The internet is awash right now in “places you should go in 2012″ lists.

Some of them suck.
Some of them are pretty good.
This is neither.

However, I did want to sit down for a quiet moment and spend a minute reflecting on 2011 and sharing with you some personal reflections on the year ahead, both travel-wise and news about the future of this online magazine.

First, Welcome Aboard Sarah, New Assistant Editor

Sarah Salter is a STE reader and I’m looking forward to meeting her in person later this month – we’ve mostly been Twitter buddies.  I’m so excited to announce that Sarah is coming on board as assistant editor.

I need the help – if for no other reason than my old laptop keyboard makes mistakes, and I do too.  Quality is so important, and I’m looking forward to having Sarah keeping an eye on our content.

Sarah has guest posted here before, sharing some photos of Lake Nakuru, Kenya, and some great tips on how to deal with culture shock.  Give her a warm welcome!

Looking back on 2011

Sunsets. Still one of my favorite travel things...

Last year, we embraced a new ethos, which we call “value luxury” - finding the experiences that make you feel special, fit your travel budget, and leave you with stories to tell for weeks to come. We launched a whole eBook about it, How to Find First Class Experiences on an Economy Budget.

I traveled quite a bit, but less so than in previous years.  We had a lot of amazing guest posts.  Since we published over 200 featured articles, it’s hard to pick a favorite – but thanks to a huge site upgrade this summer, you can search our archives by map, by theme, by topic, or use our “surprise me” feature, so no excuses for finding what you need.

We also rolled out a new travel booking portal – I’m hearing rave reviews on our new DIY hotel finder, as well as an uptick in queries to our travel concierge.  Please don’t forget us when you’re ready to book a trip!

2012, The Year Ahead

I carved this in the sand on December 31st. Planning ahead!

This year I’m hoping we continue to really hone in on this focus of great experiences that don’t cost a fortune. I am also talking with advertisers and potentially sponsoring partners in order to bring you all contests, freebies, and other fresh travel ideas and wanderlust.

But, I need your help this year.  
Specifically, here are two ways you can help:

• Be A Guest Contributor and share your “value luxury” tips with our readers. Maybe you know of a great place to stay, or perhaps it’s this quirky and cool attraction that is a great experience. Did you piece together a train trip, a driving itinerary, or some other excursion that will have people drooling? You don’t have to be a professional photographer to write a photo essay or a Pulitzer Prize winner to write. Click here to send in your ideas.
• Leave a Comment Below and tell me one thing you’d love Sharing Travel to do in 2012. Maybe it’s a contest you’d like us to run, a destination we should cover, a topic you’d like us to write about, or a website feature you’d like. Name a wish, we’ll try to grant it!

Of course, if you’ve got piles of cash lying around, we’ll also be interested in any spare bills you might have on offer.

Thanks so much for your attention, your comments, your clicks and likes and tweets in 2011. We had well over half a million pageviews last year, but even better were the countless connections, the conversations, and the travel experiences. Let’s make 2012 even better,

Regards,
Andy

I think nearly every vacation has two things in common:  one, there is never enough time to see/do everything – even if the main thing on your list is umbrella drinks by a pool.  Two, there is never enough money to go around.

If you stop for a minute, though, and think about how you really want your vacation to unfold, you will most certainly spend your time AND money more wisely.

But how to do that?  Well, that is what we’re talking about in Sharing Travel Experience’s sexy new guide, Value Luxury:  How to Find First Class Experiences on an Economy Budget.

In this free guide, my partner-in-travel-crime and guru Margo Millure (from the famed website The Travel Belles) talk you through the basics of travel planning, including:

• What is the most important question to answer about your vacation
• How to decide where to go – with some helpful suggestions, of course
• Where to spend your money while you’re there
• What to do after you get home, besides start planning the next trip

All you need to do is signup for our email newsletter to get this free download!

Disclosure: This Guide Isn’t Quite Finished…

Margo and I think this guide is great – and our community members who have seen it have already been raving about it.  But here’s the rub: we didn’t quite finish the guide.

We looked around the web for stock photos and images to add into the guide.  And we decided that somebody else’s photos just weren’t good enough.  So this summer, we’re having a summer vacation photo contest to fill this beautiful guide with YOUR travel photos as well as any more must-have tips and suggestions from YOU.  Prizes, fun, and laughs all guaranteed.

Why aren’t we doing the photo contest now?  Well, er, we’ve already got a party planned…

Please Come to our Virtual Book Launch Party – Prizes!

That’s right – this book is so good we decided to celebrate with a book launch party! Mark your calendar now: Wednesday June 1st 2011 at 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific.  (Click here to find the party time in your city.)

We’re giving away some VERY cool prizes, but you need to be able to Tweet to win!

How to Participate:

1. On Wednesday June 1st, 2011 at 8pm ET call this number: 1 (712) 432-0900 and enter this access code: 758266
2. Follow along and play with your favorite Twitter tool or client .
3. Join the party by tweeting using the hashtag #ValueLux
4. Have fun, meet new friends, and win prizes.

During the Value Luxury Virtual Book Launch Party we will be asking you questions relating to your own travel experiences. To win prizes, all you have to do is let your friends know about the party, answer the questions and retweet good responses using the (#ValueLux) hashtag ! It’s that simple.

You could win…

• A luxurious two-night stay at any Omni Hotels worldwide
• The best-selling Ultimate Hoodie Microfleece from Scottevest
• A two year membership to Redweek.com, the largest timeshare rental website online
• One of two cultural travel guides from Approach Guides
• One of two free tours from a local tour guide from Triptotting
• One of two copies of the Fear-Crushing Travel Guide by Farnoosh Brock at Prolific Living
• One of two secret travel guides of your choice from Jonglez Publishing

That’s some valuable prizes – but how do you put a price on having a better vacation?  Priceless!

You’ll have to answer some questions from the Value Luxury guide, which is free, so sign up for the newsletter right now so you’ll have it the night of the party.

Also….

When the virtual book launch party starts, make sure you are following:

• @SharingTravel
• @partybizconnect (Host)

We want to make sure that you know if you won any of the prizes.  You may also want to connect with our party guests:

• @andrewghayes (Sharing Travel Experiences Editor, Value Luxury book co-author)
• @gomarwrites (Value Luxury book co-author)
• @caroundtheworld (coined the term ‘value luxury’)

If you’re not on Twitter, that’s ok, you can still join the call – but it is free to join, so be sure to Tweet to win one of our great prizes!

Extra Entries

Tweet about the prize you want to win at the Value Luxury Travel Twitter Party Twitter Party to increase your chances of winning a prize. Write your own tweet or use the following example…

Join us for the Value Luxury Travel Twitter Party 5/1 at 8pm ET http://bit.ly/valueluxparty #ValueLux

I’m hoping to win some free stuff from @SharingTravel at the Value Luxury Travel Twitter Party http://bit.ly/valueluxparty #ValueLux

Cheap Travel Isn’t Good Enough.  Hoping to learn more at the @SharingTravel virtual book launch party http://bit.ly/valueluxparty #ValueLux

Did you hear about @SharingTravel’s virtual book launch party? Stellar lineup http://bit.ly/valueluxparty #ValueLux

Ever heard of “value luxury travel”?  Learn more from @SharingTravel on June 1^st: http://bit.ly/valueluxparty #ValueLux

Wow, the value luxury book launch party at @SharingTravel looks awesome http://bit.ly/valueluxparty #ValueLux

See you on the 1st!

Whew. What a year it has been.

Right about this time of year, when the days are short and the nights are long, I like to set aside a little bit of time and reflect. Reflect on the year and on goals achieve, opportunities missed, and think long and hard and deep about what I’d like to see, do, and experience in the new year.

Around This Part of Town

It’s been an interesting year here at STE. We started off with a bang with one of my idols, an interview with Chris Guillebeau. Just last week I saw him as part of his Unconventional Book Tour. The man is a travel genius.

February was all about romance of course, and we had a special guest feature the best Romantic places – to get a kiss! How charming.

March was Awesome Austin time. From the weird things to do in Austin (uh huh), unique movie theatres, and yummy Austin food, I am planning on going back again next March.

Believe it or not, in April airports across all of Europe were closed by a volcano. Life mirrors fiction indeed. Our photo essay, volcanoes around the world, showed that these phenomenons are both deadly and beautiful.

May we featured one of our most popular travel lifestyle articles of the year, on how to travel with confidence. We all can feel scared now and then.

June we took summer by storm a bit early with a feature on trees around the world. Love the trees!

The dog days of July seemed like a good time to explore the grand tour of Europe. Another glass of wine, anyone?

August was perhaps my favourite surprise of all year – my list of things to do in Niagara Falls, which was not short. I just loved the falls. What a fun town.

In autumn we saw the royal treatment and world class hospitality of Scotland, from Carolan’s incredible trip report about the Royal Scotsman (one of the world’s most famous trains), as well as my massive roadtrip to see both the Scottish Highlands as well as the Hebrides Islands.

November we announced that our travel booking tool was launched – with no fees booking, and a few bugs which we’ve mostly managed to squash. I’m pleased to have this setup, since so many of you have asked for it.

And now it’s December. 2010 was busy as heck, eh?

Help Me Help Your Plan 2011

Every year, I reach out to our readers to ask for thoughts, ideas, suggestions and feedback for next year. Last week all of our travel newsletter subscribers, and several people asked me if it was a public survey they could forward to their friends.

It’s a great point, not everyone is on the email list, as we have many RSS subscribers and others who are just following along on Twitter or Facebook (*waves hi*). So, I’m sharing it here.

If you haven’t seen it already, spare 90 seconds to give me ideas for next year. I really do appreciate it.

Have a great holiday season!
-Andy

Photo Credit: papalars

The behind the scenes team here at Sharing Travel Experiences has been busy plotting and planning the steps that will take this magazine to a new level of awesome in 2011. There’s some fun stuff in store.

For now, don’t forget to change your travel desktop wallpaper. (Yes, it’s already December!) This month’s inspirational image is from Switzerland – a peek of a gondola in a snowstorm that I took last winter. Brrr.

How to Eat Well, Travel Well

Do you have unanswered questions about trying to eat healthy and stay well while on the road? With all these superbugs and psycho-killer rodents running around, unclean water, and the dreaded “intestinal bacteria issue” (you all know where I’m going with that), it can really put people off on traveling. I would know – it’s one of the most common issues I receive in my lil’ ol Inbox.

So, I decided to try to help – I’ve partnered up with Nathalie Lussier, an expert in the foodie world, and together we’re hosting a Healthy Travel Lifestyle Happy Hour on December 7th at 5PM EST (that’s 5PM in New York, 2PM in Seattle, 10PM in London, and 9AM in Sydney.)

Our happy hour is a Q&A call – we’re taking questions on anything and everything, and we’ll guarantee to get you the answers you need. It’s going to be a lot of fun – I can’t wait to meet all of Nathalie’s friends and to talk travel and food and everything in between.

The call is FREE, but you need to R.S.V.P. so we know how many folks we’re expecting. Plus you need to submit your questions! To signup, click the banner below where you can learn more, get on the list, and also submit your question for the call.

Looking forward to talking with you on the 7th – that’s in just one week!

It All Started in Mexico…

For those of us that have traveled internationally, you may remember a time when we were ‘hit’ with the importance of getting involved globally. For me, I was twelve. We were on a family vacation in Mexico, near a traditional marketplace. I remember lots of colorful hats, flags, and beautifully patterned blankets. My father and I wandered off, just a few paces away, to a scene not so colorful. We were confronted with a cult-de-sac of unwashed, handicapped, begging children. Having my eyes widened with disbelief and overwhelming sadness, I simply remember the word UNACCEPTABLE flashing across my mind. I still feel it and see that word all the time. It’s simply “not ok” that millions are starving, on the streets, and without opportunity.

That scene has driven me ever since.

Volunteering

I started volunteering in every capacity I could—in soup kitchens, with welfare patients, crisis counseling in the United States. As I became an adult, my volunteering transitioned to the international front. I volunteered in as many countries as I could, across as many areas as I could. My head spun with what seemed to be disastrous life circumstances, all over.

I headed to remote microfinance in India, where distant villages had a 25% suicide rate as farmers could not provide for their families. I worked on a sustainable farm in Guatemala, with the end goal of creating more manageable marketplaces that could help smaller farmers, previously barred, gain access. I helped preserve part of the Amazon River and local cultural practices in Peru; trained with handicapped people from Pol Pot’s regime in Peru; invested in AIDS prevention centers in Uganda; and worked to prevent domestic violence with prevention centers in Mexico…

El Salvador

One of the most riveting trips was in El Salvador during the earthquake crisis about six years ago. Another person and I were taking deliveries of food, clothing, and bedding up to remote parts of the mountains. These villages were so removed that even the World Food Program wouldn’t go there.

When we arrived, volcanic fluid was flowing into the rivers, and the church steeple and ceiling had fallen down. It was raining, and some homes were caving in. This was a very tough situation. People were so desolate, and then also appreciative that someone had found them. Someone had cared to visit, and to make the effort to help. That was a very moving experience because beyond giving material supplies, our visit to these people made them feel cared and loved.

But that trip was definitely a two-way blessing. I was so struck by their generosity and selflessness. The people in the community were living on perhaps five cents to a dollar a day. But when one family learned that I loved mangoes, they offered me a big bag of fruit that they could have sold. At first I didn’t want to accept it, but I realized they wanted to be able to give, too. While my Spanish wasn’t very good, I tried to thank them with my smiles and positive thanks. The true gift was this sense of connection, shared among us. We were both caring for each other.

A New Kind of Wealth

Meeting new people, connecting with a culture that is foreign to us…these are among the greatest gifts of international volunteering. Travel alone can alter your perspective, but you gain so much by understanding more about someone’s life. Your perspective is enlarged. You understand different cultures. Your mind is opened to see there are so many approaches to accomplishing an activity, and usually best with collaboration with many members of the community.

Giving of yourself through a global volunteer trip will most certainly open you up to a new view of wealth. Wealth isn’t just money. Many of these cultures have a richness that we don’t experience. Wealth in time spent with their families. Wealth in history, culture and rituals. Wealth in connection to the earth, their food, their farmlands. I feel fortunate to have had these experiences, and I know they impact my life in so many ways. My gratitude and inspiration from life stems daily from the richness I have experienced in these international service trips.

UniversalGiving

From these trips, I had to make a decision. Would I become a long-term volunteer, or use my business skills to create a website that would allow millions of others to get involved? I knew I had to scale my experience. In 2002, I founded UniversalGiving.  Our vision is to “Create a World Where Giving and Volunteering Are a Natural Part of Everyday Life.” UniversalGiving is now the top marketplace on the web where people can find trusted, vetted ways to donate and volunteer their time, in more than 70 countries across the world. Visit us to find quality opportunities to impact the world while you travel somewhere new. Travel means different things to different people; to me, to travel and to volunteer is the opportunity to be of service by valuing others. You’ll find it to be lifechanging.

Photos by supermagicmike, Pamela Hawley

While we couldn’t drop by each and everyone one of your houses to hand deliver nice Christmas present like we wanted to, we did put together a special little gift for you as a thanks for your support over the past year:  travel desktop wallpaper!  In 2010, you can travel more, even from your desk!

Here’s an example of one of the month’s images:

There’s a new image for each month of the year, from Europe to Asia Pacific.  The only problem was choosing 12 locations, as between our community member submissions and all of the travel articles this year I have to say there are far more than 12 worthy destinations for your desktop wallpaper!

I hope you’re having a wonderful festive season and these travel desktop wallpaper images brighten up your 2010. Thanks for being a part of this wonderful community.

Click here to download the images.

We’ve been busy putting the finishing touches on the new Sharing Travel Experiences. If you’re in your RSS reader or email, why not click through to check out the new look and feel.

This video will explain everything in 2 minutes flat. Check it out:

If you can’t see the video (or just want the scoop right now), here’s what has changed:

• Slight change to the name and tagline. We’ve incorporated the word travel to better reflect the experiences we offer, and our new tagline “travel more” also better reflects our core mission: to travel more (as in frequently) and travel more (as in better).
• New URL. Same great stuff. We’re now at www.sharingtravelexperiences.com. If you’re a newsletter subscriber your news will be arriving from a new email address, but nothing else will change. If you’re a blog subscriber, your RSS feeds should be the same but there’s now a new option to receive new articles via email twice a week.
• New ways to find articles. You can search by topic (with new/improved categories), region or country, experience, or date.
• Our new special offers!. This is the one thing you must see if you only have a few minutes. From our travel concierge to our monthly super specials, we’re taking your travel experiences to a new level.
• A team of writers. From food & spirits to lifestyle design, we’ve expanded our range of content slightly to cover all the topic we’ve been itching to cover but just haven’t had the room. Go meet the team.

More ways to contribute. From Flickr to Facebook, there are now more ways you can get involved in the Sharing Travel Experiences community. Have a look at the options.

What’s missing…?
One of our popular features, the photography page, is undergoing some pretty cool improvements. We’ll relaunch it sometime soon – so don’t worry.

So…What do you think?

Leave us a comment and tell us what you think of the new site! (If you’re shy – you can always leave us a note on our feedback form.)

Oh, and… welcome to the NEW Sharing Travel Experiences.

This post is part of the Confident Writing Group Writing Project hosted by Joanna Young.

The first and foremost goal of this website, aptly named Sharing Travel Experiences, is to help build an internet outpost, virtual watercooler – call it what you like – but build a place where people can talk about really spectacular travel experiences. You might call them ‘peak experiences’, but I’m somewhat reluctant to use that term as I don’t want people to put them on a pedestal too high to reach.

So when I saw Joanna’s group writing project, I started to reflect about how the idea of a community integrated with what I’ve been doing in the blogosphere; after all, I’m trying to build my own community of travel addicts – and so far I think I’ve been pretty successful.

Twitter Travels and Article Monthly Roundups

I’ve had so much fun interacting with folk on Twitter and building, not only a following of people interested in what I have to say (which I think is most marketer’s goals with the tool) but also giving something back and listening to what others have to say. I love all the interesting reports from both cultoftravel and soultravelers3. But I’ve had so many helpful souls drift in and out. For example, when I needed some planning help on a driving itinerary, I got several replies from users with really useful details I couldn’t seem to find online. I’ve even had a few great recommendations for theatre here in Edinburgh – how fun is that? – so really pleased with what’s happening over there. If you’re not on Twitter, I recommend it. If you are, be sure to follow me.

Further to the point about fun, I have been inundated with submissions for the next Inspiring Travel Monthly Roundup. Although I consider myself a well-read and knowledgeable travel, I must say I an humbled by the diversity of topics and information I’ve received and all the interesting photo shots! The volumes of entries is crazy – obviously I’m not the only one who wants to be inspired, and that’s great. The next carnival comes out next week (it is a monthly edition); stay tuned and if you want to get involved, check out the rules and submission form.

Photos from Davenburgh

The most amazing bit about building a travel community is not only the online adventures, but offline as well. I met several folk here in Edinburgh as a result of Twitter related events, such as Tweetup and EdTwestival. However, the most powerful event I’ve recently attended was Davenburgh, which Dave and I announced at the beginning of the year. It ended up being just the two of us, for various reasons, but we still wore our lanyards – why not, they were so lovingly hand-crafted!

We talked a lot about our various travel adventures and stories, and I got such great feedback from Dave about this site – many a new feature which you’ll be seeing here soon. It was so amazing to get some external input and to realise that someone so far away has the same travel ideals, goals, and dreams that I do. We’ll be planning another Dave meetup soon, hopefully far abroad in an exotic locale.

If you want to see pictures from the event – including Greyfriars Bobby sporting a Davenburgh Lanyard – check out this post on Dave’s site, Blogography. He posts daily about a number of random topics and is definitely worth a spot in your RSS reader. His graphic design skills are superb – beyond description in fact – so at least do yourself a favour and go admire his stuff. It’s good.

Win a Prize!

In the spirit of Davenburgh as well as the Group Writing project, I’d like to put a small reward out there for those of you listening. I’ve got an extra pack of the limited edition, absolutely fantastic Blogography Story Deck. Not only can you enjoy four different stories about Lil’ Dave and Bad Monkey, but you can also use them as a deck of cards too. Check them out:

So how do you win? Well between now and midnight GMT (that is midnight in London/Edinburgh), Friday April 3rd, comment on this blog entry and answer the following question:

What does ‘travel community’ mean to you?

I’ll leave it pretty open for you to say whatever you think. A few rules:

• Please, let’s have some well thought out answers. A simple ‘Not sure’ just to win a pack of cards isn’t really in the spirit of the game, is it? Unhelpful responses will not be posted.
• As long as you submit by midnight Friday April 3rd, you’re OK. Your comment may go into moderation but the submission time is what counts.
• If your local jurisdiction does not allow you to participate in such contests, then do not submit a comment.
• You can comment as often as you like, but your name will only go into the draw once.
• The winner will be announced here on a new post on the blog.

So…you’ve heard my thoughts and now you’ve seen the question. Weight in down below.

Airport image courtesy of Photocapy. Special thanks to Dave for the prize donation.

I wanted to drop readers a line and let them know that I’ve set up a new monthly roundup called inspiring travel. Yes, I think you can guess of the theme!

I just found it difficult to keep up with all of the great travel writing going on out there, and after it being suggested to me by several of my fellow travellers on Twitter, I decided to give it a go. After all, the very idea of a blog carnival supports my idea of Sharing Travel Experiences – using these new online tools to reach out to each other and share special tips, travel secrets, and have some thoughtful discussions. And to have a good laugh and some fun too, of course!

It will be a monthly blog carnival, with the first coming sometime in March after I’m back from Hong Kong and Cambodia. Submissions can be found via the inspiring travel link on blogcarnival.com. I look forward to the submissions – and be sure to tell a friend whom you might think would be interested.

Until then, I leave you with some inspiring travel photos from Flickr. Enjoy!

Image Credit (in order as shown):
let’s get out of this country by michellardi
Wasteland by brew ha ha
Lake Band-e-Amir, Afghanistan by Carl Montgomery

I have had tons of interest in my lomography pics that are up in my photography galleries. So much interest, in fact, that I’ve had to open a stall on Etsy, a wonderful site where you can find loads of handmade gifts, arts, and crafts.

Yes, that’s the Scottish Parliament Images Copyright Andrew Hayes

Use this link to visit my Etsy shop where you can see what is on sale just now. I’m expanding the product range to cover other areas – feel free to let me know if there is something in particular you were looking for. All images are part of a limited edition series to preserve their value and make them something special!

Happy Shopping.