Destination Focus: The Mediterranean

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Destination Focus: The Mediterranean

• Tricia Welsh chills out in Post-Lockerbie Libya;
  
• Thomas E King visits Alexandria, Alexander's ancient city on the north coast of Egypt;
  
• Karen Halabi explores Malta, Eye of the Meditarranean;
  
• Roderick Eime discovers the ancient art of glass-blowing in Venice;
  
• John Borthwick goes Dogless in Dalmatia on the Croatian coast;
  
• Sally Hammond travels in Southern Comfort through the South of Italy;
  
• Philip Game visits Gibraltar, rock of a crumbling empire; and
  
• Graham Simmons goes Back to the Big Blue on Greece's Amorgos Island .
  

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Our DESTINATION FOCUS: MYSTERIOUS ISLANDS mailout last month provoked a good deal of interest.

Coming in mid-March: DESTINATION FOCUS: WILDLIFE OF THE WORLD

Global Travel Writers: JOURNEYS

Bringing the world to your readers The award-winning Global Travel Writers team bring you their latest offerings for February 2008 Stop Press: No editor (or PR) left behind. We deliver - guaranteed! Think outside the square. GTWers have decades of experience covering such diverse subjects as music, culture, cuisine, lifestyle, technology, aviation, sport and tourism business. [see themes]
<> Australia : China : Myanmar India : South Africa : England Guizhou Grandeur: lost in the mountainous hinterlands of SW China, unpolluted and relatively sparsely populated Guizhou is untrammelled by international tourism. This mountain province has a diverse and vibrant ethnic minority population. [TEK]	Backstreet Blokes Graham and Rod collide in the dark back-alleys of old Melbourne. What are they looking for? Do they find it? Both make some unusual discoveries that shed new light on some overlooked corners of this cosmopolitan capital of cool. The GTW Team Glenn A Baker Graham Simmons John Borthwick Karen Halabi Philip Game Roderick Eime Sally Hammond Sheriden Rhodes Thomas E King Tricia Welsh GTW Trivia: The life expectancy of a Galapagos tortoise is roughly equivalent to the combined experience of the Global Travel Writers team. EMAIL
Great Aussie Cruise with Real Bite: Diving with hungry 5m sharks is one highlight of North Star Cruises' new Southern Safari. Sea Lions, penguins and rock wallabies are just some of the other wildlife in this nature-rich, seldom-visited part of Australia [RE]
Chennai Challenges: Visitors to the Indian city of Chennai (formerly Madras) can unwind on a choice of two veteran golf courses. The 70 year-old Cosmo-TNGF course is a challenging 6270m abounding with birdlife. [TEK]
Geordieland reinvention: Northeast England has slowly reinvented itself as one of the current ‘hottest’ places to visit. Its capital, Newcastle, has for the fourth consecutive year been nominated the country’s favourite city-break destination. [TW]
Northern Myanmar: Cross the river at the northern Thailand town of Mae Sai, and step back fifty years into Burma. Burma, the ‘Union of Myanmar’, usually prohibits entry by land, but this route into the Eastern Shan State is an exception. [PG]
From the Bizarre to the Surreal: Melbourne’s mind-bending urban sculptures and street art are world-famous. Phil Hall, curator of the Contempora sculpture festival, says: "... unlike most cities, public art is actively encouraged." [GS]
The Renaissance of Cape Town: Cape Town, one year older than New York, is home to vineyards, wineries, cool valleys, rolling hills, surf-caressed bays, shipwrecks, spectacular vantage points and tumultuous townships. [GAB]
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No Editor Left Behind

The Global Travel Writers, a decade-old syndicate of some of Australia’s most experienced and awarded travel journalists and photographers, makes the following pledge:

Editors: All editorial requests will be fulfilled.

Thanks to our comprehensive network of writers and photographers extending way beyond the core members, we can fulfill any editorial request. If we don’t have it, we’ll get it for you. Guaranteed*.

PRs: Need a productive writer for that next famil?

We’ll find you the right one. Between us, we know who’s who and what’s what. Who’s been there and done that. Who can reach the markets you want.

More good news. We don’t charge for this. All we ask is that you keep coming back to us for your editorial and pictorial needs. We want your business and we’ll go the extra yards for you. Try us.

Stay in touch with your favourite GTW member, or visit the website:

www.globaltravelwriters.com

For further information, please call Rod Eime (+61) 0418 214 0208

* Reasonable rates of pay required please. We have to eat too.

Journeys - January 2008

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Bringing the world to your readers The award-winning Global Travel Writers team bring you their latest offerings for January 2008. [contact]
= J O U R N E Y S = Australia : China : Cuba : Thailand Cruising the Whitsundays Australia: Sail the Whitsunday islands off Queensland’s eastern coast on a cruise ship that once sailed the Mediterranean. Stop by to check out qualia, Australia's newest ultra-luxe resort. [KH] Bogong Mountain High Australia: Follows the windy Bogong High Plains Road across a wonderland of rolling plains dotted with weatherbeaten snow gums, gurgling streams and low, rocky summits. [PG] To Market, to Market Australia: The Noosa Farmers' Market, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, is one of the biggest in Australia. Vendors offer everything from fresh spanner crabs to locally-produced Arabica coffee. [GS] Much More Than Apples Australia: When Charles Darwin arrived in Tasmania on a visit in 1836, he found ‘luxuriant vegetables and fine corn fields’. Just imagine his surprise if he were to visit just 170 years later. [SH] Hawaii of the Orient China: Ever wondered where the Chinese go when they want to holiday at home? White sandy beaches, warm languid waters and tall swaying coconut trees. And yes it really can be found in China. [SR] Don’t worry, be happy in Havana Cuba: The best cigars, top-shelf rum and rhythmic salsa music is located in the middle of the Caribbean. For the past 50 years it’s been no-go and one of the most difficult countries to visit. [TW] Spinning a Royal Yarn Thailand: Deep in the Isaan jungles is the tiny village of Ban Tha Sawang. It’s one of several villages specialising in the ancient and royal art of silk weaving, and holds special favour with the royal court [RE] [contact]	Summer in Siam Award-winning travel writer, John Borthwick's latest book. "I walked out the door, a bit dazed. I had ten dollars and two not-quite diamonds, and it was summer in Siam." John Borthwick's first day in Thailand seemed far from auspicious — but it has been uphill from then on. Dropping him in the middle of everything from three-day tribal weddings, elephant polo follies and pristine islands to Pattaya's bacchanalian nightlife, Thailand has kept John and his pen constantly on the move. One of Australia's leading travel authors, John Borthwick has gathered here the best of his years of Thailand adventures, plus a swag of vivid tales from his wanderings in India, Xinjiang, the Himalayas, Borneo, Bali, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines. Paperback Bangkok Books Bangkok 2006 232 pages ISBN 974-85129-2-4
	The GTW Team Glenn A Baker Graham Simmons John Borthwick Karen Halabi Philip Game Roderick Eime Sally Hammond Sheriden Rhodes Thomas E King Tricia Welsh
For more stories see: Global Travel Writers When we're not travelling or working to your deadlines, you'll find us here: Facebook : MySpace : Blogger : Subscribe to RSS Feed:

Travelosophy

Bob Fisher, of www.travelosophy.ca, has some very pithy comments to make on the role of travel writers. "As travel journalists", he says, "we are the interpreters and story-tellers of what we are told, and we have to take these stories out to the world. People now are more sophisticated than ever before, and they want to know the full story".

"The public has to understand that we are working on their behalf, getting an objective look at a place. And we have to convince editors that people want to know these stories."

"Here are the basic concepts ... buzz words ... we have built into TR and are trying to continue to build into Travelosophy ... and on which Travelosophy is based:

multimedia
issue-oriented
global village
interconnectedness of all things
interdependence
real journalism (whatever that is)
public education
grassroots to the world
conceptual
multidisciplinary
industry friendly
fully collaborative ( we do not own the industry ... nor the issues ... nor "the message")
consumer advocacy and consumer awareness
socially responsible
non ethnocentric
ethical travel and travel journalism
non-formulaic
sharing the pie ... the pie is huge ... there are many pies
non-competitive (Lift that bale, tote that barge, get that media trip before the next guy)
cultural anthropology
travel as politics
travel as global economics
travel as the medium for exploring any travel-related issue (just about anything you can think of)
let the little fish have their say too ... possible via electronic journalism
media literacy
photojournalism
supporting globalization but only where we believe it is in the best interests of everyone (an endless debate and challenge of course ... but you have to start somewhere)

and ... I could go on and on ... "

To Bob Fisher, Global Travel Writers say "Hear, hear!" May Travelosophy grow and prosper!

Destination Focus: The Edge of the Planet

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We wish you a TOP Christmas - and if you don't celebrate Christmas, then Happy New Year! And if you don't celebrate New Year some time soon, then Greetings from Planet Earth!
This month's Destination Focus: Barely on the Planet

• Tom King traipses through the remote Gorkhi-Terelj National Park in Mongolia, and walks the Green Stairs to Heaven" in Banaue, the Philippines;
• Tricia Welsh comes in from the cold in Libya;
• Roderick Eime tracks down one of the planet's strangest creatures in Madagascar and visits the otherworldly Islands of Love;
• Graham Simmons visits Byron Bay, a town from another planet?;
• Karen Halabi explores what lies behind the veil in Saudi Arabia ;
• Glenn A Baker visits Santa in Finnish Lappland;
and
• Sally Hammond explores the mysteries of Dreamtime Gorge, in outback Queensland, Australia.

For more stories see: Global Travel Writers

When we're not travelling or working to your deadlines, you'll find us here:

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Coming in mid-January: DESTINATION FOCUS: MYSTERIOUS ISLANDS

December 2007 - Latest Stories and Destinations

Global Travel Writers - If you cannot see the message below, view online

Bringing the world to your readers The award-winning Global Travel Writers team bring you their latest offerings for December 2007 Stop Press: Just off the plane from Korea, Sally Hammond is now packing for Hobart. Think outside the square. GTWers have decades of experience covering such diverse subjects as music, culture, cuisine, lifestyle, technology, aviation, sport and tourism business. [see themes]
* J O U R N E Y S * Australia : Europe : Iceland : Thailand India : Cambodia Brushstrokes by the Bay: Melbourne's Coastal Arts Trail on Port Phillip Bay, from Brighton to Mentone, celebrates pioneer Australian artists. At different times of day, you can see the same hues, colours and moods which inspired Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and others. [PG]	All-Star qualia Opens Australia has a new star on the luxury resort scene. qualia, a truly Australian resort on the Great Barrier Reef which deservedly claims to set a new benchmark in Australian tourism. GTWer Karen Halabi was one of the first journalists to visit the newly opened resort in the Whitsundays which is owned by the Oatley family of international yachting and wine fame. “Watch this space”, says Karen, “I predict qualia will soon be winning awards as well.” The GTW Team Glenn A Baker Graham Simmons John Borthwick Karen Halabi Philip Game Roderick Eime Sally Hammond Sheriden Rhodes Thomas E King Tricia Welsh GTW Trivia: All together, the Global Travel Writers have over one million stock travel images. EMAIL
"Europe is not designed for speed”, said Romanian philosopher Andrei Pleşu. He may well have had the Danube-Main-Rhine rivers in mind. When swollen waters strand a cruise ship in the Bavarian city of Würzburg, it becomes an exercise in "What if...?" [GS]
Hip Thai Resorts: From industrial chic at Indigo Pearl to barefoot charm at luxurious Trisara, Thailand boasts the hippest new boutique resorts. Staffed by warm, efficient Thais, they put out the welcome mat the moment you arrive. [SR]
A New Kind of Cool: Icelanders, let it be known, are not adverse to a good time. Even an official tourism guide for the 'Capital of Cool' declares, "the nightlife scene in the city centre at weekends is one of hedonistic mayhem". [GAB]
Putting on the Taj: The Taj Group has several palace hotels in northern India. The Umaid Bhawan at Jodphur, is still partly occupied by the Maharajah. Udaipur's Lake Palace, a glistening white edifice floating like a mirage on Lake Udaipur once featured in a James Bond movie. [KH]
Siem Reap: Simply Remarkable: In 1860, French naturalist Henri Mouhot, while searching for rare orchids, found something hidden for 500 years under the dense forest growth: the ‘universe’ condensed into one magnificent temple. [TK]
The Last Mahouts: Thailand's changing environmental laws and increased mechanisation means the traditonal mahouts, or wild elephant catchers, are dying out. We meet the last mahouts in the famous elephant city of Surin. [RE]
For more stories see: Global Travel Writers When we're not travelling or working to your deadlines, you'll find us here: Facebook : MySpace : Blogger : Subscribe to RSS Feed: