Sharing Travel Experiences

Inspiring Travel Monthly Roundup – April Edition

by Andy Hayes

Welcome to the April 2009 edition of the Inspiring Travel Monthly Roundup. We launched the inaugural edition last month and the response since then has been nothing less than phenomenal. This month we received over 75 submissions, and that’s not including the entries from folk who didn’t follow the rules (only one submission per month) and excluding those entries that were off-topic (go away spammy marketers!). I’m not sure why they bother – your submissions just get deleted!

However, the quality of most entries is fantastic and I enjoyed quite the trip around the globe from the comfort of my sofa. I hope you do the same. It feels a bit like the ‘beach edition’ (which isn’t such a bad thing) with plenty of outdoor tribulations to ‘boot’ (pun intended).

To get in your inspiring travel post for the May edition, be sure to head for the submission form on BlogCarnival.com.

As you know, I also do quite a few interviews with travellers across the world and I’m looking for new interviewees. If you’d like to talk with me about your favourite travel adventures and share experiences with my readers, drop me a line and tell me a little bit about you.

And now, for the roundup…

---

This month we start out with Katherine McMahon in a Gluten Free Adventure in Zanzibar, an island off of Tanzania. Even if you’re able to enjoy the delights of wheat-based products, you’ll still love this food and activity adventure. If you’re a celiac and a frequent traveller, be sure to signup for Katherine’s blog.

Should Zanzibar be a bit too far out of reach, then why not head for Coconut Island in Phuket? It looks like a relatively off-beat destination with some beaches that sun-lovers will adore.

We keep the beach theme going with our next post on The Life of Key West Chickens from Matt. I had to laugh as I do remember these beasties wandering freely during my visit there. You can even get your own I Key West Chickens sticker. Cool!

One more stop on the tour of the world’s shores is a stop in the Andaman And Nicobar Islands, courtesy of the fabulously-named blog Viewspaper. Sounds like a great trip – a gem in the Indian Ocean. It’s headed straight for my to do list.

Rounding out the beach them is a great post from the Travelling Mamas about La Jolla. The post even includes some great video footage; La Jolla is indeed a stunning coastal destination, probably my favourite place on the California shore next to Santa Cruz.

Recession got you down and want to escape from it all? Don’t worry – MoneySmartLife has some suggestions for vacation money savers. Classic advice but always good to refresh, especially in these times. We also heard from Corporate Flyer who have some excellent tips for finding the best international airfare.

In the email box this month was a lovely note from Kim, who is a new blogger. Let’s all give Kim a round of applause for her new blog, Measure of All Things, by visiting and commenting on her latest post, Amazing Borneo. It certainly looks amazing, with some great photos and lots of interesting commentary. Well done, Kim – we look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Let us pause for a serious moment and hear Grrlscientist’s experience with a Medical Emergency in Finland. Nobody likes to get ill on holiday, let alone have a serious emergency. I’m happy to report she’s fine; while I’m sure it’s easy to laugh now, I imagine the whole experience was pretty harrowing. Thanks for the low-down, Grrlscientist.

Moving on to another cringe-worthy moment is a post from the Worldwalk-Peacetour blog. Their trials and tribulations of camping in Africa is interesting – but I found the comments about the scorpions and other creepy-crawlies absolutely terrifying.

Should you not be too scared off, be sure to also check out Camping Earth’s post about how to buy hiking boots.

Once you’ve made your purchase, why not head over and get inspired with these stunning photos from Down the Trail’s post, The First Time I Saw the Grand Canyon. I have been dying to get to the Grand Canyon, and needless to say these photos have done nothing to soothe that itch.

As if you’ve not had enough ideas for your next hiking trip, then go to NZTamping’s post about getting the courage to travel. While their focus is on New Zealand tramping (their word for hiking!), the advice applies the same, whether in Africa or Patagonia. A great blog, by the way – although its no surprise, as most of you know my favourite country in the world is New Zealand.

If you like Asia travel, I highly recommend you check out the blog Unearthing Asia. It’s a fantastic blog that covers the entire region, and the posts are filled with great photos and interesting commentary. (Writer’s Disclosure: I’m now part of the writing team at Unearthing Asia, but I would have said the same thing even if I wasn’t.). Nik has sent us a great post about Glacier Exploring on Mount Cook – yes, the one in New Zealand – I hope you bought thoes hiking boots like I told you to.

From Asia we head back ’round the world to Europe, where A Germany Trip gives us a few things you must do on your next Germany holiday. The Hitler hideaway is news to me but sounds fascinating, and I completely endorse the recommendation for Heidelberg: great shopping, a beautiful castle, and wonderful restaurants topped off by loads of frothy beer. What more could one want?

Heading south from the German hills, we set our sights on Rome, where Victor at Vatican5000 takes us on a photo tour of Saint Peter’s Square and Plaza. He has some great shots of the procession as well – good to check out, whether you’ve been or still booking your flights.

Catching a flight back up north to further our Roman experience, we head to the UK. If you’ve not been to the old Roman town of Bath, you almost don’t need to once you see this comprehensive post on the Lush Green blog, How the Romans Bathed and Other Adventures. Bath is a real charmer, from the cathedral to the amazing circus. I didn’t notice so many street performers when I was there, so it was interesting to hear about them in this post (and see the fairly humours photos). Sorry Delson, while I’d love to be able to explain this bizarre display of British humour, I’m afraid I can’t.

This month’s blog roundup is rounded out by a very poignant post from The Professional Hobo – After the Fires: Our Multi-Coloured Backyard. I don’t have anything to say that Norah hasn’t already said.

---

Images Courtesy of their respective blog post owner, with the exception of:

• La Jolla by Amagill
• Hiking boots by Quola Pejorian
• Andaman Island by abhijeet.rane
• Heidelberg by jamescanby

Have these articles inspired you to book your next travel adventure?

What are you waiting for? Travel More with our Special Offers

Get hands-on travel help from Donna, our travel concierge.