Inspiration: Five Minute Getaway

This one's pretty easy.  Five Minute Getaway is one of the newest parts of the Cheezburger Empire.  The site features pictures of beautiful sites from around the world.  According to the website, Five Minute Getaway helps you "travel the world without ever leaving your desk!"  With such lovely pictures, it's easy to want to visit all of these places.  Here are a few examples from places on my wish list.  Mad props to whomever took these brilliant pictures, and 100 internet points to you if you can guess where they are.

Inspiration: Condé Nast Traveler

Today the cold water of the pool as we cleaned the filters reminded me of an article in a recent issue of Condé Nast Traveler.  This led me to decide to write about some things that give me ideas about places I'd like to visit, since for the moment my ability to travel is curtailed by the fact that it's bleedin' expensive to do so here in the States.  So here we go with a new series, brilliantly titled "Inspiration."

Traveler is not really a magazine aimed at me, or even the kind of traveler I want to be.  To clarify, it's a travel magazine for people who have lots of expendable income (which I don't, but would like to), and who are willing to go all-out on their holidays.  I think that even if I did have tons of money to spend, I'd still be hesitant to use it to stay in top-end resorts and dine at five-star restaurants.  You know me, I'd rather just buy a bag of rolls and carry them around all day, or have five euro worth of gelato and call that dinner.  But even if I'm not in their target demographic, there are plenty of things to peruse.  There are lots of pretty pictures, there's practical advice about gear and packing and tours and things, there are ads for different destinations, products, and services (including ones for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which looks pretty sweet), and there are lots of pretty pictures.  Who's not a sucker for pretty pictures?  If you said you're not, you're lying.

So if you're looking for the best place to buy precious stones or advice about which cruise is right for you, or if you're just looking for an idea about how the other half lives, pick up an issue of Traveler.  Who knows, maybe one day they'll feature the SK in the "Where Are You?" contest and I'll win a fabulous trip.  Check this space for updates until then.

By the way, the article that the pool reminded me about is from this month's issue.  Titled "I Am the Walrus" by Peter Savodnik, it's about taking a "walrus plunge" in Arctic Russia.  The article's on Savodnik's personal site here.