writing travel

Guest blogger: writer & photographer Sandra Basgall reports from Central Africa

Through the miracle of social networking, I've reconnected with Sandra Basgall, a valued friend of more than 30 years' duration. Once upon a time, as single parents in a university town, Sandra and I and another friend, Anne Kaplan, shared an after-school caregiver for our children, beginning when the kids were in kindergarten. We lost track of each other a good while ago as we pursued our separate adventures. Then, last June, we found each other on Facebook and renewed our friendship.

Sandra has just launched yet another huge adventure. Since December, she has been in Kinshasa in a new position with Catholic Relief Services, where she is based as the Regional Director of Monitoring and Evaluation for Central Africa. With responsibility for nine countries, Sandra will be traveling extensively, expecting to be on the move 30 percent of the time during her assignment.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Sandra asked me for advice on publishing a blog documenting her stay in Africa. Although she's begun posting on a WordPress.com blog, her new duties are taking up much of her time. So I leapt at the opportunity to feature Sandra's weekly posts from Central Africa here on Writing Travel to help her build an audience.

Most popular posts of 2009: a map for travel blogging in 2010

Yes, this blog has been stagnant over the last few weeks. Like its author, it never really decided what it wanted to become when it grew up.

I'm letting my readers help decide where I should take this blog in 2010. How? By reviewing the posts that garnered most attention during the last year.

Here are last year's top ten posts:

1. Navigo like the natives through the Paris Métro: Navigo Découverte pass a must for bargain-seeking travelers
2. To Schmap or not to Schmap, a strategic question for travel photographers
3. Eight places where you can eat for free in Paris
4. Wednesday Window ~ Hotel Baker 1928 stained glass peacock fanlight, St. Charles, IL
5. Wednesday Window ~ View of Union Station from Frist Center, Nashville
   
6. Corpse Bride and Victor Van Dort figures in the window of Album, Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris
   
7. Rare sight in Paris: snow!
8. "Grits is good" and other useful facts about Alabama
9. New Year's Day on the town in Paris and onward: jazz, gravity, and an exposé
10. Photo Friday ~ Find your marbles at Moon Marble Company, Bonner Springs, Kansas

You may notice a good half of these are content driven rather than simply photographs. Perhaps that should serve as a clue for the blog's fresh direction and a hint for ramping up activity on my photography sites, Lanora Mueller Photography and Photographing Travel.

For your viewing pleasure, HipCompass Escapes Fall 2009

I must repeat myself: I'm thrilled to be a contributor to HipCompass Escapes. The Fall 2009 issue, our third, is the best ever, in my opinion, thanks to the far-reaching talents of the production staff and of my fellow contributors.

The far-ranging explorations included in the new issue cover every turn of the globe, from North Africa to the Straits of Taiwan, from Laos to Tahiti, from Maine to Hawaii, from Spain to Argentina to Mexico.

Please take a look and enjoy the depth and breadth of the offerings.

Introducing HipCompass Escapes, a tree-friendly, niche-free, all-digital national travel magazine

Sitting at a stoplight a couple of months ago, I picked up an email on my Blackberry from fellow travel writer Michelle Strashoon with her thoughts about launching a new, glossy travel magazine in digital form.

Michelle's message was filled with such enthusiasm I almost pulled over immediately to read the details. Fortunately, my safety-conscious daughter was in the passenger seat and willing to read Michelle's email aloud so we could continue our drive home from school. I dialed Michelle as soon as possible to learn more about the project and was thrilled when she accepted my pitch to write about my recent culinary experiences in Paris from the point of view of a frugal foodie.

Not everyone shared Michelle's optimism about the viability of a niche-free, solely digital travel publication in this economic environment. Undaunted, she followed through and brought out the premier edition of HipCompass Escapes on April 15, an impressive 96-page launch issue supported by numerous high-end advertisers willing to take a chance on the new venture.

Despite all efforts by Michelle and her team to plan for adequate bandwidth in support of the launch, there were a few technical glitches during the first 48 or so hours that prevented eager subscribers from accessing the publication. Apparently, distributor Zinio.com, host of the online editions of such mainstream periodicals as Business Week, Reader's Digest, Esquire, Playboy, PC Magazine, and Macworld, hadn't reckoned on the publication's immediate surge in popularity.

After those first few days of complaints from frustrated readers who couldn't access the publication, it's now time for me to invite all my readers to sign up for a free subscription to HipCompass Escapes.

The magazine is a quarterly, so we are already pressed to decide where the Frugal Foodie will dine next.