The posts I will be popping up on my poor neglected travel blog over the next few days have been a long time coming. Some I drafted back in Beirut in November, others I scribbled almost a month ago while I was recovering from bronchial pneumonia from a hotel room in Bangkok where we were working on a guidebook. That diagnosis, by the way, based on nasty symptoms like coughing up blood, came from my doctor uncle in Australia by email because I was too busy working to get to a GP. It would be an understatement to say that 2009 has been a hectic year of travel and writing for Terry and I - something I only recently appreciated glancing at all the books we've written which have been published this year sitting on the shelf beside my desk here at my family's house in Bendigo, Australia: Footprint Italian Lakes, Thomas Cook Northern Italy, and Thomas Cook Travellers Calabria, plus a handful of books I updated for AA and Thomas Cook. Then there are others we've written that I haven't even seen (like the Rough Guides Clean Breaks, which I contributed to) or are not yet published, like the new edition to the Rough Guide to Australia (for which we updated four and a bit states - half the country! - on a four month-long road trip from October 2008 to February 2009), and another first edition, Back Roads Australia for DK. I skim down this page scanning my posts, and while there have been few compared to last year or the year before, when I stop at In Print and Online and then take a look at that archive I see why. We may continually read the claims that print is dead yet we've spent more time writing for magazines this year than any other, and up until we returned to guidebooks in December we'd spent six months solid doing little else but write for magazines. The irony is that we've now been hired by HomeAway Holiday-Rentals for a year to travel the world, stay in their properties, and blog about the experience - something I never could have predicted. So the travel blogging that for me had been an escape from my 'day job' as a travel writer now becomes our main source of income. Print is still not dead, however - as much as our new client appreciates social media, they are still going to pay us bonuses for every article we get published in a magazine or newspaper. So I'm expecting it's going to be another busy year, but I'm pleased to say that we'll be slowing down considerably. No longer will I be envying a donkey his pace. More on our new project, Grantourismo soon.
Pictured? Fortune tellers in Bangkok.
It's been a busy period for Terry and I, as you've gathered from the dearth of blog posts these last months. And we've got a lot of work being published to prove it, from a small 'Up Next' piece on Abu Dhabi in the September edition of National Geographic Traveler to half a dozen eco-experiences I wrote about in Rough Guide's Clean Breaks book. I saw our first edition Travellers Northern Italy guidebook for the first time in a bookshop in Dubai the other day too and got exhausted just looking at it - that was a tough trip. Although I know you don't believe me. We've always written for in-flight magazines, but we've been doing a lot more writing for them these past few months. If you're wondering why, it's because it's fun, the editors are lovely, easy to work with and respond to emails, it's nice to submit a story and see it in print a month or two later, and they pay on time. In September's Storytelling issue of Gulf Air's in-flight magazine Gulf Life, we have features on Abu Shady, Syria's last hakawati or professional storyteller and a review on the Sheraton Aleppo; while in the October issue, we have articles on Syrian sculptor Mustafa Ali; a new Damascus jazz duo comprised of opera star Rasha Razk and pianist Ghazwan Zerkli; and funky Zen bar in Damascus with its fabulous views. All feature Terry's gorgeous photos of course, as does a story on Doha Tribeca Film Festival director - he shot the stunning portrait of Amanda Palmer in the lobby of Doha's W hotel. We've got a bunch of stories in this month's issue of Jazeera's in-flight J Mag too, and in MPI's One Plus magazine a profile on Emirati Ali Al Saloom who is changing the way visitors to Abu Dhabi experience the UAE.
As I don't have time to blog at the moment (read why here), feel free to check out our latest writing in print and online. This month in J Mag, Jazeera Airways' in-flight magazine, you can read about walking tours with shepherds, learning to make traditional bread with a village baker, and some of the other rustic activities being offered by Northern Cyprus' first eco-village in our story 'Village People' (online version here). The same issue also features 'Where to Stay: Antalya', my overview of the best hotels in one of Turkey's most agreeable cities. We spent just over two and a half months in Turkey last year writing, including six weeks in Antalya last year renting an apartment in a restored Ottoman house in the old city. The Northern Cyprus story was researched during a trip to Cyprus (we flew to Antalya from Northern Cyprus) to update a few books and write a first edition Cyprus guide for AA Publishing. Online, you can take a look at our piece on Adelaide: Australia's most underrated city, on Viator, which is one of our final posts on a series we wrote while Down Under working on books and stories: see the full series here. The pic? That's the idyllic setting for the walks with the local shepherd that we write about in the Northern Cyprus story. Tempted?
Check out our story on Australia's sultry 'Top End' city of Darwin on Viator. We spent a few weeks in this tropical town just before the Wet season started, using it as a base to explore Kakadu, Arnhem Land and Litchfield and we absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, for many travellers heading Down Under, Darwin isn't much more than a jumping-off point for adventures elsewhere, but we think its superb museums, buzzy markets, and multicultural vibe make it deserving of a few days stay. On Viator, we provide a more detailed itinerary for two days in the steamy city, but here's a taster:
DAY ONE
1. Check into lush lodgings - our picks are SkyCity, home to Darwin's best restaurant EVOO (pictured), and the luxurious tropical-style Moonshadow Villas, and their chic sister apartments in the CBD. Out of the many backpacker places, we liked the look of Melaleuca on Mitchell.
2. Get your bearings with a tour - no trip to Australia is complete without an Aboriginal-led tour, so we recommend experiencing Darwin through the eyes of an indigenous guide with Batji Tours.
3. Get a culture fix - this is a hot and humid city, so it's best to spend the warmest part of the day indoors and hit Darwin’s excellent Museum and Art Gallery of the NT which boasts a stunning Indigenous Art collection and a quirky exhibit on Darwin’s tragic destruction on Christmas Eve 1974 by Cyclone Tracy.
4. Smile at a crocodile (from a safe distance!) - the region is home to some terrifying salt-water crocs, so it's essential to learn as much as you can about them before heading bush. You can get as close as you'll ever want to get at Crocosaurus Cove (in the 'Cage of Death'!) or view croc feedings on guided tours at Crocodylus Park.
5. Hit the markets - for a small city, Darwin has two brilliant markets: Mindil Beach Sunset Markets, where during the Dry season you can enjoy sundowners from the sandy beach with the locals (who bring their fold-up chairs and beer-filled eskies along!) and delicious Asian food from the stalls over the dunes (Darwin is close to Indonesia and has a large Asian population); and the year-round Parap Village Market on Saturday mornings for more spicy Asian food, crafts, hippy clothes, and Aboriginal Art.
6. Tuck into some tasty Australia seafood by the sea - dinner by the water is a must-do in Darwin, whether it’s fish and chips washed down with beer at Stokes Hill Wharf or a moonlit meal from a restaurant table overlooking boats bobbing in the water at Cullen Bay Marina.
If you want to find out what else there is to do in Darwin, see part 2 of our taster, and the more detailed piece on Viator, where you can also book tours.
The first edition of our Calabria guidebook which we wrote for Thomas Cook Publishing is soon to be released. We spent just over a month there last May researching the book and Terry shot the gorgeous images, and we spent another month or so writing it. It wasn't an easy book to do for a number of reasons, which makes us extra proud. And I was glad to find that I still got a little excited today when I opened the package from London. We've worked on more than 40 guidebooks so it's nice to still get a bit of a kick out of the achievement. But first editions tend to do that for you because they're so completely your own - you do preliminary research, write the outline and shot lists, go on the road and do the real research, in our case Terry also shot the pics, you then write the thing up, do your mapping, answer editor's queries, advise on photos, check the proof, and so on. So it's hard not to feel as if it's your baby.
Which is why I always find it curious when writers don't update their own books. With publishers like Lonely Planet you don't always get the opportunity to - editors move around so much, so by the time an edition needs updating someone else is managing the book and they don't know you from a bar of soap and have writers they like to use. But most publishers invite the original authors to update their books. I've already twice updated the DK Top Ten to Dubai and Abu Dhabi which I co-authored. Yet, along with our Calabria books, copies of Crete, Cyprus, Milan and the Lakes, and Sicily also arrived today - all books I updated during our time in Italy last year; all second editions of books written by other authors. Perhaps the timing wasn't right, there were clashes with other projects, or the job just didn't pay enough. Perhaps the challenges we faced on Calabria provide some insight. We haven't taken a close look at our Calabria book yet but already we've noticed a photo we don't recognise of a seaside restaurant in Cosenza. Cosenza, of course, is inland. And that's the reason Terry refuses to look at our published books. Hopefully the person who updates the second edition will pick that one up.
Keen to read more about Calabria? Take a look at my posts from last year:
On the road again... in Calabria!
Is Calabria the new Puglia?
Calabria: Europe's best-value destination
10 Reasons to travel to Calabria: part 1 & part 2
One more reason to visit Calabria: Liquorice!
We have a few articles coming out this month... the January issue of Lifestyle+Travel magazine features a story on our recent road trip through the Northern Territory, starting with our journey on The Ghan from Alice Springs to Darwin in October and covering our stays at boutique properties such as Bamurru Plains near Kakadu and Longitude 131 at Uluru. A guide to experiencing the outback in style aimed at people inspired to head 'down under' after seeing Australia the movie, the story covers the best of what the Territory has to offer. Business travel magazine Connect includes our 'Ultimate Guide to Australia', as part of their Global Traveller series, with a special feature on contemporary Australian cuisine, and a companion piece on doing business and corporate etiquette in Oz. If you're flying on United Airlines, take a look at their award-winning in-flight magazine Hemispheres, which features a piece I wrote on Dubai for their hugely popular '3 Perfect Days' series. It was the first time I'd written for Hemispheres and I was quite astonished that my brief required me to include a detailed list of shooting locations and PR contact details for the photographer they flew to Dubai.
Want to go to a place where you can take a stroll with some shepherds, scramble about soaring castles, fill up on a 'full kebab' and walk 'the line'? Then take a look at my story Northern Cyprus: 10 Reasons to Go Now which has just gone up on the Nine MSN Travel site to see why I think you need to go soon. The 'line' you'll walk, by the way, is 'the Green Line', the UN-buffer zone that currently separates the North and South of Cyprus. The fact that talks are currently underway between the leaders of both sides to pull down the borders and unite the country is the main reason I think you should visit soon. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for unification. But if you haven't seen Northern Cyprus the way it is now, you should, before it's too late. It will become a very different place once the country is united, for better and possibly - but I hope not - for worse.
Pictured? Another good reason to go - the Turkish Delight, or lokum. Yum!
I just discovered this recent story Come hell or highways in The Age on the road trip and family travel, and was flattered to see myself quoted. Samantha Selinger-Morris writes: "So why does the family road trip receive so much attention? The Sunday Times of London recently reported a boom in motor-home travel. And in February, Lonely Planet and Lifestyle + Travel magazine contributor Lara Dunston extolled the sublime pleasures of caravan trips - such as the five-year epic she made with her family around Australia when she was 11 - on her blog, Cool Travel Guide. "After so many five-star hotels with their tedious check-in procedures, the well-appointed rooms to inspect and the expansive buffet breakfasts to try, for the first time in many years, I found myself craving a far simpler travelling experience, that by caravan," she writes." Nice, huh? Thanks, Samantha!
When I updated you yesterday on our latest writing in print and online, I forgot to mention one new piece you might enjoy, especially those gourmet travellers out there who take your food seriously. Have a read of my partner Terry's article 'Perfect Balance' in Gulf Life, Gulf Air's in-flight magazine. The story is based on an interview we did with Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten during the opening of Jean-Georges' new Spice Market restaurant and Istanbul's W hotel. Terry also took the gorgeous photos. You may remember me telling you about our trip to Istanbul for the opening of the W hotel. It was a hectic few days of interviews and shoots, which, as exhausting as they were, reaffirmed our love for this work - how many jobs allow you to go to such cool places and meet so many cool people? A few stories resulted from that trip, including a review of the W hotel for Jazeera Airline's J Mag. Now, it's not often I post happy snaps on Cool Travel Guide, but I couldn't resist popping up this pic of Terry with Jean-Georges. We meet a lot of chefs - during this last trip to Italy, we got to interview a constellation of Michelin-starred chefs, shoot their dishes and eat their food - and we find chefs to be fascinating people. The best chefs are thoughtful, philosophical and passionate about food, travel and culture. Jean-Georges was all of those things, but he was also an endearing, down-to-earth and considerate guy. He also has his own blog. Very cool indeed.
The June-July issue of Jazeera Airways' J magazine features a few of our articles and Terry's fab photography. If you're not flying with the funky no-frills airline this month (or next), then you can read the stories online, although we love the layout and design of the printed magazines more. Check out Cyprus: Beyond the Beach, our guide to the top ten off-the-beaten-track things to see and do on the island (along with my update of the Cyprus destination guide); The Empire Strikes Back, about Istanbul's hip t-shirt brand Ottoman Empire (we did an interview with the lovely Ayse Bali, one of the owners, to be published in various forms in the future, which I'll keep you posted on); and Room with a View: the W Istanbul, which we quite literally wrote in our hotel room there just hours before the glam opening party I told you about. (Terry should have got a credit for writing that story too actually, but somehow his name got left off... these things happen occasionally unfortunately.) The May issue of Gulf Marketing Review featured a Tourism Sector Analysis (sounds dull I know, but it was fascinating. Really.) with my piece 'Low Cost Hospitality Comes to the Gulf', on the explosion of budget and "limited-service" hotels in the Gulf (sounds dull I know, but I tried to make it fascinating. Really.) If you're lucky enough to stay at a Ritz Carlton hotel next month, look out for a wee little piece from me on Doha's Islamic Art Museum as part of their global summer arts coverage; if you're taking a super-swish Seabourn cruise (the only cruise ships you'd ever get me on) you can read my 'Old Dubai, New Dubai' story in their on-board magazine; and if you're checking in to one of the Radisson-Carlson hotels, you can take a look at my guide to Dubai in Voyageur magazine.
Pictured? Not Cyprus, Istanbul, Doha, or Dubai. Instead, I thought I'd share another image from our recent trip to Calabria. I took this from the belvedere at Scilla, overlooking the castle and old town. Sublime, isn't it?
The posts I will be popping up on my poor neglected travel blog over the next few days have been a long time coming. Some I drafted back in Beirut in November, others I scribbled almost a month ago while I was recovering from bronchial pneumonia from a hotel room in Bangkok where we were working on a guidebook. That diagnosis, by the way, based on nasty symptoms like coughing up blood, came from my doctor uncle in Australia by email because I was too busy working to get to a GP. It would be an understatement to say that 2009 has been a hectic year of travel and writing for Terry and I - something I only recently appreciated glancing at all the books we've written which have been published this year sitting on the shelf beside my desk here at my family's house in Bendigo, Australia: Footprint Italian Lakes, Thomas Cook Northern Italy, and Thomas Cook Travellers Calabria, plus a handful of books I updated for AA and Thomas Cook. Then there are others we've written that I haven't even seen (like the Rough Guides Clean Breaks, which I contributed to) or are not yet published, like the new edition to the Rough Guide to Australia (for which we updated four and a bit states - half the country! - on a four month-long road trip from October 2008 to February 2009), and another first edition, Back Roads Australia for DK. I skim down this page scanning my posts, and while there have been few compared to last year or the year before, when I stop at In Print and Online and then take a look at that archive I see why. We may continually read the claims that print is dead yet we've spent more time writing for magazines this year than any other, and up until we returned to guidebooks in December we'd spent six months solid doing little else but write for magazines. The irony is that we've now been hired by HomeAway Holiday-Rentals for a year to travel the world, stay in their properties, and blog about the experience - something I never could have predicted. So the travel blogging that for me had been an escape from my 'day job' as a travel writer now becomes our main source of income. Print is still not dead, however - as much as our new client appreciates social media, they are still going to pay us bonuses for every article we get published in a magazine or newspaper. So I'm expecting it's going to be another busy year, but I'm pleased to say that we'll be slowing down considerably. No longer will I be envying a donkey his pace. More on our new project, Grantourismo soon.
