In going through one of my most recent Outside Magazines, they listed a bunch of travel sites and stuff…
I wanted to go through that here b/c I love Outside Magazine and what they write on.
Booking:
By definition a tourist is a person that travels at least 100 miles and spends the night. One of the largest group of tourists not marketed to is parents visiting their kids at college. What is interesting about this group is the number of family and friends that I know that when traveling love to visit the local colleges.
My favorite campuses to visit have been:
As we continue to write about Travel and Gather, and continue to look towards a launch. It is important to remember the places that we visit… I have two hotels that I list as the top 2. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, and I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t visited them all.
Fontainebleau in Miami Beach. If you stay there, make sure that you stay in the towers. The other side of the hotel is more “historic”, but the towers are new, updated and beyond spacious. The 1 bedroom suite that we stayed in had:
Travel and Gather is going to allow you to see where the most popular destination is at any given time. As we launch Travel and Gather it will be interesting to see if our users follow the common path of other research out there that says the top destinations will once again be Las Vegas and Orlando.
If you are a business traveler, then you know that these two cities are “Conference Headquarters” for small, large and enormous conferences.
Yet, the majority of the Top Spots are located in Mexico. Must be a cheap place to make your dollar go further while we exist in this recession.
So let us know where you plan to go…
I came across this Website on one of my recent searches, and like it a lot. Clean and easy to use… There are many more like it out there, but always nice to have options when traveling:
I just read an article in USA Today that talks about more men are losing their job during this recession than women. Which I find to be interesting, since I have recently been laid off from a publicly traded company with offices worldwide.
As I was told, the US is feeling the brunt of this economy meltdown. Our firm reduced the US staff by 40%, and of those 9 people let go, 7 were men. The article goes on to say why this is the case, but simply put I think this all makes a huge difference if you are a one-income family or a two-income family.
With all of the layoffs happening around the world, and in particular in the United States we need to take advantage of our travels and connections. I wouldn’t have the relationships that I do with family, friends, and customers / colleagues if I wasn’t willing to spend nights away from the family, in a lousy hotel, sitting on a dirty airplane, and eating food that kills you bite by bite.
Travel and Gather will be our access to these relationships. It will cultivate that which an Email or Phone Call just can’t do.
As I sat in a coffee shop last week for a meeting, all 3 of us pulled out laptops and 3 smart phones. We had 2 MacBook Pros and 1 MacBook Air. Yet, each of us were constantly using our smart phones too. We had 2 Blackberries and 1 Motorola Q.
What amazes me about this “mobile office” is the pure number of technologies that each of us carry around with us when we travel. For me, my laptop is my security blanket. It is my refuge for the late nights in the hotel room when nothing is on the tube and the only interaction that I have with another human being is room service.
Yet, some people pack even more… One of the guys that showed up at the coffee shop had his MacBook Pro, a Laptop stand that weighed 10 pounds and full size keyboard for his laptop.
When I was on the road quite a bit, I’d actually pack a PC and a Mac when I needed… Most companies choose to go the route of a PC because the laptops are typically cheaper, but rarely are they as useful.
That is why, the new Acer Aspire One “netbook” is so interesting to me. It is cheap, at under $400 and yet small enough that if you HAVE to have a PC laptop, then you can use this.
My real question is, when are we going to get to the point of doing everything on our Mobile Phones? Is there ever going to be a phone that is as powerful and useful as a laptop? Will we have an infrared keyboard that is full sized that we shine on our hotel desk, and the camera on the phone shoots an image onto the wall so you have a full sized screen being projected?
That has to be the future!
As we enter a new year, I pause to be “freaked” out that we are already 9 years into the New Millennium. I remember when the year 2000 was the party that was supposed to be happening in 1999 (according to Prince). I am happy to report though, that as we continue to feel the pains of the economy and the world’s uncertainty, there is a reason for the season.
Friends are around. Family is in our lives. Blood runs through our veins and dreams dance in our minds.
In 2009, when Travel and Gather is fully launched, we hope that you’ll use it to reconnect. Reconnect with family, friends and yourself.
As I look back at pictures, and write in my journal… I find that I really “hear” the world when it is silent and there is nothing to fill my mind. There is no technology, no abundance of people… Just a book, pen and paper… Unplugged if you will.
It is in these quiet moments that I fully realize the connections that I have made with people all over the country and all over the world. What a life it has been to connect beyond one zip code.
Enjoy today, tonight… Be safe… We’ll see you next year!
I wanted to share this Website that I recently found in Good Magazine. The Website is Couch Surfing. It allows you to find perfect strangers who are willing to let you pull up some fabric in their living room. They have successfully connected 100’s of thousands of people.
So instead of lying on a couch talking to the doctor, do some traveling with that couch!
Check it out here: www.couchsurfing.com
As the economy continues to move up and down, and companies prepare for the worse and some are dealing with the worst… It is wise to remember those that have touched your lives. Whether that is someone that has touched you professionally, personally, spiritually or just as a friend.
The world can seem so small with technology… You can Email, do a WebEx, or hold a conference call. But with social networking sites, you can find friends and friends of friends all across the world.
Recently, a friend of mine went on a cruise with his 15 year old son and family. The 15 year old son wasn’t allowed into some of the areas of the boat based on his age, so he was forced to compromise and meet people. By the end of the trip he had found others his age, and the group of 4 represented 4 different countries. They all got on Facebook and entered each other. Now they have been able to stay in touch, and introduce each other to new cultures.
As you wonder if you have a job tomorrow, next week, or today… Remember to reconnect with friends, family and colleagues. Travel and Gather will allow you to connect with friends, family and colleagues as you are away from home. There is no better way to build a relationship than seeing someone face to face.
Stay tuned for more from TAGalogue and Travel and Gather… What is your TAG?
