It appears that some time spent registering my blog with the major search engines has finally begun to pay off. This morning was the first time that I was able to locate it using the search term "Engineering a Travel Plan" (with the quotes) on Google.com. Previously, I had to remove all spacing between the words in order to locate it. Now, If I can start to generate additional traffic it might be possible to locate using my name, the unquoted title, or some combination of the two.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Results of Travel Writing Workshop
Strolling along the bank of the Seine, the loose gravel crunches underfoot as tourist filled boats silently glide by. This is my first foray into the city of light and so far it has lived up to its name. From the streetlamps glowing in the night air to the eruption of dancing light emanating from the Eiffel tower, Paris' sky seems alive. I walk onwards in search of the next back lit site to crest the horizon, with the promise from the cafes of San Michel and Notre Dame urging me forward. Eventually the outline of Quasimodo famous bell towers comes into view, just as my stomach is letting me know it cannot wait much longer for the mingling of beef and burgundy.
This paragraph is the result of my participation in a travel writing workshop over the weekend. While the focus of the workshop was not on how to write, it did identify important features and components of the process. Our time was spent discussing structure, content, and individual motivations.
The lead of a story is important, it should grab your reader's attention. Before we began working on our leads, we needed to examine some important details regarding a chosen destination. For my own, I examined why I went, what my interest was, who I went with, and what I did when I was there. Using those motivating factors I then turned to specific experiential elements. Part of our tasking required each writer to discuss their chosen locale in terms of individual senses, visual, aural, taste, smell, and feeling. Each author wrote specific statements relating to remembered details, focusing on specific shapes, colors, textures, and flaws.
I wrote about several moments of a Paris trip that Came to mind:
1) The open lawn of the Champ de Mars crowded with couples, families, and begging Roma, mulling around the dusty walkways and soft grass.
2) Honking horns from drivers as they wove around crowds of pedestrians in the streets.
3) Watching bateaux silently gliding down the river.
4) Seeing a rat rifle through garbage in the Champ de Mars late at night.
5) Streetlights along the bank of the river, glowing at night.
6) A stained glass window featuring a rose, only visible as you wind your way up an oft used staircase.
Specific aural elements (i.e., sounds) that I remembered:
1) The rain hitting cobblestones in the Latin Quarter, as I ran for cover with others caught by a late night rain.
2) The crunch of gravel underneath my feet at I walked the left bank of the Seine.
3) The sounds of close conversation in an outdoor cafe.
Specific tastes:
1) The taste of a burgundy wine combining with a beef filet.
2) The creamy texture of chocolate mousse.
3) The bitterness of a hoppy French beer on the tongue to quench my thirst.
4) The crunch of a baguette crust and the chewy core.
5) The taste of something familiar, yet slightly different (i.e., McDonalds, Royal with cheese, I know but I had too).
Specific smells:
1) The smell of soup and the promise of stringy provolone in onion soup.
2) The smell of crepes and flowers.
3) Aroma from the cigarettes of outdoor smokers in the cafe.
4) The smell of the moist night air after a rainstorm.
Specific feelings and textures:
1) The starting and stopping of the train as it glides over the track on its inflated tires.
2) The shade from trees as I made my way down a deserted street in the middle of busy Paris.
3) The appearance of each new site on the horizon, only visible while walking.
After getting these individual experiences down, I began to develop more descriptive and enveloping statements, that would eventually make their way into the final product. Here are some examples:
1) Walking along the bank of the Seine, hearing the gravel crunch beneath my feet as bateax silently glide down the river.
2) Sitting outside a cafe sipping a hoppy beer, while the murmur of close conversation drifts by with the smell of Parisian smokers.
3) Running for cover down the narrow cobblestone lanes, as the skies open in an impromptu rain shower.
4) Standing in line to buy a famously stereotypical burger just to use a bathroom, crowded with people that snuck in without paying.
5) Trying the set menu to experience the joy of mingling beef with burgundy and chocolate with rose
Using all of these details, I was able to create a more refined and meaningful description of my experience, which by now you have already read. Hopefully, the experience from this workshop will begin to show through in this blog and the descriptions I post regarding my travels.
This paragraph is the result of my participation in a travel writing workshop over the weekend. While the focus of the workshop was not on how to write, it did identify important features and components of the process. Our time was spent discussing structure, content, and individual motivations.
The lead of a story is important, it should grab your reader's attention. Before we began working on our leads, we needed to examine some important details regarding a chosen destination. For my own, I examined why I went, what my interest was, who I went with, and what I did when I was there. Using those motivating factors I then turned to specific experiential elements. Part of our tasking required each writer to discuss their chosen locale in terms of individual senses, visual, aural, taste, smell, and feeling. Each author wrote specific statements relating to remembered details, focusing on specific shapes, colors, textures, and flaws.
I wrote about several moments of a Paris trip that Came to mind:
1) The open lawn of the Champ de Mars crowded with couples, families, and begging Roma, mulling around the dusty walkways and soft grass.
2) Honking horns from drivers as they wove around crowds of pedestrians in the streets.
3) Watching bateaux silently gliding down the river.
4) Seeing a rat rifle through garbage in the Champ de Mars late at night.
5) Streetlights along the bank of the river, glowing at night.
6) A stained glass window featuring a rose, only visible as you wind your way up an oft used staircase.
Specific aural elements (i.e., sounds) that I remembered:
1) The rain hitting cobblestones in the Latin Quarter, as I ran for cover with others caught by a late night rain.
2) The crunch of gravel underneath my feet at I walked the left bank of the Seine.
3) The sounds of close conversation in an outdoor cafe.
Specific tastes:
1) The taste of a burgundy wine combining with a beef filet.
2) The creamy texture of chocolate mousse.
3) The bitterness of a hoppy French beer on the tongue to quench my thirst.
4) The crunch of a baguette crust and the chewy core.
5) The taste of something familiar, yet slightly different (i.e., McDonalds, Royal with cheese, I know but I had too).
Specific smells:
1) The smell of soup and the promise of stringy provolone in onion soup.
2) The smell of crepes and flowers.
3) Aroma from the cigarettes of outdoor smokers in the cafe.
4) The smell of the moist night air after a rainstorm.
Specific feelings and textures:
1) The starting and stopping of the train as it glides over the track on its inflated tires.
2) The shade from trees as I made my way down a deserted street in the middle of busy Paris.
3) The appearance of each new site on the horizon, only visible while walking.
After getting these individual experiences down, I began to develop more descriptive and enveloping statements, that would eventually make their way into the final product. Here are some examples:
1) Walking along the bank of the Seine, hearing the gravel crunch beneath my feet as bateax silently glide down the river.
2) Sitting outside a cafe sipping a hoppy beer, while the murmur of close conversation drifts by with the smell of Parisian smokers.
3) Running for cover down the narrow cobblestone lanes, as the skies open in an impromptu rain shower.
4) Standing in line to buy a famously stereotypical burger just to use a bathroom, crowded with people that snuck in without paying.
5) Trying the set menu to experience the joy of mingling beef with burgundy and chocolate with rose
Using all of these details, I was able to create a more refined and meaningful description of my experience, which by now you have already read. Hopefully, the experience from this workshop will begin to show through in this blog and the descriptions I post regarding my travels.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Facebook NetworkedBlog
I've just signed up NetworkedBlog with my Facebook account, so now when I write to my blog it should auto-publish to my wall.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Buying European Rail Tickets in the US
My upcoming trip to Benelux and France will be my first experience with purchasing European rail tickets while stateside. In the past I've used a rail pass (BritRail) for rail travel in the UK and loved it. However, this trip only has two very short rail links and will not warrant the cost or intricacies associated with using a rail pass. Purchasing European tickets requires several considerations, how to purchase and when to purchase.
There are to options to consider when determining how to purchase, directly through the rail service provider or through an outside purchaser. When it comes to purchasing with the rail provider, I have read about some people experiencing a disconnect in the payment system for US based credit cards. Evidently, there have been mixed reviews regarding acceptance of credit cards and US based addresses for purchase of Thayls (http://www.thalys.com/nl/en) trains. The one sure workaround is to call the provider directly, which most likely requires a morning call using Skype and payment in Euros. Otherwise, it is possible to buy from an agency such as RailEurope (http://www.raileurope.com/index.html). The downside of this option is you will pay a service charge, but you will have support from the purchaser and and the ability to pay in USD.
The other consideration is when to make your purchase. Some like to be fluid with their travel, I probably do not fall into this category. I prefer the important details to be locked down and put to rest. Those who are flexible have the option to purchase their tickets at the station, but risk not getting a seat at their preferred travel time. For those who are like me, the best time to buy is 90 days in advance of the trip, when specials are offered and demand is low. Rail providers like Thalys base the ticket price directly off of demand. In this scenario the potential does exist for some great last minute deals if your travelling in the shoulder season or at an off-peak time. But as you know (if you've read my other entries) I am a planner and like to know my major details ahead of time, which includes a fixed price for my transportation. I'm sure others have had very different experiences with rail, if so please post in my comments how you go about dealing with foreign rail travel. Look for my next update in the coming weeks as I prepare to take part in a travel writer workshop.
For some more information regarding purchasing European rail tickets see the following sites:
http://travel.usatoday.com/deals/inside/2010-07-22-europe-train-tickets_N.htm
http://www.frommers.com/articles/1722.html
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/comparetickets.htm
There are to options to consider when determining how to purchase, directly through the rail service provider or through an outside purchaser. When it comes to purchasing with the rail provider, I have read about some people experiencing a disconnect in the payment system for US based credit cards. Evidently, there have been mixed reviews regarding acceptance of credit cards and US based addresses for purchase of Thayls (http://www.thalys.com/nl/en) trains. The one sure workaround is to call the provider directly, which most likely requires a morning call using Skype and payment in Euros. Otherwise, it is possible to buy from an agency such as RailEurope (http://www.raileurope.com/index.html). The downside of this option is you will pay a service charge, but you will have support from the purchaser and and the ability to pay in USD.
The other consideration is when to make your purchase. Some like to be fluid with their travel, I probably do not fall into this category. I prefer the important details to be locked down and put to rest. Those who are flexible have the option to purchase their tickets at the station, but risk not getting a seat at their preferred travel time. For those who are like me, the best time to buy is 90 days in advance of the trip, when specials are offered and demand is low. Rail providers like Thalys base the ticket price directly off of demand. In this scenario the potential does exist for some great last minute deals if your travelling in the shoulder season or at an off-peak time. But as you know (if you've read my other entries) I am a planner and like to know my major details ahead of time, which includes a fixed price for my transportation. I'm sure others have had very different experiences with rail, if so please post in my comments how you go about dealing with foreign rail travel. Look for my next update in the coming weeks as I prepare to take part in a travel writer workshop.
For some more information regarding purchasing European rail tickets see the following sites:
http://travel.usatoday.com/deals/inside/2010-07-22-europe-train-tickets_N.htm
http://www.frommers.com/articles/1722.html
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/comparetickets.htm
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Back to it, planning again!
After a long hiatus I'm finally back, with an update to my blog. This time I will be detailing the plans for a trip my wife Mary and I will be taking to Europe in August. As with my previous blog entries, I have spent innumerable hours scouring other writer's blogs, guidebooks, and websites looking for anything relating to the cities on our itinerary.
First, we will flying up to NY to depart for Europe. For some reason, it was significantly cheaper to buy one-way tickets to NY, open jaw our trip from JFK to Amsterdam (AMS), and then return from Paris (CDG) to our home in Orlando (MCO), FL. While this might not be convenient for most others, it gives is a great opportunity to visit with family and friends before we depart on our adventure. For our trip we will be spending 3 nights in NY, 2 nights in Amsterdam, 2 nights in Brussels, and 4 nights in Paris (see graphic).
While in Amsterdam we plan on visiting several different attractions and museums covered by the I Amsterdam card. Purchasing this card will give us flexibility and also provide 48 hour coverage on Amsterdam's public transportation (Trams, metro, etc..). It even includes a canal boat tour, an activity I am looking forward to. In addition, we also plan on visiting the Anne Frank House, the Heineken Experience, and partaking in a free city tour (http://www.newamsterdamtours.com/daily-tours/new-amsterdam-free-tour.html).
Midday on our third day, we will be departing Amsterdam on a high-speed train to Brussels (Bruxelles). In Brussels we be visiting several local sites, the Grand Place, the Cantillon Brewery, and the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate. We will be spending a lot of time looking at the local architecture and sampling local delicacies. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the local Lambic and Wheat beers.
Midday on our fifth day, we will be departing Brussels for Paris. Now I was fortunate to have visited Paris, last summer while overseas for work. But as Paris is one of the most romantic cities in the world, I sorely missed having my travel partner (Mary) with me. I knew she would love the architecture and planning that went into the grand boulevards, so I vowed to make sure to bring her the next time I went. Fortunately that time has arrived. While in Paris we plan on focusing on visiting specific areas (Arrondissements), such as Rue Cler, St Michel/Notre Dame (Latin Quarter), Ile de Cite, Montmartre, and Champs Elysees, to name a few. We will be taking two novel bike tours of down town Paris and Versailles (http://fattirebiketours.com), in addition to a walking tour of Montmartre. I have also dedicated four hours to the Louvre. While this may not be very much time, it does give us a chance to see some of the important works and familiarize ourselves for a future visit, where we will be able to dedicate more time.
First, we will flying up to NY to depart for Europe. For some reason, it was significantly cheaper to buy one-way tickets to NY, open jaw our trip from JFK to Amsterdam (AMS), and then return from Paris (CDG) to our home in Orlando (MCO), FL. While this might not be convenient for most others, it gives is a great opportunity to visit with family and friends before we depart on our adventure. For our trip we will be spending 3 nights in NY, 2 nights in Amsterdam, 2 nights in Brussels, and 4 nights in Paris (see graphic).While in Amsterdam we plan on visiting several different attractions and museums covered by the I Amsterdam card. Purchasing this card will give us flexibility and also provide 48 hour coverage on Amsterdam's public transportation (Trams, metro, etc..). It even includes a canal boat tour, an activity I am looking forward to. In addition, we also plan on visiting the Anne Frank House, the Heineken Experience, and partaking in a free city tour (http://www.newamsterdamtours.com/daily-tours/new-amsterdam-free-tour.html).
Midday on our third day, we will be departing Amsterdam on a high-speed train to Brussels (Bruxelles). In Brussels we be visiting several local sites, the Grand Place, the Cantillon Brewery, and the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate. We will be spending a lot of time looking at the local architecture and sampling local delicacies. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the local Lambic and Wheat beers.
Midday on our fifth day, we will be departing Brussels for Paris. Now I was fortunate to have visited Paris, last summer while overseas for work. But as Paris is one of the most romantic cities in the world, I sorely missed having my travel partner (Mary) with me. I knew she would love the architecture and planning that went into the grand boulevards, so I vowed to make sure to bring her the next time I went. Fortunately that time has arrived. While in Paris we plan on focusing on visiting specific areas (Arrondissements), such as Rue Cler, St Michel/Notre Dame (Latin Quarter), Ile de Cite, Montmartre, and Champs Elysees, to name a few. We will be taking two novel bike tours of down town Paris and Versailles (http://fattirebiketours.com), in addition to a walking tour of Montmartre. I have also dedicated four hours to the Louvre. While this may not be very much time, it does give us a chance to see some of the important works and familiarize ourselves for a future visit, where we will be able to dedicate more time.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
A return to the blog
After a long hiatus working on my PhD comprehensive exams (which I passed), I am back just in time to report on my upcoming two week trip to England and Scotland. All the hard work researching and planning the trip are about to come to fruition this Monday. Yet despite all my work I still have several loose ends to wrap up such as calling bank/credit card companies to establish travel notifications, complete packing and inventorying items (i.e., gadgets), and preparing my pre-trip budgeting/reporting.
I have decided for this trip to leave the net book behind, which means lots of SD cards for pictures and video. The good news is these are pretty affordable and if I need more I should be able to buy them at Tesco and Asda. I have also purchased an SD card reader from zoomMediaPro for my iPad that should allow me to post pictures/videos directly to facebook.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Activities for UK Trip
I have finally reached the next milestone on my trip to the UK, I purchased all of our prepaid items. While these items do not encompass all of the activities we have planned, they are the ones that are 1) in high demand and require reservations/advanced purchase, 2) provide a distinct cost savings by purchasing out of country, or 3) provide significant time savings by eliminating the need to stand in a queue (aka line to us Yanks).
The remaining activities, while already placed in the itinerary, allow an increased flexibility since they have not yet been reserved or paid for. If for some reason we find we cannot catch a train, we will be able to skip one of these unpaid for activities. That however, does not mean they are any more or less important in the end.
For our trip we have already purchased:
-City sight seeing bus tour of Bath Spa
-Paid a deposit for a walking tour in Scotland
-Cruise of Loch Ness
-Tour of the vaults below Edinburgh
-Tour of the secrets of Edinburgh
-City sight seeing bus tour of Edinburgh
-Edinburgh Castle admission
-Nighttime city sight seeing bus tour of London
-Watch a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre
-London Tower admission
-Hampton Court admission
The following represent the activities we plan to pay for or attend (i.e. free) when we get there:
-Bath Roman Bath and Spa
-Tea at the Royal Pumphouse
-Inverness Museum (free)
-Culloden Battlefield
-Clava Cairns (free)
-Edinburgh Camera Obscura
-The Scotch Whisky Experience
-Edinburgh Museum (free)
-Edinburgh Writer's Museum (free)
-Brass Rubbing Center (free)
-Arbeia Roman Fort
-Bede's World
-South Shield Museum
-Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths, and Museum
-Greenwich Royal Observatory
-Victoria & Albert Musuem (free)
-British Museum (free)
Since we have some flexibility, if we find we are too tired or there is not enough time we will have the option of cutting some of these activities since they haven't been paid for or reserved.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The remaining activities, while already placed in the itinerary, allow an increased flexibility since they have not yet been reserved or paid for. If for some reason we find we cannot catch a train, we will be able to skip one of these unpaid for activities. That however, does not mean they are any more or less important in the end.
For our trip we have already purchased:
-City sight seeing bus tour of Bath Spa
-Paid a deposit for a walking tour in Scotland
-Cruise of Loch Ness
-Tour of the vaults below Edinburgh
-Tour of the secrets of Edinburgh
-City sight seeing bus tour of Edinburgh
-Edinburgh Castle admission
-Nighttime city sight seeing bus tour of London
-Watch a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre
-London Tower admission
-Hampton Court admission
The following represent the activities we plan to pay for or attend (i.e. free) when we get there:
-Bath Roman Bath and Spa
-Tea at the Royal Pumphouse
-Inverness Museum (free)
-Culloden Battlefield
-Clava Cairns (free)
-Edinburgh Camera Obscura
-The Scotch Whisky Experience
-Edinburgh Museum (free)
-Edinburgh Writer's Museum (free)
-Brass Rubbing Center (free)
-Arbeia Roman Fort
-Bede's World
-South Shield Museum
-Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths, and Museum
-Greenwich Royal Observatory
-Victoria & Albert Musuem (free)
-British Museum (free)
Since we have some flexibility, if we find we are too tired or there is not enough time we will have the option of cutting some of these activities since they haven't been paid for or reserved.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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