There is nothing better than a warm review on a rainy NYC day. Budget Globetrotting is a blog I recently discovered and instantly added to my feed reader. It’s honest opinions from one traveller about new travel applications out there and how to travel on a budget. I was surprised to see TripTie reviewed on it. He describes it as an “absolute gem” and “[TripTie] puts other online communities to shame.” I have to say, I like the way that sounds.

Check out Nick’s full review on Budget Globetrotting!

A few years ago, my parents came out to the East Coast (from California) to tour the fall foliage. We got a bit lucky on our drive through Vermont and saw some beautiful colors. Like Eric Olsen, from Gadling, I wish I had seen this interactive map earlier, made by the folks over at CNN. It allows you to see when peak foliage viewing times are by location and time of the month. You are not too late to start your tour this year!

CNN: Exploring Autumn’s True Colors

About six years ago, I travelled through China with my father. Among the many cities and provinces that we visited, I was most impressed with the modernization of Shanghai - new skyscrapers were sprouting like weeds. This kind of rapid building is now taking place all over China, changing the landscape forever.

I found this wonderful blog named Picture China that is chronicling Dan Eckstein’s six-week journey through the country. He is armed with a camera and is attempting to capture what is contemporary China. Simply beautiful and amazing photographs. Check it out.

(Photo by Dan Eckstein)

The Chrysler Building is closed to the public for most of the year. Open House New York, a 5-borough event that is supposed to give the public a chance to peek into these locked spaces did just that: it gave me a peek. I was looking forward to this event for over a week, so I think I was justified in feeling a bit disappointed when all we got to see was the main lobby and elevator bank.

The main lobby and elevator bank are beautiful, however. The former is covered wall-to-wall with different types of marble; the elevator cabs are decorated with beautifully crafted inlaid wood. The attention to detail is stunning. Here are a couple of interesting facts that I learned from one of the building’s security guards (a reputable source, I think):

Continued…

Traveling and taking photos seems to go hand-in-hand. You want to record the memories with a snapshot or two and let mom, back home, see too. The problem with cameras, when traveling, is three-fold: bulk, batteries, and storage.

I’ve been taking photographs for years, so my manual Nikon F3HP is what I am most comfortable with. Unlike it’s digital counterparts, I don’t have to worry about battery life at all: a smaller than dime-sized lithium battery can literally last a few months of heavy camera usage. Most of the camera is mechanical. Bulk-wise, it’s a bit heavy (it’s made of die-cast steel), but as long as I don’t lug around a bunch of different lenses, it’s manageable. Film as a storage medium isn’t so bad either. It’s the developing that is time-consuming and costly (unless you do it yourself).

Continued…

New York City is a fascinating place in terms of architecture: tall monuments of concrete and glass as far as the eye can see. But for most of the year, many of these buildings are closed off to the public, keeping their expanses and luxurious intricacies secret. Open House New York, the fourth of its kind, opens many of these buildings up. Here’s a description from their website:

Mark your calendars for the 4th Annual openhousenewyork Weekend, October 7 & 8 and explore 180 sites from boardrooms to bedrooms, crypts to clubs, factories to firehouses, lighthouses to lookouts, monuments to mansions, skyscrapers to substations, and so much more!

I don’t know about you, but I’m checking out the Chrysler Building on Saturday.

When: October 7 & 8, 2006
Where: Sites around the 5 boroughs of New York City
Website: http://www.ohny.org/

It is one of the most exciting things for me to see TripTie mentioned on other blogs. Here is a snippet of what Erik Olsen of Gadling had to say:

That is, the presumption is that the brains and decisions of multiple travelers is better than those of a single traveler. Very Web 2.0, as i said. I have to say it looks intriguing.

And we were also mentioned on BajoCoste, a Spanish blog about travel. Muchas gracias!