Taking off Travel blog

Christopher Elliot recently published a list of 7 trips you should never book online. His list online booking scenarios to avoid included:

• Cruises
• Round the world trips
• International travel
• Exotic holidays
• Special events

An Online Booking Nightmare

He cites the case of a honeymoon couple’s online booking nightmare as a reason and suggests the use of travel agents instead.

I disagree, because I don’t think it’s an all or nothing scenario. I’ve been booking online for years to destinations including Europe, the Caribbean and of course, the US. Read more »

When I was 20 I spent a month in Venezuela. At the time there weren’t as many people visiting the country. It was a university trip intended to help us immerse ourselves in the Spanish language. But it also introduced us to the joys and pains of travel as nothing on the trip went according to plan. Let me give you a few examples.

Finding Accommodation

We sorted out our own accommodation in a district in Caracas which was the right price for students. When we arrived the area looked lively and the hotel looked somewhat below par. We soon discovered why. When we talked to Venezuelan friends, it turned out that we had inadvertently booked into a hotel in the red light district. They were horrified. In fairness, during the day the streets were busy with vendors selling empanadas and other local pastries as well as the widest range of tropical juices I have ever seen. At night it was a little more menacing and we soon decided to move to Sabana Grande for the remainder of our stay. Read more »

Travelpod’s TravelBlogSites.com picked the Taking Off Travel Blog as the site of the day on 5 January 2010. We are honored to be in the company of so many other great travel blogs. Head over to the review and see what starlagurl has to say.

In the past year, I’ve grown as a travel blogger. I’ve also taken a heck of a lot of trips to various far flung locations. In 2010, I want to do the same and to do it even better. Here are some ways that I plan to get more from travel in the coming year.

Take More Photos

I was talking to some friends a while ago when I realized that I don’t have a single photo of my year in Nimes – not one. I have some photos of the places I visited near there, but nothing to mark the time in the actual town where I lived. These days, there’s no excuse for letting that happen. Even if you don’t have a decent camera with you, most phones take pictures. In the coming year, I will use this technology to get more great photos of the places I visit.

Read more »