I’ll break this review of Travelgrove down into a couple logical sections. Which should either help or confuse you. I do what I can. Searching for flights, which will cover ease and flexibility. I’ll also use a real upcoming flight that I have to book so we can see if I save some money. Then I’ll try out the community features and see if they are useful or at least fun. Here we go, Travelgrove…

Booking Flights

The meat and potatoes of any travel booking site has to be the airfare search engine. That said, Travelgrove has a few things going for it, and is missing a couple too.

The first missing feature that I noticed was my beloved +/- 3 days feature. I find that’s really helpful for saving me some cash on my flights. Functionality such as sorting results by different fields and grouping by rewards program are also missing, but far less critical.

The search results include the amount of award miles for each flight, which is a really cool little feature. It was also really nice to see JetBlue listed as they are not included in many travel search engines.

So would I use Travelgrove to book my flights? Not exclusively. Which is okay, because they have a results comparison option that lets me search another site at the same time. I had a real flight that I need to book whichI used as my test for this Travelgrove trial. With that flight, I would have saved $3 by using Travelgrove because they had JetBlue and my usual site (Kayak) does not. However, adding a +/- 3 days to my search on Kayak saved me $24. The moral here is to generally corrade a few tools for comparison sake as it may just save you a few bucks.

Community Features

It seems that the Travelgrove community is still quite small. Which can be both a pro and con depending on your preference I guess. I find that until a community reaches a critical mass of users then it isn’t really as useful as it could be. There’s no shortage of functionality available in the Travelgrove community sections though. They have forums, and a system of user reviews and galleries that are there for the taking.

Under the umbrella of Travel Journals you can freely add your own reviews and galleries. These can then be searched by other users who are researching trips, or just killing time at work. The reviews function is a pretty straightforward text field with city selection. The galleries are rather nice with thumbnails and comments built right in.

There are also more robust travel guides for popular destinations. They include a location overview, sights, nightlife and a map. The part I found interesting though was the city rating and rank system. It’s interesting to see an entire city reviewed like a taco stand. A good example is the Orlando travel guide where you can see it gets five stars for family fun, but only three for public transit. Do they even have public transit in Orlando? Anyways, this feature amused me for quite awhile as I looked up places and rated them.

The user forums are a bit lacking when compared to some of the other big travel forums out there. However, this may be a symptom of a new community. Although, without some user momentum they’ll likely not become a terribly useful resource. From what I see now there is mostly a lot of travel ads masked as user posts.

Overall

The rest of the site has what you would expect to see, such as last minute deals and the such. These deals seemed to be about average as far as I can tell and are aggregated from other sites. They do have a neat way of displaying destination deals in a calendar grid. For example, cheap flights to Venice shows major departure cities best price per month.

Usability wise, there’s still some kinks to iron out in the flow and features. For example, it took me a while to figure out the site navigation enough to find my own journal. And it may just be me, but I logged in on that top nav bar a few times before deciding that it never showed me as logged in.

In summary, I’d call Travelgrove a young new travel site for cheap flights that with some polish could turn into a cool little tool and community. It’s worth keeping your eye on and checking out from time to time. If you give Travelgrove a try yourself please let everyone know what you thought in the comments.

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//shawn

ps: I should note that Travelgrove requested this review, but on the grounds that I be completely impartial.

pps: I know there are still travel agents and they’re still awesome. Just saying their role is changed these days.

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Reviewing Travelgrove, A Travel Booking Site And Community is a post from: Rerunaround

To even further alienate you from my point, I’m going to give some unfortunate sucker the chance to experience the joy of receiving some real postcards first hand. The unfortunate part being that the postcards will be from me. Plus they may possibly have genuine boogers stuck to them. Here’s how you too can possibly become the maligned nemesis of your postal carrier…

Without further text, here are the lists of reasons why postcards might still be cool. Conveniently divided up by senders and receivers. I’m fairly certain most governments don’t allow you to be both a postcard sender and receiver. Although, I think California might legalize it soon.

Oh yea, and after the lists I’ll describe in painful detail how you can belittle yourself for the chance to receive postcards from me. I assure you, I’m possibly not horrendous at choosing, writing on, or sending postcards. Who wouldn’t want some of that?

Why Sending Postcards Might Still Be Cool

1. You can brag about your glorious travels with no fear of immediate repercussions. They don’t even have an “unfriend” button on postcards. Unfriend isn’t even a damn word anyways. I’m not bitter.
2. You get to experience the joy of navigating the archaic postal system of backwater countries. Perhaps I should have made a “cons” list too.
3. You’ll create the facade of being a thoughtful and considerate friend. It’s important not to write the same thing on every postcard you send someone in order for this to work.
4. You can write embarrassing tidbits on the card about the recipients. You both know damn well that every postal worker along the route is reading it. Even cooler if the recipient lives in a small town, is paranoid, or their mom is a mail carrier.
5. The pictures on the cards are generally better than anything you could ever take.
6. Licking a stamp is just a 1/4 calorie. You could burn that off easily just by making that gross face everyone makes after ingesting a bunch of cheap stamp glue. Or perhaps even by googling pictures of Swedish princesses.
7. Speaking of stamp glue, I bet glue breath kills 99.9% of germs that cause gingivitis. Plus 100% of chances that anyone would want to have a conversation with you.
8. You’ll look like Hemingway as you sit in that little cafe scribbling thoughtfully over your postcards. Seriously.
9. Chicks dig stamps. I’m lying, but I so desperately needed more items on this list.

Why Receiving Postcards Might Still Be Cool

1. If the sender decides to later murder you, the investigators can perhaps harvest their DNA from the licked stamp. If you find this plausible you need to watch less crime TV dramas.
2. You can’t flaunt a Facebook status update around the office. Or stick a Skype call on your fridge.
3. You finally have a use for all those fridge magnets you’ve so naively collected (see #2 above).
4. That fleeting moment when you realize your mailbox contains something other than grocery fliers and cable bills just might save you some money on anti-depressants. Realistically, I doubt it though.
5. You can use it as a drink coaster. Jokes on you when the ink from that cheapo Dollywood postcard runs and ruins your crappy coffee table.
6. You might just have a tangible memory shared between you and a real friend. Might.

So that about sums it up. I’m mostly certain that you are now the hugest fan of postcards ever. And that as a born again postcarder you’re super desperate to get some of these puppies* in the mail. So here’s how you can maybe possibly get some!

I’m going to make you jump through some obnoxious, yet easy, hoop. Then I’m going to randomly pick one of you hoop jumpers. Then as I travel around for the next year or whatever, I’ll send you some postcards. Rad? Yea, I thought as much. You obviously need to be willing to email me a postal address, so you shouldn’t be previously terrified of stalking. Odds are, you should receive several postcards from this little endeavour. Unless I get arrested or dead soon.

All you need to do to enter this sham of a contest is post on the rerunaround.com Facebook page. I don’t especially care what you post, since I’m effectively illiterate anyways. I just like the subtle comedy of how non-Facebooky a postcard is. I’ll randomly select a winner, then message you for your mailing address. If you hate Facebook, then I suppose you can use Twitter (@shawnosaurus) instead. That’s all it takes. Contest runs until I get around to selecting a winner — so like, a little while, but not too long.

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// shawn

* Not literally puppies. It turns out most postal systems have fairly stringent rules in place regarding what you can tape to a postcard.

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Postcards Are The New Black… Again. Get Some! is a post from: Rerunaround

I really like the style of those roundtable posts they do at Where I’ve Been. Comparing the different answers from various travel folks gives a different sense of perspective on the topic. Plus it’s neat when all three of the contributors give the identical answer to a question. Then you know there must really be something to it beyond personal opinion. This is actually the second one I’ve contributed to and with some luck I hope to do more in the future. Anyways, check it out!

Oh, Canada: In a few days, epic NBC Winter Olympics montages will remind the world that its rugged environs have provided us photogenic landscapes, hockey, poutine and moose for decades. And while Bob Costas and co. might boost interest, Canada remains a remarkably overlooked tourist destination. Why?

Continue reading Travel Tuesday Roundtable: Canada on the whereivebeen.com blog.

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// shawn

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Visiting Canada? is a post from: Rerunaround

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to preview the Travel Blog Success (TBS) site. I can readily say that I learned quite a bit about travel blogging there. It’s made starting this blog much easier and quite a bit more rewarding. TBS is a good deal for a certain type of travel blogger. And possibly not as much for others. Instead of just generally recommending the site to everyone I would like to try and clarify who will really get the most benefit.

I figure there are three classifications of travel bloggers out there.

1. The “Look Mom” travel blogger: These folks are sharing their trip with family and friends. It’s a fancy, public journal and when their trip is done, so is the blog.

2. The “Read Me” travel blogger: These folks get their main travel blogging joy from being read and sharing their experience. The joy of having people read your posts. Traffic and comments are king.

3. The “Lifer” travel blogger: These folks are in the travel blogging/writing scene for the long haul. They’re the career changers that want the freelance contracts, the promo trips, the site revenue, plus everything the “Read Me” folks want.

Take a look at those and honestly determine where you want to be. I’m personally a 2.5 right now because I’m not yet convinced I have what it takes to make life as a 3 work. I guess we’ll see. Anyways, if you’re a “Look Mom” blogger you’re free to go. There isn’t enough value for you in the TBS program. You can only have so many moms so you’re already all set. If you’re a #2 or #3 then yes, you can get really good bang for your buck out of TBS and here’s why.

Travel Blog Success worked really well in my personal case for a number of reasons.

I’m Busy Like Borscht

Despite all the napping, I actually have a lot of things to do as I wrap up my old life and start up my new life. I wanted to get this site started even though I had limited time and resources to dedicate to it. At times while traveling, I also have really busy spells.

Travel Blog Success is divided up into logical segments. They’re bite size and they’re in chronological order. So when I have fifteen minutes to sit down and check out the next step for improving my blog, it’s easy to do. I know it will be a topic or tasks that I can get done in a realistic amount of time. For example, SEO is easily the most boring topic in existence. Seriously, try and name something more boring. Exactly. I had honestly planned to skim or maybe even skip the SEO section of TBS. When I sat down to look at it I found that I was able to learn all I needed to know in about 10 minutes. I walked away with three tasks to improve my SEO and all the info I needed to complete those tasks. I don’t think it was more than another fifteen minutes before I was all set. I was shocked and very pleased.

I’m Not Evil

I dole out kiss for all the kittens, smile at puppies and don’t manufacture weapons of mass destruction. I also cringe and whine at the thought of self-promoting and marketing my site. I don’t want to be one of those twats that just markets themselves like soulless robots. So I assumed I was hamstrung in my ability to succeed in the travel blogging scene.

Apparently the cure for this is options. Plenty of options. Oh, you don’t like to do such-and-such type of site self-promotion? Well here are myriad other ways to help get yourself involved in the travel community. Armed with options, ideas and data on why different approaches work for different reasons, I wasn’t even miserable. I like not being an evil whore and/or miserable.

I Don’t Care

When the cards are all on the table, it really comes down to the fact that I don’t care enough to dump those countless hours into researching and trial/error stumbling my way around. Maybe you’re an insatiable masochist for those “69 tips & tricks to blog billionairedom” articles. Not me, buddy. My time is very valuable to me. I did very well in the corporate world because I clearly understand the Return On Investment bell curve that everything I do has. After a certain amount of wasted time it is no longer worthwhile for me to struggle with something.

The time and energy I saved from using TBS was far greater than the cost of the product. Everything you do has an opportunity cost; what else could you have accomplished with that time and would it have been worth more? That ultimately boils down why TBS is a great deal for travel blogger group #2 and #3.

I Like To Yap

The best guidelines in the world still won’t cover every possible thing. Plus sometimes you just want to vent or see what folks think of your new idea. Beyond the information that TBS presents, I’ve gotten some priceless feedback, ideas and motivation from the other folks in the TBS forums. It’s all good to learn new things, but it really gels when you have the chance to chat about it with your peers. There’s also seasoned travel blogging veterans on the forums, so getting their feedback on your ideas is really helpful.

What It Isn’t

While TBS does give you easy steps to get a more rewarding experience from travel blogging, I want to clarify that it doesn’t do all the work for you. It’s not a miracle tonic button that lets you win and get all the ladies. It simply takes the things you need to know and makes them digestible. You still have to work at all this stuff, you just don’t have to waste time working on the wrong stuff.

Okay, You Can Go Now

Well I got more than a little long winded and random throughout this review. So please don’t hesitate to use the comments or my email (rerunaround at gmail.com) to ping me with any questions you have. I want to clarify that I have an affiliate account for TBS. So you should take that into consideration when basing your decision off of what I’ve said. I’m biased. Although, I do honestly think it’s a really good value for the right folks. Otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered with it myself.

There’s two ways to pay for the Travel Blog Success membership. Check them out here: One Payment or Three Monthly Payments

If you’ve signed up also, then how do you like it? Leave a comment and share your opinion.

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// shawn

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Review: Travel Blog Success is a post from: Rerunaround

The main benefit I get from seeing my books on a shelf is triggered memories. I have a hard time remembering what I’ve read in the past. Or more importantly, what ideas I gained from reading a particular book. Periodically seeing them on a shelf triggers my memory of why that book was interesting and keeps the idea alive in my little mind. I suppose, “out of sight, out of mind” is the cliche that applies in this case. While traveling I’m also keen to ditch heavy books once I’ve read them so I can free up bag space for the essentials. Such as pastries. Shelfari is perfect for letting me get rid of the physical books without losing the memory of what I read.

There’s also all the expected social sharing tools in Shelfari. Such as ratings, reviews, discussion groups, friends, recommendations, and so on. A lot of community features that once you get used to them really add value to the enjoyment of reading. There seems to be a group of folks discussing just about every author and genre that exist.

If you are a Shelfari member, or you decide to sign up, definitely add me to your friends list so we can stalk each others questionable literacy.

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// shawn

photo credit here

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Appease Your Book Collecting Urges With Shelfari is a post from: Rerunaround

Firstly, Google Latitude is what happens when the world’s stalkers and egotists have a love baby. We’re all stalkers and egotists at heart though, so let’s get mapping. Latitude shows where you are on Google maps. In the sidebar of this blog you can see a little Latitude map showing where I am right now. You have two easy peasy fresh and squeezy ways to use Latitude. Either use the Google Latitude site to manually update your position. Say for example by typing in “New York, NY” whenever you want the world to know you’ve changed locations. Or use the Google app on your smart phone and it will use your phone’s positioning to update your location. There are also tiers of privacy options for the little Orwell in all of you. So now you never find out minutes after leaving Bangkok that your Twatter pal Velma was in town also.

Secondly, let’s take the egotism and stalking of Latitude and add achievement whoring into the mix. Tada, now we have Foursquare! I’m new to Foursquare so I’ll paste their own summary,

People use foursquare to “check-in”, which is a way of telling us your whereabouts. When you check-in someplace, we’ll tell your friends where they can find you and recommend places to go & things to do nearby. People check-in at all kind of places – cafes, bars, restaurants, parks, homes, offices.

You’ll find that as your friends use foursquare to check-in, you’ll start learning more about the places they frequent. Not only is it a great way to meet up with nearby friends, but you’ll also start to learn about their favorite spots and the new places they discover.

Every foursquare checkin earns you points. Find a new place in your neighborhood? +5 points. Making multiple stops in a night? +2 points. Dragging friends along with you? +1.

And as you start checking-in to more interesting places with different people, you’ll start unlocking badges. There are badges for discovering new places and for traveling to far away places. Spending too much time singing karaoke or been hitting the gym consistently? Yes, there are badges for those too :)

We all love cruising around, trying new places, and checking out places our friends recommend. So why not let Foursquare do the work for us. Plus the little badge and point system amuses the pants right off me. If you check out Foursquare, definitely add me as a friend so I can flaunt all the rad badges I’m about to get.

Those are the two web services I wanted to share with you. If you have a site, service, app, or whatever that you really enjoy that’s even kind of related to the social aspect of traveling, share it in the comments. I’d love to check it out.

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// shawn

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Two Web Services For The Travel Junkie is a post from: Rerunaround

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// shawn

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- setting up is a post from: Rerunaround