Personal Travel Blogs

Email: StefanBecker1985@yahoo.de

Travel Blog’s URL: www.v-i-l-l-a.blogspot.com

Where are you from?
Germany

Where have you been?
Denmark, England, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, France, Austria, Siwtzerland, Croatia, Belgium, Kenya,

Where are you going?
Turkey (March ‘08), Japan (May ‘08), Egypt (between october - december ‘08), South America - probably I’m going
to Ecuador to climb the “Chimborazo”

How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
internet café

Why did you start a travel blog?
I just like to write, and it’s nice to have such a good possibility to show people what you are doing in your life.

What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
At the Moment I would say my favorite city is Amsterdam. It’s full of life all theday and night.

Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
www.expedia.de

What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
none

What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road?
I never read when I’m on raod, I write my on books when I am travelling.

How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road? (any tips?)
internet café

What blogging software did you use and why?
I use “blogger.com” - it’s easy to handle and it*s a software with many features.

Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?:

different blogging portals like technorati or other.

Have you promoted your travel blog in any way?
If so, any advice/tips?: no, but if you search in google

Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
no What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone

thinking of starting a travel blog?
You don’t need to write a travel blog, bout I wish you the passion to travel and to discover the world!

Is there any thing else you would like to add?
keep on travelling!

Email: laura.leveson@clarionevents.com

Travel Blog’s URL: http://www.destinationsshow.com/lauras-blog1.html

Where are you from?: Manchester, England

Where have you been?
In no paticular order, and randomly picked; Brazil, Czech Republic, Australia, Scotland, Bolivia, Italy, Peru, Russia, Equador, Israel, Thailand, Belize, Mexico, France, Fiji, Spain, USA, Portugal, Cambodia, Greece, New Zealand,

Where are you going?
Israel to visit a friend, Zimbabwe to chase my roots, when I can afford to take a trip through Africa, Cape Town for a week or two and then a short break maybe in Scandinavia for fun as soon as I can afford it!

How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
Yikes, I don’t but I always used to keep a diary. Also the thing to do is copy yourself in on the emails you send to friends - this is the basis of a great blog -my uncle told me I should write a book, because I had got so stuck into the email writing while away - guess its always been a passion!

Why did you start a travel blog?
Through work really, I was finding out about all the most exciting new travel news and had to convert it to soundbites for the consumer, it’s just another outlet.

What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
I adored Belize as it is so diverse! From the landscape to the people. It’s a melting pot of cultures working in harmony (at least on the surface); creole, yemonites, chinese, garrifuna, mestiso and more! The countryside is gorgeous as are the many cayes, and its home to jaguar among other animals. Its relatively untouched by tourism, and maintains it’s laid back Caribbean vibe.

Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
Don’t stay in Belize city its not the safest, so arriving late at night could cause problems. Head to the coast -Dangriga for a real town experience (dont miss cultural sunday!) Tobacco Caye for escapism and Placencia for chill out.

What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
Just about everything! I need to be in the loop.

What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road?
I like to read about the place I am in, so enjoyed short stories written by Belizeans while in Belize, stories of escape and survival through Khmer regime while in Cambodia, (First they Killed my Father) Martin Amis - The House of Meetings while in Russia, that sort of thing, so you can follow the path of the protaganist and totally immerse yourself…

How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road?
(any tips?)
Yikes, I don’t but I always used to keep a diary. Also the thing to do is copy yourself in on the emails you send to friends - this is the basis of a great blog -my uncle told me I should write a book, because I had got so stuck into the email writing while away -guess its always been a passion!

What blogging software did you use and why?
Not picky, there are lots of great blogs out there now, for free!

Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?:
It’s a work one, so goes through our website

Have you promoted your travel blog in any way?
If so, any advice/tips?: Not really, its found on the Destinations Show website though…

Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?:
Nope! Not at all, that isn’t the intention.

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone
thinking of starting a travel blog?
Blogs are becoming important parts of our lives, helping to piece together the jigsaw of our lives. They will in time be useful sources of history so be careful what you say, but BE HONEST it’s good news t once you blog, its there forever, so no need to worry about loosing your diary!

Is there any thing else you would like to add?
come to  Destinations Show at the NEC 29th Feb to 2nd March

Email: slowtravel@futerra.co.uk

Travel Blog’s URL: www.lowcarbontravel.com

Where are you from?
London, UK

Where have you been?
Around the world without flying!

Where are you going?
East!

How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
Arrange internet time in advance with my girlfriend

Why did you start a travel blog?
To raise awareness and interest in slow, low carbon travel without flying

What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
Mongolia - no roads, huge, beautiful wilderness with very low population density and a nomdaic lifestyle that has scarcely changed in a millennium

Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
Hotels…we always prefer to rock up and find somewhere rather than book in advance. Funnily enough we don’t book flights!

What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
None

What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road?
‘We need to talk about Kevin’ by Lionel Shriver

How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road? (any tips?)

Arrange internet time in advance with my girlfriend

What blogging software did you use and why?
Blogger.com as it’s quick, simple, easy and internationally reliable

Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?
Blogger.com has always delivered the goods for me

Have you promoted your travel blog in any way?
If so, any advice/tips?: I have a regular column in the Guardian newspaper called ‘The Slow Traveller’ www.guardian.co.uk

Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
I refuse advertising but I have made a reasonable income from related journalism over the last year

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of starting a travel blog?
Write for yourself not an ‘audience’, usually what is interesting to you, if written from the heart and with a bit of wit will interest other people. Be honest, don’t try and make everything sound great. The bad is as if not more interesting than the good. Armchair travellers are sadists!

Is there any thing else you would like to add?
Nice project

Email: scott@viator.com

Travel Blog’s URL: http://travelblog.viator.com/

Where are you from?
California

Where have you been?
Around the world, and then some

Where are you going?
Next trip - Sydney. After that, Istanbul if I can convince my family.

How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
We have a lot of contributors to the Viator Travel Blog, so we’re constantly looking for writers (in addition to our staff contributors) who want to participate and share their travel experiences.

Why did you start a travel blog?
The staff at Viator are travel fanatics. Our CFO has been to 70+ countries (she’s a Kiwi, that’s her excise). Our CEO has been to 40+ countries, I’m a former Lonely Planet author and publisher, and I’ve been to 50+ countries. What I’m getting
at it, the staff at Viator love to travel, love to talk about travel, love to write about travel. And a travel blog was a no brainer for us.

What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
Nepal, for the trekking. Syria, for the hospitality. Turkey, for everything!

Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
Funny enough, I still look at the Sunday newspapers (yes, that old print thing) and look at the ads from travel consolidators. There are still some good deals to be had this way, which often are

What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
I’m a big fan of blogs like Vagabondish and Brave New Traveler. I also read a heap of travel magazines (though honestly, there’s room in the market for another *good* one, I don’t have a favorite).

What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road?: I read Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House” while traveling through India.
Somehow, and don’t ask me to explain how, it was a perfect pairing.

ow do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road?
(any tips?): We have a lot of contributors to the Viator Travel Blog, so we’re constantly looking for writers (in addition to our staff contributors) who want to participate and share their travel experiences.

What blogging software did you use and why?
WordPress. Because it rules.

Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?
Um, well, hmmm, um, can I get back to you on that one???

Have you promoted your travel blog in any way?If so, any advice/tips?
We started a “Travel” category over on Bumpzee. We also added a traffic counter from Blogtopsites
(topsites.blogflux.com/travel/) which helps people to find us.

Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
Not directly. We don’t carry ads, our directly sell any of Viator’s 5,000+ tours and things to do on the blog. For us, the blog is all about travel inspiration.

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of starting a travel blog?
JUST DO IT!

Is there any thing else you would like to add?
Happy travels.

Where are you from?
Auckland, New Zealand

Where have you been?
Umm. It’s quite a list…

Asia-Pacific: New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong
Kong and Macau.
Europe: Malta, Italy, Vatican City, Greece, Switzerland, France, Austria,
Liechtenstein, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Holland, Turkey, Czech
Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg,
England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Other: USA, Mexico.

…I think that’s everywhere, but I might be wrong.

Where are you going?
During the first six months of 2008 we’ll be spending time in about 12
countries. Highlights are going to include walking the Camino de Santiago de
Compostella from southern France through northern Spain; visiting Galipoli with
family on ANZAC day (April 25th); and touring Champagne.

How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
We started blogging in January 2005 with our short tramping trips and holidays,
but we’ve been travelling full time since February 2006 and the pace has picked
up since then!

Why did you start a travel blog?
Because we have terrible memories! Something mungable and light was the tipping
point when choosing between blogging and a typical journal or photo album. I
love the interaction between text, video and photos as well as the friends and
strangers that drop by and leave comments.

What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
That’s too difficult! I love the food in Turkey and Greece and the beauty of
Bohemia but I love the wildernesses and relaxed lifestyle of New Zealand above
any country I’ve visited.

Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
Yes, a whole website of them: the Indie Travel Podcast . Feel free to drop by and add your two cents.

What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
I subscribe to a small smattering of personal blogs and most of the podcasts in
the Travel Podcast Network (iTunes link). I completely avoid magazines since I’m yet to find one that really
meets my needs.

What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road?
Between us both we read about 7 books a week. We’re really getting into free
audiobooks from Librivox too. But if you
insist…
Craig’s pick: A collection of novels and stories by Franz Kafka…and I love
Murukami too.
Linda’s pick: Persuasion by Jane Austin

How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road? (any
tips?)
We carry an Apple 12″ Powerbook, so I use the time spent on trains and planes
to catch up with writing and emailing and schedule a day with an internet
connection every fortnight to really blitz things, especially file uploads.

What blogging software did you use and why?
Self-hosted WordPress for our blog and our
podcast too. It’s simply the best.

Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?
Our hosting is with bluehost, graciously donated by a friend. We’ve never had
any problems even though people are downloading around a thousand audio and
video files a week as well as surfing the blog pages. We use flickr for photo storage, pushing them out to facebook
and the blog using plugins. Flickr is, without doubt, the best place to put
your photos online.

Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
Not directly, but we write and produce stories and podcasts for other sites.
The blog works as a touchstone to establish credibility in our travelling
status! (Want to hire some freelance writers or podcasters for your site?
Please do get in touch!)

Have you promoted your travel blog in any way? If so, any advice/tips?
Because of the personal nature of the site subscriptions remain small. We are
part of a few networks which send traffic our way and we always put the URL in
our email footer. We had some free business cards printed with all our URLs
which we disseminate widely.

It’s more about retention than promotion, but it’s good to offer people RSS
subscriptions and email subscriptions too. We’ve just moved our automated email
subscriptions to Nouri.sh and they’re performing well so far.

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of
starting a travel blog?
Don’t let it get in the way of actually experiencing the places you visit.
People can wait. Really, they can. And don’t use Google’s Blogger.

Any thing else you would like to add?
Keep posts concise and people orientated; think about the story you’re telling
and what kind of picture you’re painting; and, for my sake if no-one else’s,
use a spell-checker whenever you can.

Where can we find your travel blog?
Our Crazy Travels is at www.mars-hill.co.nz/blog and the photo gallery only a click away. Enjoy.

 * Email
info@ivanhenares.com

* Travel Blog’s URL
http://www.ivanhenares.com/

1. Where are you from?
Phiippines

2. Where have you been?
Brunei, Cambodia, China, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Northern Marianas, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Vietnam 

3. Where are you going?
Wherever fate may bring me

4. How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
The beauty of the Philippines which I experience first-hand and love to tell stories about my travels drives me to update regularly.

5. Why did you start a travel blog?
I wanted to share my travels with my friends back home. Then it evolved into a blog promoting backpacking and heritage in the Philippines through my personal travel stories

6. What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
The Philippines!

7. Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
N/A

8. What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
N/A

9. What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road?
N/A

10. How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road? (any tips?)
The beauty of the Philippines which I experience first-hand and love to tell stories about my travels drives me to update regularly. 

11. What blogging software did you use and why?
Blogger… because it’s free!

12. Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?
Blogger

13. Have you promoted your travel blog in any way? If so, any advice/tips?
When I was starting, I promoted through e-mail and online forums.

14. Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
I don’t earn much. I blog because I like to travel and write.

15. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of starting a travel blog?
Travel and writing are a passion. Good travel blogs are those which come from the heart.

16. Is there any thing else you would like to add?
None

1. Where are you from?
A California native, I’ve lived all up and down the west
coast. I’m too much of a nomad to really give this question a straight
answer, but Los Angeles sometimes feels like home

2. Where have you been?
I’ve hit all the Western European hotspots and a lot of
Eastern Europe, including Czech, Serbia, Bulgaria, etc. I spent a while in
Turkey, traveled to Israel, and most recently Malaysia! Too many places to name
them all!

3. Where are you going?
My next trip is New Zealand - I have a work visa and
I’m going to bummy way around the country for a while, hopefully writing some
good travel articles along the way.

4. How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
I’ve been running
KingAmongRunaways.com for over a year.

5. Why did you start a travel blog?
Mostly to keep in touch with family and
friends who are spread out all over the world. Also, to share the stories of
my crazy life - mostly for self aggrandizement / deprecation…

6. What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
I hate this question!

7. Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
I have all kinds of advice! You
can check it all out at www.ShangriLost.com, my travel advice website!

8. What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
Hmm, just getting into networking in the travel blog scene - off the top of my head:
thetravelersnotebook.com
cultureonthecheap.wordpress.com
JohnnyNomad.com
goodairs.com
felixwong.com
indietravelpodcast.com
coconuter.blogspot.com

9. What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road?
River of Doubt by Candice Millard - it’s about Theodore Roosevelt’s decent down this
previously uncharted river in the Brazilian interior…wish I had read it while
traveling in Brazil!

10. How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road? (any tips?)
That’s a tough one - I always have to force myself to update, because I’m
usually having too much to want to sit in front of a computer and type! Before
you go to bed is a good time - if you’re sober enough.. heh.

11. What blogging software did you use and why?
I use Wordpress…because it’s
the best. Blogger is a great tool, but if you want to have control over
everything, and you know a thing or two about web design, wordpress is an
awesome tool.

12. Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?
I use a budget shared hosting - works fine for me. Just google around and look for
reviews before you sign up for anything.

13. Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
I have advertising on my other website, ShangriLost.com, but not on my personal blog
- I’ve been toying with the idea for a while, but unless you have a massive
readership, you won’t make much money and you run the risk of pissing off your
loyal readers by cluttering up your blog with ads.

14. Have you promoted your travel blog in any way? If so, any advice/tips?
Myspace / word of mouth

15. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of starting a travel blog?
Do it! if anything, at least your friends / family will be able to keep in touch with you while you travel

16. Any thing else you would like to add?
No thanks, that was a lot of questions!

17. Where can we find your travel blog?
www.KingAmongRunaways.com

“A Gaijin in Japan” reads the start of Neil’s tag line… a great travel blog about an Australian guy living in Japan!

1. Where are you from?
Australia

2. Where have you been?
Over the years through work and personal travel, South America - Chile, Sao Paolo, Rio, Salvador. North America - New York, Michigan, L.A and a trip to Canada while up that way. Asia - Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, China, Taiwan.

3. Where are you going?
Staying put in Japan for sometime yet, i do have more travel planned for Ireland, China and India this year though.

4. How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
Seriously about 12 months, mainly since i decided to stay in Japan.

5. Why did you start a travel blog?
It’s an easy method to keep in touch with friends and family from back home.

6. What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
Rio was pretty amazing, i was there for the turn of the century, on Copocabana Beach with 5 million other revellers for the millenium and we’d planned the trip for about 5 yrs so that one stands out.

7. Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
- Book a double room so you can use the second bed to lay out your possessions and suitcase.
- Use the ice machine to fill the sink to get your beers cold quick.
- Use the same chain of hotel when possible to accrue membership benefits.

8. What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
Too many to mention, generally Tokyo / Japan related ones at the moment. See my site for more info.

9. What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road.
I rarely read books as such. Kane and Abel is the best book i’ve read in a while and that was a while back.

10. How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road? (any tips?)
Discipline

11. What blogging software did you use and why
Wordpress, it has lots of flexibility and you can have a very professional look.

12. Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?
Smartyhost in Australia. Cheap domains and hosting but have had some issues. Overall happy though, as i should be i mean they really don’t have to do much do they?!

13. Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
Various affiliate programs - the usual ones like adsense, and hopefully a new one to be launched on my site in February but i can’t say any more than that.

14. Have you promoted your travel blog in any way? If so, any advice/tips?
Commenting on various blogs builds a relationship then an exchange of links. Some paid advertising and a competition to raise awareness quickly.

15. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of starting a travel blog?
Do it, you’ll love it, but write with honesty and stuff people want to read. There’s lots of people stuck inside their own lives dying to live a life of travel through yours, show them how good it is!

16. Any thing else you would like to add?
Thanks for the opportunity to answer your questions. Subscribe to my feed to read anything and everything about Japan.

17. Where can we find your travel blog?
www.neilduckett.com

Gray runs a travel blog over at Everything Everywhere Travel Blog, make sure you check out the great images!

1. Where are you from?
United States

2. Where have you been?
Since I started traveling in March 2007, I’ve been to 30 countries and territories in the Pacific and Asia.

3. Where are you going?
Everywhere else.

4. How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
Since I started my trip in March.

5. Why did you start a travel blog?
A way to share my travels with the rest of the world.

6. What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
That is impossible to answer. That is like picking a favorite child.

7. Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
Not any general tips. I mostly stay in hostels and my flights have been on some very obscure airlines.

8. What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
Indie Travel Podcast, Amateur Travel Podcast, Boots N’ All, and a host of travel blogs.

9. What’s the best book you’ve read while on the road.
Ancestors Tale by Richard Dawkins

10. How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road? (any tips?)
I have a laptop so I can write whenever I have down time. It really isn’t hard. Keeping a blog forces you to put breaks in your schedule.

11. What blogging software did you use and why?
WordPress. It is open with tons of plugins and themes available.

12. Where do you host your blog and/or images, would you recommend them?
My blog is hosted at Positivefusion.net. My photos are hosted at Flickr. I strongly recommend hosting photos off site, else they will eat up your bandwidth quickly.

13. Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
No.

14. Have you promoted your travel blog in any way? If so, any advice/tips?
Nothing special.

15. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of starting a travel blog?
Figure out what your audience is and what your goals are. Most people only travel for short periods of time and the blog ends when they are done traveling. If you are looking to make money off of it, good luck. To reach the number of readers you’d need, you need time and by the time you get there, your trip is usually done.

16. Where can we find your travel blog?
Everything-Everywhere.com

Okay, I guess it’s appropriate that I start the first interview with myself running my personal travel blog: Adventure Travel.

1. Where are you from?
England

2. Where have you been?
Thailand, Laos, Philippines, Holland, America, Jamaica, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Czech republic, Hong Kong, Malayasia, Singapore, Taiwan, Myanmar, Indonesia and US.

3. Where are you going?
Vietnam and Bali this year *hopefully!

4. Why did you start a travel blog?
To keep my friends and family up-dated on where and what I’m getting up too.

5. How long have you been up-dating your travel blog?
Just over a year

6. What blogging software do you use and why
Wordpress - It’s flexible and allows me to have complete control over all the content, along with it’s ease of use. Wordpress have a huge following, meaning that improvements in a) the software, B) the plugins and C) the on-line help will continue to grow.

7. Where do you host your blog and/or images?
I host my blog with Protgp/Sunwave, only because my friend owns the company and I get a good deal. I host my images on my own site but currently don’t use a gallery script, although it’s on the list of things to do.

8. How do you make time to up-date your travel blog while on the road? (any tips?)
When I’m on the road it’s hard, it helps if I can see a net connection and have some time to kill

9. What’s the best country you’ve visited and why?
Thailand - For it’s beauty and smiles!

10. Have you promoted your travel blog in any way? If so, any advice/tips?
I’ve only promoted it on one site, but didn’t mean too. I paid for some advertising for another site and that site didn’t work out, so I filled the ad space up with promoting my own blog.

11. Do you make money from your travel blog, if so any advice/tips?
I added some Adsense on there which makes me a beer or two per month, I also run Auction ad’s but that doesn’t really convert. I also ran Kontera for a while, but think it pissed of a few readers so I took it off. Overall, I think affiliate links added to articles in a natural way work best, and is what I plan on doing in the future.

12. Got any tips for booking hotels and flights?
Always best to compare re-sellers, agencies and direct on-line and see who has the best deal!

13. What travel blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
Brand New traveler once in a while has an article I enjoy reading, I also visit Travel Happy and My Thailand Diary.

14. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of starting a travel blog?
If your already thinking about it, just do it! It costs peanuts to get hosting and a domain name, with wordpress free, there’s no reason why not to give it a go!

15. Any thing else you would like to add?
Nope

16. Where can we find your travel blog?
http://www.absorbingtheworld.co.uk/blog