itravelnet.com Travel Blog

Every Tuesday I feature a different travel site, so being the last tuesday of the year what a good time to review the featured travel sites of 2008.

The travel sites in the list are sites that I have stumbled upon over the year and well as some old faves, and some of them are seasonal or for one-off events, which I have left in the list as well.


December 23

First Christmas Tree

History of the Christmas Tree indicates that the home of the first Christmas tree was in Riga Latvia in the year 1510.
firstchristmastree.com


December 16

Famous Locations

If you are planning a movie related pilgrimage, or if you are just curious as to where film scenes are shot, then with this site you can find 1000's of Famous Locations across the world.
famouslocations.com


December 09

Departure 2093

Finnair have set up Departure 2093 as a forum to envision and discuss what flying might be in 85 years time.
departure2093.com


December 02

Wi-Fi-FreeSpot

The Wi-Fi-FreeSpot Directory is a listing of locations that offer Free Wi-Fi. It lists State-by-State US sites as well as international locations.
wififreespot.com


November 25

Blunity

Blunity is a social networking site where you can communicate with and meet people who travel with Air France and KLM. A similar concept to a website I have featured previously, Flight Club.
bluenity.com


November 18

Sacred Sites

Sacred sites lists the world's sacred sites and pilgrimage places from every region and religion. Includes photos, maps and explanations of the sacred places.
sacredsites.com


November 11

OurExplorer

OurExplorer allows you to book user rated professional tour guides from all over the world. If you know your home town well and have a passion for sharing it with visitors then you can register to be a tour guide as well.
ourexplorer.com


November 04

Melbourne Cup

Every four years on the first Tuesday in November the world stops to watch America as it goes to the polls to elect a President. Meanwhile every year on the first Tuesday in November Australia stops and watches a horse race.

The Melbourne Cup has been run since 1861 and it is known as the race that stops a nation. The day is a public holiday in the State of Victoria, which must be the only place in the world that has a day off for a horse race.

The genius of the schedulers who first put the race on a Tuesday means that many Victorians take the Monday off as well, making it a 4 day long weekend holiday.
melbournecup.com


October 28

The Bathroom Diaries

The Bathroom DiariesTM is the world's largest database of restroom locations. It rates over 12,000 public bathrooms in more than 120 countries. Handy for finding public toilet locations when you are on the road.
thebathroomdiaries.com


October 21

ComeBackAlive.com

ComeBackAlive.com, by Robert Young Pelton, is a website where professionals, adventurers, travelers and those who work and travel in high-risk areas can keep abreast of the latest information and safety tips.
comebackalive.com


October 14

The Degree Confluence Project

A project which aims to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location.
confluence.com


October 07

NationMaster

NationMaster is a huge database of world statistics. The site displays country comparisons using graphs and maps. All sorts of country statistics, maps, flags, graphs and pie charts. Check the top of each page for a different factoid, such as #92: "More than a third of the world's airports are in the United States of America."
nationmaster.com


September 30

CouchSurfing

Why pay for accommodation, when you can stay for free. With CouchSurfing you can search for accommodation in the city you are visiting and stay with a local host. Or if you are not on the road yourself you can host visitors at your place.
couchsurfing.org


September 23

digihitch

digihitch is a site dedicated to the art of hitchhiking. Includes tips on how to hitchhike as well as a forum to ask questions, hitch a ride or find a hitching partner.
digihitch.com


September 16

Flight Club

At Flight Club, you find other travelers online to hang out with on the plane, at the airport, or afterwards.
flight-club.org


September 09

World Taximeter

International taxi fare calculator. World Taximeter gives you an estimate of the cost of a taxi ride in cities around the globe. Also available on your mobile. The site currently supports calculations for Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Dublin, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Rome, San Francisco, and Toronto.
worldtaximeter.com


September 02

Bagophily

One man and his obsession with Airsickness bags. Paul Mundy, with the help of bag enthusiasts around the world, has put together a massive collection of bags from current and defunct airlines.
bagophily.com


August 26

BookCrossing

BookCrossing is book swapping with a twist. The general idea is that you register (free) and then once you are done reading a book register it at the website, write down the URL and the allocated ID number inside the cover, and then give them away or leave them where someone will find them.

This is a great outlet to share with the world your favourite books and you get to track where they go, for the life of the book. Hopefully you will end up with a collection of well travelled books.
bookcrossing.com


August 19

AlpTransit

The new Gotthard rail link is currently being tunnelled through the Swiss Alps. In a country already full of amazing engineering wonders, this one will top them all.

AlpTransit Gotthard is creating a flat rail link for future travel through the Alps. At the heart of the new transalpine rail route is Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a length of 57 km, the world's longest tunnel should become operational at the end of 2016.
neat.ch


August 12

Flight Memory

Flight Memory enables you to easily keep track of where you have flown and then produce maps showing your flight routes.
flightmemory.com


August 05

Beijing 2008

Official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Contains fact sheets, athlete profiles, cultural information, and news.
en.beijing2008.cn


July 29

Unclaimed Baggage

This store in the U.S sells unclaimed baggage. Over one million items pass through the store annually. Items include clothing, cameras, electronics, sporting goods, jewellery, books and, yes, luggage.
unclaimedbaggage.com


July 22

I Found Your Camera

I Found Your Camera is a site where you can upload photos from found cameras, hopefully reuniting the camera with its owner.
ifoundyourcamera.net


July 15

Bed Jump

The urge to jump up and down on hotel beds is universal it seems. Some say a holiday hasn't truly begun until you arrive to your hotel room, plonk your bags down, then take a running jump to your bed.

BedJump.com by hotelsbycity.net is where jumpers can send photos of themselves jumping on hotel beds.
bedjump.com


July 08

Postcrossing

Postcrossing is a project that invites people to exchange postcards (real paper ones, not electronic) from random places in the world. If you send a postcard, you'll receive at least one back, from a random postcrosser somewhere in the world. It is free to participate.
postcrossing.com


July 01

Unusual Hotels of the World

Unusual Hotels of the World list some truly unique hotels. From underground hotels, undersea lodges to tree houses and igloos.
unusualhotelsoftheworld.com


June 24

Airline Meals

The webs largest site about airline catering. Thousands of photos of airline menu trays from all over the world. Readers can send photos and reviews of their own inflight meal experiences.
airlinemeals.net


June 17

She Went Of Her Own Accord

If you like cheesy pun making, then you'll love She Went Of Her Own Accord. The site revolves around making a pun around a place name, eg:

My wife's gone to the Caribbean.

Jamaica?

No, she went of her own accord.

You can contribute by adding your own joke.
shewentofherownaccord.com


June 10

Live Air Traffic Control

LiveATC.Net provides live air traffic control (ATC) broadcasts from air traffic control towers and radar facilities around the world.
liveatc.net

June 03

One Bag

A guide to packing light. Travel with one bag (a carry on bag) and save time and hassle of checking in luggage.
onebag.com


May 27

Fancamp Vienna 2008

Euro 2008 Austria-Switzerland kicks off on June 7. While our English friends could care less this year (England failed to qualify), it's a good time to be visiting Europe as there is always a party atmosphere on game days.

If you are planning a last minute trip to Vienna, accommodation will be hard to find. Fancamp Vienna has been set up to accommodate the influx of visitors expected.

There are 3000 beds available in Vienna at "an excellent price".
fancamp.eu

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

History of the Christmas Tree indicates that the home of the first Christmas tree was in Riga Latvia in the year 1510.

firstchristmastree.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

If you are planning a movie related pilgrimage, or if you are just curious as to where film scenes are shot, then with this site you can find 1000's of Famous Locations across the world.

famouslocations.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Finnair have set up Departure 2093 as a forum to envision and discuss what flying might be in 85 years time.

departure2093.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

The Wi-Fi-FreeSpot Directory is a listing of locations that offer Free Wi-Fi. It lists State-by-State US sites as well as international locations.

wififreespot.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Blunity is a social networking site where you can communicate with and meet people who travel with Air France and KLM. A similar concept to a website I have featured previously, Flight Club.

bluenity.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Sacred sites lists the world's sacred sites and pilgrimage places from every region and religion. Includes photos, maps and explanations of the sacred places.

sacredsites.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

OurExplorer allows you to book user rated professional tour guides from all over the world. If you know your home town well and have a passion for sharing it with visitors then you can register to be a tour guide as well.

ourexplorer.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Every four years on the first Tuesday in November the world stops to watch America as it goes to the polls to elect a President. Meanwhile every year on the first Tuesday in November Australia stops and watches a horse race.

The Melbourne Cup has been run since 1861 and it is known as the race that stops a nation. The day is a public holiday in the State of Victoria, which must be the only place in the world that has a day off for a horse race.

The genius of the schedulers who first put the race on a Tuesday means that many Victorians take the Monday off as well, making it a 4 day long weekend holiday.

melbournecup.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

The Bathroom DiariesTM is the world's largest database of restroom locations. It rates over 12,000 public bathrooms in more than 120 countries. Handy for finding public toilet locations when you are on the road.

thebathroomdiaries.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

ComeBackAlive.com, by Robert Young Pelton, is a website where professionals, adventurers, travelers and those who work and travel in high-risk areas can keep abreast of the latest information and safety tips.

comebackalive.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

A project which aims to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location.

www.confluence.org

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

NationMaster is a huge database of world statistics. The site displays country comparisons using graphs and maps. All sorts of country statistics, maps, flags, graphs and pie charts. Check the top of each page for a different factoid, such as #92: "More than a third of the world's airports are in the United States of America."

www.nationmaster.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Why pay for accommodation, when you can stay for free. With CouchSurfing you can search for accommodation in the city you are visiting and stay with a local host. Or if you are not on the road yourself you can host visitors at your place.

couchsurfing.org

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

digihitch is a site dedicated to the art of hitchhiking. Includes tips on how to hitchhike as well as a forum to ask questions, hitch a ride or find a hitching partner.

digihitch.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

At Flight Club, you find other travelers online to hang out with on the plane, at the airport, or afterwards.

flight-club.org

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

International taxi fare calculator. World Taximeter gives you an estimate of the cost of a taxi ride in cities around the globe. Also available on your mobile. The site currently supports calculations for Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Dublin, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Rome, San Francisco, and Toronto.

worldtaximeter.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

One man and his obsession with Airsickness bags. Paul Mundy, with the help of bag enthusiasts around the world, has put together a massive collection of bags from current and defunct airlines.

www.bagophily.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

BookCrossing is book swapping with a twist. The general idea is that you register (free) and then once you are done reading a book register it at the website, write down the URL and the allocated ID number inside the cover, and then give them away or leave them where someone will find them.

This is a great outlet to share with the world your favourite books and you get to track where they go, for the life of the book. Hopefully you will end up with a collection of well travelled books.

www.bookcrossing.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

The new Gotthard rail link is currently being tunnelled through the Swiss Alps. In a country already full of amazing engineering wonders, this one will top them all.

AlpTransit Gotthard is creating a flat rail link for future travel through the Alps. At the heart of the new transalpine rail route is Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a length of 57 km, the world's longest tunnel should become operational at the end of 2016.

neat.ch

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Flight Memory enables you to easily keep track of where you have flown and then produce maps showing your flight routes.

flightmemory.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Contains fact sheets, athlete profiles, cultural information, and news.

en.beijing2008.cn

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

This store in the U.S sells unclaimed baggage. Over one million items pass through the store annually. Items include clothing, cameras, electronics, sporting goods, jewellery, books and, yes, luggage.

www.unclaimedbaggage.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

I Found Your Camera is a site where you can upload photos from found cameras, hopefully reuniting the camera with its owner.

ifoundyourcamera.net

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

The urge to jump up and down on hotel beds is universal it seems. Some say a holiday hasn't truly begun until you arrive to your hotel room, plonk your bags down, then take a running jump to your bed.

BedJump.com by hotelsbycity.net is where jumpers can send photos of themselves jumping on hotel beds.

BedJump.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Postcrossing is a project that invites people to exchange postcards (real paper ones, not electronic) from random places in the world. If you send a postcard, you'll receive at least one back, from a random postcrosser somewhere in the world. It is free to participate.

postcrossing.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Unusual Hotels of the World list some truly unique hotels. From underground hotels, undersea lodges to tree houses and igloos.

unusualhotelsoftheworld.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

The webs largest site about airline catering. Thousands of photos of airline menu trays from all over the world. Readers can send photos and reviews of their own inflight meal experiences.

airlinemeals.net

Directory Location: Airline Meals

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

If you like cheesy pun making, then you'll love She Went Of Her Own Accord. The site revolves around making a pun around a place name, eg:

My wife's gone to the Caribbean.

Jamaica?

No, she went of her own accord.

You can contribute by adding your own joke. I have added one for Dubai:

shewentofherownaccord.com

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

LiveATC.Net provides live air traffic control (ATC) broadcasts from air traffic control towers and radar facilities around the world.

liveatc.net

Directory Location: Air Traffic Control

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

A guide to packing light. Travel with one bag (a carry on bag) and save time and hassle of checking in luggage.

onebag.com

Directory Location: Travel Packing

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email 

Euro 2008 Austria-Switzerland kicks off on June 7. While our English friends could care less this year (England failed to qualify), it's a good time to be visiting Europe as there is always a party atmosphere on game days.

If you are planning a last minute trip to Vienna, accommodation will be hard to find. Fancamp Vienna has been set up to accommodate the influx of visitors expected.

There are 3000 beds available in Vienna at "an excellent price".

fancamp.eu

Labels: featured-travel-site-2008

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
If you like this post, subscribe to the RSS feed  or Subscribe by Email