Group Trip Advisor

Travel Carnival: Inaugural Edition

Update: The Carnival of Travel is no longer active but Group Trip Advisor welcomes guest posts. Please contact us to learn more.

Slice a lemon five different ways, and you'd see something new with each slice. With the inaugural carnival of travel, we're hosting a list of travel articles from the great big blogsphere to spotlight a slice of travel blog life.

While Group Trip Advisor is devoted to group travel, we know the passion for travel starts from individual journeys, adventures, families seeking to reunite, making new friends along the road of life, and bonding with existing friends. Future carnival of travel "editions" may spotlight more specific subjects such as family travel, adventure travel, or road tripping.

Without further ado, enjoy the first collection of travel carnival musings:

  1. In Blue Streak, Mom and Me, Kelly Curtis, mother and founder of Empowering Youth, blogs about a 1973 Midas motor home that transported the family to 47 states in a 10-year timespan and her journeys today with her own daughter. A short, sweet, poignant piece.

  2. A beautifully written piece, titled To Venice for Lunch, on the trials of traveling, until you arrive in a place like Venice and fall in love with traveling all over again. Pam at Nerd's Eye View makes you want to visit the golden hues, canals, and bridge-connected sidewalks.

  3. Mary Jo, a flight attendant (and Fly Away Cafe blogger), shares etiquette tips for cell phone use on flights so you can avoid being a travel companion from hell. Everyone should read this.

  4. Family travel in the Caribbean from Chookooloonks.com. Trinidad, chocolate, and family.... mmmmm.... what could be sweeter? Karen writes about: "a day-trip my family took to my uncle's farm in Moruga, a small village on the southern coast of the island of Trinidad, in the caribbean."

  5. Janna, of S/V Dragonfly blog, chronicles a sailing trip that she and her husband took to "circumnavigate the Pacific." Get a glimpse of life on a sailboat trip to the Philippines. Grab a cup of coffee for this article; a longer piece, but worth the read.

  6. Should you learn Spanish before visiting Argentina (or any other Spanish-speaking country)? An expat living in Argentina, Laura gives great insight into how much you should know before you go.

  7. Singer-songwriter Christine Kane blogs about getting out of your comfort zone in her article Have an Adventure Day. My favorite snippet from the post: "The best way to open up your mind is to apply a jolt of unfamiliar."

  8. New Year's Eve in Prague? In "Explosions Aplenty: New Year's Eve on Charles Bridge," Jennifer paints a vivid picture of how the Czechs spend New Year's Eve. Speaking of holidays, Jennifer also journals and blogs about Belfast, Dublin, Olympia, and Salida (Colorado) as wanderlustgirl on IgoUgo.com. You go, girl!

  9. Cullen at the Travel Guide for Your Finances blog submitted a highly relevant post for any traveler who uses credit cards or ATM cards for purchases. "Buyer Beware: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)" offers keen insights into hidden transaction fees on foreign purchases.

  10. Small Blessings is part of Jamaica Jones' journey from Paris to Istanbul. This article is Turkey-specific and reminds me so much of my trip there with friends a decade ago. Ah, the Mediterranean countries! A well-written piece, to boot.

  11. Jennifer's "family trip to the Atlantis in the Bahamas" offers good insight for other families. Her husband loved the Mayan temple water slide as much as the kids apparently.

  12. Jacquelin writes about turning a travel fantasy of going to Italy into a reality and her observations after living her travel dream. A lovingly written piece on the romantic Italian air: "Italians have perfected the aesthetic side of life."

  13. Kevin snapshots photos of the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans after his trip post-Hurricane Katrina. So many people are volunteering to help rebuild communities (including animal habitats like this zoo) in the Gulf. This is one story in a myriad of ongoing, heart-warming efforts.

  14. Bargain-hunting (yardbird) blogger Katherine Dynes shows off photos of her road trip to Mount Shasta, California and offers a little insight into solo sojourns on a Seattle Post-Intelligencer readers blog.

July 21, 2006