Who do you follow for travel?

Nicola delighted about finding a Lonely Planet guide book in New Delhi, India

It’s Saturday so you know what that means….it’s time for Nicola Arnold’s weekly travel blog.

But first it’s time to congratulate her! Nicola will soon be leaving our 21-square-mile island for Canada. She’s got a job and she’ll be in Canada soon (at least for a while before she figures out how to travel again).

Have no fear, though, we’re not losing our blogger! She’ll continue with all of our important travel information every Saturday. And this week? This week Nicola’s helping us find travel information online:

If you made New Year’s resolutions specifically geared towards travel… what would they be?

Travel more? Stay longer? Revisit favourite places? Dare new destinations? Pack lighter? Leave behind technology?

Since I started writing columns for Robyn’s Wandering blog, I began to realize that I was really interested in fueling the fire of my travel passion.

I began to research fervently for ways to get a daily dose of travel writing, adventures and escapism. I did not

Funny ads at the airport that tell traveling like it is

really want to buy magazines, just to hoard them in my closet.

I did not want to spend all my time searching for websites, just to end up hours later having stumbled upon a string of videos on YouTube and emerging from behind my laptop 3 hours later. We all know how easily that can happen!

The Christmas season is over, although Christmas cards continue to trickle in. It is 2011 and perhaps this year will mean a backpacking adventure, a summer road trip, a family reunion in a faraway place, or just a weekend spent visiting a new city.

As a social network, Facebook helps to bring information together in one convenient place. I decided to use it as a tool to become a ‘fan’ of all sorts of travel pages – including Robyn’s Wanderings!! After browsing through travel pages on Facebook, I soon found out that they are designed to tantalize the tourists and travelers of the world.

And it worked on me.

What sort of pages did I add on Facebook to follow? A few examples include:

– Lonely Planet

– National Geographic Traveler

– Frommer’s

– Travel Channel

– Greek Islands (I have a weak spot for Santorini)

– Maldives (one day I hope to visit… and it shall be grand)

A sight in India that you will have to see to believe

These pages send updates on Facebook related to travel and adventures… and many of them are interesting and worth a glance when you have some free time to browse.

If you are interested in 7 Tips for Single Bag Travel (http://www.wisebread.com/vacation-hack-7-tips-for-single-bag-travel) then Wisebread has some hinters. If there is one thing I would still like to perfect this year in travel, it would be to pack lighter. Wise words I try to follow are that once you have laid out what you want to travel with, take half of the clothing and double the money… although it is usually easier said than done!

Five traveling Files for Friday

Yes, I am trying to drive a communist car. It’s not easy. Especially when it is stuck in a communist museum. Where? Just outside of Budapest. How traveling has changed…..from minis that were only allowed to travel within their country to airlines that move travelers at the drop of the hat to airlines who don’t want to fly you anywhere unless you have a million dollars.

It’s airway robbery! We’ve all heard the lament before. “There’s never any food!” “We have to pay for blankets now?!?” “Why do I have to be charged for a bag? How exactly am I supposed to go to Miami without clothes?”

Yeah airlines have not made many friends lately, which is why travel file one this Friday is that airlines have found a HEART! Yes…who knew? Hurricane Earl is making life tricky for those trying to fly off the East Coast of the United States. Delta, Jet Blue and AirTran Airways are all canceling or reducing the change fees on their flights! Awww…they must still be recovering from the mayhem that was the Iceland Volcano.

Singapore's Symbol: Lion Mermaid

Not only are airlines changing their business plans so are airports. Wifi is free, bars are loaded and shops are in malls. Not so bad if you’re going to be stuck there because of Earl. So what are you going to do if you’re stuck in Singapore’s airport? How about slide down water?!?!

Singapore does nothing mediocre.

40 feet tall, and reaching speeds of around 19 miles per hour the slid sounds amazing and scary! Think I will stick to their butterfly sanctuary that is also contained in the Changi Airport.

Which is what I did when I was traveling solo around the world. I did it by plane. What if you want to do it by boat? Well you’re in luck. The Norwegian Epic has introduced Solo Sailing! Previously singles, like myself, had to book both beds….kinda a waste. Now studios are available at a substantially normal rate. Check out the Epic’s studios. But don’t worry, you won’t be alone for long. With entertainment such as the Blue Man Group and the Bliss Lounge forget finding a travel buddy! In Bermuda CTravel can help book your Norwegian Epic Cruise.

A cruise with a unique perspective. What about a hotel with the same intrigue? Yeah we can all go to Expedia.com or Hotwire.com, but these usually have deals with big name brands. What about finding deals on boutique hotels? Somewhere to stay with some grit? Well that’s where Tablet Hotels comes in. Finding great deals on beautiful and inspiring hotels around the world they are the site for the discerning traveler.

Helping a Turkish Lady get home safely

I wish I could say I have volunteered abroad….but I haven’t. I do try and help just like we did picking-up this Turkish Lady when the rain was pelting down and giving her a lift home. So what do you do if you want to volunteer? Well one of the problems in the past has been the amount of time it takes to become trained and the time they want devoted to the task.

No longer! The US Parks Service is now happy for a day or two from their volunteers. They advertise opportunities on Facebook. Check out more information about volunteering on vacation and other traveling trends on Time Magazine’s website.

And happy Friday!

A Pregnancy Test at 3,300 metres

Thousands of metres above sea level in Zermatt, Switzerland

Imagine being stuck on the ski slopes and never knowing? Could you be pregnant? Have no fear Switzerland is here! Pregnancy tests will be in vending machines owned by the company Selecta in offices, trains stations and other public places!

Hey if condoms are sold in vending machines why not the tests to make sure they work? Or at least that is the logic of Selecta’s director Thomas Nussbaumer who told AOLNews: “You will find pregnancy tests at 3,300 meters of altitude, as well as in tiny villages.”

Baby on a Bong? Facebook

Who knows where the mom in this story got her test. What is probably more important is where did she learn about parenting? Not being a parent myself I can say I know what not to do i.e. do not get my child high and do not post a photo (left) of my baby smoking out of a bong.

Ahhh parenting at its best. According to The Frisky the 19-year-old Floridian mom said it was staged and she wouldn’t get her 11-month-old son high.

Authorities tested the baby and he was clean. Phew! No stop list (where Bermudians convicted of drug crimes are not allowed to go into the United States) for him.

But maybe they should have been helping-out in British Colombia, Canada. Why? Because cops there discovered a woman up to no good and up to her neck in more than $1 million worth of marijuana plants.

What the cops didn’t expect was her back-up – 10 black bears.The “Bear Lady” , as the woman is affectionately called, is known in the area for only escaping the woods for minor provisions. These might have included dog food, which the bears seemed to be quite happily eating and cause the officers to harm.

So don’t go wandering through the woods of British Colombia on your own. Some  other parenting advice from someone who has only played a parent as a nanny so far: don’t let your kids watch cartoons.

Bugs bunny wasn’t always so sweet. Cartoons dating back to the WWII era were created by Warner Brothers for the troops overseas. The one below Bugs imitates Hitler. In another, not shown here, he feeds ice cream bars laced with bombs to Japanese soldiers.

I would say probably not the safest videos to show your infants.

And I would say it’s Friday and I hoped you enjoyed these fun facts and photos from around the world. Stay tuned for tomorrow to go Top Less!