Can’t see the above YouTube video of Disney World? Click here.
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After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs I detested, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. Searching for meaning in my life, I abandoned my successful but unsatisfying career and set out on a six-month solo backpacking trip around the world to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. My blog features stories about the destinations I visit, people I meet, the crazy things...Read more here....
Can’t see the above YouTube video of Disney World? Click here.
Remember playing tag when you were a kid? Slapping someone on the back and yelling, “Tag, you’re it!” Well, I’ve just been been ‘virtually tagged.’ My friend and fellow travel blogger, Shannon Lane, was ‘tagged’ to participate in the meme known as My Three Best Travel Secrets (a meme, which rhymes with cream, is a catchphrase or concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the Internet). From what I understand, the game was started by Katie of Tripbase.com, the lovely folks who awarded me second place in the category of best North/South American blog of 2009 in their annual Travel Blog Awards.
After sharing three great secrets about her home state of Louisiana, Shannon ‘tagged’ me to be next in line to divulge my best travel secrets. My first reaction was, “Only three?” How could I possibly narrow it down to only three. Should I talk about little known secrets in Sarasota, Florida, such as the $40 annual membership to GWiz Science Museum that provides FREE admission to over 300 other science centers throughout the U.S. as well as other attractions around the State of Florida? Or about my list of little-known coffee shops around the country that let me work on my laptop all day for the price of a cup of coffee, like Sippin’ Internet Cafe in Key West, Pastry Art in Sarasota, or Rev Coffee in the Atlanta area?
In the end, I decided to reveal my secrets for booking last minute accommodations and transportation around the world without breaking the bank. Frankly, I detest being locked into definite travel plans. My preference is to book the first night at a destination (two nights at most), and then wing it from there. Fellow travelers are always eager to share secrets about spectacular, little-known towns or sites they have visited and not being locked into reservations allows me to take advantage of these tips, but it also means I am often looking for last minute bookings, which can be frustrating as well as expensive. However I do have a few tricks to help with this process, which I’ve detailed below: Continue reading
Posted in Travel tips | 
airfare, airines, Australia, coffee shops, discount codes, Europe, Florida, GWiz, hotels, internet cafes, New Zealand, online booking, Sarasota, SE Asia, Thailand, three best travel secrets, Travel, U.S., USA | 
79 Comments
Between moving out of Sarasota and traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, I have been somewhat silent for the past two weeks. But things are settling down now and I can’t think of a better reason to get back into the swing than to tell you about a wonderful charity effort being mounted by my fellow travel writers through Passports With Purpose.
This year, the Passports with Purpose fund raising effort is supporting American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC), an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia, with a goal of raising $13,000 to build a school. In order to achieve this goal, travel bloggers have either personally donated prizes or arranged for companies to donate prizes. These items are then raffled off online, with each $10 donation entering the donor into a drawing for the prize of his or her choice.
Smiling children like this little girl hawk merchandise on the streets all day rather than attending school
I know first hand how much this is needed in Cambodia. When I visited the country in 2007, I was particularly struck by droves of children who roamed the streets, carrying baskets heaped with hand-made jewelry or toting hand-woven mats twice their size. Without exception, they interspersed pesky sales pitches and arm tugs with the few words of English they knew:
“Hello, where you from?”
“U.S.A.”
“Oh, U.S.A., A-Number one. President George Bush; capitol Washington, D.C.”
These children, some of them barely old enough to be left alone, much less on the streets all day selling merchandise, seemed desperate to learn. I can think of no better way to celebrate the holidays than to help build a school for these lovely children.
If you wish to join me in supporting this worthy cause, check out the list of prizes being offered at Passports With Purpose. Select the drawings you’d like to enter and indicate how many $10 donations you want to make for each prize. For example, I entered “3″ in the box to the right of the $100 Amazon.com gift card donated by Continue reading
Posted in Contests | Blogging, Cambodia, charity, Children, donation, fund raiser, Passports With Purpose, school, travel bloggers | 20 Comments
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