7 Essential Vacation Travel Tips

I remember my first experience traveling on my own.  I am still cringing thinking about it.  It was Thanksgiving week and it was time for me to go home for the holidays.  I was in college and I thought I knew everything.  I crammed everything into two suitcases (even my dirty laundry) thinking that it would be easy to put them on the airplane.  Have you ever sat on your suitcase to try and squish it down to zip up?  Yeah, I was that girl.  It didn’t dawn on me that I may have overpacked until I had to carry my suitcases down the really long flights of stairs of my dorm.  That was a terrible experience, but I figured, “no big deal, I’ll need all this stuff.”  Even the taxi cab driver rolled his eyes and he popped a vein trying to throw my heavy suitcases into the trunk of his car.

Fortunately, I’ve learned a bit from that experience. Are you traveling this holiday season? Here are some essential tips to help your vacation from turning into a disaster!

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1.) Wash your hands!

You’ve probably seen these signs a thousand times, heard this a million times, been told this a billion times, but it’s even more important for travel. Washing your hands is the most significant way to stop the spread of disease. CDC reports that 80% of infectious diseases are spread through touch. Stay healthy this winter season!

2.)Don’t pack anything you haven’t worn before.

You don’t want to find out that your dress doesn’t fit or that the jacket is too flimsy while on vacation. Also new shoes and blisters. ‘nuff said.

3.) Research your airline policies for baggage.

Make sure that your carry-on luggage complies with TSA policies. And if those guys do end up taking something, check with your destination hotel before dashing to the nearest drugstore to replace it. Most of them have toothpaste, disposable razors, combs, and shower gels that they will give their patrons free of charge.

4.) Check the weather for your vacation spot.

It may be bright and sunny where you are, but it could be pouring rain at your destination. Nothing’s a bigger surprise than arriving to blistering heat with only snow jackets.

5.) Don’t forget your chargers!

Whether it’s for your camera or your cell phone or your tablet or your Gameboy 3DS or whatever new technological device they’ve come out with these days.

6.) Eat the local food.

Don’t be scared to try something new. But also don’t be stupid. You don’t want to spend the rest of your trip in the bathroom and down with food poisoning.

7.) Get souvenirs and take photos.

Unless you have an eidetic memory, these are some of the best ways to fondly remember your trip. Even better, bring a journal and make daily logs of your journey.

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Out of Office: 10 Simple, Slightly Quirky Ways to Make Travel Less Irritating

This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers and members share their business travel advice and stories from life on the road. Read all the posts here.

All of us are, by turns, scared, horrified, and saddened by any true travel or transportation disaster. Whether human, machine, or naturally occurring cause, it puts petty complaints in a far different category.

Recent events have been a sharp reminder.

So, rather than share outrage over my latest travel “disaster,” even as I sit on the LaGuardia tarmac — actually writing this on a second aircraft sent to a different gate after we had boarded the first one, shut the door, backed out from the jet bridge, and then the flight crew noticed something wrong with the equipment — I thought I’d share some of the simpler tricks of the travel trade.

The toughest part of flying for me is not the delays, bad food, fatigue, stress of being un-wired, overcoming my case of slight claustrophobia, or anything else. It’s the lack of control. Most of us, souped-up, ambitious, hurried, harried work folk are rarely in a situation where we give up as much control over the outcome of a situation as we do when we travel. There’s almost no part of the trip that we can actually have sway over — from weather, to a car service showing up when you told it to, to traffic, to the plane taking off and landing when it is supposed to, to the length of bathroom lines or the strength of a Wi-Fi signal, to the availability of an outlet. Most of what makes a trip “better” or “worse” is when those things over which we have no authority don’t rear their ugly heads and remind us of just how little power we have over this part of our lives.

So, whether you’re a frequent business or leisure traveler, here are some simple — and slightly weird, I admit — things that make my travel slightly less…(you pick the adjective) irritating, grueling, inconvenient, at times even heinous.

See what you think!

1) Download the App. Whether it’s for the specific airline you are flying (American, United, Virgin, etc) or a comprehensive airport and flight tracker (FlightTrack, Gate Guru, etc), each of them gives you information that is quick and easy (is my flight canceled? on time? Did the gate change? What’s the weather/what do I need to pack? Is there Japanese food at this terminal?). And that information allows you to have a bit more of a command of the situation from start to finish, which gives you a better ability to manage not only your valuable time, but your expectations.

2) Take a screenshot of the electronic boarding pass on your phone, as soon as it’s downloaded. That way, you don’t have to have a Wi-Fi connection, you don’t have to search for it in your ever-more-crowded email, you won’t have to wonder about that iPhone “Passbook” app that never turned out to be all it was cracked to be. Once you snap the screenshot, it’s just right at the top of your camera roll, and yes, in my experience the scanner works fine on the photo of the bar code.

3) Get qualified for TSA PreCheck. This is the thing that allows you to go to the alternative security line and, simply, put your bags on the conveyor belt and walk through the screening machine. No removal of toiletries, laptop, phone, shoes, belt, jackets, or anything else. Here’s the bad news: I have no idea how I was selected for it, so if you haven’t been already, just search “TSA PreCheck” and you’ll see a ton of links. Unfortunately, there are still a ton of inconsistencies across different airlines, different airports, and even in different areas of the same airport. When it’s set up, however, I’ve never been so grateful for something that feels like 1998.

4) Dress the Part. You don’t have to be in a power suit and tie or uncomfortable shoes before you board an overnight flight to London, but I’ve found that, in general, neatness counts. The more like a business traveler who has a place to go and a reason to need to get on the plane, the better you’re treated, whether in a line at the check-in counter or on the plane. And, even in first or business, my firm (100% non-scientific) belief is that a lot of “upgrade profiling” goes on. If you look like you bought the cheapest ticket in the world and cashed out every mile you had to get into that biz class seat, you get treated less well by the flight crew. I’d like to think that each customer gets treated the same — yes, everyone gets asked if they want a beverage or some nuts — but I’ve seen evidence to the contrary. Besides, anything you can do to soften the sometime sharp edges of a somewhat undignified process called commercial air travel, why not do it? Failing that, just trust me that you should always follow the cardinal fashion rule of airline travel: No sweatpants.

5) Be Nice. This is sometimes hard to keep in mind in the heat of the moment, but no matter how stressful the situation, we’ve learned by now that the Baldwin-esque tantrum or the old-school “I don’t think you know who I am!” approach just doesn’t work. So approach the counter with ease, confidence, and turn to the employee for help, not a fight.

On a related note: I believe that there are employees who are better and worse at their jobs, in every industry and at every level. Nowhere is it more apparent than when dealing with an airline employee. Whether you’re in a long line at the airport, or calling an 800-number, you can quickly get a sense of whether the person with your travel-life in her/his hands is merely (or barely) competent or is a superior employee whose mission in life seems to be to get you with the best price, best use of frequent-flier miles, that killer upgrade, or simply the best seat. I have, on several occasions, simply taken “no” for an answer, called right back, and gotten the help I need. And, if you have an extra two minutes and are given the opportunity, fill out the survey that recognizes the helpful and uber-competent employee. Maybe it will help keep them super-motivated!

6) Bring an old-to-new iPhone/iPad adapter, no matter what model you have. Why? The alarm clock/radio/speaker systems like iHome or Sonos in most hotel rooms are usually pretty good, just outfitted for the old 30-pin input. If you have the adapter, you can listen to your playlists, podcasts, Spotify, or streaming NPR as you unpack, or do your email.

7) An oldie but a goodie: buy your food in the airport, don’t assume it’ll be good on the plane. Even in business or first where it’s become de rigeur to tout the culinary expertise of a Top Chef, I’d almost always rather have a salad or sandwich or snack of my choosing rather than an omelet that looks to have been rolled out and filled on a football field or a something-or-other-crusted chicken breast that I don’t need to know the ingredients of. Ever.

8) Don’t toss your boarding pass even after you’ve boarded your plane. I have had several recent experiences where, on-board and door closed, some problem has arisen and we’ve “de-planed.” Whether you ultimately get back on the same plane or re-board a different flight with a different model equipment, you’ll need it. You really won’t want to stand on another line at the new gate to hassle around to reprint a new one if you don’t have to.

9) Uber. If you work for a corporation that provides a schedulable, direct-to-company billed black car service, by all means, take it! It’s still the most certain way to know when and how you’re going to and from the airport. But, compared to an airport taxi, most of the time the Uber price is comparable, the line/wait is shorter, and the driver and vehicle more professional. It’s really cool, the ultimate in controlling a situation you have no control over, as you’ll see when you download the app and watch the driver, whose name you will know, whose car you can identify, whose distance to you you can track, whose receipt is delivered to you instantaneously. Downside: yes, sometimes there are no Uber cars available and worse, the price gouging (sorry, I mean the ultra algorithmic “surge pricing” that the company touts) is not a good thing. But if it’s not in effect, Uber is totally worth it.

10) One last, kind of quirky, tip: Bring a Roll of Black Paper Tape — OK, this one might definitely just be a me thing. I find that I never know when a bad mattress, bad thermostat, bad smell, bad noise, bad jet lag, bad stress, or anything else is going to threaten a decent night’s sleep. But one thing I’ve noticed that is consistently on the rise is the number of electronics and gadgets in a room. From too-bright LED clocks, to blinking red lights on TVs, DVRs, sensors, audio systems, dimmer lights, window shade controls, inside-the-door controls for maid service or do not disturb notifications, the barrage of just-when-I-turn-out-the-light-I-notice-them blips of light can drive me crazy. Black paper tape, a staple of any film or TV set that I cut my career teeth on (it’s like masking tape, but black) can really save the day. It basically lives in my travel-bag and comes out on nearly every trip. It masks light completely and doesn’t leave any residue for the hotel chamber maids to deal with. If you ever see it in one of your hotel rooms and wonder why your clock-radio numbers are blacked out, I apologize in advance — sometimes I just forget to unmask them.

BONUS TIP!

Study after study says that consuming alcohol before or on a flight interferes with time zone acclimation, dehydrates you, and generally makes you less sharp when you land. My time-tested and ultra-non-scientific advice — forget it! If you have time, grab a good micro-brew at whatever airport bar there is, don’t waste your time with frustrating and inconsistent Wi-Fi signal on the plane, and enjoy the ride.

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2015 Trend: Travel Brands Look to Instagram for the Influencer Bump

Hotel brands and destination marketing organizations once saw travel blogs and their reach social networks — especially Twitter — as the best new source of un-filtered insight into their hotel or destination. That didn’t turn out to be the boon everyone hoped. From SEO setbacks to viral hashtags that never translated into boots on the round, the price of bringing a gaggle of bloggers and telling them what to write and how to market it has never quite achieve the return on investment hoped for.

Instagram Strategies for Travel Brands

Aimed at the strategists, marketers and technologists in travel, the Skift Trends Reports provide you with the latest intelligence on travel trends.

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So now many travel brands are embracing the promise of Instagram influencers and what they have to offer. More viral than bloggers and more immediate, this new breed of travel sharer promises to hit all the marks social media managers need: millennials, smartphones, in-market, visual, and, hopefully, viral.
They’re looking outside of travel, too, to Instagram personalities with followings that extend far beyond travel to family, food, sports, fashion, and design.
Yes, content is still king, but visuals reign.
When Instagram launched in 2010, it was popular with a creative community that was dominated by both professional and amateur photographers. The combination of having a highly visual community and simple mobile user experience of uploading and liking photos made it an app fit for the masses. In April 2012, it was acquired by Facebook and its user base grew exponentially. Simultaneously, early adopters like Cole Rise, Foster Huntington, and Pei Ketron gained notoriety and a larger following. In turn, agencies like Niche, and Stay & Wander, and Tinker popped up to represent these content producers.
How brands find and measure success is, as it was with blogging, still up in the air. We’ve seen brands such as British Airways or the Bermuda Tourism Authority mimic old methods of inviting a handful of Instagram influencers to an event or destination to snap pics, hashtag, and upload them to hopefully be liked and shared. Dubai’s iconic Burj al Arab invited Instagrammers for a weekend of high-end events and pampering in return for sharing it all with followers. These “Instameets” aim for maximum impact through a combination of volume and focus; if nothing else they’re fun for the attendees.
Lots of things are shared, but what that translates into is still to be determined.
On the flip side, some brands and destinations are keeping the Instagram focus, but ditching the influencer in favor of the mass of users who don’t need to be feted. Tourism Australia is the undisputed leader here, with a rate of sharing and liking of user images that is unparalleled by any other travel brand. Walt Disney World resorts mixes professional content with user uploads that encourages users to share as much as possible in hopes of getting additional followers themselves after a Disney “bump.”
One of the most successful travel brands on Instagram, though, is a U.S. government agency that spends very little money, but has excellent content to work with. The U.S. Department of the Interior is the voice of the U.S. National Park Service. Like Tourism Australia, it shares Instagram user images from across the country. The only influencer here is the visitor who’s captured a great shot of the Grand Canyon or a national seashore.
This is an extract, get this and all the other trends, download the magazine for full trends for 2015.
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Download the copy for deeper read. Share it if you like it and think others can benefit from them.

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How to Get Your Own Oscars Dream Trip for Pennies on the Dollar

When Academy Award nominees say that just being nominated for an Oscar is a reward in itself, they’re not just spouting clichés. Even if they don’t get to walk onstage and give a long speech that only ends when the music begins, they still win big.

All Oscar nominees get a gift bag courtesy of Distinctive Assets. And by gift bag, we’re not talking about complimentary sample-size body lotions. We’re talking about $168,000 worth of goodies, about a third of that including luxury travel swag.

It’s easy to gawk at this and fantasize that if only we could write a music score for Wes Anderson, we could vacation on the Amalfi Coast. And true, we may not be able to afford the same VIP treatment as the stars, but we can score a cheaper version of the same trip. So click ahead and see where the Oscar nominees will be traveling, and the beautiful places we can travel for much less.

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Taxi aggregators like Uber and Olacabs need to be regulated, says Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Taxi booking apps like Uber and Olacabs

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(Taxi booking apps like Uber…)

need to be regulated and brought under the Motor Vehicles Act, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said today.
"Taxi booking service providers through mobile apps also come under transportation business and they should be governed by the laws under Motor Vehicles Act," the Road, Highways and Transport Minister said.

He said though the transport is a concurrent subject and fell under the ambit of both the Centre and the states but such taxi aggregators are not merely technology companies as they provide transport facility.
His remarks come at a time when such online taxi aggregators have come under watch after a woman customer was allegedly raped by a driver of Uber last year.
The Delhi transport department has said that all taxi aggregators, including app-based cab service providers, will have to register themselves with the department.
Uber, which was banned two-and-a-half months ago after one of its drivers allegedly raped a woman, had applied for licence on January 22 to operate app-based taxi booking service through its subsidiary Resource Expert India Pvt Ltd.
Yesterday, the US-based taxi aggregator Uber was given a seven-day ultimatum by the Delhi government to remove deficiencies in its application for running cabs in the National Capital, failing which its plea to procure licence will be rejected.
The government, however, had issued a 'deficiency memo' on January 24 asking it to furnish all details before it as mentioned in recently introduced 'Modified Radio Taxi Scheme (2006),' an official said.
The scheme was finalised on January 1 following the outrage over rape of the woman on December 5 last allegedly inside the Uber cab.
Uber in a statement yesterday said, "Uber has been and will continue to work with the authorities. We are evaluating the perceived deficiencies in the time period provided to us by the government."
Earlier this month Gadkari has said government was hopeful of Parliament nod on new Motor Vehicles Bill in the upcoming budget session.
The new Road Transport and Safety Bill seeks to come down heavily on traffic offenders and proposes steep penalties for violations of traffic laws.

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Drivers learn lesson, start own prepaid taxi service

Panaji: Painted in the conventional colours of a desi taxi, yellow and black, a 10-foot tall booth stands opposite Maruti temple at the Kadamba city bus stand. The highlight of this booth is the initiative by a bunch of taxi drivers whose intention is to give people a uniformly-priced taxi service.

Commuters, both domestic and tourists, will no longer have to indulge in endless negotiations with private cab and auto rickshaw drivers at the Kadamba city bus stand, Panaji. The Panjim Pavan yellow/black taxi association is gearing up to launch a pre-paid taxi service at the bus stand in an attempt to prevent naive passengers from getting swindled.

"Many people are under the impression that taxi drivers are out to cheat them but that is not always the case," said Krishna Uskaikar, president, Panjim pavan yellow/black taxi association, "Unlike the prices suggested by private cab drivers, our rates are standard. But just because private cabbies overcharge, our image gets tarnished. Setting up a booth for pre-paid service not only proves our integrity but also develops the commuter's faith in us."

In order to avail a taxi, commuters will have to follow a simple process of making the payment at the booth, following which they will be handed a ticket. The 14 taxis that are currently stationed at the bus stand will move one by one in queue system to serve its clients.

This initiative which is being funded by the taxi drivers of the Panjim Pavan yellow/black taxi association has received a green signal from the government to set up the booth. But, in order to start the service, permission from the RTO is still awaited. Members of the association have been taking baby steps to raise money for the initiative. Phone and electricity lines have been recently added to it. If the RTO approves, the service can start full swing by March.

Taxi driver Abdul Altaf, Betim, said, "There is no mode of transport in Goa after 10pm so we will have to work shift by shift to make the taxis available. This service will thus be open 24X7 for people's convenience."

But, getting everything in place can be a trial for the members. "We need to hire someone to stay at the counter at all times," adds Altaf, "Including the person's salary, phone and electricity bills and land rent, we will have to shell out approximately 22,000 a month for the booth. Every driver has therefore resolved to keep aside some amount of money from each ride for payment of these bills. This may bring financial problems for us later but we'll have to face it. After coming this far, it makes no sense to turn back."

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Delhi govt grants license to Chennai-based cab service; Uber, Ola await

Delhi government on Saturday granted the licence to a Chennai-based cab service provider to run radio taxis for five years in the national capital.
However, the decision on extending such permits to the US-based firm Uber, Taxi For Sure, and Ola Cabs is yet to be taken by the government.

According to a transport department official, NTL Call Taxi Pvt. Ltd. has become the first company to procure the licence since the introduction of ‘Modified Radio Taxi Scheme (2006)’ and will now be allowed to operate a cab service in the city.

“The government today granted the license to NTL Call Taxi Pvt. Ltd. after which it can operate their taxis in the city for the five years,” said the official.
According to the government, parking of the firm’s taxis will be at Chhattarpur Enclave in New Delhi. The company is likely to start operating its cab service within next 15 days in the national capital.

Last month, the government had found deficiencies in the application by the US-based company Uber, which had applied through a subsidiary, Resource Expert India Pvt. Ltd. It also found deficiencies in the applications of Taxi For Sure and APRA Cabs India Pvt. Ltd., which had applied for a licence under the brand name of Ola Cabs.

Government has asked these three-app based companies to furnish details to it as mentioned in the recently-introduced ‘Modified Radio Taxi Scheme (2006)’.
Uber was banned on December 8 and blacklisted by the government after its driver allegedly raped a woman executive inside the car. The government had thereafter banned all app-based cab service providers following the outrage over the incident.

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A Monumental Effort: World Heritage Day Exclusive

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  Yahoo Lifestyle/Ratish Nanda - The Aga Khan Trust for Culture project has ensured conservation works benefit local communities around the Nizamuddin Renewal Initiative.

Editor's Note: Is heritage only about conserving structures? The etymology of the word structure implies parts that make up the whole. People who live around these monuments have needs which need to be addressed if they are to care for what’s next to them, however historic.
This has been proven by the Nizamuddin Renewal initiative led by Ratish Nanda. The tightest bunch of medieval monuments in India sit here cheek by jowl with a populace that was crying out for literacy, jobs and had a somewhat vague sense of their dramatic neighbourhood.

How did that change? In an exclusive World Heritage Day blog Ratish Nanda gives his side of the answer. The answer includes gardens, crafts, music and it’s all about imagination and connection.
By Ratish Nanda
Humayun's Tomb: Re-thinking conservation for IndiaFor over 30 years now, World Heritage Day is celebrated across the world on 18 April each year to commemorate and spread awareness on the shared built and natural heritage of mankind.Almost a thousand sites world over are today designated, by UNESCO, as 'World Heritage Sites' of value to mankind as a whole on account of their Outstanding Universal Value.
State Parties, which include most countries of the world, are encouraged to spread awareness on the value, significance, potential development potential of our shared heritage on the occasion of World Heritage Day.
India today boasts of 28 World Heritage Sites including the Taj Mahal, Jaipur Jantar Mantar, Kariranga National Park, Churches and Convents of Goa, Mountain Railways of India, amongst others. At each of these sites, the Archaeological Survey of India will celebrate, occasionally in partnership with civil society agencies, with banners, children's awareness programmes, free entry to ticketed monuments amongst other programmes.
In India, on the occasion of World Heritage Day, we need to reflect on how our heritage — built and natural — can be presented to future generations in a better condition than we inherited it in but also use this heritage in a sustainable manner for socio-economic development of the communities that inhabit their setting.
A city like Agra, boasting three World Heritage Sites — Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and the Red Fort — amongst several thousand other great monumental buildings, in any other part of the world, would have led to a high Quality of Life for its residents and a most memorable experience for visitors to the city. Instead, poor policy, lack of proper incentives for conservation, destruction of the river Yamuna and separating the development agenda from conservation of a great city, has on occasion led to people's movements displaying placards such as 'Agra Bachao, Taj Hatao'!!
Speaking in December 2011, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Archaeological Survey of India, the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh acknowledged that, "Archaeology bridges the past with the present and defines our journey to the future. We ought to give the highest priority to the conservation of the amazing diversity in creative expressions and the pluralist traditions represented in our material culture". He also went on to say, "In some of the advanced countries, the preservation movement has evolved in innovative ways that are meaningful to the living communities that surround historic monuments… In India too we need to evolve a more holistic understanding of conservation that combines our preservation efforts with the social and economic needs of the community. I would urge the Ministry of Culture and the ASI to seek greater integration of preservation and conservation efforts in cities with public policies and schemes for urban renewal. Successful conservation efforts in the past have incorporated local area development through employment generation, boosting local crafts and arts, building of infrastructure, environmental conservation and landscaping".
In 1997, on the occasion of India's 50th anniversary of India's independence, His Highness the Aga Khan gifted to India the Garden Restoration of the Humayun's Tomb world heritage site. The project at its completion in 2003 marked India's first privately funded and implemented conservation project and similarly the first scientifically carried out garden restoration by a multi-disciplinary team.
Conservation: The Humayun’s Tomb – Nizamuddin Basti zone is the densest ensemble of medieval Islamic buildings …The Aga Khan Trust for Culture projects promote the conservation and re-use of buildings and public spaces in historic cities in the Muslim World. The restoration and rehabilitation of historic structures and public spaces is undertaken in ways that can spur social, economic and cultural development. Individual project briefs go beyond mere technical restoration to address the questions of the social and environmental context, adaptive re-use, institutional sustainability and training. In keeping with this philosophy, on the completion of the Humayun's Tomb garden restoration, a new project that would integrate conservation, socioeconomic development and urban and environmental development objectives in consultation with local communities and relevant stakeholders was planned.
Creating Heritage Awareness: Humayun’s Tomb – Sunder Nursery – Nizamuddin Basti will be a centre for learning for …

In 2007, after over two years of discussion and negotiation with multiple government agencies the Aga Khan Trust for Culture & the Aga Khan Foundation established a new partnership with the Archaeological Survey of India, Central Public Works Department and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to initiate a large Urban Renewal Project in the presently segregated three zones of Humayun's Tomb — Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti and Government Sundar Nursery. The project commenced with the dual objectives of integrating the segregated sites into a Conservation area of international Significance while ensuring that the Quality of Life for inhabitatnts of Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti improved through simultaneous action in the fields of education, health, vocational training, sanitation, culture, urban improvements, waste management and conservation of the built heritage.
The Nizamuddin Renewal Initiative has since the signature of the MoU been able to draw in other public partners such as the Delhi Development Authority through subsequent MoU's and significant private sector/ civil society involvement through co-funding from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Ford Foundation, American & German embassies, World Monuments Fund and HUDCO amongst others.
The project has fulfilled several objectives of which the principal ones have been to return to a craft based approach to conservation, follow an urban landscape approach to conservation which emphasises the importance of the setting of the World Heritage Site as much as the importance of the structure itself and finally ensure that local communities are involved in the decision making process and are able to benefit significantly from the conservation effort.
1. Craft Based Approach.
Trainings: Providing a platform for sharing traditional knowledge about conservation techniques with ASI officials, …With three millennium of stone building traditions, Indian societies had developed traditional processes and systems for conservation that were traditionally centred around craftsmen and their families being attached to a site and being 'paid' through the revenues generated from lands attached to the site and donations to the site. These practices were dismantled with the formation of the Archaeological Survey of India by the then British Government in favour of a European system wherein Archaeologists and Engineers became responsible for India's heritage. With no understanding of traditional building crafts, this led to our great monuments being inappropriately repaired using modern materials such as cement which often accelerated the decay process, leading to the collapse of several buildings of national importance.
Sandstone Craftsmanship: Set up a training programme for youth to develop craftsman skills and ensure traditional …With building crafts now dying, future generations will be unable to carry out conservation works and inappropriate repairs have left many of our monuments in a state of neglect or even worse, a state of ruin, much favoured by the British. This in turn has led to the 'wow' factor being lost from most of our structures leading to a lack of interest amongst the public often followed by decay, encroachment and even demolition for roads and other infrastructure projects.
Several of our World Heritage Sites have suffered on this account and continue to do so. After intense dialogue with the Archaeological Survey of India, several Peer reviews with national and international experts, there was unanimity that in order to ensure long term preservation of the Humayun's Tomb World Heritage Site it had become necessary to remove inappropriate 20th century materials and replace these with traditional materials applied with traditional tool by master craftsmen.
Craftsmanship: The project employs hundreds of master craftsmen who use the tools, building techniques and materials …
2. Urban Landscape Conservation approach
Sunder Burj-Central Axis: Aligned on axis with Sunder Burj and culminating at the foot of Azim Ganj Serai, the …It was established at the onset of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture project that the Outstanding Universal Value of the Humayun's Tomb complex lay not only in the grandeur of Humayun's Tomb but in the fact that this was an ensemble of 16th century garden-tombs.
It was thus necessary to look not only at Humayun's Tomb but also at the Isa Khan's garden-tomb, Bu Halima's garden tomb — Afsarwala complex, Nila Gumbad garden-tomb, the Batashewal Complex and the Sunderwala complex.
Nila Gumbad: Developing historic landscapes around the World Heritage site of Humayun’s Tomb.After prolonged effort portions of the Nila Gumbad site have been restored to the ownership of the Archaeological Survey of India by the Railways and similarly the Batashewala complex — a 12 acre garden tomb complex — has been rescued from total destruction by Bharat Scouts and its ownership reverted to the Archaeological Survey of India.
Conservation works now being undertaken or planned as part of the project on over 50 monuments will eventually enable the Archaeological Survey of India to seek expansion of the World Heritage Site boundaries from the present 26 acres to over a 100 acres and include the other garden-tombs mentioned above.
3. Conservation led Development
For conservation to succeed in India, it requires to become a mass movement which would be possible only if local communities and craftsmen benefit from the conservation effort. Our built heritage requires to be treated as an asset that it is rather than the burden it is often perceived to be.
Despite living in the densest ensemble of medieval Islamic buildings anywhere in the world, many of those residing in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti had no access to even the most basic urban services — health, education and sanitation.
Nizamuddin Basti Parks: Landscaping neighbourhood parks led to improvement in the Quality of Life and the urban …



   
Socio-Economic Development: The socio-economic development initiatives are aimed at strengthening urban basic services …
   
Creating Heritage Awareness: Children oriented activities like competitions, workshops and outings are regularly …The Aga Khan Trust for Culture project has ensured conservation works benefit local communities. Working in close collaboration with partner agencies, the project team has ensured connections between conservation and socio-economic development in a synergetic and enabling manner to create and ensure a self sustaining and improved quality of life for the indigenous community. This landmark non-profit initiative establishes both an innovative practical paradigm and a benchmark for similar projects worldwide. The project interventions focus on three core areas, Urban Improvement, Health and Education.

Sunder Nursery_Lakkarwala Burj-Garden : Conservation of Lakkarwala Burj - a Mughal-era monument and also providing …Their common goals are hygienic and sanitary environment through sustainable ecological reformation and life style changes; accessible and improved health care for women and children; quality education and vocational training to generate income and build employment capacities in women and youth.

Cultural Revival – NOOR: Traditional Paper-cutting Craft promotes linkages with the heritage monuments in the area …Over 35000 people accessed the health facilities created in 2011 alone; the MCD primary school has seen a 300% increase in enrolment, new toilet blocks have been built as over 20% of the local population had no access to private toilets and millions of pilgrims visit here annually. When it was discovered that under 2% of the local population visited parks, the open spaces in the basti were sensitively landscaped for community use.
ashn-e-Khusrau: The cultural revival initiative seeks to revitalise the practise of Qawwali to make it both valid …Finally, there is even an World Heritage List for intangible heritage and it is proposed to include the famous Quwwali traditions on the list. Quwwali was created by Hazrat Amir Khusrau here in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti and the project celebrates 700 years of living culture by working with the Quwwals from India and Pakistan to document, disseminate and build awareness on the contribution of Hazrat Amir Khusrau to Hindustani culture.

We’re celebrating World Heritage Day 2012 with a Nizamuddin tour led by the recently trained resident-tour guides. The children too will make a presentation historically re-imagining  the making of a stepwell at the dargah. Past meets present.
Happy World Heritage Day!
Sunder Burj at Sunder Nursery: More than just a green space in the heart of the city, Sunder Nursery literally …

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Hindu temple vandalised in US, hate message spray-painted on wall

The incident of religious intolerance has sent shock waves through the Indian-American community, prompting police to begin investigation.

WASHINGTON: In an alarming incident of yet another case of intolerance in the United States, a Hindu temple was vandalised in Washington state and hate messages were sprayed on the temple walls, sending shock waves through the Indian-American community in the area, a Press Trust of India report said.

 The incident has sent the local law enforcement authorities into a tizzy and has forced them into launching an investigation to bring to book the unidentified culprits. Some of the city’s top officials also visited the temple to take stock of the situation.

When members of the Hindu Temple Cultural Center in Bothell, 36 km from Seattle, went there on Sunday they found a swastika painted on it and "Get Out" scrawled in large letters with spray paint. The place of worship is said to be amongst the largest temples in north-west America. Hindus are celebrating Mahashivratri today.

The Hindu American Foundation has condemned the incident. Reports say that lately there have been several cases of vandalism of Hindu temples in the US.
The incident will come as a major egg on the face of American leadership, as just a few days ago US President Barack Obama had said that the ‘acts of intolerance’ experienced by religious faiths of all types in India in the past few years would have shocked Mahatma Gandhi. There has been a lot of debate over how the US first eeds to put its own house in order before commenting on and giving sermons to others.

In the US, white supremacists have adopted the Nazi swastika as an ideological symbol. KING 5 TV, an NBC affiliated station in Seattle, said, "In Hinduism, swastikas signified peace long before it became a Nazi symbol. In this case, temple leaders say it's now being used not just to hurt their believers but a neighborhood."

The Bothell temple incident comes ten days after President Barack Obama criticised India at an inter-religious prayer meeting saying intolerance there "would have shocked Gandhiji."

"I was paranoid to say the truth, this just doesn't look right to me," temple member Jay Araman told Seattle's KIRO TV, a CBS affiliate.

"He fears the red graffiti, sprawled across the outside of the temple, could be a sign that someone is planning something violent," the station added. Echoing the fears, Thampipillai Thilakarjah told Q13 Fox TV station that his 11-year-old son was scared to visit the temple.

The Bothell Reporter newspaper reported that the incident was under investigation but no suspect has yet been identified according to Shari L. Ireton, a spokesperson for Snohomish County Sheriff.

"The timing of this crime, occurring before a major Hindu festival, warrants special attention from law enforcement," said Jay Kansara, Hindu American Foundation's Director of Government Relations. "We are encouraged by the ongoing thorough investigation of the Bothell City Police Department."
There has been a spate of anti-Hindu across the US in recent months. In August a murti of Shiva at the Vishwa Bhavan Hindu Mandir in Georgia state was desecrated with black paint. The phone lines of the temple in Monroe, near Georgia, were cut and graffiti wits hate messages were written on it. The local sheriff's office arrested two people in connection with the attack.

Between July and October in Loudon County in Virginia, police documented 17 separate incidents of anti-Hindu vandalism, HAF said.
In response to these attacks, the US Justice Department has mandated the inclusion of anti-Hindu hate crimes as a category in crime-reporting forms starting in January.

In an incident involving an Indian, but not directly linked to his religion, 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel was attacked by a police officer in Madison in Alabama state and left partially paralysed. The officer was dismissed from the police force.

 

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Dropping off a rental car after hours can lead to an expensive surprise

 
Budget Rent a Car recently quoted Roy Bonney a $96 rate for a one-day rental from Norfolk to Washington. But it sent him a bill for $3,374.

The reason? A tire on Bonney's car went flat only a few hours before his flight back home to Alaska, while he was parked at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, in D.C. There was no spare, so he had to call Budget Roadside Assistance for help. Budget promised to send another car and a tow truck to pick up the car with the flat, but it gave an estimated arrival time of more than two hours — not soon enough to catch his flight.

"I asked if I could leave the car for Budget to pick up, since they were sending a tow truck anyway, and I'd make other arrangements to get to the airport," he said. "A Budget employee agreed."

Bonney assumed that the phone conversation was an official transfer of the vehicle back to Budget. It wasn't. The tow truck couldn't access Bonney's vehicle because it wasn't allowed on base. So Budget treated the rental as if he'd never returned it, broadsiding him with a $3,278 bill.

Car-rental company representatives say it's simple: Unless the vehicle is in their possession, it's your responsibility. The rental contract, which you sign when you pick up the car, is clear on that point. And in an industry that often has razor-thin margins, car-rental companies claim they can't afford to look the other way if a car is damaged on the parking lot after hours or stuck on a military base.

Someone must pay.

"Consumers should do more to protect themselves," says Sharon Faulkner, executive director of the American Car Rental Association, a trade group.

Of course, most rentals don't end as dramatically as Bonney's. If a car isn't returned in person, it normally sits on the lot without incident. But there are exceptions. Faulkner recently heard from a car-rental customer who returned her vehicle at 3 a.m., even though the location didn't accept after-hour returns. It took the company five days to find the car, and it billed her for every minute of it.

"The rule of thumb is that the unit you rented is still on rent and is your responsibility until the office opens and the car is inspected," she says. "If damage is found at that time, the renter is charged."

Faulkner says instances of renters dropping off their car when a business is closed and then getting charged for damage that may have occurred after the drop-off are rare. When she owned a Dollar and a Thrifty franchise, she recalls only one such case.

But they appear to be happening more often, if my own case files are any indication. One memorable instance involves Ann Colmus, a reader from Manchester, Md., who contacted me after her 33-year-old son returned his Alamo rental car after business hours.

"Nine days later he got a phone call from them saying the car looked like it had been rear-ended," she told me. "He was shocked because nothing was wrong with the car when he parked it."

Colmus's son insisted he'd returned the car as good as new, but Alamo was just as insistent that he pay $785 to fix the bumper. The company sent him pictures and demanded his insurance information.

"He would rather go to court than pay for something he did not do," she says.

Their tenacity paid off. I sent Colmus the names of several Alamo executives, to whom she directed her complaint. The company dropped its claim against her son.

Bonney's case also had a happy ending. After I contacted Budget on his behalf, it reviewed the circumstances of his return again. According to its records, the Air Force wouldn't allow Budget's roadside assistance provider to enter the base for "many weeks" without clearance through the proper military channels and without being accompanied by a rental-company representative.

"In the process of obtaining the required documents, the rental charges continued to accumulate," a representative said in an email to Bonney. In the end, the military gave Budget permission to enter the base. Budget agreed to drop its claim against Bonney.

So how do you make sure this doesn't happen to you? Avoid returning a car when a car rental location is closed. Ideally, you should bring back your car during daylight hours and ask a representative to inspect the vehicle in bright light.

If there's any question about a ding or dent, don't assume it's normal wear-and-tear. Phrases such as "Anything smaller than a quarter doesn't matter" — usually uttered by a car-rental representative when you return the car — should be interpreted as warnings, not reassurances. In my experience, that often means a damage claim is imminent.

And take pictures — lots of pictures. "Before" and "after" snapshots of your rental are a must. Had Colmus's son taken pictures proving he returned his vehicle in good shape, it's doubtful Alamo's claim would have gone as far as it did.

But sometimes, as was the case with Bonney, a big bill is unavoidable. And you have to remember: If you haven't officially returned the car, it's still your responsibility.

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How to Start a Travel Blog and Earn Money in 6 months

This article is inspired by a lot of our readers and travel coaching clients who have been asking us about how we started Two Monkeys Travel last May 2014 and grow it from there…We don’t claim to be experts and we know that we have a long way to go, but we’ve come a long way in a short time. This is the first time we have ever written a travel blog and we are learning and growing every day. This is not your typical “How To Do Guide”, but instead our online diary of what we have learned and achieved since May 2014, to rebranding last October 2014 and finally starting to earn our first money from the blog last November 2014.

Blogging is the general term used for someone writing or documenting about things based on his or her own opinion on any topic such as fashion, career, money making, and of course Travel. Travel + Blogging seems to be the perfect combination if you already love writing in your travel journal but to be honest – it’s completely different!
Jon and I only started our Travel Blog last May 2014 after talking to a guy we met in Bodh Gaya, India. He mentioned that there was a girl who visited there before from the Philippines funding her travels by travelling! And we were like:  “What? How? Is that even possible?” We had been travelling for quite a while by that time (almost 1 year) and had been paying for all of our expenses and we thought that our volunteering gigs were savings enough! But no, there are travel bloggers out there in the world, travelling for free! To be honest, our initial motivation was just to get discounts on Hotels and tours but the more I learned about this field, the more I realized that it’s not just about getting Free Stuff. It’s actually a respectable career that requires hard work and determination… I highly commend all of the travel bloggers who started this before us and still doing it (We will be starting a Blogger Inspiration Series where we will feature other bloggers who have inspired us-soon!)
After 6 months of a love-hate relationship with our blog, we have been able to grow our social media (basically just our Facebook  at the moment) to the next level with great interaction from the right audience. We are relatively new, yet we currently have 60K to 90K Page views every month and are finally earning money by monetizing our blog without any Google AdSense! (those annoying ads on the side of your screen)

Our Google Analytic page views for this week – February 1 to 7, 2015

We’ve met many different top bloggers and it’s clear that those who are successful with their blogs are very helpful and generous with information, while those who are stuck in the lower and mid-levels are often too competitive and don’t even reply to messages!
So here’s the honest step-by-step guide on how we did it – including the mistakes we made and tricks and techniques to grow faster.

Tip#1: Think of a Blog Name

Jon and I were not writers before we started – when we were travelling on our own before, we both had an account with a free blogging platform but were only able to publish 2 diary style write-ups and both of the accounts were just named after us! If you really love your name then you can name your Travel Blog after you then add some exciting Travel related words – travelling, nomadic, wandering, adventurous etc. (I’ve read an article that these words are overuse but it’s up to you)
If you want to be more creative then think of a unique name that people can easily remember you – why not animal names?  It doesn’t sound formal but it’s catchy! It took me and Jon two weeks to choose the blog name and we came up with the slightly “corny” and catchy name of Two Monkeys Travel – Why you may ask? It’s quite a long story but the simple version is that Jon is the White Monkey and obviously I’m the Brown Monkey. We also know different travel websites with animal names like – turtle, goat, dinosaur, frog, crab etc. It’s all up to you!
You can also have a formal blog name that has nothing to do with your name nor the cute animals but we highly suggest to keep a travel related word on your title so people can easily recognize that you’re indeed a travel blogger (maybe for Google SEO too!)

Tip#2: Buy that Domain and INVEST in Hosting

During our FREE Blogspot/Blogger days

Our first article was published on Blogger (www.twomonkeystravel.blogspot.com ) last April 25, 2014- as I’ve mentioned earlier, we weren’t intending to make it big as our initial plan was just to get discounts from Hotels in India – OOPS we were wrong (MISTAKE # 1)! Our first ever article, “Female Backpackers Beware”, was able to get 5,000 views in 1 week, mainly because of our click-bait title (MISTAKE #2) and we were so excited that we decided to write another one – Budget Backpacking in India. It had good views so Jon and I agreed to buy our domain from Godaddy and still keep the account with Blogger platform (www.twomonkeystravel.com) (MISTAKE #3) – Don’t use Blogger if you’re serious  about your blog!
A good friend of mine taught us how to connect our free Blogger page to our new domain. It was June 2014, just before we flew to South America, when we decided to have a giveaway package - Memories of Hanoi Article – which boosted our page views yet again. I was so ecstatic that I was already thinking of redesigning our blog (we initially just had the free themes installed on Blogger). That’s when I learned about self-hosted sites on WordPress.org and the disadvantages of using Blogger as a platform. We were discouraged and weren’t sure if we were even going to continue.
We moved to Peru and had a hiatus from the “not-so-serious” website for about 3 months, until Rappler Philippines contacted us, saying that they wanted to re-publish our article! Oops, someone noticed and finally believed in us- (Thank you so much Wy!!)! I spoke to Jon and we decided that it was about time to take it seriously and have a self-hosted WordPress account – the problem was that we didn’t know how to design, how to install, how to direct our old articles (5 articles and the others are guest post!) etc. We had no idea! So, I read another blog promoting Bluehost as the hosting company which includes the 1-click easy to install WordPress.ORG (Remember: WordPress.com is different from WordPress.Org).

As newbies we loved the sound of that, so we invested some money and bought the 3 year hosting plan from Bluehost and guess what, it comes with a FREE Domain – Jon and I didn’t know how to redirect our old domain (www.twomonkeystravel.com) so we decided to avail the Bluehost’s free domain and purchased http://twomonkeystravelGROUP.com (Will tell you why later!). It’s time to change!
After 1 month of trial and error with different designs – we launched our brand new website on October 24, 2014 – exactly the same time that Rappler Philippines published my first article on their website. We were starting to look slightly professional now! Woot!

Tip#3: Design your Logo and Invest in Web design

Our first ever logo designed by younger sister’s friend.

This is the only thing that worried me as your blog design represents who you are before people even look at your write-ups. Our original logo was a hand-drawn design by my sister’s friend (Dr. Arbe Serrano) for FREE. Then we purchased a $49 theme from My Theme Shop but I don’t know how to optimize this awesome responsive creation. So we enlisted the help of my blogging inspiration and good friend, RM Nisperos (not a travel blogger) about how we could optimize it a bit and if he could help us with some redesign and oh it’s FREE. Now, our website was looking way better than it was when we started. We know it’s not going to be our final design, but we’re very happy with it for now. We plan to invest in a bespoke website design later this year, but it’s not our priority at the moment.

My First Website Design when we Rebranded! Thank you RM Nisperos for changing and helping us!

Tip#4: Write For Yourself (then later on Tip#7: Write for Others)

This is now the crucial part – What shall we write? What shall we talk about?
Everything that I read online keeps telling me that I should find my “niche”, well, I don’t know! Jon and I don’t write Destination Guides as there are already a lot of established writers doing that and it’s not much fun. We don’t have great cameras to use to create Photo-journals, so that’s not our niche either. We’ve had early online bashers for writing a ‘Click-bait article’ (which we both agreed to never do it again!). So what should we write about?
That’s when we’ve both agreed that we should just start writing about our life as a travelling couple – not to impress others but just to express ourselves and to show that an alternative way of life is possible. My English is not perfect and Jon has to edit most of my articles before we publish them. One article takes anywhere from 1 day to 1 week to write and we don’t do much photo editing either – we just recently learned that we have to change the file names of our Photos from DCIM, GOPRO111 when we publish them – (MISTAKE #4). Well, we didn’t care but now we’ve decided to finally install Photoshop on our laptop and we’re using PicMonkey.com for editing simple photos and collages for our Facebook posts.
But as a newbie blogger, don’t over-think the technicalities just yet – at this moment, just focus on writing about your experience – Creating interesting, fun, cool content is the most important part of a blog, so just focus on practicing how you express yourself as a writer.
So, I wrote my first 3 articles – Career or Travel, Why Not Both, Why I’m proud of my Philippines passport and 9 Trips to Take in Your 20s – which were published in Rappler PHL, they all went quite viral and Jon finally published his first official article – What I’ve Learned Dating a Filipina which was one of the most read articles last year.

Maria Ressa, the founder of Rappler PHL tweeted my article

This changed our blogging life!

Tip # 5 : Learn about Social Media

Social Media is not just about Facebook – you also need to use Instagram, Twitter, Youtube,Tumbler, Stumbleupon, Triberr, Trover, Reddit, Pinterest, Bloglovin and so on! What the heck? Are you kidding me?

FACEBOOK

Our Facebook Engagement during the second week of January 2015

As I’ve mentioned earlier, before dating Jon, I had my very own free blog platform with 2 articles so during that time – I created a Facebook page for my Travel Quotes inspiration that was created last April 2013. So when Jon and I decided to have the Two Monkeys Travel Facebook page, I suggested that we use my old page which only had 88 likes and we were able to change the name from “Kach Me!” To “Two Monkeys Travel” last May 2014. Now, we currently have 8000+ Followers with very high engagement rate and reach, all of which are Organic.  NEVER BUY LIKES on Fiverr or anywhere else – it won’t help your Facebook reach and people can see through it. However, FB does have an option for boosting your post to reach more people to get more engagement – We’ve tried it 5 times on different articles that we think have the chance to go viral! It’s better to use that so you’re still in with the Facebook Algorithm.

Our REAL likes when we’ve just started.

FAKE LIKES! If you’re a fan of this big website – you can easily know if their followers are real of fake.

If you’re a new blogger, don’t be impressed or disheartened with the high numbers of LIKES on other big time blogger’s Facebook pages, you need to look at the interaction (engagement rate) on their posts – that’s when you will know if their LIKES are real. I’m in charge of our Facebook page and I make sure that I reply to every message on our inbox and comments (We love our readers, more on TIP #7). Last November 2014, I finally discovered that you can schedule posts (hahahha!) Since our audience are mostly in Asia which is 12 hours ahead of South America, this is the best option for us! I post 3 to 4 times a day – targeting all of the time zones of our readers – Philippines, USA, Canada, UK, Middle East and Australia. The KEY here: Interact with your Audience.

Facebook Boosting! We pay between $1 to $3 if needed.

The Two Monkeys’ Audience Demographics

INSTAGRAM

I also had my own private Instagram account full of my selfies – and had 100 followers when we both agreed to change it to make our official Two Monkeys Instagram account and changed it to @kach2monkeys as our new username and made it a public account last November 2014. Now, Jonathan is finally getting involved with our Social Media and is handling our Instagram – we’re still growing it and trying to remove my old selfies (LOL!) The technique that he is using now is simple – using more travel related hashtags, liking other people’s pictures, observing what kind of shots  are popular and posting three times a day. We don’t have a fancy camera so we’re just using our Samsung Tablet and Jon’s old iPhone4. The Key here: Learn to appreciate other people’s pictures and interact with Instagram community

Our Instagram Account – Jonathan is Managing this!

TWITTER

Neither of us knew how to use this or what the benefits were at the beginning but we said we’d give it a go – we created our own Twitter account (@2monkeystravel) last October 2014, when the Director of SAB asked to tag us on her tweets about our articles in her website. We didn’t touch our Twitter account until we found out about Triberr and FB Groups Twitter thread where bloggers work together to share each other’s tweets – so we joined. I was just posting everything at the same time as I don’t know what this was for. I then had 45 UNFOLLOWS from my 100 followers the same day (MISTAKE #5). So a blogger friend told me about scheduling my tweets on Hootsuite, now whenever I join the Twitter thread and Triberr Tribes, I just post it there on Autoschedule for the whole week! Done! Just this 2^nd week of January 2015, I’ve started using the JustUnfollow website to check who’s unfollowing or following me, not for negativity but for tracking! Now I spend 15 minutes every day (if we have internet) to follow different twitter accounts – I now have —– followers, my main goal is to reach 30K Followers by April. The Key here: It’s give and take! If you want them to follow you then follow them, if you want them to re-tweet your tweets then re-tweet others tweets! Simple!

YOUTUBE/ VIMEO

Since we don’t have great cameras beside our GoPro and don’t know how to edit videos, we’ve decided just to create our own Youtube channel and upload our raw videos. We have a few views already from sharing the videos on our FB pages. No brilliant ideas here but just for now we’re filling it with some of our interesting, yet unedited GoPro videos. The key here is to do what you can do now – You can add Video Editing to your list of things to learn later. Oh if you want to watch Jonathan’s TAGALOG TIME- then here’s our Youtube Channel (no editing, sorry!)
Google+, Tumbler, Stumbleupon, Trover, Reddit, Pinterest, Bloglovin – We’re just  starting to use these social media formats, but  the main tip we can give is to connect everything to  everything else! Make sure that when you share something on Instagram, that you also share it on every other platform possible, for maximum exposure.

Tip # 6: Network! Network! Network!

“If you don’t ask, you don’t get it!” – One of my mottos in life which I think is also important in the blogging world.
You need to reach out to some of the more established bloggers to collaborate with, some of them are really nice and they respond. I’ve reached out to Nomadic Matt, many times and he replied to all of my inquiries and in the end he even featured us on his Featured Member series on his website. That’s the Number 1 Travel Blogger in the World, some may not like him but the way he reaches out to small time and newbie bloggers is inspirational.
I got connected to the Rappler PHL’s Lifestyle Editor by pitching an article to one of their employees before and look, we are now regular contributors and most of our articles go viral in the Philippines. So don’t be afraid to pitch your articles to higher ranking websites, there’s no harm in trying and they care about great material, not how famous you are! I’ve tried to reach out to different big time bloggers and editors. Oh we’re also featured in Cosmopolitan Philippines on their February 2015 Issue.

Remember I told you earlier that our first Facebook page started with only 88 Likes? We were able to grow it to 500 LIKES before by joining the Under 1000 Club Facebook Group – it’s a group for newbie bloggers with less than 1K likes on their Facebook page. They exchange liking, commenting and following each other’s Social Media. There are other more awesome FB groups for Travel Bloggers that you should join – We Travel We Blog, Travel Blog Chronicles and The Business of Blogging. The members are really helpful with all of your travel blogging related questions and the best part is that you’ll be able to network with other bloggers – interview, blog exchange etc. But don’t forget to share your knowledge – it’s give and take! If you’re a Filipino travel blogger then you should network so you can join the – Pinoy Travel Bloggers (PTB) group.

If you’re 100% sure that you want this Travel Blogging life then I highly recommend that you join Travel Blog Success – Jon and I agreed to invest $220 for a lifetime membership and to join this exclusive group. It’s a group of big time, professional bloggers and you won’t believe who you are talking to! They have a secret Facebook group, exclusive deals, and travel blogging lessons on the blog! If you decide to join then wait for their promotion, you’ll be able to save 20%! See you there!

Tip #7: Understand your Audience – Write For Them

Now that you’ve done most of the things above, for sure you already have some readers. How do you know? On your WordPress.org site, you have the Jetpack application where you can track how many page views you have and you will see which of your posts have gained the most interest from people – then WRITE MORE on topics related to that.

How will you know your audience? Go to you Facebook report and check who most of your followers are. You should also install Google Analytics so you know from which countries your readers are from – from both statistics (which are pretty accurate) then you can craft your articles to suit your readers’ interests.
Another thing, write an article answering all of the frequently asked questions of your readers. They will appreciate you even more! Never trick your audience with your writing just for page views; we learned that the hard way (with the click-bait article) and decided that having real readers who know us and consistently reading our articles is better than having more page views and attracting bashers! Just positivity! =)

Tip #8: Learn from your earlier Mistakes!

Aside from the grammar, I’ve listed above the common mistakes we made while starting this blog months ago. Try to improve them slowly but surely! Every blogger, even the pros, always have a lot of things to improve on. It will still take time but as long as you recognize your mistakes, ask for advice and learn from it, then you’re on the right track.

Tip #9: Interact with Your Readers

I’ve encountered an arrogant ‘famous blogger’ who asked me to pay him just for a shout out on his Facebook status (I was his reader and he even added me as a FB friend). Weird! I will never forget this guy as an inspiration on HOW I SHOULD NOT treat my readers. So Jonathan and I created a Facebook group of Two Monkeys Travel Community readers so we can communicate with our readers directly and it turned out they are all communicating to each other!! We just called ourselves as “The Kaladkarins” and I’ve never been in an awesome group like this before- they are all friends and active! We were able to grow it to almost 500 in 4 days but I decided to screen all the members before adding them. I also promised myself that I will reply to all the messages I received and I’m also helping some newbie bloggers like us who reached out to us (you can ask them!) I know how if feels being “seenzoned” (I’ve learned this word from a reader.HAH!) and it will NEVER happen to our readers.

I’ve read this tip from two of my favorite blogs, Neil Patel and Pat Flynn, that you should make your audience feel that you care – SINCERELY and the only way to do that is to actually care sincerely! If you’re just thinking about yourself and becoming popular then good luck, you won’t go anywhere as your audience will feel that attitude. I’ve met different bloggers too who don’t respond to their readers’ inquiries, I won’t say that they are terrible people, because everyone has their own style. Jon and I are much more into interacting a lot with our readers since most of our new blog improvement ideas are coming from them! It feels great to help too, you know we’re yogis!

Tip #10: Be Inspired To Inspire!

Last but not the least, it is indeed important to keep yourself inspired. In our first 3 months of blogging, we got discouraged – writing an article took longer to finish than expected and we only had a few hundred views on our statistics aside from some bashers at the beginning. Good thing we didn’t lose hope, we continued and rebranded.
Blogging can burn you out, Social Media is really time-consuming and it will take most of the time in your day if you don’t have a time plan for it. I suggest starting your own blogging life schedule so you can balance it with travels. Remember, if you’re a travel blogger then you should be travelling and not just sitting with your laptop the whole day. If you’re a cake blogger, get up and make some cakes! After all, this is where your content comes from, right?
When we rebranded, we were just spending our whole day on the laptops – reading different tips, Facebooking, networking etc. but we decided that our lifestyle was becoming unhealthy. Now, we’re keeping to a 4-hour / day blogging schedule and the most important tip is to set a time limit using Social Media as it will take over and keep you distracted the whole time. My day starts with responding to our emails, inbox messages then drafting articles then the social media!  Remember, we’re doing this to improve our lives – Find your balance!

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