pretty cool, especially if you are familiar with one of those two places (I found my old apartment in SFO!), though the interface is a bit clunky, kind of like playing a very old vide car driving game.

Personally, I think any of them will do a good job in getting you from point A to point B, but these new toys can be fun!

p.s. - I call this posting "Online Travel Maps" to distinguish these from the other maps that geographers are interested in: Thematic Maps, which to me includes GIS.

Tags: maps, mapping, travel, tourism, geography, aerial images, comparisons, maps.yahoo.com, maps.ask.com, mapquest, streetside, techcrunch

G4T #35: Tourism & Geography News: Travel Literacy & Physical Geography

(click on the title above to download the .mp3 file)

This is another Tourism and Geography in the News episode, with a focus on two topics: Travel/Geographic Literacy and Physical Geography. In the travel and geographic literacy news stories, both the American Automobile Association and the National Geographic Society held their geography contest these past couple of weeks, and issued their geographic/travel literacy survey results, which once again showed how dismal geographic knowledge is among Americans.

The physical geography news stories include volcanic activity at Mt Merapi in Indonesia and Mt St. Helens in the US, the May 27th earthquake in Indonesia, flood warnings to recreationists in California, and the world's largest artificial reef off the coast of Florida.

I close with a couple of not quite physical geography stories about futuristic proposals for New Orleans and an upcoming UFO Festival in New Mexico.

Length: 22min, 41sec

Links to stories in today's podcast:

• Travel Challenge Champ Wins $25,000 Scholarship
• Illinois Eighth Grader Wins National Geographic Bee
• Young Americans Geographically Illiterate, Survey Suggests
• 2006 National Geographic Roper
• Mount Merapi brings uncertainty to Central Java tourism
• Volcano Eruption Countered With Dance, Food
• Indonesia Quake Toll Rises to Nearly 4,000
• NEW:
• JAVA TOURISM CRISIS CENTRE
  
• This is the best cite for local tourism impact information
  
• Race against time in Java quake - Quake deaths pass 6200 (5/31/06)
• eTN Readers from Yogyakarta speak - lastest tourism-related updates
• Indonesia Quake Could Awaken Nearby Volcano
• Giant Rock Growing in Mount St. Helens Crater
• A Water Safety Warning Is Issued to Recreationists as Trout Season Opens and The Spring Snowmelt Begins
• Pensacola's tourism hopes rise with sinking of aircraft carrier
• National Geographic News Photo Gallery: Rebuilding New Orleans—Visions for the Future
• World's Largest UFO Festival Celebrates 1947 Incident

Tags: Geographic Literacy, Geography Bee, AAA, Travel, Tourism, Mt Merapi, Volcano, Yogyakarta, Earthquake, Borobodur, Prambanan, Indonesia, Mt St Helens, Snowmelt, California, Florida, Reef, Navy, New Orleans, UFO, Roswell, New Mexico

Travelography #29: Summer 2006 Travel Trends and Deprivations

(click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

Several surveys were released this past week about travel trends in the US. I report on three of them (yes, there were more) in this podcast in this week's Travelography, including Expedia's Vacation Deprivation survey and what you can do about it! Are you deprived?

Links to this week's Travelography stories:

U.S. Travelers Dream About Seeing Australia/New Zealand

New Forms of Family Travel on the Rise This Summer says American Express Travel

Expedia Vacation Deprivation

Balancing Life and Practice

Taking a Vacation Can be a Life-Saver

Work To Live - World Desk

Work To Live - Links

Tags: Travel, Tourism, Travel News, Vacation, Family Travel, Holidays, Vacation Deprivation, US, USA, PCN, Podcasternews.com

E-Conference: The Role of Development Communication in Sustainable Tourism (29May - 9June 2006)

(this is a blog, not a podcast)

This is the third e-conference that the World Congress on Communication and Development has put on. It is really nothing more than a disussion board that is divided into a selected number of topics (listed below). This actually makes if very easy to use, and there is no fee to participage.

The two previous e-conferences did not have a lot of participation, perhaps they will do better with the sustainable tourism topic if readers of this blog participate. Could be fun!

Click the title to this blog posting (above) to go to the Discussion Forum.

The following description of the conference come from this website.

Objectives of the e-conference: to bring together development practitioners, tourism professionals, decision-makers, academicians and communication specialists representing various national institutions, private sector and media organizations, NGOs, international institutions and donors active in the field of communication and sustainable tourism to:

• share their experiences, information and perspectives;
• consolidate knowledge on development communication in sustainable tourism programs;
• discuss the role that communication can play in designing and implementing sustainable tourism strategies and projects at national and local level;
• identify and share lessons learned and best practices.

The E-Conference consists of five concurrent sessions:

1. The role of communication in planning and implementing sustainable tourism policies and strategies
2. Communication and local communities in tourism development
3. The role of communication in promoting Corporate Social Responsibility in Sustainable Tourism Development
4. The role of communication in linking sustainable tourism products to markets
5. Interpreting tourism destinations and orienting visitors

For more information, please download the Concept Note.

Tags: Travel, Tourism, E-conference, Conference, Sustainability, Sustainable Tourism, Communication, Development

Travelography #28: High Gas Prices Impact US Travel

(click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

Both the AAA and Travel Industries of America have release data on the likely travel impacts of high gas prices in the US this summer. One current impact is that SUV rentals are cheaper than smaller car rentals, though it is uncertain if this will continue into the summer.

Links to today's stories:

Americans Still Traveling Despite High Prices

Summer Travel Gas Price Fact Sheer (TIA)

Travel Industry Initiatives to Counter High Gas Prices (TIA; .pdf)

The new economics of renting a car

Tags: Travel, Tourism, Gas Prices, AAA, TIA, Travel Industries of America, SUV, Car Rental, PCN

Schmap - Never Buy Another Guidebook?

(this is a blog, not a podcast)

Online destination information has long been available in Web 1.0 format. These websites were rather limited in the past (fear of competing with print guidebooks, I think), though they seems to be getting more comprehensive.

More recently, online audio guidebooks have started to proliferate in the podosphere (podcasts and videocasts/vodcasts), replacing the never-really-that-popular cassette tape guides (examples include www.iAudio.com, PodGuides.net and www.Vidocity.com). While helpful tools for general background information on a destination and site-specific walking tours, audio and video guides will never be able to replace the diversity and quick lookup capabilities of printed guidebooks. (I will be writing a broader review of audio guides in a forthcoming blog.)

www.Schmap.com takes a different approach -- and one that is directly aimed at the printed guidebook. The Schmap Player installs on Windows PCs (not Macs, yet) and then works with downloaded destination information (Schmap Guides). Once is a downloaded, the Schmap Guide enables (from the website):

• Dynamic Browsing - The Schmap Player dynamically integrates maps, photos, reviews and online content, giving you complete freedom to explore.
  
• Trip Planning - When you're browsing, searching or playing a virtual tour, simply bookmark places of interest to tailor a trip itinerary.
• City Search - Search the city, a neighborhood, or within a radius of your hotel - find sights of interest, restaurants to match your taste...
• Custom Guide Printing - Take your bookmarked places or any other selection of guide content, then custom print a full-color guide, with maps, photos, reviews...
• Virtual Tours - Play, pause and fast-forward your way through one of our suggested tours, or your own custom selection of places of interest. (The photos used are from Flickr.com with creative commons copyrights.)
  
• Tools - Email a favorite place, explore with our cool map tools, click online for user reviews, web search, and driving directions...

Perhaps the most popular feature is the maps, which highlights attractions and services as the cursor passes over their locations. This is helpful for trip planning and preparation, though it also requires that you take your computer with you and possibly a printer if you want to print out a revised hardcopy itinerary and reference. If there were a way to save the information for viewing on a PDA, cell phone or mp3 player, that would be cool.

Only a few guides for the US and Europe are currently available, though forthcoming guides and their availability months are listed. Their dependence on local partners may result in considerable variability in quality and content, and may cause some guides to be delayed or not regularly updated. By late 2006, the site will have couple hundred city and destination guides, including Canada. They hope to cover the rest of the world with time and expanded participation from local partners located in the destinations who can update the Schmap Guides on a 3 to 6 month basis. All of this currently seem to be free and without advertising, though I wonder it that might changed someday. In the meantime, Schmap appears to be a valuable Web 2.0 Travel Tool worth checking out for your next trip.

SEE MORE REVIEWS LIKE THIS ON MY WEB 2.0 TRAVEL TOOLS BLOG

Tags: Travel, Destinations, Guides, Guidebooks

Geography Travel News - Moms, Warnings, US Arrivals. Tea & Dubai

(click on the title above to download the .mp3 file)

Today is Mother's Day here in the US and I start with a story about the Best and Worst Countries in the world to be a mother today. Not really tourism, but the list of worst countries turn out to be mostly in Africa, which is also where half of the countries are located that are on the current list of Travel Warnings on the US State Department's website. Columbia is also on that list, but it is also on the Lonely Planet's list of Hot Destination for 2006. I then talk about the US State Department's recent Hurricane warning for travelers to the Caribbean and US Gulf Coast, and the recently released international arrival statistics for US States and Cities. The last two items discuss agritourism at the last tea plantation in the US, and Dubai's plan to build the world's larges airport, along with a massive new city. Finally, I discuss the geography implication of these varied news items.

Length: 23min, 29sec
Promo: TravelCommons podcast

LINKS related to today's podcast:

• A Mother’s Day Report Card: The Best— And Worst—Countries to Be a Mother
• Current Travel Warnings (US State Dept)
• Hot destination: Colombia | csmonitor.com
• Destination Columbia (Lonely Planet Travelcast - .mp3 download)
• The Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico (US State Dept)
• 2005 U.S. State, City Visitation and Traveler Characteristics Data Released
• America's only tea plantation back, welcoming visitors
• Dubai launches US$33bn Airport City

Tags: Travel News, Tourism News, Geography, Columbia, Dubai, Airport, Tea, Tea Plantation, International Arrivals, Hurricane Warning, Mother's Day, Best Countries, Worst Countries, Africa, Europe

Travelography #27: Airline Identity Theft Threat, and a Titanic Death

(click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

Only two stories in today's Travelography. The first, and main story, discusses a Guardian (UK) newspaper story about how easy it was to obtain identity information on a passenger from a discarded ticket stub, and how this relates to the structural problem of having private companies (airlines) collect this information for governments. The second story is about the death of the last survivor of the Titanic who was old enough to remember the ship's sinking.

Links to today's stories:

Q. What could a boarding pass tell an identity fraudster about you? A. Way too much

WTTC Update: Chertoff's Remarks

Last Titanic survivor who remembered the sinking dies

Tags: Travel, Tourism, Identity Theft, Airline Security, British Airways, TSA, Homeland Security, Titanic, Survivor, PCN

Ethical Travel and Making Mistakes

(this is a blog, not a podcast)

Among the numerous (100+) podcasts that I subscribe to is Travel with Rick Steves, which is a repurposed broadcast of the public radio program with the same name. In his Podcast #49, Rick intereviewed journalist Jeff Greenwald about his Ethical Traveler website.

This was a really good interview, and probably the most critical of tourism that I have ever heard on the Travel with Rick Steves podcast. The Ugly American is indeed often exemplified in the American tourist! (Though they focused someone on Americans, I have seen plenty of other embarassing tourist nationalities, out there, as well.) Personally, as hard as I try to be a sensitive and responsible traveler, it is not always that easy to do. Cross cultural situations are rife with opportunities to do stupid things!

One of the biggest complaints on the Hopi Indian reservation is that non-Indians are always asking questions about their dances. Because the Hopi religion is secret (with knowledge passed on only through special ceremonies at at certain ages of a child's growth), it is not proper to ask such questions. Most tourists do not know this. However, even when this is known, it can easily be forgotten.

I was once in the home on the Hopi Reservation near Flagstaff. I was there to view a traditional dance, and was chatting with the lady who lived in the house. Not thinking, I asked her a question about the dance. My mistake was made even worse because there was a child in the room! The lady hushed me and I immediately realized my mistake. That was embarassing.

Being aware that you did something stupid can even be a self revealing and enlightening opportunity. I guess the problem comes from those who are not aware of the cultural transgressions that they make.

Jeff Greenwald provide good insights into how we can all be better guests in the places we visit. I suggest that you listen to his interview (click here) and check out his Ethical Traveler website.

According to the Ethical Traveler website:

"Ethical Traveler is the first grass-roots alliance uniting adventurers, tourists, travel agencies, and outfitters — everyone who loves to travel, and sees travel as a positive force in the world. We feel that all travelers are, in effect, freelance ambassadors. We also believe that we have the ability to join our voices, and to use our economic power to strengthen human rights and protect the environment."

ALSO: Somewhat related to this, see my recent Golden Triangle Blog on the topic of Aids in Myanmar

AND: Another site that addresses this topic is the World Citizens Guide (see news story here)

Tags: Travel, Tourism, Ethics, Ethical Travel, Hopi, Rick Steves, Jeff Greenwald,