The Ulitmate Travel Song Play List is growing and you still have time to add your favorite song that inspires travel, a song that is about a destination or just makes you want to hop in your car and hit the road.

On August 9th, we are holding a draw for all the people that entered our Ultimate Travel Song Contest and giving away a $25 Itunes Gift Certificate.

The Rules are Simple for the draw.

Any facebook fan of ThePlanetD’s Round the World Adventures that leaves a comment regarding their favorite travel song wins!

• Give our Facebook Fan Page The Planet D’s Round the World Adventures a “like” by clicking on the like button
• Leave a comment on our facebook fan page wall stating what your favourite travel song is.
• The song can be a song that inspires travel, is about a particular destination or adventure.
• Choose a Rock Song, Old Standard, Broadway song, country and western. Anything goes. The idea is to have a mixture of music that we may not have thought of.
• please, only one submission per person.
• Once we have compiled a list, we will post it on our blog with links to your site
• If you don’t have a site, we will make sure to give you a big shout out on ThePlanetD Blog
• You must make sure to “like” our facebook page and leave a comment on our fan page to win the prize.

Good News!!!

We have had such an awesome response that we have decided to add a second part to the contest after our August 9th Draw.

We are giving away an ipod nano for to the person that submits the number 1 travel song.  Once all submissions are in, We will put up a poll for you to vote on your favorite Travel Song.

• Duplicate songs will not be eligible for voting.
• Only the first submission of a duplicate song will be entered in the poll, (but never fear, duplicate answers already submitted are eligible for the August 9th draw for the $25 Itunes Gift Certificate!)
• Only one submission per person please.
• All songs must be listed on the facebook fanpage and you need to become of fan of our group by clicking the “like” button.
• Polls will open on August 9th after the draw winner is announced.
• Submissions cannot be taken after August 8th

Ultimate Travel Songs Selected By You – So Far…

Enjoy this list of Ultimate Travel Songs,

And then think of your own and come on over to our facebook page to enter your original idea.  Have fun and thanks for the submissions!

1.Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd - Kathy Bovair “Dave will have my back on this one “SWEET HOME ALABAMA” great road trip tune and an old high school classic from our past”

2. Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf – Bonnie Paridaen “By Steppenwolf Baby!”

3. Kokomo by The Beach Boys – Keith Jenkins

4. Society by Eddie Vedder - Shannon O’Donnell “Great lyrics and lovely on a long bus ride”

5. Route 66 by Chuck Berry- Trisha Miller “it’s a trip I have dreamed of for a long time, and someday I will do the entire length in one long, leisurely road trip”

6 Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues by Bob Dylan - Donny Swanson “Puts me is a good mood because it just hilarious!”

7. I Love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett - Anne-Marie DeLoray “We just finished watching the Runaways and so I am reminded of one of my favourite driving songs – blasting loud on a long highway drive.”

8. Africa by Toto – Dina Rosita Koudys “Not exactly about traveling, but it does mention Africa, Kilimanjaro, and Serengeti. And I love the song!”

(note from D&D – Dina, we think it is exactly a travel song. It inspires travel to Africa beautifully )

9. Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight – Lauren Mcleod “Even though it’s about heading home instead of away, it sure gets me groovin’ along like I want to leave.”

10. American Woman by The Guess Who - Lorna Hazen-Francavilla “It is one of those roll the windows down,crank the tunes kind of song!”

11. Roam by B-52s -  Genelle Gregorio “Roam” by the B-52s is a fantastic song for slideshows of your travels and to get you all pumped up about traveling and seeing the world!

12. I’m Yours by Jason Mraz - Plif Damon “not because of the lyrics but just because of the melody, it’s a happy song for me, perfect for road trip or when I’m feeling down.”

13. Man in the Mirror by Micheal Jackson – Algarme Claire “I like the beat and the message of the song. It also reminds me to be open to everything I see & meet in my travels and how to be a better person at the end of my journeys.”

14. Beauty by Shaye - Alison Cornford Matheson – “One of the most beautiful songs related to travel, It makes me tear up every time I hear it.”

15. Leaving on a Jet lane by John Denver - Jenny Leach “We love this track when we are traveling.”

16. Christmas Eve in Srajevo - Lisa Owen “We cruised with our girls over Christmas 5 years in a row listening to “Christmas Eve Sarajevo” on the beach in Cozumel.  Book, the beach, CDs and I was one happy camper!”

17. Sparrow and the Workshop from Into the Wild Soundtrack – Frontier London Headquarters “It’s a new one but pefectly encapsulates the feeling of entering an unknown wilderness.”

18. On the Road Again by Willy Nelson - Diane Grady .”We were camping year’s ago on VanCouver Island and a big motorhome pulled out playing”On the Road Again” through the loud speakers. It was hilarious.”

19. You Belong to Me by Jo Stafford - Sandra Katsuri “See the pyramids along the Nile/ Watch the sun rise on a tropic isle/ Just remember, darling, all the while/ You belong to me.” I always thought it sounded terribly romantic, exotic and mysterious… just like travel should be.”

19. a -You Belong to Me – Andi Perullu “I Love Carla Bruni’s Renditon”

20. Holly Holy by Neil Diamond - Mariellen Ward “Gets me excited to go back to India (I think it’s because of the movie “Holy Smoke” – the song plays over the credits while Kate Winslet and her friend are traveling in India)”

21. Praag – Anil Polat “It’s on there wherethehellismatt video!”

22. Dreams by The Cranberries - Katy Lynch “Just everything about the song screams self-discovery and adventure. Plus, who can deny Dolores O’Riordan’s amazing vocals for the remaining minute and a half of the song.”

23. No Stress by Lauren Wolf - Clare Appleyard  “Great beat, great lyrics “I don’t wannw work today, maybe I just wanna play.”

24. Livin’ On Key West by Howard Livingstone - Rita Pilger “I drive around in my mustang convertible and crank this song up and am transported to another place far awa…y!”

25. Sympathy For the Devil by The Rolling Stones – Daniel Stein

26. A Sort of Homecoming by U2 – Amy Fraser Riley

27. Throw it All Away by Zero 7 – Melanie Waldman

28. Long May You Run – Denise Wilton Clement

29. Runnin” Down a Dream by Tom Petty – Margo Millure

30. Rambling man by The Allman Brothers - Rasheed Hooda

31. Sailing, Christopher Cross - Stephanie Broschart “It’s not far down to paradise, At least it’s not for me, And if the wind is right you can sail away, And find tranquility, The canvas can do miracles, Just you wait and see, Believe me”

32. American Girl by Tom Petty - Joya Anthony “It definitely gets me excited right before a trip.”

33. Easy by the Commodores - Jeannie Mark “It’s about loving freedom!”

34. Graceland by Paul Simon – Sheri Anderson Wallace “I love that song because it captures all the pieces of a road trip”.

35. Fly Away from Here by Aerosmith - Dan Haneveer

36. Weather with You by Crowded House - Michaela Potter

37. The Passenger by Iggy Pop – Garreth Hamilton

38. The Tourist by Radiohead- Keith Savage

We will be updating the list as they come in, but keep an eye out on the facebook page for other people’s new entries in case we are a little slow on the uptake.

We recently had the opportunity to go to Paris and fell in love with the city of lights.

It takes a lot of planning to see Paris and not break that bank and we wrote a couple of articles on the topic…

• Free Things to do in Paris
• Paris on a Budget

Got Saga wrote and awesome post on other Free Things to do In Paris that we hadn’t even thought of. It takes our ideas as novice Parisean travelers to the next level. Check it out at 7 Fun Things you Can do in Paris at no Cost.

We also wrote what to do if you only have three days in Paris.

If you plan properly, you can fit a lot in during your time in Paris and have the trip of a lifetime.  But if you are like many people and only have a limited time in the city, you need to arm yourself with a few more tips regarding its attractions and museums.

Closures

We had a few hiccups in our travels to Paris because we were not organized enough and should have done more research.  Paris has some great deals, great savings and a lot of free things to do, but you can also miss out on your perfect day in Versailles or at the Louvre if you happen to go when they are closed.

Yes, even the largest museums and attractions in Paris are closed one day each week.

Here is a list of opening hours and closings for Museums, attractions and important sites in Paris

The Louvre

The Louvre Closures

• Closed: Tuesdays
• Hours: 09:00-18:00 except Wed and Friday open from 9:00 to 10:00 pm
• Holidays:  May 1, August 15, December 25, January 1
• Free: First Sunday of Every Month and July 15th
• Discounted Days:  Wednesdays and Fridays 6€ after 6:00 pm

Musée D’Orsay

The Musee D'Orsay

• Closed: Mondays
• Hours: 09:30 – 18:00 except Thursdays until 21:45
• Holidays: 1 January, 1 May and 25 December
• Discounted Days: Thursdays 5€ after 16:15 pm
• Free: First Sunday of Every month

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is Open Every Day

• Hours: 09:oo am to 00:45 am (Last lift Midnight) Summer hours
• Holidays: Open 7 days week 365 days a year
• Discounted Days: None that I know of
• Free: None

Arc du Triomphe

Arc Du Triomphe is open every day

• Open: 7 days a week
• Hours: 10:00 – 23:00
• Holidays: January 1, May 1, May 8 (morning), July 14 (morning), November 11 (morning) and December 25
• Discount Days: None
• Free: European Union Members ages 18 – 25

Pere la Chaise

The famous Cemetery Pere La Chaise is Free

• Open: 7 Days a Week 365 days a year

7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Mon.-Friday
8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Saturday
9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Sunday and bank holidays.

Winter hours shortened

• Free: Every Day

Versailles

• Closed: Mondays
• Hours: 9:00 – 6:30
• Holidays: December 25, January 1, April 5, May 1, May 24, November 1 
• Free: First Sunday of Each Month
• Discounted: – A Member of friends of national museums associations, citizen of European Union under age of 25

Les Invalides

At night Les Invalides is closed while the eiffel tower is open

• Closed: First Monday of Every Month, Some exhibits are closed every Monday
• Hours: 10:00 – 6:00 Summer hours
• Holidays: January 1st, May 1st, November 1st and December 25th.
• Free: July 14th
• Discounted: Tuesday 7€ after 5:00 pm

Catecombs

Catacombs are closed on a Monday

• Closed: Mondays
• Hours: 10:00 am- 5:00 pm
• Holidays: none
• Free: Children under 13
• Discounts: none

Sacre Coeur

• Closed: Open 365 days a year
• Hours: 6:00 am to 10:30 Pm
• Free: Every Day

Notre Dame

Notre Dame never closes.

• Closed: Never
• Hours: 08:00-18:45 Daily (19:15 on Saturdays and Sundays)
• Free: Every Day
• Towers and Crypt Open Every day 10:00 – 23:00 summer hours
• Towers and Crypt Closed January 1, May 1, December 25

Restaurants – Most restaurants do not open for dinner until 7:00 pm

Shopping – Most shopping is closed on Sundays.

Metro Hours

• 05:30 – 01:15
• Friday/Saturday 05:30 – 02:15

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.  We were browsing our facebook page last week when we received a very generous message from Lauren and Todd from the fantastic trip planning and networking website GlobeTrooper

They invited us to Montreal for the weekend to enjoy a free suite at the Omni Hotel.  Not being ones to turn down a good thing when we see it, we instantly said yes!

Street Entrance to Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal

We were glad we did!

Home to the Famous Montreal Jazz Festival and Fetes Des Neiges (Winter Fest), Montreal was ablaze with energy this past weekend as The Just For Laughs Comedy Festival was taking place along side the Montreal Circus Arts Festival aka: Montreal Completement Cirque.

We didn’t organize ourselves well enough to see one of the many top acts in town for Just for Laughs.  Pamela Anderson was performing this year along with Cheech and Chong and Brad Garrett of Everybody Loves Raymond Fame.  But we didn’t see any of them.

It was exciting to be in Montreal for Just For Laughs though.

The Circus Festival's nightly performance drew a huge crowd in Montreal

The crowds were large and the streets were filled with people celebrating.  Little did we know that there was another festival going on at this time.

The Circus Festival, Montreal Completement Cirque.

We didn’t even realize it was going on while we were there. We thought it was a special act every night to give people free events to watch in the Place des Festivals around Place-des-Arts.  As we walked along the traffic free street, our attention was drawn to the main square by speakers blaring ACDC.  The crowd was thick and something big was about to happen.

The Human Cannonball

David “the Bullet” Smith was about to be shot out of a cannon 154 feet into the air and we managed to see it in the nick of time.  The excitement built as we listened to the heavy beat of Thunderstruck and waited in anticipation for the moment to arrive.  He came out to say hello and within a couple of minutes he had crawled into the cannon.  With a quick countdown from five and a loud thunderous crack he rocketed through the air landing safely in the net.

The Human Cannon Ball from Dave Bouskill on Vimeo.

The Crowd went wild.

We had never witnessed a human cannonball before and to see the World Record Holder was even better! It takes a certain breed to be able to shoot themselves out of a rocket and I will have to admit, it looks like fun!

We thought it was over and were about to walk away when we looked up in the air and saw a crane moving overhead.

Montreal is the home to Cirque du Soleil. It originated in this artistic city and when we saw the silks hanging from the crane, we knew that a performance was about to take place.

Gymnasts Perform overhead in Silks at Circus Festival

And what a spectacular performance it was!

Representing Spain, Belgium and Quebec and company of artists, acrobats, aerial performers, opera singers and Bollywood dancers, put on a spectacle for the people of Montreal.

From Le Grand Bisou where giant air marionettes Victor; the Just for Laughs Mascot and Rose our diva fall in love and share a kiss to Celine Dions, My Heart will go On to Corazon de Angeles a flying art series.

The Finale, Kiss with Just For Laughs Mascot at Circus Festival

The air show continues as gymnasts elegantly float through the air dropping feathers, balloons, confetti and snow as pyrotechnics spark in the night. The show comes in from all directions, performers on stilts weave through the crowd followed by contemporary clowns, robots, musicians and dancers.

An opera singer sings a Habanera from Carmen as a beautiful heroine dances on stage with angels flying high overhead.  The performance is breathtaking with every move choreographed and every beat planned to perfection.

Opera Diva sings Carmen in Cirque Performance

Dancer in Cirque du Soleil, Montreal

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It continues to build to the finale of energetic and colourful dancers jumping to J’ai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire! The smiles are contagious and just as you think they can’t go any longer, the music cuts to Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean.  An impersonator does his  best routine of the King of Pop as the crowd sings along to end the night.

The Finale Performance ending with Jai Ho

A woman on Stilts weaves through the crowd

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The show at Place-des-Arts was a sensation. To see these talented performers was stunning. Their strength and poise, talent and elegance were astounding.

It was the first annual Circus Festival and you can be sure that we will return for a second.  It was spectacular.

Oh yes, maybe next time we will be able to see the Just For Laughs performers as well.

If you happen to follow Canada’s Adventure Couple regularly, you may have noticed that we tried something new last week and had our own little media week at ThePlanetD.

We talked about our favorite travel movies, celebrities that inspire ethical travel, travel books, music that makes you want to travel and international sporting events that do a great job representing their country.

THE ULTIMATE TRAVEL PLAYLIST CONTEST

As we read the comments for music, we felt that another post was in order.  We want to come up with the ultimate travel music play list.

We don’t want it to be only our ideas for a travel playlist though, we need to be inspired by everyone’s favourite songs that inspire travel.

Making it Exciting

To offer a little incentive to help us build our travel song playlist, we decided to have a contest.

The rules are very simple.

• Give our Facebook Fan Page The Planet D’s Round the World Adventures a like by clicking on the like button
• Leave a comment on our facebook fan page wall stating what your favourite travel song is.
• The song can be a song that inspires travel, is about a particular destination or adventure.
• Choose a Rock Song, Old Standard, Broadway song, country and western. Anything goes. The idea is to have a mixture of music that we may not have thought of.
  
• Once we have compiled a list, we will post it on our blog with links to your site
• If you don’t have a site, we will make sure to give you a big shout out on ThePlanetD Blog
  
• You must make sure to “like” our facebook page and leave a comment on our fan page to win the prize.

The Reward

THIS COULD BE YOURS!!

To thank you for all your effort, we are giving away a $25 gift certificate to Itunes to help you build your ultimate travel music playlist for your own Ipod.

• We will hold a draw and all the people that commented and liked our page will be eligible to win.
• If you already like The Planet D’s Round the World Adventures, all you have to do is leave a comment on the fan page wall.
• We will announce the winner on our Ultimate Travel Song Playlist post on August 9th
• It will include all the songs that you recommended to us and become an awesome reference for fellow travelers to build their own inspirational playlist.
• The winner will be contacted directly, so don’t worry if you miss reading the post.

So, help us build our facebook fanpage and the ultimate travel song list and we will hopefully help you win $25 from Itunes.

Now that’s a lot of downloads!

DUPLICATE songs will still be eligible for the August 9th  draw. All people that submit a song this week will be entered in the draw.

If you want to be involved next week however, only the original person that submitted the song will be entered. We only have one duplicate so far and that person has been contacted, so I think we are good! Thanks!

Recently we have had the chance to meet several fellow travel Bloggers.  Over the past year, we have been on our own trying to bounce ideas off of one another while working in our travels.

While that has worked out well to a point, it hasn’t been until these past couple of months that we have been really inspired and excited about the future of travel and blogging.

Meeting Fellow Tweeters in Paris France

It all started with our first tweet up in Paris with Paris Buff. We learned quickly that Twitter personalities really do shine through.  Marlys at Paris Buff was as perky and friendly as I imagined her to be.  As successful entrepreneurs and fellow writers, she and her husband Michael asked us about the direction of our Blog. We realized that we hadn’t given it a lot of thought in the past. It was having somebody that is like minded ask us the question “where is it that you want to be?” that we had to actually sit down and think about our future goals and plans regarding Canada’s Adventure Couple.

We didn’t have a concrete vision of how we wanted to move ahead with the Blog, and meeting fellow writers and Twitter friends reminded us that we need to have goals and a concrete plan.

Meeting Fellow Travel Personalities in Alaska

Just a few days after Paris, we went on a Princess Cruises Press Trip. The people that we met on #FollowMeAtSea were inspirational and professional.  While we all had the best time of our lives traveling through Alaska, we also took our job on the ship very seriously.  We tweeted and wrote diligently about our time on the Coral Princess and we worked hard to give Princess Cruises the results that they were looking for.

Bouncing ideas off of one another was exciting at dinner. We learned from some of the top Twitter and Bloggers on the internet about what they do to raise funds and gain publicity and how they put together packages for tourism boards and companies and what exciting applications they use to track results and gain information.  We couldn’t wait to get home to start implementing some of the ideas that we came up with to take theplanetd brand and our travels to the next level.

We noticed that the more successful the people, the more they are wanting to share.  Everyone in that group, were the cream of the crop and at the top of their fields.  Many suggested ideas to us that we hadn’t even thought about before and shared their successes with us all.  People are quite the entrepreneurs and we learned that we to have the capacity to take our blog to the next level and do something special with it.

To follow more of these great people, here are their twitter handles.

@RickGriffin

@OrlandoChris

@Travelogged

@BethBlair

@Gadling

@traveldudes

@CruiseBuzz

@EarthXplorer

@PrincessCruises

The momentum kept going when we went to The Travel Blog Exchange in New York.  While we didn’t get what we wanted out of the talks and seminars (we were only there the final day) we met up with some of our favorite writers and personalities on the Internet.  Because of TBEX, we have the biggest project of our lives coming up next year.  We will be participating in the Mongol Rally with Sherry Ott of Ottsworld. Michaela from Briefcase to Backpack filmed us all committing to the project in New York and we are now in the planning stages of driving across a continent together with the possibility of Rick Griffin from Mid Life Road Trip coming along!

Since then we have met up in Toronto with Canadian Writers and Bloggers forming the Toronto Travel Tribe thanks for Mariellen of Breathe Dream Go. Talking to Janice of SoloTraveler made us realized that we are all on the cusp of something great.  The world of travel writing, tourism and promotion is changing and if we all play our cards right, we can be a part of it.  Once again, we met great people and bounced ideas off one another and we are looking forward to seeing them all again and getting to know them better.

Which brings us to today…

We had a wonderful weekend in Montreal thanks to an invitation from Todd and Lauren of GlobeTrooper.  It is saying yes to last minute plans that can really make for something special.   We had a blast checking out the Just for Laughs Festival with them and Marcello of Wandering Tradr. But it was our chats at breakfast that we enjoyed the most.  What Globetrooper has done in a few short months is impressive.  They are moving up the ladder of the Trip Planning and Travel Community websites quickly and are truly fun and great people.

We chatted and brainstormed together and bounced ideas off of one another. We all learned something from each other and we all formed a bond that is deeper than simply chatting online.

Meeting GlobeTrooper and Wandering Tradr in Montreal

Everyone that we met these past few weeks have become great friends.  We will all help and support each other as we all learn and grow together.

So the next time you hear about a tweet up, a meet up or receive a last minute invitation to go out and meet a fellow traveler or Blogger, take it! The meeting may open up an entirely new direction of ideas and possibilities.

It is a perfect example as to why it pays to get up early as a photographer. The mist on the lake, the sun hitting the peak and the deep morning shadows combine to give you the feeling of what it was like that morning.

So remember, when you hit that snooze button you might just be missing the perfect shot. Get out there!!

The Morning light of Bow Lake in Banff, Alberta, Canada

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Like all of our lists this past week this was not easy to narrow down our choices to only six. There are many other songs out there that make us want to travel. Even as I write this introduction I am thinking of others but I won’t bore you with my thoughts, let us know if you have any songs that make you want to visit a country or city.

1. England

"I'm so sick from the drink, I need home for a Rest"

Home for a Rest, Spirit of the West

“You’ll have to excuse me I’m not at my best,
I’ve Been Gone for a Month,
I’ve Been Drunk Since I left.
These so called vacations will soon be my death,
I’m so sick from the Drink,
I need home for a rest“….

This song by Canada’s Spirit of the West always makes me want to go to London, England and hang out in the pubs. I think about all the travels we have done and when we do come home, we need a rest. Travel is exhausting and when you add pub crawling to the mix, it is doubly exhausting.  And you need home for a rest.

2. Africa

Kilimanjaro Rises Like Olympus from the Serengeti" - Toto

Africa- Toto

“The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what’s right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti”

This song was on my ipod during our cycles through Africa and it wasn’t until I camped through the continent that the lyrics meant so much to me.  The wild dogs cry all night long in Africa and as we lay in our tent listening to them, I thought of this song. And it wasn’t until I witnessed Kilimanjaro that I saw how it rose up from the continent. Africa by Toto is beautiful.

3. Everywhere

"Crossed the Deserts Bare Man" -Johnny Cash

I’ve Been Every Where, Johnny Cash

“I’ve been everywhere, man.
I’ve been everywhere, man.
Crossed the desert’s bare, man.
I’ve breathed the mountain air, man.
Of travel I’ve had my share, man.
I’ve been everywhere.”

Only Johnny Cash can make a list sound cool. Between each chorus he sings a list of cities and countries and he sounds good doing it.  He may not have been all over the world, but in this song the hero has been everywhere in the United States, Canada and some of Central America.  This song go on a road trip.

What is super cool about this song is that it was originally written for Australia and it listed a bunch of towns across that nation. It was Hank Snow that brought it to number one in America. But it is Johnny Cash that has endured.

4. New York

New York State Of Mind, Billie Joel

“Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighbourhood
Hop a flight to Miami beach or Hollywood.
I’m taking a greyhound on the Hudson river line
I’m in a new york state of mind”

Every time I hop on a bus, this song pops into my mind. Imagine how much it ran through my head when Dave and I actually took the Greyhound from New York to Toronto last month.   This song is so simple. It mentions a few locations in New York and a few publications from the city and that is about it. But the feel is so bluesy and fluid, that it makes you want to go to new york and join the cool kids in the jazz bars.

5. Bali

"Bali in my Eyes"

Bali Eyes ( LP Version ), Porno for Pyros

“Ate a mushroom turned into Bali
Didn’t look it just jumped down my throat
I was starting to die until I
Took a trip to Bali
Their eyes are God
In a glass full of jelly
It’s Bali in my eyes”

We found this song when we were looking for some music to go with some video footage we took of Bali. This song is melodic and lyrical. The live version is far better than the recording.  Whenever I think of Bali, I think of Bali eyes. This song took over for the song that I sang in college, Bali H’ai

6. Bangkok

This grips me more than would a Muddy old river or reclining Buddha

One Night In Bangkok Chess Soundtrack; Murray Head

One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain’t free
You’ll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you’re lucky then the god’s a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

It wasn’t until we went to Bangkok that I actually listened to the lyrics and understood that this song has captured Bangkok bang on. I never clued into the Gods a she line until I witnessed the abundance of Lady Men in Bangkok, I didn’t even hear the line “This grips me more than would a muddy old river or reclining Buddha.” Ah yes, I got it after visiting Bangkok.

It’s media week at ThePlanetD and what is a week about travel in the media without travel movies.  Dave and I worked in the film business for over a decade so we take our movie choices as seriously as our travel destinations.

When we choose a movie that inspires travel, we don’t take it lightly.  Picking a travel movie is important business. The type of movies you like says a lot about a person, so we are putting ourselves out there and tacking the hard hitting news of the travel world, Movies that Inspire Travel.

We could have gone with the usual choices, The Beach, Slumdog Millionaire, Amelie and Motorcycle Diaries, but we wanted to try to go with a little bit of a different list. Everyone knows that these are great movies, (O.K. maybe not The Beach) so here are 8 other great travel movies that will inspire you to go out and see the world.

Our choices of travel movies are probably very different than your, so leave a comment and let us know what movie you love.

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1.Julie & Julia

Paris France

Not only does this movie star the great Meryl Streep and one of the most versatile actresses around Amy Adams, this movie is about travel and blogging. It follows the life of Julia Child through her time in Paris while cutting to present day in new york where Julie Powell blogged about cooking her way through the Julia Child Cookbook. Meryl Streep’s Julia loved Paris so much that she made you believe that it was the most desirable place on earth. This movie cannot be watched on an empty stomach, and you must have a fine glass of wine in your hand. It makes you crave French cuisine and a life of decadence in France.

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2. Up in the Air

Airports and Hotels Across America

This movie is a film of contrasts. While it makes you love the idea of travel, it shows the emptiness that the life of a vagabond can lead if you don’t stay grounded with your family and friends. I cannot go through airport security anymore without thinking of George Clooney.  And whenever I do go through security, I realize just how unorganized I am. His character has his travels down to a science.  The truth is, Dave and I may travel a lot, but we are very disorganized. We have way too much in our carry on luggage, we always seem to leave some sort of unauthorized item inside, like nail clippers or an eye glass repair kit and we are always misplacing our boarding pass. Ah, to be cool like George. Life would be good.

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3. One Week (2008)

Road Trip Across Canada

No movie has made me want to explore a country more than One Week.  The irony is, we have been to most of the stops on this road trip movie because it takes place in Canada. Starring Joshua Jackson of Dawson Creek and Fringe fame, One Week follows a young man driving a motorcycle across Canada after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. I didn’t want to see this movie because of its morbid subject, but it ended up being an uplifting and enlightening film.  One week is a love letter to Canada and a tribute to being alive.

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4. In Bruges

Bruges Belgium

Colin Farrel had fallen out of my choice of favorite actors after such duds ad Miami Vice and Alexander, but when we watched In Bruges he made me realize why Hollywood loved him in the first place.  When he constantly complained of hating Bruges as he and Brenden Gleason took the gondola through the canals I thought it was excellent writing and direction.  The more he complained, the more you took in the surroundings and noticed just how picturesque Bruges is.  As Brenden Gleason took in the history and read the guide books admiring the city, Colin Farrel just kept talking about how much he hated Bruges, which made me love it more. He hated it as they looked out over the city from the clock tower, he hated sitting in the beautiful medieval square and he hated going into a Pub for a drink. The more he hated it, the more I wanted to go to Bruges.

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5. Romancing the Stone

Columbia

Who didn’t fantasize about an adventure in Columbia after watching Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone.  As a kid I always thought about the line “I need to get to Cartagena” and I had no idea where it was, but I knew it was exciting.  I loved how Kathleen turner transformed and started to become a confident and beautiful woman as she journeyed through the jungle of Central America. Michael Douglas was the epitome of rugged mysterious man, and Columbia was completely exotic. It is too bad they made such a terrible sequel. I hear there is another in the works for 2011, let’s hope it’s a good one.

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6.Once Upon a Time in Mexico Robert Rodriguez Mexico Trilogy

Mexico

How sexy is this movie?  The sequel to the excellent El Mariachi and Desperado, Once Upon a time in Mexico ends the trilogy with Antonio Banderas, Selma Hayak, Cheech Marin. This time Johnny Depp joins them for the ride. Even if you don’t care about the story line, watching these three beautiful people is worth the price of the ticket.  Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a fantasy and it is a stereotype of Mexico, but it makes me think of the wild west days of lawlessness and living life on the edge. The scenery is gorgeous, the film is filled with cool style and the music is fabulous. Oh yeah, it makes me want to go to mexico and find my own Mexican Adventure.

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7. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain

Admit it, we all want to go to Spain and run into the beautiful people like Penelope Cruise and Javier Barden.  The Spanish are so much more in touch with their raw emotions. They live life with a passion that the rest of us don’t have. At least that is what Vicky Christina Barcelona makes us think.  Oh how I wish that we all had rich relatives living in Barcelona where we could stay in their Mediterranean Villa and explore the architecture and culture of Barcelona.

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8. A Good Year

Provence, France

Russel Crowe may be looking a little frumpy and I am not a fan of his wardrobe in the movie, but A Good Year made me want to go to Provence and live a simple life on a Multi Million Dollar Vineyard estate.  That’s reasonable right? A Good Year makes life in Provence look like the garden of Eden and I want a piece of it.  Everyone is beautiful, everyone is a wine connoisseur and everyone is pure and good. Who wouldn’t want to go to the south of France after seeing a good year?

When I started this post, I literally had 50 movies on it I then scaled it down to 10 and decided on eight, because Eight Great sounded so good. Wondering what the honorable mentions were besides the ones listed in the opening paragraph? I am not going to tell you because they didn’t make the grade.

You are just going to have to tell me your favorite travel movies and we will compare notes.

We thought it would be fun for this Photo Story to compare some of our photo’s to those of National Geographic. We tried to choose photo’s that were places we had been before and had a similar subject matter. In doing this it was a great learning experience.

Just spending the time browsing through the amazing photo’s at National Geographic and seeing different perspectives and compositions really inspires. So I hope these photo’s inspire everyone to go out there and take in the beauty that this world has to offer.

After all National Geographic’s tag line is “Inspiring people to care about the Planet”.

TOLEDO, SPAIN

National Geographic's Toledo, Spain

Dave Bouskill's Toledo, Spain

BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA, CANADA

National Geographic's Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Dave Bouskill's Banff National Park, Canada

DENALI NATIONAL PARK, ALASKA, USA

National Geographic's Denali National Park, Alaska, USA

Dave Bouskill's Denali National Park, Alaska, USA

TAJ MAHAL IN AGRA, INDIA

National Geographic's Taj Mahal in Agra, India

Dave Bouskill’s Taj Mahal in Agra, India

THE WHITE DESERT, EGYPT

National Geographic's White Desert, Egypt

Dave Bouskill's White Desert, Egypt

As many people know that have been following our blog, we are working on the business end of things this summer.  Well, the most important business aspect of blogging is keeping your site interesting, keeping people on your site for longer than one little blog post and expanding your readership.

The best way to keep people on your site is to build links.  Give people a place to click to read more articles by you and to make sure that your content is interesting and encourage conversation.

Problogger is the biggest Blogger on the Internet and when he recommends trying something new on your blog, we follow.  So we decided to take his 7 Links Challenge. The concept is to make a link to 7 specific posts in your blog.  He even gave guide lines as to what posts you had to link to.  It was a challenge, but we finally came up with the links for the following posts listed below.

Check out our 7 Links Challenge and then start your own!

Give us the link when you do at the bottom of this post when you do, so we too can check out your links challenge and read the older posts on your site.

• Your first post
• A post you enjoyed writing the most
• A post which had a great discussion
• A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written
• Your most helpful post
• A post with a title that you are proud of
• A post that you wish more people had read

My first Post - Training What Training?

Wow, theplanetd blog has come a long way. Our very first post was sent out to family and friends and maybe 10 people read it.  It was about the training that we were doing before our cycle across Africa.  I sort of like this post. You can see that I am excited about starting a blog to write about our experiences leading up to our adventure, and you can see that I am excited about taking off to Africa soon.  The formatting needs a lot of work, but the same feel of the blog that we have today is still there. Honest, excited and maybe a little too much information.

Dave and Deb, Camping through Africa

Enjoyed the Most - 10 Least Romantic Situations Traveling Together

I loved writing this post.  Everyone always talks about the great parts of travel, like travel is some kind of utopia world.  Travel can be tough, tiring and downright disgusting at times.  This article shows just how much Dave and I love each other.  If we can survive these situations and still have romantic feelings toward each other, well, we can survive anything. It is these moments when traveling as a couple that either make the relationship stronger, or it all falls apart.

A Great Discussion - India is Filthy

This was a post that had to be written.  We were on an emotional roller coaster in India.  One minute we loved it and one minute we hated it.  One thing that never changed though was our feeling of just how dirty India is.  We have been to a lot of developing nations and India takes the cake for complete filth.  It stirred a lot of emotion in our comments section and while it isn’t our most commented blog post, it is definitely the most passionate blog post.

A Post on Someone Else’s Blog that you Wish You’d Written – Top 3 Temples by Travelers Around the World by Vagabond Quest

There are countless blog posts that we wish we wrote, we are constantly going through our RSS feed of blogs we follow and loving what people write about. This was difficult just picking one! So to choose, we went with the most recent post we read that we wish we had written.  I love this post because they have created a community of people contributing their top 3 temples from around the world.  We have been to many of the temples listed and when I read it, I thought to myself, Why didn’t I think of that? Asking for contributions from other Bloggers is an excellent way to drive traffic to yours and their site and to form a friendship with other people on the Internet while sharing excellent information.  This is definitely a post that I wish we had thought of.  Especially the 3 tips by different travelers.

Your Most Helpful Post – India Rail Travel Tips Part 3

It gets a lot of hits even today so I think that it must be helpful.  India Rail was difficult to figure out at first. We made a lot of mistakes and shared what we learned in a 3 part series.  Part 3 is the most helpful because we provide links to the first two posts and we have summed up everything that you need to know to travel on India Rail. We cover the process of booking your tickets online or at the station step by step to getting off the train at your destination.

Colours fly through the air during Holi in India

Title I am Most Proud of - Holi Mania it’s Spring in India

This was the most difficult link to add. We are terrible at writing titles. I am not very witty and I am always trying to let people know exactly what the post is about so that there aren’t any surprises.  Most of our titles are very boring and SEO friendly. At least Holi Mania it’s Spring in India was a lot of fun.  It would make me want to read more and see what Holi Mania is all about.  I am not sure though, titles are something that we are going to work on making more exciting this summer.

Post that I wish more People Read - Ian Redmond Talks About Gorillas

We really thought that this post would get more traffic.  Ian Redmond is an amazing man.  He is the foremost expert on gorilla conservation.  His mentor was Dianne Fossey and not only was his character a main part of the movie Gorilla’s in the Mist, he was also a consultant on this academy award winning film.  When we met him, we were astounded and honoured to be able to talk with such a respected man.  A UN Ambassador and star of countless BBC documentaries, our conversation with Ian Redmond deserves a second look.

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Here it comes, the post that almost every travel blog has tacked in the past.  But it is media week after all and how can one talk about all the different mediums that inspire travel and not talk about our favorite travel books?

The books that we have come up with on our list are simply the books that we like.  The books about a specific country or a journey that have either inspired us to visit them, make a difference or try something new.

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Books that Inspire Travel


Neil Pearts Masked Rider

West Africa

Arguably the best drummer of all time, Neil Peart is a part of the iconic Canadian rock band Rush.  Many people know him as a massively talented musician, but many people do not realize that Neil Peart is an Avid Cyclist.  Masked Rider is an honest and undisguised account of his time cycling in West Africa.  It is not your average Rock Legends journey.  He suffers from the usual problems that poor backpackers face.  Disgusting accommodations, heat, exhaustion, personality clashes and don’t forget the inevitable dysentery.  Neil Peart lets us see the man behind the rock star and he makes us realize that superstars are people too.

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The Bang Bang Club by Greg Marinovich and Jaoa Silva

South Africa

Set in Apartheid Era South Africa, the Bang Bang Club is a true account telling the tale of the 4 photojournalists that dared to enter the townships and document history as it was happening.  Heartbreaking and shocking, the Bang Bang Club doesn’t hold back when telling of the brutality of that time.  The photographers had to come to terms with their own demons and what they witnessed day in day out as war correspondence reporters.   They were the top of their profession with their photographs in demand around the world. Their photos made history and set new standards achieving two Pulitzer Prizes between them. But it took it’s toll on each and every one of them and only 2 men managed to survive this tumultuous time in history.

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White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

India

If you are looking for the perfect little picture of India and a beautiful homage to its temples and culture, or paying tribute to its burgeoning place as a powerhouse on the world market, this is not the book for you.  White Tiger tells of a dirty and unforgiving India.  An India that doesn’t let people claw their way out of their caste and an India that doesn’t have sympathy for the poor or helpless. This is a book that neither of us could put down and a book that we feel needs to be read by everyone traveling to India.   The people that have spent their time in an Ashram or driving around the country in an air conditioned car hire or in their sanitized tour group isolated from the people of India won’t like it, but like one review said “This is the book that India Tourism doesn’t want you to read.

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A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

Sierra Leone

This no hold’s bar autobiography of Child Soldier Ishmael Beah is gripping.  A Long Way Gone tells how an innocent child can be forced into savage warfare.  Having lost everything including his family, his home and his soul, Ishmael tells of his journey to evade the military for three years by hiding in the jungle and half starving to death.  Recounting the fear and despair he felt each day until he was finally captured by the government army.  Hopped up on drugs, forced to commit unthinkable acts and eventually accepting the life of revenge and violence, this is a story of going to hell and back.   It was after a long and painful rehabilitation once rescued by UNICEF that he began to heal and rebuild his lost childhood.

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Travels  by Michael Crichton

Around the World

Who would have thought that the author of such best sellers as Jurassic Park, Rising Sun and Disclosure could also be an extraordinary travel writer.  Travels is one of the best travel books we have ever read.  A collection of memoirs dating back to his medical school days, Crichton weaves a story through time blending his life with his travels.  It was his retelling of his climb up Mount Kilimanjaro that inspired me to always be truthful when writing about travel.  People always forget the bad and only tell the good when they get home from a trip.  Travel is tough and it is not always fun, but travel will always be an extraordinary experience.  Do yourself a favour and get a copy of Travels, he was doing it all before it was easy.

Photo courtesy of llaurenb

There have been some amazing sporting events this past month that we have been following and it inspired me to write about the awesome events around the world that inspire people to travel.  Television has creative coverage these days.  Helicopters sweep down on scenery as they cover a sporting event, special correspondents are sent out to regions of the host country to share its famous sites with the world and opening and closing ceremonies showcase the best of what each country has to offer.

It is no wonder that Sporting events are bringing the world together.  As we root for our favorite teams, we learn about other cultures and the history of their land.  We are overwhelmed with incredible scenery and fascinating locations.  One of our favorite things about watching world sporting events is to learn about each place in between commercials or during a short break from the action.

Here is a list of Sporting Events that inspire people to travel.

Tour de France - Going on right at this moment, the Tour de France makes the countryside of France and the surrounding areas look like the most beautiful place on earth.  An army (ok, not quite an army) of helicopters follow the mass of cyclist through the back roads of France.  The cameraman swoops down to capture panoramic views of the Alps, the Pyrannees and the lush green countryside.  We see historical castles and medieval towns while the commentators effortlessly tell of their history with barely a break in the action.  While watching the Tour de France, I just want to hop on a plane and get myself there to witness a part of this exciting test of human endurance and strength.

The World Cup - By far the most globally exciting event to take place every four years. Soccer (AKA football – and what we are going to call it for the remainder of this post) is the most universal sport on the planet. Every country is wild about football.  Even Canada and the United States are starting to see what all the fuss is about.  All nations are glued to their televisions as they watch their favorite player compete for their homeland.

Each host country receives unprecedented publicity.  This year, everyone was enthralled with seeing all that South Africa had to offer.  Commentators and television stations focus on the positive aspects of the country and showcase its beauty.  With 750 million people having their eyes on South Africa, there was bound to be some inspiration to travel there.

The Olympics - Winter or Summer, the Olympics are always a showcase for the host country.  Over the years I have watched the Olympics and always been inspired to travel to the host country.  There is a reason that nations try so hard to host the Olympics and boosts in tourism is the reason.   Television stations have segments in between events highlighting the top tourist destinations and lifestyle of the country and they do an amazing job making the viewer want to travel there.   What Canadian didn’t shed a tear over Tom Brokaw’s love letter to Canada? And how many people saw that around the world and immediately wanted to hop on a plane to see this amazing country.

Hawaiian Ironman - I have watched the Ironman since I was a kid and have wanted to go to Hawaii ever since.  The ariel shots of the Hawaiian coastline is a beach lovers dream.  Sweeping views of its volcanic mountains and lush landscape are a tourism boards dream.  Every Iron Man I have ever watched has had blue and sunny skies in Hawaii. How many people haven’t dreamed of working hard for a couple of years to get themselves qualified for the Hawaiian Iron Man.  They don’t care about a triathlon anywhere else, it is all about getting yourself to Hawaii.

Calgary Stampede - Rodeo’s biggest event, the Calgary Stampede is every cowboys dream to win.  Bull Riding, calf roping and barrel racing are just a few of the events that make people want to mosey on out to Alberta Canada and join a trail ride or cattle drive.  When we watch the stampede and see everyone in their cowboy hats and boots, it makes me want to head out west to work on a ranch.  Alberta is Canada’s most beautiful province(in our humble opinion) and the Calgary Stampede is a spectacular showcase.

What sporting event do you watch that makes you want to travel to a country?

We have been working on getting back in shape this summer.  We may do treks and adventures, but we never really seem to get our heart rates up to a good level for cardio training. Unless you count the Tour D’Afrique cycling race two years ago.

Since coming home, we have been trying to go for a run most days.  As we run through the trails near my parents house, many ideas for blog posts go through my mind.  I had this idea of posting a bunch of lists this week of our favorite travel related mediums.

You know, our top travel movies, top travel books etc.

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So today, we are going to kick off travel media week with the top celebrities that inspire ethical travel.

There are many actors and musicians that take on causes and lend their names to charity every year.  But there are a few that stand out and go above and beyond the call of duty.  These stars have taken their star power and used it to start their own philanthropic endeavors and build charitable foundations.

1. Angelina Jolie – Long a favorite of mine, Angelina Jolie was adopting children and raising awareness for charities before it was cool.  It was after the filming of Tomb Raider in Cambodia that the world saw her philanthropy emerge.  She was so passionate about making change, that she actually approached The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) herself.  Since then, she has become the UNHCR Ambassador and has traveled to over 20 countries including Haiti, Iraq and Kosovo to meet with and help refugees and survivors of conflict and natural disasters.  For an excellent interview, check out UNHCR – An Interview with Angelina Jolie.

2. George Clooney -Just about the coolest guy in Hollywood, George Clooney is also one of the most charitable stars in Hollywood.  Taking up the cause of Darfur has been his main goal and he has gone so far as to visit the region speaking with refugees and documenting his trip in the documentary Journey to Darfur.  This incredible documentary takes him to the far reaches of the Sudan and Chad with his father. What I loved about this report was how George was not afraid to get down and dirty.  He stayed in basic accommodation and literally put his life on the line to show the plight of the people of Darfur to the world.  As well as his own organization Not on our Watch, Clooney has also been known to raise millions for the World Food Program and the One Campaign founded by Bono.

3. Brad Pitt – Co-Founder of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, a charitable project dedicated to eradicating poverty and promoting conservation, Brad Pitt has been as busy as his other half when it comes to saving the world.  His latest philanthropic project has been dedicated to rebuilding New Orleans Ninth District with 150 affordable and green houses.  He has taken up several causes most notably the Not on Our Watch organization that he founded with good buddy’s George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, David Pressman and producer Jerry Weintraub.  This organization is hoping to stop genocide around the world.

4. Don Cheadle - The quiet and reserved Don Cheadle first brought the worlds attention to the previously little known genocide in Rwanda in his Academy Award performance in Hotel Rwanda. He has since joined forces with Clooney, Pitt and others in forming Not on Our Watch.  He has traveled to Africa and has even written the book, Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond He was recently in Rwanda to name two baby mountain gorillas for World Environment Day. Don Cheadle’s charitable contributions are growing with each and every day.

5. Bono - The most politically active of all Stars using their power for good, Bono has the chops to go head to head with world leaders. While other stars have admirably become ambassadors and founded charities, Bono has taken it a step further and gone to the heads of state around the world and pressured them to make change.  Known for his AIDs work in Africa, Bono has been working to change the world since the 80′s. Having traveled all over the planet, Bono doesn’t only focus his attention on Africa. He has taken up causes in Central America and Europe and has even been nominated for a Nobel Peace Price three times. Founder of the organization One, Bono’s charity is fighting against extreme poverty and preventable disease.

I remember seeing him in concert during their Vertigo Tour promoting How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
and he moved me to tears with his elequent speach to take action and make change. If anyone can change the world and influence people, Bono can.

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6. Sting - A long time advocate taking up causes since 1979, Sting is a leader in using his power and influence to make change in the world. Founder of The Rainforest Foundation with his wife Trudy he has been working diligently on saving the Rainforest in South America.  He has been invloved in Amensty International, Live Aid, Band Aid and Live 8. A long time political and social activist, Sting is a pioneer in celebrities using their name for good. Other travel related charities that Sting has been involved in are The International Foundation for Tibet and the Worldwide Orphans Foundation.

7. Mia Farrow – A UNICEF Ambassador, Mia Farrow isn’t afraid to take risks to raise awareness to her cause.  Her most notable and extreme tactic was to go on a hunger strike for Darfur.  She also stood up to the Olympic Committee in Hong Kong calling for a boycott until the genocide stops. Putting her reputation on the line time and again, Mia Farrow does what she feels it takes to change the world and raise awareness.  Founder of the foundation Enough is a charitable organization working to stop genocide and crimes against humanity.

8. Ewen McGregor/Charley Boorman - They inspired us to take Long Way Round and the Long Way Down: Complete TV Series. They showed us that even millionaires love a great adventure.  They love to push themselves to the limit and to see the world first hand.  While they traveled the world seeing exotic and primitive lands, they raised awareness for UNICEF. Stopping at projects in Africa and Asia during their motorcycle series, they showed the world that great things can be done when people choose to make a difference.

9. Jackie Chan - Not only did he found the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation way back in 1988, Jackie Chan has been  involved in philanthropy all around the world for over a decade.  Dave and I first took notice of Chan’s dedication in Cambodia in 2003.  We saw his poster displayed at a national park raising awareness about the illegal wildlife trade.  Wildlife trade is big business in Asia and with major celebrities like Jackie Chan taking up the cause, there is hope. Recently he has been traveling with the Dragons Heart Foundation a chapter of the Jacky Chan Charity helping poverty stricken children in the most remote regions of China.

There are many more celebrities that have worked to make the world a better place.  Many lend their name to charities, many take up causes.  What stars do you admire for making a difference in the world.  Do you know of any other celebrities that inspire you to travel the world and make a difference?

Let us know, let’s keep the conversation going.

One thing that we absolutely loved when we arrived at Kathmandu, Nepal was the variety of food.  Once you have spent weeks eating Dal Baht (Traditional Nepalese Dish) while climbing to Mount Everest Base Camp or trekking around the Annapurna Region, it is heaven to be able to come back to Kathmandu and sample all the international cuisine.

We loved the food in Kathmandu.

We had been traveling Asia for 5 months when we arrived in Nepal and we looked forward to indulging in all types of food available in Thamel, the main tourist area of Kathmandu.  We had heard that it had the most varied menu in Asia, and we sampled it all from Pizza and Pasta to Mexican and Thai.   Coming from Canada, we are used to having variety and choice in our diets.  We are a multicultural country and we seem to eat food from a different nationality almost every night.

This is not the case when we travel.

While Indian Food is good, we didn’t love eating it every day.  Sri Lankan cuisine was a nice change, but after a month or so we had enough.  Whenever we travel, we love the food at first, but no matter how much we enjoy it, our pallets tire of the same taste. Needless to say, when we saw all the different restaurants and types of food in Kathmandu, we definitely indulged.

Here is a list of the best places we found to eat at in Kathmandu.

1. Road House Café

Roadhouse Cafe, Our Number 1 place to eat in Kathmandu

The Roadhouse Cafe was the first place that we ate in Kathmandu. Located just down the street from the Kathmandu Guest House on JP School, it has an relaxed atmosphere. Serving Italian Illy Coffee and fresh Woodoven Pizza with olive oil and hot chilies on the side it has the best pizza in Nepal. It serves pastas and fresh bruscheta as well as delicious deserts.  A quiet courtyard in the back of the restaurant gives a relaxing escape from the chaos of Kathmandu.  The Roadhouse Cafe is definitely tops on our list of places to eat in Kathmandu.

2. OR2K

The sign for OR2K in Thamel Kathmandu

Patrons eat in OR2K, Kathmandu, Nepal

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OR2K was the last place that we found to dine out in Kathmandu. Located down a side street just off Tridevi Marg, West of the Main Thamel Cowk this place is outstanding.  Like many restaurants in Kathmandu, OR2K has free Wifi, but it also has atmosphere.  It’s Middle Eastern Cuisine is delicious and plentiful with excellent hummus and falafels.  Relax on their comfortable floor cushions as you enjoy a healthy juice or fresh mint lemonade while munching on a delicious vegetarian snack.

3. The Northfield Café

The Northfield Cafe Restaurant in Kathmandu, Nepal

This place is packed every night and after eating there we could understand why. The Northfield Café’s Chimichangas and enchiladas were delicious.  We suggest getting the bean and grilled chicken mix when ordering your burrito or any wrap.  The plates are filling and the service friendly.  We enjoyed a skype conversation home while waiting for our meal using the free wifi and listened to the band playing in the background off to the side of the restaurant. A pleasant dining experience all around.

4. New Orleans

New Orleans has a variety of food to eat in Kathmandu, Nepal

It took us a while to finally make our way to New Orleans and after eating there we wondered, why did we wait so long? Located almost directly opposite of the Kathmandu Guest House, New Orleans 0ffers a wide variety of food.  We enjoyed the Jambalaya and an ice cold beer in a chilled glass!  Don’t forget to try their apple pie. They have fresh baked goods on display at the cash.

5. La Dolce Vita

The sign for la Dolce Vita Restaurant in Kathmandu

La Dolce Vita eatery has an Espresso Bar as well

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For a celebratory night after returning from your climb,or for a romantic meal with your spouse, La Dolce Vita was so nice, we ate there twice! The gnocchi and cannelloni were tops for us and we even splurged on a fine bottle of wine. Dine in peace and quiet in this second story eatery with linen table cloths and fresh brea, then retire to a comfortable sofa by the window to enjoy your espresso.  This Italian eatery was the closest that we found to authentic Italian cuisine.

6. Food Bazaar

Food Court offers fast food, Thamel Kathmandu

Everyone in your party feel like eating something different this evening? If you can’t agree on the type of food you all want, try the food court.  This place is smartly decorated with sofas and padded chairs surrounding large coffee tables. If that’s not your style, you can eat at tables too.  With a selection of India, Italian, Chinese and Lebonese food, you will be sure to find something to please everybody’s pallet.  There are even balconies for outdoor eating and the wait staff takes care of your every need.  This food court serves alcohol and provides free wifi.

The bonus is after your meal, head over to the Espresso Bar in a separate section for a cappuccino and desert.

7. Coffee To Go

For a quick eat in Thamel, Kathmandu, Coffee to Go

In a hurry and not looking to spend a lot of money on your meal? This corner café has the best wraps and falafels in town. The vegetarian or chicken wraps are giant and filling.  Located right in the heart of Tamel on the main street leading from Thamel Chowk to the Kathmandu Guest House, you can’t miss Coffee to Go because there will always be a crowd of people feasting on its delicious wraps.  The coffee is fresh and delicious and it is one of the most reasonable places to eat in the Thamel area of Kathmandu.

Note: OR2K is located right beside Coffee to Go.

8. Café Kaldi

The sign for Cafe Kaldi, an eating place in Kathmandu

We noticed this cafe when shopping at the Sherpa Store on Tredevi Marg, west of Thamel Chowk.  As we shopped for trekking clothes on the second floor, we saw a wall of people working on their lap tops in a trendy looking café.  We tried it the next day and enjoyed a delicious breakfast and cappucinno.  The breakfast consisted of two eggs, fresh fruit, toast and roasted vegetables.  The presentation at this café is stylish and the service is prompt.  It is an excellent place to hang out free from the heat, pollution and noise while enjoying healthy and tasty food.

Cafe kaldi is located on the same side street as OR2K and Coffee to Go. Look for the outdoor shopping centre and cobblestone street. There is a Bikram (Hot) Yoga Centre located on the second story of the plaza.

The Final Word on Food

We sampled some other places to eat in Kathmandu. It was our home base before and after trekking to Everest Base Camp and Mountain Biking and Hiking in Pokhara after all, so we returned many times. K-Too Steak house is highly recommended in the Guide Books, but we were disappointed in eating there.  We found an excellent Mexican Restaurant that served wickedly fresh Mojito’s just down the street from K-Too Steak House, but we can’t remember the name. It is on the second story of the main street west of Thamel Chowk. The Chips and Salsa were outstanding.

I know many of you will be wondering where the traditional meals are. Why didn’t we eat at any Nepalese Restaurants?  Well, on the mountain you can eat all the Nepali Food that you want and if you go into any guest house in Kathmandu, you can order all the Nepal and Indian food you want. Our favourite guest house to eat at was Pilgrims Guest house north of Thamel Chowk. It had a wonderful quiet outdoor patio, free wifi and delicious eats.

For us there is nothing we craved more than scarfing down some pasta and pizza after a long trek though.

As we drove along the coast in Marseille looking for a place to stay for the night we couldn’t resist the temptation to pull over and enjoy the sunset.

Along the winding roads that hug the coast of Marseille are small inlets where you can pull off the road and enjoy the view. So did just that.

The place we stopped gave us this gorgeous view of Chateau D’If set against the orange sky. I’m sure the Count of Monte Cristo never got this view.

A sunset view of Chateau D'If in Marseille, France

Hello Vancouver. We have missed you all these years!

It has been well over a decade since we have been to our old home.  We lived in Vancouver for 3 years in the mid 1990′s and had never made it back to Canada’s most “outdoorsy” province.

View of North Vancouver in B.C. Canada

It was during our Princess Cruise that we had a full day in Vancouver before flying out to New York late that evening.  Why not take a tour and be a tourist in our old haunts?

We signed up for the Capilano Canyon Tour for our final Princess Cruises, Follow Me At Sea press trip excursion.

Note: This excursion does not take you to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It takes you to the Capilano Conservation Area and Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge. A Very different excursion that visiting the Capilano Bridge.

We started off our tour at Stanley Park.  This park is considered one of the greatest urban parks in the world.  Located right on the edge of the city, Stanley Park has an area of 1000 acres.  Surrounded by a seawall that is filled with people rollerblading, cycling and walking, it is an outdoor lovers oasis in the city.  You can catch some rays on its sandy beaches, swim in its pools or visit the Famous Vancouver Aquarium right in the park.

There are tennis courts, a rowing club, pitch and putt golf course, yacht club and even fine dining right in the centre of the park at The Fish House.  We used to live right on English Bay at the park and we spent many a day enjoying its amenities.

The Totem Poles rise with the trees in Stanley Park, Vancouver

Something we never really took notice of was the Totem Poles though.

This was our first stop on the tour.

We learned quite a bit about the totem poles from our guide.  Each Totem Pole has it’s own story.  Representing different families and tribes, the totem pole tells of important events that have happened in their history.  Replicas of birds, fish and bears are carved within mythical Gods and spirits. They can represent the spirit that the clan is connected to, an encounter with a certain species or a good omen.  Totem poles can also be used to honour somebody important or to shame someone for an evil deed or debt.

Each face on the totem pole has a different meaning and it is fascinating to try to figure out their story.

We then moved on to our tour of the Capilano River Trail in Capilano Canyon, North Vancouver

Our Guide’s knowledge and passion kept our interested as he spoke of the flora and fauna in the area.  He had been walking these trails for 15 years and knew every nook and cranny of the forest.  He could tell us when a tree had fallen, how old each tree was and what each plant was used for. He even let us all sample natures hand lotion fresh from a large fungus on an old growth tree.

Capilano Canyons old growth forest,

We touched trees that are over 1000 years old and discovered the importance of old growth forests. These ancient trees are so strong they can withstand fire. When they are left to thrive, they protect and provide nutrients to the surrounding forest, they give life and shelter to the wildlife and area.  When they die, they provide strength for the new trees to grow.

The old growth forests of Capilano Canyon create a thriving ecosystem.

The old growth forests that are clear cut and replanted with new trees will not sustain themselves.  Many of the forests that are replanted on clear cut areas cannot survive. The land is void of nutrients causing the new forest to fail.  Forests need diversity. Each plant, tree and animal work together to create a thriving ecosystem.

These artificial forests are planted on dead ground and are destined to not last.

We then moved on to see the Capilano Salmon Hatchery.

Salmon are slowly coming back in this part of the world thanks to conservation efforts.

Capilano Salmon Hatchery

The Capilano Salmon Hatchery is at the base of the Cleveland Dam. This Dam was built to supply Vancouver with water in 1954. While it has become a valuable source of water for the city, it blocked off a major spawning route for coho and stealhead salmon.  Luckily, some very clever people developed a fish ladder to trick the salmon into entering the hatchery.

The salmon believe they are going along their regular spawning route and are collected into different levels of tanks that they keep jumping up into as they climb.

The adult spawning salmon never leave the tanks though, they go about their natural selection and die, but the juvenile salmon are tagged and released into different areas to help bring back the salmon population.

Salmon fight for survival in the hatchery tank

The Capilano Hatchery at work

The talk about salmon went on a little long for us, but it did have moments of excitement when we spotted a salmon jumping into the next tank.

The Capilano Canyon Tour was a relaxing end to our Alaskan Cruise.

I think that if I were a regular tourist that had never been to Vancouver however, I would take the Vancouver Lookout and Scenic Trolly excursion instead.  This tour offers a  is a full day hop on hop off bus that takes you to Vancouver’s top sites including the Vancouver lookout observation deck.

I think it would be a great overview of the city of Vancouver.

The Capilano Canyon tour was a nice nature walk.

While this was a fun nature walk, I think that they need to add a little more excitement into the mix.  A ride up to Grouse Mountain or the Capilano Suspension Bridge would have made it completely worth while for me.

Adventure travel What does it mean?

Dave and I have always had a difficult time defining adventure travel to people. In our opinion, adventure travel is different for everyone.  For us, adventure has a different definition than other people because we have been doing them around the world for a decade. That doesn’t mean that our adventures are any more exciting or interesting, it just means that we define an adventure differently.

We may think of an adventure as driving across two continents in the Mongol Rally, while other people may think that a European Road trip is their adventure. It doesn’t matter what you think of as an adventure, just get out there and live it.

When this article came into our in box we really enjoyed what they had to say and wanted to share it with you.

Double income, no kids (DINKY) holidays will be the best chance to experience what is now called Adventure Travel. This does not always mean climbing Kilimanjaro, or skiing naked down Mt Everest with carnations up your nose. It just means going somewhere else, outside your comfort zone and both of you enjoying the experience of the new, the exciting and the challenging.

Dave and Deb at Kilimanjaro Summit

We tend to equate “adventure” with doing something sporty possibly slightly dangerous, but travel companies are bending over backwards to create a holiday that involves a sense of adventure ( this doesn`t mean being hooked up to an anti malarial drip in India) but not to the point where one or both parties find the so called adventure bit a bit too much hard work, the sort of holiday you need another holiday to recover from the previous, action packed one.

Dave and Deb at Machu Picchu

Depending on your age, income and level of fitness, you can opt for a cycling holiday in Vermont, a sailing adventure in Thailand, crossing the Grand Traverse in New Zealand, or walking the Inca trail in South America (no strange drug initiations required) or a safari holiday to Massai Mara Game reserve, in which you explore rather close up and not behind zoo cages the likes of wild lions, elephants, giraffes and cheetahs. Except you don`t have to sleep in tents, but in lodges which cater to Western travellers.

Talk to your co-traveller. Are you both into water sports, for example? Then you raft down the Nepal, white water raft in Turkey, Slovenia, or even the Grand Canyon in the USA. Into hiking? Combine hiking and rafting with a trip to the Himalayas, or Costa Rica, or Patagonia.

Fancy more of safari based adventure? These can be rather more scenic and more comfortable in a four by four, but the adventure is the location. Try Malawi, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Botswana and Zambia.

Elephant on our Safari In Botswana Africa

If you are both sporty, you have to decide on the sport, first, which could include walking and trekking, cycling, safaris, polar expeditions, winter based sports and what is called “Serious adventure” which includes off the beaten track locations with a fair amount of roughing it. This will not work if one of you likes a hot bath, clean towels, air con and buffet breakfast in the morning. We`re talking things like ascending Mt. Blanc, Europe`s highest peak, doing the high passes of Everest, or the Mera Peak expedition, which involves navigating the highest peaks in Nepal.

That said, there are also adventure holidays for the less sporty who still want to see someplace else, but at a more leisurely place. They need to rethink the name, but we think cycling for softies ( flat land, frequent breaks)fits the bill for those who want to do something, but not too strenuous.

Dave and Deb at Mount Everest Base Camp

The most important things to consider for adventure holidays with partner is levels of fitness, health, toleration of extremes of weather and preferred locations. If it`s exotic, make sure to get all your jabs and insurance. Make sure, on a personal level that you can get on in times of difficulty. Whatever the trials or cost, rest assured that a holiday as a couple is always, always far more relaxing than a holiday as a family with young children. That said, if your holidays prove a tad more adventurous than you had planned then to be, think of it as learning experience. You can really only know if you go.

We didn’t know what to expect day to day during the land portion of our Alaskan Cruise.  All we knew was that our tour leader Guy was going to take excellent care of us and show us the best of what Alaska has to offer.

Taking part in the Follow Me At Sea Press Trip presented by Princess Cruises, we had access to every tour and excursion that anyone could imagine taking part in.  We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to take part in dream adventures such as flights over Mount McKinley, helicopter rides over the Juneau Ice Field and racing through the inside passage of the Tongass National Forest.  But we also had the chance to learn about the history of America’s most exciting state.

To Find out more about our other adventures, Check out Isabelles Travel Guide for our round up.

The Landscape of Denali National Park, Alaska

Denali National Park Tour

One of the most informative and interesting trips that we took was a bus ride through Denali National Park.

It could have been one big yawn fest driving for four hours on a lonesome road somewhere in the middle of Alaska, but our bus driver Doug, was captivating and entertaining.

Founded in 1917 by a group of pioneers and visionaries concerned with over hunting of the native Dall Sheep, Denali National Park grew considerably over the years and now has an area of over six million acres. Denali is larger than the state of New Hampshire.

Cabins, like these, still exist scattered around Denali National Park

Little has changed in almost a century.  Park Rangers still patrol by dogsled, log cabins are still used as shelter and traffic is limited into the park with only one road leading in and one road leading out.

We watched an excellent 18 minute film telling the story of Denali’s roots and how it came to be. I found it entertaining and very interesting.  I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much, but this film is an excellent documentary.

The best way to see Denali National Park is on the bus

Private vehicles can venture into Denali National Park, but they are only allowed in as far as the 14 mile marker. The rest of the trip must be taken by bus, bicycle or on foot.  It is an excellent way to keep human impact low on the park.

We enjoyed learning about the plants of the area. I never thought I would be so enthralled with plants, but Doug’s passion made me passionate.  We held on to his every word as he explained what moss, tress and flowers could be used for medicinal purposes.

You can make an entire salad out of weeds here in Denali – Blue Bell and Fireweed are completely edible.

The Blue bell's are edible. Salad anyone?

Try some Colts Foot in a tea to clear the lungs.

Have some Valarien to relax.

Relax with some Valarien flower

Did you cut yourself during a hike? Horse Lychan will clear that up. It is natures Neosporin.

Just be sure to know what you are doing before you eat anything. Some plants can be very poisonous.

As we drove, we saw some wildlife in the distance. We spotted some Caribou and a few birds.  I can understand why the wildlife doesn’t frequent the area. It is the only road going through the park so they probably stay away.  Liz from Travelogged ventured farther into the park the following day and saw more wildlife including bears.  She suggests taking the 8 hour tour of Denali.

Mount McKinley

Mount McKinley appears on the horizon.

The highlight of the day was definitely spotting the summit of Mount McKinley. Known by its Athabaskan name in Alaska, Denali means the High One. At  6,194 metres (20,320 feet) it is North America’s highest peak.  It is shrouded in cloud most of the year, but we managed to capture a beautiful shot as it peaked out from the clouds.

We didn’t care for the staged performers that waited for us at checkpoints in the park, but we did thoroughly enjoy Doug’s passion for the land and for the environment.

Our Native Athabaskan Guide

Our least favorite moment of the day came when an Athabaskan Native guide talked about hunting bears in their dens during hibernation. I can completely understand why his ancestors took this right of passage; to feed their families during the long cold winters.  But to hunt a sleeping, helpless bear in cold blood in today’s day and age when food is readily available is something that I can never understand.

It was during our drive home that I started to listen to our driver Doug speak as I was dozing off.  His words gently took me out of my daze as he talked calmly about preservation and conservation.

It was an interesting contrast to hear Doug’s point of view compared to the other guide.  Something I respect about the National Park and Princess Cruises for, they give both sides of the story for the passenger to decide who they agree with.

Denali National Park is still wilderness. We should never forget that.

When trekking into nature, we have to remember that we are the visitors.  We must learn how to be careful when hiking out into the wild Alaskan Wilderness.  Make a lot of noise, hang your food away from your tent, don’t keep food in your tent and know what to do when you spot wildlife such as a bear.

Up until last year there hadn’t been an attack by a Grizzley for 93 years. Humans and nature have co-extisted beautifully here.  But that all changed with new gun legislation.  For some crazy reason the government has allowed tourists to carry guns into the National Park to protect themselves.

Now instead of taking the proper precautions, people are feeling over confident and just last year a Grizzly Bear was shot and killed.

For our part, we will continue to enjoy our national parks here and Canada around the world gun free.

There is nothing more fulfilling than enjoying nature up close and personal and we look forward to coming back to Alaska and spending several days in this untouched and magnificent park.

While the tour was interesting and informative, there is nothing better than stepping out of the tour bus and getting out from behind the glass and actually exploring a great park like Denali on foot.

We can’t wait to come back to Alaska.

We have been a couple of busy little Canadian Beaver ‘s this week working on our blog.  We have taken the summer to work on refining ThePlanetD and finding companies to partner with.

It is a lot of work and we are entering foreign territory.  Why can’t we just travel and magically find the funds to stay on the road? Wouldn’t that be great!

Unfortunately, we need to learn the business of Blogging. We wrote a post last week with our goals and although many travelers couldn’t care less about what we are doing to the blog, there are many others that are interested in trying to fund their travels through blogging, sponsorship and advertising.

So we thought that every once in a while we would give you an update as to what we have been doing with our little old travel blog.

Technical.

Why have we been as busy as a beaver? We have been working on code and making a few changes.

The Travel Writers Exchange has a new monthly feature called Under The Microscope. We have started slowly implementing the suggestions.

1. We have widened the site which we hope is a good idea. I know that not everyone has a wide monitor yet and haven’t updated their Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer, but we feel that the site will look better wider.
2. We have changed the colour on the header from orange to light grey. We had a note that it looked a little like Hallowe’en and after taking a second look, we agree.
3. We have made our icon a little larger at the top with our picture a little more prominent. We softened the font to a lighter orange rather than that harsh orange that we used to have.
4. We put Dave’s Photography Icon up in the header.
5. We have gotten rid of our drop down menus and made each category into a page. Now when you click on let’s say… Africa, you will be sent to a neat and orderly page to navigate.
6. We are still working on cleaning up our side bar. We have to change some things around, but it is coming along, we hope.
7. We have lightened the background in our ads as to not take focus off the content.
8. We have changed our RSS feed to give our readers the full post. We used to have only a partial feed go into your email or google reader, but that is not the best idea we have heard.
9. We have taken our email address off the page and now have a contact us page. We were receiving far too much spam in our inbox and hopefully  this will help us out.
10. We have updated our “about page”. We haven’t touched that since leaving for India, so it was about time.

Writing

On top of all the technical stuff that we are still working on diligently, we have worked on making our blog more search engine friendly.

I have been busy working on older posts key words. When we first started blogging, we didn’t have a clue that you need to write clearly for the robots to crawl your site and put it at the top of the search engine. While I am not going over board on changes, I am adding a few key words for posts that should be placing higher in searches. Andy Hayes and Shannon O’Donnell have an excellent book out DIY/SEO to explain more about Search Engine Optimization. They do a much better job than I could ever do.

One of the most important things we took away from the Travel Blog Exchange was to optimize your photos from Gary Ardnt of Everything Everywhere. I am a little bias, but Dave’s photos are outstanding would love for people to be able to find his shots in Google. We are now armed with the information on how they should be tagged to help them be searched.

Here is how photos should be tagged.

1. The file name of the photo should be relevant to the content and in the file name key words should be separated by dashes.
2. Should also have a title tag which can be the same as the file name.
3. We should have also had an alt tag that includes some of key words within the description.

As a photo heavy blog, we really should have been doing this all along. With over 300 posts on our site, we have a lot of work to do.

Life

We are staying at our parents for the summer and they think we are a little nuts I am sure. We are on the computer 10 hours a day writing, networking, brainstorming and working on the blog. The weather has been outstanding and while we are trying to get out for a jog each day, we really aren’t taking advantage of the beautiful summer we are having here in Ontario.

Travel Blogging is a full time job. People don’t realize the work that goes into it (unless you are managing your own travel blog) We have a goal of being able to fund our travels completely from Blogging and working with tourism boards.  We have a long way to go on reaching our goal, but we know that with some hard work we can do it.

It is easy to go for your dreams when you love your work. We are willing to go for it as long as it takes.

At the end of our #FollowMeAtSea press trip with Princess Cruises we decided to take a tour of the Capilano River Regional Park area of Vancouver, B.C. We had lived in Vanvouver for3 years in the 90′s, but had never really seen it as a tourist. The tour was informative and was chalk full of photo opportunities.

This was one of those photo opportunities.

As we arrived at the Conservation area we were treated to the sight of this Osprey sitting and waiting by the river for a salmon to jump. Waiting patiently for the photo paid off as he sprung into flight I was able to capture this image and was lucky to have the Osprey looking right at me. I love photographing birds and considered myself fortunate to see this magnificent bird from our close angle.

If  you are ever in Vancouver, make sure to take a trip to Capilano Conservation Area in North Vancouver.  The forest is beautiful and you just may catch a glimpse of the regal Osprey.

An Osprey takes flight in the Capilano Conservation Area, Vancouver, B.C. Canada