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.
Top Three Daytrips from Madrid
Hot off my trip to sunny spain for some early October sunshine, I finally made it to Madrid. I’d been to both Southern Spain, Portugal, and other nearby areas but always seemed to skip the capital city. And while Madrid is a lovely stop for anyone into art and cosmopolitan culture Spanish-style, I’d like to suggest three daytrips from Madrid that are well worth your time. Madrid has a fantastic transportation network given it’s economic importance as well as its central location, so daytripping is not only easy from Madrid, it’s simply a must.
Here are the top three – in my order of preference.
The Castle and Cathedrals of Segovia
Of all the Madrid daytrips, I loved Segovia the most. It’s just one of those places where you find something amazing around every corner. You’ll arrive in the main square of Segovia to one of its most wonderful sights: The Roman Aqueduct. It’s brilliant, magnificent, amazing, breathtaking. I still can’t believe that such a magnificent structure, built without glue, mortar, or any of our modern constrcuts, still stands today and is still used as a secondary water source for the city.
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under Topic: Trip Reports § 5 Comments
Drunk on Tea & Scones in the UK’s Favourite City, York
Iwent to York, a reasonably sized village in the north of England, with high expectations. It’s been voted one of the UK’s most favourite cities many a time and most people I know who have been rave about it. Nonetheless, I wasn’t disappointed; with charm and grace, York welcomed me with open arms. Here’s a few excerpts from my adventure.
Walls, Bars, and Gates
A lot of people will tell you this and I’d be remiss not to: you must walk the York city walls. They’re some of the most well intact in Great Britain and except for a small section, you can nearly walk in a full circle. Most choose to walk the narrow, crowded bit just behind York Minster, which is a must because of the excellent views of the cathedral. However, do a full lap. You get a good appreciation for the architecture throughout the city and a bird’s eye view of some sights. Most don’t tend to venture far along the walls so you might even have it to yourself.
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under Topic: Trip Reports § 3 Comments
Interview: Techie Travel Tips from FoXnoMad
I‘ve probably learned more techie travel tips in today’s interview than ever before! Not to imply I’m a complete technophile when it comes to travel gear, but I don’t take advantage of all the bells and whistles as much as I should. I will now though, courtesy of Anil…
Let’s start with a brief introduction.
My name is Anil Polat and I’m a traveler who’s been fascinated with the culture of travel for many years. It’s funny when people ask me what ‘foXnoMad’ means as it’s been an inside joke that I can’t explain it. It comes from my idea of foxes, the only animals aside from humans that inhabit all of the continents (including Antarctica) of the world and adapt to any environment they find themselves in. It’s very similar to what frequent travelers do – we adapt, learn, and absorb our changing surroundings.
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under Topic: Interviews § 10 Comments
Impressions of North Korea
“Now as for things to remember, you need smart clothes for the mausoleum, this might be a pain in the arse, but please keep in mind the reverence that the great leader is held in. I have been to see Lenin, and Mao, and I can assure that this experience makes the extra luggage worth it.”
Pre-trip email received from the tour company.
It was the morning of day 2 of my visit to North Korea and we were all dressed up and ready to go in our smart clothes to see the Great Leader – Kim Il Sung – lying in state at Kumsusan Memorial Palace, his former official residence. After waiting for a while in the waiting room we were told to line up (4 abreast) and set off in the direction of the Palace. The main building was cold and quiet, with only the quiet hum of the moving walkways and air conditioners breaking the silence. I was up front and started walking as soon as we stepped onto the moving walkway, only to be told to stop. We continued like that for what seemed ages. Standing still while the moving walkway transported us through the silent passages. At some point we came to a machine that scrubbed the underside of our shoes as we passed over it. We deposited our bags and camera’s before going through the metal detectors before getting back on the silent contraptions that took us further into the building. Every now and again an orderly group of Koreans – with the women dressed in their brightly coloured synthetic dresses – passed us in the oopposite direction, returning from their visit. As I watched them and wondered what they thought of us.
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under Topic: Trip Reports § 5 Comments
Luxury Shopping: Top Five Places to Drop Some Cash
The world’s most expensive streets report has just been released (a great summary was written by FinFacts Ireland), showing off some of the cities where it is quite easy to empty your wallet while shopping. Here’s a quick wrap up of the top ten places – so get ready to splash out some cash!
New York
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under Topic: Ideas and Inspiration § 9 Comments
Undercover in a Cult of Travel
I’m very pleased to be speaking today with my good Twitter friend and travel aficionado Francoise. She’s behind the popular travel website Cult of Travel. You’ll find her (@cultoftravel) and I (@andrewghayes) blethering away on Twitter many days.
So here’s to more good conversation….
Why don’t you introduce yourself?
Hi there, my name is Francoise Methot and I have to admit that I’m a travaholic. I caught the travel bug as a side effect of leaving a job that required extensive travel. It didn’t take me long to realize that my favorite part of the job had been the traveling! After stints consulting, and working as an analyst, I decided to escape the cubicle farm for good and try my luck at writing and web development with a large dose of travel thrown in. Thus Cult of Travel was born.
At the moment, I’m in Athens on the tail end of a 5 month journey that’s taken me through Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Georgia, Egypt and now Greece. I’ll soon be back in Canada for what I hope will only be a short break before my next adventure.
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under Topic: Interviews § 2 Comments
Kyrgyzstan, Like Nowhere Else
Today’s article is by Andy Jarosz.
When we mentioned to friends that we were travelling to Kyrgyzstan, they invariably scratched their heads and said something about Borat. It is hardly surprising that little is known about this tiny country. Sometimes referred to as “the Switzerland of central Asia”, this land-locked nation of barely 5 million people is almost entirely dominated by the Tian Shan mountains. Building its own identity after gaining its independence when the Soviet Union collapsed, it rarely registers on the world stage for anything newsworthy. You get the impression that that’s fine with the hardy souls who call it home.
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under Topic: Trip Reports § 4 Comments
Inspring Travel Monthly Roundup – October Edition
Asmall tweak to your otherwise monthly blast of travel goodness: we’ve tweaked the name! Those of you in the blogging ‘circle’ as it were are familiar with the term “carnival” but we want to make a seat at the table for our good friends who are technophobes and just come to join us for the armchair adventures. So we’re no longer a carnival – we’re a monthly roundup. Same great stuff with a more friendly name. Sound good? Excellent. Let’s get this show on the road.
I have to say I am very pleased with the efforts of the guys who sponsor the submission form – we’re only getting clean, quality links now, which makes it a lot easier to read through the amazing entries.
First up is this great post from the Q Family – Dreaming of Sand, Sun, and Surf. It’s part of a fantastic new series they are calling Mondays are for Dreaming. AMEN! And with that I leave you this little gem of a photo to dream over…
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under Topic: Monthly Roundup § 7 Comments
Hanging Out in Dumaguete
This month’s location independent adventure takes us well off the tracks to a little Asian gem. Our stop? Dumaguete: a coastal town in the central Visayas in the Philippines.
No Comments