Postcards, Flightster and a Spanking New Look

Greetings from Lusaka, Zambia. After mysteriously disappearing for 24 hours, my luggage has finally arrived, putting me in high spirits. It’s always nice to put on a fresh pair of undies. Sigh.

I’ll be in Lusaka until Friday. I then head to Harare, Zimbabwe for the next leg of my survey. More on that later.

Postcards

When I was younger, my grandfather would send the family postcards from his travels. I’d like to think that these notes-from-afar helped inspire my jet-setting proclivities, so, to honor his memory (and to engage future vagabonds) I’d like to carry on the tradition.

Want a postcard? Comment below with a fun fact about world travel, and I’ll send you an email asking for your address. I’m not sure what kind of response this will generate, but let’s limit this first exercise to 15 responses.

Flightster

I want to introduce you toΒ Flightster, a new travel site that I’m writing for. They plan to launch a flight booking engine this fall, but in the meantime have asked me and three other writers to populate the site with content. So far I’ve enjoyed everyone’s posts and am happy to be part of such a fun and eclectic crowd.

Also, if you’re interested, Flightster is hiring a new writer to join the team. Want to apply? Check out Srinivas Rao’s post, “How to Become the Next Paid Writer For the Flightster Blog” for details.

Spanking New Look

In other news, I’ve been working out the kinks for a new look and approach here. I’ve enjoyed writing haphazardly about travel, business and lifestyle design, but it’s time to refocus my online presence. Here’s a sneak peak:

That’s it for now. Short and sweet, with more to report on Lusaka in the near future. For now, it’s back to war with the common cold. Nose..must..stop..running.

[photo credit to tpmorrow]

18 thoughts on “Postcards, Flightster and a Spanking New Look”

  1. I’m going to attempt to never check luggage ever again I think. There are too many bad stories!

    Postcards sound like fun! But I’m not sure if I’ll be home when it would arrive. Would you mind sending one to my house? We call it #tbp…

  2. Oooo…nice new look.

    Did you know that the number of US citizens that haven’t traveled outside the U.S. is roughly equivalent to the kangaroo population in Australia?

    [you said it had to be a fun fact, not a real fact =)]

  3. Love this πŸ™‚ Did you know there is an organisation here in Australia named RedR – it’s like a crack list of talented engineers that get dispersed to all corners of the globe when a natural or humanitarian crisis hits. I’d like to sign up, but am not an engineer!!!

    http://www.redr.org.au/

    Also, nice @rosshill…nice :)#tbp

  4. sick. (sorry, no pun on your cold condition.) like the new peek as it has a travel postcard feel in itself.

    i’ll leave you a fun fact about travel as soon as i get a stable address to which you may post….

  5. I like the new look, in particular the sweet typeface used for the title.

    Did you know that there is a town called Condom in France and one called Middlefart in Denmark? There used to be a Gay Head, Massachusetts (on the vineyard) but it’s now known as Aquinnah. You could also visit Climax, Minnesota, and Twatt in Scotland. And, Dildo in Newfoundland and Labrador.

    Hope you are well. Wishing you the best.

  6. travel is a departure from the everyday that reminds you that there is a huge world out there worthy of exploring.

    There is nothing like opening your mailbox to find that someone thought to send you a postcard and is thinking about you.

  7. First, you already know I’m digging the new design.

    Now, for a fun world travel fact… Since I haven’t done any real traveling yet, I thought I’d give you one from Maine: Did you know that the world’s largest revolving and rotating globe is in Yarmouth, Maine? It’s called Eartha and measures 41.5 feet in diameter. It’s quite cool.

    Glad you got your luggage! Not much stresses me out, but not having my luggage would.

  8. Next time you’re in Sydney, look up the #SydneyTravelTribe on Twitter. Most of us work in online travel some way or another, and we get together once a month for beers and travel-talk.

    TravelFact: Paris is the #1 tourist destination in the world, by a long shot.

    TravelOpinion: Save your Euros and head to Hanoi, Vientiane, or Pondicherry instead. The baguettes are almost as good πŸ˜‰

  9. Thanks for the comments everyone! Some hilarious travel facts. The window is still open for anyone who wants a postcard. Will be sending out an email to you folks next week.

  10. Fact: There are more mountains over 7000 meters high in Pakistan than in any other country.

    And don’t worry about the postcard, I don’t even have a physical address to send one too!

    Nice going with the Flightster gig and enjoy the rest of your time in Africa…that sign at the top of the post is spectacular by the way!

  11. Hi Alan, Congratulations to meet you!

    I read somewhere that there are only 500 people in each person’s ‘world’ and that is why no matter where you travel you will keep running into the same people.

    Tangent- When I read this I thought, well that’s crazy talk, I’m sure I could think of 500 people I know right now. I proceeded to write down everyone I knew -had to have name and picture their face, and after 30 mins had written 200 names and fried my brain to the point where I couldn’t think of anyone’s name for a couple weeks. (Lesson here: go slower or get more ram for brain)

  12. Hey Alan, great post card idea! This flighster idea looks cool, I’m reading through it right now. Hope your Africa trip continues to be awesome. Have you started that book yet? As for a fun fact: Population of the Continent of Australia; 21,431,800. Population of New York Metro Area; 19,069,796. So close!

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