PlanetEye

Friday, June 27th, 2008

The Friday Photo: El Matador Beach, California

Mark Evans: Director, Community

A pillar of PlanetEye is inspiring and beautiful travel photographs. Many of them come from PlanetEye members (you can register here), and our fast-growing Flickr group.

To put the spotlight on the terrific photographs within PlanetEye, we’re launching a new feature on the blog called “The Friday Photo”. This week’s photo comes from our Flickr group, featuring a beautiful shot of El Matador Beach taken near Trancas, California by iseemoo.

Technorati Tags: PlanetEye, El Matador Beach, travel

Posted in Photography, PlanetEye
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Thursday, June 26th, 2008

The Dream Job

Mark Evans: Director, Community

If you work within the travel industry, Matt Harding probably has the best gig going as he roams around the world. Renown for his bad, but endearing, dance style, Harding is still going strong.

Here’s a video of his latest adventures.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Technorati Tags: dancing, matt harding, travel

Posted in Travel
1 Comment »

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Are You Taking a Staycation This Summer?

Mark Evans: Director, Community

With gasoline prices on the rise, many people are taking another look at their travel plans this summer.

Rather than traveling hundreds or thousands of miles, some people may be looking to travel just a few kilometers and check out the attractions and restaurants close to home. According to a survey done by Kayak.com in the U.S., nearly two-thirds of respondents plan be tourists within their home state or a three-hour drive from home.

The upside of a “staycation” is it encourages people to explore places around the corner as opposed to around the world. The iconic tourist attraction that you enthusiastically encourage visitors to see but you never actually seen yourself can be a pleasant surprise. And the best thing about being a tourist in your own city is you get to sleep in your own bed after a great day of sightseeing.

At PlanetEye, we’ve been long-time believers in the staycation (as well as farther flung adventures!) because we believe there’s no lack of hidden treasures and nice surprises wherever you are. Whether it’s a terrific restaurant the locals love or a great people-watching patio or a fun walking tour, there is always something new to discover wherever you happen to be.

Note: The term “staycation” was reportedly created by Brent Leroy, a character on a Canadian sit-com called Corner Gas. For some good tips on how to enjoy the perfect staycation, check out Hotel & Resort Insider and About.com.

More: For a look at the pros and cons of staycations, check out the Viator blog.

Technorati Tags: staycation

Posted in PlanetEye, Travel
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Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Summer = Ice Cream

Mark Evans: Director, Community

There’s something about summer that sparks strong cravings for ice cream. Nothing like sitting back on a hot summer’s day enjoying a couple scoops of your favorite flavor whether it comes from the local ice cream store or your freezer.

If you’re someone passionate about the quest for great ice cream and travel, then here’s a list of the top 10 places around the world to find it. The list was created by the fine folks at Tauck, a luxury travel company.

COWS (Prince Edward Island, Canada)

Gelateria Perche No! (near Piazza della Republica in Florence, Italy)

Tip Top Ice Cream (locations throughout New Zealand)

Kula Lodge & Restaurant (Maui, Hawaii)

Freddo (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Gelateria di Piazza (San Gimignano, Italy)

Hot Licks Homemade Ice Cream (Fairbanks, AK)

Glacier Berthillon (Ile de St. Louis, Paris)

Las Iguanas (Boca de Arenal, Costa Rica)

Ben & Jerry’s (Waterbury, VT)

Technorati Tags: Ice Cream

Posted in Travel News
1 Comment »

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

Our Canon Rebel XTi Winner!

karen: Marketing Coordinator

Our users never cease to amaze me with how excited they are about our travel planning service. We had an absolutely fantastic response to our Canon Rebel XTi contest, and I’m proud to say it was awarded to Ben Young from Halifax!

Congratulations, Ben! We look forward to seeing your photos on PlanetEye once you’ve uploaded them!

Posted in Marketing, Photography, PlanetEye
No Comments »

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Will the iPhone Jump-Start GPS?

Mark Evans: Director, Community

For iPhone and Apple fans, the launch earlier this week of the new 3G iPhone is reason for celebration.

With lower prices - $199 for a 8GB model and $299 for a 16GB model - the iPhone has become even more consumer-friendly. Apple is clearly betting lower prices will resonate with all those people who loved the iPhone but shied away from buying one because of the cost.

There’s also considerable buzz about all the communications, entertainment, productivity and business applications that will be developed on the iPhone platform through its software development kit. For the iPhone aficionados, there will be no lack of applications and services - many of them available on the higher-speed 3G network, which promises to be as fast as Wi-Fi networks.

Among the new features within the iPhone is GPS. In the scheme of things, GPS was somewhat overshadowed when Steve Jobs introduced the new iPhone. But for the GPS industry and the growing number of consumers now using GPS devices, this was a major step forward. What better validation for GPS than having the world’s hottest device maker publicly embrace the technology.

Here at PlanetEye, we enthusiastically applaud Apple’s GPS decision given GPS is a major pillar of the online travel planning service that we’re providing to travelers looking for a new, exciting and different to plan, organize and book their trips. Any technology that supports the taking of beautiful photographs that includes built-in GPS can only be a good thing.

Among the people also celebrating the iPhone’s GPS support is Mashable, which suggests this will launch a flurry of cool and useful location-based services on the iPhone.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone

Posted in Gadgets
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Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Global Nomad Added to Alltop

Mark Evans: Director, Community

One of the gems within PlanetEye’s growing collection of valuable and useful content is our Global Nomad blog, which is written by Brendan Powell as he and his girlfriend travel around the world this year.

Brendan’s posts reflect his writing skills but also his enthusiasm and passion for travel, and his interest in discovering the unique, out-of-the-way, undiscovered places that make a good trip great.

Having Brendan within the PlanetEye community is a great fit because his writing and approach to travel reflect the type of information that we want to provide to travelers.

It is gratifying and exciting that Global Nomad has been added to the travel section of Alltop.com, alongside respected blogs such as Travel Rants, Lonely Planet, Peter Greenberg, Write to Travel and The Lost Girls.

If you’re not familiar with Alltop, it’s sort of a like a “digital magazine rack” where you can quickly get information on a wide range of topics. Each blog or Web site listed on Alltop includes headlines for the last five posts/stories. Check it out.

Technorati Tags: Global Nomad