BootsnAll's Blog
Having a place to keep track of the things that inspire us to travel is nothing new. Remember the days when an image from a magazine would compel you to tear it out and hang it on a bulletin board in your hallway, reminding you to get out there and see the world? Or when, as you were researching your next adventure, you’d jot down recommendations you heard about from friends or on TV in the margins of your guidebook? My friend Melanie keeps 3-ring binders organized by country with articles and photos from magazines and newspapers, which she then refers to when she’s planning a trip. (It’s the most organized analog travel inspiration system I’ve ever seen.)
Today, of course, many of our travel dreaming tools have gone digital. Personally, I keep my TripDoc iPhone app open whenever I’m watching a travel TV show so I can put that restaurant Tony Bourdain is fawning over on a map for when I (eventually, I hope) visit that city. After gathering tips for recent trips to Paris and New York, my maps were overflowing – there was no way I’d be able to hit all those recommended spots during short visits, but the fact that I had all those options made me really happy. And, of course, I’ve got a head-start on trip planning the next time I go to either of those cities – not to mention a bunch of reasons to return.
>> Articles you’ll read this week on BootsnAll include: a round-the-world trip itinerary focused on some of the best hikes on earth, a few things you think you might know about South Africa (but about which you’re probably wrong), and a treatise on why your retirement should be spent taking a long-term trip.
Week 21 of the Indie Travel Challenge 2012 is travel inspriation tools.
Travel dreaming and inspiration are both so often visual, it’s no surprise that Pinterest has become such a huge hit with travelers and wannabe travelers. BootsnAll’s Pinterest boards are full of places we’d like to go, travel gear we love, travel quotes that make us think, and all kinds of other travel-related goodies. (Speaking of, are you on Pinterest? You should come check out what we’re pinning, and join us!)
For week 21 of the Indie Travel Challenge, we’d like you to tell us what your travel dreaming tools of choice are. Do you still pull pages from magazines? Do you keep a spreadsheet on your computer, organized by country? Do you have a smartphone app or a website you love? Tell us about your favorite travel inspiration tools, both places where you find inspiration to travel and places where you can store those travel dreams for when you’re actually planning a trip, and whether those tools have changed the way you travel.
Don’t forget to add your blog posts to the main Indie Travel Challenge page – and be sure to include a picture when you do (we love pictures!).
The Indie Travel Challenge is a year-long blogging project. Every Monday, we’ll post a new prompt, question, or challenge that bloggers can respond to via text, photos, or video. Respond on your own blog, and link back to BootsnAll so we can find and highlight the best submissions.
Check out the Indie Travel Challenge landing page for all information related to the event. You can see the week’s daily prompt, follow the hashtag on Twitter, share your posts, and check out submissions from around the world.
Get more travel inspiration from these articles:
photo by UvaFragola
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Our friends at TNT magazine are celebrating 1500th issue with a Party on June 1st
Chris and I would eat up every issue of TNT back in 1996 when we did the original BootsnAll trip. And I still grab a copy whenever I see them in hostels on the street. (Not in the US that I know of though)
Congrats to making it to 1500. Here’s to 3000+
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Travel is, most of us would likely agree, life-changing in the most positive ways. It’s about exceptional experiences we can’t have if we don’t get out of our familiar surroundings, people we would never meet if we stayed home, and memories we’ll treasure for the rest of our lives.
But not everything about travel is easy. In fact, we believe most travelers would agree that often the most meaningful moments come from challenges we encounter along the way – even if we only realize that in retrospect.
This week on BootsnAll, you’ll read about Eastern European mountains that even inexperienced hikers can climb, getting comfortable with Japanese culture, conquering a fear of the dark to see a whole other world, and letting a travel dream throw your life plans for a loop.
Week 20 of the Indie Travel Challenge 2012 is all about travel’s difficult moments.
We can all point to difficult moments during our travels, things we weren’t prepared to see, smell, or taste – but real learning isn’t just about knowing you don’t like haggis because you inadvertently ate some in Scotland. We can learn valuable lessons from uncomfortable travel situations, lessons that will stick with us long after we’ve returned home.
For week 20 of the Indie Travel Challenge, we’d like you to talk about something you saw or experienced during a trip that was particularly challenging or difficult for you. What did you learn from that, and how has it impacted your life since then?
The Indie Travel Challenge is a year-long blogging project. Every Monday, we’ll post a new prompt, question, or challenge that bloggers can respond to via text, photos, or video. Respond on your own blog, and link back to BootsnAll so we can find and highlight the best submissions.
Check out the Indie Travel Challenge landing page for all information related to the event. You can see the week’s daily prompt, follow the hashtag on Twitter, share your posts, and check out submissions from around the world.
Read more about travel challenges:
photo by neonquark
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What, we ask you, screams summer vacation more than a road trip?
Now, we admit that we’re predisposed to think of road trips as American – but no matter where the concept of a road trip came from, it’s applicable to places all over the globe today. I’ve spent time scouring a map of northern Scotland for the smallest (and windiest) road between two points while exploring the whisky trail, staring out the bus window at the stunningly green landscape (and trying to – quite literally – count sheep) in New Zealand, and marveling at the incongruity of terrain that looked like Oregon (only with way more ostriches) en route from Cape Town to Wilderness in South Africa. The only requirements of a great road trip are roads, a car, and time.
>> This week on BootsnAll you’ll read about how you can have foreign culture experiences without leaving the country, and how a road trip through the U.S. gets you to the heart of so many elements of indie travel.
Week 19 of the Indie Travel Challenge 2012 is all about road trips.
While the United States may have some of the best excuses for long drives, we’re happy to go on a road trip anywhere that has a selection of bizarre roadside attractions to keep us intrigued and a steady supply of good take-along snacks. We just love the slower pace of road trips, no matter where we are. Seeing life from a moving car gives us more time to reflect on the passage of miles, and it has the added perk of allowing us to stop whenever we feel like it to survey the view or check out the world’s largest ball of twine.
For week 19 of the Indie Travel Challenge, we’d like you to design the perfect road trip. Take into account the following questions: Who’s with you in the car? (And no, it doesn’t have to be someone you know.) What kind of car are you driving? What snacks are in the cooler? What music is playing? And, most importantly, where are you?
The Indie Travel Challenge is a year-long blogging project. Every Monday, we’ll post a new prompt, question, or challenge that bloggers can respond to via text, photos, or video. Respond on your own blog, and link back to BootsnAll so we can find and highlight the best submissions.
Check out the Indie Travel Challenge landing page for all information related to the event. You can see the week’s daily prompt, follow the hashtag on Twitter, share your posts, and check out submissions from around the world.
Read more about road trips:
photo by Patxi Izkue
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Do you have what you think is a kick-ass recipe that’s easy to make when traveling? We want to know about it.
We’re looking for the kinds of dishes we can make in hostel kitchens or in apartment rentals as we travel, from ingredients we can find (relatively easily) in markets around the world, and using the tools we’ve come to expect in what’s billed as (but isn’t really) a “fully-equipped” kitchen. This is stuff that’s simple enough to make on the road, and also something that’s so delicious you actually like to cook it at home, too.
Do you think you’ve got just the recipe we’re looking for? Let us know! Leave a comment on this post with your recipe – if we like yours, we may feature it on BootsnAll!
There’s your challenge, travelers – get cooking!
photo by Piers Brown
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