The Adventures In Travel Expo: Day 2 0comments
published in
2009-10-13 15:24:00
quote
1 floor
The second day at The Adventures in Travel Expo proved to be just love entertaining as the first. There seemed to be less attendees than the previous day except the guest speakers drew some large ...
The second day at The Adventures in Travel Expo proved to be just love entertaining as the first. There seemed to be less attendees than the previous day except the guest speakers drew some large crowds. In addition to checking out more exhibitors which included tour operators and tourism boards I was capable to sit in on lectures by Tony Wheeler Zac Sunderland and Patricia Schultz.
Tony Wheeler co-founded the Lonely Planet publishing empire with his wife Maureen back in the early 1970's. It's a pretty amazing story documented in their book Unlikely Destinations: The Lonely Planet Story (which he autographed for me...thanks Tony). His talk was a mingle of the Lonely Planet's humble beginnings (their first trip from England to Australia via the silk road) plus additional trips with his family in the nineteen eighties and what he has been doing more recently. I was pretty amazed to find out that in 1994 Tony and Maureen traveled along the US and created what was to get one of the first trip blogs. They sent everyday emails to Tim O'Reilly founder of Web 2.0 who then posted them online. Some truly cool trips that Tony has done in the last several years include:
The Plymouth - Banjul Challenge in 2007. Tony and Maureen drove a tiny used Mitsubishi hatchback car from Plymouth England all the way to Banjul Gambia. The event is for charity and all cars who make it to the complete line are then auctioned off. Their car which was purchased for $700 was sold for through $1000.The Soyuz rocket launch from Kazakhstan. This is where Russia launches their spacecraft and as a spectator you can get within several hundred yards of the site. Go Russia and your shortage of safety regulations! Tony showed a video clip he took and it was pretty amazing. For $30 million USD six months of cosmonaut training and some language courses in Russian you as well can fly into outer space for two weeks. This is where I need your help to make Globe Stompers as large as Lonely Planet so I can do this at some point in the future. Although Tony did not fly he just watched the launch.The Tour d'Afrique bike race from Cairo to Cape Town. Tony rode with the Lonely Planet team who took four months to complete the course. The riders rotated the roster every two weeks.What was one of Tony's favorite trips over the years? Visit Russia and spend a day just riding the subway. Only in Moscow can you find stations with beautiful mosaics and chandeliers. It was also interesting to find out that Tony and Maureen are only partially involved with Lonely Planet publishing but are very energetic with their charity organization called the Planet Wheeler Foundation which runs projects in the Mekong Delta Africa Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
You may have heard that on July 16th 2009 ZacSunderland at age seventeen became the youngest person to sail solo round the world. It's amazing to think that Zac who serene has three classes to go before graduating high academy has experienced more in thirteen months than most people do in their entire lives. His trip was one of the most amazing journeys and I was captivated the entire time he spoke. His tale included dodging pirates fixing a broken boat multiple times and weathering massive storms so to speak. He's currently training for an Mount Everest expedition and will be ba
Patricia Schultz is the writer of the best selling book 1000 Places to See Before You Die. This book was a staple of ours before Julie and I set off on our around the world trip. I am happy to say that I've been to many of these destinations although I still have a ton to go before I die. Here are some tips that Patricia shared with the audience:
Rule of thumb avoid travel destinations with airports nearby. Go further out and you'll have a more authentic experience with less tourists.Home Exchange is a good site where you can swap your apartment/house with someone else in another area or country. Just like the movie The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet.One of the top three experiences in life should be an African safari. Travel to Namibia which is a new adventure capital.Take the new express train in China which travels from either Beijing or Shanghai all the way to Lhasa in Tibet. The compartments even have oxygen to help you breathe at altitude.Bhutan and Myanmar are two must see destinations.There was a lot to see at the expo and in between the guest lectures I found time to visit with some of the exhibitors. Here is a concise list of some interesting companies and things that are going on:
1. Museyon Guides has come up with a conception that pairs interests with travel. Check out their Music + Travel and Film + Travel guides.
2. Contiki a tour corporation specializing in trips for 18-35 year-olds (I just make the cut on this) has some fun new trips coming up for Summer 2010. I asked Jennifer Dimucci a sales manager with the company how one becomes a trip leader? Out of hundreds of applicants they only select a couple new leaders each year. It's a mix of luck and previous experience. Do you have what it takes to be a trip leader? Check out their jobs section to apply cross some fingers and toes find a four leaf clover and start structure up some karma points.
3. Cactus is an organization that arranges language trips abroad. It's way more fun to study Italian in Rome than online or listening to CD's.
4. Travel Daddy is a social networking site where you can find activity buddies while on the road. I tend to meet people in local hostels but if you had a larger trip planned and wanted to find people ahead of time this is a good way to do it.
5. If you are an adventurer with a some cash saved up why not receive a cruise to the North Pole. Expedition Cruises run two week trips which give you anywhere from twelve to twenty four hours on the North Pole. They do not guarantee that you will find Santa Claus but you can try.
6. My favorite booth was that of the Jamaican dog sled team. Yes you read that correctly! The movie Cool Runnings brought us the story of the Jamaican bobsled team and now Newton Marshall will compete in the 2010 Iditarod trail sled dog race across Alaska. I'm from Canada and I don't even like the cold. Good luck Newton and team Jamaica.
I really enjoyed my two days at the expo meeting tour operators tourism agencies and listening to stories from guest lecturers. I will definitely escort the event next year when it comes to town but right now I have my eye set on something bigger. Next week Quebec will play host to the Adventure Travel World Summit. This looks amazing.
See where Iam now. Check out my trip map!
keywords:expo travel adventures
Say what I think
Newest published topics
| Madalena road closure ; Sound ... |
| Illinois man works 50 jobs in ... |
| The Adventures In Travel Expo: ... |
| 13 October SWJ Roundup |
| ITE appointment system live |
Topic keywords
more
cher(56) nike pas cher(44) air max france(44) pas(34) soldes(34) nike(34) air max soldes(29) max(28) scarpe(27) nike soldes(27) air(25) jordan(25) travel(20) nike shox r4(20) shox(17) was(14) scarpe shox(14) tn pas cher(14) shoes(12) nike air max(11) nike air max 90(10) tickets(9) his(9) chaussures(9) cheap(7) news(7) lancel(7) guide(6) amp(6) vacations(6)