The Perceptive Travel website, of which this blog is an offshoot, just picked up a Silver for ‘Best Travel Journalism Website’ at the 2011 North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) awards announced earlier this week.

But that’s not all.
Many of the stories published on Perceptive Travel website throughout the year also garnered awards:

* Amy Rosen, “Can a Croissant Change Your Life?” (Gold, Cultural, Educational, Self-Improvement Travel category)

* Tim  Leffel, “Side Saddle Girls at a Mexican Rodeo”   (Gold – Special Focus Travel Articles category)

* Lisa Te Sonne, “Voices & Choices When a Human Flies”  (Sliver, Leisure Activity category)

* Tim Leffel, “The Dreams of Man in Stone and Concrete”  (Bronze, Personality and Profiles category)

* Amy Rosen, “My Life & Times with the CN Tower” (Silver, Historical or Hobby Travel category)

Congratulations to Tim Leffel and all the great PT writers.

Congratulations are also in order for the other two travel websites in the the ‘Best Travel Journalism Website’ – USA Today Travel (Veronica Stoddart) picked up the Gold and Travel with Lisa Online (Lisa Codianne Fowler) picked up the Bronze.

In the Travel Blog Category, our editor Tim Leffel also picked up a Gold for his Cheapest Destinations Blog, with Gary Arndt’s Everything-Everywhere picking up Silver and The Vacation Gals (Jennifer Miner, Beth Blair, and Kara Williams) picking up Bronze.

Welcome to the Carnival of Cities blog carnival, where we tour the world in a single post, via submissions from a variety of different blogs, all about any aspect of one, single city or fair-sized town.

The previous Carnival edition was hosted on Sheila’s Guide, and you’ll find the next one (January 25, 2012) there as well.

If you would like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog, please contact me at Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Off we go….

Cities in Europe

London, England Tui Cameron presents Kensal Green: a Historic Victorian Graveyard in London posted at Mental Mosaic: Even Home is a Travel Destination, saying, “London’s Kensal Green Cemetery was the first of London’s for-profit cemeteries, a group which came to be known as the “Magnificent Seven.” This beautiful garden-style cemetery is a great spot for bird-watching and taking photos, so bring your binoculars as well as your camera. If you’re lucky, you might even see a fox!”

Lisbon, Portugal April D. Thompson presents A Tasty Tease in Lisbon posted at The Absolute Travel Addict.

Berlin, Germany Carole Terwilliger Meyers presents Good Eats: Hasenecke/Currywurst, Berlin, Germany posted at Travels With Carole.

Stockholm, Sweden Lola Akinmade Åkerström presents Christmas Market in Gamla stan, Stockholm, Sweden posted at The Swedish photo blog — blogs.sweden.se, saying, “I finally hit a couple of the Christmas markets (Julmarknader) around Stockholm this week and here are scenes from one of the more popular markets located within Stortorget in Gamla stan (Old town). Here, you can pick up a variety of porcelain ornaments, festive decorations and wooden gnomes as well as dig into gingerbread cookies (pepparkakor), mulled wine (glögg), candied almonds, jams, and deli meats.”

Rome, Italy Shelly Rivoli presents Rome’s tradition of the Befana… and her trouble-shooting small broom posted at Travels with Baby Tips by Shelly Rivoli, saying, “In Rome, Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) is not the only one to pay a call to children over the holidays. The beloved witch “Befana” may also bring treats Epiphany Eve in a Roman tradition that is centuries old.”

London, England Karen Bryan presents 7 of the Best London Museums posted at Europe A La Carte Blog, saying, “London has some great museums and most of them are free to visitors.”

Berlin, Germany Nicole Blake presents Berlin State of Mind posted at nicole is the new black, saying, “A picture post about the strange things I see in Berlin.”

Cities in Asia

Singapore Alex presents Eating like the locals in Singapore posted at Hejorama.

Bangkok, Thailand Brian Spencer presents BKK Must Eats – Feasts at Jae On posted here at Perceptive Travel Blog.

Cities in the Americas

Rochester, New York, USA Koketso Ferreira (via Meg Colombo) presents Kwanzaa Family Day at the MAG (Memorial Art Gallery) posted at Rochester Arts.

Cuenca, Ecuador wandermom presents Family Friendly Activities in Cuenca Ecuador posted at WanderMom.

Asheville, North Carolina, USA Globetrottergirls presents Independence through Independents – Asheville, NC posted at Globetrottergirls.

Orlando, Florida, USA Eileen Ludwig presents SeaWorld Christmas Celebration Winter Wonderland Ice Skating posted at Freelance Tourist: Travel Tips.

Annapolis, Maryland, USA Jeremy Branham presents Annapolis welcomes me home posted at Budget Travel Adventures, saying, “Here’s an overview of Annapolis Maryland – a place that doesn’t get enough attention.”

Greenwood, Mississippi, USA I wrote Travel Post Friday: Peace and Quiet on the Tallahatchie River on Sheila’s Guide.

Fairbanks, Alaska, USA Nancy Brown presents Insider Tips on Things to See and Do in Fairbanks, Alaska posted at Nancy D Brown, saying, “I enjoyed visiting Fairbanks in the height of summer and the dead of winter. This is a unique Alaska city.”

Grapevine, Texas, USA Adam Groffman presents Hipster things to do in my hometown: Grapevine, Texas posted at Travels of Adam, saying, “Recently revisited my hometown and discovered it was actually pretty cool.”

Quito, Ecuador Tom Bartel presents Looking down on Quito – Andean Drift posted at Andean Drift.

Boulder City, Nevada, USA Kayla presents Hoover Dam posted at Adventures in Heritage, saying, “During a trip to the Grand Canyon and Vegas I stopped at the Hoover Dam, an amazing engineering feat.”

That concludes this Carnival edition, and thank you for visiting.

Please submit your (ONE, non-spammy) blog post to the next edition of the Carnival of Cities using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Welcome to the (particularly enormous!) Carnival of Cities blog carnival, where we tour the world in a single post, via submissions from a variety of different blogs, all about any aspect of one, single city or fair-sized town.

The previous Carnival edition was hosted on Sheila’s Guide, and you’ll find the next one (December 14) on Travel with Teens and Tweens.

If you would like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog, please contact me at Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Off we go….

Cities in Europe

Akureyri, Iceland Hjortur Smarason presents Akureyri in the Snow! – Photo Essay posted at Raving Ravens, saying, “This is a post I did about Akureyri, the biggest town of North Iceland with pictures from a heavy snow day ”

Tallinn, Estonia Chris Christensen presents Chocolate Quest in Tallinn, Estonia posted at The Amateur Traveler Podcast – travel for the love of it.

Stockholm, Sweden Anne-Sophie Redisch presents Östermalms Saluhall – Slow Food in Stockholm posted at Sophie’s World, saying, “If you’re a travelling foodie and you happen to be in Stockholm, a stop at Saluhallen Market in the hip Östermalm neighbourhood will be a highlight of your visit.”

London, England AbundantJourneys presents London Calling; A New Holiday Tradition? posted at Life Is Full of Bloom.

Avanos, Turkey jenny presents Avanos, Turkey: Search for the Red Clay Turkish Pottery for Pottery Kebabs posted at Devour The World.

Helsinki, Finland Chris Gray Faust presents Fascinating Finland: Finnish Design in Helsinki posted at Chris Around The World: A Journalist’s Travels on the Road.

Glasgow, Scotland Mike Sowden presents Glasgow: There Hasnae Been a Murder posted at Fevered Mutterings.

Munich, Germany Stuart Wickes presents Whirlwind Munich posted at The Family Adventure Project, saying, “A family oriented whirlwind tour of Munich, Germany.”

Florence, Italy MoTravels presents Florence in the Fall posted at MO TRAVELS, saying, “Fall is the perfect time to enjoy Florence, with the beautiful autumn leaves, cooler climate and fewer crowds.”

Poissy, France Michael Schuermann presents The White House Le Corbusier Built posted at easy hiker.

Copenhagen, Denmark Dian Emery presents Sightseeing on a Winter’s Day in Copenhagen posted at GirlsGetaway, saying, “Tips for winter sightseeing in Europe’s capital of cool, Copenhagen Denmark”

Pamplona, Spain Liz presents pamplona posted at Liz en España.

Budapest, Hungary Alex Berger presents Adventure Travel: Caving Deep Beneath Budapest – My First Brush With Claustrophobia posted at VirtualWayfarer.

London, England David Leonhardt presents Top Style Bars of London posted at Barwhiz Blog, saying, “Style bars in London are similar to the usual bars which serve great drinks with awesome music to entertain the guests. One thing that separates them from regular pubs or bars is their decor, serving style and most prominently, the star-studded guest list.”

Stockholm, Sweden Lola Akinmade Åkerström presents Holiday spirit around Birger Jarlsgatan – Stockholm posted at The Swedish photo blog — blogs.sweden.se, saying, “Christmas markets are now up around Sweden. Decorations adorn storefronts and shelves. Twinkling stars hang in windows, including mine. You can definitely feel the holiday spirit here in Stockholm, even though snow has delayed its arrival.”

Venice, Italy Tui Cameron presents Venice, Italy’s Warped Sense of Scale posted at Mental Mosaic, saying, “A recent visit to Venice, Italy got me thinking about the meaning of scale. Several luxury yachts in the harbor completely dwarfed that beautiful floating city. It looked like a movie set with items in different scales, as you can see from my photos.”

Annecy, France Andrea presents 3 Hours in Annecy posted at Destination Europe.

London, England Simon Falvo presents London’s East End? Multicultural, Fascinating and So Cool posted at Wild About Travel.

Cities in the Americas

Ottawa, Canada Globetrottergirls presents Ottawa UnLOCKed posted at Globetrottergirls, saying, “We recently discovered that the key to conquering Canada’s capital is by starting at the locks.”

Bogota, Colombia 20stravel presents Street Art of Bogota: A Photo Essay posted at Twenty-Something Travel.

Anaheim, California, USA Jennifer Miner presents Disneyland During Winter Holiday Season posted at Los Angeles Consortium of Online Travel, saying, “Plenty to see and do in Disneyland during the Christmas season!”

Rapid City, South Dakota, USA Beth Blair presents South Dakota’s Bear Country U.S.A. posted at The Vacation Gals, saying, “Terrific stop on a family road trip – Bear Country in South Dakota.”

(more…)

If you want to induce nausea in me immediately, you will say two little words: women’s magazines.

I wrote for women’s magazines for several years, and, with a couple of exceptions, count them among the worst experiences of my professional life.  I have been known to describe the editorial process at these magazines as a “sorority gang-bang”. I have been asked to repeat that phrase at dinner parties, especially those that involve other writers, because mentioning the phrase “women’s magazines” in a gathering of experienced writers creates something of a group shudder, followed by group therapy, often followed by heavy group drinking.

I don’t know why women’s magazines are so hard to work for, although the movie Mean Girls provides a partial explanation.

And while literary writing is quite different than the sort of stories that most women’s magazines are publishing, I can’t help but think that there is some kind of a connection between paucity of women’s bylines at the upper echelons of literature and how horrible women in media can be to one another, especially in situations that involve differences of power and prestige and the exchange of money.

But I live in hope that the new world of media, run more by writers themselves than by career editors, will be a better place for good writing and ultimately a better place for writers. That hope is fueled by the launch of an exciting new travel magazine, Vela.

Vela is written by women, but is obviously not a “women’s magazine” in the shuddering nausea sense, and decidedly not the territory of  “the gang tattoo of a Ya-Ya Sisterhood more interested in swapping stories about rough breakups and first periods and facial scrubs than in serious (male) literary writing,” as founder Sarah Menkedick writes in the site’s manifesto.  (If you doubt this could possibly be true, read Eva Holland‘s excellent essay about working, and working hard, in the Yukon. )

As Sarah goes on to explain:

The point here is not that this is a women’s site, by women for women, somehow female, feminine, or feminist in style. The fact that all of the writers are women is almost, almost incidental: it would be completely incidental if the publishing world did not create a situation in which women’s voices represent only a small fraction of the conversation.

Brava!  I’m looking forward to reading more.

Welcome to the Carnival of Cities blog carnival, where we tour the world in a single post, via submissions from a variety of different blogs, all about any aspect of one, single city (or fair-sized town.)

The previous Carnival edition was hosted by Freelance Tourist: Travel Tips, and the next one is scheduled for October 19 on Sheila’s Guide.

If you would like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog, please contact me at Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Off we go….

Cities in Europe

St. Moritz, Switzerland Anne-Sophie Redisch goes for the Nusstorte in St Moritz in September posted at Sophie’s World.

Cities in Asia

Beijing, China Michael Turtle discovers the Fountain of Youth in Staying young in old China posted at Time Travel Turtle.

Cities in the Americas

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA Rachel Center surprises me with Welcome to Grand Rapids! posted at Balance and Blueberries, saying, “See highlights of the 2010 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI. 2011 ArtPrize is on display now. Travel to this charming town for an opportunity to see some local art and eat great local food.”

Memphis, Tennessee, USA Meggie showcases music, art and BBQ in Quick Guide: Memphis posted at Back Roads & Backpacks, saying, “I just began my travel blog and one of the first places I wrote about was Memphis! Here’s my most comprehensive post about the city. ”

Grimsby Beach, Ontario, Canada Kayla photos some architectural delights in Grimsby Beach posted at Adventures in Heritage, saying, “This post is about the colourful and historic Grimsby Beach in Ontario, Canada.”

Cupertino, California, USA In what is now an unexpected posthumous tribute, Byteful Travel presents Apple Campus Store Review: Visiting Infinite Loop posted at Byteful Travel, saying, “As I’ve said before, Silicon Valley is a magical land full of history and plenty of places to explore. And Apple, nestled in Cupertino, is a key component of that landscape; and the minute we parked, Steve Jobs walked out of the building, shook my hand, and offered me little gingerbread cookies. Then we rode a hovercar around the campus! And afterwards, all of us got MacBook Airs as parting gifts…. yeah, in my *dreams*.”

Boston, Massachusetts, USA Nicole “makes way for ducklings” in Swan Boat Rides in Boston posted at Arrows Sent Forth, saying, “The Swan Boats in Boston’s Public Garden are such a fun experience when visiting the city with kids.”

Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA Eileen Ludwig floats through Exhilarating WildSide Eco Tours of Thousand Islands Banana River Lagoon Cocoa Beach Florida posted at Freelance Tourist: Travel Tips.

Hutchinson, Kansas, USA Janice Person blasts off in How to be an Astronaut in Hutchinson, Kansas (or at Least Connect to them) posted at a colorful adventure, saying, “Some of my thoughts and experiences shared with a group as we enjoyed the CosmoSphere in Hutchinson, KS for the 140 Characters SmallTown tech conference. What an incredible place tucked away in a small town!”

Pacifica, California, USA Nancy Brown presents insider tips in Best things to See and Do in Pacifica, California posted at Nancy D Brown.

Bend, Oregon, USA Andy Hayes sips (glugs?) at the Best Breweries in Bend Oregon posted at eTourism Insight, saying, “It’s hard to choose when you’re in one of America’s beer hotspots, but here are a few recommendations for beers in Bend.”

That concludes this Carnival edition, and thank you for visiting.

Please submit your (ONE, non-spammy) blog post to the next edition of the Carnival of Cities using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup link is at the top of the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)