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# Travelblather

Travel ideas | Travel Blogs | Travel photos

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://travelblather.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [A four week family itinerary in Sri Lanka](https://travelblather.com/2026/08/a-four-week-family-itinerary-in-sri-lanka.html) - Get lost among ruined temples, swim on deserted beaches, get really close to elephants and scoff spectacular curry!
- [A three week family Vietnam Itinerary](https://travelblather.com/2025/06/a-three-week-family-vietnam-itinerary.html) - Vietnam is a brilliant family holiday destination - great value, easy to get around, loads to see and do!
- [A four week itinerary in Yucatán, Mexico](https://travelblather.com/2025/08/a-four-week-itinerary-in-yucatan-mexico.html) - Join us on our Mexico adventure full of soaring temples, sparkling seas and vibrant towns!
- [My favourite Seville hotels](https://travelblather.com/2026/01/my-favourite-seville-hotels.html) - A selection of my top hotels in Seville from value to luxury
- [A weekend in Seville](https://travelblather.com/2026/01/a-weekend-in-seville.html) - Seville is a brilliant weekend break destination!
- [Exploring ancient Egypt](https://travelblather.com/2025/06/egypt-travel-guide.html) - This quick Egypt travel guide is ideal for getting started
- [Bangkok to Singapore Family Itinerary](https://travelblather.com/2025/05/bangkok-to-singapore-family-itinerary.html) - Our five-week South East Asia family holiday was amazing fun!
- [A three week family holiday in Jordan](https://travelblather.com/2024/09/family-holidays-in-jordan.html) - Jordan is the perfect package for family holidays with older kids. There's hiking, diving, deserts and castles and of course - amazing Petra!
- [Tips for exploring Petra with kids](https://travelblather.com/2025/04/tips-for-exploring-petra-with-kids.html) - Read my top tips to make the most of Petra with your family
- [A two week family holiday in Java](https://travelblather.com/2025/04/family-holiday-in-java.html) - Get ready for an action packed family holiday in Java, Indonesia!
- [Chichen Itza and more - Mayan adventures in Mexico](https://travelblather.com/2013/10/mexico.html) - It's Indiana Jones v Bridget Jones! He wants adventure, she wants beach. Mexico offers the best of both worlds.
- [Exploring Patagonia in Chile](https://travelblather.com/2025/06/exploring-patagonia-in-chile.html) - Vast landscapes, soaring snow capped mountains and glassy lakes await in one of Chile's newest National Parks
- [Singapore with kids](https://travelblather.com/2025/06/singapore-with-kids.html) - We love Singapore! Heaps to see and do, easy to get around, cheap and tasty food - perfect!
- [Things to do in Madaba](https://travelblather.com/2025/04/things-to-do-in-madaba.html) - We loved Madaba! Here's a list of fun things to do
- [Little Town of Bethlehem](https://travelblather.com/2013/12/bethlehem.html) - It's just a few miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Because of the separation wall, they are worlds apart.
- [Meet the Pillage People: A Viking encounter in Denmark](https://travelblather.com/2013/09/denmark-vikings.html) - Blood-thirsty tyrants or talented craftsmen and sailors? Denmark is the ideal place to really get to know the Vikings.
- [The Philippines - Exploring mysterious Palawan island](https://travelblather.com/2013/10/philippines-mysterious-island-palawan.html) - Amazing wreck dives, deserted beaches, underground rivers and undiscovered tribes await on Palawan island.
- [Family holidays: A castle adventure in Wales](https://travelblather.com/2015/05/family-holidays-castle-adventure-wales.html) - Wales has more castles per square mile than any other country! Sir Joseph of Lewes set out to explore some of the best of them.
- [Kenya beach holidays - Secluded coves and medicine men](https://travelblather.com/2013/08/kenya.html) - Don't just think of Kenya for safaris. It also has sandy beach, sparkling coral reefs and Islamic culture.
- [Cambodia homestay: Fishing on the Tonle Sap](https://travelblather.com/2017/10/cambodia-homestay-fishing-tonle-sap.html) - On our Cambodia homestay we headed out at dawn with a fisherman. But did we catch anything?
- [Karelia by snowmobile - Russia's undiscovered hinterland](https://travelblather.com/2013/10/karelia-russias-undiscovered-hinterland.html) - With its frozen lakes and spirit beliefs, Karelia feels like a land from a children's story – apart from the snowmobiles.
- [The Trans Siberian railway: The world's greatest journey](https://travelblather.com/2014/04/trans-siberian-worlds-greatest-rail-journey.html) - 5000 miles, 5 time zones - across vast plains, dusty deserts and the Siberian wilderness, all the way from Moscow to Beijing.
- [Douro Valley walking holidays - Walking the Port trail](https://travelblather.com/2013/09/oporto.html) - Dramatic scenery, fine food and - of course - excellent wine await... when you walk the Valley of Gold.
- [Albania holidays - A walk on the wild side](https://travelblather.com/2013/09/albania.html) - Albania was a Europe's last Communist state. Now it offers spectacular countryside, cultural treasures and amazing value.
- [Hot dogs and cold days - Husky sledding in Finland](https://travelblather.com/2013/10/husky-sledding-finland.html) - The ultimate way to experience arctic winter. Just you, the hush of the sled's skis and the patter of the dogs' feet.
- [Trunk rocking in Nepal](https://travelblather.com/2025/03/trunk-rocking-nepal.html) - Playing elephant polo in Sri Lanka - taste of the high life with the jumbo jet set.
- [Getting sledded in wintery Norway](https://travelblather.com/2025/03/getting-sledded-in-wintery-norway.html) - Going downhill fast on the Lillehammer bobsled on a Norway ski holiday
- [Rwanda: Gorillas, chimps and tribal rhythms](https://travelblather.com/2015/03/rwanda-gorillas-chimps-tribal-rhythms.html) - Hunting for chimps, getting very close indeed to mountain gorillas... and learning the Buja boogie.
- [Shifting Sands in mysterious Qatar](https://travelblather.com/2025/03/shifting-sands-in-mysterious-qatar.html) - It hosted the World Cup. So what's Qatar like as a tourist destination?
- [A Galaxy Far, Far Away](https://travelblather.com/2025/03/a-galaxy-far-far-away.html) - Exploring Mos Esp and Tatouine on a trip to the set of a Star Wars movie in the desert in Tunisia
- [A Camel Safari in Tunisia](https://travelblather.com/2014/08/camel-trekking-tunisia.html) - The best way to explore the Sahara desert in Tunisia is to take a camel safari. Sleep out under the stars at night and plod gently through the sands by day.
- [Trekking in Jordan - In search of the lost temples of Petra](https://travelblather.com/2013/06/petra-a-walk-on-the-wild-side.html) - See Petra a different way – hike there across the desert. Avoid the coach parties, sleep under the stars and sweat. A lot.
- [Brake for the border](https://travelblather.com/2025/03/brake-for-the-border.html) - A cycle ride across four countries - Slovenia, Croatian, Austria and Hungary
- [Totally Uplifting! A biking weekend in Trondheim](https://travelblather.com/2025/03/totally-uplifting-a-biking-weekend-in-trondheim.html) - A ride on Trondheim's unique bike escalator and a hair raising mountain side descent.
- [A Tale of Vodka and Darkness](https://travelblather.com/2025/04/a-tale-of-vodka-and-darkness.html) - Getting lost in the cold, crazy world of Russian winter
- [Elephant trekking in Sri Lanka](https://travelblather.com/2013/10/trunk-rocking-sri-lanka-elephant-trekking.html) - How do you like your elephants? This remarkable beast was old, wild and one-eyed.
- [Scotland: Self-driving the Trossachs](https://travelblather.com/2024/05/scotland-self-driving-trossachs.html) - What could be better than exploring Scotland at the wheel of a classic V8 Aston Martin?
- [A surprising weekend break in Wroclaw](https://travelblather.com/2016/04/weekend-break-wroclaw.html) - My weekend break in one of Poland's less visited cities was full of surprises.
- [Bulgaria is the cheapest place for a holiday](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/bulgaria-is-the.html) - According to a report in the Observer Bulgaria is officially the cheapest holiday destination for Brits. It came top of a survey commissioned by Teletext Holidays. I visited Bankso, Bulgaria's second largest ski resort a few weeks ago... and it was cheap, but these surveys are rather meaningless. The bar at the bottom of the
- [Turkish airlines are you listening?](https://travelblather.com/2013/09/turkish-airlines-milessmiles.html) - After months of waiting, phone calls and emails, I'm still waiting for airmiles to be credited to my account.
- [Google buys Frommer's - what next?](https://travelblather.com/2012/09/google-buys-frommers-what-next.html) - What does the recent purchase of guidebook publisher Frommer's by Google mean for professional guidebook writers?
- [How do you pitch at travel editors?](https://travelblather.com/2019/11/how-do-you-pitch-at-travel-editors.html) - I've been writing travel feature pitches for decades. I've been on assignment to heaps of places. I still don't know the best way to do this. Do you?
- [Don't shoot me, I'm pivoting to video!](https://travelblather.com/2018/06/video-content-strategy-travel.html) - Tips for using video in the travel sector content strategies. How to create travel video that engages viewers and drives traffic
- [The ultimate DMO website - creating great content](https://travelblather.com/2017/05/the-ultimate-dmo-website-creating-great-content.html) - The first of my series of posts about DMO marketing (aka tourist board marketing). It's all about content strategy.
- [What's a DMO for anyway?](https://travelblather.com/2017/05/whats-a-dmo-for-anyway.html) - Marketing a destination is complex. Choosing where to focus your resources is crucial to success. Some thoughts about DMO marketing.
- [I hate the internet](https://travelblather.com/2016/12/i-hate-the-internet.html) - These days I'm really not sure I like the internet anymore. Commercialisation is ruining what was once an amazingly cool thing. That's sad.
- [Influencer marketing: Has the bubble burst?](https://travelblather.com/2015/03/influencer-marketing-travel-bloggers.html) - Is it worth paying bloggers to promote for you? Many people think influencer marketing is failing to deliver - maybe that's because we're doing it wrong.
- [Top 50 Travel Writers in the UK ](https://travelblather.com/2010/09/top-50-travel-writers.html) - Top 50 travel writers in the UK. A list compiled by me and various other travel writers and travel pr people.
- [TripFiction - matching travel destinations with novels set in them](https://travelblather.com/2014/12/tripfiction-the-website-that-matches-travel-destinations-with-novels-set-in-them.html) - TripFiction matches your travel destination with novels set in it. Sense of place is a crucial part of the story for me. Neat idea then. But will it make money?
- [Daddy - did you used to be a travel blogger?](https://travelblather.com/2014/11/daddy-did-you-used-to-be-a-travel-blogger.html) - Travel blogging feels like its pretty mainstream now, but can you really make a career from it?
- [The utter irony of links](https://travelblather.com/2014/07/the-utter-irony-of-links.html) - Once links were seen as good things. Now some SEOs and bloggers think they're toxic. They're paranoid.
- [Holidays for 'nice' families (the kind that shop at Waitrose)](https://travelblather.com/2011/03/holidays-for-nice-families-the-kind-that-shop-at-waitrose.html) - Does the UK travel market serve affluent middle class families well? Personally I don't think so.
- [We have hardly begun with paywalls](https://travelblather.com/2013/12/paywalls.html) - People seem to be writing off paywalls after only a couple of years. Dumb idea. There's heaps to come.
- [Content marketing will never work](https://travelblather.com/2013/11/content-marketing-will-never-work.html) - Content marketing on the web does not work and will not work for brands. Guest post by Mark Higginson
- [Spare a thought for your free content provider this Xmas](https://travelblather.com/2013/12/wikipedia-donations.html) - Wikipedia, Firefox - now we're being asked to pay for stuff that's 'free'.
- [The blogtrip that never was](https://travelblather.com/2013/09/gdansk-blogtrip-that-never-was.html) - Blogtrips are being used increasingly by DMOs to raise awareness, but there's still lots to learn about how to organise them and who to approach.
- [Can we ever cut through all the crap?](https://travelblather.com/2013/07/quality-travel-content-distribution-outbounding.html) - Guest post by Matthew Barker from OutBounding.org. How to find quality travel content amidst all the dross online - combine algorithms with human editors.
- [What is content marketing? And who cares?](https://travelblather.com/2013/07/what-is-content-marketing-and-who-cares.html) - The term content marketing gets bandied around all over the place these days. Behind all the smoke and mirrors what does it *really* mean?
- [Goodbye ads and editorial - welcome the new edvertorial](https://travelblather.com/2013/05/goodbye-ads-and-editorial-welcome-the-new-edvertorial.html) - Can you be sure the piece you’re reading online these days is totally unbiased? Does it matter? Increasingly web-only publishers don’t seem to care.
- [How do you publish an iPad Travel Magazine?](https://travelblather.com/2012/05/how-to-publish-an-ipad-travel-magazine.html) - An interview with the publisher of Overnight Buses travel magazine - which is available on the iPad only. How do you go about publishing on the iPad?
- [Time to try Self Publishing?](https://travelblather.com/2012/09/self-publishing-ebooks-on-amazon.html) - Tips for self publishing ebooks on Amazon from authors Alexandra Campbell and Catherine Ryan Howard, Philip Jones, of the Bookseller, agent Antony Topping and Caroline Hogg, commissioning editor
- [Web Content 2.0 – aka a pile of cheap crap](https://travelblather.com/2013/03/web-content-quality.html) - Meaningless crap, fraudulent reviews - that's web content folks. Buy incredibly poor quality guidebooks for Kindle - they're cheap and that's all that matters.
- [Don't let punters ruin it with their dumb comments!](https://travelblather.com/2013/05/ugc-branded-content-comment.html) - The web is all about conversation right? So should we let people comment on everything? Or are some pages better off unsullied by the masses?
- [The future for social travel websites? An interview with WAYN CEO Pete Ward ](https://travelblather.com/2013/01/the-future-for-social-travel-websites-an-interview-with-wayn-ceo-pete-ward.html) - How does a legacy travel social network site compete with the likes of Facebook and Trip Advisor? Smart stuff about community, monetization and social glue.
- [Adventures in Epublishing with Wild Junket Magazine](https://travelblather.com/2012/12/adventures-in-epublising-with-wild-junket-magazine.html) - Within the space of a year or so, Nellie Huang has taken her Wild Junket blog and transformed it into a multiplatform magazine. Here's how she did it.
- [My Content Manifesto - Back to basics at Travelblogcamp](https://travelblather.com/2012/11/my-content-manifesto-back-to-basics-at-travelblogcamp.html) - Taking content back to basics was the theme at this year's travelblogcamp in London. Here's what I had to say
- [Are algorithms better than editors?](https://travelblather.com/2012/11/are-algorithms-better-than-editors.html) - Technology apparently knows us better than we know ourselves. So maybe we should let it tell us what to publish too?
- [Using Kickstarter to fund a travel writing project](https://travelblather.com/2012/09/kickstarter-monetization-travel-writing.html) - Iain Manley and Claire van de Heever write great long form travel posts on their blog Old World Wandering - their next project involves using Kickstarter. Will it work?
- [What the hell is quality travel content?](https://travelblather.com/2012/07/what-is-quality-travel-content.html) - 101 Holidays' cofounder and travel SEO specialist Mark Hodson asks whether we really understand what good quality travel content online actually looks like
- [Why the web needs a new model for sponsored posts](https://travelblather.com/2012/07/why-the-web-needs-a-new-model-for-sponsored-posts.html) - The sponsored post model is dying - it's time for proper content that's not just about links. Guest post by David Whitley with some dubious meat-related metaphors.
- [Social media will make tits out of all of us](https://travelblather.com/2012/04/social-media-klout-the-value-of-influence.html) - The new online trend for measuring influence is damaging privacy rights, filling the web with more crap and wasting everyone's time.
- [Time to fire your SEO manager?](https://travelblather.com/2012/07/time-to-fire-your-seo-manager.html) - It's time SEO specialists took investment in proper content seriously. But will they? The panel at a recent SEO/Travel blogger event suggests maybe not
- [A new breed of travel writer?](https://travelblather.com/2010/01/new-breed-of-travel-writer.html) - How can brands work with Travel Writers?
- [Blogging for travel writers - Why bother?](https://travelblather.com/2009/04/blogging-itravel-writing-reputation.html) - Travel writers debate - does social media matter?
- [PR and Journalists in perfect harmony!? A groundbreaking travel blog](https://travelblather.com/2010/08/public-relations-travel-writers-granturismo-homeawayrentals.html) - Travel writers Lara and Terrence write exclusively for one tour company (HomeAway Holiday Rentals) for a whole year to create a groundbreaking new travel blog.
- [The difference between a blog post and a feature](https://travelblather.com/2010/09/travel-features-travel-blogs-different.html) - A Daily Mail blog post about Gibraltar attracted outraged criticism, but was that because readers don't understand the difference between a blog post and feature?
- [Endemic corruption or just a travel press trip?](https://travelblather.com/2011/12/travel-press-trips-sponsorship.html) - Do sponsored blog trips marketed as a way to create a media marketing blitz mark the destruction of the distinction between editorial and promotional content?
- [Is there a future for high street bookshops?](https://travelblather.com/2012/03/amazon-bookshops-future.html) - Has Amazon virtually killed off the high street bookshop? How can high street bookstores innovate to maintain market share in the face of such strong competition?
- [What are the key trends for 2012 in travel guide publishing?](https://travelblather.com/2012/02/travel-publishing-trends-2012.html) - E-books, apps, iPad, Android - Travel publishing faces a host of challenges and opportunities in 2012 - Frommer's editor Mark Henshall looks at the year ahead.
- [Is the travel guidebook on the verge of extinction?](https://travelblather.com/2012/02/travel-guidebook-on-the-verge-of-extinction.html) - Have user generated content and online formats like apps sounded the death knell for traditional guidebooks? Or is this the start of a period of new innovation?
- [New ideas in travel publishing](https://travelblather.com/2012/02/new-ideas-in-travel-publishing.html) - How can a traditional guidebook publisher innovate its way out of the declining guidebook market? Guest post by Mark Henshall Regional Editor at Frommer's UK
- [Adapt or die - the choice for guidebook writers?](https://travelblather.com/2012/03/adapt-or-die-guidebook-writers.html) - Travel publishing is undergoing huge changes due to the impact of the web. How best can guidebook writers adapt and thrive? Guest post by Mark Henshall.
- [Are mobile travel apps a bit crap? ](https://travelblather.com/2011/11/mobile-travel-apps-review.html) - Are travel apps for smart phones any good? They're might be cheap, but how do they compare with guidebooks? Content expert Tamsin Bishton puts one to the test
- [A Year of Travelblather - Top 5 posts in 2011](https://travelblather.com/2011/12/travelblather-top-5-in-2011.html) - A rundown of some of my most insightful and heartfelt posts from the last 12 months. Stuff about social media, travel blogging, SEO, content, curation and more
- [Is PR helping kill travel writing?](https://travelblather.com/2012/01/pr-killing-travel-writing.html) - Public relations companies in the travel media sector drain away advertising revenue, compromise editorial integrity and ultimately devalue travel writing.
- [Making travel guide writing work for everyone - give writers royalties](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/making-travel-g.html) - Most guidebook publishers only pay their writers a fixed fee. If they paid decent royalties this would incentivise writers to write the best content possible.
- [Are Price Comparison Sites Killing The Travel Industry? ](https://travelblather.com/2012/01/are-price-comparison-sites-killing-the-travel-industry.html) - Does the prevalence of price comparison sites like travelsupermarket.com and comparethemarket.com mean we are obsessed with price? Does service matter now?
- [Travel publishers v. travel cos - the battle is on](https://travelblather.com/2011/12/travel-publishing-monetization.html) - As the need to monetize their content gets urgent, publishers now want customers, not just readers. But travel cos are investing in content too - who will win?
- [Choose your friends wisely...](https://travelblather.com/2011/08/facebook-friends-linked-in-friends-what-valu.html) - Can too many 'friends' be a bad thing when it comes to on-line social networks? Now that their likes influence search engine results, I think so.
- [How should travel publishers use Facebook?](https://travelblather.com/2011/10/how-should-travel-publishers-use-facebook.html) - Mainstream newspaper publishers with travel sections have a strange attitude towards Facebook. Those that use it don't make use of its most valuable functionality.
- [Is the travel blogger lifestyle really that great?](https://travelblather.com/2011/10/travel-blogging-pitfalls-problems.html) - Reading all those blog posts selling the dream about being a digital nomad, just travelling the world and blogging to pay for your travels? Think again.
- [Psst. Lend me your friends... I need better search results](https://travelblather.com/2011/08/friends-future-seo.html) - Could accessing and influencing specialised networks be the future for SEO - here's an example using Trip Advisor's Instant Personalisation feature
- [How does online travel content differ from print media? ](https://travelblather.com/2011/10/compare-online-travel-content-print-media.html) - The different user experience provided by touchscreen tablets like the iPad could have a huge impact upon the kind of travel content we publish online
- [Writing my new Seville iPhone app ](https://travelblather.com/2011/09/seville-iphone-app.html) - As author of guidebooks to Seville, it made a lot of sense for me to write an iPhone travel app to the city as well. Jeremy Head's Seville Explorer is now on sale!
- [Will quality content beat social connections?](https://travelblather.com/2011/03/will-quality-content-beat-social-connections.html) - The social graph is increasingly important for delivering the best search results, but for niche things, quality content could still win.
- [Video - the content category that got forgotten?](https://travelblather.com/2011/02/using-video-to-sell-holidays.html) - How should travel companies and tour operators use video content to engage better with their customers and sell more holidays?
- [Google Adsense - making money from travel content](https://travelblather.com/2011/05/google-adsense-how-to-make-money-from-travel-content.html) - Tips about smart ways to monetize online travel writing using google adsense. A guest post by Mike Gerrard.
- [Free sucks - seriously. I hate it](https://travelblather.com/2011/07/free-sucks-seriously-i-hate-it.html) - I think the fact that so much stuff on line is free is a bad thing. I'd rather pay and know what I am getting
- [Why did Simonseeks fail?](https://travelblather.com/2011/05/why-simonseeks-failed-travel-content-learnings.html) - Travel content site Simonseeks launched by founder of Moneysupermarket.com Simon Nixon has failed. What are the learnings for travel content providers?
- [How to make money from travel content on-line](https://travelblather.com/2011/06/how-to-make-money-from-travel-content.html) - Top tips for using affiliate links, ebooks and advertising to make money from a travel content website. Guest post by Mike Gerrard
- [Syndication, copyright and how freelancers lose out](https://travelblather.com/2011/06/telegraph-syndication-copyright-freelancers.html) - Publishers make money at the expense of freelancers by infringing copyright. My features were syndicated by the Telegraph and sold on by the Mail but I wasn't paid.
- [Vice magazine trip to Magaluff - PR nightmare or smart move?](https://travelblather.com/2011/07/vice-magazine-magaluff-prfail-or-success.html) - Was the Vice magazine write up of a PR trip to a foam party in Magaluf a PR fail of epic proportions or a stunning success?
- [More tips for updating a guidebook](https://travelblather.com/2011/06/more-tips-for-updating-a-guidebook.html) - Tips and learnings from updating the Frommer's Complete Guide to Seville, Granada and the Best of Andalusia
- [Simonseeks.com... the final nail in the coffin for professional travel writers?](https://travelblather.com/2009/06/travelsupermarket-simonseeks-travel-guides-travel-writers.html) - A new cottage industry of amateur travel writers. How do pro writers feel about that?
- [The cake and the cockroach](https://travelblather.com/2009/10/guidebook-seville-travelwriting-reviews-campana.html) - Cockroaches and cakeshop recommendations just don't go together.
- [Would you pay to read The Times online?](https://travelblather.com/2010/03/murdoch-news-international-pay-to-read-content.html) - News International will start charging users for access to its websites. Travel writers discuss the implications.
- [Time for a new kind of destination guide?](https://travelblather.com/2010/07/destination-guides-travelwriting.html) - Airlines, hotels, airports - everyone does destination guides. But are they worth the bother? Ideas for creating the ultimate destination guide
- [Would you write 20,000 words without knowing the pay?](https://travelblather.com/2010/07/simonseeks-monetization-ugc-travelwriting.html) - Travelwriting for free or a smart new business model? Simonseeks.com only offers a revenue share deal. Is that enough for pro travel writers?
- [Do travel writers get free flight upgrades?](https://travelblather.com/2011/05/travel-writers-free-flight-upgrades.html) - As I travel writer I sometimes get free flight upgrades, but it's pretty unusual. Should airline PR people give upgrades to travel writers?
- [Does social media matter more than print?](https://travelblather.com/2011/02/social-media-travel-writin.html) - For maximum exposure tour operators and airlines should work with travel writers who are socially connected.
- [Forget content, think curation and connections](https://travelblather.com/2011/01/forget-content-think-curation-and-connections.html) - The online travel writer needs to be far more than a great writer these days. Here are some ideas about curation, engagement and connectedness.
- [TEDx Brighton - reasons to be cheerful?](https://travelblather.com/2011/01/tedx-brighton-review.html) - Thoughts about TEDx Brighton. Tech, Entertainmant and Design talks from interesting people in Brighton, January 20th 2011. It was called: Reasons to be Cheerful
- [Objects may be closer than they appear](https://travelblather.com/2010/10/hints-and-tips-travelwriting-travelediting.html) - A good travel writer understands the importance of context; a good travel editor strives to inform, not just entertain. Thoughts on travel writing inspired by John Simpson
- [Not the Top 50 Travel Writers ](https://travelblather.com/2010/09/not-the-top-50-travel-writers.html) - What happened when I published a subscriber-only Press Gazette list of The UK's Top 50 Travel Writers. They threatened legal action.
- [Google Boutiques - Could it be travel next?](https://travelblather.com/2010/11/google-boutiques-holiday-ideas-engine.html) - Is Google's new Boutiques.com fashion website a foretaste of things to come? A holiday inspiration engine for the travel sector could be a serious game changer.
- [Local content - the future for online travel guides?](https://travelblather.com/2010/12/local-content-the-future-for-online-travel-guides.html) - Guest post: Darren Cronian, publisher of Travel Rants and MylifeinLeeds. Could hyper local travel content offer users better information and writers new revenues?
- [Should you DO travel content?](https://travelblather.com/2010/10/travel-content-comparison-engines.html) - Do comparison sites in the travel sector like Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Ebookers and Opodo need to invest in travel content or is price all that matters?
- [Lazy journalism, press releases and Ryanair](https://travelblather.com/2010/07/lazy-journalism-press-releases-ryanair.html) - Why is the media such a slave to Ryanair's noisy PR? It's so lazy.
- [Would you stay at this hotel?](https://travelblather.com/2010/04/hotel-moulin-du-vey-clecy-france.html) - Hotel review websites that rely on User Generated Content (UGC) and hotel websites themselves can be out of date and inaccurate.
- [Check out the Comments Policy](https://travelblather.com/2009/12/comment-policy.html) - A few thoughts about comments - what's OK... and what's not.
- [You can stick your lorem ipsum right up your CMS](https://travelblather.com/2010/06/why-content-strategy-matters.html) - Writing content for websites is not enough. Having a defined content strategy is crucial for long term success
- [Content strategies - who does them and how?](https://travelblather.com/2010/06/content-strategy-how-t.html) - Content Strategy. Who should create content strategy and what steps do you take to create one?
- [Can social media work behind a paywall?](https://travelblather.com/2010/07/social-media-paywalls-subscription.html) - The Timesonline's paywall will make it hard for their journalists to engage in social media. Should participation in Social Media always be free?
- [Trip Advisor reviews add value to tour operator sites](https://travelblather.com/2008/10/trip-advisor-reviews-add-value-to-tour-operator-sites.html) - I blogged recently about the way increasing numbers of tour operators and hoteliers are using free RSS feeds from Trip Advisor to show user generated reviews of the hotels they offer on their sites. It makes perfect sense... huge numbers of people now use Trip Advisor to help research their holidays. So why let them
- [The Hotel Inspector tonight, Channel 5 9pm](https://travelblather.com/2008/07/the-hotel-inspector-tonight-channel-5-9pm.html) - Ok... so no one else will blow it for me... I'm appearing as an expert on C5's The Hotel Inspector tonight (Thurs 24th July) at 9pm. Assuming they haven't cut me to bits I am providing advice and feedback to the owners of the Jessop House Hotel in Tewkesbury. I had to tell them if
- [Something not working?](https://travelblather.com/2010/04/something-not-working.html) - Found a bug? Broken links? Please click here and leave a comment to let me know.
- [A free holiday... or a job with no salary?](https://travelblather.com/2009/12/a-free-holiday-or-a-job-with-no-salary.html) - Guest Post from Pura Aventura's Tom Power. Would you like a free trip in return for blog posts?
- [Travelblather is changing!](https://travelblather.com/2010/03/travelblather-is-changing.html) - I'm migrating Travelblather to a Wordpress platform. Do leave a comment here if you spot something that's not right.
- [Get yourself a Gravatar!](https://travelblather.com/2010/03/get-yourself-a-gravatar.html) - Sign up for a gravatar so your profile pic gets automatically inserted next to your comments.
- [How do you get mentions in travel features?](https://travelblather.com/2010/01/travel_features_mentions.html) - Fascinating discussion about how to pitch ideas at Travel Editors.
- [How do you create a buzz on-line for a new project?](https://travelblather.com/2010/02/social_media_outreach_marketing_zugu.html) - A peak behind the scenes at new flight comparison engine Zugu.
- [Do PRs and Marketers take guidebooks seriously?](https://travelblather.com/2010/03/travel-pr-guidebook-seville-marketing.html) - Why don't PRs and Marketers do more to help guidebook writers?
- [The skillset of the on-line travel writer](https://travelblather.com/2010/03/travel-writer-blogging-skills.html) - What does it take to be a successful on-line travel writer?
- [Time for a new kind of travel agent?](https://travelblather.com/2010/01/a-kind-of-new-travel-agent.html) - How come travel agents only sell holidays? What about the rest of the travelling experience?
- [How do you make money from a blog?](https://travelblather.com/2009/10/make-money-blog-monetization.html) - If you follow my twitter feed, you'll know that I'm one of the columnists for new travel tech media website Tnooz. Agreeing to do this gig took some thinking. I get no remuneration for doing it (yet). And you know how much I HATE free. Shouldn't I stick with what I'm doing on Travelblather instead?
- [Welcome to my blog](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/welcome-to-my-b.html) - I took me a while, but I've decided to throw my opinions into cyberspace and see what comes back. As a freelance travel writer most of what I'll cover will be about travel. Please feel free to comment!
- [Low cost weekend to Tel Aviv anyone?](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/here-in-the-uk.html) - Here in the UK low cost airline Thomsonfly has started flights to Tel Aviv and Bmi starts them on March 13th. Hardly the most obvious of weekend break destinations - with the never ending friction between Israel and Palestine right on the doorstep. "A world-class destination, ringed by beaches, the city has chilled out sun
- [I'm a travel journalist don't y'know?](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/im-a-travel-jou.html) - This time of year there are several big consumer travel shows taking place in the UK. Destinations is one of the biggest. If you're a bog standard punter you have to pay to get in which always strikes me as remarkable. You pay for the privilege to buy a holiday? Go figure. Anyway... as a
- [Pay peanuts... be treated like a monkey](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/pay-peanuts-be.html) - Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary says his company's profits have been hit nearly 30% by the economic downturn and rising fuel costs. (Down to £26 million so he's hardly going bankrupt.) When asked about the economic situation he told the BBC "We can't keep bailing ourselves out with these artificial interest rate cuts... We need to
- [Getting a commission is the easy bit...](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/getting-a-commi.html) - So I got the editor of a national newspaper's weekend magazine to take a feature... better still it was about driving Route 66 in a classic American car. This is a trip I did a year or two back, so the research is done, I have the pics and I even have a rough draft.
- [YES! Our videos can make your hotel look... crap!](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/yes-our-videos.html) - I just came across a new video-based website called tripr.tv It made me shudder. The idea is that anyone who fancies being an 'independent video author' can dig out their handycam, film a sequence about a hotel and post it. If someone books the hotel as a result of watching the video the 'independent video
- [Email overload... weekly... then daily... hourly updates are just around the corner](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/email-overload.html) - I really like ABTN. It started life as a quirky weekly text based email newsletter about the airline industry by Malcolm Ginsberg who really knows his stuff about the industry. He offered a once-weekly dollop of bits and pieces from which I found many a news story. It did the job very nicely - news
- [Travel writing - is it about who you know?](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/travel-writing.html) - I don't know whether to feel sorry for Max Gogarty or not... A young 19 year old gets the dream commission - a blog about his gap-year travels on the website of one of the UK's biggest national newspapers - The Guardian Only problem is... his dad is a regular writer for the Guardian too...
- [Why travel press trips just don't work...](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/why-travel-pres.html) - I got an invite to a press trip to South Africa yesterday. It looked very tempting. Everything paid for. But as always with travel press trips the itinerary was jammed - Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa in the space of 3 days. How is anyone supposed to take away anything meaningful from such a whirlwind
- [Fine for network rail - but where does the cash go?](https://travelblather.com/2008/02/fine-for-networ.html) - After a screw up that could only happen on the British Railway network at Christmas when engineering works overran by four days causing misery to train travellers, the rail regulator has dished out a record £14m fine to the business that looks after the network - Network Rail. All well and good. But I've never
- [Taking photos in cold climates](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/taking-photos-i.html) - I'm off to North Russia next week on an assignment for the excellent Wanderlust magazine. In my opinion the best independent travel magazine around here in the UK. I can still remember the exquisite, breath sucking pain I experienced when trying to take shots in minus 15 degree cold in Novgorod writing for the Guardian
- [Fears confirmed about that Network Rail fine](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/fears-confirmed.html) - Following on from my post last week about the £14 million fine imposed by the Rail Regulator on Railtrack for engineering works overrun at Christmas. ABTN is running a story today that confirms my concerns - that £14million fine comes out of money that would otherwise have been spent on improving the network - absolute
- [What makes a great guide?](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/what-makes-a-gr.html) - I just spent a week in a relatively obscure part of Russia called Karelia. It was a great trip for all sorts of reasons. One of the most interesting bits was meeting a guy called Alexi who worked in a local museum in a place called Petrozavosk. His passion for his subject - the culture,
- [Does the travel ed at Teletext know where Bulgaria is anyway?](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/does-the-travel.html) - I was just re-reading the survey news release about cheap breaks on Teletext Holidays' websiteThe piece is edited by their 'travel editor' Tina Banerjee who is available to answer readers' questions about any aspect of travel. I'm inclined to ask someone else... she describes Bulgaria as the 'Baltic State'. Any natives of Latvia, Lithuania and
- [Is it just me or is Technorati technically inferior?](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/is-it-just-me-o.html) - "Get yourself set up on Technorati !" that's what everyone I know who knows anything about blogging told me. The blog aggregator is "currently tracking 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media... a recognized authority on what's happening on the World Live Web, right now." according to the
- [Thomsonfly - serious about building a stand alone airline brand?](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/thomsonfly-se.html) - Ahh. There's nothing like being given the run around by an airline. Us travelhacks depend on them to get us to places so we can write features. They quite like the fact that we give them mentions at the end of a feature. So much so that (gasp) if the destination is one they want
- [Yet more PR crap loading down my in-box](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/yet-more-pr-cra.html) - I've been trying hard to avoid posts about dumb PR companies but I give up. It seems hard to imagine an age when journalists just did their job - researching stories and writing them. (And being paid enough of a decent wage to be able to commit decent time to proper research.) Now we are
- [The future for travel guides](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/the-future-for.html) - For a long time now publishers have been bemoaning the decreasing sales of their guidebooks as travellers turn increasingly to user generated content on-line. Lonely Planet (which was recently bought by the BBC) has introduced a new Pick and Mix concept that allows you to download just the chapters of a particular guidebook that you
- [Chaos at Heathrow's Terminal 5 - I'm not surprised. BAA is seriously failing customers](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/chaos-at-heathr.html) - It's been years in the making and cost 4.4 billion to build, but the new Terminal 5 building at Heathrow has still opened in total disarray. One in five flights have been cancelled due to baggage getting lost. Passengers have ended up sleeping on the gleaming new floors. Rumours abound that some staff couldn't even
- [Terminal 5 chaos - not the first](https://travelblather.com/2008/03/terminal-5-chao.html) - Continuing thoughts on the luggage chaos at Heathrow's new terminal 5 building. Bangkok's new airport suffered similar embarrassment when it opened. 6,700 pieces of baggage got lost following a computerised sorting failure. Wonder if the same firm (Kawasaki) developed the system at T5?
- [Terminal 5 - now they're closing it! Hang on... what's the date today?](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/terminal-5-no.html) - Well... can the rumours be true? BA is closing terminal 5 and moving all flights back to terminal 4 til they've cleared the backlog of 28,000 bags? (Including those of a senior official from one of our EU neighbours?) Hang on a minute... it is April Fool's Day today isn't it?
- [If Mugabe goes... Zimbabwe has to be a hot new travel destination](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/if-mugabe-goes.html) - Here's to Robert Mugabe disappearing off to some long forgotten corner of the world and never reappearing... and hopefully with no violence in the process. Latest reports from the BBC suggest a compromise deal is being negotiated for him to hand over power... Zimbabwe could then retake its place as a serious tourism destination... with
- [Kanye West sets up his own travel business](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/kanye-west-sets.html) - According to a report in Advertising Age Superstar Rapper Kanye West is starting his own travel business. Kanyetravel.com is currently selling deals through Travelocity, but there are plans to expand the business further - in particular to offer travel packages to see Kanye on tour. Smart idea... or just another example of brand extension taken
- [Inflight catering for vegetarians... where's the beverage?](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/inflight-cateri.html) - I recently caught a whole slew of flights to and from Mexico with my girlfriend who is a vegetarian. As a confirmed meat eater I don't really get the whole non-meat thing, but hey we all have our choices to make. It's impressive too that airlines now cater to vegtarians, vegans even people with gluten
- [There's no way BAA looks after its customers](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/theres-no-way-b.html) - First findings for the UK Competition Commission into BAA the Airport operator that controls most of the airports in the south of England including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted suggests the company may not be serving customers as well as it could. Anyone who has flown economy class from these three airports will have little difficulty
- [Have book, will travel - travel publishing seminar](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/have-book-will-2.html) - I'm chairing what should be a fascinating seminar next week. (Well that's in my humble opinion and this post has nothing whatsoever to do with self-promotion.) We'll be discussing the future of travel publishing... which with the onslaught of the internet is facing interesting times. The net is driving growth in travel - which you'd
- [Changing planes in Europe with duty free you bought elsewhere? They'll CONFISCATE it!](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/changing-planes.html) - After a recent trip to Mexico we had a nasty duty free surprise. We'd bought a couple of bottles of Tequila and Kalhua at Mexico City airport duty free before boarding a flight to Amsterdam where we would transfer to a flight back to London. The bottles were sealed in a plastic bag with ties
- [My Frommer's Day by Day guide to Seville is finally published!](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/my-frommers-day.html) - Well, it seems like it took a lifetime, but in fact this time last year I'd only just signed the contract. And now, gracing the shelves of a bookshop near you is the new Frommer's Day by Day guide to Seville. At times I wondered if I'd ever get it finished, but now it's finally
- [Maybe it's because I'm not a Londoner that I get to pay through the nose on the Tube](https://travelblather.com/2008/04/maybe-its-becau.html) - I lived in London for a decade and moved away because I'd had enough of grumpy people and ridiculous prices. I go up there for meetings a couple of times a month though. I buy a combined rail and London transport ticket so I've not had to purchase a single Tube (subway/Metro) ticket for many
- [Have book, will travel - travel publishing seminar learnings 1](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/have-book-will.html) - Not sure how many posts I'll end up writing after what was a really interesting series of discussions at the recent Bookseller seminar about the future of travel publishing which I hosted. Here's the first: my presentation which I hope will provide some useful food for thought for anyone how publishes travel guides.
- [UK news: Cannabis to be 'upgraded' - to Business? or First?](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/uk-news-cannabi.html) - The UK government has decided to re-classify cannabis from a class B to a class C drug. I rather like the verb parts of the media has chosed to explain this phenomenon - upgraded. Usually a term I'd associate with getting moved up to Business Class. Perhaps a touch inappropriate?
- [A day in the life of a guidebook writer - video](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/a-day-in-the-li.html) - Ever wondered what it's like being a guidebook writer? If you thought it was about dining at the finest restaurants and sleeping in 5 star luxury, you'd be totally and utterly wrong. It's about working hard collecting information and making judgements about places from dawn to dusk. And when it's the middle of summer in
- [Have book will travel seminar - more thoughts](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/have-book-wil-1.html) - There's a short write up on the Bookseller.com website about the event.
- [Travel Publishing Seminar Learnings 2 - How come Time Out Marrakech was such a winner?](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/have-book-wil-2.html) - OK. I finally got time to sit down and distil stuff from the interesting presentations at the Bookseller seminar about the future of travel publishing which I hosted last week. I found Alex Ingram Waterstone's Travel Buyer particularly interesting - perhaps because I know little about how travel guides are actually sold in-store. There used
- [Travel Publishing Seminar learnings 3 - Content is STILL king (and one day people will pay for it!)](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/travel-publishi.html) - One other speaker who really caught my interest was Genevieve Shore, Penguin’s digital director. She made some great comments about the importance of creative talent. As someone who gets paid to be creative with writing, it was music to my ears. Regardless of what medium you use to publish - good old books, ebooks, web,
- [Fly slower, use less gas, save money!](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/fly-slower-use.html) - Well, I don't know about you, but as the cost of fuel climbs ever higher I'm increasingly careful when I'm driving - minimising harsh acceleration and cruising at lower speeds. OK, so I might arrive half an hour later if I cruise at 70 rather than hammer along at 90, but in the grand scheme
- [Do you trust Trip Advisor?](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/do-you-trust-tr.html) - I've been talking to a lot of people about the future of travel guides what with seminars, having a new guidebook in print and going to a recent Booksellers' dinner. Some people - me included - have been forecasting the death of the listings sections. What's the point of me stomping round 50 hotels and
- [Breathalyzers to be installed in French bars?](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/breathalyzers-t.html) - According to a report in the New York Times legislators in France are considering the mandatory introduction of breathalyzers in late night bars and clubs after a spate of road accidents. I'm sure this idea has been tried before in France (about a decade ago.) The result? People in nightclubs found a new form of
- [Follow the guidelines.... what it's REALLY like to write a guidebook](https://travelblather.com/2008/05/follow-the-guid.html) - My publisher Frommer's asked me to write a short piece about what it's really like to write a guidebook to coincide with the publication of the one I wrote for them - Day By Day Seville. You can read the full story here: http://www.wileyenews.co.uk/2008/05/follow-the-guid.html
- [Dave Sifry's new Offbeat Guides - the future for travel publishing?](https://travelblather.com/2008/06/dave-sifrys-new-offbeat-guides-the-future-for-travel-publishing.html) - All round web-guru Dave Sifry has just launched a new beta travel guide site called Offbeatguides.com There's more info at TechCrunch too. Unfortunately you can't see the content unless you have a special invitation code at the moment which is a bit disappointing. Soon as I have one, I'll comment in more detail. The basic
- [Ryanair's new business class model - flatbeds and blowjobs](https://travelblather.com/2008/06/ryanairs-new-business-class-model-flatbeds-and-blowjobs.html) - I just came across this brilliant piece of video. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary in typically outspoken fashion describing plans for a transatlantic low-cost airline service...
- [Trashing the Douro Valley in Portugal](https://travelblather.com/2008/07/trashing-your-own-backyard.html) - I've just returned from a writing trip to the lovely Douro valley in Portugal. It's a totally beautiful landscape - a winding river sparkling in the summer sunlight, flanked by steeply terraced, vine-covered hillsides. I was on the train back to Porto and there was an old chap sat opposite me. He bought a can
- [It's not all about SEO: websites are for people...](https://travelblather.com/2008/08/the-company-is-at-a-really-interesting-crossroads-right-now-in-the-old-days-read-12-months-ago-this-is-the-web-it-was-a.html) - The company (iCrossing where I now work as travel editor) is at a really interesting crossroads. In the old days (read 12 months ago - this is the Web) the company's reputation was built on being very good at making clever tweaks to the technical elements of websites to get them up the rankings on
- [Looking for a cheap holiday? Don't try Turkey anymore](https://travelblather.com/2008/09/looking-for-a-cheap-holiday-dont-try-turkey.html) - Like many holidaymaking Brits, we chose to avoid the Eurozone and head for Turkey for our summer holiday a month of so back. I visited Istanubul about five years ago and went crazy buying clothes. Everything was so CHEAP! Shoes for £10, T-shirts for a £1. I felt like a millionaire. Wind the clock forward
- [Online content is all about personalisation.... I think](https://travelblather.com/2008/10/online-content-is-all-about-personalisation-i-think.html) - I've just discovered a really cool music emagazine site call idiomag. Basically it's a music e-zine with a difference... you can personalise it to deliver you a daily email of content, music, video about just the bands/music you're into. You can also see what your mates are listening to as well. There's an interesting interview
- [BA's new Highlife website](https://travelblather.com/2008/10/now-this-is-seriously-interesting-ba-has-done-a-deal-with-its-inflight-mag-publisher-cedar-to-publish-content-online-to.html) - Now this is seriously interesting… BA has done a deal with its inflight mag publisher Cedar to publish content online too… So stuff from its inflight mag High Life is reproduced here. God it looks good. For me this is the first travel provider to finally get its arse in gear and take providing rich
- [EU Mobile roaming charges - regulation is a good thing](https://travelblather.com/2008/10/eu-mobile-roaming-charges-regulation-is-a-good-thing.html) - I've just spent a fantastic weekend in Seville. I lived there for several months last year. At that point the new EU regulations on the cost of roaming (using a mobile phone/cellphone abroad) hadn't come into effect. So I bought a local SIM card. This meant I could receieve calls at no cost and call
- [SEO content v. flowing prose - there's only one winner](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/seo_terms_v_content.html) - I've been looking at the content on airline websites the last week or so as one of the clients I work with at iCrossing is a major UK airline. Here's content from one page I came across on KLM's site. It's the first paragraph of the country guide to The Netherlands (where KLM is of
- [Want to be a travel writer? Don't be seduced by the hogwash](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/want-to-be-a-travel-writer-dont-be-seduced-by-the-hogwash.html) - The thing I really like about a blog is I can say what I like. It's mine, I publish it. So I can say negative things about the ads on here if I want to! I use Google-ads to serve ads to my blog and most of the time I'm happy enough with what gets
- [Would you buy a holiday from ALDI?](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/would-you-buy-a-holiday-from-aldi.html) - I just read a truly surprising piece of news over on the Travelmole website. Discount supermarket chain Aldi is planning to launch a UK travel website selling holidays. According to their spokesperson Sarah Butler: “We have sold a million holidays in Austria since we launched in 2003... We are not new to travel and we
- [Siren Pr... know anything about hyperlinks then?](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/siren-pr-know-anything-about-hyperlinks-then.html) - I am going to post a stack of stuff about WTM soon... I promise. But I HAD to just stick this up. Regular readers (all two of you) will know I have little time for PR agencies. I resent the way they pump meaningless waffle at me dressed up as news just to keep their
- [PRs on blogs - some rules of engagement](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/prs-on-blogs-some-rules-of-engagement.html) - I really enjoyed the discussion at the Travel-rants Blogcamp organised by Darrien Cronian last week.I particularly enjoyed the final debate, kicked off by Kevin May from Travolution. He pointed out that around 20 of the 80 or so people in the room - ostensibly to debate and discuss blogging about travel - were from PR
- [User Generated Content - it's time you used it](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/making-user-generated-content-work.html) - I've blogged quite recently about Trip Advisor and the way you can now set up feeds to have reviews from there displayed on your own site. I recently went to an Eye for Travel Seminar (Online Content and Conversion Strategies) at WTM. Interesting day. I particularly appreciated Severine Philardeau's presentation. She's Senior Manager of Brand
- [Posting whatever you like on your blog (within reason)](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/posting-whatever-you-like-on-your-blog-within-reason.html) - One of the other quite full-on debates that came out of the Travel Blogcamp last week was directly in relation to a slightly facetious comment I made about being able to 'write whatever I like on my blog.' Kevin May commented on the Travolution blog: "At one point, one of the bloggers (I not going
- [Should bloggers do press trips?](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/bloggers-and-press-trips.html) - I've been chatting off-blog about whether bloggers should go on press trips. Alex Bainbridge sparked some great debate on his blog about the subject a few weeks back. And I've been blogging recently quite a bit about how PRs should/could engage with blogs and bloggers.So (as Alex was asking me on email earlier today) which
- [Should you brand social spaces?](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/virginatlantic-brand-social-spaces.html) - I spent yesterday at a really interesting get-together organised by Virgin Atlantic and NESTA. The idea of the day - called VJAM - was to discuss how an airline like Virgin Atlantic could use social media to improve customer experience. For me, there were some really useful insights. I plan to add several different posts
- [VJAM - taking the debate further](https://travelblather.com/2008/11/virginatlantic-vjam.html) - One quick thought about the format of the VJAM session... The day was very free-format which had both pros and cons. Read Alex Bainbridge's post about the day if you'd like to know more about how the day worked for him - and the pros and cons of this. He found it quite frustrating -
- [I don't even know where I want to go yet!](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/virginatlantic-vjam-inspireme.html) - VJAM Learning #2: Inspire me!I was struck by the way we spent much of the day labouring under an assumption. (Well given the sorts of comments and questions coming up I think we were - others might disagree.) No big surprise it's one that many many travel websites also get stuck with too. According to
- [Making data truly portable](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/virginatlantic-vjam-making-data-truly-portable.html) - VJAM Learning #3: Know me for who I amThe first session I sat in on at the VJAM was suggested by Peter Parkes who works for We Are Social specialists in helping brands engage with Social Media. His point was simple but for me quite brilliant. Wouldn't it be great if those of us who
- [Uninspired by Tripbase](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/uninspired-by-tripbase.html) - Continuing my hunt for the ultimate Travel Inspiration Engine. I just found Tripbase. It features a Destination Finder on the home page which makes recommendations based on 22 million traveller reviews and 3000 travel blogs and websites (if you believe what it says). I wonder if it queries the TripAdvisor database?Anyway... you plug in your
- [Websites or widgets or both?](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/virginatlantic-vjam-websites-widgets.html) - VJAM Learning #4: Making it completely personalisable The web is getting more personalisable by the day. I don't visit websites one by one anymore. I use my Netvibes page to pull in RSS feeds for me. Lots of other people use iGoogle, Microsoft has its equivalent, Live. (And as you see from that link, I
- [Conversion's what matters... turning visitors into customers](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/conversions-customers.html) - I spent an interesting evening this week at the regular Travolution Question Time event. There was a slight ulterior motive for being there as iCrossing who I'm currently working for sponsored the event. One of the illustrious panel was Richard Carrick CEO of Hoseasons, who made some really pragmatic and insightful comments. Here's one:"If we
- [An excellent guide to blogging for beginners](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/blogging-for-beginners.html) - I just found this. It's pretty much everything you need to know about how to get blogging. 35 steps. And all of them very important! Some basic stuff and some more advanced stuff too. I learned quite a bit from it myself. (If anyone from Typepad is reading this, your days are numbered. I am
- [Print ads are the canaries in a recession](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/print-ads-are-the-canaries-in-a-recession.html) - If you wanted to see an immediate effect of the recent downturn in the economy then take a look at the latest (UK) edition of Esquire magazine. I subscribe and I got the new issue (Jan 09) through the door today. It's over a third thinner than the previous few months. It numbers just 160
- [A bitch about PR - Top Position](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/a-bitch-about-pr.html) - As a journalist I get a lot of Press Releases bunging up my in-tray. To be fair my email address has found its way onto quite a few databases over the years - despite the steps I've taken to try and avoid this.I often get the feeling that PR execs sit at their desks and
- [New Travel Phrases for 2009](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/new-travel-phrases-2009.html) - I've done some bitching about PR recently. So here's something totally positive. The guys at Travel PR really know the industry and their clients. AND they understand the media outlets they are talking to. They just sent me a really smart Press Release - their list of new travel phrases for 2009. Quirky, interesting and
- [Why are there no holiday programmes on TV?](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/travel-on-tv.html) - I have a vested interest as I've done some TV work in the past. But I keep wondering why exec producers aren't commissioning travel TV these days. Remember Holiday and Wish You Were Here? People are talking about bringing back Top of the Pops - which I'd suggest won't work as there is sooo much
- [Why is BBC worldwide launching a Lonely Planet Travel Magazine?](https://travelblather.com/2008/12/lonely-planet-travel-magazine.html) - I spotted the launch issue of the new Lonely Planet Travel magazine on the shelves today. Frankly I'm pretty underwhelmed by this. BBC Worldwide bought a 75 per cent stake in Lonely Planet for £89.9m last year – a move which has angered some of the BBC’s commercial rivals, who claim Worldwide is entering into
- [Earn money writing for websites? Can you? Really?](https://travelblather.com/2009/01/earn-money-writing-for-websites.html) - I was asked to do a short interview for travel writing website The Written Road It generated an interesting comment from the Editor. I think the debate will continue and it will be lively! He and I seem to differ radically on whether it's possible to make money writing travel content for websites. Personally, I
- [CNN to be available on Freeview](https://travelblather.com/2009/01/cnn-on-freeview.html) - I've just heard that CNN International launches on Freeview on 15th January. The international news channel will more than double its current UK distribution by doing so. I was really excited about this. I am sick to the back teeth of cuddly Bill and smiley Sian on the BBC Breakfast sofa. If ever there was
- [Booking trips: 2009 (or the year of the booking engine)](https://travelblather.com/2009/01/booking-travel.html) - It being January, life in the travel sector is hectic. This is the big period of the year when travel cos sell the most product... so I've had little time to post my 2009 Predictions like half the rest of the blogosphere has done. I've been busy writing features... But here's one prediction that I'm
- [Your holiday is guaranteed chav-free!](https://travelblather.com/2009/01/chav-free_holidays.html) - I just spotted a hilarious news story that's doing the rounds. My good friends Alastair and Barry at Activities Abroad - a genuinely excellent tour company that I'd recommend to anyone, decided to have a bit of fun with a recent promotional email. And why not? You need to stand out to have any chance
- [Inspire me some more](https://travelblather.com/2009/02/101holidays.html) - Continuing my quest for Inspiration Engines Sunday Times travel writer Mark Hodson dropped me a line about a project he is involved with the other day. It's also had a brief write up on Travelmole too. I've blogged a few times before about how choice can be debilitating. Navigating the maze of different holiday deals
- [The Guardian gets smart with SEO](https://travelblather.com/2009/02/the-guardian-uses-seo.html) - Up to very recently newspapers seemed to be using their websites as a repositry for content and little else. Things are changing now and many allow people to post comments under all features published now - which is a great idea... after all the real power of the web is its potential for interaction.But I've
- [Lonely Planet - the Tesco of the travel publishing world?](https://travelblather.com/2009/02/lonely-planet-bbc.html) - I read recently that the BBC is now running a Lonely Planet Travel pod on its pages outside the UK. (So unfortunately I can't take a look at it as I am in the UK at the moment.) I've blogged quite recently about the new Lonely Planet travel magazine which I think is an unfair
- [Search sucks the soul out of websites - and life](https://travelblather.com/2009/02/seo-soul-content-google.html) - Maybe I'm just having a bad day, but at the moment I'd like to smack a few geeky Google blokes around the head, break their designer glasses, stick their beardy heads down the loo and pull the chain a couple of times. I'd shout 'Try being a little more HUMAN' at them in the process.Search
- [Ryanair: O'Leary the PR guru?](https://travelblather.com/2009/03/ryanair-oleary-the-pr-guru.html) - I love and loathe Micheal O'Leary the CEO of Ryanair in equal measures. I hate flying on his planes... a stressful, grumpy flying experience. Awful. But I watched his live interview late last week after the much commented upon blogging incident (a member of Ryanair staff being just a little to agressive responding to one
- [Forget celebs - give me real facts!](https://travelblather.com/2009/03/travel_tv_celebrity_presenters.html) - I posted a month or so back about the lack of decent TV shows about travel on mainstream telly. I was approached by a researcher looking for the 'next big travel TV idea' pre-Christmas and I've been meaning to post about it. The reseacher worked for Endemol. We chatted on the phone. But that was
- [One-sized travel sites... don't fit all](https://travelblather.com/2009/03/travel-sites-customer-niches.html) - There are stacks of travel websites out there trying to be all things to all holidaymakers. None in my opinion do a very good job. Let's face it, it's difficult indeed to cover all the different sections of the market - families, honeymooners, backpackers, singles, adventure seekers, beach bums. I pity the poor punter trying
- [New Lonely Planet Series - Trips](https://travelblather.com/2009/03/new-lonely-guides-trips.html) - I was just doing some research around destination travel guides and thought I'd have a look at what Lonely Planet is up to these days. I discovered that there's a totally new format in town from LP. It's called Trips - and is clearly an attempt to continue to move the LP brand into the
- [Do you trust brands anymore?](https://travelblather.com/2009/04/trust-travel-brands.html) - Decades ago when I was working in marketing... brands were a bit of a holy grail. The thinking among the trendy people with big shoulder pads (it was the 80s) was that if you could create a certain 'something' about a product or service that people could relate to and feel good about you added
- [Travolution Summit: 7 things I learned today](https://travelblather.com/2009/04/travolution-summit-learning.html) - So here's my list of things I learned today at the Travolution Summit in London 1) The recovery will start next yearDennis Turner Chief Economist from HSBC said so! (and he should know seeing as HSBC was one of the big banks less exposed to the dodgy toxic mortgages).2) Low Cost Carrier SouthWest airlines is
- [Just what we need right now... another low cost airline?](https://travelblather.com/2009/04/aer-lingus-low-cost-airline-gatwick.html) - I was one of 80 or so journalists, travel agents and tour operators on the Aer Lingus inaugural Gatwick to Faro flight on Sunday. The Irish carrier has big plans for Gatwick. It's using 4 leased A320s to cover 8 routes at the moment: Malaga, Nice, Munich, Vienna, Dublin, Knock and Zurich along with Faro.
- [Bloggers on press trips... can it work?](https://travelblather.com/2009/05/blog-travel-press-trips.html) - As I've gained more readers on Travelblather I've noticed increasing numbers of people who work in the Travel PR industry following my tweets on twitter signing up to get my blog posts delivered by email or by RSS feed. There's clearly a huge appetite amongst the PR community to engage with and understand the blogosphere.
- [Visit Britain's on a UGC harvest](https://travelblather.com/2009/05/visit-britain-reviews-ugc.html) - VisitBritain Britain's national tourism agency is responsible for marketing Britain worldwide. There has been some interesting debate of late about the value of DMO's (Destination Marketing Organisations) as they are known in the trade. Some of the accusations levelled have been about being 'risk averse' and failing to adapt. So I guess it's good that
- [RIP quality journalism - the new age of Truthification](https://travelblather.com/2009/05/the-net-is-killing-journalism.html) - Hardly a new topic I know... but a couple of things really hit home for me on this recently. I met a journalist who writes for The Guardian - one of the UK's major national newspapers - a week or so back. She was saying how her hours have been cut and the desk she
- [Top tips for guided tour podcasts](https://travelblather.com/2009/05/top-tips-for-guided-tour-podcasts.html) - I'm in Jersey this weekend writing a piece for Visit Jersey's magazine Pure Jersey. They've also asked me to record a podcast of a guided walk I'm going to be doing. I've done some TV work before, but this will be the first time I've done pure audio. I'll have a Blue Badge guide with
- [The future for travel editors?](https://travelblather.com/2009/05/the-future-for-travel-editors.html) - I was really struck by a recent job ad on journalism.co.uk from Frommer's. The job title is 'Editorial Manager' and it's to manage and implement the upgrading of content for a major travel brand's website. I know Frommer's does a lot of work for BA and for Hilton hotels so I'd imagine it's probably for
- [User Generated Content is just not enough](https://travelblather.com/2009/06/ugc-reviews-content-travel-editing.html) - User Generated Content (UGC) continues to be a hot topic for big chunks of the on-line travel industry. I posted recently about Visit Britain's recent decision to launch a reviews site for people to post reviews and comments about places they've visited, hotels they've stayed in and more. UGC has a seriously important role to
- [Want a choice of guidebooks at the airport? Forget it](https://travelblather.com/2009/06/travel-guidebooks-retailing-competition.html) - WHSmith (WHS) which has a virtual monopoly on airport and ralilway station book retailing is rumoured to have signed a deal with Penguin (publisher of DK Eyewitness & Top 10 Guides and Rough Guides) to only stock Penguin travel guides in its travel sector bookstores. That's around 450 of its outlets in airports and rail
- [Nextstop is brilliant (and a threat to copyright owners)](https://travelblather.com/2009/06/reviews-nextstop-copyright-flickr-images.html) - Nextstop is a rather smart user review website that's been developed using Google's application protocol by two ex-googlers. It's garnering a lot of interest and I can see why. It's really really smart. Let's say you want to review somewhere, it finds all the basic info for you so you don't need to spend time
- [Simon speaks about Simonseeks - interview with Simon Nixon](https://travelblather.com/2009/06/simonseeks-interview-simon-nixon.html) - There was lots of interesting debate about Simonseeks the new travel content site last week, so I decided to pitch some questions at Simon Nixon himself to get some further detail. Here are my questions and his answers. Some useful responses. A few observations and niggles which I summarise after the interview. This is a
- [The travel press trip that didn't happen](https://travelblather.com/2009/07/travel-writing-press-trips.html) - I don't do trips so much now I work for search and social media company iCrossing. But I'd got them to agree to give me a month off (unpaid) to coincide with my girlfriend's summer holidays (she's a teacher) and decided to try and pull in a commission that would allow me to go somewhere
- [A connected world means fewer connections](https://travelblather.com/2009/08/travel-internet-reality.html) - It's been years since I spent serious time just being a tourist - particularly a backpacker. But I find myself now in Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo where I recently stayed in a really well set up hostel called Singgahsana Lodge in Kuching. It felt pretty weird mixing with a bunch of significantly younger backpackers. The vibe wasn't that
- [Free? No thanks... I'd rather pay](https://travelblather.com/2009/09/free_content_anderson_murdoch.html) - You have to admire Conde Nast - launching new magazines in the midst of a recession. So far I've been impressed with the UK version of Wired magazine launched a few months back. The August edition carried two almost contradictory features. One was an extract from Chris Anderson's much lauded recent book Free: The Future
- [We've STILL no idea where to go](https://travelblather.com/2009/09/no_travel_ideas_no_trusted_reviews.html) - I had a really interesting chat across the office with a couple of colleagues this afternoon. Both were bemoaning the fact that they are trying to get organised and book summer holidays for next year after leaving it to the last minute this year and not having very good experiences. Neither of them had the
- [Tips for updating a guidebook](https://travelblather.com/2009/09/tips-for-updating-a-guidebook.html) - Well. It seems hard to believe, but my Day By Day Guide to Seville has been on the bookshelves of all good booksellers (apart from branches of WHSmith at airports and rail stations) for nearly two years now. So it's time to update it for the 2nd edition. This will be the first time I've
- [Can 'paid for' mentions ever be objective?](https://travelblather.com/2009/10/can-paid-for-mentions-ever-be-objective.html) - Interesting salvo of activity in the last couple of days. I got an email from Mark Hodson who knows a thing or two about travel SEO (there Mark you owe me a link) as well as being a respected travel writer. Along with another of the Sunday Times regular travel writers David Wickers, he set
- [Social media for travel marketers - unpicking the 2.0 hype](https://travelblather.com/2009/11/socialmedia-travel-marketing-hype-wtm.html) - I’m speaking at WTM (World Travel Market in London) on Wednesday 11th November. If you’re there... drop by! Whether you’ll be there or not... how about participating now? The seminar is called Social Media for Marketers: Unpicking the 2.0 hype. Seeing as it’s all about social networks, why not share my thoughts ahead of the
- [72% of Press Releases are made up crXp!](https://travelblather.com/2009/11/pr-mistakes-press-releases.html) - NB: Clarification from Ash Communications follows this post (comment number 3)Gah! Time for an anti-PR rant. I've already blathered about it... but I have to do it again. Today I received 2 press releases from Ash communications (take your place in my hall of shame - the PR Waffle catergory) splattered with useless percentages. Take
- [Is Web 2.0 killing travel brands?](https://travelblather.com/2009/12/web-2-0-killing-travel-brands.html) - I've been doing quite a lot of research around social media in the last few weeks - in particular because I was presenting at WTM. If you're interested, my presentation Social Media for Travel Marketers: Unpicking the 2.0 hype is available to view on Slideshare with detailed notes too.One of the issues that I find
- [Romantic Londoners needed - cash paid for short interviews](https://travelblather.com/2010/01/romantic-london-cash-paid-interviews.html) - A slightly offbeat post from the usual here on Travelblather - but heck, if you have a network... no harm in using it from time to time eh? I'm looking for interviewees for a cool new project we’re doing for one of our clients at iCrossing. I need to conduct short interviews with couples about
- [Making blogs better: categories and straplines](https://travelblather.com/2010/01/blog-categories.html) - So... here I am sat in the pub (I am drinking coffee OK?!) I'm on the verge of relaunching Travelblather in a shiny new Wordpress skin and very excited about it. But before I do, I am rethinking the categories that I use for organising the posts on here. And I'm struggling to decide... Clearly
- [Are the days of the travel brochure numbered?](https://travelblather.com/?p=117) - I just read a really interesting report on EyeforTravel which I am reproducing here as they tend to take them down quite quickly. Brits are embracing online media more than ever in their quest to seek "cost effective, reputable holiday opportunities", according to a survey. The poll of 1,250 adults by webTV travel site, Holiday
- [Using video to sell travel online](https://travelblather.com/?p=121) - There's been some great debate about the use of Video as a medium for selling travel online going on over on Alex Bainbridge's blog. I believe strongly that video is the future for selling holidays on-line... (along with user generated reviews). Video is such an experiential medium - it's perfect for selling an intangible product
- [Apologies for the new longer title](https://travelblather.com/?p=123) - OK... a small bit of knowledge is dangerous... And now I've been working for an SEO and Social media company for a while I've started to realise how little things can make a big difference to the way Google ranks your website or blog. So I wanted to have a more explicit Page Title... and
- [New Rough Guides for Autumn](https://travelblather.com/?p=126) - I make no apologies for a bit of an overt plug here. I'm a huge fan of Rough Guides. Over the years I've used them in countless destinations and as a research tool for all manner of features. I think the recent redesign has really come good to. The list of 'Things Not To Miss'
- [Why doesn't Google want journalists at its WTM seminar?](https://travelblather.com/?p=127) - Like all travel writers I'm gearing up to go to the annual major industry event in London, WTM. It's a huge gathering of travel industry professionals. The seminar programme is always busy and features all sorts of interesting stuff. As a journalist I registered (as usual) for a Press Pass. I then started perusing the
- [Give me space to think!](https://travelblather.com/?p=128) - Antony Mayfield, one of my colleagues at iCrossing blogged recently about being in a tube (metro) station at Pimlico where they were renewing the billboards and (for a brief few hours in all probability) there were no ads screaming for his attention on the walls... just blank spaces. I had exactly the same experience a
- [Trip Advisor reviews on tour operator websites](https://travelblather.com/?p=129) - I guess it was bound to happen, but yesterday when I was looking at the Hayes and Jarvis website I noticed that they now carry Trip Advisor reviews for over 300 of their featured hotels.According to H&J they are the first UK website to do this. From the description page of the hotel you click
- [It's time travel companies were more open with their mailing list policies](https://travelblather.com/?p=131) - I've had contact with three quality tour operators in the last few months. I had a press trip organised by Kirker holidays, I went on holiday with Exclusive Escapes and I gave a wedding gift through Trailfinders to help pay for some friends' honeymoon. I've been really struck by how quickly my name and address
- [Don't renew your subscription to TIME magazine](https://travelblather.com/?p=133) - I'm a big fan of Time magazine. It's just right for me... well written, well illustrated weekly news and reviews. I've been a happy subscriber for several years. Each time I get round to a few months before the end of my subscription period the letters start coming. At first they are upbeat! No need
- [Shouldn't have blown it](https://travelblather.com/?p=137) - My own trumpet that is, I blogged yesterday about how I was due to appear on Channel 5’s the Hotel Inspector. If you watched it, I’m sorry for the doubtless huge disappointment you suffered when I failed to feature in even a second of the hour-long show. This despite the fact that I travelled across
- [Typepad's new compose editor is now... useable](https://travelblather.com/?p=139) - I blogged a few weeks back about Typepad's new compose editor and how for me it was so slow I couldn't use it. There's now a 'simple view' option which I guess has less of the HMTL options built into it which makes things significantly better. What I've also noticed is that using my far
- [From freelance hack to Travel Editor... but who am I on-line?](https://travelblather.com/?p=140) - So, after seven years of freelancing... and getting increasingly hacked off with the lousy pay (which eventually no amount of visits to amazing places can offset) I've joined the ranks of the fully employed. I'm really excited about my new job as Travel Editor for smart web marketing company iCrossing. I'm responsible for putting together a
- [Ultrasonic devices used to keep teenagers off beaches](https://travelblather.com/?p=143) - There's an interesting story in the Guardian. It's a news piece about the annual invasion of several lovely beaches in Cornwall by unruly teenagers who hang out there all night, get steaming drunk and make loads of noise and mess. It's become a real problem for locals in places like Polzeath and Rock, potentially damaging
- [Cycle of drunkenness](https://travelblather.com/?p=145) - You have to hand it to the Dutch. They know how to add value. Here's the latest tour option for visitors to Amsterdam. The Beer Bike. You cycle around with 9 of your mates drinking beer on tap from the built-in keg on the cycle. Guaranteed to make sightseeing that bit more entertaining. I bet
- [Why Americans should never be allowed to travel](https://travelblather.com/?p=146) - I found this as a top-voted travel story on digg.com It's a list of stories shared by travel agents (though unfortunately none are properly attributed.) My favourite: (or should that be 'favorite' seeing as the stories are all about Americans?):A nice lady just called. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight
- [Writing a press release? Quote your stats in context... please!](https://travelblather.com/?p=147) - Another great example of PR flannel in action. I've started a separate category for these. It's titled: Press info: Strewth! Drivers Down Under risk huge excess charges on car hire damage from kangaroo crash hazard, warns Insurance4carhire.com"Holidaymakers hiring a car Down Under are presented with the biggest excess charges for car hire compared to anywhere else
- [Exxxtrrreeeme err, Eastbourne!](https://travelblather.com/?p=148) - You have to hand it to them. The guys in the PR department at Eastbourne Borough Council must be brave optimists or else have a refined sense of the ironic. I just got a press release from them titled Eastbourne Extreme. "Eastbourne Extreme returns to Eastbourne seafront with a vengeance from 19-20 July 2008. Boasting
- [Typepad's new compose editor is so slloooooowwww](https://travelblather.com/?p=149) - This is a grumble... put here due to frustration. I've recently been 'upgraded' to the new compose editor on Typepad which offers lots of extra whistles and bells. All very nice. Except for me anyway the whole thing runs incredibly slowly. It's so bad I've ended up composing my posts in Word and then pasting
- [It's time to innovate in economy class](https://travelblather.com/?p=150) - Hardly a week goes by without some announcement about extra frills in Business and First class: new ultra comfy flatbeds, awesome cuisine, or for A380 flyers a complete suite. But what about the majority of flyers? Those in the back of the plane? I flew transatlantic with KLM on one of their old 747 fleet
- [Achtung! Places to avoid Brits on holiday!](https://travelblather.com/?p=151) - Amusing report in the Independent today. A British holidaymaker, David Barnish, was recently awarded £750 in compensation after suing his travel company over a holiday at a resort filled with Germans. He complained of sun chairs being claimed at a record rate, of German-language-only programmes on the hotel's television sets and of personnel at the
- [Matthew Parris: On travel guides... he's not got the point](https://travelblather.com/?p=153) - Regular Times columnist Matthew Parris just wrote a piece about guidebooks. He says: "…what is it with guidebooks and their inability simply to spit things out? A must-see is praised lavishly; a should-see is praised generously; but a don't-bother is praised faintly - or, more often, left out altogether. It is as though the very
- [What's missing from your flying experience?](https://travelblather.com/?p=154) - I just read an interesting piece by Mark Frary on the Times' website. He talks about how Singapore airlines are the first to offer the facility to plug your iPod through the plane's entertainment system. And wonders who will actually use it. He suggests five things he'd like to see on planes: 1) Decent coffee
- [When points don't mean prizes anymore (if they ever really did?)](https://travelblather.com/?p=155) - I just spotted I had 700 Trustcard Plus points on my LloydsTS Trustcard credit card. They've been accumulating for years! Maybe I could get a free flight or something? I called to find out. The only redemption opportunities these days are (wait for it) for purchasing high street retail store vouchers at a 10% discount.
- [Priority boarding on low cost airlines... is anyone mad enough to pay for it?](https://travelblather.com/?p=156) - A report in the Times yesterday quoted Bruce Treloar, who is Trading Standards Lead Officer for Holidays and Travel. “It is almost a fraud if you pay for priority boarding and you are not able to board first. It is misleading because you are not getting anything for the extra charge." Treloar quoted the example

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- [Short Reads](https://travelblather.com/category/travel-ideas-short-reads)
- [Americas](https://travelblather.com/category/americas) - Travel features about the Americas by Jeremy Head
- [Blog](https://travelblather.com/category/blog)
- [Asia](https://travelblather.com/category/asia) - Travel features about Asia by Jeremy Head
- [Middle East](https://travelblather.com/category/middle-east) - Travel features about the Middle East by Jeremy Head

## Tags

- [Featured](https://travelblather.com/tag/featured)
- [guidebooks](https://travelblather.com/tag/guidebooks)
- [aside](https://travelblather.com/tag/aside)
- [paywalls](https://travelblather.com/tag/paywalls)
- [content](https://travelblather.com/tag/content)
- [Most_commented](https://travelblather.com/tag/most_commented)
- [hotels](https://travelblather.com/tag/hotels)
- [tripadvisor](https://travelblather.com/tag/tripadvisor)
- [content strategy](https://travelblather.com/tag/content-strategy)
- [ryanair](https://travelblather.com/tag/ryanair)
- [pr](https://travelblather.com/tag/pr)
- [press releases](https://travelblather.com/tag/press-releases)
- [simonseeks](https://travelblather.com/tag/simonseeks)
- [ugc](https://travelblather.com/tag/ugc)
- [travmedia](https://travelblather.com/tag/travmedia)
- [destination guides](https://travelblather.com/tag/destination-guides)
- [travel blog](https://travelblather.com/tag/travel-blog)
- [granturismo](https://travelblather.com/tag/granturismo)
- [homeaway rentals](https://travelblather.com/tag/homeaway-rentals)
- [travel writing](https://travelblather.com/tag/travel-writing)
- [guest posts](https://travelblather.com/tag/guest-posts)
- [Gibraltar](https://travelblather.com/tag/gibraltar)
- [readers](https://travelblather.com/tag/readers)
- [travel writers](https://travelblather.com/tag/travel-writers)
- [copyright](https://travelblather.com/tag/copyright)
- [press gazette](https://travelblather.com/tag/press-gazette)
- [comparison](https://travelblather.com/tag/comparison)
- [expedia](https://travelblather.com/tag/expedia)
- [local content](https://travelblather.com/tag/local-content)
- [curation](https://travelblather.com/tag/curation)
- [editing](https://travelblather.com/tag/editing)
- [google](https://travelblather.com/tag/google)
- [inspiration engine](https://travelblather.com/tag/inspiration-engine)
- [TED](https://travelblather.com/tag/ted)
- [TEDx](https://travelblather.com/tag/tedx)
- [TEDxBrighton](https://travelblather.com/tag/tedxbrighton)
- [Will McInnes](https://travelblather.com/tag/will-mcinnes)
- [George MacKerron](https://travelblather.com/tag/george-mackerron)
- [youtube](https://travelblather.com/tag/youtube)
- [Burundi](https://travelblather.com/tag/burundi)
- [Rwanda](https://travelblather.com/tag/rwanda)
- [facebook](https://travelblather.com/tag/facebook)
- [waitrose](https://travelblather.com/tag/waitrose)
- [Exodus](https://travelblather.com/tag/exodus)
- [Explore](https://travelblather.com/tag/explore)
- [Inntravel](https://travelblather.com/tag/inntravel)
- [upgrades](https://travelblather.com/tag/upgrades)
- [brussels airlines](https://travelblather.com/tag/brussels-airlines)
- [seville](https://travelblather.com/tag/seville)
- [La Campana Seville](https://travelblather.com/tag/la-campana-seville)
- [ebooks](https://travelblather.com/tag/ebooks)
- [amazon](https://travelblather.com/tag/amazon)
- [affiliates](https://travelblather.com/tag/affiliates)
- [advertising](https://travelblather.com/tag/advertising)
- [frommer's](https://travelblather.com/tag/frommers)
- [syndication](https://travelblather.com/tag/syndication)
- [free](https://travelblather.com/tag/free)
- [hotmail](https://travelblather.com/tag/hotmail)
- [microsoft](https://travelblather.com/tag/microsoft)
- [magaluf](https://travelblather.com/tag/magaluf)
- [vice](https://travelblather.com/tag/vice)
- [prfail](https://travelblather.com/tag/prfail)
- [google+; facebook; linked in](https://travelblather.com/tag/google-facebook-linked-in)
- [friends](https://travelblather.com/tag/friends)
- [iPhone](https://travelblather.com/tag/iphone)
- [app](https://travelblather.com/tag/app)
- [iPad](https://travelblather.com/tag/ipad)
- [blogging](https://travelblather.com/tag/blogging)
- [digital nomad](https://travelblather.com/tag/digital-nomad)
- [Apple](https://travelblather.com/tag/apple)
- [touchscreen](https://travelblather.com/tag/touchscreen)
- [travel blogs](https://travelblather.com/tag/travel-blogs)
- [press trips](https://travelblather.com/tag/press-trips)
- [panda](https://travelblather.com/tag/panda)
- [best of](https://travelblather.com/tag/best-of)
- [price comparison](https://travelblather.com/tag/price-comparison)
- [metasearch](https://travelblather.com/tag/metasearch)
- [e-books](https://travelblather.com/tag/e-books)
- [apps](https://travelblather.com/tag/apps)
- [publishing](https://travelblather.com/tag/publishing)
- [Mark Henshall](https://travelblather.com/tag/mark-henshall)
- [bookshops](https://travelblather.com/tag/bookshops)
- [klout](https://travelblather.com/tag/klout)
- [influence](https://travelblather.com/tag/influence)
- [magazine](https://travelblather.com/tag/magazine)
- [sponsored posts](https://travelblather.com/tag/sponsored-posts-2)
- [travel](https://travelblather.com/tag/travel-2)
- [self-publishing](https://travelblather.com/tag/self-publishing)
- [kickstarter](https://travelblather.com/tag/kickstarter)
- [travelblogcamp](https://travelblather.com/tag/travelblogcamp)
- [seo](https://travelblather.com/tag/seo-2)
- [big data](https://travelblather.com/tag/big-data)
- [algorithms](https://travelblather.com/tag/algorithms)
- [WAYN](https://travelblather.com/tag/wayn)
- [kindle](https://travelblather.com/tag/kindle)
- [content marketing](https://travelblather.com/tag/content-marketing)
- [forbes](https://travelblather.com/tag/forbes)
- [buzzfeed](https://travelblather.com/tag/buzzfeed)
- [measurement](https://travelblather.com/tag/measurement)
- [gdansk](https://travelblather.com/tag/gdansk)
- [turkish airlines](https://travelblather.com/tag/turkish-airlines)
- [TAM airlines](https://travelblather.com/tag/tam-airlines)
- [airmiles](https://travelblather.com/tag/airmiles)
- [wikipedia](https://travelblather.com/tag/wikipedia)
- [link building](https://travelblather.com/tag/link-building)
- [links](https://travelblather.com/tag/links)
- [travel blogging](https://travelblather.com/tag/travel-blogging)
- [travel bloggers](https://travelblather.com/tag/travel-bloggers)
- [influencer marketing](https://travelblather.com/tag/influencer-marketing)
- [travel marketing](https://travelblather.com/tag/travel-marketing)
- [Social Media](https://travelblather.com/tag/social-media)
- [Journalism](https://travelblather.com/tag/journalism)
- [eli pariser](https://travelblather.com/tag/eli-pariser)
- [Trip Advisor](https://travelblather.com/tag/trip-advisor)
- [Tourist boards](https://travelblather.com/tag/tourist-boards)
- [DMOs](https://travelblather.com/tag/dmos)
- [DMO marketing](https://travelblather.com/tag/dmo-marketing)
- [video](https://travelblather.com/tag/video)
- [Melt marketing](https://travelblather.com/tag/melt-marketing)
- [pitching](https://travelblather.com/tag/pitching)
- [editors](https://travelblather.com/tag/editors)
- [Short Read](https://travelblather.com/tag/short-read)
- [winter activities](https://travelblather.com/tag/winter-activities)
- [Jordan](https://travelblather.com/tag/jordan)
- [Long read](https://travelblather.com/tag/long-read)
- [petra](https://travelblather.com/tag/petra)
- [elephants](https://travelblather.com/tag/elephants)
- [sri lanka](https://travelblather.com/tag/sri-lanka)
- [Karelia](https://travelblather.com/tag/karelia)
- [Russia](https://travelblather.com/tag/russia)
- [snowmobiling](https://travelblather.com/tag/snowmobiling)
- [beach](https://travelblather.com/tag/beach)
- [Kenya](https://travelblather.com/tag/kenya)
- [romance](https://travelblather.com/tag/romance)
- [safari](https://travelblather.com/tag/safari)
- [mexico](https://travelblather.com/tag/mexico)
- [temples](https://travelblather.com/tag/temples)
- [denmark](https://travelblather.com/tag/denmark)
- [ribe](https://travelblather.com/tag/ribe)
- [vikings](https://travelblather.com/tag/vikings)
- [Albania](https://travelblather.com/tag/albania)
- [trekking](https://travelblather.com/tag/trekking)
- [douro valley](https://travelblather.com/tag/douro-valley)
- [porto](https://travelblather.com/tag/porto)
- [portugal](https://travelblather.com/tag/portugal)
- [walking](https://travelblather.com/tag/walking)
- [diving](https://travelblather.com/tag/diving)
- [Philippines](https://travelblather.com/tag/philippines)
- [Long Reads](https://travelblather.com/tag/long-reads)
- [rail](https://travelblather.com/tag/rail)
- [transiberian](https://travelblather.com/tag/transiberian)
- [transsiberian](https://travelblather.com/tag/transsiberian)
- [Finland](https://travelblather.com/tag/finland)
- [Husky sledding](https://travelblather.com/tag/husky-sledding)
- [Lapland](https://travelblather.com/tag/lapland)
- [camels](https://travelblather.com/tag/camels)
- [sahara](https://travelblather.com/tag/sahara)
- [Tunisia](https://travelblather.com/tag/tunisia)
- [Bethlehem](https://travelblather.com/tag/bethlehem)
- [Israel](https://travelblather.com/tag/israel)
- [Occupied Territories](https://travelblather.com/tag/occupied-territories)
- [Palestine](https://travelblather.com/tag/palestine)
- [wildlife rwanda burundi gorillas](https://travelblather.com/tag/wildlife-rwanda-burundi-gorillas)
- [castles](https://travelblather.com/tag/castles)
- [family holidays](https://travelblather.com/tag/family-holidays)
- [half term](https://travelblather.com/tag/half-term)
- [wales](https://travelblather.com/tag/wales)
- [Poland](https://travelblather.com/tag/poland)
- [weekend break](https://travelblather.com/tag/weekend-break)
- [Wroclaw](https://travelblather.com/tag/wroclaw)
- [Cambodia](https://travelblather.com/tag/cambodia)
- [Fishing](https://travelblather.com/tag/fishing)
- [Homestay](https://travelblather.com/tag/homestay)
- [Things to do](https://travelblather.com/tag/things-to-do)
- [family](https://travelblather.com/tag/family)
- [itinerary](https://travelblather.com/tag/itinerary)