A I mentioned on Facebook and Twitter yesterday, we are very excited to be a launch partner with Groupenture, an adventure travel deal portal.

As soon as I announced it, there seemed to be a flurry of chatter – most of it similar to this:

That’s cool, but Why should you care? The Groupenture concept is a new twist, so let’s take a minute to walk through it. Be sure to scroll down – there are launch prizes.

How Does It Work?

The Groupenture Model starts with two things:

• Find kick ass travel experiences. Their focus is “adventure” but that includes cultural trips, wine, and even culinary as well as your usual suspects of hiking/biking/skiing/fishing.
• Agree with the supplier for group discount pricing. So, if you have four people that will go, you’ll get it for 25% off (for example – discounts vary). The discounts are steep, in my opinion, and you usually only need 3 other people. Surely there’s somebody to join you, eh?

That’s the essence of how it works. But, there are a few more twists.

• You can search for many kinds of trips – price(luxury versus budget), style(family versus solo), or location(South America versus Asia). It’s quite a robust site but easy to use.
• You can use the site to find others to join you on the trip – a great option for solo folks (or if you couldn’t convince your significant other to join you!)
  

  So What’s the Gimmick?

  Firstly, I’d like to remind you of our editorial policy. Basically, anything printed here at STE is independent of our financial relationships with our suppliers. We have to pay the bills, but myself and the team are not afraid to say what we think.

  Having said that, those of you who know me personally know that I’m pretty well known in the online travel world. And I’ve publicly been skeptical of many of these “group discount” models, mostly because many of them fail to have any sort of niche. And I also hate when sites create the illusion of a “secret” discount product by requiring you to login in to see anything.

  Groupenture takes away a lot of that sleaze factor. The site is open, so you can quickly go in and see if they have something to fit what you were looking to by, and if not, that’s ok, come back later, no need to bombard you with other stuff. You can see what the pricing is, and if you get two friends, you get this price, and if there are 5 of you, you get that price. It’s clear, simple, and no nonsense.

  Did I mention Launch Prizes?

  Yes, there are launch prizes!

  

  Basically, all you need to do is to put down your deposit on any package, and you’ll be entered to win a $100 rebate towards your trip. Why not give it a try? Click here to search through the current deals, or just click the banner below. Travel More!
  

  What do you think of the model? If you like it, then why don’t you share this article with a friend who might be looking for a great adventure travel deal. Please feel free to mention this on Facebook and Twitter too.

Father’s Day is right around the corner in the US, and Sharing Travel Experiences is joining forces with our new sponsor Great American Days to honour the great men in our lives!  They’ve got a spectacular line-up of amazing days out and adventures perfect your father or a father you’d love to acknowledge.

Dad and a companion will have their choice of any of Great American Days experience packages, such as:

Forget the bad ties and lame cologne – it’s time to give dad something special for father’s day!

How to Enter

Entering couldn’t be easier – just leave a comment below on this article with your name, email address (required to notify you of winning entry), and the answer to the question:

What dad do you think deserves to travel more this year, and why?

Entries close at Midnight GMT on Friday, June 18th.   Winners will be chosen by at random by a random number generator (random.org) on the Saturday and we’ll post a special feature on Sunday, June 20th highlighting the winner!

Contest Rules – The Legal Bit

Sorry but every contest has to have them, right? In order to enter this contest you must agree to the following:

1. Only one entry per individual is allowed. Multiple submissions will be disqualified in their entirety.
2. Submissions are accepted from anywhere, but the winning prize is a US experience, so dad’s either must be US-based or US-bound.  Sharing Travel Experiences nor Great American Days are responsible for travel and transport outside the winning prize package.
3. All entries must provide a valid email address to obtain contact details from the winner.
4. The winners chosen at random is final. Submitters will have no route to contest decisions.
5. Submissions close on June 18th at Midnight GMT. Comments will be closed at this time.

Whew. Ok, aren’t we all glad that’s out of the way?

Enter Now

What are you waiting for – say thank you to a special father in your life by leaving a comment now.

Photo by mikebaird

So, who guessed we’d be talking about volcanoes in this month’s travel newsletter?  (Not me.)  Pretty surreal stuff happening out there.   If you’ve been affected, let us know if we can help!  Hopefully this mess hasn’t affected your plans for summer travel – as you’ll note on a recent Facebook discussion, it seems lots of people have some fun plans.  Anyway, there’s lots of news and events to mention in this month’s update.

Super Specials

Spring has sprung and so have the travel deals!  Some really awesome experiences are on offer – here are just a few.  Be sure to visit the special travel deals page to see the full list:

• Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the beautiful Bernina Train Line in gorgeous Switzerland. There’s still snow!
• Go cruising! We’ve got up to 65% off sailings and plenty of choice.
• Go looking for Romance in the Caribbean. We think you’ll find it.
• Greece has it all: history, culture, beauty, food.
• Get your own custom culinary tour of Sicily.
• FINAL CALL for the few remaining tickets to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa
• Last minute: book NOW for tickets to the incredible Oberammergau Passion Play. The next play is in ten years.
• Love a glass of wine? Then how abouttouring the vineyards of South Africa? Delicious wines and expansive views go together.

Click here to pick your perfect 2010 holiday getaway and book with Donna, our travel concierge.  Or why not email these to a friend who could use the inspiration?

Welcome Kelly & Steph!

A warm welcome to our two new interns, Kelly Robinson and Stephanie Yoder.  You might remember Stephanie from her earlier feature, Great Places for the the First Time Traveler and Kelly is new to our community – we met at a conference I was at in March, South by Southwest.

They’ll both be involved in some of the big projects coming up this summer, so stay tuned for some fun stuff coming up.

Speaking of Which….

Speaking of summer projects, do you have feedback about Sharing Travel Experiences that you’d like to see actioned? Want to be involved in helping out with any of our future projects?  Or heck, just have a travel story you want to see featured?  Then email me – I’d love to hear from you.

A Message to the Photographers

One of our sponsors, MatadorU, has expanded their popular travel writing curriculum now to include a separate travel photography course.  It’s new so I haven’t seen it, but it is already getting rave reviews.  If you’re a photographer looking for the tricks of the trade, it would be worth checking out: click the banner below to check it out.

Awhile ago, I updated our sponsors on the sidebar to include a link to the Frequent Flyer Mastermind, a fantastic little book by my good friend Chris Guillebeau, whom was one of our previous interviewees.  I’ve mentioned it in the monthly newsletter and in one of our deals and steals, but since several people had picked up a copy, I had only assumed I’d already written my review about it.  But I haven’t – and I just saw Chris in Texas last month, and surprisingly he didn’t mention it either.  (Perhaps he was worried I didn’t like it?)  Well, I just thought I’d take a minute to talk about the guide and suggest if you think you’d be interested, to have a closer look.

Who This Guide is For

You might be wondering who the heck wants to be a frequent flyer master mind, right?  Sounds very ninja-like, and not everyone is into that thing.  But consider having a look at the guide if you:

• only fly a few times a year but want to know ways to continually top-up your mileage balance, to make at least one of those flights a freebie
• fly all the time but want to know ways to really maximise your mileage balance so you’ll have more than enough miles for that extra-long trip, or to upgrade into the next class of service.  Champagne, anyone?

The guide comes with a 25,000 mile (‘one free plane ticket’) guarantee.  What’s not to like?

Remind me who Chris is?

Chris is a traveller and a really nice guy.  But that’s not really enough to explain why he wrote this book, I suppose.  He’s trying to travel to every country in the world.  Before he turns 35!  Incredible.  So you can imagine why someone like that needs to learn every trick in the book to keep costs down while on the road, and Chris has found them.

His words and work are no secret – you’ll find him in CNN, New York Times, Business Week, Budget Travel, and MSNBC, amongst others.  This guy gets around – but in a very good way.

What’s in the Guide?

Good question.  It basically tells you how to earn more miles and spend less of them when you do book those free flights.  Specifically, though, here’s some details on what he covers:

• The Big Opportunities that can quickly add 15,000, 20,000, or 30,000 miles at one time – includes the obvious ones, such as credit card signups, but other well-researched opportunities
• Redeeming Miles for High-Value Awards
• Opportunities for Southwest, United, British Airways, American, and 8 other airlines – am sure there’s an airline in here for everybody
• Goal-Setting and Mileage-Earning for the Travel Rewards that matter the most to YOU
• Mileage Mall and Finance Bonuses to help you earn miles for things you already buy
• The Cost of Free Flights (and how to limit it) – includes my personal favourite trick of booking flights on partner carriers!
• The Best First and Business Class Mileage Redemptions
• What to Do when the Airline Says No
• How to Get Help if You Don’t Want to Do this Yourself
• Mileage Optimization
• How to bypass outsourced (and often unhelpful) airline customer support

It’s very comprehensive, but at the same time it’s an easy read.  I finished this in a long afternoon with a cup of coffee, and that included taking notes and signing up for a few things.  I’m based in the UK but there were still some useful tips I found, and everything was very straightforward.

I love the comment from Richard Howes that’s on Chris’s site:

I really like the fact that the advice is practical things *you can actually do*.

How can I learn more then get a copy?

I’m finding it hard to complain about any part of this guide.  Sure, there will be some tips that just will not be feasible for you, but there’s just so much useful information I find it hard for anyone not to get lots of value.

So, click here or just click on the button below, where you can read more about the guide and download your copy today.

Sit Back, Relax, and enjoy your Free Flight!

Editorial Disclosure:  While we earn a commission on sales of Chris’s product, this in no way affects our review and decision to promote this product here. A review copy of Chris’s book was provided.

So we’re well into March – are you enjoying this month’s inspirational travel desktop wallpaper, which is Scotland’s bonnie capital of Edinburgh?

Travel Deals and Steals

Donna worked overtime this month and has gotten together some fabulous travel deals – if I didn’t have a full travel schedule I’d be taking advantage of them myself.  What’s hot this month?  HAWAII!

Our good friend and community member Pam Mandel told us about some of the best kept secrets of Hawaii, and we’ve got some super specific deals arranged with the Villas at Poipu Kai.  You can spend your days:

• walking the scenic trails and routes
• eating ice cream and yummy cuisine
• relaxing on the beach
• doing whatever you want – you’re on vacation!

Adventures in Nepal, Romance in Fiji, Discount Cruises, and Czech spas are just a few of the crazy deals up this month. Click here to find out more and book straight away!

Have you checked out our other special offers?

Have you seen our other special offers that are available every month?  Don’t miss out – we’ve scoured the Interwebz and found all the good travel stuff, including:

• Worldwide travel insurance – a must have when you travel abroad
• Travel Journals – so you don’t forget anything
• Recommended Travel Guides for nearly anyplace and anywhere, including such awesome books like Row 22 Seat A And B, My Life in France by Julia Child, Step Back from the Baggage Claim, Weird Europe, and 1000 Ultimate Travel Experiences.

And last week, I spent some time chatting with our good friend Chris Guillebeau, author of Frequent Flyer Mastermind. It’s one of my favourite travel books – and with 25,000 miles guaranteed, what’s not to like?

More cool stuff is coming to Sharing Travel Experiences this summer.  Got any ideas on what we should (or shouldn’t) be doing?  I’d love to hear from you:  andy [at] sharingtravelexperiences [dot] com.

We’re well into the month of February – hard to believe – and the new year seems to be getting into its stride.  As I mentioned in this month’s newsletter (you’re on the list, right?), I mentioned that I think I’m having a bit of cabin fever.  I’m looking forward to my upcoming travels – and there are several destinations on my list!  Having said that, I just wanted to take a minute to point out a few news and updates here at Sharing Travel Experiences [STE].

This Month’s Wallpaper

Have you updated your desktop yet?  This month’s shot is from the Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand.  It is such a stunning place, so remote and special.  You might wonder what the “pollution” is from the water on the right versus the left.  The left is, of course, the ocean.  There’s a sandbar separating the sea from this lake, and the lake is brown because of the tannings seeping in from the plants surrounding it.  You can’t tell very well from this picture but the lake is crystal clear and despite being such a rich brown colour, you can see to the bottom.  Surreal.

We’ve Got Super Specials

Donna has outdone herself again with another great list of hand-picked super specials.  Among her travel deals this month include:

• Family Friendly travel ideas including your pet!  Donna’ even got a copy of “Preparing Your Pet for Vacation” – everybody needs to travel more, even Fido
• Mexico is hot (uhm, I mean, in terms of hot deals, but I think it is warm there too).  We’ve got Mexico for Foodies as well as your classic beach holiday, as shown above, actually.
• Looking for off beat travel with history and culture?  How about Nara, Japan?  It’s beautiful this time of year.
• And last but not least, Donna has found yet another reason to go to Bordeaux.   Good wine, great scenery, and amazing food apparently weren’t enough.

Check out the list and see if there isn’t something special waiting for you.

Chris Guillebeau versus Brian Peters

A couple of weeks ago I interviewed the unconventional traveller Chris Guillebeau and mentioned his popular book, Frequent Flyer Mastermind (external link).   A lot of people emailed me to ask me if they should buy it, and how different it is to Brian Peter’s No Debt World Travel (external link), another one of our interviewees.

I’m still working my way through both of their products and so I’ll publish my thoughts on each, as well as a “which one is best for you” type of summary.  However, I’ll make a couple of quick points just now:

• Chris offers a 25,000 frequent flyer miles guarantee.  The product is good value for money to begin with, but for this reason alone, the product justifies itself.  Click here to find out more about the guarantee.
• Brian’s book is very, very thorough.  Your first instinct would be that it is only for round-the-world travellers, but even if you’re planning a two week holiday I think there’s a lot of value and you can get your money back by following his tip.  Click here to read more about No Debt WorldTravel and see if it’s for you.

That’s all for now – enjoy!

PS – It seems our recommended travel journals were a huge hit!  If you were one of several to pick one up, be sure to tell us what you’re writing about – we’re dying to know.  :)  And if you didn’t get one, what are you waiting for?

Disclosure – we’re an affiliate for both Chris and Brian but make the recommendations based on their content, not our commission.

If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere you’re freezing and if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, you’re sweltering.  Funny how the world works, isn’t it?    Well regardless of your local temperature, our January super special offers are ready and waiting.

Hot Specials This Month

It seems that fun in the sun is what everyone is hungry for. From our beach specials, family getaways or our spa and wellness retreat, now is the time for a little sand between your toes.

We’ve also got some offbeat stops in mind for you with discounted rail travel.

And of course, we can help with any bookings for Mardi Gras or the World Cup in South Africa. If 2010 is a travel more year and you haven’t been to these destinations, now is the time.

And Don’t Forget

Don’t forget about our other special travel offers that are available every month.  Here are just a few of the things on offer!

• Inspirational Travel Desktop Wallpaper:  Let us help spruce up your drab computer desktop.  For FREE!
• Live and Work Anywhere: want to see the world and take your business (and life) with you?  You can!  Our recommended location independent lifestyle guide gives you practice, helpful advice to decide whether it is right for you and if so, how to make it happen.
• Worldwide Travel Insurance:  As they say, better safe than sorry.  Travel more and travel safe with our great value for money travel insurance offering.  Free quote with no obligation!

Just a quick note today as no doubt you’re in the Christmas countdown mode (whether you celebrate the day or not, hopefully you’ll at least be taking a day off), I wanted to make a few important announcements.

Boiselle Calendar Winners

Photo Courtesy of Gabriele Boiselle

We’ve just randomly selected the winners for the Gabrielle Boiselle calendar contest winners.  As you’ll see on the She Travels with Horses article, there were some amazing anecdotes and stories shared, all horse and travel inspired.   I’d like to thank everyone for their contributions – here were our winners:

• Larissa, who is actually on her own horse-inspired journey studying Equine Science in England
• RhondaL, who had her own horsey dreams come true many years ago
• BMWMediaMaven, who had not much more to say except SO Photogenic.  Couldn’t agree more.
• DexterG, who felt Gabriele indeed captures the essence of the Arabian horse

Stay tuned for our January competition.

This Month’s Travel Super Specials

cruising the Yangtze in China

The holidays are the perfect time to plan your 2010 travel plans – if for no other reason than things are a bit quiet so you can get some breathing room to work on your travel more plans.  Donna’s pulled together another set of amazing experiences and limited time special offers.   Some of the specials this month:

• cooking courses and classes in Tuscany
• a voyage to the top of the world (bring warm clothes!)
• the annularsolar eclipse in Kenya
• cruising China’s historic Yangtze River

So be sure to check out the latest travel specials NOW because these deals won’t wait for warmer weather to stick around.

Recommended Travel Guides

Just in case Santa didn’t bring you that travelogue or guide you wanted for Christmas doesn’t mean you should wait until next year and try again!  Be sure to have a look through our recommended travel guides online shop, which includes some of the recommended reading we’ve mentioned throughout the year.   Why not cosy up with a good travel guide and get inspired for 2010?

Photo by   sun_dazed

Just a quick note to let you know about our latest special offer: recommended travel guides!

People have asked me several times, why aren’t there any guides?  When we had our site tested for usability, someone who had never seen our site before mentioned it.  So it was an obvious gap.  But no more!

How Does It Work?

Well, at the bottom of most, but not all, articles here at STE you’ll find a recommended reading section.  Typically, this will be a recommended travel guide, but some times we’ll find something extra-special to include.  For example, just check out the really nice books we found to complement these previous pieces:

• 8 Great Places to Sip Champagne (and now, the Fines Champagne wineries to tour)
• The World’s Most Inspirational Golf Courses (and now, 50 Golf Courses to See before you Die)
• Merry Christmas From Europe (and now Rick Steeve’s European Christmas)

Again, recommendations are at the footer of each article.

You’ll also find our recommended travel guides store underneath our special offers section.  There you can find most of the guides featured on the site in one place, if you’re just looking for some inspiration or a suggested guide for your destination.  You can just go to the store and type “India” to see all the guides we suggest that mention India.

Not every article has a recommended guide.  But most of them do!

Just in Time for Christmas

While of course this is a commercial addition to STE, I like to think this really adds a lot to the experience, because there are some great guides out there and there just aren’t enough hours in the day for us to cover everything here (though we’ll try!).  Like everything we do, the guides picked for articles aren’t just plucked from thin air – I do give some consideration and look for things that sound great, have been suggested to me, or I have used myself.  Some of the finds actually sparked a few ideas for Christmas gifts for friends and family.  So be sure to check out the travel guides as well as our other hand-picked special offers.

Happy Shopping!

Photo by photologic

So…I was chatting late last week with Donna, our travel concierge, about a few things, such as our recent launch of our great value for money travel insurance and a few fantastic travel products that we can’t tell you about just yet.  (Sorry to be a tease!)  Anyway, Donna was telling me about her recent trip to London, which is coming up as an article quite soon, when she got to this funny story about ending up in a shop to benefit Romanian refugees. I couldn’t help but laugh (but she’s one of those people that makes you laugh a lot):

So when I started telling the charming shopkeeper about my spring trip to Romania……I ended up with two more tops–black, of course! At this point my wardrobe was beginning to resemble a Mediterranean funeral, so my friend was relieved when back in our room I pulled a red sweater out of my suitcase. With a black and red scarf for accent.

So this shopping tangent got us to talking about this year’s Black Friday surge and I asked her if she’d heard of Cyber Monday.  It’s the new-ish term to describe the fact that after the deluge of Friday shoppers, websites brace for impact on the Monday as folk go online to stock up on Christmas goods.  Should we have a Cyber Monday special?, she asked.  We debated it for a bit, and decided that, well, if we racked our brains and found a few really special things that even made one person happy because they could travel more, then we would call that a job well done.

So here’s our shortlist for you Cyber Monday Super Specials.  Here’s how it works:

• If the offer piques your interest, click on the link which will take you to the concierge contact form.  We’ll ask a few more details so that we can research your trip thoroughly.
• Donna will get back to you with further details and specifics.  If it sounds good, you’ll continue through the booking process and receive your Know Before You Go pack with everything you need.
• You pack your bags and head out on your super special holiday!

There’s only one catch with these Cyber Monday specials.  You must get in touch with Donna before Thursday, December 3rd as these offers are very time-sensitive.

Only Four Days!?!, you say? Don’t panic.  You don’t need to pay and book by Thursday.  You only need to register your interest with Donna by then.  We expect quite a lot of responses so we want to ensure that we can get everyone’s schedules secured and detailed booked before deals run out – and several of these specials are last-minute deals that we can only secure for so long.  So yes – check your diary and let Donna know you’re interested.

The Good Stuff

Here’s the specials – get ‘em while they’re hot!

If December means “bah, humbug—it’s winter” then take advantage of great December cruise sailings to warm, sunny destinations. Royal Caribbean last minute deals include 5 nights cruising in the Bahamas watching the blue waters in your ocean view cabin for only $429, or 5 nights of warm Caribbean breezes on your balcony for only $399. A 9-night Mexican Riviera cruise from San Diego is only $749 in a balcony. Or try exotic Dubai—two special departures in January and February start at only $849 for a balcony. (All cruise prices are per person, double occupancy.) Get in touch now to cruise for Christmas.

Take that Hawaii vacation before December 18 for as little as $271 per person for 4 nights! Stay at either the Waikiki Beachcomber on Oahu or the Outrigger Aina Nalu on Maui. Try the popular Maui Eldorado for only $292 per person for 4 nights.  Soak up the Pacific sun for Christmas by getting in touch now.

Paul Gauguin Cruises are synonymous with Tahiti, French Polynesia and the South Pacific. It is two for one pricing for your January-March dream trip if booked soon. April and May are also on sale at up to 50% off, plus free air from Los Angeles, but this too must be booked soon.  Want to see those unreal waters yourself?  Click now and Tahiti can be your next destination.

Why not shop at Harrod’s for Christmas? Stay at the Royal National at only $199, including breakfast and all hotel taxes, for 4 nights. Or upgrade to the Crowne Plaza St. James for select December and January dates at only $329.00. These are USD prices, not GBP!  Click to book now and head to the world’s best Christmas shopping destination.

So, See something you like?  Then get in touch ASAP.

P.S. – There’s still a few good deals left on the November super specials but those will only be there for another week, so get in now!

P.P.S – Know someone who’d love to know about one of these amazing experiences? Then tell ‘em!