Shiny Travel Objects: August 1, 2010

This past week was an exciting one for SoloFriendly.com.  I was honored and thrilled to see that I am currently ranked #29 on Brendan Vanson’s list of the Top 100 Independent Travel Websites (based on  a combination of Alexa rankings and visual appeal).  This weekend, I was quoted in an L.A. Times article by Judy Mandell on How to avoid single-supplement charges.

In a piece of housekeeping, I want to let you know that I will be changing my publishing schedule for my Shiny Travel Objects series from once a week to once a month. This was a hard decision for me.  I’m taking on another project, and something had to give, time-wise.  (More on the other project soon.)  I didn’t want to get rid of the series altogether, though, because I enjoy sharing my favorite travel media with you.  Speaking of which, here are this week’s shiny objects:

First up was a terrific rant by Matt Long at LandLopers called No Respect for the Gay and Lesbian Traveler.  I don’t agree with quite everything he says, but he raises a lot of good points. Do be sure to read the comments, as they are quite interesting, as well.

On a light note, we have “French” Things That Aren’t Really French by Christine Amorose at Ce’st Christine.  Can you think of more French things that aren’t really French?  Makes you think, doesn’t it?

I loved Sherry Ott’s piece at Ottsworld on her guest talk at her niece’s school on travel called Growing Up, Growing Scared. Why is it we become so afraid of things once we grow up?  We may not be afraid of monsters under the bed any more, but we create new monsters for ourselves out of things like change or deviating from the norm.  (Ooh, scary!)  Definitely don’t miss the last photo in the article. It is hilarious!

Sarah Menkedick of Posa Tigres discusses Encounters with Ex-Boyfriends, in which she treats ex-boyfriends as an analogy for returning to the U.S. after an extended period living abroad.  Yeah, I can see how it would be like that.

One of the reasons I love reading Geraldine‘s blog, The Everywhereist, is because she cracks me up.  I especially adore her “Dick Moves” series.  I believe she may have created a cultural phenomenon here, because now every time anyone does something even slightly idiotic, selfish, or rude, I think “Dick move!”  Thanks, Geraldine.  This week’s installment, called Dick Move, 1st Class A-hole, involving a first class flight passenger she encountered, is worthy of gales of laughter.

And in case you missed it on my Facebook page, here is a beautiful video by Tanya Davis on How to be Alone, featured on YouTube.  My thanks for JoAnna Haugen of Kaleidoscopic Wandering for sharing it with me.