Free mTrip guides to New York, Rome, Barcelona and other cities

Let the downloading begin! The mTrip Travel Guides allow users to create itineraries or access 

Download mTrip guides for free on iPhones or iPads and 99 cents on Androids on Thursday and Friday. (mTrip Travel Guides)

ready-made ones, map walking distances to landmarks, peruse hotel and restaurants, and more. On Thursday and Friday, mTrip is giving away five city guides a day for free toiPhone users and for 99 cents to Android users.

The deal: The mTrip guides usually cost $5.99 each, so best to stock up during this sale. The free/discounted guides available Thursday include New York, Rome, Istanbul,Singapore and Prague, Czech Republic. On Friday, it'sBarcelona; Venice, Italy; Hong Kong; Munich, Germany; and Stockholm. Download apps at Android Market or the App Store.

When: Guides are available for the indicated cities on Thursday and/or Friday only.

Tested: I downloaded the San Francisco guide (among the freebies offered Wednesday) onto myiPad and started creating some walking itineraries. Once you download the guide, you can share your trip plans and can get free updates too. It's also a good way to sample a mobile guide if you've never used one.

Info: mTrip Travel Guides 

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

Hawaii: Disney's new Aulani hotel emphasizes culture

The new Aulani hotel on Oahu sets out to replace the clichés of tiki torches, totem poles, bamboo furniture and tacky luaus with a resort that celebrates Hawaii's history, traditions and cultures sprinkled with just a small dose of Disney's trademark pixie dust.

Although this premise seems more than just a bit ironic for a company that has built its brand on fairytale fantasy, Disney manages to pull it off with style, grace and beauty, resulting in a modern Hawaiian resort that delivers on its promise and its considerable marquee name.

A modern take on a Hawaiian resort that puts a premium on tradition, the $800-million Aulani in Ko Olina on leeward Oahu opened in late August with 359 hotel rooms, 460 time-share units, two restaurants, two bars, a spa and a conference center. An official grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 22.

The 21-acre resort, about 30 minutes from Waikiki, is worlds apart in look, feel and spirit from that tourist mecca of high-rise cement monoliths.

Photos: Concept art of Disney’s Aulani hotel in Hawaii

I’ve been staying at the Aulani the last few days with my wife, Nancy, and our 11-year-old daughter, Hannah. The resort is still in the soft opening test-and-adjust phase, but we found the resort and the staff to be operating at full speed despite the paucity of crowds.

As we approached the Aulani, the rock and timber porte-cochere extended from the tallest of three A-framed thatch huts that serve as the hotel lobby.

Above, a pair of towers rose like modern interpretations of a Hawaiian fishing village – if fishermen could build a 15-story hotel.

Just inside, telephone pole-sized timbers supported the cathedral-like vaulted ceiling that arches to a point. Geometric-patterned mats filled in the gaps between the spines to maintain the thatched roof feel. Lights dangled from above in clusters of fishing nets like luminescent jellyfish. A verdant ribbon mural depicting island life wrapped the perimeter.

We were greeted at our rental car by an Aulani hostess who presented Nancy and Hannah with flower leis and me with a kukui nut one before explaining the symbolic elements of the open-air lobby.

Outside the lobby, a balcony overlooked the lush grounds with the water park-like pool and the Pacific just beyond. Twin towers, laid out in the now familiar Las Vegas three-wing design, flanked either side.

You pay according to the view – standard, island, poolside, partial ocean or ocean. The island view rooms offer rolling green panoramas of Oahu's undisturbed countryside, save the mid-rise hotels to either side of the Aulani.

All the resort’s hotel rooms measure in at a comfortable 382 square feet, with 16 suites ranging from 764 to 1,910 square feet.

Whimsical touches could be found throughout the room, from the pineapple-patterned quilt woven with hidden Mickeys to an outrigger canoe motif in the headboard to giant hand-carved fish hooks framing the wall mirror.

A flat-screen TV with a Blu-ray player (loaner DVDs were available in the community room) and hook-ups for video games (brought from home) sat atop a six-drawer dresser with a hidden mini-fridge.

A table for two featured the only overt Disney reference in the room: a lamp with a ukulele-playingMickey Mouse.

A small side table with compartments below for a coffee maker and an ice bucket stood nearby.

Beneath the bed there was space for stowing suitcases - a smart touch. On the nightstand sat a gourd lamp and an alarm clock with an iPod dock.

In the bathroom, a mirror with a wave-motif frame flanked by seashell sconces stood above a single sink vanity with six cubbies to store a hairdryer, extra toilet paper and our toiletries. A pair of plush robes (available for sale in the gift shop) hung nearby.

Throughout the room, the hardwood doors featured random inlaid bow-tie joints used in Hawaiian woodworking.

Island art on the walls and floral print throw pillows added just enough aloha flavor. Up on the ceiling, a four-finned wooden fan added to the tropical feel.

A full-size ironing board (and iron), a compact collapsible crib as well as an extra pillow and blanket could be found inside the closet.

Hannah's least favorite amenity: the free Wi-Fi that allowed us to download her classwork and homework while she was away from school. Nancy’s favorite touch: the swing-out vanity mirror in the bathroom for putting on makeup.

Just as promised, we found the Aulani surprisingly light on Disney and refreshingly heavy on Hawaii.

Check back in the coming days for more blog posts on Disney’s Aulani resort.

Expedia brings the best of international travel deals to India

After the launch of its Indian portal (i.e. Expedia.co.in), Expedia plans to cater the Indian travelers by providing them more value-added services including online travel booking and booking of hotel accommodations at the comfort of their homes and at the best prices.

Indian travelers have the option of selecting the best hotel of their choice meeting their requirement from a host of options including national and international hotels. The portal also plans to offer a variety of online travel booking options, including flights, holiday packages, car rentals, cruises, etc, for Indian customers.

When it comes to international travel deals for the Indian travelers, Expedia India plans to give them over 3000 holiday options, special deals and offers is also in the offering.

With all these options, I bet Indian travelers have nothing to loose but only to gain. So, people thinking of traveling to an international destination from India try Expedia India to help you in your travel planning.

Technology That Makes Travel Better

It may be hard to imagine in this techno-heavy world we live in, but people once traveled without the benefit of electronic gadgetry. No mobile phones, no netbooks, no iPads – not even a calling card to use at a payphone. In some cases, people travel nowadays to escape the sort of technology that makes us feel overloaded at home – but there are some technological resources that can help you travel better, too.

A recent article on BootsnAll in our Round the World Wednesday series highlighted 10 different resources that weren’t designed with travelers in mind, but that have become favorites of many travelers anyway.

>> Check out the whole article, 10 Non-Travel Resources to Help You Travel Better

A clear favorite among most of the travelers we know is Evernote, an organizing system that’s accessible via your smartphone, online, or on your computer desktop.

Budget-conscious people in general love Mint for the ways it lets them track expenses and save up for big purchases, and for long-term travelers it makes the budgeting easier to manage.

Anyone who’s dealt with a computer crash knows the heartache of losing data, and if you’re traveling with a laptop or netbook then the fact that there’s online back-up to cloud systems like Mozy and Backblaze is very good news, indeed.

And even if you’re not carrying a laptop around, who can resist the polite suggestion from Mom to stop into an internet cafe and call her on Skype now and then to let her know you’re still alive?

Another tool that is geared toward travelers is TripDoc, designed to help you track all the places you’d otherwise scribble into the margins of a guidebook and plot them on a map. (Full disclosure – TripDoc is designed by Pacific Northwest friends-of-BootsnAll, and we received a promotional code to test out the app. Since then, we’ve fallen completely in love with it.)

Yes, technology can complicate our everyday lives as much as it helps us, but that doesn’t mean you should shun technology altogether for your RTW trip.

>> What are your favorite tech resources that you think help travelers?

This topic came up in our weekly Round the World Wednesday series – catch up on the articles you’ve missed and stay tuned for the next one on BootsnAll. And don’t forget to sign up for BootsnAll’s monthely RTW Travel Newsletter, too.

4 tips for volunteering your way around the world

Note: Today I’m featuring a guest post from Sarah Von Bargen, who writes about travel (and many other things) at the excellent lifestyle blog Yes and Yes. Keep an eye on her Radio Yes podcast, where she and I will chat about long-term travel in an upcoming episode. Here, Sarah shares four key tips for volunteering overseas:

There are lots of great reasons to volunteer while you’re traveling: You can work alongside locals, earn a bit of good karma or just have something to do other than sunbathe and look at ruins. Finding the right program isn’t always easy. After 25 countries and eight different volunteer programs, here are a few of the tips that I’ve picked up along the way.

1. Decide what you want out of the experience

Are you volunteering as a cheap-o way of finding accommodation? Do you want work experience? Are you really, genuinely concerned about the plight of the star-bellied sneetch? Or are you looking to hook up with a cute, dreadlocked idealist with an adjective for a name? Valid reasons, all. Once you’ve sussed out your motivation, it’ll be easier to find a program that’s right for you.

If you’re more concerned about the cheap lodging, it’s easy to find work-for-lodging exchanges with just about any hostel in the world. Just pop round and ask at the front desk what their policies are.

WWOOF and Helpx are also great resources if you want to organize something ahead of time. If you’ve got a cause that you’re passionate about, just try googling that along with ‘volunteer opportunities.’ When I punched in the words “volunteer sea turtle rescue” I got heaps of results!

2. Decide what you can afford

Oddly, some volunteer programs are incredibly expensive. We can probably agree we’d rather not pay someone to work for them. Of course, if you’re volunteering in a developing country, many organizations can’t cover your living costs and will ask you to pay your own way. However, these costs should be very minimal, since room and board in those countries is quite reasonable.

Free or cheap volunteer options in Europe are a bit harder to find because, well, doesn’t everyone want to hang out in Italy over the summer? But they are out there, if you give the internet a good scour (like this one restoring medieval houses!). Here are links to some free/low-cost volunteer programs in developing countries. And here are a few more.

3. Do your research

Of course, before you commit to anything/buy a ticket/send a deposit, you should know what you are really, truly getting into. Ask your organization for the email addresses of former volunteers and ask them for their honest opinion about the experience. Look into the local climate/culture/crime-rate/culinary style. You could easily find yourself involved with a ‘great’ program in a cold, rainy, dangerous city where only meat and potatoes are served – when you might prefer a ‘good’ program in a sunny, gorgeous city full of smiling people.

4. Keep in mind the ethics of international volunteer experiences

As we’ve established, the reasons to volunteer are many and varied. If you’d like to volunteer because you’re passionate about a cause, think before you spend any money. If you’re a marketing exec who cares deeply about the educational opportunities of Peruvian girls, instead of spending $1,000 on a plane ticket and attempting to teach the girls yourself – consider donating that money to an established organization that addresses those needs. Your $1,000 will give employment to a trained, local teacher who will be able to help those girls, and the surrounding community, more than you could have.

If you do choose to volunteer for your chosen cause, you’ll be most helpful if you volunteer within your area of professional expertise. NGOs need help with their websites, schools and hospitals need to amp up their marketing and fund-raising skills, refugees need physical and emotional therapy. Sure, it’s not quite as sexy as building a school in Africa with your bare hands or releasing baby sea turtles into the ocean, but you’ll be more helpful and affect more change. And isn’t that the whole point?

Many of my best travel experiences have come about through recommendations from friends. The Taiwanese guy who took me to a stylish lounge bar in Taipei with the hidden entrance; the Australian expat who showed me his favorite ramen restaurant in Tokyo; and the list goes on.

Thanks to the Internet , old-fashioned word-of-mouth is now exponentially more powerful. Instead of being limited to our own circle of friends, we can tap a website’s entire community for good information.  Many of these new websites were featured in this article in The New York Times: Crowd-sourcing for travel advice.

The sites themselves have varying business models. Some are independent social networks, while others are add-ons to Facebook and existing platforms.  So you might end up getting advice from strangers, or from your own friends.

How do you feel about using these tools? I prefer to reach out to friends I’ve met on previous trips, since I’m more likely to get a good response.  These friends know me and my travel tastes, so their advice is more likely to be a suitable fit.  But it’s hard to pass up on accessing the collective knowledge of a bigger community.

On a related note, the social media news website Mashable.com. produced a great video on how to use Twitter Advanced Search to mine tweets for travel information.  The trip-planning section starts at 1:14 minutes in: