SUNDRY RAMBLIMGS I was doing the laundry the other day and the smell of clean fresh laundry took me back to my childhood when we would run […]

In years to come industry commentators will remember where they were the day Travolution announced its intention to move into the GDS space by teaming up with start-up Lirpaloof.com. After at least six months in the planning, when most people actually thought we were continually bleating about our Awards and Summit, myself and Travolution publishing director […]

Numbers of Groups of PeopleKpalime, Togo West AfricaSaturday, March 31, 2007 There are various groups of people on the planet. I wish I could just say, this and that and define all the groups. CasteTribeCountryRaceColorReligionLanguageState, Island, Enclave, Autonomous, Protectorate, etc. And, now money, I have realized, money is a way of grouping people. 303 CountriesMoney of the planet.Now, I […]

Esther Uses Her HeadKpalime, Togo West AfricaSaturday, March 31, 2007 This is Ester, I probably spelled here name wrong, nonetheless she is smart young girl, I am guessing about 15 years old, bright eyes, bright smile and my consul when needed. She shows me how they cook bread. A few minutes ago, she called me over to […]

Traveler DenialKpalime, Togo West AfricaSaturday, March 31, 2007 SWEDISH GIRL I WANT TO FORGET:I met this Swedish girl, yesterday in the Gomido Bar, makes me appreciate the Togo women. There seems to be a propensity for the less-than-up-to-snuff-looks-wise (ugly) white people to come to Africa, however I better be careful, I fit into this category, as […]

What is the world of online travel coming to when the leading players in this space start employing fictional characters to pump up their sales and then issue a press release commenting on the escapades of their made-up creatures to boot? First we had Cheapflight’s “Where the hell is Biggles?” campaign on YouTube, and now we […]

Baxter Jackson, one of the winners of the recent Bluelist competition, has a cat of pure breed travel pedigree. Hanuman - aka Mr Chickencat - has been to places backpackers dream of. Mr Chickencat has trekked in Nepal, travelled all over southern India, kicked it in California, and even been to Mount Sinai and Siwa with […]

A Techie with WisdomKpalime, Togo West AfricaThursday, March 29, 2007 Quote:The problem with the human condition is that it involves humans. Bringing that condition online, fostering it with the Wisdom of Crowds philosophy, is slowly but surely proving what philosophers have said since humans first learned to write: the anonymous mob is powerful and passionate, but […]

We were delighted today to see that not only is Jaunted.com lambasting ‘Micael’ [sic] Kohn’s recent article on dangerous travel, but that the page was peppered with ads for our current Bluelist competition. Thanks for the publicity, guys! Published by Lonely PlanetContinue reading: Jaunted’s unfamiliarity with English spelling conventions not entirely surprising

Old SchoolKpalime, Togo West AfricaFriday, March 30, 2007 I was looking at an iternet page the other day and it said something was - Old School. - That’s so Old School.I am trying to remember the first time I heard this or read this. As I interpret it to mean, or my understanding of this buzzword, trendy type […]

We at Travolution are all in favour of comments to our blog postings and though we would love to reply to all of them, there are some comments in particular which absolutely deserve editorial feedback. Amadeus’s response to Tuesday’s “Two down, two to go” blog post regarding the ongoing negotiations between British Airways and the GDSs […]

WIFI Annoys MeKpalime, Togo West AfricaThursday, March 29, 2007 WIFI is a way to give a few users access to one internet connection point, serves as a LAN - Local Area Network, another toy and a nice toy in certain instances, but not a tool, not a sledge hammer, a small Childs hammer. I am sending 25 […]

Organically Grown Palm OilKpalime, Togo West AfricaThursday, March 29, 2007 I am being sarcastic, and a smart A… The Palm Oil is not pure and clean looking it is real, real life, real oil and made in a natural and organic way. This is a photo I took in the market of Kpalime; the woman is selling palm […]

Where is the French WKpalime, Togo West AfricaWednesday, March 28, 2007 I have now two friends with a W in their names, and I am lost on how to pronounce their names. I did a search of 1139 words in my computer, that I can listen to the words being pronounced, I found one word, sandWich. le sandWich […]

Can’t imagine seeing these here in London - just yet. Expedia in the US has been working on a bit of a guerilla marketing campaign, in the guise of yellow and blue-clad dancers. The suitcase wielding, Fame-wannabes have apparently been, erm, wowing the crowds across a string of US cities. Here’s a clip from New York: Will we […]

Togo Hotel CampingKpalime, Togo West AfricaWednesday, March 28, 2007 I forgot about electrical problems, Kpalime, Togo has a small problem with the electricity going off, yet nothing close to Nepal or Lome, Togo. I am reconsidering the possibility that in Lome, the Auberge MyDiana maybe had a different type of electrical problem, I think the house […]

Making Photo Exposé of HotelKpalime, Togo West AfricaWednesday, March 28, 2007 How to make for me. I have made a list of photos to take of a hotels, it is an annoying list of photos, and quite a bit of work. I think though, if I took all these photos, I will have collected easily all the information […]

Dan Eldridge is currently in Thailand researching for the South East Asia on a Shoestring guidebook. He reports in from Bangkok… It’s late in the afternoon on a boiling hot day in Bangkok. I’m riding aboard one of the city’s ubiquitous ferry taxis, and floating south along the massive Chao Phraya River. But even with the […]

Togo Iron MetalworkingKpalime, Togo West AfricaTuesday, March 27, 2007 Sometimes I am just not thinking, and maybe my brain is cooking, however I really should have paid more attention. This man has created a bellows; no it is not a bellows, as I do research on this Iron works I am learning as I go. This is […]

British Airways has signed a three-year inventory distribution deal with Sabre TravelNetwork which will give the GDS’s travel agent subscribers access to all of BA’s fares. The inventory will be available to all Sabre connected-travel agents worldwide. The new Sabre opt-in program guarantees travel agents in the UK and Ireland, through adjusted financial terms with Sabre, […]

Hitwise has revealed the top ten most popular UK travel websites in 2006 across five verticals - Agencies, Cruises, Destination and Accommodation, Maps, and Transport. No huge surprises, but still interesting to see who’s leading the way. Agencies: 1 Expedia.co.uk 2 Lastminute.com 3 Thomson.co.uk 4 Thomascook.com 5 Uk.Mytravel.com 6 Firstchoice.co.uk 7 Cheapflights.co.uk 8 Airline-Network.co.uk 9 Teletextholidays.co.uk 10 Travelsupermarket.com Cruises: 1 POCruises.com 2 Cruisedeals.co.uk 3 Thecruisestore.co.uk 4 Fredolsencruises.com 5 Oceanvillageholidays.co.uk 6 Princesscruises.co.uk 7 !st4cruising.com 8 Royalcaribbean.co.uk 9 Islandcruises.com 10 […]

West Africa Cheap HotelsKpalime, Togo West AfricaTuesday, March 27, 2007   I got wind of another cheap Auberge or Hotel here in Kpalime, Togo so I went up the hill near the big Saturday - Tuesday market. I looked […]

An email received at Travolution Towers last week [copied verbatim]: Dear Sir/Madam, My name is ***** ********, Having recently finished doing my International Tourism Mgt. BA, I now want to start running an online travel website, currently just needing some advice.. particularly in terms of once created the website, the steps i need to take […]

For many, the words ‘cuisine’ and ‘Phnom Penh’ suggest little more than marijuana-topped ‘happy’ pizza and deep-fried tarantulas. However in recent years, Cambodia’s capital has undergone a quiet culinary revolution that is making dodgy street food and drug-laced entrées go the way of the Khmer Rouge. The Phnom Penh of today is home to some 870 […]

Just a quick one this evening as the Travolution team has been extremely busy most of today - awards, deadlines for April edition of our magazine. BBC News 24 has just shown an interesting item about online fraud and how apparently 12% of users have fallen foul of criminals in the past year, losing an average […]

Just a quick one this evening as the Travolution team has been extremely busy most of today - awards, deadlines for April edition of our magazine. BBC News 24 has just shown an interesting item about online fraud and how apparently 12% of users have fallen foul of criminals in the past year, losing an average […]

Just a quick one this evening as the Travolution team has been extremely busy most of today - awards, deadlines for April edition of our magazine. BBC News 24 has just shown an interesting item about online fraud and how apparently 12% of users have fallen foul of criminals in the past year, losing an average […]

Alternative GearKpalime, Togo West AfricaMonday, March 26, 2007 Every change of hotel has small differences, sometimes the differences are advantages and other times disadvantages. I continually try to optimize my enjoyment of life, and how I live, trying to make the best possible Travelers Nest possible. Of late, I have been working on how to solve a […]

ChicaChoo Togo DrinkMaybe ChuckaChoKpalime, Togo West Africa There appears now to be a Sunday and a Tuesday market here in Kpalime, and the normal city market every day, which is not as good, but full of the more tourist trinkets. I took this photo after a lot of thinking and asking many questions. How to take a […]

Frances Linzee Gordon has just completed an unprecedented research assignment in Saudi Arabia for Lonely Planet’s forthcoming guide to the Arabian Peninsula. As the first person ever to be granted a visa to visit the Kingdom as an independent tourist, she kept a diary of her adventures. In the sixth of eight blog posts, Frances […]