7. Interview with Lara Dunston and Grantourismo - Podcast
February 19, 2010 by admin
Filed under Accommodation, Blogging, London and around, Media, Misc, Podcasts, Self-catering, United Kingdom, featured
In Episode 7 in my podcast series. you”ll find an interview with travel writer and blogger, Lara Dunston who’s embarking on a year long project together with her husband, photographer Terry Carter, which they’re calling Grantourismo. They’ll be travelling the world, staying in different apartments around the world sponsored by Home-Away holiday rentals in the UK and you’ll also hear from Sarah Chambers of Home Away on why the company decided to take this approach to promoting their holiday properties.
To download the interview with Lara Dunston podcast, right click here 31 min [mp3]
To subscribe to all my podcasts in ITunes click here
Shownotes
In the podcast we talked about;
- How Lara first got started in travel writing, working in public relations, film-making and media studies which developed into travel writing, first on a part time and later on a full time basis.
- The realities of being a travel writer - from the fun bits such as eating out in great restaurants, as well as the more mundane bits such as updating guidebook information.
- How Lara and Terry work together as a husband and wife as well as a working partnership.
- How Lara and Terry deal with the practicalities of moving all their belongings, laptops and camera equipment around the world and how they persuade airlines to waive their excess baggage charges.
- The advice Lara has for those who’d like to adopt their lifestyle as a travel writer or location independent worker.
- How Lara and Terry came up with the idea of taking a contemporary Grand Tour for a year, getting into the culture of each place and travelling more slowly and with an authentic flavour.
- What HomeAway Holiday-Rentals can offer travellers looking for holiday apartments, and how they wanted to promote the benefits of extra space and privacy and staying in local neighbourhoods.
- How Home Away wanted to tap into consumers looking for travel information online and to provide them with something that would inspire them to a different way of travelling.
- The Grantoutismo itinerary that includes Marrakesh, Spain, Paris, Montenegro, Puglia, Sardinia, Venice, Asia, Indonesia, New York, Austin Texas, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, South America, Kenya and back to Europe in January 2011.
- The trends that Lara sees in travel writing and blogging, with the recession hitting traditional media, leading to travel writers exploring new ways of working on line.
- Sarah Chamber’s view that more travel companies are promoting themselves through inspirational content on-line and will be experimenting with approaches like the Grantourismo project.
- You can follow Lara and Terry’s progress at Grantourismo and on Twitter @gran_tourismo
- You can find holiday apartments like those Lara and Terry are staying in at HomeAway Holiday-Rentals
- To subscribe to all my podcasts in ITunes click here
Other Podcasts to enjoy
06 Weekend in London at the Mandarin Oriental
05 An Autumn weekend in Lisbon
04 Visiting the Munich Christmas Markets
03 Ecuador and the Amazon Rainforest
02 My Istria Travel Diary
Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home
Don’t miss out - subscribe to Heather on her travels
London launch of Grantourismo
February 13, 2010 by admin
Filed under Accommodation, Blogging, Eating and drinking, Leisure, London and around, Media, Misc, United Kingdom
Last night was a bit like Travel Bloggers Reunited when I met Lara Dunston and Terry Carter whose work I’ve been following for while at Cool Travel Guide. Lara and Terry are a globetrotting couple of professional travel writers and photographers who had just flown in from their base in Dubai for the launch in London of their new project of Grantourismo.
Heather with Lara Dunston and Terry Carter of Grantourismo
Lara and Terry are embarking on a year long Grand Tour for modern times, sponsored by Home Away Holiday Rentals UK, who have set them up with some pretty cool places to stay if the Luxe London Penthouse we were in last night was anything to go by. They’ll be staying in each destination for a couple weeks, living like locals and trying to find the best of each place that they visit, writing all about it on the Grantourismo blog and tweeting @gran_tourismo. It’s an interesting collaboration with Home Away Holiday Rentals UK who are using the project’s social media approach to promote their 425,000 holiday properties worldwise as well as introducing people to the concept of a ‘home from home’ from which to enjoy a more authentic and enjoyable holiday experience.
Canapes at the Grantourismo launch
In line with their aspiration to live like locals, we were drinking English wine, elderflower cordial and the fabulous canapes were all on the Best of British theme. Terry had been out on the London for Foodies walk around Borough Market with another GranTourismo partner, Context Travel who provide walking tours that take you to the heart of a locality with guides who are both passionate and expert in their chosen subject, in this case food.
Terry confessed to going a little crazy with his purchases of English cheeses at Neal’s Yard Dairy and sausages at master butchers The Gingerpig, and brought back some British products and inspiration for the canapes. I confess I ate far too many as they wafted around the room, including mini Yorkshire puds with roast beef and creamy horseradish, stuffed quail eggs topped with haggis (a nod to our Scottish friends) , grilled Welsh Rarebit with mustard (better known as cheese on toast) and Scottish smoked salmon with cream & chives on blinis.
To these Terry added a few of his own inspired by favourite tastes from his travels but using British produce including smoked trout mixed with lemony Childwickbury goats cheese and capers, smoked mackeral on a bed of celariac puree and the pork pâté that he’d found at the Ginger Pig glazed with a red wine reduction and crispy bacon.
I had a fun time chatting to Home Away Apartment owners Judith from Theluxpod.com, Nico from MyLondonflats.com as well as travel folks like Ben from Tourdust, Tim from Viator, and Imogen from Context Travel . I also took the precaution of arriving before the other guests, not just to get ahead on the canapes, but to record a chat with Lara and Sarah Chambers from Home Away Holiday Rentals about travel writing, the Grantourismo project and why they preferred this marketing approach to traditional advertising. You’ll find it here on the blog as part of my podcast series in the near future.
I’m madly jealous of Lara and Terry for having secured what seems to be like the perfect travel blogger’s job and am looking forward to reading about the fab places they’re visiting on the GranTourismo blog.
Passports with Purpose Thanks
January 11, 2010 by admin
Filed under Blogging, Giveaways, Media, Misc, Passports with Purpose, Travel products, World Issues
The Passports with purpose travel blogger’s fund-raiser completed just before Christmas raising a fantastic $26,000, which was double the original target. The money will be going to build a school in rural Cambodia through the charity American Assistance for Cambodia and should be built by this summer. Not only has enough money been raised to fund the school building, but the additional funds raised will mean that your donations have also provided water filters, a kitchen garden, books for the library and a school nurse.
Passports with Purpose builds a school in Cambodia
So now it’s time to say some big thankyous to all those who contributed to this amazing effort, not least all of you out there who pledged donations in the Passports with purpose raffles for some amazing prizes, from camera equipment to holidays to hotel stays.
Flip Ultra Video Camera
I’d like to thanks my sponsor, Flip UK who donated the Flip Ultra Video camera that I was able to offer as a prize. The Flip Video Camera was won by Rebecca Self of Xpat Adventures - hope you have fun making some cool videos Rebecca!
Thanks also to the sponsors of Passports with Purpose, supporting travellers with their services
Last but not least, thanks to Debbie Dubrow, Pam Mandel, Michelle Duffy and Beth Whitman, the bloggers behind Delicious Baby, Nerd’s Eye View, WanderMom, and Wanderlust and Lipstick who worked so hard behind the scenes to organise Passports with Purpose.
Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home
Don’t miss out - subscribe to Heather on her travels
