Jan
31
The Voluntary Traveler
January 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment
The Voluntary Traveler “is a travel anthology penned by writers from all over the world. Focused on inspiring volunteer vacations and/or encouraging adventure-minded people to see volunteer work as a part of ones longer journey, the book will also include a volunteer guide section, listing charities needing volunteer assistance, plus organizations that coordinate service orientated travel.”
What a great idea! Join their Facebook page, buy the book, tell your friends.
Nov
18
New Orleans: A T(w)een Travelogue
November 18, 2009 | 1 Comment
Twelve tween and teen writers spent a week in New Orleans last summer, touring, eating, enjoying music, and participating in a writing and photography workshop. The resulting book (!) is now available on Amazon.
“The stories and photos that comprise New Orleans: A T(w)een Travelogue offer a rare look at the Crescent City through the savvy words and sassy eyes of 12 young women ranging in age from 11 to 14. Follow them through the narrow streets of the French Quarter as they spend eight days among tarot card readers, restaurant chefs, Mardi Gras floatmakers, street performers and vampire guides. The girls’ strong and varied voices celebrate New Orleans as a destination for t(w)eens, teens, and families of all ages. So, curl up with these stories and a steaming cup of cafĂ© au lait. Before you know it, you’ll be making reservations for the entire family.”
Nov
15
Birth of a Movement: Let’s Get Global
November 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Rita Golden Gelman’s Birth of a Movement blog chronicles the development of “Let’s Get Global,” a movement “whose mission is to encourage and assist youth in the United States to have international experiences, particularly during the year between high school and the next phase of their lives.” If you can help with writing, organizing, brainstorming, or fundraising, Let’s Get Global is looking for volunteers.
Aug
19
Top 10 Roman archaeological sites in northern Africa
August 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I met Ethel Davies, a talented writer and photographer, in 2007 when we were both traveling in Tunisia and Libya. Ethel was working on Bradt‘s North Africa: The Roman Coast, which was released this year. In this interview, Ethel talks about her top ten favorite Roman sites in North Africa.
We visited four of those top ten (Leptis Magna, Sabratha, and Cyrene in Lybia; and El Djem in Tunisia) together, and I agree, they’re spectacular.
Apr
1
Drop Kids, Not Bombs
April 1, 2009 | 3 Comments
Editor’s Note: Here is an open letter from Rita Golden Gelman, whose goal is to “make the Gap Year experience of living in another culture, preferably in the developing world, an accepted and popular practice in the U.S., not just a luxury for the elite.”
I think this is a laudable goal, and would be an enormous help in bringing world peace through increased cross-cultural understanding. This is a long post, but please read it if you—or someone you know—could contribute in even the smallest way towards making it happen. You can reach Rita at femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com
From Rita Golden Gelman:
The GOAL hasn’t changed: it’s to make the Gap Year experience of living in another culture, preferably in the developing world, an accepted and popular practice in the U.S., not just a luxury for the elite. I’m defining Gap Year as the year between high school … and college or work or vocational school.
HOW to reach that goal: There are two obvious routes (see below) but they both require a major PR campaign … nationally, locally, in every school and community in the country if we are going to reach every segment of the population … the urban poor, the rural communities, middle-America, the South, the Appalachians, the Pacific Northwest and everywhere in between.
I see as the first order of business of Global Learning a huge campaign to get out the message that a Gap Year is a great experience, that it will create more mature and motivated students and employees, that it will change perspectives, enrich the participants, enlighten the country, and produce a positive and friendlier opinion of the U.S. throughout the world.
Feb
23
Travel to Cuba!
February 23, 2009 | 2 Comments
From Christopher Baker on February 9, 2009:
Dear friends,
Last week a bipartisan bill (H.R. 874) was introduced into Congress that would lift travel restrictions to Cuba for all U.S. citizens and residents.
You can read all about this landmark legislation at my blog: www.moon.com/blogs/cuba-costa-rica/freedom-travel-cuba-bill-introduced-congress
Meanwhile, I urge everyone to take individual action by asking your congressional representative to co-sponsor the bill. It’s simple to do and will take less than one minute of your time. Click here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/625/t/1707/p/dia/action/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=539
Let’s seize the moment together!
Christopher P. Baker
Lowell Thomas Award 2008 “Travel Journalist of the Year”
Dec
4
Context Launches Trips Program
December 4, 2008 | 1 Comment
Press release: Context, the network of scholars who lead critically acclaimed walking tours in New York and several European cities, announce the launch of 2 ½- and 8-day packaged tours to Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, London, Paris, Sicily and Istanbul. The first trips will run in April, 2009.
As with their daily walking seminars in cities around the world, Context will strictly limit group size on each trip to no more than six or eight people. Instead of relying on a single trip leader, Context will apply its model of scholar-led walking seminars to these packages: Groups will be passed from expert to expert throughout the trip depending on the specific site, museum, or topic in order to take advantage of the specialized, in-depth knowledge contained within the Context network.