As I journey through the process of building and growing a community of travelers in Chicago for Gogobot, I am excited to share some of the bells and whistles I am trying out with this new and forward-thinking travel app.
As you can tell by my perfectly crafted title, Gogobot has the functionality to ask your friends for suggestions when traveling or exploring your home city. For instance, I asked my friends and the Gogobot community for advice on Las Vegas and used that list of suggestions while I was there.
So go ahead, check it out. Ask a question.Real travelers love to help.
Don’t worry about getting there at a certain time. Don’t worry about long lines. And don’t worry about paying full price when you hit up these awesome Austin All-Day Happy Hours.
SUNDAY
Peche: Select appetizers and drinks all day. Expert bartenders and absinthe bar. Downtown.
Eddie V’s: Prime steak and seafood near 6th Street downtown
Opa Coffee & Wine: 1/2 off Glasses of Wine (open bottles only), 20% off Bottles of Wine, $1.00 off all Beers, $2.50 Sangrias and Mimosas. 78704 & dog-friendly
Kung Fu Saloon: Free game play, $1 mimosas until 5pm and Build-Your-Own-Bloody-Mary bar
Even as a child I knew I wanted to see the world. (Who doesn’t, I guess.) But I never knew how to make it an important goal. I didn’t travel much growing up, so it just wasn’t in my frame of reference. As an adult, I find that quotes about travel serve me as useful reminders of my goal to see the world. Thought y’all might like them too.
These are some of my favorites. If you have some I should add, please comment in the box below.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
~ Augustine of Hippo
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”
~ Aldous Huxley
“The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.”
~ G.K. Chesterton
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
~ Gustave Flaubert
“Make voyages. Attempt them. There’s nothing else.”
~ Tennessee Williams
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.”
~ Robert Louis Stevenson
“Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life”
~ Michael Palin
“Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing.”
~ Helen Keller
“The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life. ”
~ Agnes Repplier
“But that’s the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don’t want to know what people are talking about. I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.”
~ Bill Bryson
Yes, I think I’ve said (or whined) that phrase more than once in my life because- although I do enjoy twirling my hair at fancy bars for hours on end, I usually prefer to be doing something active.
I want to take walks and see things and explore and maybe even sweat a little. A little side of fear is usually a bonus too.
So, if you are like me, and are always up for some action- here’s your list when in the ATX.
There’s a lot of swimming to do in this city and the yahoos that live here will do it year ’round, if you let ’em. One of my favorite spots will always be Barton Springs. They run a pretty tight ship which keeps the health of the water in check. And the people-watching here is THE best. (see attached video) **Bonus that it’s a hippie (and cheap) outing at $3 per person or free after 9pm.. SWING IN THE AIR #Zipline #Trapeze
Zipping through the air on cables isn’t just for the rain forests. Lake Travis Ziplinetakes adventurers across the longest zipline in Texas. The 2.5 hour adventure includes park access where picnics and coolers are welcomed.
But if backflips are more your style, learn the art of the trapeze with a 1 or 2 hour lesson at Trapeze Austinin South Austin. Make your circus dreams come true. Group pricing is also available.
SPIKE IT #Volleyball
Oh, how I love to play volleyball. You wouldn’t know it by how often I play these days (must change that) but when you (and I) get the urge to go “Maverick and Goose” on the city of Austin we can. Depending on the day of week and time of year, there is usually a free court, or team rotations at Zilker Volleyball Courts. People here range in skill level but most everyone is patient and nice to beginners. Here’s a Map of Zilker Park in Austin, Texas
There is usually a buzz of people at the local volleybar, Aussie’s Grill and Beach Bar. Here, you can grab a drink, rent a court and spike your little heart out.
GIDDY UP #Horseback
Ya ain’t really been to Texas until you ride a horse. I’m just gonna say that because it sounds like something that a Texan would say AND I know you won’t be disappointed with the gallon-hat of fun you’ll have riding a horse. Ranches like Texas Trail Rides let you explore their acreage with all levels of private guided tours. Find a comprehensive list of places to go horseback riding at Texas Parks and Wildlife.
WALK IT OUT #Park #Run #Trails
There are so many places to walk in Austin, but none more quintessential than Lady Bird Lake, or “Town Lake” to locals. The trail has loop options for 1.6 miles and 3.2 miles and the best part of this activity is the people-watching. Be entertained (for free) by some of Austin’s weirdest, buffest and finest all along the trail. Or, if you’d rather see more plants than people, use Austin Park Foundation‘s park finder to search by name or zipcode. There are little hidden park treasures all over town.
Other places to walk? Try exploring the UT Campus and The Drag. There are plenty of “walking tours” as well.
TWO-STEP with a COWBOY or COWGIRL #Country #Dance #Music
You’re in the capital of the Lone Star State, Darlin’. You really should get your boot-scootin’ on. For an old school vibe, live band, and strong drinks- head just west of downtown to Don’s Depot. People of all ages have scuffed their boots on the dance floor as others sit and enjoy the show. Then, take a break from the music and wax hippie-ish-ly about what it really means to “be cool”.
And when you know you want cheap drinks, girls in little outfits, a mechanical bull, with a side of cowboy, check out Rebels Honky Tonk downtown. Ladies, if you want to dance- these guys are ready. The venue tends to draw a younger crowd, but people of all ages are welcome to scoot boots, shoot shots and ride the bull in a bikini.
SWING AT A BALL #Golf
On a date, with a group or just hanging with the family, Peter-Pan MiniGolf has been a “Keep Austin Weird” staple for years, now. If you’re over 21, the BYOB policy of this quaint golf course makes it a smooth way to keep the ol’ budget in check. Speaking of checks, only cash and checks are accepted. ATM is $4.
So, I don’t do a lot of “real golfing” currently, but I’d like to… Does that count? If you’re ahead of me in this arena, check out GolfAustin for all the things I don’t even know that I don’t even know, about golf. Don’t forget your plaid socks.
ROLL #Bowl
My new favorite place to go bowling in Austin is The Highball. You can bowl right away if you manage to snag one of 8 lanes. If not, put your name on the list and enjoy the other aspects of this adult playground. Rent a karaoke room with your friends and/or grab a drink at the bar while you check to see what’s shaking on the live band stage. **Date night tip: The Highball is also the perfect accompaniment to a movie at Alamo Drafthouse around the corner.
If you’re looking for a more traditional kind of bowling, you got it at Westgate Lanes. Though the alley has been open for decades (I went here as a kid), the venue is still well-maintained with a friendly staff and free parking. Special prices on Sundays and Mondays.
PADDLE #Paddleboard #Kayak #Canoe
Having a lake and/or river in the middle of a hot city means that a lot of people are gonna want to be on it, without being in it. And that means, they’re gonna need a paddle. Whether you want to stand, as in paddleboarding or sit down to kayak, Austin has some great ways for you to float and play on the water. Rent canoes and kayaks from the long-standing Zilker Park Boat Rentals or go for paddle boards and paddle boats a little further down the trail at Rowing Dock.
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Clearly, this is not an exhaustive list, so if you think there’s an active activity that belongs on this list, please chime in the comments below. I’d love that.
Keep Austin Weird, Y’all!
Austin – Texas State Capitol (Photo credit: adam79)
DESCRIPTION: Plan your next travel adventure with recommendations and tips from people you know and trust. Share check-ins, tips, ratings and postcards with your network.
CATEGORY: Travel PRICE: Free
SOCIAL SPECS: Lets you add friends from Facebook and Twitter, plus you may “push” your activities to your Facebook Timeline and/or Twitter feed.
LOCATION SERVICES: Has “Explore” function to search by location and/or category FUN FACTOR: You can create and share online postcards with filters and text, like Instagram for travel photos. You also acquire points as you share and engage in the community. These points can take you a tourist to an expert on your “Passport”.
DESIGN & INTERFACE: Clean, intuitive, easy to use. Loads quickly.
HIGHLIGHTS & TIPS: I had an issue and tweeted @Gogobot. They were quick to respond and resolve my issue.
Think there’s an iPhone Travel App that I should review? Email or tweet me!
I severely dislike waiting in lines at the airport.
I know you’re not supposed to hate anything, so I’ll say “severely dislike” instead. I also know that I should look at the bright side and say “Hey- it’s just cool that I’m going somewhere!”, right? And it is. It’s just… patience has never been my virtue, and waiting in line is so dull especially when you have a bunch of things to be responsible for…
This is a first-world problem, I know.
My point is- I got to skip all that internal drama on my first Amtrak train ride. I’d say it started easily with buying the ticket online, but I didn’t actually buy it- Josh did. (Thanks, Josh!) He said it was easy. Let me know if he’s right.
Because I was riding Business Class, I could have been on the train first. But, I left my iPhone on a ledge in the station and had to run back in to look for it. I’m glad I take pictures of everything or I would have been in Bloomington before I realized I didn’t have my electronic baby.
Luckily, someone turned it in to the Union Station office, and even though the lady behind the desk shook her head at me like she’s never lost anything before- I got it back. Yesssss! Thank you, Jesus! That would have jacked up my weekend.
So, I thoroughly enjoyed all of my first Amtrak train ride. We boarded quickly, easily and no one looked through my bag, which I liked. The staff was nice, the carts and seats were spacious and I combined vodka and Frappuccino for the first time ever. Oh, it’s good.
I was also lucky enough to score a window seat and “Ooo” at the beautiful Midwest landscape at sunset. It was pretty gorgeous. I could have done a few more hours of that actually.
In closing- would I ride an Amtrak again? Yes. Absolutely. And so should you.
In researching my craft I often go off on rabbit trails. There are so many different sites to learn about regarding social marketing and yet- they are all somehow connected. One thing leads to another and another… It’s both frustrating and enthralling that I’ll never catch up.
Soo… suffice it to say- rabbit trails happen. Today I was looking at my Klout score, which brought me to Bing analytics which brought me to WordPress.com, where I host this site. Follow me?
What I like about WordPress hosting is that although I have less options as far as themes, I am totally in control of my website. No html coders can tell me something will take weeks to fix, change or update ever again. (That’s a story for another time.)
So while clicking around in the backend of my site, I saw an embedded function called “Audio Posts”. Ooo. I have been so in love with the audio-to-text function on my iPhone 4S, I jumped at the chance to say more and type less. (And this is why my outgoing text messages have become longer and more frequent.)
So- audio posts… I like ’em. It doesn’t script-to-text, like I was expecting (like Siri), but still… It’s pretty cool. It embeds an audio player into your post. I left the first audio post untouched, so you could see how “bare bones” the post comes out. But if people like and trust you- they may listen anyway.
Still, in the future, I’m sure I will go back to edit each audio post with script, photo, tags, excerpts… Google can’t rank what it doesn’t know, so I have to go back in to make the post searchable and relevant. The hardest part of video, writing and blogging is the details. (Note to self: Look into virtual assistants)
So, though it’s still a lot of work to optimize, it could be the perfect solution for people whom I want to interview but are “weird” about being on video. (That’s another post too.) Instead, we can just talk into my iPhone, like we’re talking to another friend that couldn’t be there. No deer-in-headlights here.
And since every post needs a good visual aid (lest Pinterest have nothing to “pin”, I’ll embed an Instagram or Flickr picture of the speaker or relevant image. Next thing you know I’ve got a whole podcast thing going on using this very simple tool. Simple. I love it.
It’s like I said… More traveling and fun. Less typing.
Done and done.
What tools make your life easier when you’re traveling?
Executive Leisure. I might have just made that phrase up, but I think it works. What else would you call the rare instances when you can “make it rain” business-wise while being a man or lady of leisure? Last week, the two-room, two-bath, fully-stocked, best-view-of-the-city type accommodations I received at the Intercontinental Chicago reminded me what life is really all about… Room service, wi-fi and a huge pool.
I jest of course, but Executive Suite #4000 was a little slice of awesome. And since the suite has more bedrooms than I have bodies, I called Twitter gal pal @FeliciaCago and asked her to take a mini-staycation with me.
She said yes.
So there we were… two ladies taking full advantage of our all-to-brief Michigan Avenue address and lifestyle. We lounged the day away in robes, ordered room service, experience the attached Michael Jordan Steakhouse and Eno Wine Bar. Oh.. and that pool. The Intercontinental Chicago’s junior olympic-sized pool is something right out of a movie. A fancy movie that I want to watch again and again. (see video)
SOCIAL SPECS: Lets you add friends from Facebook and Twitter, plus you may “push” your activities to your Facebook Timeline and/or Twitter feed.
LOCATION SERVICES: Has “Explore” function to search by location and/or category
FUN FACTOR: You can become “The Mayor” of a venue if you check-in the most and sometimes the venue has a special prize for Your Honor. Get cool badges, compete with your friends and get useful tips. You can create a “Page” for your business.
DESIGN & INTERFACE: Clean, intuitive, easy to use. Loads quickly.
HIGHLIGHTS & TIPS: Look for check-in deals before you order or while you are scouting venues.. You could be rewarded for checking in.
Think there’s an iPhone Travel App that I should review? Email or tweet me!
for the first time ever. Oh, it’s good.
, I jumped at the chance to say more and type less. (And this is why my outgoing text messages have become longer and more frequent.)
