News
& Views by Kim Davis
I'm goofing off. I just cannot seem to keep my mind on work. I sit down at my
desk, but can't work. I have a good reason. I'm going to Mexico this week! Renate
Bodden and I are going down to visit our partners at Cristal Azul in Akumal to
make sure we have everything in place for our upcoming Wingspan
Wellness Retreats.
Now my little strike could
have something to do with burnout as well, but I think it's mostly that I've already
switched over to vacation mode. I'll only be gone until Sunday, so chances are
good that next weeks issue of this newsletter will still go out Monday as usual,
but if you don't get it Monday, then you'll probably get it Tuesday...
Visit
me on the web at my other sites:
I'll
do my best to enjoy myself on your behalf!
- Kim ;-)
Feature
How
to keep your mother worry-free
-- when you're 10,000 miles from home
VANCOUVER, BC, February 17, 2004 -- When Martin Parry, Rocky
Dhaliwal and Danny Nanavaty of Vancouver, BC were preparing for their 6-month
round the world trip, part of the planning included how to manage their mother's
anxiety levels. Each mother made them promise to keep in touch -- as did their
extended families and all of their friends.
When the
list grew to over 150 people they quickly realized postcards were not going to
be practical. Email was rejected as a solution because they wanted to send photos
from their digital camera and large email attachments aren't sent reliably through
systems such as hotmail. Plus, as Martin describes, "It is really bad form
to send a broadcast email with 150 addresses in the header. Who knows how the
email will get resent and there's a good possibility that a SPAMMER will harvest
the addresses. We also want to keep all our writing, and email just tends to disappear".
Their
solution was to set up a travel blog where they could post their photos and write
about their travels. To take care of all the technical details, they set up a
personal travel website at www.MyTripJournal.com. MyTripJournal is a 'Personal
Travel Website' that allows travelers to post text and pictures, all linked to
a sophisticated mapping system. Visitors to the site can follow the journey on
a map, clicking on various map points to read the text and view the photos.
The
traveler's website is updated from any Internet connection. This is not as hard
to find as you might think. Internet access has exploded worldwide, and Internet
cafés are pervasive in 3rd world countries where people don't have home
Internet access. When an update is complete, the traveler clicks 'Send update
notice' and a separate email is automatically sent to each of the people on their
'friends' list. The recipient can then click a special link in the email, visit
the website and see the new content.
According to
Martin, MyTripJournal also solves another concern. "We're taking a lot of
digital photos. Storing them on cards is expensive, not to mention the possibility
of losing them. MyTripJournal stores our photos in their original quality. We'll
be able to download and print them at the end of our trip - in the mean time we
don't need nearly as many memory cards".
As well
as storing photos safely for later retrieval, their entire website can be downloaded
and saved permanently on a hard drive or CD-ROM.
While
travelers have the option to password protect their websites, Martin, Rocky and
Danny have decided not to do so. You can see how they've kept their mothers up-to-date
and worry free at: http://www.MyTripJournal.com/Martin_Rocky_Danny_WT
You
can also try out a free demo for yourself at:
http://www.MyTripJournal.com
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Paul K. Melhus
Co-Founder, MyTripJournal.com
phone: 604.688.0914 (toll-free: 877.842.2507)
email: pmelhus@MyTripJournal.com
or
Martin Parry
email: mlparry1979@hotmail.com
MyTripJournal.com
provides personal websites for travelers. Accredited travel journalists can request
a free version of the product.
High quality photos
from Martin, Danny and Rocky's journal are also available.
Please
contact Paul Melhus.
 Yellowstone
Treasures Guidebook
a Small Press Success Story
YELLOWSTONE
TREASURES:
The Traveler's Companion to
the National Park
Author: Janet Chapple, $19.95, paper, 384 pages
ISBN 0-9706873-0-3
P.0. Box 603120
Providence, RI 02906
Contact:
Janet Chapple, Publisher
E-mail: janet@yellowstonetreasures.com
More information at: www.yellowstonetreasures.com
Providence, RI—March 15, 2002: Many guidebooks
have been published for the ever-popular Yellowstone National Park, visited by
nearly three million people every summer. One of the newest is Yellowstone Treasures:
The Traveler's Companion to the National Park by Janet Chapple, a carefully organized
book that helps visitors get the most out of their trip. Published in February
2002, the book is already in its second printing. This winter, Yellowstone Treasures
was chosen as a premium for major donors to the Yellowstone Foundation. The guidebook
has been available in the park's visitor centers and will now also be carried
by the new Delaware North general stores.
What's the
secret to this book's success? In the words of Curt Matthews, CEO of the book's
distributor, Independent Publishers Group: "There are dozens of Yellowstone
guides, but none of the others begin to offer as much information as this one."
Full of color pictures and maps, Yellowstone Treasures gives the visitor mile-by-mile
descriptions of the park's 350 miles of roads, provides information about sights
to see and hikes to take, and emphasizes park history, flora and fauna, and the
fascinating geology. The chapter on geological features was written by Bruno J.
Giletti, Professor Emeritus of Geological Sciences at Brown University. A thorough
index, helpful charts, and a chapter on the fires of 1988 round out the book.
Says
University of Wyoming librarian Tamsen Hert, "Janet Chapple loves Yellowstone
and you can tell by her new book, Yellowstone Treasures!" The Midwest Book
Review's Internet Bookwatch calls it "the quintessential guide to the oldest
national park in America," and adds: "If you are planning a visit, then
begin with a careful reading of Yellowstone Treasures and checking out its remarkable
and 'user friendly' website." The Billings Gazette's Christene Meyers writes
that Yellowstone Treasures "deserves a place on any Yellowstone aficionado's
book shelf."
Independent publisher Granite Peak
Publications LLC in Rhode Island sells the book through bookstores nationwide
and major online booksellers, such as Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com. The book's
award-winning Web site is yellowstonetreasures.com.
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