Travel Anywhere
Summer. Tis the season for travel, and the question: “I’m going to [fill in the blank], do you have any recommendations?” While I’ve been a lot of places, the world is vast, so I thought it’d be most helpful to share my favorite “go to” resources for going anywhere. They’re pretty fun too even if you’re don’t have anything planned just yet.
1. Everplaces – Think Pinterest, but for travel and experiences that inspires you to get off your computer and go somewhere, rather than staying on it for hours at a time. There are a few platforms like this out on the market now, but this is by far my favorite for its great design, smooth interface and accompanying app. It’s not only a way to discover great knew places, but I love it as a way for me to record the highlights of my trip and share a link with friends for their next trip. Personally I like to keep my selections well edited so it’s not overwhelming when going to a new place – only sharing my top picks with an image or two I took. Here’s my guest post on their blog about my trip to Budapest on 24-hours notice.
2. Afar – This beautiful print travel magazine also has an accompanying social media component. It’s another resource that tends to be for the travel savvy, “in the know” (since they’re the audience that read the magazine too). It’s a mix of related blogposts and Q&A (with answers from people like you), and there are helpful filters and “wanderlists” to get you the info you want. You have to sign up (free) to use it, but it’s worth it!
3. The New York Times Travel – I’ve always been a fan of their 36 Hours guides because they are less overwhelming as three days limits how much you can see and do. They have quite a collection of cities at this point, and even made it into a book that Taschen published last year. Their T Style blog and In Transit blogs are great for up to date happenings around the world in major cities.
4. Design*Sponge City Guides – What started as a small collection of city guides by creative folks has been built up over the years (and updated) to showcase a wide collection of places, big and small, around the world. Yours truly authored the Baltimore and Parisguides.
6. Gran Tourismo Travels – It’s hard to believe two people have seen so much of the world, but professional guide book and travel writers Lara Dunston and Terence Carter spent a year changing cities around the world every two weeks while documenting their local experiences. They’ve slowed their pace, but keep on traveling, and their site is an incredibly comprehensive look at what feels like everywhere. See Lara and Terence on Boarding Pass.
7. Travel Anywhere Cards – This is the offline solution to traveling anywhere. Magda Lipka Falck created this series of “generic” cards that can be applied to any location. By default it becomes a little bit of a game. See Magda on Boarding Pass.
tina
June 26, 2012 at 1:23 pm //
I commented this morning from my iPad but obviously it didn’t show:( Not a great fan of blogger (for this reason).
Great post. I think armchair travel is the new way of travel (well sort of).
Hope you are well. x
Susan
June 26, 2012 at 3:03 pm //
Right now I am relying solely on armchair travel ;)
Love the D*S city guides!
Robín
June 26, 2012 at 3:06 pm //
To travel is to begin; you might believe, thus, there is an end to it. Not if you really wish (1), though it is hard to do. You just need, to begin, a little bit of money or a way to get it -working- while in travel; travel is not to holyday. And it is also to see and stop and quiet at times, even though nobody recommended or said it before.
(1): “My travel consisted in staying here, where i never went”
(G. Caproni)
Lost In Cheeseland
June 26, 2012 at 3:09 pm //
As you know, I’m a big fan of Everplaces -such a great tool! And AFAR and NYT Travel are musts for sure.
Martin Adler
June 26, 2012 at 9:08 pm //
nice blog…. great work..
Christina
June 26, 2012 at 9:15 pm //
Thanks for recommending the Design Sponge city guides – I had no idea those existed! Sometimes it’s nice to have another source on places to go and see besides Yelp or TripAdvisor!
ohdarlinglove
July 1, 2012 at 3:28 am //
super helpful! everplaces may have just sucked my evenings away for good :)
Freshgrub
March 26, 2014 at 7:12 pm //
Spot on! I would also add that if you don’t know the Destination yet and if you are like me, I get inspired by the hotels before I pick a place to go.
Then these sites would come in handy http://www.designtripper.com, http://www.ahotellife.com and ofcourse our site http://www.freshgrub.net.
happy travels!