HOW TO USE THIS PAGE TO FIND TRAVEL BLOGS
We've come a long way from the Rosetta Stone to the Internet blog. Whether blogs help us decipher the intricacies of travel, however, is an open question. Blogs are the ultimate expression of free speech for everyone. But when everyone speaks, clarity is often a casualty. What we're attempting at the JoeSentMe Blogistan page is to bring some order to the cacophony. A selection of the best-known (and, we assume, best-read) travel blogs appears in the left column. By executive fiat, we have excluded the promotional blogs penned by travel-industry corporations. We've also excluded destination-specific travel blogs. Many are wonderful, but it would be impossible to list even a representative sample here. What appears in the column below is our assessment of some of the best blogs and bloggers in their respective categories. It is, by definition, brutally selective and highly subjective. If we have missed a blog that you think should be listed here, drop me a line. (By the way, if you are looking for a travel columnist--you know, the folks who write on a set schedule in a more traditional format--please consult our Fellow Travelers page.) -- Joe BrancatelliREPORTER BITES BLOG! NEWSPAPER FOLKS ADAPT! 
As newspaper travel sections shrink, necessity has become the mother of a category of bloggers: ink-stained wretches who've gone electronic. And guess what? Newspaper folks, who know what news is and are trained to write tight on deadline, make great bloggers. HELEN ANDERS (left) of the Austin American-Statesman is the reason the world found out that American Airlines was warehousing planes and passengers in Austin back in December, 2006. Her news sense and her sense of humor make for some great reading. Meanwhile, JEANNE LEBLANC has made a name for herself at the Hartford Courant. The travel world needs more skeptics and she dishes out equally entertaining bits of snark and outrage. The International Herald Tribune has collapsed under the weight of its own pomposity and its Web site is little more than a "global" extension of The New York Times. Thankfully, however, its interesting GLOBESPOTTERS blog has survived the implosion.TRAVEL MAGAZINE BLOGS: A CATEGORY OF ONE 
If newspapers have adapted to the frightening new online travel world, the travel magazines and guidebooks haven't. At least not on the blog front. If nothing else, you'd think they'd want to copy the success of THE PERRIN POST, the fabulous blog fronted by Wendy Perrin (left), consumer news editor of Conde Nast Traveler. And while the INTELLIGENT TRAVEL blog from the editors of the National Geographic Traveler is a notable attempt to cover "authentic and sustainable travel," it lacks the personal voice and attitude that makes a good blog an irresistible read. Of course, it's good enough that Conde Nast Traveler has felt the need to do its own version, called the DAILY TRAVELERAIRLINES AND AIRPORTS AND LAWYERS, OH MY! 
The world is full of people who blog on the state of the travel industry. But the list of blogs that match good reporting with insightful analysis is pitifully small. Atop that list is the AIRLINE BIZ BLOG at the Dallas Morning News. Terry Maxon, a great airline reporter, is the point man. He naturally focuses on the Dallas-based carriers (American and Southwest) first, but anything important (and some things trivial) get a full airing. ... A law firm maintans THE NV FLYER and its brief, quite literally, is covering lawsuits against airlines. The hotel industry has spawned a legal blog, too. Jim Butler at a big Los Angeles law firm fronts the HOTEL LAW blog. Meanwhile, the indispensible PLANE BUZZ comes from Holly Hegeman (left), a long-time industry analyst and notable skeptic. She knows exactly whom to needle among the airline industry's overinflated egos. ... Want to know about airports? Harriet Baskas takes the consumer view in STUCK AT THE AIRPORT. And if you want to find out how the war on terror is more like a war on our constitutional rights at the airport, consult the ever-vigilant PAPERS, PLEASE. ... On the lodging front, surf to Barbara De Lollis's HOTEL CHECK-IN at USAToday.com. ... And if you want it all in one place, try THE BEAT. It covers everything travel--or should I say everything about the travel industry. Pay particular attention to Jay Campbell's posts, which are superlative.OBSESSION IS A BLOGGER'S BEST FRIEND 
The meek may inherit the earth, but obsessive guys write the best blogs. Fares and other airline price quirks are the particular passions of RICK SEANEY (left) of FareCompare.com, his equally obsessive Web site. ... Andy Abramson, a West Coast public relations guy, is obsessed with technology on the road. He's turned that into the compelling (if sometimes promotional) WORKING ANYWHERE blog. ... David Ourisman, the luxury travel consultant (that's newspeak for travel agent), dotes on traveling in comfort with a touch of class. As a result, his TRAVEL HORIZONS blog is unique. ... I don't know who "jimyvr" is, but his dedication to posting airline schedules and route changes makes the AIRLINE ROUTE NEWS blog insanely fascinating. ... And who knew anyone cared about airline branding anymore. Shashank Nigam and his SIMPLIFLYING blog does.SOME WORTHY READS FROM ALL OVER BLOGISTAN 
I always surfed to the Cleveland Plain Dealer site to read the column by travel editor David Molyneaux (left). Now he's moved on to the TRAVEL MAVEN blog. … Claire Walter has been blogging like crazy for the last few years. Her TRAVEL BABEL blog is always an interesting read. … I'm addicted to the blogs of business traveler WILL ALLEN and novelist CHARLENE BAUMBICH. But I'm biased. They both kept writing me such fascinating E-mails about their respective lives on the road that I urged them to launch blogs so the whole world could read their views. And they did! … MJ ON TRAVEL is a breezy and entertaining blog by an ex-pilot who seems thrilled to be out of the airlines. … PHIL BAKER, the inventor and road warrior, has added a travel-tech blog to his weekly column in the San Diego Transcript. ... HIGH ANXIETY has a crusty sense of humor and a breadth of coverage that Joe Sharkey isn't permitted to show in his weekly column for The New York Times. ... TIM WINSHIP is better the angrier he gets at the cutbacks and devaluation of frequent flyer programs.SEARCHING FOR STILL MORE BLOGS? WELL, THEN... 
If all of these bloggers aren't enough for you, then you can find many more. The Boarding Area and Trusted Travel sites are sort of loose alliances of travel bloggers. Boarding Area runs the blogs right at its own site. Trusted Travel refers readers to the participating blogs. ... The TravelBlogs.com, TravelBlog.org and Travellerspoint sites collect blog posts from around the Web and display them in a central location. ... Globenotes and TravelPod offer collections of amateur and trip blogs. And BootsnAll Travel is still where a lot of new bloggers post. ... You may find some diamonds in the dross at Top 100 Traveling Sites, which lists more than 400. Some good destination-related blogs are located at B5 Media. PLEASE READ OUR POLICY ON EXTERNAL LINKS 
External links that appear in Blogistan or on any page of the JoeSentMe.com Web site are chosen strictly and solely for their editorial value for business travelers. JoeSentMe does not trade links with any Web site. None of our links are hidden "affiliations." None appear for advertising or promotional purposes. Our only criteria for listing an external Web site or travel blog is that we believe it may be of value to travelers.Copyright © 2009 by Joe Brancatelli. (Last update: 04-18-09) |
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U.S. NEWSPAPERS INTL. NEWSPAPERS MAGAZINES/GUIDES AIRLINE BLOGS AIRPORTS & SECURITY BUSINESS TRAVEL HOTELS & HOSPITALITY GENERAL TRAVEL MILES & POINTS TRAVEL & MONEY TRAVEL & TECHNOLOGY BIG-NAME BLOGGERS |
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