Taking off Travel blog

It’s been just over a year since I officially became a travel blogger here on the Taking Off Travel Blog, the travel blog belonging to off airport parking firm, Park Ride Fly USA. Sure, I’d blogged about travel before and had written travel articles too, but it wasn’t a regular occupation as it is now.

During the year, I have kept an eye on popular posts and comments, thanks to a couple of great analytics tools, and have learned a few things about what the Taking Off Travel Blog readers like.

It Never Hurts To Rant

You might think that when blogging for an organization you would need to keep things meek and mild to avoid offending anyone. But here on TOTB, it’s clear that readers appreciate it when you take a position on an issue of interest. My evidence: Three Travel Trends That Tick Me Off, a post I wrote when I was feeling particularly annoyed about one travel experience.

Keep It Topical

If you can manage to keep your travel blog topical - sometimes a challenge when you update twice a week - then more people will be interested in what you say. My evidence: Would You Work For Free To Save Your Company?, a post on one of British Airways’ schemes to stop money from sliding down the drain. Didn’t quite work, did it? Read more »

One of the travel blogs I’ve been enjoying recently is Sharing Travel Experiences. The recently rebranded site takes a different approach to travel and has some unique features. The site is owned by Andy Hayes, better known as the travel guy who’s active on the Matador Network. (I recently recommended him in Seven More Travel Bloggers You Should Follow On Twitter.)

About Sharing Travel Experiences

Here’s what he says about the site’s name:

“We’re a tight-knit community of people passionate about learning more about the world and exploring it, both from our armchairs and up close in person.”

That community also includes Alex Fayle, Donna and Dee Anne, and there are regular contributions from guest posters.

Search For A Travel Experience

One of the best bits of the site Read more »

Twitter

Back in April I told you about six travel bloggers you should follow on Twitter. Since then, I’ve interacted with a few more travel bloggers, so I’d like to expand the list. Here are seven more travel bloggers you should follow on Twitter:

GoPlanit

@goplanit is linked to the social travel planning site of the same name which we reviewed some time ago. The site shares some great travel articles through the Twitter account. Recently @goplanit has tweeted about an interesting travel photo competition.

Read more »

This has been an interesting month. I’ve spent a lot of it visiting first Florida and now New Jersey, but today my travel will be virtual, as I look at some of the posts that caught my eye during the month of September.

First, a recent post by Darren Cronian where he says it is Time to take a stand against school holiday price hikes. I couldn’t agree more, as this is an issue that’s annoyed me for years. He adds:

come on, increasing the price every school holiday to increase the price by £400 is just outrageous.

It will be interesting to see if anyone weighs in with a practical solution for this long-running problem.

Thanks to World Hum, I found this gallery of travel trick shots - optical illusions that boggle the mind. I particularly liked this shot of the cannon.

Vagabondish discusses the hyperforeign traveler. Omri Ceren says:

Your 10 day post-graduation Amsterdam hostel stay didn’t open your eyes to “how much more laid back Europeans are about sex.”

Quite right.

Still on Vagabondish, Turner Wright posts on why it’s easier to stay fat, stupid and untraveled,  outlining four trends that lead to sloth:

With technology and the mindset of the general population slowly changing to accommodate the sloth, the world is essentially becoming the antithesis of what vagabonds desire: conveniences to eventually strip away the need for any physical activity, and the propagation of information designed to inhibit growth, not encourage greater understanding.

Two Go Round The World gives some good tips on getting a safe night’s sleep when traveling, asking:

are hostels safe? The answer is “yes—and no”. For the simple fact that safety is not quantifiable in a hostel, there will be some dangers. However, most of them are avoidable. Bottom line—if you know the risks before you check in, you can be prepared for any situation.

The rest of their traveling safely series is also worth a read.

Nomadic Matt takes a trip through the Paris sewers, pointing out that some of the best sights in Paris are underground. Although he does concede that they are “a little bit stinky”, Matt does a great job of reviewing an unusual tour.

There’s always something worth reading on Jaunted. Three that caught my eye were posts about the forthcoming Harry Potter attraction in Orlando, how mathematics might solve airport delays and a list of the top five counterfeit shopping districts in the world.

On Elliott.org, I enjoyed My Ticket Price Fell, How About A Refund. It’s a good case study in how to get your money back under those circumstances.

I think the only reason airlines feel they have to offer these refunds is because they play price games, offering a rock-bottom ticket price one minute and quadrupling the price the next.

Maybe if they stopped that nonsense, you wouldn’t feel ripped off when the price of your airline ticket fell.

Finally, for those who are not ready for international travel, here’s an interesting post on Seeing The World Without A Passport on the Matador Trips blog. It highlights American “one-of-a-kind sights might just tide you over till your bank account starts cooperating.”

Enjoy!

I can’t believe I missed my one year anniversary. I’ve been blogging here on the Taking Off Travel Blog since September 2008, so I’m now officially into my second year. I’ve really enjoyed blogging about travel and getting to know other travel bloggers – it’s just about perfect for a digital nomad. Here are some of the highlights of the year.

Since ParkRideFlyUSA is an offsite airport parking company, I started out by looking at some of the destinations where we have off airport parking facilities. These posts are not just about the facilities but about what you can do in those towns. I kicked off the series with Layover In LAX, and have followed it by posts looking at activities near Chicago Midway, Boston Logan, JFK, Indianapolis and others. Over the course of the year, in response to reader feedback, I’ve changed the series a bit to give more information on airport facilities. The posts on Hobby Airport and Chicago O’Hare are good examples. Read more »