Writing Travel

Passports with Purpose almost halfway to goal, six days to go

Don't forget to add your ten bucks (or more) to help Passports with Purpose reach our $80,000 Room To Read fundraising goal.

Prize entries close at 11:59PM PST on Friday, December 16.

Besides the two prizes featured here on Writing Travel thanks to the generous donations of Authentic Seacoast Resorts and Think Tank Photo, there are dozens of other super travel-related prizes you could win for only $10.00.

Just a few of the many great donations:

• Bike and cruise the coast of Thailand.
• Raft and camp the Lower Salmon River.
• Spend nine days in Costa Rica or eight days in the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies.
• Explore the Central Market in Florence or spend a week in an apartment near Assisi, Italy.
• Enjoy a year's worth of Boingo internet access.
• Fulfill your European rail travel dream with a 15-day first class Eurail Pass. 

Check out the donation page for more and make your choices now.

Even if you don't win now, you'll win later at tax time: all donations are tax deductible.

Super prizes for Passports with Purpose 2011 fundraiser donated by Think Tank Photo and Authentic Seacoast Resorts of Guysborough, Nova Scotia

Passports with Purpose 2011, the travel bloggers fundraiser, begins today, November 30, and runs through December 16 with the aggressive goal of raising $80,000 to build not one but two libraries for children in Zambia in partnership with Room To Read.

For more information about how to donate and possibly win one of the valuable prizes secured by the dozens of participating travel bloggers, check out the PwP donation page.

I'm delighted to be promoting two prizes this year. Authentic Seacoast Resorts is again donating a getaway to their properties on the scenic eastern shore of Nova Scotia. My newer partner, Think Tank Photo, has provided a top-of-the-line camera backpack that anticipates the needs of professional photographers. (Officially, the Think Tank backpack is being sponsored by my photoblog, but I hope no one minds if I introduce both prizes here.)

StreetWalker® HardDrive camera backpack by Think Tank Photo, retail value $190

In my never ending quest for the perfect photo bag, I've tried almost every brand and system. Think Tank Photo's StreetWalker® HardDrive has become my primary bag for storing and transporting my camera gear and 15" MacBook Pro locally, on the road, and in the air. It's one of the few bags I own that can accommodate my 70-200 lens mounted and ready to shoot along with all the other lenses I don't want to leave at home. In fact, it has so many handy pockets and compartments, it can hold just about all my photographic bits and pieces. I have to be careful not to load myself down with more than I really need.

Think Tank has designed the StreetWalker® Harddrive backpack with a slim vertical profile, so you can navigate crowded urban settings and public transportation safely with your photo gear. The backpack also features an easy-to-manipulate built-in tripod/monopod mounting system. The adjustable contoured harness and air channel provide a comfortable fit for both men and women of a large range of sizes.

As a visual person, one of the things I like best about this bag is that I can see all my gear when it's packed. The cover opens fully to reveal camera, lenses, and flash, and the compartments for smaller items inside the lid are made of see-through material. Visit ThinkTankPhoto.com to learn more about the StreetWalker® Harddrive and the company's comprehensive catalog of professional photo gear.

Product photos © Think Tank Photo LLC.

Experience the secluded beauty of Nova Scotia’s scenic Eastern Shore with a getaway package from Authentic Seacoast Resorts, retail value $365

The Authentic Seacoast Resorts’ getaway package for two includes a one-night bed & breakfast stay at the award-winning luxury property DesBarres Manor Inn, lunch at the harbor-front Rare Bird Pub and Eatery, a tour (with tasting, of course) of the Authentic Seacoast Brewing Company, and a round of oceanside golf at Osprey Shores Golf Resort.

Although I've not yet traveled to Nova Scotia or the other provinces of Atlantic Canada, I've visited often in my imagination and through the stories of friends and family who have spent time there. Again this year, the Authentic Seacoast Resorts have donated a getaway to a place that occupies a huge segment of my travel fantasy map, the town of Guysborough, Nova Scotia, and its environs.

As I mentioned last year, Guysborough is famous among middle-aged folk music aficionados as the hometown of the musical Rogers brothers, the late Stan Rogers, whose memory is celebrated every summer during StanFest, and his younger sibling, singer-songwriter Garnet Rogers.

If I weren't a travel blogger, I might never have learned that Guysborough is a wonderful place for other reasons beyond its place in folk music history, beginning with the historical DesBarres Manor Inn.

 

The historical property was built in 1837 for J.W.F. DesBarres, a Supreme Court Justice. Now a 10-room country inn with the amenities of a boutique hotel, the DesBarres Manor Inn is one of Atlantic Canada's top culinary destinations. DesBarres Manor's culinary honors include the 2008 Nova Scotia Cuisine of the Year Award and the 2009, 2010 & 2011 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, and the 2009 Canadian Wine Annual Where to Eat & Stay in Atlantic Canada. 

All stays at DesBarres Manor Inn include luxury amenities: waffle-weave robes, 600-threadcount bedding, breakfast for two, afternoon tea or coffee, a Taste of Nova Scotia guest reception, even a complimentary yoga mat. Free wireless high-speed Internet access is available at the inn as well as at Osprey Shores Golf Resort.

Included in your prize package is lunch for two at the Rare Bird Pub and Eatery. I've studied the menu closely and made my selections. It has to be Chedabucto Bay Seafood Chowder for starters. I'm willing to share an order of steamed local mussels in garlic butter and white wine. Then I'll have Greg’s Fish & Chips because I can't pass up hand-battered halibut. That is, of course, unless there's a tempting daily special. 

Here's another thing I would probably never have known had I not taken up travel blogging: Guysborough is home to the oldest commercial brewing operation in Atlantic Canada, dating from 1659 and an enterprising Acadian, Nicholas Denys. Today, the tradition continues in the Rare Bird Pub with the Authentic Seacoast Brewing Company. As the winner of the prize package, you'll be treated to a tour of the brewery operations at the Rare Bird and a tasting of the Authentic Seacoast Ales produced there with pure, unchlorinated deep artesian well water, freshly ground hops, and Canadian-grown malted barley. Just a thought here: perhaps you should take your brewery tour after your round of golf at Osprey Shores.  

Even if you don't love golf, you shouldn't miss a chance to play the Osprey Shores Golf Resort for its breathtaking views of the bay. Or maybe you could pretend to play golf, so long as you didn't impede someone else's game. As for me, I'd stash my Think Tank Photo camera bag in the golf cart and focus on lining up shots of a different kind.

Fine print: The Authentic Seacoast getaway must be redeemed during 2012 and is not available on holiday weekends. Additional nights can be reserved at the prevailing rate.

Photo credits: Authentic Seacoast Resort.

Heartfelt thanks to the Passports with Purpose founders and general sponsors

Passports with Purpose was founded in 2008 by a group of four Seattle travel bloggers, Debbie Dubrow, Michelle Duffy, Pam Mandel, and Beth Whitman, the bloggers behind Delicious Baby, WanderMom, Nerd’s Eye View, and Wanderlust and Lipstick, respectively.

In 2008, PwP raised money for Heifer International; in 2009, PwP funded construction of a school in rural Cambodia, and in 2010, a village in India for a group of perpetually homeless people, members of India's Dalit caste, who were once known as the untouchables.

Thanks also go to this year's generous Passports with Purpose sponsors: Round the World With Us, Traveller’s Point, HomeAway, and Good 2 Go.

NaBloPoMo, daily blogging, and other priorities

On November 8, the score was 8 for 8. Then I got tired of keeping score and looked at other priorities.

The real question is why I maintain this so-called travel blog. And the real answer: for fun and challenge and interaction and learning and sharing with a (presumed) audience. The false answer: for fame and fortune and Google PageRank.

When did blog posting become a burden? I think it goes back to the travel blogging advice about posting frequency that began appearing in the last couple of years. You've got to post every day, some bloggers exhorted, or if not every day, at least three days a week, on a regular schedule.

Well, as much as I hate to reveal this personal detail, I don't do much of anything on a regular schedule, neither privately nor publicly. That's just the way I roll, the rules of my game. I'd love to be one of those regular folks. I admire them. They always put their keys in the same place, their dresser drawers are replenished regularly with clean folded laundry, and nothing rotten has ever gotten lost in their crisper drawers. They have never traveled anywhere with more than two pair of shoes.

I don't live in that world. I'm stuck in an alternative universe. So when I heard that I had to blog every day if I wanted to be a success at travel blogging, my contrarian self staged a rebellion. I went on a blogging strike of sorts.

Somehow, I thought a public commitment to NaBloPoMo would shake things up. And it did, until I realized I was churning out that daily blog post at the last possible moment.

So I took a break, but I'm back for the important stuff.

Passports with Purpose 2011 is coming up, beginning on November 30, and that's a true priority for me. I've got posts to write about two fabulous prizes from great sponsors. Beyond that, we'll see what develops between now and then. I'll try not to bore you or blather on about my personal limitations or make false promises about my lofty goals.

Blogging is optional.

 

Passports With Purpose November 15 deadline reminder for travel bloggers

A reminder to all my fellow travel bloggers that it's not too late to sign on to participate in the 4th annual Passports With Purpose fundraiser.The deadline for registration and confirming prize procurement is November 15.

I'm excited that I received confirmation today of two, count 'em two, prizes from great sponsors. Can't say yet who they are, but I'm stoked they have agreed to support Passports With Purpose's fundraising efforts. This year, Passports With Purpose will be aiming to raise $80,000, enabling Room to Read to build two libraries in Zambia.

Even if you don't offer a prize, you can support Passports With Purpose by hosting an ad or widget on your site and spreading the word to your family, friends, and fellow bloggers. Heck, last year my husband read my Passports With Purpose 2010 wish list and made tax deductible donations in hope of winning my holiday gifts. He didn't win, but I still got a gift from the list  And we both got another gift at tax time.

On another topic: yesterday's photo post received some nice compliments and helpful comments, most notably from Jack Norell, a world-class photographer who runs the travel blog Eyeflare.

Jack called me out on something I need to remedy in my writing practice. Simply said, he advised that my words should "put the photographs in context" rather than talk about what is happening in the pictures. I'm taking this criticism to heart.

So I'm reneging on my promise to write today about the issues I hinted at yesterday in my conclusion.Instead, I'm working to revise the post to make it a true photoessay, incorporating my research on the effects of tourism on women and children in Cuzco as well as my feelings about my photographic subjects.

30 days, 30 blog posts: Can I do it?

When I started this blog more than 5 years ago, I promised myself I would not post unless I had something worthwhile to say. Over the last year, for a number of mostly personal reasons, my posts have dwindled. Most have closed with false prediction of more frequent posts in the near future.

Yesterday, my collaborators and I decided to postpone the revival of the National Travel Writing Month (NaTraWriMo) challenge until January 2012. Shortly after putting that project on hold, I ran across two other November writing challenges that captured my imagination.

The first is BlogHer's NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, a challenge to publish a blog post every day during November. The second is SheWriMo, sponsored by SheWrites; it has a simpler, more general mandate: write every day and report your success.

Will this accountability help me establish a daily writing habit? Will I crash through my writer's block and begin to share some travel stories? Will I bore my audience and lose all social media credibility?

I guess the next 30 days will reveal the answers to those questions.