Posts Tagged ‘Guest Blogger’

Special Thanks To All My Guest Bloggers

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

It hasn’t been easy keep up with my blog. Working 50 hours a week, volunteering, researching grad schools, studying for GMAT, attempting to have a social life and running random errors during the weekends don’t leave me much time to write. I really owe a lot to my guest bloggers for helping me fill the void when I find myself spreading too thin.

I’d like to give a very, very special thank you to my friends and guest bloggers who make blogging about my travel experiences worthwhile. I’ve learned so much from all you and I wholeheartedly appreciate the friendship and kindness you’ve shown me.

Below is a list of guest bloggers who have shared their hearts and travel stories here on A Pair of Panties & Boxers. If you’d like to have your blog post featured here, feel free to contact me.

Stay tuned for my next guest blogger Brendan von Son from My World Is A Jungle Gym.

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Four Mistakes I Made in France

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

Guest Post by @candicewalsh


My work days are filled with tedious documentation and loads of research. Sometimes I’m so absorbed in my work, an entire day passes before I realize I haven’t spoken a word to anyone. But then some days my boss announces the company is sending me to France for two weeks.

Those days feel pretty great.

Unfortunately, when I started out on my first ever solo travel journey in May 2009, I was not at all connected to the online travel world like I am today. Not only was I visiting a country where I couldn’t speak the language, but I had to find my way to Brittany and into one of the most remote little towns I have ever visited.

And since I routinely find myself in ridiculous situations regardless of country or language, this trip had all the ingredients for humiliation. Lucky you. Here are some surprises I should have known before-hand.

1. The cheek kiss.

Imagine this: It’s the first day on the job in your company’s overseas office. You’re being introduced to everyone, colleagues you’ve only ever associated with through email. You’re discovering that most of the men are incredibly attractive. A pretty blonde boy with big brown eyes leans in extremely close to your face. You leap back like a scalded cat.

The cheek kiss. Dear god how did I not expect the cheek kiss? It caught me entirely by surprise, yet I had known about it for years. The invasion of space was so surreal, I didn’t know how to react.

But after a few days, I absolutely loved it. The personal relationships shared between my colleagues was the exact opposite of those shared in Canada. Every morning they came into work and greeted one another with the kiss. I found myself looking forward to it once I got over my “space” issues.

2. Deceptive food labels.

I know “milk” en francais is “lait”, seriously. I do. But for some reason I hauled a carton off the shelf automatically assuming it was milk because it resembled the cartons in Canada. A day or two later, I cracked open the seal, poured a glass, and took a huge gulp.

Sour cream. Thick-ass, sour, sour cream. I can still taste it.

Read food label. Carefully.

3. Local advice is not always the best (or any advice, really).

The town I was staying in, Lorient, was practically impossible to research in English. The only information I could find basically warned me to stay away. Even my coworkers shrugged their shoulders and said, “Meh, there’s really not much to do here. Small town.”

Then one day, the office ladies took me for ice-cream in the center city. The whole town opened up into a freaking shopper’s paradise, huge plazas and sidewalk shops and clothing lines unheard of in my part of the world. Cafes on the sidewalks and gelato booths everywhere.

What appears to be dull to some people is fresh and exciting to others.

4. Language ignorance.

I studied French for over 10 years in school, but not in an immersion school. While I have a good solid grasp of conversational basics, I was completely unprepared for the difficulty of applying my knowledge to everyday life. Basically, I got lost in the train station immediately upon arrival in Lorient, wandered around for an hour crying, and began mentally seeking the best bench to sleep on.

The whole experience discouraged me so much, I actively avoided trying to speak French for the remainder of the trip. Most of my time was spent in my little apartment being bored and lonely.

Do not do this. Throw yourself into conversation even if you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Pamplemousse, s’il vous plait. Oui oui.

Did I learn anything from all this? Perhaps. I’ll be heading back to France this year for a few weeks, we’ll see how I fare in round two.

About Candice

Candice Walsh, of Candice Does The World, is a technical writer for a deep sea technology company and an associate editor at Matador Network. When she isn’t writing about sonar equipment, she’s shooting whiskey and hitting on men, or eating nachos and dreaming about travel. She’s currently stationed in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

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My Coconuts

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Guest Post by @nomadicchick

Creative Commons by Alex the Greek

The other day I mused upon my obsession with coconuts. It dawned on me that I have a serious problem.

Bottle of coconut jam

Grocery shopping. We all do it, typically on a weekly basis. I usually go on Sundays to stock up for the week. On this particular Sunday, I really needed jam. There I was darting my head around the peanut butter/jam aisle. Raspberry – a trite tart – kind of a fall back. Strawberry, ooh those big chunks of sugared berries are deelish. I started to grab for reliable ol’Strawberry, when it distracted me. Gasping aloud, I greedily snatched this newfound treasure.

Some illustrious human created jam from coconuts?? Produced in Singapore? A far-flung exotic locale?! I jumped up and down in the aisle, flapping my arms as a bird does to prepare for flight. Oh mama, I was on that plane to coconut heaven.

Then, I opened it.

Boogers. I just laid down hard earned money, dollars that should be flying straight to my travel budget for green boogers. Everyday. I eat the visual equivalent for snot every single morning, spread it happily on my Kamut bread, marveling at the mixture of sugar and coconut as one.

Opened bottle of coconut jam

On a serious note, maybe I was dropped as a baby. Before you tweet how unhinged I am, take a stroll with me down the lane of whimsy for a sec.

Coconuts mimic the shape of the world. Round, at times smooth or rough, dependent on a destination. When a traveler cracks it open, those intense experiences are the juices flowing down, giving sustenance to the curious, adventure minded.

That’s how I travel – thrusting myself into the center, absorbing each encounter and reshaping them into jam or macaroons or pie. Whatever turns the wheel of travel, be it Krakow, Pai, or Biratnagar, travel is a sweet nectar that challenges and renews me.

Hence, my coconuts, are truly my travels.

About Jeannie

Jeannie Mark, the Nomadic Chick, will abandon the cubicle in 2010 to hit the road with a backpack and laptop in search of stories, interviews and self-reflection. Oh, and some laughs too!

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5 Travel Photos & Their Memories

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Guest post by @driftingfocus

One of the reasons I have been fascinated by photography from a young age is that when I see a photograph I’ve taken, it allows me to relive the moment in which I took the photo. When I look back through my photographs of distant lands, it’s like getting a free plane ticket. In this post I’ve put together five photos from my travels, along with what was going through my head around the time the photo was taken. Enjoy!

A converted barn in a small village near Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland:

Outside the barn door...

It’s almost as cold inside as it is outside due to the stone walls and floor. I’m in Switzerland, but I’m sitting alone inside, staring at the blaze orange metal piping that my bunk bed is made of, while bugs ram themselves against the window panes, drawn to the decidedly unnatural, flickering glow of the fluorescent light above me. I’m the only one staying here, and I haven’t spoken English in four or five days. I get up and walk outside. There are stars everywhere. In the distance I can hear the quiet clanging of cowbells around the necks of innumerable dairy cows in the fields. I walk barefoot across the grass and the cold dampness numbs my feet almost immediately. I turn around and see, in the distance, the Staubbach Falls, the tallest waterfall in Switzerland, lit up against the darkness, wisps of mist trailing off into the shadows. The light from the open door cuts a path across the grass, and I sit down, staring up at the mountains, their ridge lines silhouetted in the moonlight.

****************************************

A street in Liege, Belgium:

belgium-2196

I got mugged last night. My laptop was stolen, and I’m feeling decidedly shaken as I wander around the neighborhood today. I can’t wait to leave this country – I have bad associations with it now and I need to get out of here. As I’m walking, I see what seems to be a small alleyway, and when I look down it, I realize it’s the entrance to a family’s courtyard. The orange plaster walls reflect a warm, inviting light. The children’s bikes left unlocked project an innocence I feel was taken from me. I can’t go in, but looking in on this little milieu makes me feel better for the moment.

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Gagye Beach on Jindo Island, South Korea:

misc-1-4

I can’t believe that I’m living this life. Two days a week I get off work at 1pm and within 15 minutes, I can be here at this beach, swimming. The water isn’t the clearest, but it’s better than the Atlantic! I love coming to this beach, even if I don’t swim, just to feel the sand and water around my feet and to revel in the fact that I live somewhere like this. There’s a school group here from Mokpo, and while they say they’re jealous that I get to live here, I also notice a bit of mockery for living in such a “hick town” (as I’d say in English). I miss home, but standing here on this beach, listening to the waves, knowing that I have a good salary, the freedom of a motorcycle, and beauty like this surrounding me, I’m glad to be here.

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The old town area of Quebec City, Canada:

quebec (42)

Okay, come on lady. It’s cold and this maple syrup is starting to freeze around my teeth. I gave you my camera to take a picture of me because you said you knew how to work “one of those cameras”, but you’re quickly proving yourself to be a liar. Click the damn shutter already, the syrup is gluing the stick to my gloves.

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Rice paddy on Jindo Island, South Korea:

jindogeup-20

It’s my first full day here on Jindo, and it feels like I’ve been plopped down into a documentary. The town seems bigger than I expected, but also smaller – I didn’t expect to see people planting rice by hand, much less to see them doing so only a few hundred yards from my apartment. I’ve traveled a lot in my life, but this is the first time that I really feel like I’m on the other side of the world.

About Kelsey Freeman

Kelsey is something of a nomadic jack-of-all-trades. After having moved 28 times in 8 years, she’s currently living near Washington DC. She works odd jobs as well as being a graphic designer, web designer, photographer, and writer.

She is also a former professional tall ship sailor, she’s working on her private pilot’s license, and she rides a vintage Russian sidecar motorcycle. She is an avid historical reenactor and travels frequently within the east coast to attend events. Photography is her true calling though and she is passionate about exposing people to cultures, places, and people they might otherwise never know about.

She loves to travel and used to live on a small, rural island in South Korea. Her favourite country is Switzerland, she’s currently planning a journalism expedition to Mongolia, and she once spent a year living out of her truck, couchsurfing around the USA and Canada!

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Nine Warning Signs of Empty Travel

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Guest post by @magicant

Business travel is an oxymoron, like plastic silverware. It’s not travel. It’s just a bunch of meetings after a really long commute. I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of the world while on the company dime, but I rarely got to experience the places I visited.

Most overseas groups that want to work with American companies are looking to bring America to what they’re doing, so it tends to be a very insular experience. Meetings are in English. The hotels are the chains we’re familiar with. People you deal with were educated at western universities. About the only cultural thing I really learned in my travels was the formality involved in the exchange of business cards.

All that adds up to my desire to break free and someday go back to those places I never really got to know.

Do you think you have a similar problem? Here are some warning signs that mean you need to seek help (with apologies to that redneck guy).

  1. If you force your taxi driver in Dubai to stop at Dunkin Donuts because you don’t have them in California… you might be a business traveler
  2. If checking out the local bar means taking a Snickers from a mini-fridge in Dusseldorf… you might be a business traveler
  3. If you think Sunday mass at the Vatican would flow better with bullet points and clip art… you might be a business traveler
  4. If the ending of “Up In The Air” was a happy one…. you might be a business traveler
  5. If you’re excited that MTV in Seoul actually shows music videos… you might be a business traveler
  6. If people in Singapore take you to an Italian restaurant for dinner… you might be a business traveler
  7. If most of the photos of your Hong Kong trip are of the city’s high tech new escalator system… you might be a business traveler
  8. If you try to figure out financial models and revenue stream potential while walking through Amsterdam… you might be a business traveler
  9. If the only memory you have of London is “Hey, check out the cool looking taxis!”… you might be a business traveler

For those people exhibiting 3 or more of the symptoms above, there are professional counselors standing by. Don’t look at me, I’m guilty of at least 5 of them.

About Joel:

The Freedonia Post is not a blog for travel writing. It’s comedy written while traveling. Well, that’s the plan. I have to start traveling first. And figure out the comedy. The writing? I’m kind of hoping that will happen on its own somehow.

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How To Volunteer Abroad Responsibly

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Contributed by @iwishgapyear

©Travellers Worldwide

Volunteering, whether it is before study or as a career break, will bring you into contact with a range of environments and communities used to the rigours of daily life. But remember the host communities are also vulnerable to the effects of volunteering as they live with the after effects for the rest of their lives, therefore it is imperative that companies and volunteers like act responsibly in order to improve the experience for all involved.

To decide which company you would like to go with, start by looking at the companies themselves. Use the following checklist as a guide to help you to determine their ethical and responsible backgrounds.

The Company

  • Established: It’s useful to look at how long they have been established for. This can establish their success and ability to adapt throughout the years to the needs of their customers and host communities.
  • Where Can You Meet Them: Can you go to their offices, are they present at gap year fairs and/or trade exhibitions. The power of face to face contact is immense. It can allow you to discuss potential opportunities and any issues you may have on a conversational level. This could help with the decisions you make as well as ease any worries.
  • Membership: Are they accredited by a professional body such as the Institute of Travel and Tourism. This demonstrates that as an organization they have met certain criteria to be worthy of accreditation.
  • Testimonials: Does the company provide an opportunity for you to discuss volunteering with previous volunteers or do they have a profile of previous testimonials. This can give you an idea of how the organizer operates as well as what to expect from volunteering.
  • Training and Induction: Do they offer pre-volunteer training or orientation on arrival at your destination. Good organizations will give you a helping hand on arrival to prepare you for your new surroundings and role as volunteer.
  • Complaints: Check out online forums, search engines and social networks for honest opinions of volunteer organizations.
  • Payment: Obviously you have to take into account administration costs of a tour operator, It’s good to find out how much of what you pay actually goes to the project you are wanting to work on.

You – The Volunteer

Although you need to take into account what makes a good operator. Remember, you yourself need to be as conscientious as well.

  • Be Socially Aware: When taking part in a volunteer program, you will be working within a local community, working with the locals. Doing this, you should ultimately learn to respect each others ways and practices, without stereotype.
  • Economic Benefits: As said before, check where your money goes when you pay for a volunteer project. Who benefits the most from your contribution.
  • Environmental Responsibility: The point is to leave the environment in which you enter as sustainable and as natural as when you arrived. Whether you are developing routes for visitors or rehabilitating animals. Your work should benefit not hinder an environment.

Take into consideration your travel which, if traveling by plane you’ll contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. You may want to offset this by buying direct flights as take-off and landing releases the most carbon emissions or paying into a carbon off-setting scheme, or even finding alternative modes of transport.

Questions To Ask

Although we have covered the components of responsible volunteering, when doing your own research, here is a guide of questions you might like to ask the organiser. It’ll provide a bigger picture of:

  • How the organizers operate
  • What to expect in the volunteer community
  • What the people are like.

Money

  • What do you get for your money?
  • How is your money used – you would like a breakdown to display:
  • What is donated to the community and project
  • What percentage the organizer takes

The Community and Environment

  • How long have the company operated for?
  • Is the project long term and sustainable?
  • What are the benefits of this project to the host community?
  • Are you taking positions from local people?
  • Does the organizer respect, adhere an maintain local customs and cultures?
  • Does the organizer help to be as carbon neutral as possible?

People and Training

  • Does the organizer employ local people?
  • What information are you provided prior to departure?
  • What training is offered prior to departure or on arrival?
  • Will there be an induction or orientation on arrival?

From the answers and conversations you have, you will be able to determine whether the project and/or the company is the right one for you.

Don’t forget, you can always ask us questions on our forum – no matter how large or small

About iwishgapyear

Oliver, the founder of IWishGapYear.com.

I’ve been interested in travel all my life and have been lucky to travel from a young age.  It’s no surprise that travel is the industry I went into and the only one I have ever known!

IWishGapYear.com is focused on the “Gap Year Industry”.  To me it’s not just backpacking and traveling – even though that might be a gap year in your life. It’s about doing something worthwhile.  It’s about volunteering to help others, working abroad to boost your CV/resume or learning a new skill, qualification or trade.

Lin Yutang once said, “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”  Well with the help of the awesome @Monica530 and @iwishgapyear we hope to provide you with inspiration and guidance.   If you ever need anything feel free to post on my forum. I always try to reply to every question personally!

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Nerdy By Nature

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Guest Post by Cornelius Aesop

Monkey Brewster

Usually when someone mentions any aspect of traveling the typical response is ‘cool’ or ‘awesome’, yet when someone mentions that they are a blogger thoughts usually drift towards ‘dork’, ‘nerd’ or ‘geek.’ So what happens when you combine the two? Sure setting off on a round the world trip is exciting but being a blogger or becoming giddy like a little schoolgirl over Apple’s announcement of the iPad, well that is not so cool. In fact that is down right nerdy, I’m talking pocket protector and tape around the glasses nerd. This is piss of ‘The Ogre’ in Revenge of the Nerds and Star Wars welcome to the dork side type stuff.

If you are the one trip traveler letting mommy and daddy know all the responsible and well-educated things you did on your trip, like visiting your local tourist trap and that edgy yet safe modern art museum then this isn’t for you. Especially if at the same time you omit the fact that you got suckered into drinking at a dive bar with an Aussie and an Irishman fighting over who comes from a true drinking culture. You didn’t win by the way; you weren’t even registered in the competition between the two. If this is the case then the technical side of travel blogging probably escapes you, don’t worry you still can travel and be part of the cool crowd.

However, if you bought an iPhone just for the travel apps, have had in depth conversations about SEO with friends (and they are still your friends) and/or have ever used words like digital nomad or vagabond then you are a travel nerd. It hurts a little I know, but the sooner you can accept the truth the better.

….Gives it a second to sink in…

To become a successful travel blogger it does require some nerd like qualities. Sometimes you have to give up doing something fun like drinking delicious beer to write out a post, or at least postpone it. Reading becomes your job, whether it is editing your own post or reading up on other sites. You have to be willing to learn some tech savvy skills in case you detect a minor flaw in your html/css coding. Lastly, you have to get really excited and get others excited as well about what could otherwise seem mundane – like getting to use the word savvy. In the long run if you think you have what it takes to be a travel blog geek then “party on, Wayne” like only a travel blogger can – with a tweetup.

About Cornelius Aesop

The coolest  traveling monkey around. Cornelius is a monkey on a mission to figure out what makes you humans tick. A newbie to the travel experience, he presents his lessons and stumbles in his personal travel blog with a twist, a tail and some fur.

You can find Cornelius Aesop:

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