Hello, Wanderluster!
My travel year has officially begun. This month includes Atlanta, New York, the Big Island, Kauai and San Diego. Next month it’s Bangkok, Bhutan and Bali. And then it’s tour season with trips to New Orleans, Santa Fe and Seattle. Then more trips hiking in New Mexico and Colorado in preparation for the Snowman Trek in September. Anyone want to carry my bags?
CONTEST
Big, huge, ginormous congratulations to the winners of our 6th Annual Travel Writing Contest! Our Grand Prize winner, Rebecca Myers, will take a friend to the Westin Golf Resort & Spa in Playa Conchal, Costa Rica. Her story is Missing the Best Shot.
Category winners each receive a TORQ Carry-on bag from Briggs & Riley:
Adventure: Maureen Fisher for Tale of the Toilet Frog
Food & Drink: Jan DeGrass for Toasting the Tuscan Kitchen
Passion: Sarah Katin for The International Expiration Date
Spiritual: Shara Johnson for My Only Prayer
THANK YOU to all who participated in this year’s contest. As always, it was really difficult choosing winners! Also a big THANK YOU to the folks at Expedia, helping us all find our passion for travel.
SPEAKING GIGS
If you find yourself in New York this weekend, I’ll be speaking at the Women’s Travel Fest on March 8. Or if you’re in SoCal, I’ll be at the Travel and Adventure Show in San Diego on March 29. Both of these gigs are sponsored by Expedia. Come on out to say “Hi.” We may even have a fun doorprize for you 🙂
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***WanderTours***
BHUTAN CULTURAL |
NEW ORLEANS CULINARYÂ TOUR (women-only) May 11 – 15, 2014 ONLY ONE SPOTÂ LEFT! See the full itinerary _______Â |
SANTA FE CULINARY TOUR (women-only) June 4 – 8, 2014 SOLD OUT! See the full itinerary ________ |
SEATTLEÂ CULINARYÂ TOUR (women-only) June 25 – 29, 2014 SOLD OUT! See the full itinerary ________ |
PAPUA NEW GUINEA |
SNOWMAN TREK – BHUTAN (co-ed) September 15 – October 16, 2014 HARDEST TREK |
BHUTAN FESTIVAL TOUR (women-only) October 3 – 14, 2014 INCLUDES 2 FESTIVALS! See the full itinerary _______ |
NORTHERN THAILAND AND LAOS HILLTRIBE CULTURAL TOUR (women-only) November 1 – 13, 2014 SOLD OUT! See the full itinerary _______ |
NORTH INDIA CULINARYÂ TOUR (women-only) November 2 – 14, 2014 NEW CULINARY TOUR! See the full itinerary _______ |
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**New Wanderblogger**
Samantha Scott – WanderFood
Samantha is a Bay Area-based Marketing Assistant, who grew up surrounded by the fresh, simple, seasonal focus of the Northern California food scene. She’ll try anything once and loves being adventurous in the kitchen, experimenting with new flavors and cuisines. Her travels have introduced her to flavors from countries as varied as Columbia and Hungary and she’s forever enthralled with the intrinsic relationship food has with culture. Samantha looks forward to exploring this relationship through traveling and tasting as long as her waistline can manage. Discover flavors with her on WanderFood.
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**February Photo Contest Winner**
Congratulations to our February Travel Photo Contest winner, Taryn R.
She submitted this image of a Sardegna Sunset and will receive a copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Photography. Yay for Taryn!
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**March Photo Contest**
Hey budding photographers! Why not join our monthly photo contest? It’s easy to enter…
Simply submit a photo that fits with this month’s theme - March is Make it Grand. Show us some big fun in off the beaten path places!
We’ll post them on the Travel Photo Contest blog and you’ll have a chance to win an XShot Pro Camera Extender for GoPro and digital cameras. See full details here. See full details here.
Wander Recommendations
On the Bookshelf
My (next) dream destination is the Brazilian Amazon rainforest where the Yanomami live. I found this little book in a used bookstore and immediately gravitated toward it as there are so few books available about the tribes of this area. It’s a simple photo book that includes wisdom from these ancient peoples.
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In the iPod
The Guitar Trio
The world lost one of the greatest guitarists of all times last month, Paco De Lucia. He was known best for bringing Flamenco to the masses, establishing it both in Spain and beyond. This CD features two other greats, Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin. While other kids were listening to hard rock, when I was growing up, I loved listening to the complicated rhythms and licks from guitarists like these masters.
In the DVD
WanderGear Review
Sea to Summit Travel Adaptors
You might think travel adaptors are travel adaptors but I like these from Sea to Summit because they come in a variety of colors and feature little grips on the sides for easy extraction from an outlet. Read why here…
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My Speaking Gigs
- Women’s Travel Fest, March 8, 2014 in New York City
- Adventure Travel Show, March 29 & 30, 2014 in San Diego
Parting Words
“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” ~ Lillian Smith
Til next month…
Travel Well!
Beth
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