Tour of Travel Off The Cuff
New to Travel Off The Cuff or just interested in learning more about how to better use the website? Watch our 10 minute video tour. Just click the Clapper Board above right to open the video. Or if you want, watch it directly at YouTube.
- All Time
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 19, 2008 at 03:01 PM • tripso.com
After listening to 32 "innovators" at the PhocusWright Travel Innovation Summit in Hollywood yesterday, the verdict is in: Travelers just want more planning tools. I'm not convinced that we need all the trip planning tools that seem to be coming travelers' way. There are only so many virtual folders that I can stuff trip information into and have any hope of eventually finding it.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 09:22 PM • vagabondish.com
Have you ever wondered why your pleas for a couch to sleep on aren't returned? Do you feel doomed to travel without the privilege of a free night's accommodation and the pleasure of great local company? Do me a favour. Log into your profile and give it a read over. If someone contacted you with a profile like yours, would you let him into your home? C'mon, be honest.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 09:22 PM • vagabondish.com
Our series continues with a list of writing techniques and exercises to help further streamline your writing process and curb writer's block to keep the words flowing.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 06:28 PM • frommers.com
Even in the shakiest economic times, savvy families can always find ways to shave pennies, dollars, and even hundreds of dollars off their travel spending. Here are 20 tried-and-true strategies to help you get more bang from your vacation buck
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 06:28 PM • tripso.com
Think Christmas, and often it's a Norman Rockwellish, New England-inspired image that comes to mind: fir trees, clapboard homes with smoke rising from chimneys, wreaths on doors, and, of course, a dusting of snow.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 04:47 PM • lostgirlsworld.blogspot.com
CBS News reported last week on a trend that we're noticing all too often as we criss-cross the country: struggling local business. As often as possible, we hit up local restaurants. The food is usually tastier, the service more personalized, and we're always happy to give our money to a community business instead of a corporate chain.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 04:47 PM • eurocheapo.com
It's true, you can buy a bag of pasta just about anywhere. However, purchasing colorful pasta in Venice not only carries the stamp of Italian authenticity, but it offers a cheap and tasty solution to a potentially costly dilemma!
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 02:37 PM • gadling.com
Now here are this week's brain-busters: 1. What is the name of Brook Silva-Braga's 2007 documentary about round-the-world travel? 2. What lively street in central Bangkok, Thailand, is known as the world's most popular "backpacker ghetto"?
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 02:37 PM • usatoday.com
Looking for a ski getaway with authentic local charm? The December issue of Travel + Leisure magazines recommends five ski towns that "hold true to their local roots. "
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 02:36 PM • gadling.com
I mentioned last week that I was getting ready for a trip to England -- and I was a bit panicky about the fact that I hadn't finished packing. The truth is, whenever I pack for an international trip, I pack with two "me"'s in mind: Me The Tourist (who, at all costs, needs adequate underwear and hair products) and Me The Photographer (whose head would explode if she forgot her camera charger or, God forbid, her camera).
Submitted by DesertWriter, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 12:18 PM • travelingmamas.com
Review of Global Lost and Found, an item recovery service.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 12:17 PM • indietravelpodcast.com
Last week we featured an interview with Graham Kingaby, who is the Insurance Director at World Nomads Travel Insurance. We talked about travel insurance tips, what to look out for and about how World Nomads specifically caters to travellers' needs. This week we want to talk about our approach to travel insurance as well as look at how to find travel insurance and approach making a claim.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 09:24 AM • guardian.co.uk
Though she has run a bed and breakfast in Portland, Dorset, for more than a decade, Margaret Dunlop had never had an inquiry like it. The man at the end of the phone was calling from America, trying to book a fortnight's stay at the Queen Anne House B&B - in four years' time. Soon after, someone called from Greece, and before long the inquiries for 2012 were flooding in.
Submitted by DesertWriter, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 09:22 AM • travelingmamas.com
Tips to surviving airport holiday travel.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 07:22 AM • travel.nytimes.com
Venice can get a little claustrophobic after a few days, which is when you should head out, by vaporetto or taxi, to the wide-open sea and sky of the silvery lagoon.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 18, 2008 at 07:22 AM • travel.latimes.com
The air is already laced with diesel fumes as the conductor shouts, "All aboard! " The engineer sounds the whistle, and the locomotive lurches forward. Squeals of delight emanate from the passenger cars. This train ride is a first for many of the children. The adults share their excitement because they are setting off on a unique international adventure.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 17, 2008 at 10:27 PM • vagabondish.com
Speaking a bit of the local language is a skill that will improve your travel experience immeasurably. The problem is that learning languages is really, really difficult, even when you have plenty of time. Here are my tips on taking a crash course in the basics of a language when your departure date looms very near. You just need ten or fifteen minutes a day to give yourself a bit of an advantage in the traveling stakes.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 17, 2008 at 10:26 PM • gadling.com
The long and hard fought battle for landing slots rages on in New York and London, where airlines like Virgin Atlantic and British Airways squabble over who gets how many slots and when they're allowed to leave and depart from their airports.
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 17, 2008 at 10:26 PM • guardian.co.uk
Whether you prefer to spend New Year's Eve partying to the max, turning over a new leaf for 2009, or simply getting as far away from the festivities as possible, Sarah Turner and Nicola Iseard have some hot ideas for post-Christmas breaks
Submitted by Mark Wolinski, Made Popular: November 17, 2008 at 06:48 PM • nytimes.com
When the first OpenSkies jet took off in June from Paris for New York, the new airline was doing more than taking advantage of recently relaxed rules for flying across the Atlantic. Its owner, British Airways, was trying out a new business model applying the cost structure of a budget carrier to a more upscale operation.
