foXnoMad

Post Highlights are a selection of the best and most popular posts from the past two weeks updated every other Saturday. Another great way to get the best of foXnoMad is to subscribe to my RSS feed (what is RSS?).

How To Make Money With Your Travel Blog

While in most cases you won’t be leaving your job or paying your plane tickets, here’s how to use your travel blog to help finance a few meals and small portion of your simple travel budget.

5 Former Best Places To Travel On A Weak Dollar

Places were your currency won’t go as far as it used to, food and hotel prices are increasing, and getting overloaded with tourists.

My Trip To Delhi (Part 8 of 8): Taj Palace Hotel Review

The Taj Palace is situated approximately 15 minutes away from Indira Gandhi Airport and close to many of New Delhi’s attractions, like the Red Fort and India Gate.

Has The Global Economic Crisis Effected Your Travel Plans?

I want to know, has the global economy effected your travel plans?

Unconventional Ways To Raise Funds For Your Travels

Before you cut your own plans however, consider the following unconventional ways to fund your
travels.

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In the past 2 months I’ve met a flurry of new travel bloggers and discovered a number of great travel blogs. I’ve added a number of them to my Links page and would like to take the opportunity to introduce them to you as well.

• Admirable India - Written by Maneesh, a jack of all trades who travels out of his home base in Bangalore, India.
• Almost Fearless - A blog that follows one woman’s journey from corporate manager to free wheeling travel writer.
• Asian Ramblings - Former Canadian resident Stevo, after traveling extensively in south-east China plans to see and photograph more of Asia.
• Bas Bas Bas - Dutch student lost in Istanbul.
• Big Travel Web - Chris, 28, a travel enthusiast London, UK who writes sharing advice and tips on travel to Latin America.
• Clearly Enlight - Shawn left Santa Cruz, California in 2007 to travel the world for the next 5 to 7 years.
• Final Transit - Written by Priyank, a fresh but thorough traveler who writes about his travels through India, Israel, and Peru, among others.
• Le Monde, Cuckoo’s Eye View - Experiences of the traveling Cuckoo. (Funny, the predecessor to foXnoMad was named L’avante Poste).
• One Giant Step - A 40 year old couple who in June 2009, will set off for a one year journey ‘around the world’.
• Soul Travelers 3 - A family of three from Santa Cruz, California traveling in an open-ended, years long trip around the world.
• Trail of Ants - Ant took 5 days to enter Asia, and a further fourteen months to exit via eight of the most unforgettable nations on the globe. He’s currently galvanizing in Melbourne, Australia before continuing east so it’s a great time to catch up on The Trail.

Did I forget about your site or not know about it?

Send me an email or leave me a comment introducing yourself so I can make you a part of my travel reading and links.

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Founder and editor of Travel Blissful, Erica Johansson was kind enough to write a review of foXnoMad yesterday. I’d like to welcome all of you Travel Blissful readers who may be new to this site.

So, let me introduce myself.

My name is Anil Polat, a traveler and travel enthusiast. I’ve spent my entire life traveling, studying cultures, and picking up tricks along the way. I created foXnoMad to connect with other travelers, discover their world, and share what I’ve learned about mine. It didn’t always start out like that, if you’re interested you can read the history of foXnoMad.

About foXnoMad the Blog

The aim of foXnoMad is to help you travel smarter. I try to write about the travel topics that people who are passionate about travel want to read about. I draw on my own personal experiences form the places I’ve been, my background in anthropology, and most importantly other travelers - like yourself.

Here are some of my best posts from a few popular categories.

• Money - The Best Places To Travel On A Weak Dollar
• Culture - How Americans Can Blend In Abroad
• Pictures - From The Red Fort To The Chandni Chowk Market

Subscribe to foXnoMad For Free

If you’re interested in reading foXnoMad and getting in touch with me I’d like to invite you to subscribe to my RSS feed (what’s RSS?), meet me on Facebook, or sign up for email updates below.

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Yesterday I asked you has the global economic crisis is affecting your travel plans, and for the most part it hasn’t - although as Priyank mentions, it does have him a little worried. Before you cut your own plans however, consider the following unconventional ways to fund your travels.

• Sell Your Old Books and CDs - Unless they’re for reference, most books are dead weight once you read them. Lighten the load and sell back your books as soon as they’re read to get the most value back. I prefer Half.com, which makes it easy to sell books, CDs, and DVDs and reimburses you for most shipping costs.
  • Take the books you can’t sell after 60 days and take them to a public library, they’ll buy them for much less but at least you’ll have more than nothing and be 1 book less at that.
  • Download free eBooks instead and stick to a single carry on.
• Grab Extra Change From Toll Booths - Chances are you are missing the ‘rejects’ coin return below most toll booths. Drive through the toll booths that are unmanned or exact change only and stick your hand in the coin return - many times you will find part, all, or twice as much change as it cost you to get through the booth.
  • You probably won’t make a net gain, but could save a few dollars a month. Or save all of the change you find and put it aside for some small travel essentials.
• Tutor A Language - There are plenty of high school and college students who are struggling with their language classes. For a few dollars an hour you can provide them with some homework help. Check for signs on college campuses, church, or Craigslist.
  • Only know English? For longer trips find a job teaching it at your destination in exchange for lessons. (Either way, you should know a few words before you go, here are the 12 best ways.)

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One of Indonesia’s largest mobile phone retailers offers a large selection of cell phones for international customers, without contract obligations. Customers in the US can order hard to find phones from Grakomindo and still choose from most carriers.

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Congratulations to Stina who won $25 today. Stina was the 10th person to sign up for foXnoMad email updates since I announced the Inspire Me Africa photo contest last week. Don’t worry if you didn’t win however, all is not lost.

As part of the Inspire Me Africa photo contest, all RSS and email subscribers are eligible to win one of the 4 prizes in December. The contest begins on November 3, 2008 - I haven’t released the full details yet, but here is more information if you’re curious.

Not a subscriber yet? You can sign up for email updates below.

[photo by: Tyla'75]

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In planning for an upcoming post on unconventional ways to fund your travels, it recently struck me - there is a global economic crisis going on. Money, and how to squeeze more out of it for your travels, has been on my mind lately.

I want to know, has the global economy effected your travel plans?

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Feel free to add to the poll by sharing your thoughts in the comments.

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During my recent trip to New Delhi and Agra, India I was lucky enough to be put up at the Taj Palace Hotel. The luxury hotel is one of the most popular for business travelers in India. The Taj Palace is situated approximately 15 minutes away from Indira Gandhi Airport and close to many of New Delhi’s attractions, like the Red Fort and India Gate.

Accommodations: The Taj Palace rooms were, in my opinion, not entirely impressive, considering the price (beginning at 10,000 rupees) of $220. The rooms were clean compared to some of the hotels I’ve stayed across India at much cheaper hotels and the service was excellent.

Food: The Taj Palace serves a complimentary breakfast buffet offering a variety of traditional Indian and Western dishes. The quality of the food is good, my only grip being that there wasn’t enough actual Indian food offered. There are several other restaurants in the Taj Palace if you want to try something different, just at a considerably higher price.

Price: Speaking of price (rooms starting at $220), the Taj Hotel is expensive, and not the kind of place I personally would stay if traveling on my own. I’d suspect that many of you avid travelers wouldn’t choose the kind of class the Taj Palace is in, but is a great choice if you are a luxury hotel addict, or want easy access to personal transportation and a more-Western atmosphere.

Location: Again, this distinction depends on what type of traveler you are. The Taj Palace is close to many of New Delhi’s best sights - by car. It’s not in a location where a you can just walk out of the hotel and go exploring. Bad for backpackers and travelers like myself who enjoy a little bit of adventure on a trip, but excellent for older or more traditional tourists.

Below you can see some of my pictures in and around the Taj Palace.

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Last October I highlighted the best places to travel on a weak dollar - inexpensive gems for those of you carrying weak currencies and looking to make the most out of your money. One year later, the dollar is still plummeting while some traditionally weak currencies are leveling up with the greenback.

Quite a bit has changed in the global economy over the last year and it’s time to update the list. Places were your currency won’t go as far as it used to, food and hotel prices are increasing, and getting overloaded with tourists.

• Czech Republic - This former ‘cheap’ destination was discovered by citizens of the Eurozone in the early 1990s and since then has seen it’s tourism numbers nearly quadruple. With 1.5 million Germans alone visiting for vacation or shopping sprees for an average of 1 week and a stable government in a volatile region, the Czechs have been able to nurture their tourism industry.
  • Using the Economist’s interactive foreign exchange map you can see the Koruna gaining on the dollar. In 2010 (or 2011) the country will adopt the Euro, when prices will skyrocket.
  • The Czech Republic can still be considered a good place to travel on a weak dollar, but not the one of the best - especially with Slovakia and Slovenia so near by and at half the cost.
• Turkey - As Darren of Travel Rants and Colin note, food and drink prices in Turkey along, its west coast and major cities are almost equivalent to the prices in the US. Among the booming Turkish economy and tourism industry you can still find good deals however along Turkey’s Black Sea coast and eastern cities like Van or Kars.
  • A cheaper alternative to Turkey is Northern Cyprus, which offers you Turkish culture and food along a low cost section of Europe’s Mediterranean coast. You’ll just have to fly or sail through Turkey to get there.

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Beginning next month I will announce foXnoMad’s next major photo contest called “Inspire Me Africa”.

I’ll be announcing the full contest details on November 3, 2008. Here are are some of the prizes, based on your suggestions, and a chance to win the first $25 of the contest.

• The Inspire Me Africa Contest will run from November 3 - November 17, 2008.
• There are 4 prizes up for grabs.
  • A digital camera
  • A cash prize (of at least $75)
  • A travel-related DVD (to be announced)
  • The book, Long Way Down
• Winners will be determined by December 16, 2008.

The 10th person to sign up for daily email updates between now and this Friday (10/3/2008) will receive $25 cash via Paypal. Simply enter in your email address below. All new and current subscribers will also be eligible to win one of the 4 prizes mentioned above in November.

Email updates are an easy way to get announcements about contests and learn more about foXnoMad. (I won’t send you anything else, spam you, or give away your email address.)

I’ll post the winner of the $25 next Tuesday, good luck.

[photo by: bass_nroll]

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