Wamser and the World

Some of you may know, while some may not, that starting this blog was an assignment for my senior Marketing Management class at Champlain. We had the task of branding ourselves and making all our platforms integrated in order for us to show our assets and possibly get a job after college. (woah crazy idea). This blog had to last through the semester and continue having valuable content that engaged the readers and that I did not get bored with. The only thing that has really remained a constant in my short attention spanned life…is travel so that is where Wamser and the World came from. 

So was I successful in my endeavor? I think I am on my way to it. When I started I had this idea that I would just write about travel, and what I wanted to do, but came to the realization that without going somewhere, it feels empty when you talk about it. So I have changed the content some, adding links to things I find out in the interwebs and from other travel writers and share them, in conjunction to sharing stories as I complete them. I have 15 amazing followers, some from class but also from the travel industry and my posts have been reblogged, liked, and commented on. I did not realize until yesterday sadly that my Google Analytics code was not put in properly and so I don’t have much data for that. I have had 8 unique new visitors since midnight last night…so if I was to estimate…okay I guess you cant estimate analytics. 

A real area where I feel I did succeed is on Twitter, @kwamser my twitter profile has been connected with my blog, and through that I have had people being driven to my sight but also with other content I have gained many followers in the travel field. I found #traveltuesday as a great resource for people to follow and also gained some great people from that are avid travelers from around the world. Last time I counted it was over 30 people who were either travelers, writers, or other forces in the Travel community. I also have been listed in multiple travel lists by these people. I have created my own list of travelers I love to follow which has reached 80+ people and is starting to completely take over my news feed. These people share amazing content with me, such as what they are doing, how they afford it, and ways to get into the travel industry as a paid employee. Twitter has been an amazing stepping stone into the travel industry and built connections for me worldwide. 

From these connections I am soon to be listed on Travelpod.com which is a site of many different travel blogs from around the world. It seems like people in the travel community are taking my blog seriously and that was a big goal of mine. 

This experience has taught me a lot about myself and how passionate I truly am about getting into travel once I graduate, whether that is taking a gap year to tour Europe, or saving 2 dollars a day for 3 years, and then being able to go anywhere in the world. I know travel is in my future. It has also opened my eyes to see how many people are already living my dream and what a strong, close knit community travelers have throughout the world. 

I had challenges when it came to writing consistently, its been a busy semester and I did not get to go on as many adventures as I would have liked but I think what I wrote was valuable and the other content I added was really interesting to me at least . I also realized there was a never ending supply of content out there, but in order to stand out, I will have to find something different and unique because I am not the only 20-something who wants to be traveling and seeing the world. As technology improves it seems the world is getting smaller and travel anywhere is easier, which to me, is very exciting. 

Don’t worry though, this is not the end of Wamser and the World, I can’t imagine stopping! It gives me an excuse to dream while I am sitting in cold Vermont of all the warm places I could be. I also have some guest posts coming, I’ve got a few friends out there in places such as Peru, England, New Zealand, Latvia, Italy and the list goes on who will all be requested to tell me and you about their journeys. I think this has really given me an opportunity to share and expand my passion and open my eyes to all the different things I can do with that. Its been a really rewarding assignment and turned into something I really enjoy doing. 

Everyday is a new adventure and opportunity to see something you have never seen before…embrace that and embrace life!

Some great people to follow from twitter: @20stravel @thetraveltart @worldXplorer @runawayjuno @spunkygirllogue @aussienomad @travelnadv 

Have you ever looked at the place you live as a tourist location? Do you ever go and do the cheesy things with your friends? I got the opportunity to do this recently when a friend from New Zealand (ok he actually lives in Iowa) came to visit for his Spring Break and wanted too see things…”New England” so I took him to all the silly places you never think to go and I gotta say it was a blast!

Burlington is one of the most beautiful areas to just spend time in, and we got some great weather, shopping on Church St,  eating at the good local restaurants, walking by the waterfront. 

Each day we found something to do, took a tour and tasting at Magic Hat brewery and of course took the flat lander and hit the slopes on St Patty’s Day! It was so refreshing to do all these things with someone who had never been there before!

We also got to spend the weekend doing things touristy in Boston which I love and try to visit as often as I can but he had never been too! I love the ease of taking the T all over town and being able to see and do some much in a short period of time.

Some shots of fun things in Boston

So basically my conclusion is…try it! Go out and look at the place you live as a tourist, see it through new fresh eyes and it will make you appreciate being there even more :) Sometimes you don’t have to travel to far…or at all to have a new experience!

So I wanted to conclude this with a video cast of my response to the book, Do Travel Writers go to Hell? but it seems the the mic on my computer is going to be fussy and make me sound kinda like an alien. So since that is not happening, in short my typed out, inpersonal conclusion.

I loved the book! It was honest and straight-forward, but also funny and light. He is not attacking anyone, he is just telling his wild story and I like that he feels like he can do that. 

In the sense of marketing, I am not pleased with some of his ethical decisions, I would like to think that although they are trying to sell guidebooks, the travel industry has morals on what they print and why. I think Thomas was pretty good about saying he would not give away positive reviews just to anyone, but the free stuff must influence him, its a human response. 

He caused a stir with this book and many people felt like they should respond. I stumbled upon Lonely Planets response to this. They have some valid points in what they say, but its a very boring, professional…blah blah blah…kinda thing. Check it out here.

Another person who wanted to weigh in was www.travelwriters.blogspot.com and they had a lot to say on Thomas and also on Lonely Planet. It seems they fully support Kohnstamm, and if you want to read more, check out their blog, it links to Kohnstamm’s websites and other reviews and responses of his journey. http://travelwriters.blogspot.com/2008/04/thomas-kohnstamm-do-travel-writers-go.html 

This blog also mentions the hard times Lonely Planet has been facing and the fact that they have laid off 10% of their employees in the past year. The economy and the internet are making it difficult for guide books to be sold and they are havign some real trouble, especially because the pay is already not high in the industry. 

http://travelwriters.blogspot.com/2009/02/hard-times-at-lonely-planet.html This article tells a little more about it, and lets you get an insight into why I am going to need to find a different life path. Haha like I could do anything else…

As for what Thomas has to say about himself, his website has the best quote I could find, its also the beginning chapter of the book, it really shows his personality and what he is all about. His website is full of reviews, photos, and stories that I would really recommend reading.

So check it out, buy the book, and tell me what you think, or rent it from the library, I don’t really care. I’m going to leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the book that really connected with me.

“I mean, maybe I haven’t chosen the easiest or most sensible path in life, but it works for me. And, now that I have a taste for it, I look forward to doing it bigger and better. “Well, you know, that’s what we call a gateway substance at the clinic.” Pg 262

“Some of the writing is good. Some of the writing is appalling. I discover that there are only about seven or eight ways to describe an attractive beach. At points, the writing degenerates into fill-in-the-blanks review like this: the___(gorgeous/splendid/beautiful) beach of ___(white/powdery/perfect) sand and ___(sky blue/crystalline/ aquamarine) water is backed by ___(palm, mountain, rain-forest) fringed whatever.” Pg 265

“Distilling a Brazilian bus station into 250-word transportation table is alchemy at best…If I were to come up with a set schedule for the guidebook, I’d basically be making it up, lying to fit Lonely Planet’s standards. And that’s exactly what I end up doing…” pg 265

“Don’t talk to strangers is about the worst advice that I received in the Seattle Public Schools” pg 217

“In order to truly appreciate travel, a person must relish the quirks, the setbacks, the annoyances that make up an average day on the road. A missed bus? An opportunity to soak up the frenzied culture of a foreign bus station. Giardia? Malaria? Denque fever? Given the right perspective, these are all opportunities to learn about anachronistic medical systems and if nothing else, gain a go-to story that’ll outclass anyone’s tale of traveler’s diarrhea.” Pg 194

“When traveling you have to get used to this lifestyle of meeting, getting to know someone, and then promptly bidding farewell, probably forever.” Pg 165

(I really love that one…its just so true, amazing friends are made and gone in an instant)

“In long-term travel you have to learn how to deal with stomach pain and diarrhea. Some try to be the boy in the bubble: they brush with bottled water, eat only in American-style hotel restaurants, waer swim goggles and flip-flops in the shower, and obsessively wash their hands with Purell. But for anyone is really immersing themselves in the culture, or is actually on the road for more than a week or two, stomach problems are an unavoidable occupational hazard.” Pg 127

“”Parachute Artist” is a name given to a certain type of travel writer, particularly itinerant guidebook writers. Tony Wheeler, the founder of Lonely Planet, defines a parachute artist as “someone who can drop into a place and quickly assimilate, who can write about anywhere.”…Even if you have never set foot before on that continent before.” Pg 73

“I usually try to avoid other Americans when I’m abroad. It’s not because I have some travel superiority complex or think they I am better than my countrymen, and I don’t buy into the belief that American travelers are inherently less savvy than other. But in places like Costa Rica that are now rammed with Americans, being around people that you could have met our on any given night at home can detract from the depth of your travel experience.” Pg 69

“The Majority of travel books fall into three basic groups:

1.       There are the earnest writers who become enlightened through contact with the simple, honest lives of Mexican peasants or the unparalleled tranquility of the Tuscan countryside. A More holistic approach to life is discovered and the universe is balanced. In order to properly enjoy such writing, one should be dressed in an eco-print Polarfleece, drinking fair-trade coffee and relaxing to a Putumayo world music CD.

2.       On the opposite side of the spectrum are the smug writers who mock how backward plumbing and transportation are anywhere outside of North America. Those foreigners are so wacky and their toilets are, too! Isn’t it hilarious? With a veneer of foreign exoticism, fourth-grade bathroom humor and petty prejudices are given a new lease on their comedic lives. Such writers should give Orlando or Long Island a try for their next vacation, as both have abundant new cars and functional flush toilets with soft two-ply papers.

3.       Last but not least are the Charlie Bronson guys who attempt solo ascents of mountain without telling anyone where they are going, are forced to amputate their appendages with a spork, and then expect us to appreciate their triumph of human spirit. They are so overcome by emotion that they must write a book about it.” Pg 54

Freebies improving ratings

How does the giving away of goods and services, or freebies, effect the intergrity of the travel publication? It seems to be an ethical dilemma that Kohnstamm constantly deals with in his travels through Brazil. As a traveler and writer, he knows he will be treated differently by hotel owners and other hospitality employees if they know what he is writing and who he is. They will not treat him the way the readers will be treated when they visit in the future and this may give unrealistic expectations to the readers and might make him promote something with more passion because the experience he receieved.

Do Travel Writers go to Hell? Created a storm of response from the travel writing community because Kohnstamm admits to taking freebies from resorts and restaurants, not in exchange for a better review but because through his journey he finds this is the only way he can really get enough research done to create the book and not go completely financially bankrupt.

“A big part of my job is learning who you can trust and who you can use but never trust. Yes, I accept freebies and hookups, but that only helps to make research possible. I swear that I would never write something untrue about a place, simply because they have me a free room and a plate of pasta. However I do recognize that researching within such a network inherently limits the scope of the research to more tourism-savvy establishments, likely those that are already in guidebooks.  I’d like to think that the whole process frees up some money for me to attend unpaid meals at a few more obscure places.” Pg 210

This released a newstorm of responses from the community; readers felt cheated, resorts became less credible, and Lonely Planet was look at as lacking truth and ethics in their writing, and they were not pleased. In every preface to the Lonely Planet Guide Books they have a quote referring to their beliefs on this matter and in their mind, Kohnstamm disregarded it, although in his mind, he did not. This book also came out and was distributed after the Lonely Planet Guide Book was already in circulation so they had already printed all of Kohnstamm’s writing.

“Why is out travel information the best in the world? It’s simple: our authors are independent dedicated travelers. They don’t research just using just the Internet or phone, and they don’t take freebies in exchange for positive coverage. They travel widely, to all the popular spots and off the beaten track. They personally visit thousands of hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars, galleries, palaces, museums and more—and they take pride in getting all the details right, and telling it how it is.” Pg 98 Lonely Planet Books

This is the preface to the guide books, and when reading this, you do find the loophole that Kohnstamm used, he did not take freebies in exchange for positive coverage…he always clarified this with the owners. He would stay for free…but that does not mean the place will be included, it just means he will experience it, and if it’s up to standards then it could be added.

“You can go ahead and use the computer in my office this afternoon; if you like, I can drive you around to the best hotels in town. You’ll take care of all your research in a couple of hours. I own the main bar on Broadway too, so you should check that out later tonight. All your drinks there are on me. I’ll let the bartender know.” Owner of Hotel
“I really appreciate it but I should let you know that I can’t…I can’t trade you for positive reviews in the book…you know, policy…” Kohnstamm
“Sure, whatever kid, I’m confident that you’ll like it all. I’ll make sure of it. I just want you to spend your time getting to know my place a little better.” Owner Pg 190

This quote is from a conversation with the first person Kohnstamm took the freebies from. He said he did feel guilty but he could not think of anything else to try. So does this take something away from what he wrote? In my opinion it does, because if he would have had a totally different experience if he hadn’t told them, which were the experience he had for the first half of his trip to Brazil, after this point, he is treated like a king and given anything he could want. I think this takes away credibility and although you see his struggles with the dilemma in the book, he made some stupid choices on where to spend his money, that could have allowed him to survive without the freebies.

This topic gets debated every so often in the media, and most recently, Mike Albo, a New York Times contributor,  is discussed in an article because he took a free trip to Jamaica curtisey of Jet Blue and another company. He tweeted about it, and then was fired from his job at the publication he was currently working for.  For the entire article click here. It also discusses how Kohnstamm’s book brought this issue to peoples attention.

This quote from the article is something I completely agree with, Although the morals might be low when taking free things, its really about what you write, and what I have learned to love about Kohnstamm is his honest nature and the fact he admitted to all of this and still is okay with what he wrote makes me think what he wrote probably reflects tthat honesty.

“This one, I think, hit the proverbial nail on the head:“RT @nerdseyeview readers are best judge of ethics. write like a shill, they’re gone. write honestly, they stay. #twethics”” www.thetravelersnotebook.com

Marketing changes environment of developing countries

In Do Travel Writers go to Hell? Kohnstamm talks almost constantly about his feelings about a place, and how it might change because of his presence. It’s almost a sense of guilt because he knows how religiously people follow what is said in Lonely Planet, it has a very strong following and people trust what they writers say, so if Kohnstamm says a place is a small untouched beach town, people will go, and then it will become a very busy tourist location. Telling people about an untouched location takes away that feeling, the feeling you get when you find a place that is all your own, a place you stumble upon and make a connection with and it is all your own. It becomes a place for the masses, for anyone who reads the Lonely Planet.

In this excerpt from his book, Kohnstamm writes “I float on my back in the pool between the dunes, staring up at the sky. Atins is paradise…I do not want to include Atins in the book. All that will do is bring in more tourists and 90 percent of the profits will go to foreign investors. Beyond that, there’ll be a whole bevy of other problems. The world is good in its natural and perfect state, from the sand up to the stars.” pg 237

There are positives and negatives to an influx of visitors to a country, the increase in income will help the area to flourish, making improvements in the community and allowing greater success of business, hopefully lower the crime rate, and improve the education systems. As Kohnstamm mentions though, much of the money could go to investors from other countries, they may bring in chains which do not help the area, and take business away from locals, and it could lose its unique feel that it once had. Kohnstamm see’s both sides of this issue, as he walks about the town of Atins, he falls in love with it, but he also experiences a man beat his wife completely in public and no one reacts, from this he thinks some foreign influence might actually not be a bad thing for the people of the area. It is hard to measure the positives vs the negatives of making a place a tourist destination . Does Tourism Do More Harm Or Good

This slide show by Louise O’Donnell gives the pros and cons of tourism in her eyes; specifically she references Benidorm and how the affects of tourism have changed the area. Her points are on the same page as mine, she understands both the positive and negative, as most people do, but in Kohnstamm’s life, he has to make the actual decision. He could leave it out of the book and allow it to stay peaceful and unknown or he can include it and have all the readers of Lonely Planet know about it and wish to make a visit.

Marketing and its affect on travel writing?

So a travel writer is an adventurous and exciting career, as anyone could have assumed, and we know that in some ways, travel writers are like marketers, they are writing about places they have visited and are trying to sell those places to future travelers. How did these writers come to decide to visit these places originally though? MARKETING

Travel writing is centralized around what the hot trends for the time are, where people are visiting and where the interest lies. The industry leaders know about these trends through analytics, and use this knowledge to direct their target markets attention to these locations.  

So what is the process? Kohnstamm writes about reading books precious to arriving in Brazil so he has understanding of the area. Also doing internet research and trying to figure out through that what is new and happening. Kohnstamm has a belief that although it’s good to use older sources it is also important to find new, unknown places because otherwise he is not truly giving the reader all they could ask for.  He believes in asking locals what popular, because they are truly immersed in the area and have no reason to lie, no real plan, except maybe to promote themselves and their friends.

So where do marketers put all this information, well they first target the opinion leaders, which would be the travel writers and travel companies, who will then share via word of mouth, telling what they have experienced to their clients and giving suggestions of their own. In the tourism industry, word of mouth and recommendations are the most influential marketing mediums. A travel guide is just a series of recommendations that a very experienced traveler has put together in order to share what they loved about a place. It is rare there are negative reviews about places included in the books; Kohnstamm says that if he doesn’t like something, he’s more likely to just leave it out of the book because a negative comment would still be a comment, and would take the space that could be given to a positive business experience.

Who is a travel writer? Are they a marketer? Sure

Thomas Kohnstamm , the author of Do Travel Writers go to Hell?  Is a graduate from Stanford U with an M.A. in Latin American Studies. He has written for various popular publications, but the focus of this book is his experience during an assignment for Lonely Planet, a company who produces series of travel guides for around the world, this one specifically about Brazil. He claims to be a lifelong traveler and someone who enjoys living life in the moment… the book was a lot of fun to read, but also had some interesting points about travel and marketing…reading the book was like having a conversation with a friend, giving you the ins-and-outs of the industry, including the bad things.

Kohnstamm is a unique individual, brutally honest, even when it might affect his life and his future employment. This book which is A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics & Professional Hedonism, could not be looked at positively by his industry or his employer; it seems like a direct attack on the idea as a whole. He uses this book to tell of one travel experience, and I left with the impression that every travel writer has spouts of drug, alcohol, and sex overuse (I’m not sure you can overuse sex, but I’ll rephrase that to say meaningless flings).

 Although this is all part of his adventures in Brazil, it does not mean every one of his experiences was like that, or that other writers behave the same. He is also passionate and conflicted about his choices and about his lifestyle. He wants to get the most out of this experience, but he is young, broke and easily influenced.  

Some of the quotes in the book really help to give an insight into how he views himself:

“Fuck the simple pursuit of financial stability. Here’s to finding fulfillment in novelty, excitement, adventure, and autonomy.” Pg. 11

“It would be hard to classify me as a die-hard optimist, though I firmly believe that- with the right level of enterprise- an advantage can be wrought from any bad situation.” Pg. 28

I really connect with both of those these quotes; I feel like I understand what he’s saying and feel the same. I hate negativity, why bother? It’s a waste of time! Also, yes I understand it’s the American dream to be financially stable, good 9-5 job, and all that jazz, but what is the point of money if I am bored out of my mind. I am with Thomas on those ones! Live life, no regrets and no shame in doing what seems right to you, even if it is not the public norm is a great thing to mindset to live by.

So how is a guy like this like a marketer? He takes an assignment, does research and then sells the positives, and hides the negatives of his product. The difference, his product might be an entire country and he has to research it all, alone, and in a few months time and its credited to them directly. In Lonely Planet Brazil, Kohnstamm’s name will be printed, accrediting the work to him.

A marketer is a similar personality, they are given a product to market and must consider who they are trying to sell it too, and then find the best way to get it into the eyes of the markets. Kohnstamm constantly mentioned the age and economic range of the usual readers of the Lonely Planet series. When he stops at a restaurant, he must consider is the reader will be willing to pay that much or that little, or if the portion size will be adequate. In some ways, he has to decide whether each thing he sees and visits is worth selling to his customers.  He must consider each place and prioritize their importance and  break them down depending on what their benefits are. One town might get marketed as the arts center of Brazil while another could be a fun surfing beach town.

Basically, a travel writer is a marketer, in a much cooler location than inside a cubical or at a desk and of course they have to be able to write pretty well to, manipulating a simple description, into a paragraph that makes a person get off the couch, buy plane tickets, and fly to the amazing location. Yea…I could handle that.

This semester in my marketing management class we were asked to read a book that had to do with our passion, and connect it to marketing. The book had to have something to do with business or marketing, so initially I read The Tipping Point:How Little Things can Make a Big Difference by Malcom Gladwell. Although I found the book to be really interesting on a psychological level, I quickly realized it would not fit into this blog in any way.

That is when a trip to Border’s was in order and about 2 hours later I immerged with a collection of books, some about marketing such as Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by  Ori Brafman which seemed like it might fit me, but still not the blog. Then there was Sand in My Bra and other Misadventure: Funny Women write from the Road which is a hilarious collection of stories from women, such asEllen DeGeneres telling their tales from travel. I’m about half way through it, and it’s a great read for a beach or a relaxing sunny afternoon…but it was hard to make business connections with it. So that left me with my 3^rd book (4^th I guess if you count The Tipping Point) which was Do Travel Writers go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventure, Questionable Ethics and Professional Hedonism.  Sounds exciting right?! It was, this book was a blast to read, and the author, Thomas Kohnstamm, really let the readers understand who he was and his ideas and thoughts behind each story.

Kohnstamm is introduces himself in this book as a young traveler, who is given his first professional assignment as a travel writer for Lonely Planet, a series of guide books for backpackers and young travelers. It is a unique and honest series that really gives honest insight into countries, and I have used them on my various travels many times. Lonely Planet New Zealand saved me from getting lost many, many times. Kohnstamm, although an experienced traveler, has never done any real work as a writer before and is still young and wild. He is given 3 months and very little, to no money to travel to Brazil, and update the whole guide book that they have not updated for at least 4 years. Sounds like an extremely daunting task to me, and one that might not be possible for many people, but as Kohnstamm describes, travel is in his blood, he loves it, and the road always pulls him back.

The book starts off with Kohnstamm at his job in New York City, he is working in a cubicle and hates it, in fact hes drinking in a conference room instead of doing his work. He is considering the job offer, but he has a job, an apartment, and a girlfriend and for the first time in his life he has “settled down”. Obviously it would be a boring book if he decided to stay, but 2 days later he is on a plane to Brazil, after getting into a few sticky situations on his way out of town.

Through the book he continues to learn through some of the most outrageous experiences I have read about. There is excessive drinking, sex, and drug use, but it’s his life and he opens it up for all the judgments by writing this book. He lives with a prostitute who tries to pay him rent in sex, he crashes with a flight attendant who tries to steal his money, and beats him up when he breaks it off with her. There is a definite message that ladies are nuts in this book. He writes with truth, but it’s also full of humor. He is able to laugh off these situations, he is optimistic, and one of the quotes that I really connected with was this,

“In order to truly appreciate travel, a person must relish the quirks, the setbacks, the annoyances that make up an average day on the road. A missed bus? An opportunity to soak up the frenzied culture of a foreign bus station. Giardia? Malaria? Denque fever? Given the right perspective, these are all opportunities to learn about anachronistic medical systems and if nothing else, gain a go-to story that’ll outclass anyone’s tale of traveler’s diarrhea.” Pg 194

It’s this positive attitude that really makes me connect with what he is saying. There are so many unpredictable things about travel, and that is what I love about it. I’m glad that other people are able to cherish those moments, because otherwise you will go crazy, I have never been on an adventure where everything goes right to plan, it just doesn’t happen.

Kohnstamm takes what is seen as a wonderful, perfect career and makes it real, when you think travel writer you think someone who knows what they are doing, and only stays in the nice places. If you think this through though, they have to stay in crappy places, and eat in bad restaurants to learn they are crappy and bad. Readers just don’t read that part, so although some of the things Kohnstamm does in this book seem questionable, he is making what he can out of an interesting and unpredictable circumstance and its hard to judge him for something many people will never experience.

Through this book Kohnstamm learns what it really takes to be a travel writer, and he breaks many rules in the process, but by the end he is back in New York City, broke and finishing his writing in time for deadline. He has seen the country, understands its feel, and is ready to submit what he learned for the world to read. The whole process is a huge learning curve for him, but he goes on to write for other publications after this one, so it seems like travel is the right place for him.