Archive: February 2010

Thanks to a post I read a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been checking up on what diverse travellers consider genuine and real. Conclusion: there are as many definitions as there are travellers around the world.

There are those who measure authencity by the manner in which they travel and others who do so counting the number of countries they’ve visited. For some, backpàcking is the only way to go, sleeping in hostels and eating local cuisine being part of the package. Still others like Helen Todd consider that keeping it real is all about attitude.

“For me, the difference between a traveler and the tourist is the mindset. I consider myself a traveler but when I go to Miami in a couple of weeks, I will definitely be a tourist, with little care beyond my tan and what book to bring“. Written by Helen Todd at her blog.

Yet there are some who find this debate pointless. Dan from Voyagner, for example, believes that the most important thing is not to go after real as if it were the Holy Grail, but to just do whatever pleases you and forget about attaching any labels to the question.

“The problem is we all have a different ideas about what makes a good traveler but sometimes it’s like comparing chalk and cheese. I’m not trying to be diplomatic, if you want to see the world not just for it’s sights, you have to be involved in what you find around you, otherwise what is the point? Who cares if you eat at Mc Donald’s, the question is are you really getting what you want out of your travels?”. Written by Dan at his blog.

At trourist, as you know, we have our own idea of what real travelling means. We feel real is living those kinds of moments in those kinds of places which make local folk happy.

What are your thoughts on the subject? What do you think real travelling is all about?

Photo by Daniel Bachhuber

Mexico is a country of contrasts. To the east, the calm of the Carribean Sea is punctured by havoc created by the ever-increasing touristic exploitation of its coast. To the west, the republic is submerged in the Pacific Ocean, whose ferocity at times sounds ironic.

We are referring to a coastline barely invaded by outsiders, one which naturally offers a rare treat for those restless travellers interested in discovering the beaches of this marvellous country, without sacrificing an iota of contact with local folk and the reality which is theirs.

In this post, I will share with you an account of four gems which I discovered one day and will forever treasure:

Maruata: Formed by three bays, has a very special energy. Or, at least, that’s the conclusion reached in 1995 by the environmentalist group “Rainbow” who came to this magical site from all parts of America. Since then, every Easter and Christmas, hordes of Mexican youth gather together under modest palapas for merrymaking and clandestine partying, thereby interrupting for a few days the tranquility which normally reigns and only a passing sea breeze dares to challenge.

Nexpa: Is the second best beach for surfing and the optimal alternative for those seeking to escape the unrelenting ballyhoo of Puerto Escondido. Located in a laid-back village, locals offer visitors the chance to rent wooden huts right on the beach. There’s even an expatriate American living in Nexpa who has been running a joint for years where folks, mostly of the surfer variety, meet up to catch unbelievable sunsets and chat around chelas.

Mazunte: Hands down one of the prettiest places along the Oaxaqueña Coast. I’ll never forget lying down on a hammock one night, under a palapa, while contemplating one of the starriest skies I’ve ever seen. If this isn’t your bag, you can always choose to spend a night in an ecology-friendly cabin. Incidentally, Mazunte is also one of the main locations for sea-turtle spawning in all Mexico.

Zipolite: Paradise on earth for those of you who just enjoy shedding any form of bathing wear whenever you hit a beach. During the 70’s, it was the only nudist beach in the entire country, and was a mecca for hippies from all around the globe. Some of the spirit still endures, although colorful and comfortable cabins are available now for those of you who wish to more than just camp down.

Zipolite Beach. Photo by: ScottHernandez

New York City is one of the must-see cities. No question. It’s a city that leaves no visitor indifferent. I was there for two days in September, 2005 and for a whole week in May, 2008. I hope my third visit is just around the corner. If any top honcho at Delta or Lufthansa is reading this … yes, I will gladly accept a free trip back.

To get an insider’s view of New York, we’ve asked a native New Yorker to answer a few of our questions.
Christopher is a new yorker and a close friend of Trourist who’s been living in Spain awhile, working in film and assorted other fields. He doesn’t forget the city where he was born and raised.

Q. What do you miss about New York? How’s it different from Spain?

A. New York City-style pizza, cheeburger deluxes at a greek diner (increasingly in danger of extinction), Central Park, its museums, its seemingly infinte variety of cool bars downtown, uptown, crosstown, in other boroughs, wherever. Also high on the list are Shea Stadium (yes, i’m a rabid Mets’ fan. I hate the Yankees!), the Garden (Madison Square Garden, to outsiders. And I know the Knicks suck, but I love them anyway). The list is too long to continue, so I’ll stop.

The main difference between the city and other places is THE ATTITUDE: fuck with me, i’ll fuck with you! That’s irreplaceable and inimitable. You’re born with it, you nurture it and, finally, you own it.

Q. For some, New York City is the city of syscrapers. For others, it’s the american dream. Then there are those who call it the city that never sleeps or the city of a thousand and one nights. What does New York mean to someone who was born there?

A. New York is a boot camp, a training ground that prepares you for whatever, wherever. Like Frankie (Sinatra) says in his song “New York, New York“: if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere …

I’ve been mugged, beaten up, insulted and threatened. Then, again, it’s only happened a few times, considering the amount of experiences you face daily. And i haven’t always been on the receiving end either. New York City toughens you, your reflexes become sharper and you learn to take no shit from no one. Ever.

On the other hand, I always call NYC the world’s second city. Everyone, of course, knows their town, but new york is the town they know second best. Why? Because no other city has been more written about, photographed, filmed. It’s the Mecca for media, finance, fashion, sports … Shall I go on?

Q. What NYC experiences do you feel fit in with the Trourist philosophy? What do you recommend for people to try out?

A. Like I said, New Yorkers tend to be on the tough side. They gotta be. They’re also inherently distrustful. This steel armor, however, doesn’t stop them from being open and helpful. New York has always welcomed visitors, we tend to be nicer with those people we feel can use a hand. So, I would say, if you’re looking for a great experience in New York, talk to people, all kinds of people and try to find the common denominator that unites them. After that, ask for some tips of where to go, what places to hit and, I’m sure, their suggestions will hit the mark.

Trourist has taken another step to improve its service for travellers. It gives us great pleasure to inform you all that we’ve reached an agreement with SafeCreative, a worldwide leader in copyright registration. Thanks to this accord, Trourist users in the upcoming months ahead will be able to benefit from copyright protection for all those images which they share with us.

SafeCreative is first worldwide in copyright registration; additionally, it is global, free, open and costs you nothing. It was created in a web environment and permits any creator or rights-owner to register his or her work in a digital archive. Registrants also receive tangible proof of their registration, usable in trial or a court of law, in the form of an electronically-signed registration certificate.

This agreement wishes to integrate the services that Trourist offers with the new challenges posed by Internet. Unquestionably, recognition of copyright is key in an environment where trust between persons (travellers) is fundamental as is the exchange or sharing of content (genuine travelling experiences).

Hostels are an excellent refuge for those of travelling on the down-low: cheap prices and lots of mates from many different countries and cultures. On the other hand … if you’re looking to take things to the limit with a fortuitous liason that resulted from a high-octane mix of beer and tequila, you just might find it’s not so easy to do, especially when six to ten unknown bedfellows are snoring in your midst. Let’s take things a little further… perhaps the problem is not doing it but DOING IT. I think you get my drift.

A while back I read an inspired article in Brave New Traveler which compiled a series of tips for calming those burning sexual embers in a hostal setting for star-gazing lovers and ravenous couples alike. As an alternative to an intimate and comfy crib, the writer suggested DOING IT in the broom closet, the closet, the loo or on the roof. Quite frankly, any of the above will do when you’re gripped with the itch and you don’t mind scraping your knees, elbows or other vital parts in a ketchup-stained area or industrial detergent-filled storage room.

Naturally, everything is much easier when you’re on the road. Even if you have a fellow companion shadowing you, you can can always appeal to his sense of solidarity and ask them to beat it. It’s also true that if hotels are your thing, your chances of hitting the mark drop exponentially. Ah, the dilemma of having the itch, but not a place to scratch.

*Just in case any of you who’ve been following us were wondering: No, we didn’t decide to do our ExperienceLess journey in a motorhome for this purpose.

Photo by: mr • p

From our traveller’s perspective, the most rewarding experiences are those experiences that allow you to live to the max whichever city you’re visiting and steer you away from touristic tsunamis which we all form a part of initially but some of us elect to skip later. The aim of our trips is not to scale to the highest level of The Eiffel Tower; rather, it is more akin to dining at a small, out-of-the-way bistro that only locals frequent because of the intangible quality it preserves which makes it trés special to all who go there.

If living real experiences keeps us on the move, what’s the best way to guarantee that this will happen? Is it wiser to plan every single minute or is it better to take things on the fly?

In our opinion, a trip that’s planned from A to Z is the antithesis of what travelling is all about. Imagine the following scenario: “9 a.m. be at such and such a place, wrap up at 10:30 to catch the tour bus so that we can zip somewhere down the road, 20 kilometers away. Of course, we won’t be able to hang there very long either, cos there’s this hotspot near the hotel which serves the most fabulous cuisine.” Trips were not made to be lived at stress levels higher than those one would encounter during a crazy, rush day back at work. Besides, seeing a slew of sights really boils down to  “seeing” nothing at all.

Something undeniable is that every trip should have at least a modicum of improvisation: let yourself be swept away, discover and experiment, allow yourself to be surprised and, even, dismayed. Many of the experiences that I’ve lived, and not just those during the start-up phase of our ExperienceLess days, have been the natural by-product of this process of continual discovery which I try to include in every city I hit.

I don’t mean that you should leave everything to chance. A healthy balance requires planning (having a general idea of what you want to do and see always helps) and improvisation (why not just let it all flow?)  is key to living experiences that you will remember forever.

Photo by: antxoa

Have you ever wondered what’s the best way to search for cheap flights? We’ve asked Andoni Arandia who loves flying and keeps track of every single flight (over 270) he has taken so far.

What’s your recommendation to buy cheap flights?

Being a budget traveler translates into being flexible with travel plans and going a step further when planning the trip.

As far as the flexibility is concerned, longer layovers and alternative airports may provide the best travel deal. Low cost carriers have found the operational taxes to be lower in smaller airports, usually located further from the main tourist spots and translate this saving to the seats’ prices. Travelers can choose to fly to an alternative airport such as Reus or Girona for Barcelona, Stansted for London, Prestwick for Glasgow, Bergamo for Milan or Beauvais for Paris.

As for the planning, the travelers must scan all fares from low cost airlines and even make up connections that may result in a cheaper travel option than a non-stop flight. As an example, the Amsterdam – Madrid route is operated by four carriers, one of them the low cost airline EasyJet, but the cheapest way to get there might be connecting in London Stansted.

Where do you search for cheap flights (travel portals, flight ticket search engines, airline web pages) and why?

Where to search the lowest fares depends on the route to be flown. Intra-european low cost routes and fares are best captured in skyscanner.net. For those passengers that cannot afford to fly to alternate airports and are restricted in terms of schedule, I always suggest kayak. Kayak’s US website (kayak.com) has different deals to their French (kayak.fr) website or their British website (kayak.co.uk), so I suggest checking them all; however the best deals are usually in the US site.

As a traveller who always is connected to the internet, which applications do you recommend to buy airline tickets and keep track of your flights on the go?

As an iPhone user, the do-not-miss applications for me are Kayak, XE Currency and AroundMe.

Kayak has a feature to display trips, called Kayak Trips. All your trips can be managed there, no matter whether they have been book on Kayak or not. Flight itineraries, hotel stays and car reservations are arranged by trip and can be navigated through conveniently.

XE Currency is the easiest currency convertor in the market and AroundMe allows travelers to search for bars, restaurants, hotels, hospitals and other venues around them.

Thanks Andoni for sharing your tips with us.

Photo by David

If you should decide to visit the Basque Country between January and May, one of the truest experiences you could live is dinner at a sagardotegia. That’s what folks around here call the local cider houses. Fact is, if you combine the Basque word “sagarra” (apple) with the word “ardoa” (wine) and “tegi” (place) you’ll get a clue of what the topic for this post is.

Cider houses are firmly rooted all around the outskirts of San Sebastian, scattered as they are in neighboring villages such as Astigarraga, Hernani and Urnieta. Inside refurbished farm houses, some more than others, (all, however, preserving an exquisite ancient charm), one can savor a simple, mouth-watering menu. As a starter, there’s pork sausage awash in cider, cod omelette or, its equally succulent alternative, cod with peppers. Second up, is a Basque-size T-bone steak. Desserts include cheese with quince and locally produced biscuits. All of the above, of course, are accompanied by all the cider you can drink, served straight from huge, wooden cider barrels. A warning based on first-hand experience: never underestimate the elixir-like qualities of this beverage.

The tradition of dining out at sagardotegias dates back to the days when customers, restaurants and dining clubs would get together to sample the season’s vintage before it was bottled up. Naturally, everyone would bring along their home-prepared afternoon snacks to share with all those present. The custom of eating while standing and from the same plate originated here. Also born here was a prevailing spirit of conviviality that persists to this day — groups of friends mixing it up, talking animatedly, singing and laughing around the barrels, which surround the eating area or are strategically situated off to the side in adjoining annexes. Everyone awaits the “txotx” or the cry of the cider house’s proprietor announcing refills.

Photo by adriagarcia

Without a doubt, cider houses are one of the Basque Country’s most enduring and beloved cultural traditions.

One of our main goals for the year 2010 is to transform our blog into a communications and conversation forum for all of you travellers who’ve been following us. In order to achieve this, it’s necessary to veer off in a completely different direction.

As you’ll see, the first step we’ve taken is to substantially redesign the blog.  We’ve retired forever the previous template (too industrial, we felt), looking to replace it with a more attractive space, more in sync with the rest of the platform.

What do you think?

Our second step will be a noticeable change in the content we share with you and a regular update of same. Our aim is to never limit ourselves to mere project novelties and initiatives, but to convert the trourist blog into a genuine travel blog. Some of our ideas include interviewing travellers and commenting on what it means to trot the globe, little nuggets of information that will help you develop a ”feel” for specific destinations and opinions regarding news that affects travellers.

Lastly, what we most aspire to receiving are those ideas which interest you most.