Category: Trourist Initiatives

Music is a great travelling companion. There are moments when music can help us disconnect and enjoy a much-needed respite of peace and tranquility. Moments in which an artist’s catchy lyrics allows us to dream and imagine or be inspired. Moments in which a certain rhythm intensifies an emotion, like evoking the feeling of a lingering kiss. Or moments when we recall our loved ones, and feel recharged and better equipped to fight off any hint of melancoly and solitude. Lastly, there are those moments – like in a good movie — when a dull landscape is transformed into an unforgettable setting. Yeah, music is pretty cool ally.

But music is more than that. It also helps us express — admittedly, using the sounds and words of others — those messages we find impossible to communicate in an elegant way. That’s why we decided to use the Trourist page on Facebook to fire at you the following question: “Which song do you think best sums up the Trourist philosophy? Replies to date have come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and we’ve gathered them together on this Spotify list so you can sign up, get on board and contribute with your own opinions.

Today we have excellent news to share with all of you: we are happy to present the Moleskine edition of Trourist (a special collaboration between two special brands). As many of you have observed on more than one occasion, at Trourist we’re big fans of Moleskine. Not just because they make cool and smart notepads, but because they embody a philosophy lived by people who go through life with an insatiable curiosity and a desire to discover and experiment new things. For two centuries, artists and intellectuals such as Hemingway and Matisse have travelled with these handy notepads as trustworthy companions. Today, Moleskine is a source of inspiration for travellers like us.

And now for something that you all are interested in … How can you get one of the notepads featured below which we are certain you will enjoy? At the moment, there are two ways you can win one of these miniature objects of inspiration:

- Sharing with Trourist your most special experiences from Summer 2010. The five best experiences shared with us before 27 October will be awarded a Moleskine edition of Trourist.

- Pay attention to the Trourist page in Facebook. Over the next few weeks, we will formulate questions related with travelling and will raffle several notepads among participants. So, if you’re not already a fan of Trourist on Facebook, do so soon in order to participate.

Surely many of you intend to travel somewhere during the upcoming weeks. After all, one does have to take advantage of the warm summer weather. Some of you will pick a city, others some deserted beach. And still others will trek up some mountain. One thing is for certain: all of you will want to discover a special nook or have a genuine experience wherever you go.

This aim of helping you find real treasures during your travels has been from the start the number one concern for all of us here at Trourist. Little by little, thanks to your participation and sharing of experiences such as a cool creperie in Paris or that tea stop in Granada, we are achieving our goal.

Now, during Summer 2010 we wish to introduce a new initiative: the Trourist guides. For those of you travelling to San Sebastián, Barcelona and Berlin during the next few months you’ll be able to download and print Trourist for each of these cities (London and Madrid guides coming soon). Included in these guides are the best experiences shared with us plus advice from bloggers and trourists from these destinations.

We hope from the bottom of our hearts that you find these guides useful, whether it’s for trips you personally embark on or those done by friends and acquaintances (whom you’ll want to surprise by sending them a copy). To download these guides free of charge, all you have to do is visit the following link to Issuu.

After tallying point totals from jury members, we have the three winners from our latest Trourist experience contest: LO-Month.

Beginning with the category for Best Overall Experience, and winner of a Diana+ Deluxe Pack, our lucky contestant is Cande Abril, who shared with us a most unusual experience to be lived in the Navigli neighborhood of Milan. Cande recommends a rendezvous through an area formerly teemng with canals filled with water but which nowadays is a cluster of assorted establishments. Let her tell you about it.

In the category of Best London Experience, Kate Turner walked away with her hands full. She won a Diani Mini + Flash. Her delectable experience, never better said, consists of a visit to the market in Borough, where “fine eats” from all around the world can be found, with special mention of a section devoted to nothing but sweets. Again, we think it’s better if she speaks to you about it first-hand.

Lastly, in the Best Barcelona Experience category, Laura Hernandez will also be able to enjoy a Diana Mini + Flash of her very own. Laura touts the possibility of getting to know local artists short on fame but long on talent at a marvelous gallery with a marvelous name called Miscelania. She, too, should be the one to fill you in.

Congrats to all our winners and all those who participated, the bar level for experiences was set extremely high. Real travel gems were shared, which I’m sure will have you living to the max your travels wherever you go this summer.

Once more, we encourage you to share with others those places that are oh-so-special in your city or that you’ve come across during one of your recent jaunts. And not to worry, in our next contest we will include all those experiences shared since the conclusion of LO-Month.

Finally, we cannot sign off without thanking again Lomography Spain for sponsoring this contest.

The Trourist community has been quite active the past few days. During the month of May, real pearls of advice have been submitted by travelers, like yourself, who seek genuine and special experiences from the destinations they visit.

In the category of Best Experience, we’ve narrowed it down to 10 finalists, any one of who has a chance of winning the Diana+ Deluxe Pack. Mikel García Nograro, for instance, proposed a unique way to spend a Sunday in Cape Town. Maria Agirre, in turn, invited us down to a bar/gallery right smack in the middle of San Francisco. Gerrit Lamch took us to a very special place in Montreal to have breakfast. Borja Serrano waxed lyrical about embarking on an adventure along an idyllic passage in New Zealand. Nagore Guarretxena discovered a place to photograph geishas in Tokyo. Alba Rosales whisked us away to a mysterious bar in Cracovia. Pablo Adrian Medina suggested a water reservoir in Tulum. Ryan showed us a few places to hit when spending quality time in Galway. Cande Abril opened our eyes to a most interesting rendezvous in Milan. And Kate Turner recommended a lovely spot to have a cocktail with your significant other in Oxford.

In the category of Best Experience in London and Barcelona, and vying for a shot at a Diana Mini +Flash, we’ve selected 3 finalists from each city. In London, Oscar Cervantes told us where to grab dinner on Marylebone High Street, Adam Smith invited us to a cafe in Soho and Kate Turner (yes, Kate again!) called our attention to a great market where you can go whennever you’re ready for a shopping spree. In Barcelona, Isabel Martí suggested a tea house in the Gothic section, Laura Hernandez introduced us to an area overflowing with provocative creations by talented artists, and Jon Santa mailed in a night out eating Japanese cuisine.

Who’s going to win in each category? The various juries will have their verdicts in a few days. For the moment, though, everyone’s a winner because we all have more genuine and special experiences to choose from. Thanks to all those who particpated in this fun event!

And for those of you wondering: we are now 2500 trourists!

The jury is formed by:

Francesc Balagué: http://www.francescbalague.cat/

Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll: http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/

Lara Dunston and Terence Carter: http://grantourismotravels.com/

Lindsay Hogg: http://thetravellerworldguide.com/

Mike Baris: http://www.mikebarish.com/

Pasquale Caprile: www.lomography.es

Because I wanna enjoy myself to the max.
Because I hate paying more for less.
Because I prefer to pass than settle for the mass and crass.
Because I choose to DO not just SEE.
Because I like having thought-provoking chats with locals.
Because I want to live unique and meorable experiences.

The half-dozen reasons cited above are what I usually tell people whenever they ask me why I’m not a tourist nor care to be. No doubt, I could come up with many more. Recently, an eclectic group of friends and Erasmus students destined in San Sebastian got together. Drinking one beer and another, we posed the question: Why aren’t you a tourist?

Following is a short video with some of their replies:

There are tons of reasons for not wanting to be a tourist, what’s yours?

Last week we talked to you about Lomography as a way of preserving a memory of your trips — or even — your day-to-day living.

Today, thanks to the cooperation of Lomography.es, it’s our pleasure to introduce a New Experiences Contest. To win one of the the dream prizes, all you have to do is share with us those special places that make any city special.

People who have hobbies are infinitely more fun and interesting than those who don’t. Consider for instance our friend SECK who has a special gift for converting old walls into genuine works of art, a pastime which he does with infectious passion.

His latest work is our Trourist zeppelin. Besides becoming familiar with the process of graffiti art (something new for me), we had a great time. Here’s a 90-second video of my graffiti baptism:

In 1977 at the behest of the New York City Tourist Bureau, Milton Glaser came up with a logo design that expressed with striking simplicity the admiration which the city inspired in him and all those who have allowed themselves to be infused by its essence.

The design, done pro bono incidentally (his altruistic donation to the city) has transcended to such a point that even today, thousands of persons everywhere –New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers alike — wear it daily, making it one of the most significant designs of the 20th century.

Since then, numerous messages have been transmitted via this unique creation produced by an American typewriter and a red heart. We, too, wished for Glaser’s legacy to be present in the design of our initial T-shirt. However, we elected to include our own personal touch.

With that in mind, we substituted Glaser’s heart with the silhouette of the mythical and romantic Route 66 sign. When we speak of route 66, we could care less that for decades it has served as the nexus between the eastern and western coasts of the United States. Instead, what we do like is that it is the symbolic representation of the non-conformist generation portrayed in Jack Kerouac‘s On The Road. For this reason and as a homage to that spirit of adventure and the numerous road trips it has engendered, we felt it should receive an honorary place on our inaugural T-shirt.

If you want to be one of the lucky few to own a T-shirt from our initial run of 100, we’ll make sure you receive yours anywhere on the planet for just 15 euros. Write us at: hello@trourist.com and include your name, postal code and the subject heading: ROUTE 66 TEE.

Don’t forget: Keep traveling real!

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.