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Round the World Travel with Books
The following article is a guest post from Suzi at Packabook.com. If you would like to have your travel-related article, journal or review appear on the AirTreks travel blog click here.
Can there be anything more exciting than the idea of setting off on a Round the World journey – or even a Part of the World journey?
You are just filled with the anticipation of all the amazing places you will see, and fascinating people you will meet. You can’t wait to get that rucksack packed, to buy your travel towel and pegless washing line, to get some money in an exotic currency….
But the problem is – while your trip is booked – it might still be MONTHS before you are actually on the road.
So – what to do in the meantime?
You wanted it, craved it, dreamt about it, and after the years of rumors, the unabashed hype, the gasping for bated breath, last week Apple finally unveiled his latest piece of techno idolatry – the unfortunately tagged “iPad”. Along
with the rest of the universe, travelers and travel bloggers have been waiting for the newest piece of Jobsian hardware to make their lives on the road a little easier. While the iPad is certainly one sexy piece of hardware that will undoubtedly change the way people view their media, travelers have reason to be disappointed for what it doesn’t quite do for their particular type of mobile lifestyle.
If this was something you’ve been hankering for, you’ve probably read your share of articles last week to find out what it can do (if not, here’s a great catch-all article). I won’t waste your time with specs. But I’ll say right away the sad and revealing truth: as a long distance traveler, the iPad is NOT what you’ve been waiting for — at least not yet. Sorry folks.
I’ll tell you why.
Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity by Sam Miller
For all its problems, 2009 was a great year for readers who love to travel. Dozens of new books hit the shelves over the last 12 months practically tailor-made for the explorer inside of us. Rory MacLean at the Guardian UK has taken it upon himself to assemble a list of books that should be on every nightstand of those who have luggage in their closets or backpacks in the hall – of those who appreciate the art of travel. Take a look at his list and think about these for your inner armchair-traveler.
One thing that is common to all travelers, no matter from what income level, traveling style or country they come, is a need to pack their stuff.
In honor of Christmas here’s a gift for those that hate to pack. The Universal Packing List is a tool that will assemble a checklist based on the details of your particular trip.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been hell-bent on compiling lists of webpages and sites to help my readers sort out the dearth of travel info on the “Internets”. I do it because I’m aware of the heart palpitations that random online travel searches can cause. The goal was to reduce their 
frequency and to help you see the trees for the forest. Anyone who’s been planning their around the world adventure probably knows exactly what I’m talking about.
In my ongoing pursuit to find travel-related goodies on this here Internets, I came across a very interesting new site. Public Earth has dropped onto the scene recently, available to outside viewers (in beta) only less than a month ago. Though they’ve recently opened for visitors, they’ve been quietly assembling content so that they could have an extensive destination list ready for their unveiling.
Shooting photographs will make you smarter. Just ask brainiac Ansel Adams, that guy was a genius. Still, people who take their camera on the road are usually on the hunt for that one “epic shot”, the amazing image that lingers in their consciousness and forever sums up their experience with just one look. Take a look at the rise of Flickr and you’ll see just how popular this perennial hobby has become.
I won’t be going into technique here what with the thousands of places online to learn how to take great pictures. But since all great pictures start with great equipment, I’ve compiled a few of my favorite cameras for you to become obsessed with on your own journey around the world. Without getting too technical (no one reads the specs anyway, do they?), here is my hugely opinionated short-list of great cameras for the traveling amateur.
If you’re not sure what style of camera to purchase, start by asking yourself how much you want to work at getting a great shot. Here are three different varieties of camera in ascending order of simplicity: the point and shoot, the mid-range all-around, and the D-SLR.
The new hot topic is to go a-flashpacking (aka, traveling with technology). Given pop culture’s many new tech-heavy habits the trend isn’t surprising. It does however let you travel with all those internet-age sensibilities you’ve managed to adopt over the past half-decade.
With international wi-fi popping up everywhere, the idea resonates firmly with the traveling community. Blogging from the road, processing your photos from your hotel/hostel bed, sharing music with fellow travelers at a café table, are all now par for the course inside or outside the technorati multitude.
It’s official: People don’t like Heathrow. In a poll of nearly 15,000 subscribers to Priority Pass, the leading independent airport lounge program, London’s Heathrow Airport came in at the bottom of their Sept 2009 survey of world airports.
The unmitigated hate is likely stemming from last year’s T5 opening, commonly known as a debacle, where people missed flights, lost luggage and simply sat around complaining about everything.
Commenting on the survey results, Jonathan French, the head of Priority Pass said: “The travelers who took part in this survey took almost 250,000 flights between them over the last year, and that means they know a thing or two about airports.
“Sadly, Heathrow remains firmly entrenched as the airport the world loves to hate.”
Nothing inspires travel more than sitting down and watching a feature length movie set in an exotic location. With dozens of crew members paid to make the place look as beautiful, or as atrocious, as possible, movies never fail to evoke emotions.
In part 3 of our series of travel related media, after last month’s books and music posts, I’ve listed my 20 picks for favorite travel-related movies of all time. Hope you like them!
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