thefutureisred

Blogging For Publicity: Watch Helplessly as Travel Blogging Jumps the Shark

This weekend I quickly logged onto Twitter to see what’s what and was shocked to see some of the biggest names in travel blogging having a massive pissing match for all the world to see. There was name calling, accusations of abuse, attention whoring and generally showing a complete and utter lack of respect for each other.

This strikes me as the online travel blogging equivalent of two vice presidents screaming obscenities at each other from opposite sides of the building lobby.  It's unprofessional. It's childish. And I'm not entirely sure what it is meant to accomplish.

"It’s a publicity stunt,"said Noah.

Absolutely. But publicity for what? 

This particular shouting match centered on the #followmeatsea hashtag. In short, a small number of top travel and industry Twitterers have been invited onto a Princess Cruise. Great publicity for all involved. People tweet about their experiences on the cruise. Cruise lines advertise the twitterers. Nice exchange, right?

The other side of the debate goes as such.

First, that cruise ships bring too many people, too much waste and suck enormous resources from tiny islands. Idea being, cruises are generally bad for locals and the environment.

Second, there's doubt as to whether those tweeting will be entirely honest, being that they're being sponsored by the very group they're writing about. That would be the Twitter #twethics debate. Will sponsored journalists really report or are they just paid parrots?

There is much of value to discuss here, and in fact, you can find many people discussing these very things all over the internet.

Matador Network recently published an article by award winning travel writer David Page that discussed whether Freebies Undermine Honesty In Travel Writing with a fabulous many sided discussion in the comments that follow.

Another blog favorite of mine, Traveling Greener, offers endless topics on eco-travel along with resources for research to fuel a well informed debate. Traveling Greener's Twitter page provides even more information.

Yet I get this niggling feeling none of this weekend's shouting has to do with a desire for open discussion and debate. It seems to be more of a naked grab for attention.

This is a subject I’ve thought quite a bit about since somehow becoming a travel blogger myself.

Writing about travel wasn’t’ something I set out to do but was really a logical conclusion to my being a writer with an internet and website design work history embarking on a three year journey.

I’ve often thought about what it would take to be a top, money-making travel blogger. Much of which I'm willing to do. I am willing to seek out and write what I believe to be superlative content. I enjoy making contact with other bloggers and do my best to publicize other’s great content through the travel blogging world.

What I have not been willing to do is engage in the endless debates across the internet when it seems that the main purpose of the debate is for self-promotion and does little to further community or real discussion.  Unfortunately, too often, blog comments are just a sneaky way of saying "Hey, look at me! Leave this here blog and come see what amazing, wonderful things I'm doing on MINE!"

I also find myself frustrated when I spend time reading on other travel blogs, only to see the same small group of people commenting and discussing with each other, hawking their personal experiences as the end all and be all and creating controversy where there need be none.

Somewhere in there, the real issues drown and disappear.

I have absolutely no problem with readers sharing their experiences in comments on my blog or elsewhere. I welcome and relish it.  Your comments allow me to stay in touch with what other writers, bloggers and readers are doing and thinking.  I always appreciate a well placed comment that leads me to a valuable, necessary resource.

It’s a balance. We need people viewing our pages in order to have any real attention brought to the topics, causes and ideologies we want to support. But at what point does the balance shift toward selfish navel gazing?

Photo courtesy of rockmixer's Flickrstream

Atlanta, Georgia: Now Moore Than Ever! (Henry Moore, that is)

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This summer in the US was spectacular, from time spent with family to Burning Man. This year, though, we had the opportunity to really explore Atlanta. It's music, art and culture. And now, for the first time in a very long time, a guest post from Noah.

Over the last decade, I've seen Atlanta rapidly transform from a small culturally hollow town -- nicknamed by some “The City That Never Wakes -- to a vibrant and aware metropolis. 

Back in the day, high quality gallery or museum shows were few and far between.  The only somewhat edgy places in town were the 2 blocks of Little 5 Points and the all night eclectic health food diner, R Thomas of Buckhead. Which, quite frankly, were only edgy by comparison to the rest of town.

Today it is another story entirely. Diverse communities of young artists have made their mark on previous cast off areas like East Atlanta. Little 5 has grown 10 times over and there is a thriving music scene with excellent venues like the Flaming Lips show we caught at Chastain Park. 

The most prominent and well respected museum in Atlanta is The High. It has been growing rapidly and curating some substantial shows. Highlights include travelling exhibits of works by Monet, Piccaso, Degas and in recent years art lent  by the Louvre and Metropolitan. Lowlights include the exhibit known to me as "what ridiculous shit does Elton John house in his Atlanta condo?" but I digress.

There is also a burgeoning permanent collection that includes contemporary artists such as Chuck Close, Vik Muniz and Gerhard Richter.

After all this I was still a little taken aback when I passed by Piedmont Park to see the "Moore in America" exhibit advertised on a giant placard outside of the Atlanta Botanical Garden.  I decided to explore further.  

Henry Moore has been an incredible influence on modern sculpture and in my mind is up there with such luminaries as Alberto Giacometti and Jean Arp. His representational figures and more abstract works maintain a style that is unique and inspirational. Expert at portraying the tension that exists in all of us, he seamlessly portrays Internal and external forces working in harmony. This is accomplished using convulsing organic forms, textures, varying surface effects and the interplay of light on his sculptures.  

Moore once said, "I would rather have a piece of my sculpture put in a landscape, almost any landscape , than in, or on, the most beautiful building I know.".  This exhibit (showing through December 31) focuses on the large-scale monumental works that Moore produced later in his career. The sculptures are meticulously placed over water (see Goslar Warrior, 1973-4), flower beds (see Hill Arches,1973) or overlooking the multitude of traditional fixtures in this garden (see Reclining Figure: Angle, 1979).   Most of the work I had seen in other venues have been done in bronze.  It was refreshing to see some of his later work, like Large Reclining Figure (1984), rising out of a lush flower bed done using white luminous fiberglass.

See our full slideshow of the exhibit here. And for a full listing of galleries with Moore exhibits and sculpture, check out Artcyclopedia.

Atlanta has come a long way in a short amount of time. I look forward to my next visit in December to see what else is cooking in this Southern capital.

Welcome To World Blog Surf Day & Holidays Away From Home

Welcome once again to World Blog Surf Day! Take a tour around the blog-world as you link from country-to-country, expat-to-expat learning about one particular topic.

I took part last time when we discussed food. Now, we're describing holidays and celebrations in our new country. This time, though, WBSD catches me in an off mood. I've just started a new job, moved to a new house, just returned from 2 months in the US with family and I find myself off balance and out of sorts. I've had an equally difficult time getting my head around the holidays here in Salta and Argentina in general.

It seems there's a new one just about every week. Saints, soldiers, politicians. Holiday! A war begins, a war ends, a break in the war. Holiday! And while we've asked around for some sort of calendar of events, no one seems to have one. Yet everyone else seems to know about the holidays in advance.

We find out when we show up at Lila's school to find it vacant, doors shut and locked.

Then came October 12, Dia de la Raza.

Day of Race, I believe would be a adequate translation.

It's also called Día de las Culturas in Costa Rica, Día de las Américas in Uruguay. Día de la Resistencia Indígena in Venezuela. And Columbus Day in the United States.

Yes, Columbus Day. A day I can't remember celebrating ever. It is not a day off school. It is not a day stores are closed. It's really just a bank holiday, which general means very little to those of us bank-unaffiliated folk.

Even the most cursory knowledge of Native America culture, though, tells you this day is not a day of joy. In fact, there's been great opposition in even naming this day a holiday in the United States because of the connection with cultural genocide, murder, rape and kidnapping. Somehow the traditional United States public holiday of barbecues and going to the movies seems particularly unfitting, especially since Columbus never even set foot in North America

All of this would explain why I was shocked to learn October 12 is a true day off in Argentina.

Then again, why not? Renaming while still observing a holiday seeks to reposition the meaning of the day. It represents another side of history. In 2004, a pro-Chavez mob toppled a statue of Columbus in Caracas symbolically overthrowing the old regime as a statue of Saddam Hussein had been similarly brought down the year before in Baghdad.

In other countries, Dia de las Americas and Dia de la Resistencia Indigena focus on the culture existing in these great lands long before a European foot touched ground.

Myself, I often wonder how different South America would have been had European influence not arrived.

De la Raza is a day to commemorate another side of history, one only briefly touched in my high school history classes. This is not the day the Spanish conquistador entered a new land, claiming it for himself and his queen, but a day to remember how entire groups of people were murdered and enslaved.

It's a solemn day, a day of retrospection and a day during which all of us -- whatever the race, culture and affiliation -- can look inward and reflect.

Is it possible to reclaim a holiday in such a way? Does it truly allow all sides of the history to be represented? Let me know what you think in comments below.

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As for World Blog Surf Day, I imagine many of the other blogs involved in this month's World Blog Surf Day will describe the wild and wonderful celebrations from all other countries, so forgive me for taking the tone down. I hope it has been a worthwhile deviation.

Now on with the festivities at Expanish Blog where you can learn everything you need to know about living and learning Spanish in Buenos Aires. You can also follow along at Empty Next Expat's Twitterstream to hear more as the day unfolds.

Wanted poster courtesy of bionicteaching

Guess Who's the New Editor of Matador Life?

It all happened very suddenly.

One day I received a tweeted message from my friend Vicky Baker, Guardian journalist and author of Going Local Travel blog -- for travelers who want to break off the beaten track. She wanted to let me know about a position for contributing editor on Matador Life -- a section of the Matador Network, the worlds largest online travel magazine. The Life section focuses on thriving between trips.

Less than a week later, I was hired. Yes, I am now officially, as of two weeks ago, editing Matador Life.  (Quite a testament to the efficacy of social media.)

It’s been an interesting transition. Much of the work is similar to what I’ve been doing here for the last couple years, but now, I’m working with a team of about 36 people, many of whom I knew through Twitter, Couchsurfing, Burning Man  and just general blogging.

The editors are spread all over the world – with quite a few of us in South America. That means all meetings, discussions and decisions are made via e-mail and chat. It's impressive how well it all works.

That everything is shared and discussed forces me to be more awake and aware. I find myself reading more, and wasting a lot less time as I juggle writing and editing articles, working with outside contributors, reading the articles on Matador and generally trying to stay in touch with what’s going on in the rest of the world. I'm also learning a lot about blogging and the backend of running a website.

Please allow me to introduce you to two members of this unique group:

Julie Shwietert-Collazo – Managing editor of Matador. I met her through Twitter about a year ago. She’s well read, well traveled and a fantastic writer and researcher. That she’s managed to keep pace with a newborn – the beautiful Mariel – amazes me as much as anything else she does. When I heard about the job opening from Vicky, I e-mailed Julie immediately.

You can read more about Julie both on Matador and at her own website, Collazo Projects.

David Miller – the senior editor of Matador.  Soon after writing Julie, I saw an email from David pop up in my mail box.  We chatted a bit back and forth, but when he offered the job, I didn’t have to think much before saying yes.

David is funny. He uses words like stoked and fired up a lot, and I notice other members of the team use them a lot as well.  David also clearly knows how to run a team because, as I said earlier, it works well.

You can read more about David --  who will be moving to Patagonia soon with his wife, Lau and their adorable 2 year old Layla -- at his blog.

What's Next For The Future Is Red?

It seems, though, the types of articles I’ll be writing for Matador overlap quite a bit with what I do here on thefutureisred. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, so from now on, you can find my articles about yoga, children, parenting, work and travel on Matador. I’ll provide links for those along with links to articles from the other editors and authors.

As for original content on The Future Is Red? I will continue to write about Salta, travel in Argentina and topics that don't seem to fit for Matador. Like going to the gym, some lovely photos of Henry Moore's sculpture from Noah and a short dissertation on that lovely phenomenon known as camel toe.

I also have some surprises coming up, so stick with me.

Musculation, Anyone? No Thanks, I'd Rather Sweat

I often find myself comparing the life I lived in NY or anywhere in the US with that I now live in Salta. Food, people, places and the general way of life, nothing is the quite the same. It would be easy to assign a better-or-worse value, but that is a matter of preference. Mostly, I try to enjoy or laugh with whatever differences exist.

One particular place gets me every time: The Gym. (Yes)!

Enter LA Fitness in Atlanta, and you see all these people who are really into their fitness routines. I mean, really involved. They move back and forth the length of the building walking these fantastic fitness walks. Squatting, duck-waddling, lunge-and-leap-lunge-and-leap. The noises they make to go with their ministry of silly walks astounds as well.

Once, I entered one of an empty room -- where kickboxing and sculpting classes are usually held – to do a bit of yoga as a post workout stretch and found a man leaping into the air, turning around all the while making yelping-hawk-like sounds. He didn’t hear me come in because he had his walkman dialed up to 11.

Actually, everything is turned up to 11 here. Men and women, ripped from stem to stern, shoving, heaving and sweating their way through three hour workouts. Then there’s me. I go in, run, walk or ellipt, do a few machines, stretch and done.

Skip forward to me at the gym in Salta.

I walk in, go straight to the treadmill. I only use the one second from the left of a row of four because it’s the only one that works and has a place to hold my water bottle. The others? Let’s just say, Salta is the first place I’ve seen people lounging strategically places tables with chairs while sipping coffee from dainty white ceramic espresso cups and chatting. Lots of chatting.

I’m the only one who runs. Everyone else walks – ok, occasionally you’ll find a man running, but never the women. I’m also the only one who sweats.

Then, onto the muscle machines, that would be strength training equipment in the US and in Salta? I believe it is called musculation. Yes, musculation. I love the word. SO much so, that I haven’t actually bothered to clarify the meaning. All I know is all these men and women come to the gym for musculation. Were I to divine definition from context, though, that would mean hanging out on the equipment and more chatting. 

They help you stretch and musculate.

There are two men who work there helping people use the machines and configure their workouts. One, Mauritzio, is solid muscle. I know this because it’s customary to hug and kiss on greeting. Even the men. It’s something I love about Argentina. You feel at home the moment you meet someone, but it certainly takes on a different edge when you’re covered in sweat.

He and the other man will also help you stretch out after your work out. Of course, it’s really only the women who seem to take them up on their offer. Maybe that’s the meaning of musculation?

Here, in this world, I’m the nutty, muscle-clad crazy person sweating and pushing hard.

Soon, though, we’ll move to the house we just rented in the country. There, I’ll be able to run on a dirt path past cows and horses. I’d like to get a bike to ride into town and all around.

Yep, it’s a different world.

Photo courtesy of RightIndex's Flickrstream