Thursday 19 September 2013

Where I've been

According to Trip Advisor, I've been to 45 cities and 9 countries. Only 6% of the world... I hope to reach at least 25% in my lifetime :)

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Where Would You Go?? Vote!

The Seven Wonders Of The World
  
pollcode.com free polls 

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Where The Hell Is Matt pt. 2

More Matt videos for you to enjoy!!  It's a small world after all...






Europe Through The Backdoor

Who is this man???












Rick Steves!  http://www.ricksteves.com Last year I was in Europe for a month backpacking.  His guide books really helped me find the best budget stays, must sees and great food recommendations.  Perhaps my favourite points in the books are his saving tips.

Mr. Steves... I'm hooked!  No wonder your guide books are the most popular!


My favourite tip of all: If you are purchasing an audio guide at any place, make sure to bring separate headphones.  This way you can share with your partner and not have to purchase two audio guides.  This fact along saved me over 40 Euros.


A must have for any European adventure!  Always check craigslist before going to any bookstore!



Sunday 15 September 2013

Where The Hell Is Matt??

I love Youtube!  I spend countless hours watching make up tutorials, cat videos and this guy Matt dancing around the world.

He travels to many different places and does a silly dance.  So inspiring and simple at the same time.  Regardless of race, religion, language... we all just need to get up and dance!

Enjoy!







Social Media Trends In Travelling

Searching online, I came across this interesting article.  Social media tools such as videos, podcasts and blogs are used by travellers around the world as an important resource.  Now more than ever... we are relying on real reviews and details from other travellers.

Do you fall into this category? I definitely do!

http://fredericgonzalo.com/2013/04/21/hot-social-media-trends-in-2013-blogs-podcasts-videos/ 



Saturday 14 September 2013

Yelp


With being on a tight budget, I hate dining out at restaurants blindly... To me, there is nothing worst than paying for bad food.  This is where I turn to review sites like Yelp to assist me.

I've been involved in the Yelp community for quite some time now.  It is a place that I would visit if I wanted honest reviews from real people.  The Yelp community is open, friendly and fun.  At times there are even parties where you are invited to try out a new restaurant then write a review on them.  It's a great concept that is driven by locals.  Started in San Francisco, Yelp is quickly expanding around the world.  I've even utilized Yelp to find a good restaurant in Paris.


Link to my Yelp profile:

http://www.yelp.ca/user_details?userid=5TgSPqAJHgvmZwz-HaJFhw

VOIP

As we are on the topic of using social media to stay connected, let's talk about VOIP options.  Skype and oovoo comes to mind.  When travelling, you can find me standing outside coffee shops and McDonalds using their free WIFI.  :)



This tool to enable to you connect using your video cam.  You can stay connected and call mobile and home phone numbers from around the world using Skype.  Long distance fees will apply. 



I first learned about oovoo from the PIDP 3240 class.  This is a web conferencing chat tool that can connect up to 12 friends at a time!





Viber


Lol... another free app to share with everybody.

Viber enables you to call via WIFI at no cost.  Only catch is, the other person must have this app as well.  The huge benefit to this is that calls can be directly made and received through your phone.  The quality may sometimes be spotty, depending on location and internet connection.  But again... it's free! :)

http://www.viber.com

Food Pictures

I have a problem... If you look through my phone, I will have countless pictures of my meals.  I am addicted!  When my meal arrives, I must take a picture of my food... your food... basically everybody's before we eat.  At times I may have to use flash... I'm sorry!  It's a sickness.. I don't know.  They say you eat with your eyes before your mouth.  Perhaps that is why I take great pride in the presentation of the dishes.

My friend recently sent me this youtube video as it reminded him of me.  We recently hung out and he is the type to just dig into his food as it arrives.  Needless to say, it was awkward when I tried to take a picture of his food and he ruined it with his fork.

Do you do this too?  Or am I a nut!  I know I'm not alone on this...




Buzzfeed:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinabarca/types-of-people-who-take-photos-of-their-food-instead-of

I am totally #19, the stager. :)

What's up What's app?




What would I do without What's App?   http://www.whatsapp.com This app will cost you .99 cents... or at times it's free.  Think text messaging over WIFI.  What's App enables me to stay connected to my family and friends via WIFI.  Some of the cool features include sending picture messages, short videos clips, voice messages and creating groups.  This is one of my most loved app on my phone.

Try it out and let me know what you think?


One language, One iPad

Last year I travelled to Rome.  The eternal city was beautiful.  Along with historic sites, there were also many tourist traps.

Tip: If they have a tourist menu or speak English... stay away!  Be prepared to be stuck paying for an expensive bad meal.  

With the help of Yelp, I found an authentic Roman restaurant.  The menu was in Italian and looked overwhelming.  As nobody there spoke English, we had a tough time figuring out what to order.  To our surprise, our server came by and replaced our plastic menus with an iPad.

The iPad displayed pictures, prices and we were even able to order our own food via the device.  The coolest thing was the server asked what language we spoke, pressed the home button and BAM! all the different languages and maps we could select from.  After we ordered, a German couple walked in and the server just changed the language settings for them with the same iPad.

This is by far the coolest use for an iPad I have ever seen.


Seat Guru

Have you ever been on a flight that had very minimal leg room?  Looking around, you realized that it was only your roll of seats with the little leg room.  After cursing the other passengers in my head, I've always wondered... how did they know??

Well friends... Seat Guru an app from trip advisor.  http://www.seatguru.com Seat Guru allows you to enter in the plane number and it will do the rest.  Type of plane, type of seats and any reviews and tips from other passengers.  Passengers can even rate that particular seat!

I remember the days not so long ago when you were able to reserve your seats in advance.  Although, most flights now only allow seat reservations 24 hrs in advance (you can pay more to reserve early), I still utilize this site prior to familiarize myself with the options and choices I have.  I'd must admit, I'm one of those crazies that wait until the exact time the site opens up for booking.  I find the experience  both exciting and bit of a gamble.  Will I get the seats I want or will I not??  Yes, I'm a geek.  :)




Now if there was an app that would tell you who you would be sitting beside, that would be amazing!  My pick... window seat, hot guy, away from crying babies and working outlet.


Trip It




Oooo... another one of my favourite apps!  FREE and DOES NOT USE DATA! (happy claps).      Trip It is an awesome tool that helps you organize your itinerary needs.  From flight numbers, train station details and hotel reservations, it does it all.   This app can be shared with your other devices, family and friends.  Ie. Regardless of my age, my mom still expects a copy of my itinerary whenever I travel.  Trip It makes it easy for me to share all the details with her.  Did I mention that Trip It is also super smart?  Enter in the booking confirmation number and many times the rest will populate automatically.

Tip: when signing up, make sure you use the same email.  Personally, I have one email I use for all my travel needs.  This streamlines all details.

Keep all your travel details organized in one simple app :)

App supports iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry and Window7.

Sign up:
https://www.tripit.com

Trip Advisor City Guide Maps

My biggest beef with travelling to the states is the ridiculous roaming costs.  Yes... I understand how roaming works and the reasons behind it.  It doesn't change the fact that these charges are high and I would much rather spend the money on a good meal then on finding out where to go eat.

Yes, I am bias, but the all in one travel packs and the new package of 7.99 for 50mb (from Rogers) while roaming is both convenient and a lifesaver.
Click here for more details:
http://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=AppsAddons&_nfls=true&setLanguage=en&category=12

I digress... I discovered this app while travelling to New York recently.  The city guide provided food reviews, tips and subway maps to many popular locations.  You must download the city guide app prior to your trip and preferably while connected to wifi.  The best part about this app is that it does not consume any data!!! 

This app is a must have.  Let's put it this way... I've used it in New York, Boston, Seattle, Portland, Paris, Rome and London.  I'm a fan!  They are still adding more countries and cities.  Go download it.... NOW!  

Ps. It's free! :) 

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tripadvisor-offline-city-guides/id480066121?mt=8


Thursday 12 September 2013

Trip Advisor

Palm Springs was an amazing trip as Emily and I got to explore on our own, we made the most out of the small retirement town.  After Palm Springs, we vowed to always do our research before travelling.  This was when I discovered http://www.tripadvisor.com.

Reading recommendations and blogs from other travellers gave me a good sense of where my next journey would lead me.  I had access to countless reviews, recommendations, deals, availability and so much more.  Trip Advisor provided a gateway for individuals to familiarize themselves with a destination without leaving their home.  Founded in 2000, Trip Advisor is now estimated to be a 762 million company.  It is easy to understand the increasing popularity of this site.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TripAdvisor

Check it out!


Influenced by Media

When I turned 19, my girlfriend Emily and I decided to take a short vacation.  It was exciting as this was the first time I've travelled with a friend. We booked a round trip flight to Palm Springs California.

What we were expecting: 

Zack and Kelly from Save By The Bell vacationed here










Beautiful rolling dessert hills 





















What it turned out to be instead: 

Retirement Town










Wednesday 11 September 2013

Where in the world is Carmen Sandeigo?



Where in the world is Carmen Sandeigo? Is a television series and game show that was on in the 90s.  As a young gumshoe, you would have to answer questions and put markers on a giant map given by the host.  If your pin points were correct, you would have captured Carmen Sandiego, winning a trip anywhere in North America.

This would later on shape my travel decisions as now I was familiar with the popular locations in the States. The first place I've ever travelled to in USA?? San Diego's Sea World to see Shamu :) 

The apple didn't fall too far from the tree

As explained previously, I caught the travel bug early.  We are a travelling family.  We would join tours and all cram into one room.  To save money, my parents would bring a small rice cooker and we would eat inside the hotel room.   I wished these tips existed back then, eggs and paninis would have been tasty!  http://www.thekitchn.com/our-readers-best-tips-for-cooking-real-meals-in-a-hotel-room-190998

We would always have our last meal out and it was always very special.  My parents would ask the locals to guide them to the best tasting and best valued places to dine at... and off we went!  Sometimes we would have to transit very far, at times the places looked old but it was always very delicious!

This has shaped my restaurant habits as an adult.  My favourite restaurants are not always pretty and far from fancy.  I love reading and writing reviews on dishes that I've tried.  Will work for good food :)

Voila!


Calgarian & Vancouverite

I am a Calgarian.  My family moved to Vancouver after attending Expo86.  It was a big move, my parents wanted to make sure that they were making the right decision.  Over the course of the next three years, there were many road trips to Vancouver each summer.  My mom always packed a lot of snacks and drinks in the car to keep us occupied.  This was before the day and age of gameboys and cell phones.  My sister and I sat in the back and made up songs, day dreamed and played random games we made up.

Summer of 89 we made the big move... Vancouver would be our home and remains so till this day.  For the longest time I missed Calgary.  I did however enjoy playing with my cousins and living in the same home as them for the first year.  We had many sleep overs and almost ate every meal together! 

As we never sold our house in Calgary, my family and I would go back to do maintenance on it every few years.  Each time we went back, our trips grew shorter.  Summer of 99' would be our last trip, as that was when my parent sold the house.  There was no chance that we would be moving back to Calgary and officially I felt like a Vancouverite!  Goodbye Wild Rose Country and Hello Beautiful British Columbia!

The world is my oyster... and I love oysters! Yum!

I am a passionate and avid traveller.  To start, I want to take you back to one of my most cherished memories from my childhood.  It was my first time travelling to Asia.  Destination: Hong Kong and China.  It was going to be only my mom and I, as my sister was only one year old and my dad had to take care of her.  I remembered my parents showing me pictures of relatives so that I would be able to memorize and recall their names when I met them.  I helped my parents purchase souvenirs and gifts from "Canada" to bring back to Asia.

I woke up very early in the morning, rushed to the airport and went through the security machines.  I had my own small luggage and got to roll it around with me.  I felt important, anxious and most of all excited for my new adventure.  As the plane took of and I looked down at the shrinking city below me, I was hooked!  

Ready for my new adventure...



Friday 6 September 2013

A Blog Newbie


Hellos!

Nice to meet you all!  I've been trying to create a blog for a while now and it wasn't until it became an assignment from the course PIDP3240 that I finally signed up!  Where to start....

I work in telecommunications where I coach and facilitate products and systems.  I have always been interested in social media and this is the perfect way to start! I have two passions, food and travel! This is especially the case when I get to combine the two.  When I travel, I typically use guides, blogs and apps that will lead me to the flavours of each new city.  For this blog, I plan to share some of my favourite food and travel sites that have guided me through each journey.  Join me!