Sunday Travel Shot: New Orleans, Louisiana

Tags: louisiana, new orleans, Travel

Send Me Somewhere Results – Week Seven

No live music and BBQ for me this go around. Austin has been eliminated.

…and then there were two. After seven weeks of voting for where to send me on my next trip, only two cities remain. If you have been following the voting each week than it should come as no surprise that both Montreal and New Orleans are now in the finals. That means Austin joins Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Quebec City, San Diego and Vancouver, which were all taken down by your votes each week.

What surprised me the most about this voting was that for all seven weeks, either New Orleans (weeks 1, 3 and 4) or Montreal (weeks 2, 5, 6 and 7) were in first place. Voting will last two weeks and on January 1, 2010 the announcement will be made about which city I will check out on an upcoming trip early next year.

So which French influenced city will get your vote? Will it be Montreal? Perhaps New Orleans?

Update – January 1: The winning city has been announced. Click here to find out where you are sending me.

Results:

Montreal: 50%

New Orleans: 29%

Austin: 21%

Tags: austin, canada, louisiana, montreal, new orleans, quebec, texas

Send Me Somewhere Results – Week Three

San Francisco: One of the two cities eliminated this week.

Another week of voting has come to an end and this week not one, but two cities were kicked off the island…er I mean eliminated. To just backtrack before I give the results, to show you how unpredictable this voting has become, last week’s favorite city Montreal was in dead last for six out of the last seven days. It was not until late last night that a few votes put the popular Canadian city back in the competition.

Over the last two rounds we saw one west coast city eliminated each week. San Diego was out followed by Seattle. Well the dark cloud of the left coast continues with double elimination due to the bottom cities receiving the same amount of votes. So I will have to part ways with Portland and say sayonara to San Francisco as both were the least voted on cities this week. It is now down to six cities and they are New Orleans, Quebec City, Montreal, Vancouver, Chicago, and Austin. You can start voting now for week four.

Here are the results from week three:

1. New Orleans – 27%

2. Chicago - 18%

3. Vancouver - 16%

4. Austin - 12%

5. Montreal - 10%

6. Quebec City – 7%

7. San Francisco – 5%

7. Portland, OR – 5%

Tags: austin, canada, chicago, illinois, louisiana, montreal, new orleans, oregon, portland, quebec city, san francisco, seattle, texas, vancouver, washington

Travel Experts Reveal More Dirt From The Road

Well yesterday’s article was pretty revealing. I mean we had some very sinful travel experts get a lot off their chest. In fact it got so bad that I needed to close down the confession booth for 24-hours. But I am back with even MORE travel confessions.

I will try to keep it a little cleaner today I promise. When most travelers confessed to me, one topic seemed to come up quite a bit and that was “I have never been to…”. Below are some places that these vagabonds have yet to mark off on their “to see” list.

• Johnny Jet, a man you would think has touched every inch of this planet, has yet to make his presence felt at the Grand Canyon.

• Nomadic Matt is another globe-trotting individual that has also seen most of the world. He also runs one hell of a travel blog. But Matt confesses that he has not yet rolled the dice in “Sin City” Las Vegas.

• Stephanie Yoder of Twenty-Something Travel visited Amsterdam, but skipped the Red Light District.  That is like going all the way to New York and not trying pizza! Stephanie also mentions here why she has yet to walk the streets of Paris.

Have you ever visited a popular destination and wound up being extremely disappointed? You’re not alone. Two such travelers shared their dismay with a certain Italian destination that millions of vacationers flock to each year.

• Andy Murdock of Lonely Planet told me, “I’ve only been to Venice once, and all I wanted to do was leave as quickly as possible. It was the height of summer so it was hot, filthy, smelly and just crammed full of tourists and hawkers selling tacky trinkets at every turn, and the geography makes it really difficult to escape the hordes. I hate telling this to people because they’ve either been and loved it and try to convince me to go back and give it a second shot, or they haven’t been and hold romantic notions of the city that I don’t especially want to dash because of my one bad experience. Maybe one day I’ll return off-season, but for me it’s like an expensive restaurant that everyone else loves but gave me food-poisoning: why should I spend the money and effort to go back when there are so many new places to try, not to mention places I would love to return to?”

• Gary Arndt ,who runs the extremely popular travel blog Everything-Everywhere.com, also did not enjoy his time in Venice. Arndt confessed, “My first reaction when I arrived in Venice was ‘Wow. This looks just like EPCOT Center!’.”

• Spendthrift Shoestring’s Alex Robertson Textor fessed up and told me, “I’ve been to 98 countries/territories, but I’ve never visited Sydney, Tokyo, Mexico City, or Orlando — or a cruise ship.”

• The Elite Travel Gal herself Stacy Small has been to many great cities around the world, but one seems to keep getting away from her. Small told me that she has never been to New Orleans. “I had a few trips planned,” Small stated. “But I always had to cancel due to inclement weather!”

• Mike Barish, contributing travel writer to Gadling.com, expressed that, “It took me 30 years to get to Paris. Still haven’t been to London. Yet I’ve been to India twice.”

• Sarah Schlichter from IndependentTraveler.com told me that she likes to keep it simple for accommodations and that, “I never stay at luxury hotels. They’re too pretentious, and I don’t feel like I belong there. Give me a B&B or a mid-priced guesthouse any day.”

Wow! The confessional’s line is out the door. I am going to have to shut it down for today. Check back tomorrow for part 3/3 of travel confessions.

Tags: amsterdam, australia, cruises, england, florida, france, grand canyon, italy, japan, johnny jet, Las Vegas, London, lonely planet, louisiana, mexico, mexico city, nevada, new orleans, nomadic matt, orlando, Paris, red light district, sydney, tokyo, travel confessions, venice

Quick NOLA Getaway With Air & 4-Star Hotel For $219

Here is a deal for travelers that love New Orleans. You can book a great package through Bookit.com that includes airfare and a 3-night stay at a 4-star “Mystery Hotel” in downtown New Orleans. You will be within walking distance to such attractions as the French Quarter, casinos, and some of the best restaurants in Nawlins!

This trip is priced at a recession friendly $219 (via New York). You can depart from other cities, but the price will surely change. You must book by May 19 to lock in this sweet price and travel by October 1.  Blackout dates include June 4-8, June 26-30, July 3-5, and July 22-25.  For information, check out Bookit.com.

Tags: bookit.com, louisiana, new orleans, new york