Happy Travelers at the NEV Youth Hostel

We were delighted to host Gunther, Anna, Vanessa, and Alex from Austria at our place last month. They used the Nerd’s Eye View West Coast Headquarters as a base camp for the expedition around the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain States. Today we received this this photo of them with all their gear on our …


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Travelbloggers at BlogHer

This coming weekend is the BlogHer conference, a huge gathering of women (and yes, some guys) with opinions and Internet connectivity. About a month back – I think it was a month back – I’d finally made up my mind not to attend. There are a bunch of small complicated reasons – my dislike of large crowds, a program that doesn’t resonate with me, too much girly girl stuff on the edges. That’s all my point of view, your mileage/interpretation may vary and all that.

The bigger reasons, the ones that ultimately kept me from booking a flight were simple. The only travel event on the schedule is a 40 minute meet-up. Combine that with a price tag of about 800 dollars. That’s with my contributing editor pass – those who write for the site get to attend the conference for free. A nice perk, truly, given the 300+ fee. I have, without hesitation, ADORED (in all caps) meeting my fellow travelbloggers, but I think you understand that 800 dollars to hang out with you for 40 minutes is a little steep.


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My First Guidebook Credit

Well, I’d forgotten all about that. But in yesterday’s mail, I got two copies of Travellers Vancouver & British Columbia. The cover credit still goes to the original writer but whaddaya know? That’s my name on the flyleaf. And somehow, it’s even more fun to flip through the images and say, “Hey, I took that …


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Book Review: The Man Who Ate the World

Disclaimer: The folks at Holt send me review copies. I don’t always love the books, but I love getting them.

I don’t know what millefeuille is. Or veloute. Or charcroute. This tells you how much I know about fancy cooking. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat that weird food that’s made by chemistry – foams and dry ice and vacuum sealing and the like don’t interest me, not enough to pay for them, that’s for sure. But I love to cook and, as the scale will confirm, I also love to eat. So it was with a hefty portion of envy that I digested Jay Rayner’s new book The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner

I think I’d like Jay Rayner. Like Anthony Bourdain, he’s acutely aware of the good fortune he has in his line of work. He eats dinner and gets paid to do so. But he’s got none of Bourdain’s macho edge. There’s a funny scene in the book where Rayner and Bourdain are both at  Tokyo’s infamous fish market, and Rayner makes Bourdain’s crew out for something closely resembling a motorcycle gang. But that’s not what the book is about.


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Carnival of Cities for June 24, 2008

It’s fun to host the Carnival of Cities because I get to discover bloggers I might not find on my own. Last week’s was at Perceptive Travel – so if you can’t get enough virtual touring, head there next! Here’s a place I know a thing or two about: Maui. This post offers good advice …


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Mozart at Lunch: Etiquette for Travelers

I can never get the greeting right. Is it once on each cheek or is it three times? And should I plant the actual smooch on the cheek or is it the disingenuous air kiss? Luckily, it’s always friends and family, so I’m okay with getting it wrong, business deals and lives are not in …


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