Okay, I’m pretty sure this is our last Thanksgiving post. Maybe not. Either way, we here at the UpTake Vacations Blog would like to wish each and every one of you a happy, safe and filling Thanksgiving. You deserve it.
Pies!
Left – apple pie recipe
Right – pumpkin pie recipe
Photo by Laura Charon
How, you ask, are the UpTake Vacation writers spending their fall? Well, thanks for asking. We’re doing a lot of this:
Lehner Pumpkin Farm in Radnor, Ohio
Linus: Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.
Entry and photo by Ed.
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
With all apologies to the Talking Heads we know where said highway goes – wherever we want. Eat that train tracks!
I put out a call to our Vacations staff for photos of summer and all that it entails. The following are their contributions.
Don’t worry, if your favorite writer didn’t submit a photo as they’ve probably got their own story brewing, or they’re just lazy, but probably the story thing.
Ed:
Hatteras, NC
What I did on my summer vacation (in 53 words or less). Read More »
Aloha! Welcome to the Vacations Blog for UpTake- your first step to a great trip.
You may find yourself reading this blog and wondering who all of these fascinating people are. They’re us! We’re a group of road-tested individuals that have vacationed all over the place and lived to tell about it. We are here to share the best, the worst and everything in-between.
Whether you are looking for family fun, romantic getaways, trips with the pooch or travels on a limited budget, we have what you need.
For press information on UpTake please visit: Press & Blogger Information.
And now, your Bloggers of Leisure:
Whit Honea
Whit Honea is an award-winning writer in the greater Los Angeles area. He is a husband of one, a father of two and the lifeline to many relatively tame creatures.
Whit’s writing can be found at FameCrawler, AOL’s StyleList, Green Daily, DadCentric and the Disney Blog. His personal site, Honea Express (Honea sounds like pony), is an eclectic mix of family fun and foul-mouthed tirades.
Whit’s Favorite Vacation: My favorite vacation would either be the trip I took to Europe one summer while I was is in college or the time that my wife (when she was still my girlfriend) and I went to Walt Disney World in Orlando.
The trip to Europe consisted of museums, drinking, hearts and heroes. There may or may not have been jail time. Walt Disney World was romantic and relaxing and by a random act of spontaneity, the spot where I proposed to my wife. I better go with the latter.
Jay Romeo
J. Edward Romeo has 16 years experience in software development and team management. He was the founder of New Jersey Online Travel and served as the director of Redbank.com before they were acquired by Banyan Vines along with ePresence, where he worked on the design and development of Switchboard.com, YourHomeDirect.com and the original Survivor site for CBS.
Presently he serves as the Director of Fire Services at Emergency Software Products , as well as the co-host of the Parentograpy Podcast. He spends his free time photographing his travels and maintains a personal blog Triple Venti.
Jay’s Favorite Vacation: This dramatically changed in 2006, when I made my first trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida, where I had the opportunity to become a kid again and experience it with my wife and daughter for the first time. Sights, activities, everything that both young and old could enjoy to a point of exhaustion. We had originally planned it as a “once in a lifetime” trip, but found that the happiest place on earth doesn’t allow you to escape with just one visit, so we will be returning.
Britt Reints
Britt Reints has been blogging at Miss Britt since 2005. Offline, she has a fancy title that includes words like “VP” and “marketing” – which essentially means she sells stuff. Online, she’s entirely too open about her personal life and has embraced the motto, “Dignity is Overrated.” She neglects to tell any of this to her editors at her paid blogging gigs where she portrays a very responsible working mother, childcare expert and travel aficionado for the entire state of Florida.
Britt’s Favorite Vacation: I’ve been fortunate enough to visit numerous white sandy beaches and European destinations, including Switzerland and Italy. But my favorite vacation experience was a three day trip to New York City. I traveled alone, leaving my husband and kids at home and meeting friends upon my arrival in the Big Apple. I spent less than $500 on the entire weekend and jammed an exciting tourist experience into 72 hours. Beaches are fabulous for rest and relaxation, but nothing gets my blood pumping again like a full body immersion into city life.
Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry, CEO of Blogging at Childsplayx2, has been chronicling the highs and lows of parenting twins since he knocked up his wife in 2004. Childsplayx2 has been featured in Parents Magazine, the New York Daily News and his mother’s annual Christmas newsletter. When not battling twins, Matthew is an executive for the YMCA who enjoys exercising, reading and eating fine desserts – not necessarily in that order.
Matthew’s Favorite Vacations: My favorite vacations include ones where there are plenty of sandy beaches and crystal blue waters. However, when traveling with toddler twins, I believe that successful vacations are the ones when nobody gets killed. As a child, my own mother took me and my brother on a train trip across Canada and we once crisscrossed Mexico via bus, train and burro. It is my hope that I can introduce my own kids to those same experiences through travel. Well, maybe not the burros.
Joe Romano
Joe Romano works in in the field of corporate communications and has worked as a freelance writer and blogger since 2005. His blog, Hey Joe, is a collection of random bits of flotsam concerning life, his family, dead celebrities and other miscellaneous drivel that strikes his fancy.
Joe’s Favorite Vacation: To me a great vacation should provide abundant opportunities to relax. As much as like seeing new sights I never feel that a vacation was a complete success unless I managed to finish at least one book. Therefore, beach trips (Anna Maria Island, Florida comes to mind) have to rank up there as some of my favorites. They offer both the time to relax and time for fun with the kids. When we manage to get away sans kids, my wife and I enjoy exploring the many cozy coastal locations of California.
Charles A. Downs III
Charles A. Downs III has been blogging at The Goat and Tater since July 2008. Tales of misguided youth/adulthood are evenly balanced by heartwarming ramblings of days spent with his two daughters, the Goat (age 7 and ruler of all things pink and horsey) and the Tater (age 1.5 and ruler of all things 36″ and below). When Charles isn’t reading “The Lady with the Alligator Purse” for the 27th time or getting hustled in a game of Sorry, he enjoys fly fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, writing, reading, or letting the current of one of Kentucky’s scenic waterways pull him into destinations unknown.
Charles’ Favorite Vacation: This must be broken down into two categories. Category one being the family vacation. Spent with my lovely wife, oldest daughter, and youngest daughter (in utero) in the pristine beauty of Kiawah Island, SC. Exploring marshes and wetlands, watching the Dolphins play under a setting sun, letting the surf tickle our legs, and doing absolutely nothing at all. Category two would be a trip to Europe to play soccer in the summer of 1989 where I came, just inches, from starting an International Incident at Checkpoint Charlie. Long story.
Kim Tracey Prince
Kim Tracy Prince is a television producer and freelance writer in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. With two little boys under 4, she writes about the messy underbelly of family life at House of Prince, contributes to the colorful group of voices at Los Angeles Moms Blog, and guides parents to enriching activities at Being Savvy San Fernando. Kim also writes a column in the local newspaper The SFV News. When she and her husband can wrestle the kids into their car seats successfully, they enjoy trips within a 7-hour drive, max.
Kim’s Favorite Vacations: My favorite vacations are the ones that get me away from as many people as possible. My honeymoon, spent aboard a 32-foot Beneteau in the British Virgin Islands, was the most relaxing time of my life. That said, family trips to places that delight my children can be worth the crowds. A recent vacation to SeaWorld for the opening of Sesame Place now ranks up there among the faves.
Warren Toland
Warren Toland is a VP of Development and Public Relations for a non-profit located in Central Connecticut. Warren has been blogging for over three years at his personal site, mr big dubya, and is a founding member of the irreverent and very popular dad blog, DadCentric. He also contributes to The Whinery, My Wife Hates My Xbox, and Draft Day Suit.
Warren’s Favorite Vacation: My wife and I have always loved to travel – even more so now that we have children. My favorite vacation was a trip to Ireland several years ago just after we got engaged. We journeyed across the pond so I could be introduced to my wife-to-be’s extended family and receive the blessing of the Hynes family matriarch (I kid.). It was a 10-day, whirlwind tour spent in such fine locales as Galway, Dublin and Beleek. We are anxious to get back and introduce our children to the Emerald Isle.
Phil Corless
Phil Corless is a stay-at-home dad in North Idaho. He also homeschools his two kids, which makes it easier to make frequent road trips around the West as a family. He’s been writing about this unique life since 2004 at his blog, A Family Runs Through It. Corless received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Idaho and his undergraduate degree from Cal State Fullerton.
Phil’s Favorite Vacation: Two years ago we had an extensive dream vacation planned in Western Canada, including stays in Banff, Alberta, and Victoria, British Columbia. A month before the trip, I realized I couldn’t find my birth certificate to get back across the border. Cancelling all those plans, I made some last minute arrangements at a resort in the Olympic National Park that I’d never heard of called Kalaloch Lodge. That trip turned out to be a family favorite. Five days along the gorgeous Pacific beaches of Washington. It was so memorable and enjoyable, we returned to the Lodge this past summer and had just as much fun.
James Grayson
James Grayson is a photographer that loves to write. He currently resides in Austin, TX, with his wife and kids who provide endless hours of humor in his life. He shares some of it with the world at his blog, Daddyshack. James and his partners at Quirkee Media also publish a humor and entertainment magazine at Quirkee.com. He loves to travel and plans on doing it more often as his kids grow older. He wants to discover more of the world around him with his family and capture the moments in photographs. See more of his photography at JamesGrayson.com.
James’ Favorite Vacation: One of my favorite and most memorable vacations was earlier this year when I went with my dad and uncles to Augusta, Georgia, for a Masters tournament practice round and Par-3 contest. I love to play golf and just stepping foot on the grounds at Augusta National Golf Club was an honor. When they first went in 1998, my grandfather was still with us and they were the foursome on that trip. I was able to fill his shoes this year and walk the course he had walked before me. That will always be a memorable vacation for me even if it only lasted three days.
Darren Farrington
Darren Farrington is a theater manager and producer living in Connecticut with his wife and daughter. He got in on the blogging scene in 2005 as a daddy blogger and later incorporated posts into his professional consulting website DarrenFarrington.com. Darren began working in arts organizations in 1991, but took a much-too-long break for law school and legal practice in New York and Connecticut. Even then, his strength was writing and persuading readers to go (mentally at least) where he told them. As a big fan of vacations, he’s glad to be using his cultural and writing experience to promote travel and tourism.
Darren’s Favorite Vacation: Any vacation with my wife and daughter is a favorite, but we’re most drawn to sandy beaches and warm temperatures. Coastal New England in the summer (sometimes even into the early fall) fits the bill, but nothing beats cold-shouldering the snow and ice and taking off for the Caribbean in the middle of winter. We’ve all become fans of kid-friendly cruises where my wife and I get some adult time while my daughter spends a couple of hours each day in supervised kids’ clubs. Give me sand in my toes and the smell of sunscreen and I’m a happy man.
Ed Lamaze
Ed Lamaze has spent the better part of his life dreaming of someplace else and traveling less than extensively. Elated when offered the opportunity to be a part of the Vacations Blog team at UpTake.com, his wife flatly countered, “But you don’t take vacations.” “I know, that’s the beauty of it!” Ed is a Stay-at-Home father of five children having left a career as a Registered Nurse in a Children’s Hospital ER to tend to the scrapes and bruises of everyday life at home. Rest assured that when Ed speaks of a vacation destination, it’s been tested kid friendly.
Born and raised in Louisiana, Ed currently resides in a historical home (that means it’s old) outside of Columbus, Ohio where he will be writing of vacation adventures in America’s Heartland. His personal blog, Zoe’s Dad, chronicles some of the zaniness of raising five crazy kids.
Ed’s Favorite Vacation: My wife and I spent a carefree week in Jamaica before we were married in a little resort located just outside of Montego Bay. A private villa nestled along the shores yielded panoramic views of sunsets to the west and the lush greenery of the mountains to the east. For an entire week, we golfed, snorkeled, swam, hiked, dined and lounged in a near Utopian setting. We immersed ourselves in all that Jamaica had to offer. Best of all, not once during that week did anyone refer to me as Daddy! Good times.
Jason Roth
Jason Roth, a resident of Las Vegas, provides UpTake readers a local’s take on the hotels, restaurants, attractions and events that make for an ultimate family vacation in the City of Sin. A blogger for nearly four years, he also chronicles his journey as a husband and father under the pseudonym of VegasDad on his personal blog ivegasfamily.com. In addition to blogging, Jason is director of marketing and public relations for a private university in Southern Nevada. He has more than 10 years of experience in public relations, having served clients in variety of industries at firms in Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Jason’s Favorite Vacation: My family and I enjoy any opportunity to take a break from the Las Vegas scene. Our favorite places to visit are large cities, such as San Francisco, New York and Montreal, where we take full advantage of the cultural experiences not available at home. We’re especially fond of culinary art and always make an effort during our trips to discover great restaurants.
James Austin
James Austin is a longtime Seattle, WA resident and Pacific Northwest native. A husband of 10 years and a first time father of an energetic toddler, James enjoys discovering and experiencing all the diverse beauty and wealth of exciting things to do within minutes of his Seattle home. James has been documenting his experiences as a new father for the past year on his dad blog “Luke, I am your Father.” In his free time, James enjoys managing people, as well as systems and operations, for a mid-sized office in a non-profit organization.
James’ Favorite Vacation: The destination is Kailua Beach on Oahu, Hawaii. Kailua Beach is just my speed. It is located on the windward side of Oahu, far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu to make you feel like you are actually on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but close enough that you can do an excursion to the city for some night life, if you desire. Kailua Beach is a wonderful place to take the family. The sand is soft, the water remains shallow several hundred yards out, and it is not overly crowded. It is also a perfect place to wake early and watch the sunrise, which once complete highlights the stunning topography of the surrounding mountains.
You may have seen Pam Mandel’s post on her blog about Blogher and our invitation to sponsor her attendance at the event and work with her to create a tightly knit travel blog community of some kind–yet to be defined… It didn’t work out because Blogher was sold out by the time we had connected.
On to plan two…
I am still hoping to meet many travel bloggers at Blogher. Why? We would like to build a more connected community of travel bloggers for information sharing, ideas, and inspiration. We think travel bloggers should be found more easily, there should be a means of connecting the related subjects and places discussed on all blogs and personally I could use a few tools to make it easier to include my fellow bloggers. Don’t you agree?
Here are few questions we would like to discuss at the travel meet-up:
1. How can we build a travel blogger community in cooperation with all travel bloggers? Great minds do think alike, right?
2. What other communities do travel bloggers participate in that we could emulate? Does a tool or an application already exists that we can tap into for inspiration or improved communication?
3. If we were to create a “travel blog meet-up” at other conferences, what kind of program would it be, would you attend, would you pay for it? Why or why not?
Pam sent me an email with her answers to these questions (thanks, Pam). We are hoping you too will respond and we can build this together:
How can we build more community for travel bloggers?
Community building isn’t my expertise but I find that anything that encourages face to face meeting is good for the blog. I really have loved the travel bloggers I’ve met in 3D, really loved them. Crazy, but true.
What other communities do travel bloggers participate in that we could emulate?
Boots n All and Lonely Planet have lively message boards. TripWolf is trying to create a Facebook type interactivity, but seems to be a real influx of social networking/travel sites on the market and I’m not clear on how to tell them apart. I just reviewed My Life of Travel, another one with built in networking. Couch Surfing seems to me to be superior at getting the travelers together – I got my 20 year Austrian old niece on there and she can’t get enough of it. I recently spent some time explaining it to my folks. “You mean no money changes hands?” I’m a fan of the concept even while we don’t participate because my blogging connections keep a fairly steady rotation of travelers on our fold out.
Don’t overlook the expats. I got into blogging because I was an expat. It’s great informal community, the expat bloggers one. And Twitter - I’m surprised to find myself saying how much I enjoy the 140 character conversations travelers are having on Twitter. I like it a lot and it’s put me in touch with folks I’d not have “met” otherwise.
If we were to create a travel blog meet up with other conferences, in a more organized fashion, what kind of program would they like, would they attend, would they pay for it? Other ideas…
1. I feel like many bloggers could wildly improve the readability of their blogs with some basic travel writing tips. My .02 as someone who’s really wrapped up in writing.
2. “What’s in your travel kit?” is always a popular subject for bloggers who travel with their own technology.
3. Photography, of course.
4. Given the growing influence of blogs in the travel market, talking about ethics in travel blogging is an interesting, if contentious topic. Travel writers want to take the high road when they’re faced with comped services, but at 10 bucks a post to blog about a destination, it’s hard to pay for your travels, much less make a living. Ethics on writing reviews, communicating with PR folks and travel providers, being transparent to your readers, etc… are all good topics for discussion.
5. Monetization, too, of course – can I make money writing a travel blog?
6. A lot of travel bloggers want to get off the blog into print and other media, how do they do that?
7. Finally, new media, pod casting, video… it’s really fun to work with other forms of blog communication.
Do you have suggestions, ideas or opinions about how to bring the travel community together and build some tools that work for us? If so, email me, comment here, or meet at the meet-up.
Travel bloggers unite.
If you have not yet heard, Al gore won the Nobel Peace Prize today!
Well, he happened to be in the SF Bay area at the time and decided to hold a press conference only 5 blocks from the Kango Offices
After receiving the Tip from a friend the Kango Blogger news crew (3 people and one Digital SLR camera) traveled the 5 blocks to see if the tip was real (Alex von Oech got the tip).
For a few minutes we went down a hall labeled “Press” and were politely asked to leave;
But we heard a tip that he would be arriving on the other side of the building; this tip also proved true and we were able to catch a glimpse of Gore as we stepped out of his Mercedes sedan “Eco 10” (powered by bio-diesel)
The Vice President was very polite to the press, and to the locals who had come out to support him; he stayed briefly outside the Alliance for Climate Protection offices and shook the hands of the children and their parents and thanked them for their support.
The place was buzzing after Gore arrived; and we went down the hall to the press room, going to the back door entrance we were welcomed inside by the “Alliance for Climate Protection” staff (despite our lack of press badges), climbing some steps in the back of the room already crowded by 10-15 journalists) we waited for Al Gore to deliver his speech.
His spokesperson entered the room first saying that Mr. Gore would be coming in 2 minutes to give a short speech and that he would not be answering questions; when he arrived he was hailed by the sound of 60+ cameras snapping photo’s (which failed to cease throughout the five minute speech) and the glare of the lights.
First the former vice president acknowledged the Nobel Prize committee for selecting him the (shared) winner and announced that he would be donating the prize to combat the climate crisis; he also said that he would travel to accept the prize in person.
Then he spoke briefly about the continuing effects of global warming on the polar ice caps “polar scientists are now warning that at current rates the polar ice caps will be completely gone within 23 years” (or language very similar, this humble blogger is relying only on memory)
With that; he left the room and he went to a private meeting with members of the Alliance for Climate Protection.
All photographs in this story may be republished under the creative commons attribution license, if you would like to republish any of the photo’s please link each one to this blog post and http://www.kango.com from any web-page using them. Thank you.
I love the idea of Blog Day as a way of featuring new and emerging bloggers. Oh yeah, I guess that’s us! Give us a year to discover the hidden gems out there in the blogosphere. But for now, I want to just highlight some blogs that are each an authority in their own space (yes, helping the rich get richer…sigh) but perhaps never often listed together!
1. Wangjianshuo’s Blog – Wang Jianshuo is one of the pioneering bloggers in China. He writes about his own life in Shanghai and provides great resources to travelers to Shanghai and China. He also has very nice photography on the site. I met him over coffee in Palo Alto, a super sharp and engaging guy.
2. Travel-Betty – Tracy’s mission is to enable “fearless independent travel for women.” Its a great mission, but what I really like is her concept of the 30-second vacation, short video clips that aim to take you away from your everyday. I guess vacations are getting ever shorter here in America.
3. Occam’s Razor – I’ve watched from afar as former colleague Avinash Kaushik was the Peter Parker of Intuit’s Web Commerce Group but then became the Spiderman of Web Analytics. Here’s an example of both great blogging and great analytics, two great tastes in one. This post cured me of my desired to get Dugg. Quality over quantity.
4. HobbyPrincess – Fashion, crafting and technology. I’m neither a crafter nor am I fashionable. I do support my wife’s yarn habit though, so that counts for something.
5. TheSilentI – Glennia has some great tips for traveling with kids. And she has been an inspiration to us for what Kango can do to help parents to travel with their kids, as well as a personal kick-in-the-pants to take my 2 kids to exotic places (like where my wife and I used to go before we had the kids).
5 and 1/2. CreativeThink – I think I ran into the Whack Pack and the Ball of Whacks when I was working at Microsoft a long time ago. Roger’s blog is good for a zen-slap anytime you need one. I guess some people have blogging in their DNA because Alex of Kango fame appears to be the most widely read blogger at the company with his exploring cartograms post.
Lets see, what are the instructions again? Add a link to Blog Day’s site. Now it says to add a technorati tag for Blog Day 2007
I guess that’s it. Now isn’t this an eclectic list?
© UpTake Networks, Inc. 2009
