The Savvy Tourist

Kindle it...if you can

A little over a year ago I did a post about the Amazon Kindle. My curiosity was peaked backed then and it is again, but for different reasons this time. Santa was generous enough to leave a Kindle under my Christmas tree this year and I just love it. When I started researching the Kindle last year, there was quite a bit of content available to purchase for this electronic handheld reader. I questioned whether or not it was cost worthy considering a lot of the books were rather pricey considering they weren't real books that I could put my hands on. Somehow they just get wisked through the air and appear on the Kindle within seconds at my request. I now know that is not magic but rather Amazon's Whispernet technology. Well, a year later and there is a remarkable amount of material available for the Kindle and so far it is cheaper than buying the real book. It is not limited to books either. You can subscribe to newspapers, magazines, and blogs. One of the first things I did was subscribe to the Reader's Digest on a monthly basis.

Now you might wonder why I think this has anything to do with travel or blogging. Well, since I travel and blog sometimes at the same time, I think I will find the Amazon Kindle quite useful. I like to take more than a few books with me in my luggage and we all know that is almost impossible these days since you have to stuff your life in one bag or be charged out the wazoo by the airlines. I will have my book that I am currently reading for pleasure, (usually a James Patterson murder mystery) and a current newspaper from the hotel, (usually USA Today), several blogging reference books and some travel guides depending upon where I am visiting. That takes up quite a bit of room in my luggage! But now, I can have all those things and more on just one small electronic reading device that stores neatly in my luggage or even my purse.

Another great feature is that if you are thinking about buying a book, but aren't quite sure about it, the Kindle lets you download a portion of the book and read to see if you are interested first. You can also subscribe to magazines and newpapers free for 14 days to make sure that is the best subscription for you before you purchase.

The Kindle is difficult to get, but it sure is worth the wait!

I have been traveling the world.....

Don't I wish!?
Yes, I wish that were my excuse for all the time I have been absent from writing on my blogs, but it isn't. I don't really have an excuse except for that I have been spending a little time working on my MonaVie business. Lucky for you, I have lots of posts piled up so hopefully I can make up for lost time.

For any of you that are not familiar with MonaVie, please click on the links here on my blog. You will be introduced to a fantastic product, a super business opportunity, and a phenomenal company to be a part of. I plan to merge my MonaVie business with my traveling and writing and share with all of you the success and excitement of it all.

Life gets in the way....

I am sure there is not one blogger out there that doesn't know what I mean when I say life gets in the way. Even if blogging is a full time job for some, life still gets in the way. The good thing is that you are your own boss and you can make up for lost time any day, any time, any place, and whenever the heck you feel like it. I have never been so thankful as I have the last few weeks that I was on my own time schedule and not putting my job on the line to deal with life. I always hated that I had to choose when I was a young mother. My job was in the airline/travel industry, therefore it did not slow down for me or my son when we were sick or tired or both. Luckily, we got through it, and this time life in general was able to slow down just when I needed it most. For more detailed information, travel on over to Annie's Savvy Cafe and see what life threw my way. In the meantime, let's move on with some travel stories and more about my trip to Tennessee. I know you have all been anxiously awaiting......ha ha ha ha!

New Season...New Design

Spring is here which usually brings a breath of fresh air, new thoughts of summer vacation plans, new flowers, and a new design for my blog. At least that is what it brought for me this year. I decided to add a few personal touches and make it look more like a travel blog than a generic TypePad blog. I hope you enjoy the "new" Savvy Tourist.

RSS Feed

Well, I thought my RSS Feed had been hacked into, although I don't know how or why someone would do that. For awhile there it appeared as though I was "The London Blogger". It turns out there was just some brief technical difficulty:
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
On March 6, 2008 we experienced a brief problem with our feed service on TypePad. Some TypePad users were affected, where another blog's entries appeared to be coming from their feed. We've corrected the problem and feeds are now rendering correctly, but your readers may still see these incorrect entries in RSS reading applications (like Google Reader). We're very sorry for the confusion this issue may have caused you and your readers -- and we're working hard to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Annie's Savvy Cafe'

Even though I have a lot of travel stuff to talk about, apparently I have a lot of non-travel stuff to talk about too, so join me over at my new personal blog Annie's Savvy Cafe' where we can talk about any old thing, any old time!

For those of you that used to be in my blog list (and aren't travel related) and find that you have mysteriously disappeared, you have been relocated to Annie's Savvy Cafe'. No worries!

Jay did it again.....

Remember awhile back I introduced you to my new "Mickey and Me" banner that Jay over at Dat Money created for my Disney blog? Well, I have had him working on a new idea for The Savvy Tourist and he came up with some marvelous things!! I had some thoughts in my head and tried to relay them to Jay the best I could through e-mail. I figured there was no way he was going to wrap his head around my ramblings, but he did. He gets me!!! He is a very good businessman, he actually listens to his clients and tries to give them what they want. What a concept, I think it is called customer service.

Anyway, here is some of Jay's work that he has done for me..................

This is a 125 X 125 banner that I can use for advertising on places like EntreCard and Project Wonderful. The suitcase was originally sketched by a dear friend of mine, Sharon Ramos. Jay brought him to life for us.

 

The next thing he created for The Savvy Tourist was a 468 X 60 banner that I can use for advertising just about anywhere. The flash background was Jay's idea and a darn good one I think! Let me know what you think!!

Now, just in case you missed the post about my "Mickey and Me" banner...........

Doesn't this just make your heart skip a beat?

I highly recommend you go visit Jay over at Dat Money if you want to give your tired old blog banner a facelift. He offers quality work at great prices. He also offers some pretty good blogging tips too, so at least go check him out!

Oh, I almost forgot...Jay is holding his first contest so you could actually win a cool banner designed by him, if you participate. There is also the chance to win cash (who doesn't like to win cash?) and EC credits. If you don't know what EC credits are, then you don't need them so go for the cash and banner design.

Mickey and Me......A Love Story!

My logo is done!! Jay over at Dat Money has finished my Mickey and Me logo for my other blog. Either I am easily impressed or he is a genius!!!! I think it is the latter, most definitely.

Okay, so if I did my homework correctly, you should be able to click on that brand new logo and visit my new blog: Mickey and Me....A Love Story!

The Most Romantic Geek Gift Ever!!!!! - UPDATED!!

Voted Most Romantic Gift on the Web on the Oprah Show! Timeless Message in a Bottle is a Romantic Valentine Gift of Unmatched Quality and Elegance. The Ultimate Romantic Gift. A Gift that speaks to the heart like no other. A Forever Treasure and Keepsake.

Heart of Roses - $    89.95 This Pristine Clear Heart Bottles Cradles Your Message with Rich Red Silk Rose Petals. A Huge Romantic Hit for Valentines Day! Your Heart of Roses Timeless Message will arrive nestled in our Custom Crafted Branded Birch Crate for a most impressive presentation!

Click on the link below to see more choices of bottles and messages for other occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, proposals, you name it!!

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I made a new friend on Blogcatalog the other day and I want to give her the credit she deserves for finding this ultimate geek gift (and just in time for Valentine's Day!). Of Girl and World had it on her list of things that she wished Santa had brought her. Well, I think it is the most perfect gift not only for the geek girl, but from the geek guy (hint hint).
I pulled a few strings (okay, I begged) and the vendor took me on as an affiliate so I could offer you this fantastic gift right here on my blog. So, if you are looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift, here it is.....

Heart Beat USB Memory Key USB memory key disguised as heart pendant on a silver silk cord. Polished stainless steel heart combined with Silver Shade crystals set in Ceralun(TM). The 2 halves are held together with a pin. For 1 GB of data (about 250 songs or 1'000 photos) with password protection, high-speed USB 2.0 interface. Dimensions: 4.3 x 4.5 x 1.8 in x in

For even more Valentine's Day gift ideas, including more cool "geek gifts" from Swarovski-Philips, visit my Shop For The Holidays page.

*****I'm keeping this on top until after Valentine's Day!!*****

  Stumble It!

"Creative Space"

What inspires you? What do you surround yourself with to feel creative? I have always wanted to have more imagination and be more creative. I think that the animators for Disney have the best job ever. Whenever I see one of the desks they work at, I see a cast of inspirational characters and objects that have some heartfelt inner meaning to them. Then there are photographs too! A lot of people have pictures of their kids, but you know even more people have pictures of their pets!! I think the pets are inspirational, especially dogs. Dogs make me want to be a better person, my cat tells me I'm fine just the way I am. Before I get off the subject, I have come to the conclusion that "if you build it, it will come". If you surround yourself with the things that inspire you or make you feel happy, then the juices will just flow. I have the entire cast of "Cars" surrounding me, along with travel posters, Mickey Mouse, and the shifter knob off my Muncie 4-speed tranny that was in my 1970 Chevelle SS 396 a few years back. (We all have our little quirks, you know!!) Then again, maybe I need to re-think my workspace considering this is all I came up with to blog about today.

Working behind the scenes.......

When you don't see your favorite blog putting out a new post every day does that mean that your favorite blogger is just lazy? No indeed!! It means we are working hard behind the scenes to bring you a more enjoyable experience. First of all, let me remind you all that I am working diligently on my Disney blog that I hope to unveil in a few short weeks (or sooner).
I have also updated the way I offer you links to book online travel. There are now separate pages for each category such as Airfare, Hotels, or Car Rentals. This should make things simpler since I will be adding new affiliate links every day and this will eliminate the clutter.
For anyone looking to get away from the winter blahs.....Pleasant Holidays is offering some pretty good deals to Hawaii, so check out my Travel Specials page.
There is more to come for the new year so keep checking back and oh....don't forget to send me those postcards .

Send in your postcards!

Hey everyone!! Check out my new POSTCARDS page! I have added a slide show using postcards from my very own collection. (Friends, family and travel clients have all supported my postcard collecting habit for many years now). Send me some of your favorite postcards and I will add them to the show. Wouldn't it be fun to see your postcards in my slideshow? I will be adding many more every day so keep checking back!

Where's Waldo?

At least I think that was the name of the game or the book or whatever it was. It wasn't a big craze to me, kind of like YouTube is not a big craze to me, but I am beginning to see the fascination. Santa left an Ipod Touch under the tree this year, and my husband was intent on getting me to like it. He showed me how cool it was to get on the Internet with this little hand-held device and to watch videos from the palm of your hand. (Why is it that the screen has to be extra BIG or extra small these days to be interesting?) Well, that is a rant for another day, let me get back to the post at hand.................I was watching YouTube videos on my hubby's new IPod, reluctantly, and came across a travel video that I have to share. This guy travels a lot and made a video of himself dancing from different locations around the world. It is really entertaining to watch. I have posted the video below, but you can also see more of his discoveries at his website Where The H@*! Is Matt?  Enjoy!

Blogging is great therapy!

When I started blogging a few months back, I thought to myself how therapeutic it felt to be able to just write and create all day. I wished I had discovered it sooner, but I am not always on top of things like this. I don't even watch the news for fear of hearing bad things I don't want to know about. I figure if it is important, Jay Leno will tell me all about it in a humorous kind of way that I can handle. (This writer's strike is keeping me in the dark!) Anyway, back to therapy.........I just discovered a blogging community called MyBlogLog  and I am just amazed at the support and friendliness that I have come across on this site. It is like group therapy. Everyone is sharing their experiences and helping each other learn from their mistakes and successes. I have read stories and news and seen beautiful photography and I have only been a member for a few days. I want to thank all the great folks at MyBlogLog that have stopped by my blog. I really enjoy seeing all the flags pop up on my map!! Keep them coming!!