a guest blog by Ewen Bell
I’m thrilled that Ewen Bell of PhotographyforTravellers.com agreed to share his top tips for travel photography with us. I say “Ditto”!
Nepal Kathmandu Valley photo by Ewen BellRead on for Ewen’s advice for how to return home with vacation pictures that will make your friends and family feel they went along on the trip.
1. Get Closer
The easiest way to improve your photography is to get closer to the subject. The world changes when you are closer to it.
2. Go Slow
Take your time and you will take better photos. Rushing about gives you lots of shots that you might not want to keep, so maybe it’s better to go slow and enjoy the travel.
3. Shoot Wide
Get a wide angle lens and get more into the shot. Many compact cameras shoot the equivalent of 24mm wide, and that’s good.
4. Look for the Light
Cameras shoot light not objects, so you have to practice seeing the light as your camera does. Lovely light makes for lovely photos.
5. Ask first
Show respect for other people and ask permission before shooting. It avoids offending strangers and gives you a chance to better connect with the locals. Getting local is what it is all about!
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
With their hard plastic chairs, plastic food and service to match, airports are about as inviting as a root canal. Sure, elite members-only lounges are a wonderful perk if you have access. But thankfully, more and more airports, especially in Europe, are offering in-house options where even the economy-flier can relax, work and freshen up in civilized surroundings. Here are a few airport rest-stops worth checking out next time you’re passing through.
MUNICH AIRPORT photo by llinke via flickr (commons license)
MUNICH
As the five-star Kampinski Hotel Airport Müchen, designed by Helmut Jahn, passengers are welcome to use the indoor pool, sauna, steam bath, whirlpool and gym for 22 euros. Thus refreshed, head to Airbräu, the world’s first airport brewery with an outdoor beer garden, for a cold one brewed right on the premises.
HELSINKI-VANTAA AIRPORT
At Helsinki’s award-winning airport, known for its Finnish cutting-edge design and first-class telecommunications capabilities, Finavia offers free unrestricted wireless Internet connection, but for a private microenvironment where you can watch a film or work online in peace and techy comfort, check out the “artpod” chairs at eService Bar near gate 20.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Look for complimentary homemade pie at Rockland Maine’s Berry Manor Inn 24-7-365. Photo by Jumping Rocks. a guest blog by B&B expert, Marti Mayne
Mark Orwoll, trusted travel journalist, recently published a story about the exorbitant $12 hotel minibar fee for a can of nuts (which also resulted in a $12 stomach ache). This confirmed my contention that B&Bs are simply the better way to stay. In his story about the world’s most outrageous hotel fees, Orwoll unveils how hotels stand to gain $12.5 billion in add-on fees that you simply do not find at a bed and breakfast. I know I beat my “B&Bs are more affordable” drum over and over, but Orwoll’s insight into the ever-increasing hotel add-on fees proves my contention.
Read on and you may never stay at a hotel again.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
The worst part of travel isn’t the security checkpoints with prison-issue wands, puffs of air blowing in your face or gloved agents pawing through your belongings. It’s not the airline seats with their lumbar supports that spear your spine or the $2.25 you pay for a small bottle of filtered tap water at airport restaurants. It’s not the jetlag—which can be so brutal that your left foot doesn’t know where your right foot is walking—or the suitcase that vanished with the travel clothes, gadgets and gear you have spent half a decade assembling.
The worst part of travel is actually coming home. One day you are in Peru, gaping at Machu Picchu or in the Canadian Rockies, heli-hiking amid the granite spires of the Bugaboos. Maybe you’ve been cycling in Italy, trekking in Nepal, cruising down the Nile in Egypt, or sauna hopping in Finland. The next day, you open the door to your digs and…chaos.
The answering machine is blinking, there are hundreds or thousands of emails, the snail mail spills over the edge of a huge tub and stares at you from the floor. There are bills to be paid, deadlines to be met, appointments to be kept. Your hair needs new highlights, your car is due for servicing, there’s a leak in your office, you forgot to send your sister-in-law a birthday gift. The exotic fades as you slip into the quotidian and start trouble-shooting, catching up, returning calls, and squirming in the dentist’s chair. Hooray! You are home.
I have not yet figured out how to make homecoming a celebration. But I have a few tips if you are as overwhelmed as I am when you step over your own welcome mat.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Star-studded A-List destinations
photo courtesy of VisitTelluride.com
Lock up that backpack, throw the sneakers to the back of the closet – you won’t be needing them in any of these glittering destinations. Follow Lonely Planet on a red carpet ride through the top 10 swanky spots the celebrities love – and you just might too.
Check out Lonely Planet’s Top 10 glamorous A-list destinations
Source: Lonely Planet
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it” ~John Steinbeck
Sure, you vowed to love each other “for better and for worse,” but who said anything about trekking Machu Picchu, tackling a via ferrata in the Canadian Rockies or a culinary bike tour through Tuscany, for that matter? For many, adventure travel wasn’t what they had in mind when they promised ‘til death do us part’.
In nearly two decades of marital globetrotting, I’ve learned a thing or two about traveling with the one you love. In fact, my married life started when my now-husband, Hank, and I eloped during a 3-month vacation. Two years later, we packed up the Subaru and didn’t return home for more than a year. And for the past decade we’ve divided our time between homes in Old and New Mexico.
But, I hadn’t really thought about what works - and what doesn’t - until recently when the adventure travel company Canadian Mountain Holidays asked me to write about the topic for their Adventure Blog.
In addition, I put the word out to my, facebook friends and twitter followers, asking for their best strategies for how to travel together AND save the marriage.
So, what’s the the secret? You may be surprised! For a collection of our best advice READ MORE
What about you? How do you keep things cozy when traveling with the one you love? Share a comment below, on my Facebook page, or tag me on twitter to continue the conversation. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
About Ellen Barone: Consumer travel expert Ellen Barone is the founder and publisher of TravelUpdatesbyEllenBarone.com and YourLifeIsATrip.com. She’s currently at work on her first book - I COULD LIVE HERE. Click here to learn more or stay connected on Twitter at,Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".