Taking off Travel blog

It’s time for our half yearly roundup of popular posts on the blog. Here are the posts that you clicked, commented on and tweeted about:

• Would You Work For Free To Save Your Company? - it’s a tough question, but one many of us have had to answer
• Visiting Nottingham Castle - some of the best places to see are on your own doorstep
• Pack It Up! - Online Packing List Tools - exactly what it says - and I’m sure you can find a useful packing list generator among the ones listed here
• Travel Tips For A Great Summer - how to make the most of your summer vacation
• Six Travel Bloggers You Should Follow On Twitter - six of the best travel bloggers on Twitter, and a few more as well
• Wine And Wildlife - A Trip To Cancun - part two of my Cancun travelog

And here are six other favorites, one from each month:

• How To Get First Class Travel At Coach Prices - there’s no reason to fly coach with the savings you can make on these sites
• Nine Places To Plan Your Next Trip - exploring travel planning forums and sites
• The Roaring Sea - A Trip To Cancun - part one of my Cancun travelog
• How To Get Out Of Miami Airport In An Hour - some tips I’ve picked up in my many trips through Miami airport this year
• How To Save On Your Summer Vacation - there are many ways to cust the cost of travel; some of those are listed here.
• Traveling The Blogosphere - June 2009 - great posts from other travel blogs; well worth a read. Read more »
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Time for another round up of posts that caught my eye on the travel blogs. First, a short post on Family Travel Guide called The Vacation Departure Maniac (with a title like that, how could I resist looking at it). This post extols the virtues of the list, in which I’m a firm believer. What about you? Next, the LA Times travel blog has another eye-catcher on Following Elvis Presley’s Ghost Around. Not quite as spooky as it sounds, it’s about a tour of Memphis.

European Highlights

Gary talks about his visit to Amsterdam in Brussels, Amsterdam and the Green Fairy. I loved his description of drinking absinthe as ‘doing a shot with cough syrup mixed in’. Not too far away (well, on the same continent at least), there are great pictures of the Guggenheim Bilbao on the Soultravelers3 blog. I’ve seen this building from the outside and it is fabulous.

Rants And Weird Things

Thinking of booking travel insurance? Then maybe you should read The View From The Wing’s post on why it may not be such a good deal. (You might as well read the NY Times article that inspired the post too). On the lighter side of travel, check out the list of weird airport names on The Independent.

Galavanting points to the fees to be imposed by United and US Airways when paying baggage fees at the airport. I wonder if those airlines have been talking to Easyjet in the UK. That airline also has some interesting fee policies.

Wrapping Up

The Location Independent blog has a detailed post on the ultimate mobile office setup for that lifestyle. Even if you’re just a frequent traveler you will find something useful here. And finally, Nomadic Matt has a list of free things to do in Washington, DC, complete with great pictures.

One of the travel sites that I have been enjoying is GoNomad.com. Interestingly, GoNomad defines itself first by what it is not - and that’s a travel agency. Instead it’s a ‘resource center, designed to provide independent and alternative travelers with all the inspiration they need to plan their travels’. That’s a big claim, and I set out to see what the site had to offer.

Read more »

There’s a great thing on Twitter called FollowFriday, where people give props to those they have enjoyed following on Twitter. I thought I’d do that here.  Here are the people I really rate on Twitter.

Coqui2008

@coqui2008 is probably the person I talk to most on Twitter. He shares some great links about travel and runs two interesting travel blogs, one about travel gadgets and the other about Puerto Rico. Here’s a recent tweet I enjoyed.

TravelRants

Despite the intriguing name, @travelrants doesn’t always rant, at least not on Twitter, but doesn’t mince his words, which I like. Favorite recent tweet.

Soultravelers3

@soultravelers3 is tweeting this family travels around the world (they are currently in Spain). I especially like the quotes that this Twitter user shares, which are a diverse collection. Here’s an example. Follow their travels on the blog. Read more »

I love looking around the travel blogosphere to see what’s new. This week I’ve decided to look on the Alltop travel site, of which the Taking Off Travel Blog is a proud member. Here’s a flavor of what you can find. The Conde Nast Daily Traveler has a post on cheap chic hotels, otherwise known as ‘properties that have grown up in the last few years and are aimed at people traveling on a budget but who don’t want to compromise on style’. Meanwhile, the Intelligent Travel blog from National Geographic is in a festive mood, highlighting some Mardi Gras moments.

I’ve been following the Travel Rants blog on Twitter, and Darren has always got something interesting to say. This week, he’s discussing the treatment of disabled travelers. If you’re in the mood for a rant, then weigh in on the issue of security fees at Rick Seaney’s blog. Read more »