EllenBarone.com Readers Eligible to Win a Trip for TWO on the Austin-Lehman Adventure of Your Choice.

Award-winning tour operator Austin-Lehman Adventures, the active travel company setting adventure tours standards in The Americas, Europe, Africa and beyond, recently named EllenBarone.com one of its Top 10 Travel Blogs. Winners were selected based on blog readability, unique content, honesty, integrity, accompanying content such as video and photos, useful links and posting frequency.

As recognition for excellence, EllenBarone.com readers have the opportunity to win a trip for two on any Austin-Lehman Adventure of their choice*! Options include cycling tours, hiking trips, multi-sport adventures, family adventures and rafting trips (82 different itineraries spanning 28 countries worldwide). *Terms and conditions apply.

The promotion will run through 11:59PM, May 19, 2011, with winners announced the next day (May 20, 2011) on Austin-Lehman Adventures‚ blog.

Enter to Win at: http://www.austinlehman.com/blog-giveaway-pages-508.php. 

“These bloggers are truly the best in the blogosphere, providing beautifully written travel posts that highlight their expert knowledge, undeniable passion, cultural insight and unique, personal experiences,” said Dan Austin, founder and owner. “Each blog provides the most fascinating, up-to-date content on travel tips, destinations, active travel, family adventures and the everyday life of a traveler. These blogs are imaginative, fun, original and poignant; reaching to the heart of what traveling is all about: discovery, adventure and finding yourself.

I’ll be on the trail to answer your questions and offer practical advice on how to return home with memorable vacation photographs that will have your friends and family feeling like they went along for the fun! 

For walk highlights, pricing and other trip details, visit www.TheWayfarers.com.

If you’re ready to dip a toe into New Media, join me from 10 AM to 4 PM on Saturday February 26, 2011, and learn how to build your online brand. 

I’m thrilled to be bringing what I’ve discovered (and enjoy!) about social media and online marketing to the new Sanctuary on the River: Inspired Living Center in Ruidoso, New Mexico.

In this fun and interactive one-day seminar, I’ll be sharing how to:

FIND the online resources to build a platform for your business. 

FREE up time by synchronizing your communication streams.

UNSTICK your fear of technology.

ENERGIZE yourself to do the platform building, marketing, and sales parts of getting your message out. 

DRIVE traffic to your Web site.

SELL your products and services. 

This workshop is intended for small business owners, writers, photographers, artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone curious about web sites, Internet marketing and other online promotional tools. Do you know someone who would enjoy this class? TELL A FRIEND!

Saturday February 26, 2011. 10 AM to 4 PM. $105.00 per person. Optional gourmet box lunch; $7. Sanctuary on the River, 207 Eagle Drive, Ruidoso, New Mexico. For information and registration call 575-630-1111 or visit www.SanctuaryOnTheRiver.com.

Wildlife, whales and wonder make Mexico’s Sea of Cortés an ideal location for a photography expedition.

Safari Quest, Sea of Cortez, ©Ellen Barone.Join me and my husband, Hank, aboard American Safari Cruises’ 22-passenger Safari Quest, March 19 - 26, 2011, for a photography-themed cruise and learn tips and techniques as you capture images of cactus, whales and dolphins, sea birds and the remarkable scenery of the islands.

Trip Highlights:

• By luxury yacht, kayak, motorized inflatable boat and on foot, encounter flora and fauna that are found nowhere else in the world.
• In this World Heritage biosphere reserve, experience pods of dolphins numbering in the thousands and view many whale species including the largest living being on earth — the blue whale.
• Enjoy exclusive cultural experiences including a visit to tiny Isla Coyote where fishermen and their families live in the only permanent settlement in the islands.
• Along the way enjoy snorkeling with juvenile sea lions and myriad forms of sea life, a burro ride into the arroyos, and plenty of time for kayaking, sailing, water skiing and beachcombing.

 View photo gallery  

FYI: There is a $500 per person value added savings in place that applied to bookings under deposit before January 14, 2011. TELL A FRIEND!

ELLENBARONE.COM INTRODUCES NEW SKYMAMA TRAVEL BLOG: 

SkyMama, Stacey MarcusWith humor and insight on how to go global with (and without) teenage daughters, a golf-addicted husband and her beloved bichon, travel and lifestyle writer, Stacey Marcus, brings her travel tips on a galaxy of places to enjoy, with or without your family, to EllenBarone.com.

THE BACKSTORY:

Once upon a time Stacey blew on a dandelion and wished she would meet the man of her dreams, get married and raise a family. Lucky for her the magic worked and she was blessed with all the above. She adores her family but like most candid women, sometimes she wishes she could just fly away and relish in the wonder of her own identity perfumed with the scent of her own ideas and interests.

Thus was the genesis of SkyMama, a magic carpet to travel out of the everyday world into new places where the sky truly is the limit.

I first met Stacey a few years ago during a visit to Los Cabos. I loved her humor, graciousness and intelligence immediately and couldn’t be more thrilled to host her tips, insights and travels at EllenBarone.com.

Check back often and watch SkyMama grow!

Bon voyage,

Ellen

The story of fifteen-year-old Jake Brandon, alone, desperate and on the run from kidnappers in the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico, is filled with pulse-pounding action, right down to its final, treacherous twist.

Although the book is categorized as ‘young adult fiction’, I think you’ll find it to be an action/adventure tale that both teens, and adults, will enjoy. To read the first chapter, click here. I hope you’ll be hooked!

For the past few years Hank has turned his passion and pen to writing fiction, with three adventure novels completed, two published and another in the works.

If you’d like to support his efforts, here are a few simple ways you can help.

Buy, or download, VANISHED right now at HankBarone.com

Share this with anyone you think would be interested and ask them to forward it on, as well.

Contact your local bookseller and public or school library and request that they order a copy.

If you read it, I encourage you to return and tell Hank what you think. You can post your comments at HankBarone.com or send him your thoughts directly.

Let’s help make VANISHED a new best seller! TELL A FRIEND!

With gratitude and enthusiasm,

Ellen



Ellen is the inspiration behind CMH’s women-only travel programs. And as the entrepreneurial mother of three, a wife of 32-years, and the super fit, über high energy CMH marketing maven, she is, in my book, the ultimate Bodacious Babe. When she’s not leaping mountains in a single bound, Ellen can be found at home in Calgary, Alberta. 

In a recent interview, I had the chance to chat with the travel-addicted Bodacious host, mom, wife and lover of life, sharing stories, advice and insights into the appeal of girlfriend getaways.

Learn about how Ellen stays busy taking women for a walk on the wild side in the full interview now online at Canadian Mountain Holiday’s ADVENTURE BLOG 

I’ll be on the trail to answer your questions and offer practical advice on how to return home with memorable vacation photographs that will have your friends and family feeling like they went along for the fun! 

To learn more, click to play my YouTube video invitation below.

For walk highlights and other trip details, visit www.TheWayfarers.com.

A WIN-WIN SITUATION:

Everyone loves to WIN, and YourLifeIsATrip.com wants to bring the WINNER’S smile to your face. From November 11-21, 2010, EllenBarone.com sister site YourLifeIsATrip.com will be GIVING AWAY one of our author’s books each day.

From the jungle tribes of Papua New Guinea and buying art in a Mexican prison to internal voyages of self-discovery and the digital world of storytelling, the featured books have subjects as diverse as the authors themselves.

All you have to do to win is sign up to receive the FREE YourLifeisATrip.com newsletter, ‘like’ us on facebook, or become a new twitter follower, and you’re automatically in the random drawing.

Daily winners will be announced on YourLifeIsATrip.com, on our facebook and twitter accounts, and at the close of the contest.

If you enjoy YourLifeisaTrip.com, we encourage you to use the links below to share the contest on your facebook page, give us a shout out on twitter, link, blink and a free book can be yours. Good luck!!

YOURLIFEISATRIP.COM BOOK GIVEAWAY SCHEDULE:

November 11, 2010: Morning Light by Nancy King

November 12, 2010: Life Is A Trip: The transformative magic of travel by Judith Fein.

People have been asking Judie for years when she was going to write a book about her experiences as a travel journalist. Her answer was always the same, “when the time is right.” The time was finally right.

In LIFE IS A TRIP, Judie takes readers on l4 exotic adventures where she learns from other cultures new and transformative approaches to family discord, death, success, fear, faith, forgiveness and overcoming trauma. It is a mesmerizing read for all who love to travel whether they are sitting in armchairs or hitting the road. Judie’s wish is that it will inspire you to have the kinds of cultural adventures that can transform your own life - either across the world or across town from where you live.

REVIEWS: “From irreverence, reverence. That’s the magic of Judith Fein’s writing. Her unconventional view of the world and her grand sense of curiosity open doors to new adventures and understanding, allowing us to look deeply into the differences that keep the word fascinating and the similarities that keep us unified. “Life Is a Trip” is a journey of the heart, soul and mind, and we are much the better for it.”

- Catharine M. Hamm, Travel Editor, Los Angeles Times

Read what others have to say >>>

LET’S MAKE JUDIE’S BOOK A BESTSELLER!

Here are a few simple ways you can help make that happen.

1. Buy, or download, LIFE IS A TRIP right now at the YourLifeIsATrip.com TRIP SHOP powered by Amazon.
2. Share this with everyone you know and ask them to forward it on, as well. You can use the links below to print, e-mail or share this journal posting with your favorite online community.
3. Call your local bookseller and public or school library and request that they order a copy.

Together in 2009, Judie and I created YourLifeIsATrip.com as a place for writers to tell their stories about the transformational magic of travel. Now, with the release of LIFE IS A TRIP, Judie takes the dream one step further. I couldn’t be more excited!

I encourage you to visit us at YourLifeIsATrip.com, order and read the book and tell Judie what you think. You can post your comments on the website or send Judie your thoughts directly. 

With great enthusiasm,

Ellen

PS: Head’s up soon for my husband Hank’s newest action/adventure novel, VANISHED. Read the first chapter free, at HankBarone.com.