May
25
NYT Destination Guide
May 25, 2004 | Comments Off
The New York Times online Destination Guide lets you search by geographic area to find maps, articles, and information about restaurants, entertainment, activities, hotels, shopping, travel tips, etc. for your destination.
May
17
Travel Health and Medicine
May 17, 2004 | Comments Off
Travel Medicine offers an excellent downloadable Travel Health Guide (e.g., more comprehensive information about prevention and treatment of malaria than I found on the CDC site), a worldwide travel clinic directory, a disease risk advisory guide by country, and travelers information such as maps, weather, currencies, exchange rates, voltage, embassies and consulates, tourism offices, and postal codes.
They also sell travel health products such as Ultrathon high-powered insect repellant (developed for military, nearly 100% effective), jellyfish sting protection, medical kits and first-aid supplies, water purification products, electrical adaptors, and a variety of travel accessories.
May
17
Adventure Medical Kits
May 17, 2004 | Comments Off
The goal at Adventure Medical Kits is “to provide outdoor adventurers and travelers with the most comprehensive and innovative first aid kits and information resources possible.” Kits are customized depending on the number of people, length of trip, and whether travel is to a developed or developing country. Special kits are available for wilderness travel, cycling, climbing, camping, marine travel, and others. An herbal medicine kit and gear repair kits (e.g., tent repair, backpack repair) are also available. Prices start at $7.
May
17
Luggage Concierge
May 17, 2004 | Comments Off
I think this sounds like a great idea: “Travel Hands Free - Let Luggage Concierge take your luggage to and from your travel destination. Skip the long lines at airport check in and arrival. Luggage Concierge service is convenient, reliable, safe and secure. Your luggage will be picked up at your home or point of origin, delivered to your travel destination, and returned to your point of origin. Luggage Concierge insures every piece of luggage, and pick-up and delivery options are tailored to your specific needs.”
May
17
Travel like a Billionaire
May 17, 2004 | Comments Off
10 Ways to Travel like a Billionaire
By Christina Valhouli, Forbes
“Ever consider shipping clean clothes to your next destination? Here are some other tips to make business travel manageable without an entourage.” Most of these suggestions are well beyond my means, but pre-shipping luggage to avoid screening lines sounds like a great idea.
May
12
Journeys Off the Tourist Track
May 12, 2004 | Comments Off
I met Linda County at a recent Writers Center of Marin event. Linda lived in India for a year, studied with a Sufi teacher for ten years, and is passionate about arts, healing and spirituality. She has been leading trips to Bali for 10 years, and is a travel agent specializing in customized trips, either guided or for people traveling on their own, individuals or groups. Other specialties include Thailand, Italy, and Costa Rica. Check out the website; her tours sound wonderful.
May
12
Language Rationing
May 12, 2004 | Comments Off
Thanks to Bill Zarchy for sending the link to this funny story “Ladle Rat Rotten Hut” (Little Red Riding Hood), written by Prof. H. L. Chace of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio to demonstrate the importance of intonation. It’s written with real English words, but they aren’t the “correct” ones. Chase wrote it in the early 1940s “in the days of rationing during the war and I thought about what would happen if we had to ration language. If our vocabulary were cut in half, we’d have to get along with other words.”
May
12
101 Best Websites for Writers
May 12, 2004 | Comments Off
Writers Digest lists the 101 Best Websites for Writers with links and short descriptions of each.
May
12
100 Friends Project: A Project of the Foundation for Sustainable Development
May 12, 2004 | Comments Off
An open letter from Marc Gold (May, 2004):
Dear Friends,
I hope this letter finds you well. For the ninth time, I am preparing for another humanitarian mission overseas and I hope you can support the project to whatever degree possible.
Please click on this link for our latest newsletter:
It tells you all about the project, how to donate,gives an overview of project activities and donations in 2003 and describes more recent developments.
The newsletter describes the project, how to donate (we are now a tax-deductible organization under the auspices of the Foundation for Sustainable Development) and explains new developments related to the project.
At a time when our nation is seen so unfavorably by so many, I hope in my own small way to present a countervailing image and show others another way to view Americans instead of the ones we sadly see so prominently in the media.
Even more importantly, I plan to use whatever funds I collect to directly impact the needy, especially children and the elderly, in the poverty-stricken countries that I will visit. They are always so curious to know: “Who are these 100 Friends?” (Actually, last year it was 135 Friends!) I do my best to describe some of you to them!
continued…
May
10
Books and Writers We Love
May 10, 2004 | Comments Off
From the Left Coast Writers newsletter, here is Stephanie Elizondo Griest’s list of things you can do for the writers and books you love:
1. REQUEST it.
2. BUY it.
3. SPREAD the word FAST about it.
4. WRITE a review (yes, you ARE writers)
5. GO to a reading
6. SPONSOR a reading
7. CELEBRATE with the writer (Lord knows, it’s hard enough writing and
existing in a garret for long periods of time. It’s really nice to have friends
around to share in the celebration.)
Stephanie just came out with the book, Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow,
Beijing, and Havana. More about the book here. Read Rolf Potts’ interview with Stephanie Elizondo Griest here.
May
10
Herbal Drug Is Embraced in Treating Malaria
May 10, 2004 | Comments Off
A “new” antimalarial drug based on the plant wormwood may soon be widely available. The New York Times article I read says the drug has “no significant side effects,” which is good news, since Larium (a widely-used antimalarial) has been known to cause psychotic episodes (that’s one side-effect I definitely do not want to experience). It’s also ironic, since wormwood is used to make absinthe.
May
8
826 Valencia
May 8, 2004 | Comments Off
“Simply put, 826 Valencia helps students, ages 8-18, to develop their writing skills. Whether the students are working in the realm of fiction, nonfiction, or English as a second language, we are here to help them explore their love of writing. We offer free drop-in tutoring, workshops, and storytelling. We also help students create their own story collections, zines, and other publications.
We hope to support area teachers in getting their students excited about writing, while also helping students learn how to better express their ideas through the written word. We encourage teachers to bring their classes in for field trips, invite us to visit their schools, and urge students needing extra help to come by during our drop-in hours.”
May
8
Swick on Travel Writing
May 8, 2004 | Comments Off
Big thanks to Constance Hale for pointing out this article from the Columbia Journalism Review, “an iconoclast among newspaper editors.”
THE TRAVEL SECTION
Roads Not Taken
BY THOMAS SWICK
Why is so much travel writing so boring? Why on Monday morning do people talk about an op-ed piece they read in the Sunday paper, or a sports column, or a magazine essay, or a feature profile, but rarely a travel story? Why do the travel magazines, lavish with tips and sumptuous photographs, leave us feeling so empty? (Journalism’s tiramisu.) Why has the travel book become a rich literary domain while the travel story has not?
One simple answer is that Travel is not a high priority at any newspaper. Like Food, Fashion, Home & Garden, it is far removed from the main business of reporting the news. Yet the Travel section has enormous potential precisely because of its life of low expectations. It need not adhere to the strictures of journalism that govern the rest of the newspaper — brevity, clarity, distance; instead it can accommodate leisurely, nuanced, occasionally passionate writing. Because it is not the most important section of the paper — quite the contrary — it can experiment, take risks, have fun. It should — by virtue of its generous space, deadlines, and subject matter — feature the best writing in the newspaper.
But it’s had its handicaps. In the old days Travel sections brimmed with florid passages of trumped-up delights, usually written by a recent guest of the hotel or island or tour being extolled. Then in the late 1980s a debate on ethics was launched, and many papers cut their ties with writers who took subsidized trips. This should have improved the sections, since many of the people cast out — so called “professional travel writers” — were free-loaders who had simply found a cheap way to travel.
May
6
Online Writing Group
May 6, 2004 | Comments Off
So many people have asked about connecting with others and joining/forming writers’ groups. If you’re having trouble hooking up, one option to consider is an online group. I’ve participated in and recommend Write-now, a group initiated by Michael Shapiro about a year ago. Online groups have many benefits, including ease of “attendance,” since you can participate from pretty much anywhere and at any time of day or night.
May
4
Endless Vacation Magazine
May 4, 2004 | Comments Off
The current Writer’s Market newsletter (see Writersmarket.com) says there are now (4/30/04) more than 70 travel magazines listed on WritersMarket.com. Here are four of the better paying ones:
Endless Vacation Magazine offers articles for “America’s dedicated and frequent leisure travelers-time-share owners.” This bimonthly publication pays $500-1,500 for feature articles, and sometimes pays expenses of writers on assignment. The editors say, “Study the magazine and the writer’s guidelines before you query us.”
May
4
Islands Magazine
May 4, 2004 | Comments Off
Islands covers “accessible and once-in-a-lifetime islands from many different perspectives: travel, culture, lifestyle. We ask our authors to give us the essence of the island and do it with literary flair.” This publication is 95% freelance written, and pays $750-3,500 for nonfiction features. (Info from the Writer’s Market newsletter.)
May
4
Porthole Cruise Magazine
May 4, 2004 | Comments Off
Porthole Cruise Magazine covers the cruise industry. This bimonthly publication pays $400-650 for assigned articles on nearly anything related to cruises. The editors say, “Porthole Cruise Magazine entices its readers into taking a cruise vacation by delivering information that is timely, accurate, colorful, and entertaining.” (Info from the Writer’s Market newsletter.)
May
4
Washington Flyer Magazine
May 4, 2004 | Comments Off
Washington Flyer Magazine pays $500-900 for nonfiction pieces of 800-1,200 words. This bimonthly publication is for business and pleasure travelers at Washington National and Washington Dulles International airports INSI. The editors say, “First understand the magazine-from the nuances of its content to its tone. Also, the best way to pitch is via e-mail.” (Info from the Writers’ Market online newsletter.)
May
4
Pico Iyer on How to Help
May 4, 2004 | Comments Off
While we’re on the topic…. I’m taking Larry Habegger’s Advanced Travel Writing Class, and we recently had the good fortune (arranged by Larry) to spend an evening with Pico Iyer, who answered many of our questions about travel and tavel writing. One of the questions was about how ordinary people might best respond to the glaring inequities we encounter when we travel. (This was one of my questions. We all see it, and we’re all upset by it. I hoped a traveler as experienced and thoughtful as Pico might have a silver bullet to offer.)
May
4
Workshop Report: Joel ben Izzy
May 4, 2004 | Comments Off
I found another great teacher: Joel ben Izzy. Never having taken a basic journalism class, I learned something simple but useful in Joel’s recent workshop, Grabbing Your Writing by the Tale - Storyskills for Authors, at The Writing Salon in San Francisco: what makes a good story. Or rather, what makes a story. Pick up a pen right now and define “story” — can you do it? I couldn’t. No wonder my “stories” about encountering Maasai warriors, tracking endangered lemurs, or experiencing a total eclipse of the sun were not as engaging as I wanted them to be. They weren’t stories at all; each lacked the single essential component of a story.
Many of the travel writing classes I’ve taken have focused on the nuts and bolts of destination pieces, and neglected the “story” aspect, so this was a good way to expand my understanding of the craft. By the way, although that one insight made the workshop worthwhile for me, we covered lots more. I recommend Joel’s workshops; watch for one and take it.
May
3
Paul Theroux to Brad Newsham on How to Help
May 3, 2004 | Comments Off
Elsewhere on Newsham’s site, he writes, “Last week I telephoned a San Francisco radio station that was conducting a live interview with travel writing icon Paul Theroux. Theroux was in town to publicize his new book “Dark Star Safari” about his recent trip from Cairo to Cape Town. I asked if he had any thoughts about what individual Westerners can do to affect the world’s current situation.” Theroux’s reply is on the Brad’s site.
May
3
Smoke and Mirrors?
May 3, 2004 | Comments Off
From the Glossarist, I surfed to White Smoke, a site which claims to be “the next generation in sentence processing. What is White Smoke? A revolutionary new language enrichment tool. This educational tool upgrades a basic sentence into a more sophisticated, professional sentence.” The software uses natural language processing (NLP) to “process” a whole sentence (that’s the “revolutionary” part), rather than working word by word. License is $29.95/year, and you can download the software for a free evaluation.
May
3
Glossarist
May 3, 2004 | Comments Off
My new favorite website is the Glossarist, a “searchable and categorized directory of glossaries and topical dictionaries” covering topics as diverse as beverages, biometrics, body art, bar codes … and that’s just the Bs (or do I mean B’s?). There are also glossaries of Scottish Food and Drink, Cambridge Terms, Harry Potter, Terms and Definitions of the Minnesota Legislature, and a Banjo glossary. I promise you’ll love it.
May
3
Punctuation Police
May 3, 2004 | Comments Off
Thanks to Jim Mannix for forwarding this article about punctuation by John Rosenthal, Executive Editor of the New York Times Almanac. As for the author’s contention that people who are bothered by errant apostrophes are anal retentive (or is that anal-retentive?) fussbudgets, I prefer to think of myself 
as a logical positivist who understands the simple — though apparently elusive — truth that language and reality are inextricably intertwined. And I don’t want my reality messed with by people who aren’t well-versed in what they’re messing with; in this case, English. (I’m a constitutional conservative, too. Or do I mean Constitutional Conservative?) Article here.
And by the way, how can the Times possibly prefer “CD’s” over “CDs”? Although Rosenthal claims not to be a grammatical anarchist (my spell checker prefers “Antichrist,” but I’m trying to be fair), he stretches credibility by condoning the sale of carrot’s. After all, if one can sell carrot’s without fear of reprisal, whats to stop hole’s in the ozone, the wide’spread use of handgun’s, and even the de’struction of rainfore’st’s by fa’st food addict’s high on Ciali’s? The answer is obviou’s: get out your red pen’s!
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