Being an independent travel blogger is far from a for profit endeavor. As glamorous as the trips look, there’s a lot of expense involved. I’ve had a handful of longer term, in kind relationships with organizations that have supported me over the years. While yes, I’ve gained a lot from my relationships with them, I wouldn’t mention them here if I didn’t think they offered great service to everyone. I encourage you to check them out.
The Seattle TourSaver book offers great value for visitors to the Seattle area. There are discounted activities, hotel stays, admissions to museums and other area attractions — I hand my copy to the out of town guests when they drop in and I’ve saved a pile taking family members to places like the Seattle Aquarium and both the Asian and downtown Seattle art museums. The folks behind the Seattle Tour Saver also offer an Alaska version. On a personal and local level, the TourSaver crew has been instrumental in the success of SCOOT, the Seattle Consortium of Online Travel, a semi-annual gathering to discuss interesting topics in travel.
HomeAway is my favorite vacation rental site on the web. It’s easy to use, it’s got all kinds of properties, and while it’s unlikely you’ll experience this first hand just as a site user, the folks the I’ve dealt with out of the Austin based office are really, really nice. A few years ago when I was in Austin they invited me to lunch because they were interested in working with bloggers, and they’ve kept their word on that. They’ve sponsored my accommodation for conferences twice, but that’s not the only reason I’ve booked my own vacation rentals through them — I use them because their service works.
The Hawaii Convention and Visitor’s Bureau site, Go Hawaii, really is the first place you should look when you’re starting to plan your trip to the islands. The site is pretty, there’s loads of useful information about activities from the mainstream to the obscure, and there are good tools for planning. But you’re only getting part of the experience if you don’t find a way to interact with the Visitor’s Bureau staffers in person. They’re the embodiment of aloha, generous, welcoming, and kind. They helped me out immensely when I was a badly organized guidebook author by being willing to share their contacts, and they’ve taken some interesting risks on me as a visiting writer. In spite of the fact that my writing about the islands has acquired a sharper edge over time, the HCVB continues to invite me over to explore.
Being a press guest on a comp gets you a better room, a fruit plate, and maybe a little swag, but it doesn’t guarantee you the unfailingly genuine and charming staff I’ve experienced at every single Outrigger I’ve visited, from the budget minded to the deluxe, from the general managers to the housekeeping staff. I like knowing that Outrigger is a locally owned chain of hotels and I have a great appreciation for their cultural efforts — be it music, history, culture, language, arts — the Outrigger properties make sure that in some way or other, you’re not just experiencing an island resort, you’re experiencing Hawaii. Outrigger also funds a terrific blog about Hawaii called View from Here. It’s not about the hotel at all, it’s about life, nature, culture in Hawaii, and it’s great.
Contrary to what you might hear, I did not “wreck” a motorhome in the Gulf Islands, I only damaged it a bit, though, wow, that was a big ticket dent. No matter, Canada’s tourism office, specifically the folks from Hello BC and Camping BC have forgiven my clumsy driving and not only that, they loved the writing that came out as a result of that misadventure. Thanks to their support, I’ve been able to meet (among other characters) a totem pole carver, a fish fanatic, a metaphysicist, and a wacky young Dutch guy named Bob who may or may not have shown us how to properly run the generator. British Columbia is a fantastic place to travel, it’s easy, it’s absolutely gorgeous, and the fine people that my favorite radio nerd, Ira Glass, calls “the menace to the north” are an object lesson in kindness to strangers. Plus, Vancouver? Freaking awesome. Sushi and totem poles. You should go.
