Pretty Hotel Key Cards from Flickr
Here are some photos of hotel key cards that I found on Flickr:
March 31, 2008
October 2, 2007
Ms. Jen Chooses Free Wifi Over Everything Else
When it comes to hotels, Mike and I put a premium on Internet access over everything else. It appears that we’re not alone:
Ms. Jen is surprised at how the mid-range hotels charge 10 bucks a day for wifi when they should use it as an amenity to draw us in instead.
Until the mid-range hotels see the wisdom in complimentary wifi in the rooms to accent the FluffyWhiteBed™, Best Western and Microtel have my business for their combination of good value, clean rooms, and their free wifi.
For me, I’ve paid the $10 a day for wifi only to find out that their system is clunky and slow. I don’t care if it’s wifi or wired Internet access as long as it’s fast. Ms. Jen is right. The Best Westerns and the Travelodges tend to service me better in this respect than the “higher” scale hotels like Marriott.
Time to wake up and smell the complimentary coffee, hotel owners. Internet access is more important than the complimentary breakfast and fancy furniture combined.
August 13, 2007
California: Butano State Park
Two-Heel Drive has posted another beautiful hike, this time in Butano State Park.
I love what he says here:
“The Butano trail map shows a little loop called the Ray Linder Memorial Trail — I figured they wouldn’t put somebody’s name on a bad trail, so I headed in for a look. It really is a nice mile or so of trail through a stand of young redwoods (and other trees, obviously). Whoever Ray Linder was, his trail is a nice tribute.”
Next time you’re feeling trapped and unable to travel, check out the trails in your area. Take along your camera so you can remember the mini-vacation you took over the weekend.
Where:
April 2, 2007
A Vicarious Ski Trip with Teendrama
You’ll feel like you were almost there because Dennis Crowley took so many pictures. Fortunately, he’s willing to share them with you:
If you are stuck at work right now, just imagine yourself with friends going on the most exciting ski trip of your life:
Monday = better. No new snow, but at least the visibilty cleared up. We stayed on the Blackcomb side of things again and went back for round 2 on the glacier. I’ve been to Whistler a few times (this was my 3x trip out), but I’ve never really done anything off-trail… no backcountry, nothing really super steep… which is usually because I’m riding with people that don’t know that mountain that well (fyi – bad idea to explore the mtn alone) or with people that aren’t super aggressive skiiers. But then there’s this crew – Ali + Adam are easily two the the best skiiers I’ve even rode with and Chad (Denver represent) will charge anything on a snowboard. And I think these kids have been out to Whistler, what, a few times each before, so they knew where to find the good chutes, where to hike, what’s safe vs. not safe, etc. Anyway, I ended up skiing much harder, steeper stuff this trip than I think I’ve ever done on any other ski trip.
Even though the ski season is winding down, it’s wonderful to read other people’s stories about their trips. I have never gone skiing in my life, and there is no excuse because I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. I can live vicariously through the lives of others, though.
March 7, 2007
Austin, Texas Reader Meetup: CANCELLED
After a heated discussion on whether we should cancel the Reader Meetup, we let the fortune cookie decide our fate. It said, “A man who dares to waste an hour of time hasn’t discovered the value of life.”
It’s not like we don’t want to spend an hour with our readers; we really do. Unfortunately, the few people who contacted us in Austin have either not responded to our email announcing the event or cancelled. No one has RSVP’d on the UpComing.org site, so the underwhelming response says: CANCEL.
If you live in Austin and were considering going to the Reader Meetup, contact me. Mike and I are are going to this event, which is open to the public, so you’re free to show up here as well.
Your Video Blog Can Save the World
Friday, March 9th, 2005 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Carver Museum Cultural Center (1161 Angelna Street). Google Map FREE admission, no badge or pre-event signup needed to attend this session.
March 2, 2007
Reader Meetup in Austin, Texas: March 9th
Michael and I are going to be in Austin, Texas for SXSW. While we’re there, we wanted to allow our readers to have a chance to meet us, so we set up a reader meetup at the Sunset Valley Barnes and Noble:
Location: Barnes & Noble – Sunset Valley
5601 Brodie Lane Suite 300, Austin, TX 78745 Google Map
Phone: 512-892-3493
Date and Time: March 9, 2006 6pm-7pm
Please RSVP using Upcoming.org so that we don’t feel like we’re going to be waiting at the bookstore all alone:
We are going to hang around for an hour, gathering readers and then we are going to let you pick a restaurant where we can eat and hang out for longer if you want. We are really interested in what we can do to make Starling Travel a better place to be. What are you interested in? What bores you? How can we help you? Come with ideas and helpful hints because we’re all ears!
January 21, 2007
Austin, Texas Meetup
We are going to be in Austin, Texas from March 8-13th this year and we want to meet up with the readers of Starling Travel. We want to hear your ideas about the site, what you like, what you hate and how we can be better.
Here’s the problem: We don’t really know the town. We’re hoping that you folks can tell us the best place and day to meet.
Please email us if you would like to come to the meetup here:
We are excited to meet our readers face to face and hear just what you want from us!
September 5, 2006
Two Week Hiatus
Starling Travel will be on a two week hiatus. If you are feeling trapped at work and want to read about interesting get-a-ways, revisit some of our favorite past entries:
See you in two weeks with new stories about traveling and relaxation.
August 11, 2006
Send Me Your Postcards
When you travel, would you please send me a postcard from wherever you are with a brief description? If you do and it’s interesting, I will publish your postcard here.
Send your vacation postcards to:
Starling Travel
Attention: Laura Moncur
P.O. Box 522032
Salt Lake City, Utah 84152
It’s like sending a postcard to the whole world when you go on vacation.
June 12, 2006
Airline Etiquette
There is that point at the beginning of a flight when you find out whether you’re going to have a nice flight or a bad flight. It’s when you find out whether your seat partner is going to talk your ear off or leave you alone. John Nance, from ABC News talks about this and gives us some hints:
“After some 78 years of commercial airline flying, you’d think that someone would have published by now a guide to the fine etiquette of airborne verbal exchanges, highlighting the good, the bad and the crashing bore. But, in fact, few have ever really given it much thought, and what we learned in kindergarten about basic courtesy was probably enough for most of us.”
Here are his tips:
Arm yourself with headphones and books.
Feign sleep.
Try to ignore other distractions.
This is more an article explaining to the clueless people out there what is and isn’t appropriate behavior than a tips and tricks on how to avoid bores.
Honestly, I’m more likely to talk your ear off than leave you alone, so I read this article realizing that I had probably stepped on a few etiquette points. Next time, I’ll know better by keeping my voice down and feigning sleep.
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