The Best Comments Of The Month: June 2009

In case you don’t get a chance to follow the latest comments in the sidebar, or read through a viewer, here are some of the best comments of the month.

It’s been a busy month with lots of new commenters, here are just some of my favorites from June.

• Lyn agrees that the Philippines is a country you should visit by might be scared to and gives us even more reasons to go.
• Kim Kinrade made me laugh with his reasons for sitting at the back of the plane.
• Kind words of encouragement about foXnoMad from Final_Transit, Erica, Marina K. Villatoro, Kim Kinrade, and Cuckoo. Thank you all!
• Some great hitchhiking book recommendations from Nomadic Pete.
• I had forgotten one good way to beat shady taxi drivers – good thing Dan reminded me. Also, Jen’s right, the picture on that post is classic and my favorite part about it.
• Mark and I both use a variation of the 5 row rule. I’m glad I’m not the only one, I don’t feel as weird!
• Accept bargaining as part of the shopping process for a smoother experience. I agree with Mary R.
• My most popular blog post ever was the best places to travel on a weak dollar. Carla and Susan have been reading ever since and I really appreciate you sticking with me!

There are a lot of links in this month’s edition and so many more I couldn’t get to. Thank you everyone for all of you comments, keep them coming and I’ll try to get links back to all of you. What were some of your favorite comments?

[photo by: redcherryhill]

Some More Travel Blogs You Should Read

The past few months have been blogging for me and one of the benefits has been meeting a number of new travel bloggers who specialize in a number of travel niches. If you love to read about travel, these blogs are worth checking out.

• Istanbul Trails – Max Forlani’s blog (recently featured) is dedicated to helping people making the most of their stay in Istanbul.
• Africa Freak – Although Michael Theys  is on vacation now, his blog about everything African safari is a fun and informative read.
• My Melange – A travel blog specializing in Italian and French culture, food, and wine which also lead me to this video on how to use a squat toilet.
• Have Pack – I see a lot of myself in Jeffery’s writing style. Have Pack, Will Travel aims to help independent travelers experience the world on their own terms.
• Dan’s Adventure – He’s 27, Scottish, and left the UK in February 2009 to travel the world.
• Dream a Little Dream – It’s always inspiring to read about couples who pack up the 9-to-5 life and travel the world. Scott and Dee just did so you can read about their adventures as they begin.
• Travel Sights With Lilly – A new travel blog following Lilly’s general travel advice and adventures learning Turkish.
• Two Go RTW – In August 2008 Daniel and Kathryn traded in their clotheslines for Tibetan prayer flags.
• The Brooklyn Nomad – Andrew is obsessed with travel and constantly on the look out for a great deal to…well anywhere.
• Ever The Nomad – Anja Mutić travels to make a living, writes to travel, and lives to take the next trip. Born in Zagreb, Croatia, she’s lived, worked and traveled on all the continents, except Antarctica.
• Wild Junket – Join Nellie in her roller coaster ride around the world, as she explores every nook and cranny of the Earth… just for the fun of it!

EDITED [6/30]: Max has a scoop for us and is announcing Istanbul Trails Photo here first. Go check out his great pictures from Istanbul!

I hope that you’ll take a look at some of these travel blogs that might interest you. I inevitably left out some great travel blogs. For some more links check out some of the travel blogs I read regularly, some travel blogs I discovered recently, or my full list of links. If you have a travel blog and aren’t on any of those lists, contact me and drop your link below in the comments to introduce yourself.

[photo by: Keenahn]

15 Things About foXnoMad

Today is the 3rd anniversary of this blog, foXnoMad. This wasn’t always a travel blog and if you are interested you can read the history of foXnoMad. Today I’d like to spend a little time to share 15 things about foXnoMad with you.

1. It takes me around an hour and a half to get an average post done.
2. My most popular post is the best places to travel on a weak dollar, which appeared on the Consumerist.
3. Readers have won more than $750 through my various contests, and another one is coming up soon.
4. I give away a copy of every book I review.
5. I never feel like I post enough pictures. Consequently I’ve resolved to take more pictures from now on.
6. Spell check is a lifesaver except is doesn’t help when you correctly spell raping instead of rapping.
7. I respond to every comment and legitimate email, quite quickly I might add, but I’m working on pacing myself.
8. I get an average of 15-20 blog related emails a day.
9. Speaking of, people have asked me to find their lost luggage. I don’t work for Lufthansa, but I’ve got their number.
10. I usually schedule out my posts a week in advance and I’ve got a list of around 50 things to post at any given time.
11. The shorter the post, the more I struggle to write it. Like this one.
12. I try to limit my writing to certain nights a week, which rarely happens.
13. I’m subscribed to more than 100 travel blogs and this list keeps growing. You can subscribe to foXnoMad via RSS, daily email updates, or my bimonthly newsletter.
14. I’ll be announcing a way to win some money for your next trip to my subscribers very soon (see #3 above).
15. This is the 3rd year of foXnoMad and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

I’ve spent my entire life traveling, studying cultures, and picking up tricks along the way. I created foXnoMad to connect with other travelers, discover their world, and share what I’ve learned about mine to help you travel smarter. Hopefully in some ways I’ve been able to accomplish this goal. Any other questions about foXnoMad – let me know!

[photo by: Property#1]

The 3rd Birthday of foXnoMad

The third year of this travel blog begins today. It’s been a great year as I’ve redesigned the site, met many more travel bloggers,  started a bimonthly newsletter, written several guest posts, and maintained writing an average of one post per week day.

Later on today I’ll be sharing 15 things about foXnoMad, some facts about the site itself, how I develop posts, and a few other tidbits. You can read more about the history of foXnoMad and take a look at some of the most popular posts from the year below.

• 7 Up and Coming Best Places to Travel on a Weak Dollar
• The Warning Signs of Losing that Cheap Destination
• Essential Software Tools for Digital Nomads
• How to Build a Successful Travel Blog [Part 1 of 2]

If you still can’t get enough it’s easy to find me on Twitter and Facebook. I’d like to thank all of you for your help, support, comments, links, and other contributions and especially thank my wife, who puts up with my constant writing and tinkering with the site.

Find Me On Facebook.com/foxnomad

It’s now a bit easier to find me on Facebook, the url is facebook.com/foxnomad. You can also become a fan of foXnoMad on Facebook (which I would appreciate very much) and find me on Twitter as well.

Give Me Your Brutally Honest Opinion About This Blog

I hope that you enjoy reading my posts and fishing around foXnoMad. I’m always looking to improve this site, from the content to the look and feel of the design. I would especially like to hear your brutally honest criticism about my writing.

So, even if you’ve never commented or are feeling lazy I would really appreciate your feedback.

I’ll take all of your advice to heart, including what topics you’d like to see more or less of, whether you’d prefer more personal or shorter posts, or anything else that’s on your mind. Of course, if you’ve got compliments, you can add them too.

I appreciate all of your feedback to help foXnoMad improve and reach more readers. Thanks!

[photo by: Clover_1]

About My Name

I often get confused for being Indian, primarily due to my  name, Anil. Several months ago after my post from the Shiva Temple in Bangalore, India the conversation came up and I thought I’d bring the conversation up here. Although Anil is a very common name in India, it is also used in Turkey. It’s not as widespread and can be given to either boys or girls.

Its meaning, in Turkish comes from the verb ‘anilmak’ which means to be remembered. I had always wondered about the origin of the name in India, especially after my first trip to Bangalore. It seems that I’d get a different answer, anything from “fire” to “flame” – basically heat related.

Priyank was able to clear things up for me and have found Anil is a Sanskrit word, meaning ‘air’.

‘Air’ is a metaphor used to denote speed, sublimity, omnipresence etc, is name of the God of Wind, but all those are interpretations only (and not the meaning itself!)

Many in India find it confusing that a ‘Muslim’ (assumed since I’m Turkish) has a Hindi name. As far as I can tell the origin of the name in Turkish is murky at best and may have been brought over with one of the waves of Mongol conquerors of India. My name has influenced how people see me on my travel numerous times as do all of our names.

Finally, I got an email a while back from a reader congratulating me on my Lonely Planet award. Unfortunately, it’s not me. The author of that travel blog Windy Skies (the winner of the 2009 Lonely Planet Best Travelogue), Anil P., is consequently Indian.

[photo by: drtchock]

The Best Comments Of The Month: May 2009 The Universal Language Edition

The very active conversation on my post asking, is English the universal language, quickly turned out to be my second highest commented post ever. The entire discussion is a nice, full read but in this special edition of the best comments of the month I’ve pulled some of the best excepts.

• “Yes, one can get by traveling with just English, but if one goes off the beaten tourist path and outside of major cities (even in Europe in countries like Spain, Germany, France, and in South America and Central America) it WILL be “an issue”.” -Soultravelers3 (Reply to this comment)

• “Regardless of how convenient or acceptable English has become, it can never substitute the local language.” -Final_Transit (Reply to this comment)

• “I never said that it isn’t worthwhile to learn another language. I’d personally like to learn Spanish. However, for any non-English speakers, I think it is pretty obvious in the 21st century that English is the other language you should pick up. -Gary Arndt (Reply to this comment)

• “I’m not at all sure that English is a universally understood lingua franca, and I’m not convinced that it should be.” -Bill Chapman (Reply to this comment)

• “You won’t find Spanish or French speakers everywhere, but you will always find someone who either speaks English, knows English literature, or listens to American music. It’s as simple as that.” -Deniz (Reply to this comment)

• “I agree with Soultravelers3, you need more than one language! I know it’s come very useful for me on many occasions.” -Marina K. Villatoro (Reply to this comment)

In case you can’t get enough of this question, you can read and argue (or agree) with my post, why English is the universal language.

[photo by: eye2eye]

Travel Bloggers Send Their Best Links [Part 3 of 4] – Travel to Nova Scotia

I often include links from fellow travel bloggers in my posts, but wanted to highlight several who sent me their best articles. These are some of the travel blogs are I read regularly,  and it’s a pleasure to showcase their great writing you’ll enjoy reading. Here’s Part 1 and Part 2 in case you missed them.

Be inspired to Travel to Nova Scotia with Kim Kinrade who writes the blog which is a great source for information about the region. Travel to Nova Scotia is a well laid out blog that makes finding out the important information easy. Kim’s posts are to the point and will put Nova Scotia on your travel map in case it wasn’t there before.

Here are 9 selected posts on a variety of topics from Travel to Nova Scotia that are worth a click.

• The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo
• (WHTI) Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
• Australian High Commissioner Pushes the “Pansy Button”
• Cuba, What’ The Problem?
• Space Tourism in Cape Breton
• Zoom and Gloom
• What’s With Thailand?
• Mexico – Is It Worth It?
• Scotch Whiskey Associations Identity Crisis

Kim’s posts cover a variety of topics and you’ll have fun hopping through the links he’s recommended for us. I’ll continue with Part 4 of the series next Tuesday. If you’d like to be featured in future posts or aren’t on my Links page send me and email and ask to be added.

No Post Today, Travel Bloggers Best Links Part 3 Tomorrow

I’m taking the day off from posting today (it’s Memorial Day in the US), but will have fresh content tomorrow with Part 3 of the best links from fellow travel bloggers. In case you missed them, you can catch up with Part 1 from Istanbul Trails and Part 2 from Final Transit of the series. Have a good one, see you tomorrow.

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