When you look at customer reviews for New York City hotels on TripAdvisor and other sites, lots of reviewers say something like: “This hotel is really close to the subway!” Guess what? In Manhattan, just about everything is close to the subway. But with a little fiddling around with Google Maps, you can figure out [...]
Entries from March 15th, 2010
6 Steps to Rock Your NYC Trip with Google Maps
March 23rd, 2010 · No Comments · Good design, Transportation bliss
Travel Conferences: The Ultimate Reason to Stay Home
March 21st, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, The point of travel, Wary of the advice of others
Earlier this month, another travel conference happened. An “eCommerce conference designed by the travel industry for the travel industry.” With a keynote by a Bearded Boomer Dude. Troy Thompson reviews it–via Tweets about the conference–over on Travel 2.0. Here’s one choice tweet that pretty much sums it up: Thank you @jeffhayzlett for reminding everyone at [...]
Tags:social media·travel
The Single Best Hotel Amenity
March 21st, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Good design
Monocle magazine is more than a little precious. Plus, they don’t make all their magazine content available online, even months later, which is just so very Conde Nasty. But they provide steady employment to Alain de Botton, who–while equally precious–is also someone I’m an admitted fan of. In Monocle’s hospitality-themed issue, he has a brilliant [...]
California Paradise
March 20th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Novelty, Recommended sights
Last night, I saw The Runaways, and I can’t stop thinking about a few things: Los Angeles Glam rock Knee-high sparkly silver platform boots–and how it could possibly be that I don’t have a pair The movie was a better-than-average bio pic (which is a low bar), but mostly, the visuals are what will stay [...]
Tags:beaches·California·favorite writers·Los Angeles·rockers
Love, Loathe, Neutral?
March 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, The point of travel
What’s the opposite of schadenfreude? If it exists as a German word, it’s what a lot of people–writers in particular, and travel writers in particular particular–seem to have about the Julia-Roberts-starring film version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. The preview dropped today. What’s your take: Pro? Con? Couldn’t care less?
Tags:Bali·Italy·travel writing
Golf Courses Are Dead, and the LA Times Keeps Puttering Along
March 17th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Blog posts by Betty, Fail 'o' the Day
Sigh. WHY? The LA Times recently ran a story in their travel section entitled, “Playing golf courses the pros play.” Again, this is why travel sections are increasingly becoming irrelevant. Let’s look at data. New hospitality developments are forgoing golf courses as part of their schemes for other revenue producing vehicles (such as spas) because [...]
Tags:hackery
Fail ‘o’ the Day: Pringles Do Not Equal a Finished Flight
March 16th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Fail 'o' the Day
I’ve flown Virgin and liked it very much compared with other airlines. Good in-flight entertainment, like the Johnny Depp Actors’ Studio on demand, shown above, that my seatmates and I liked. These days, it takes very little to keep me content. But I’ve never been in a situation where potato chips and water were being [...]
Five Language-Learning Sites Reviewed: Which Got a Gold Star (and Which Got Detention)
March 16th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Dutch language school, Obsessed with the Dutch
Like a lot of travelers, I want to learn a second language. I want to be fluent in a second language, which is why I’m planning on attending a language school (a.k.a. Dutch Princess School) this summer. In the meanwhile, I’m studying my heart out here at home using websites and software programs to bolster [...]
New York Biking…with New York Attitude
March 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Blog posts by Lia, Dutch bikes, Euro-style cycle chic
One of the most life-changing ideas that traveling taught me about was the beauty of a bike. I love the idea of bringing Dutch-bike-love back to U.S. cities, but New York seems the most daunting place of all to contemplate biking through. (Although I also thought NYC would be the last place for a Siena-style [...]
Shop Talk: Favorite Bookstores, Part III
March 15th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Blog posts by Lia, Favorite Bookstores, Recommended sights
Best bookstore slogan ever: Books you don’t need in a place you can’t find. Back when I was a starving student, I’d camp out in the coffee shop of the Book Mill, located in Montague, Mass. During one particularly broke period, I would longingly visit a book I wanted on a regular basis. The owner [...]
