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by maribeth
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Discovery Map and Me
Using My Discovery Map in Southampton
You may have noticed that I’ve been posting links to Discovery Map stories here at my blog for just over a year. Wait, don’t tell me you’re not familiar with Discovery Map? I bet many of you are–either through my blog posts–or having actually used one of these cheery, hand-drawn maps on your travels. If you’re not familiar with Discovery Map, I suggest you become acquainted with them. They have a presence–yes, in the form of super cute and handy foldout maps–in some 125 destinations across the U.S. and abroad.
Good news is that Discovery Map is actively developing their web presence. That’s where I come in. They are expanding their website in a variety of ways, including showcasing written descriptions about their destinations. There’s not much room for that on the actual maps but the sky’s the limit on their website.
Art & Culture Discovery Map Travel: art Artists Guild San Francisco Discovery Map John Petach map art maps Travel
by maribeth
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Crafting Vacation Memories with Maps
Map of Florence by John Petach
The Brush Used for the Map of Florence
John’s Napa Valley Map
Napa Brush
How many of you still use maps? I mean the old fashioned kind that you can actually hold in your hands and spread out on a kitchen table. You know, the maps that you can rarely fold up exactly how you found them. It is hard sometimes to line up the creases but when you do it’s oh-so gratifying. And when you don’t, you hopefully let it go, shrug and feel content with the big overall perspective that the map you just looked at provided.
Artist John Petach
You definitely don’t achieve that perspective or level of satisfactory map studying from an electronic map on one of your devices. No matter how much you zoom in and out, it just isn’t the same. And plus, that zooming business only works properly a fraction of the time. No, it’s nice to have something to hold in your hands, particularly since there’s so much beauty to be found in maps.
Through my work with Discovery Map, I even found someone that possesses a sort of map fetish. Artist John Petach loves travel and maps so much that he was inspired to create a collection of works that uses maps as canvas. I think they’re marvelous and I hope you’ll check them out here. You’ll see that he thinks Discovery Maps are great, so he created a number of pieces using their maps as the background.
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by maribeth
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Discovery Map Is Coming to Telluride
Me with Peter Hans and Laura Potter from Discovery Map
I love being a travel writer and sometimes I really love being a travel writer. As much as I like to write, the sitting on my butt part (whether in a desk chair or on my couch) can be rough. (Yes, I do stand sometimes but I don’t have a stand up desk per se.)
So often the travel writing part I like the most is the research phase. That aspect of my job is even better when it involves lots of good connecting with people, great skiing and memorable food. Such was the case this winter when Discovery Map International came to Telluride to carry out an important phase of their map-making process. Yes, they came to Telluride because as of next fall, there will be a Telluride Discovery Map added to their community of over 150 maps within the United States and beyond.
Loving Raclette with Laura and My Boyfriend Steve
I’m happy to be involved in writing web content for this dynamic company. Read Fun Times in Map Making, a Map Geek story I wrote for them, to find out more of the back story that goes into the Discovery Map process and most especially how it all went down in Telluride.
Brian Lewis of Discovery Map Telluride
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by maribeth
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Discovering Discovery Map
The Evolution of a Discovery Map
I hope you’ve had a chance to read my story Touring Country Stores in Stowe, Vermont with Mom. I think the photos are pretty nice, too. I give most of the credit to the subject matter–everywhere you turn there’s another photogenic scene in this endearing New England state.
Actually my main reason for heading up to northern Vermont was to meet the folks at Discovery Map. You can tell from my Touring Country Stores story, however, that mom and I were a bit sidetracked. Oops! Shopping and touring can do that to you, especially when it involves mothers and daughters in Vermont country stores.
Discovery Map
But just about forty minutes south of Stowe, on our drive home, we pulled into Waitsfield, Vermont, a charming town in the heart of the Green Mountains that serves as home to Discovery Map International. Whether the name is familiar to you or not, I’m sure you would recognize the cheery, hand-drawn maps that you pick up in travel destinations all over the U.S. You know–the colorful ones full of whimsy that highlight restaurants, shops, places of lodging, cultural sites and a flourish of other attractions?
A Veritable Library of Discovery Maps
Checking Out a Map
Looking in the Map Drawers
People might never imagine that most aspects of the production of these maps take place in a sleepy little town in rural Vermont. Yay! Their origins are as heartfelt and homespun as the maps themselves. With well more than a hundred maps throughout the country and beyond, it’s hard to believe that they are all born here. But it’s true and I hope you will enjoy meeting the team behind them through the photos in this post.
Since I started to write content for Discovery Map’s website, I’ve had a lot of email contact with Susan Klein, the oh-so efficient Operations Administrator who is clearly a multitasker extraordinaire. So, of course, I wanted to put a face to a name, even if it was just a brief encounter.
Travel: bad travel experiences Basic Economy Fare poor customer service stressful travel experiences Travel United United Airlines
by maribeth
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Basic Stupidity from United Airlines
The Supervisor and the Checkin Agent at United
With all the traveling I’ve been doing these past eighteen months–mostly going back and forth between upstate New York and Colorado–I guess I was due for a bad airline experience. Sure, I’ve had upsets this past year and a half, at least two that forced me to stay over at a connecting city because of a flight cancelled due to supposed mechanical problems. (I’m told that’s what airlines say and do these days when a plane isn’t packed to the gills.) But yesterday, I felt the full brunt of lousy customer service.
I arrived with some trepidation at the airport to check in at United for my Albany to Chicago to Denver travel itinerary. I had already received a few updates stating that my flight was delayed due to thunderstorms in Chicago. OK, that’s acceptable, that’s an act of nature that has forced me to be grounded in Chicago several times before. That’s not the fault of the airlines. These storms goofed up the arrival of the inbound flight to Albany, so I just had to take a deep breath and hope for the best.
But the real trouble began when the checkin agent told me I had to check my rolling carryon at checkin. “Are you serious?” I exclaimed. “That’s not at all what I was told.”
United’s Basic Economy
“You have a Basic Economy ticket and that’s what you have to do,” the agent replied without a hint of an apology.
I proceeded to explain to him that I knew I had a Basic Economy ticket and that’s why I packed the way I did. I booked it two months ago and checked the restrictions four times over with the agent I spoke with on the phone. (I always do check, double check to practically ad nauseam. My father was in WWII and he said that was the rule of the land–no one could afford any mistakes. And I learned well from Dad.) Since this is a new reduced fare that United recently launched, I questioned the agent up and down and then planned my strategy accordingly.
It was my understanding that I was not allowed to check a bag although I could check a carryon at the gate at the cost of $50. each way ($25. for the bag; $25. for the handling fee). I thought it odd that I’d be paying for anything at the gate but the agent I spoke with was insistent upon that. (She did have a thick accent, so in retrospect, I can only think something was lost in our ability to understand each other.)
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by maribeth
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Travel, Grief and Reunions
Mom’s Ratatouille: the Best Kind of Comfort Food
As many Americans hit the road this holiday weekend, it’s good to remember that not everyone you encounter is traveling for pleasure. Despite the sea of shorts, flip flops and skimpy T-shirts, not everyone is headed for summertime fun. Travel encompasses a flood of circumstances and situations, complexities that compound the stress of hitting the road in a multitude of ways.
This is fresh in my mind because just a week ago I scrambled to move up an established departure date to the east coast (from Colorado) by four days. Within twenty-four hours, I had to make the changes to my travel arrangements, which included rescheduling the flight (for me and my cat), my ride to the airport–a one-and-a-half-hour drive–as well as my pick up, my hotel stay the night before and packing and organizing for a three-and-a-half-week stay, all of which needed to be accomplished while under a certain amount of duress. Phew! It was hectic. I even had to work in a veterinary visit in order for my kitty to obtain a current health certificate for his travels.
It was worth it though, since this change allowed me to be home in time for the funeral of my uncle.
Oops, did I catch you off guard?
I often say that if you want to create an awkward moment in a conversation, bring up death and dying.
Well, I hope you’ll read on because death and dying are a part of life. And as I become older, it seems as though I have to face this more and more. And no matter how old someone is, the loss of this person still brings up a heap of emotions. Since I have learned of the passing of a loved one from afar numerous times and then have had to pull it together for a long flight home, I’d like to share with you some tips that might help to console you or a loved one during such tender times. more »
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by maribeth
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Adventure Travel Love for You and KOTO
Hiking Mt. Wilson, a 14er: Adventure Travel at Its Best in Colorado
I think it’s so cool that we have some of the best adventure specialists based right here in Telluride, Colorado. It makes sense, since Telluride and the outlying region provide the perfect terrain for heading out and exploring the great outdoors whether you’re cycling, hiking, skiing, fishing, climbing or jeeping. Some of these guiding greats have done so well in the region that they also conduct tours beyond southwestern Colorado, as far away as the other side of the globe, in fact.
A few of these companies have generously offered tours to KOTO’s current fundraising campaign. I’ll be chatting more about these adventure specialists on tomorrow night’s Travel Fun, a special live edition of my talk show on travel, which airs Thursday, September 17, A LITTLE EARLIER THAN USUAL at 6:20 pm mountain time.
I have been doing this show for almost eleven years and you can find many of my interviews posted on my blog as podcasts. If you have enjoyed Travel Fun, I encourage you to contact me to make a pledge or a donation. You can also show your love by snatching up one of the below tours at a deeply-discounted price. Thanks to Lizard Head Cycling Guides, Telluride Mountain Guides, Telluride Adventures/San Juan Outdoor Adventures and Telluride Offroad, here’s what I have to offer:
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by maribeth
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FlipKey and Me
Ski In/Ski Out in Telluride Where Your Instructor Meets You at Your Rental
Biarritz Beauty
Vacation rentals have been experiencing tremendous growth from Telluride to Tokyo–the key is to make sure you land one that delights you. That means it’s a good idea to consider verified guest reviews for the properties you’re considering and FlipKey, a vacation rental service largely owned by TripAdvisor, provides that and more.
Paris Rental
The “more” includes terrific photos and descriptions about each destination along with expert input. Voilà, that’s where I come in, since I’m now one of FlipKey’s experts for Telluride, Colorado.
