Viator

Dubai Tours & Things to Do

2008-04-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

Just read a nice post about things to do in Dubai over on the Viator blog. I must admit, I've never thought about going to Dubai. Truth be told, I've never thought much about Dubai, full stop. It's always struck me as an oil-rich emirate without much to do. But I'm man enough to admit when I am wrong. Did the photo of Dubai's 'creek' (that's what they call their river, they need some tourism marketing help, clearly) did catch my eye. As did the Dubai desert safari shot. OK, maybe I'm not going to rush out and sign up for a Dubai tour. But sure, I'll add Dubai to my travel wishlist. And really, what's the point of traveling if you don't have a wishlist?

Killerstartups.com

2007-12-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

Killer Startups? In 2007? Hard to believe, but true. There are still plenty of tech / web / internet start-ups out there. All of them have either survived the last year or two with little or no funding. Or they've been around for a few years while reinventing themselves on the fly. Interesting. I thought all of this went south in the 2001 crash. Shows you what I know. Some links that caught my eye:

Cash for broken electronics. That's an idea that works for me.
Hawaii shirts. Online. Are you kidding me??
Digital Taxi Ads. Yes, you can buy one for yourself.
Viator Tours. There they are again.

Singapore Tours, Day Tours, Escape!

2007-11-20T22:49:00.000-08:00

Here's my question for this week: Is there anything truly exciting to do or see in Singapore? Such a mixed bag of feedback on the place. Too strict, too sterile, and yet... great food, shopping (if you're into that, I am not), and easy access to the rest of Asia. So what's the story? Please discuss.

What was British Airways Thinking

2007-11-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

Seems like people should slow down before making big decisions. Case in point. British Airways mucked it up royally last week (read about it here and here) when then banned surfboards on ALL their flights. All of them. Have you ever seen an angry surfer? It's not a pretty sight. It will be interesting to see if BA backs down.

Lonely Planet and the Beeb

2007-10-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

On the theme of independent travel, on why we travel, on the whole meaning of travel, here's an interesting bit of news about Lonely Planet selling itself to the BBC. A good thing? Hard to know. But I agree with the blogger about the "end of independent travel." What does it mean anymore to be "independent"? I struggle with this. A decade ago, it meant you did things on the cheap. It meant you did things on your own. It meant you went places that few other people went. Today, that's a lot harder to do. First of all, there are many more travellers on the road today. There are more airports. There are more low-cost airlines. More people are traveling today then 10 or 15 years ago, it's a simple fact of life. So independence is hard to maintain. Moreover, it's hard to be alone anymore. The internet, mobile phones, community websites, travel sites -- there is so much more information available now, and so many networks of people sharing travel tips and suggestions. The world is less lonely today, for sure. Finally, travel is no longer 'cheap', or let me put that a different way -- it's harder to be cheap these days. Even the hostels cost $15 or $20 a night now. So yes, independent travel is going the way of steamship trampers and rail-car riders. Cool ideas, but a bit old fashioned.

Why we travel, part 3

2007-08-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

Read an interesting article today. It's from USA Today about 25 pivotal changes in why we travel. Basically the mainstream media think we travel because you can book things online (reason #1), airports now are more like malls (#7) and because the TSA are dunces and make you take off shoes. Sure, this is how the travel landscape has changed. But really, all 25 "pivotal changes" sited by USA Today miss the point. Travel has always been a challenge, always had things that make it easy / hard depending on the current state of world affairs. But it's a little sad that this article missed the truly important 'pivotal change' over the past 25 years. Why do we travel? Because people crave to discover new culture. Make new connections. To discover the world, and more about themselves, in the process. USA Today has identified the effects. The causes, it has completely missed. The most pivotal element of travel over the last 25 years is the thing that hasn't changed at all. Not one bit. People remain curious, and keen to connect. That's the true #1 thing about travel that is pivotal. Same as it ever was.

Why we travel, part 2

2007-08-26T03:14:00.000-07:00

Why do we travel? Sometimes I wonder, what's the real motivation for people to travel? Not weekend getaways. Not seven day holidays. I mean long-term travel, 2 months stints or longer. Seems to me, there's a mix between internal desires (to escape, to be self sufficient, test yourself, to prove that you can do this) and external ones (see new things, eat different foods, meet new people). Strange that the external motivations are 'new and different', and the internal ones really having nothing to do with tavelling, about where you are, only about who you are.

2007-08-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

There are some very strange travel websites out there. Here's one. Looks like it dates from the late 1990s. But I think it's current. I wonder, did they really by all those souvenirs?

2007-08-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

What's in a name? Many people ask that about viator. I don't know what it means, stop asking. What can I offer you? A quick search on the Internet brings these meanings to life:

A travel website about tours and sightseeing
A municipality of Almeria prvince, Spain
A woman who works out a lot
The Latin word for 'traveler', apparently
A student group in Poland
A high school in Chicago

Who knew. I'm sticking with my own definition.

2007-07-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, it may seem like I've been away for a long time, but that's because I've been travelling. More details soon. I am trying to build your enthusiasm for coming back and reading more, after my (gulp) 3-year hiatus.

2003-12-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

no i'm not dead. yes i know you don't care.

2002-08-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

still kicking. so much for motivation.

2002-04-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

i'm going to try to be motivated to post here again more often. i know the template has been broken forever so finally i just replaced it...need to resuscitate some of the missing links.

2002-03-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

i'm alive.

2001-11-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

work the last couple of days has been kind of exasperating and frustrating. yesterday i spent most of the day working with our junior developer solving some build problems he was having. i'm afraid i'm not a good mentor. i'm too impatient. i can't stand stupid people. i know that's mean and probably a lot of people consider me stupid too but geez...most of the stuff we're doing isn't rocket science. maybe it's not exactly trivial but it's definitely not rocket science. it always amazes me how many people have poor problem solving skills. people will take a cursory glance at an error message and will go off on some completely unrelated tangent or they'll do some kind of a test that has no hope whatsoever of narrowing down what could be causing the problem. at times like this the song "here's your sign" by jeff foxworthy, travis tritt and bill engvall is a comfort. ;)

today was stressful for a different reason though. i was in pretty much an all day meeting. this wasn't a planned meeting. it was one of those impromptu things that came up when the scope on our project started getting out of control. meetings are no fun anymore. it used to be i could sit back and just listen (at my old job) now i'm looked to for guidance and for my opinion on how things should be designed.

gotta go...more later...

2001-11-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

this place is suffering from a dearth of goods that can be readily turned into something edible. what to do? i don't feel like going outside (the weather is miserable) and i don't feel like ordering in pizza. how shall i ever survive. survival in modern times is so difficult. (i'm not being sarcastic...no not at all.)

2001-11-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

woke up with a sore throat. spent most of the day in bed. oh the excitement.

2001-11-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

survived yesterday's halloween festivities (actually i stayed at home despite having the option of attending a party -- i was feeling anti-social) and the blue moon.

2001-10-31T15:47:00.000-08:00

i need to send this to my roommate. not that i'm never guilty of being a little lazy myself but my roommate has been bad for piling dirty dishes and cups on his computer desk and leaving food wrappers on the kitchen counter all the time lately. we have a dishwasher so there's even less room for excuses. when it comes to kitchen utensils and containers my motto is: if it can't be washed in the dishwasher don't buy it. another note to self: must take tours in London more seriously. mom and roommate need to be diverted, entertained.

2001-10-31T13:44:00.000-08:00

ok so it has been awhile again. i'm tired of talking about war; about anthrax; about myself and talking about the weather just doesn't look like a reasonable alternative at the moment.

2001-10-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

if compromising is such a good thing why is being found in a compromising position such a bad thing? just something that rattled through my bored little mind.

2001-10-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

did you know that the bbc may have had no small part in the taliban's decision not to ban the radio? read about it here. thought provoking.

2001-10-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

if there ever was a good time to be a postal worker now is definitely not it.

2001-10-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

ack...it's snowing. i knew i shouldn't have bladed into work today.

2001-10-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

the only good thing about monday morning is it only comes once a week.