thefutureisred

When #FollowFriday & Photo Friday Collide: What A Delicious Baby!

Why am I posting my own personal photo of wildflowers in Iceland's Thingvellir National Park as part of today's Follow Friday recommendation?

Because there's no better way to introduce you to a wonderful blogger and the unique and community-building Photo Friday feature she includes on her blog.

Who is this person?

That would be Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby, a website dedicated to traveling with babies, toddlers and kids. I've written about her before in relation to her work on Passports With Purpose. You can also find her tweeting as @deliciousbaby.

How does Photo Friday work?

You post a photo on your website with a link to Delicious Baby.  Then, you simply fill in the short form on Debbie's site that creates a link from her page back to yours. You don't have to be a travel blogger or parent to post. You simply need a desire to share your photos and explore the photography of others.

I first heard about this about a year ago from Carolina of Kids Go West, another kids travel site with a focus on California and the western United States.

Two others I've seen participating in Debbie's Photo Fridays that I must mention. 

The First: Caitlin from Roaming Tales writes cogently and honestly about travel and the environment. A recent favorite post of hers discusses the effects of Nestle using palm oil in their products with a particularly interesting focus on how Nestle uses (or mismanages) social media.

The second: Philanthropist, goofball and nutcase Peter Carey from The Carey Adventures. His photo of the day today shows an incredible close up of pachyderms from his recent trip to Kenya. Nothing quite like a baby elephant taking a nap.

All four are most definitely worth a follow on this lovely Friday morning!

Sometimes #FollowFriday Comes On Monday: Kelly Diels' Cleavage

I read literally hundreds of blogs. From travelers to expats to writers to foodies to science and art. There are very few, though, that I read every single day. Kelly Diels' blog is one of those. This is one very good reason why.

Ok, so she's personable, funny. She's the mom of a six-year-old and the mom of a Layla. Two different kids for her, but you see the overlap? But I promise, it's not just navel-gazing that draws me to her site.

Recently, I've been thinking a lot more about guest posting for other websites. There are a few already in the works, but many of those sort of fell into my lap. They are also all within the travel-blogging sphere. I'd like to branch out and maybe write for a writing site?

So I began where I always do when I need an answer. I turned to the internet.

Thing is, many of the bigger websites where I'd like to publish make it very difficult to pitch your guest ideas. Some even tell you flat out not to bother because they only accept guest posts by submission. Let me also add, that if you are considering guest posting and run into this, ignore it. Submit anyway. Worst you can get is no answer or a no. But if you don't try, it's definitely not gonna happen. Not that I'm the best at taking my own advice in this vein, so let's just say I'm saying it as much for my own benefit as yours.

Anyway, back to Kelly. See, it already feels as if I know her better simply by writing this post.

I was becoming somewhat discouraged by the state of guest posting when literally minutes later the following blog post appeared in my inbox: Help! I Need Advice About Guest Posting!

In this article, Kelly invites you to post your questions about guest blogging. She then answers them from her personal experience as a regular guest blogger for Problogger, then turns to the many other bloggers she knows to add their two cents.

Basically, you get a free seminar on one of the most overwhelming parts of blogging that also allows for personal interaction with an already very busy blogger as well as insight from her community of bloggers.

Kudos, Kelly. I tend to be pretty cynical, and now you have me all moony-eyed.

My question? How do I guest blog for you?

16+ Twitterers of Note To Mention On Follow Friday!

Happy Follow Friday! Today, I want to take a moment to make special note of people I know on Twitter and other social media outlets to say thank you. I'm happy to know you all!

Some are old friends. Some new. Some I’ve met in person. Others I know only through various social media channels.  All are people who not only have something interesting and unique to say but say it with a positive attitude.

When I first started on Twitter, I mentioned quite a few people like @umarket, @fogandthistle, @skydiver, @travelojos, @couchsurfingori all of whom I felt then and still find to be at the heart of what the very best of Twitter and social media can be.

Since then, my Twitter following has grown from 50 people to almost 4500. What frustrates me about #followfriday is how impossible it is to mention everyone I feel should be mentioned. Even so, I’d like to take today to bring attention to just a small group of those people I see on Facebook and Twitter, not daily, not even monthly, but people who I feel fortunate to have met.

@2morrowknight aka I don't know?
His Website: http://2morrowknight.blogspot.com 

 I didn't know 2morrowknight had been reading my blog at all until one day it appeared in his Huffington Post column: 12 Awesome Twitterers Who Rock the Planet. Wow! I simply cannot tell you how touched I was to be included in that list.

Since then, we have connected more on Twitter and Facebook where his streams are always full of poignant pertinent and well written information. One of my favorite articles is his No, Not My America. You Mean Our America, where he addresses the "shameful and criminally irresponsible attacks on President Obama."

@adbert aka Adrian Bertolini
His Website: http://adbert.posterous.com

Adrian is a sweetheart. Always with his Holitas! to say hello and a wicked stream on both Twitter and Blip.fm. He always has something worthwhile to offer. I almost had the chance to meet him when we traveled to Cordoba this past July. Unfortunately, it didn't happen, but he is top of my list of many reasons to visit again.

@Journeywoman aka Evelyn Hannon
Her Website: http://journeywoman.com

Even as CEO of the largest online travel resource for women, Evelyn always makes time to say hello and chat. I feel like I've known her for years, and I can't wait to meet her, whenever that may be. When you visit her site, be sure to sign up for her free tip newsletter going to 67,600 women in 100 countries. It's always packed with unique and useful information.

@lisarogak aka Lisa Rogak
Her Website: http://lisarogak.com

I recently connected with Lisa through Help A Reporter. She was working on a story about Miami International Airport. I was happy to supply her with a list of reasons why I hate that airport. She replied with the kindest e-mail.

It impressed me how a woman who has 40 books under her belt, countless articles and an incredibly busy travel schedule took the time to write, not just a quick e-mail, but one really asking questions to get to know me.

@wildjunket aka Nellie Huang
Her Website: http://wildjunket.com

Nellie wrote to me last year when she visited Salta. Soon after meeting, we sat talking about everything from travel and travel blogging to marriage to our families and more. She is an incredibly well traveled woman who writes wonderfully about the places she's been. Nellie was also kind enough to include me in her list of favorite Latin American Blogs.

@nerdseyeview aka Pam Mandel
Her Website: Nerd's Eye View

I don’t know Pam that well, but I do know she always has something insightful and thoughtful to say on her blog, in her Blogher blogs and everywhere else.

Last year’s Passports With Purpose, put together in conjunction with Debbie Dubrow  -- @deliciousbaby, Beth Whitman -- @wanderluster --  and Michelle Duffy -- @wandermom -- represents the very best of travel writing and social media. Plus a whole host of other participating bloggers.

How's that for building community?

@Travelinggreen aka Sonya?
The Website: http://travelinggreener.com

I first heard of Traveling Green through StumbleUpon when I saw a review of one of my blog posts by her. Then found her on Twitter. There's not a lot of personal identifying information, but clearly this blogger spends a a good amount of time searching and finding the best travel and eco-information on the internet. When I see the little green trembling aspen leaf icon, I make sure to see what's going on.

Then, of course, there’s the entire Matador Team.

Explore this list to find some of the most amazing writers, photographers, videographers and travelers on the internet. A group of people who truly think and live positively and freely but with humor. They help others and all have been such inspiration for me in writing and life.

I know there are plenty people I've missed. Such is the nature of lists such as these. So please, help me fill out this list with your favorite Twitters.

The Power Of Twitter: What Can You Do To Save the Sea (#followmeatsea)

With all the tumult last week over CruiseShipGate, aka #followmeatsea, I'm probably nuts to bring it up again, but it's been on my mind.

At first I found the whole thing childishly amusing then I stopped paying attention. Finally, as the ridiculous thing continued to rage on websites such as Wild Junket or Matador Change and continued appearing through backhanded snipes on Twitter, I started to get aggravated.

Whatever happened to civil debate?

Julie Shwietert questions in her Matador Change article whether or not the environmental impact of cruises would have even been raised had one particular Twitterer by the name of Jeanne Dee not brought it up and brought it up and brought it up.

But the issue had been raised prior to the cruise. Caitlin from Roaming Tales wrote two separate articles questioning cruises and the entire cruise industry. Nancy D Brown, one of the cruise participants, wrote her own article focusing on these very same issues.

It seems, though, whatever noise produced by these thoughtful articles went largely unheard, until the sturm and drang of Jeanne's repeated twittering brought out enough hostility and upset so that everyone's eyes centered on this particular drama.

Perhaps we should be thankful that someone was willing to stand up and generally point fingers and poke until it hurt, but I'd rather live in a world in which people can treat each other decently and still be heard.

“Universal responsibility,” says the Dalai Lama, “is the feeling for other people’s suffering just as we feel our own… We must recognize all beings want the same things we want. This is the way to achieve true understanding, unfettered by artificial consideration.”

The Human Side of the Debate

Kim Mance wrote in a comment to my previous post on the subject that she's been literally sick to her stomach because of the stress from all this. Many others quietly wrote me through Twitter, e-mail, the blog and Facebook to express their own frustration at the tone this environmental discussion has taken.

The bickering leaves a bad taste in many of our mouths, and you need only take a cursory look at comments on any of the posts related to this event to see all the people who have felt hurt, angry and insulted.

Then there are those living on the islands visited by cruise ships, the ones who have to put up with the crowds, the mess, the water awash in fecal coliform. The ones whose livelihood is entirely based on cruise ship traffic.

I saw firsthand the importance of tourism to these tiny islands.

We didn't have many cruises come through Bocas during the months I lived there, but when we did, relief was palpable in the air. Every boat driver in the vicinity zoomed out to the deep water where the ship docked and carried passengers to land. Restaurants, museums, tours, beaches all bloomed with life. Same thing when we had a coast guard ship stationed nearby.

By contrast, I visited Bocas just after a particularly bad storm. There were mudslides, earthquakes, food shortages, all of which meant no tourists. You could see the worry in everyone’s eyes, locals and expats alike. For some it meant tightening the belt. For others, it meant not knowing how food would get to the table and into their children’s mouths.

Then I think of my parents or Noah’s grandparents who are lifelong world travelers. Both couples started taking cruises later in life when their regular forms of travel became too rigorous.

My dad, for example, simply doesn’t have the energy to travel the way he had in the past, and so when he tells me he’s going traveling, even on a cruise, I rejoice, because I remember too many days he was too tired, too stiff and too frustrated with not feeling well to leave the house.

Aunt Jane took Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Charles on a cruise when they were no longer healthy enough to go on their long solo-treks to China, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Israel. It was the last trip of Grandma Ruth’s lifetime.

Let’s Find the Best Path Toward A Common Goal

 “Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen. Few in pursuit of the goal.
Friedrich Nietzsche,

Don’t misunderstand. I am in no way saying that the cruise ship industry is all fine-and-dandy. I’m saying the industry exists, selling large numbers of tickets, regardless of what I or anyone else personally believes.

Should I start lecturing Aunt Jane, Grandpa Charles, the people of Bocas or my parents on the evils of cruises? Do you think they’ll listen?

How many people do you think have decided never to go on another cruise because of Jeanne’s tweets? Or did they just listen quietly, think “Damn hippy” and continue on to buy their cheap winter vacation cruise to the Caribbean.

If people are still buying tickets, there's no reason for the cruise ship industry to change what they're doing.

Better To Find An Alternative

 “Wait and see what we have to say,” is the cry from those on board Princess cruise.

“But they’re just mouthpieces for the cruise industry comes the criticism.”

Really?

Does anyone truly believe that everyone on board this ship will just shill for the cruise industry? I mean really? You think every single one of these travel writers is so easily duped, tricked or just starry-eyed over a free trip that he or she will lose all objectivity?

Personally, I think people would be far more interested in their reports were they to find fault with the industry, because, as we already know, people are drawn more to conflict than confluence.

People are also drawn to causes.

It feels good to band together with others to do something worthwhile. Look at charity:water as an example. A Twitter based organization that brings people together worldwide to provide clean water and dig wells for those who do not have.

Wouldn’t it in fact, be better to gather together a group of people on Twitter who are known, followed and read because they have a strong and well developed personality through social media, then allow those people to send out a message?

Wouldn’t that have the greatest effect for the good for the most people and for the environment?

Yes, short term, you will not see the same response, but in the long run, treating people with decency and consideration leads to better, longer lasting results.

Step Up To The Opportunity

Let's all connect and contact. Get in touch with those who took part in the Twitter cruise and ask them what they think, ask them what can be done, and encourage all involved to use their information and influence to improve the situation.

A partial list of those to contact: Kim Mance of Go Galavanting, Nancy D., Brown, Brett Rounsaville from Amtrekker, Gary Arndt of Everywhere Trip and Simone de Santi, A Road Retraveled

As I said, it's only a partial list, so please feel free to add additional people, resources and best of all, your thoughts, ideas and solutions in the comments.

I’ll finish with more from the Dalai Lama, because I think most of us can meet in agreement with his words. “If we have a genuine sense of universal responsibility as our motivation, then our relations with the environment and with all our neighbors will be well balanced.”

Photos courtesy of Alice Popcorn and Ansik's Flickrstreams

Why I Gladly Sully My Twitterstream With #followfriday Recommendations

So today is yet another Follow Friday on Twitter. That's #followfriday to those of you who already know.

To those who don't know, a quick lesson in Twitter hashtags. Hashtags -- twittered words preceded by the # sign -- create groupings of a particular subject. You include a hashtag in your tweet when you want to create or add information to a topic. Say #travel #writers #parenting. Then when someone does a general Twitter search including your hashtag, your tweet appears under that search. 

 Follow Friday -- and it's corresponding hashtag #followfriday -- allows you to recognize those people you follow or those who follow you in some small yet significant way. When you add a #followfriday to a tweet with someones name, you're saying, "Hey, I dig this person. You should follow them too."

What this also means is every Friday, Twitter swells with hundreds, nay thousands of recommendations. It would require amazing time, patience and diligence just to blindly follow them all. The whole thing quickly becomes overwhelming and annoying. Most people stop paying attention. I know I certainly have. And many will even unfollow you if your Friday stream simply spews out list after list of recommended people.

So really then, what is the purpose of Follow Friday?

It's A Great Way To Reconnect With Those I Haven't Talked To In A While

I currently have a following of over 3000. While not the largest on Twitter, by far, it's still huge. To stay in touch with all these people would be impossible, and it's more likely I'd have a nervous breakdown before reaching them all.

Every so often, though, perhaps once a month, I take a Friday to recognize all those who have given me a personalized #followfriday recommendation. These are people I know beyond casual Twittering. We have become involved to whatever extent in each others personal, professional or Twitter lives.

Some examples:

@fogandthistle I met Rachel through YouBeMom when I posted to ask if anyone else was on Twitter. Since then, Rachel has introduced me to many of those she follows. I bought one of her beautiful papercut nightlights for Lila, and we have plans to meet in NY this September to discuss a project we'll hopefully be doing together.

@umarket and @collazoprojects Two travel Twitterers. When they recommend someone, I follow. I read their blogs, and both have supported and helped me in numerous ways.

@worldlyjohn A web developer and winner of the Social Action's Change the Web Challenge. We met when he twittered a request for input on his Change the Web Challenge entry and have since kept in touch. Turns out we will both be at Burning Man this summer. He's also about to move to my old neighborhood in Brooklyn and start his own web development firm. I'd like to hire him to redesign my websites.

When I #followfriday this group of people, I make sure to list them separately and give a specific reason why I so much appreciate them as part of my Twitter community.

Show Appreciation To Those Who Have Recommended Me

This is perhaps the largest group of people in my #followfriday group. Most, I don't know well. Many, I may never know beyond the occasional superficial tweet. But I do very much appreciate that they've taken the time to let me know they like what I do.

I want to say thank you back, so I include them in a longer list of people with just names but no particular descriptions.

Builds Your Following. Builds Community.

Many people send out list after list of people they don't know and probably don't or won't ever know much about. At first, this annoyed me. Clearly these people have no interest in me personally. They just want a bit of attention, want me to follow them, but then afterward, I won't hear a single thing from them.

Then I realized, so what?

Whenever I'm included in a list of #followfridays, it's a good bet the others in the list will follow me or retweet the list. Thus, my name gets around. While the percentage of people who then begin to follow me or read my blog based on these recommendations is significantly smaller than with those people who have taken the time to get to know me, it still builds my following.

And you never know where a real life, real time connection is to be made.

Builds Your Twitter Ranking

When you #followfriday people, they usually thank you and then start #followfridaying you. The more mentions you have on a particular day, the higher your ranking in Twitter Grader, an online ranking tool of Twitterers worldwide. It's divided by country, city and you can even find your overall ranking among more than 2 million Twitterers.

What does that mean? Well, it's not the end-all-and-be-all, but appearing high on any of these rankings will bring more people to your Twitter page and ultimately to your website. It is also quite a thing to say in your marketing profile that you are, theoretically, one of the Top Twenty Twitterers in Argentina -- as high as #4 in the country on a busy #followfriday --  and Number One in Salta.

Perhaps by now, I've convinced you to engage in Friday mania I've grown to know and love. Here are some tips to get you involved.

So How To Know Who Endorses You?

I use Top Follow Friday. You just type in your name and out comes a listing with all the people you've recommended and those who have recommended you. I do warn, though, this list isn't complete. More than once I have noticed key people missing, but it is a good tool.

If anyone has any other tools they use, please leave your ideas in the comments and feel free to let me know how I can thank you in return.

Follow Friday Isn't the Best Method of Connecting with Big Names On Twitter

Yes, I know, Follow Friday is for making connections, but those so-called Big Names -- @guykawasaki @skydiver @kriscolvin @zaibatsu -- receive so many mentions and retweets, it's likely yours will get lost in the crowd. There are so many better ways of getting their attention -- mention them in an article and then message them directly to let them know, for example.

Unless I have a specific reason to recommend them, I save my praise for retweeting.

You Don't Have To Do It All

I never get to everyone, and I'm sure there are people I miss entirely. Like everything else with social media -- and really life in general -- you can't do it all.

Don't kill yourself over it. A solid relationship won't fall apart if you somehow forget to mention a person. By the same token, you shouldn't get all bent out of shape if someone fails to mention you. Think of #followfriday as icing. Appreciate it when you have it, but don't whine if you don't.

As time passes, you'll find you meet more and more people. You'll see your list of endorsers grow and watch as the names on your list go from just names to people you not only recognize, but with whom you've developed real, working, give-and-take relationships.

It just takes time and patience.

Couchsurfing Twitters!

Couchsurfing is now officially on Twitter, and guess who will be updating the account.

Yes, me.

The first tweet went up last week. It reads: Psst! Check out our new URL! CouchSurfing.com is now CouchSurfing.org.

You can find the Twitter account at, what else, @couchsurfing where I'll be posting information about worldwide Couchsurfing meetings, festivals and events such as the NYC Couchcrash. Or the First Annual North Amercan Couchsurfing Camp Out. I'll also provide tips and answer how-tos for Couchsurfing beginners and post some general travel information, good deals on travel and other information that may come my way.

UPDATE 8.13.09: I'm no longer the Couchsurfing official twitterer so can no longer vouch for anything posted there nor can I answer any questions for them. If, however, you have any general thoughts, ideas or questions about Couchsurfing, how to go about doing it or want my opinions on it, just ask.

How To Pay For Two Years Of Travel -- Part II

Picking up from last Friday´s How to Pay For Two Years of Travel -- Part I.

When you have no choice but to pay for the night!

Sometimes, you´ll find yourself stuck and will have to pay by the night. There are always cheap options for this as well.

I have not yet visited a continent where you cannot find a hostel, although if you arrive too late in the day or during a particularly busy time -- such as Carnival in Central or South America -- you´ll be forced to turn to either camping out or a more expensive choice.

In France, Italy, Holland and just about every where else we stayed in Europe, we found we could trust in the quality of the places recommended by tourist offices, even if the prices seemed too good to be true. The owners are also willing to negotiate their prices if they have an empty room and someone in tourist information will do the negotiation for you. That's how we ended up at both La Beliere in Moustiers Sainte-Marie and La Matabone of Lourges. They were both new and thus empty at the height of tourist season. Both, I will add, were a bit out of the main tourist drag.

Wherever you are, don't be afraid to negotiate even if you're not fluent in the language. If nothing else, the negotiation gives you practice.

There's also the Etap chain - the cheapest of the Accor group of hotels found all over Europe. Cheap stay per night, includes breakfast, not luxury, but not bad at all, and you can usually get a room at the very last minute. Etap saved us from sleeping on the street more than one night.

Seek out advice from every possible place!

I consider this perhaps the most important thing you need to do. Start right now!

When we first decided to travel, we noticed that everyone and his mother had advice for us. We also found that many friends, family and even strangers had offers of places to stay, contacts in certain cities, and endless local insider information. It can be overwhelming and at times even unwanted.

Listen anyway. 

Someone might mention a job or place to stay for free. Having contacts can also help you immeasurably if you show up somewhere looking for work. As an example: When we first discussed traveling to Buenos Aires -- approximately nine months before we finally arrived in Argentina -- Noah contacted an old professor of his from City College who we knew had contacts in South America. He ultimately connected us to the place we´re now staying and working in Salta. It was a slow process, but now that we´re here, we have community in Salta who has helped us immeasurably.

I keep a Word -- or whatever text editor you use -- file on my desktop where I type down any and all information people give me. I make sure to include the name of the country or city along with whatever information I´ve been given. I don´t worry too much about order or neatness. When I want to find something, I simply do a search in the file for the country or place name.

Talk to other travelers. In most places, there is a circuit. Wherever you are, there will be a stream of people coming from all directions and destinations. You ask them all about how busy things are, how cheap, what’s the best way to get around, good places to stay, then plan your next step accordingly.Otherwise, I would never have known that the guy selling chicken sandwiches out of a trailer on the main street in Bocas serves one of the best chicken sandwiches I've ever had (always get the Jumbo with piquante and cheese.) Or that when everyone thought Bocas had been destroyed by earthquakes and flooding, I was able to let a friend of mine who leads GAP tours know that Bocas was indeed fine and open for business.

Again, Couchsurfing is a wonderful source of this sort of travel tips. As are TripAdvisor, Matador Travel, Twitter and Yahoo Groups (although with Yahoo, the personal profiles are more limited, so you don't have as much on which to judge the person giving advice).  On all, you can contact people directly or post in a larger group.

Get a job!

Teach English or another language you know.  Check out Nomadic Matt’s five part series on how to make money by teaching.

Make and sell jewelry or other crafts.

Are you a musician, a dancer, a performer of any kind? Do you want to be? While perhaps this is a bad idea in places like Atlanta or New York, where street performing and vending are discouraged, there are plenty places in this world who not only tolerate but encourage busking.

Performers and vendors in San Telmo´s Sunday Feria

Or you can apply for writing grants or art grants. You can start your own website. Sell your travel photography. Write for travel sites. Wait tables. Garden.Teach yoga or another skill of yours.

Brave New Traveler -- a section of Matador -- recently featured an article on 25 Ways To Earn Money When You're Broke On The Road with even more ideas.

Some last minute advice! It's all about your attitude!

You will be amazed at how open and giving people can be. Friends, family and perfect strangers have freely given advice, clothing, contacts, a place to stay or a meal. I, myself, try to be as giving. When we have a place of our own, we open our home, our table and our things for others.

My openness, however, has boundaries. There are always those who will take advantage, so you have to read, research and know what how much your willing to pay or give before agreeing to anything. That said, people have overwhelmingly helpful. We have had only one less than stellar experience, and that only involved the loss of some snorkel equipment and a towel.

Also remember that no one owes you anything, no matter what they promise. Don't bother getting yourself all worked up when someone offers help then doesn't deliver.  Instead, be patient, focus on those people who do come through and then move on.

I suppose that´s exactly what I mean when I say we´re traveling one day at a time. Each day brings new surprises, enchantments and yes, even disappointments. You take them as they come. It´s character building, and that, I believe is the very crux of traveling.

So What're You Doing For Valentine's Day?

Image by Swamibu

A quick post to pass along a great gift idea for Valentine's Day...

I love these projects that both embody the act of both giving and receiving at the same time. You write a poem for a loved one; it is published. Others can donate to download your written works and all proceeds go to help others.

The LOVE ebook: Love Creations and Real Support For Those Hit By the Recession! A project put together by @writingroads.

Hmmm... a win, win, win situation.

Water, Water Everywhere, What Are We Going To Drink?

I love water. Love to drink it, swim in it, cook with it, occasionally fill a water gun with it to shoot my cat when she tries to steal food.  And while I may not shower everyday, I don't know what I would do without water to bathe in.

Water. Water. Water is one of the main reasons we decided NOT to live in Bocas del Toro, Panama. The water pumped into our taps from the city tank isn't really potable. Sure, many drank it, and no one became terribly ill, but the water from our sink, shower and toilet flowed yellow and smelled awful. Those who drank it, tended to walk around with constant stomach trouble.

Even in a place like Bocas, where rain fell abundantly year round, sometimes incessantly for weeks on end, still, people wouldn't have clean water because rain water catchment isn't cheap. I supposed you could set out jugs and bowls to collect water, but how long can you leave them sitting in a place when dengue fever or other mosquito born illness are real health issue.

The idea, though, of buying every drop of water used for consumption is simply inane. For one, it's expensive. That, and there's nothing like carrying five gallon jugs of water from store to tiny boat then climbing onto rickety dock to keep you entirely aware of how much water you actually drink in a day.  Mostly, though, the idea of having to purchase what should be a free commodity is just wrong.

Unfortunately, that is too much the reality. We are lucky. We had the choice to simply go somewhere else, but this is not the case for most.

Perhaps that is why Charity:Water -- dedicated to making sure people worldwide have clean water to drink -- strikes such a chord with me. 

Scott Harrison and a group of Twitterfolk who are organizing Twestivals all over the world to raise money for this worthy cause. I ask, what can I do to help?

There's a Twestival in Buenos Aires, but I am over a thousand miles from there.

I did what I always do when far away from home, without many contacts and not sure who to call or ask for help or support. I go online. First, I went to couchsurfing.com, to the Couchsurfing Buenos Aires Group. It's a wonderful community. And a large community. And a community that supports charity and community projects just like Charity:Water. Thus, I was surprised to find not a single mention of the Buenos Aires Twestival.

(There is one now!)

Then to Twitter. I wrote to where people connect through 140 characters (or less) of typing, showing once again how such small gestures create huge impact. Contact @twestival for the main Twestival information. Or @twestivalba for the Buenos Aires Twestival information

But it seems there's not as much overlap between my two communities as I thought. So, Buenos Aires Couchsurfing meet Twitter. Twitter meet Couchsurfing. Come out for a good cause.

If you're in Buenos Aires, please join these lovely Twitterers to support this event. If not in Buenos Aires, please spread the world.  You'll find an entire listing of all the Twitter profiles for every Twestival worldwide on the main Twestival website along with options of how you can get involved. Join the event. Donate. Volunteer. Or just spread the word.

Even the smallest gesture means everything.

A Total Newbie Answers the Question: What Good Is Twitter?

 If you aren't already, please follow me on Twitter!

* * *

I joined Twitter almost two years ago. I remember exactly where I was too. In an Etap hotel just outside of Marseilles. I was introduced to it by @arincrumley, one of the creators of Four Eyed Monsters. That was the same day I started my blog. But at that point, it was so slow and painful to twitter from a Blackberry, I didn't bother.

Since then, I've been so busy with moving, traveling and the like, that it only barely hit my radar. I figured when I was more settled and finally thought of good use for Twitter, I'd wait to get involved. Then I started receiving notices that people were following me on Twitter.

"Following what?" I wondered. Still more followed, and finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I logged onto my account.

That was about ten days ago, and now I am hooked. So what good is twitter? I'll tell you!

1. Work and Personal Benefits

It's like a huge online cocktail party with tens of thousands of people chatting 24 hours a day. You are always connected to people with similar interests, both work and personal, all over the world. I'm in touch with others interested in yoga, gardening, sustainable development, art and teaching.

So far I have learned endless amounts about the technical side of building a better blog, how to use Twitter, Wordpress and how to work public relations and social media outlets. Thanks @DaivRawks. This man, Daiv Russell-Ninja Nerd has almost 20K followers and somehow manages to keep up with them all. He offers sound advice on anything technical. I sent him a question once and was amazed to see his response within a few minutes.

There are others too: @mashable @mayhemstudios @PRsarahevans and @skydiver.

@skydiver, by the way, is Peter Shankman, founder of Help A Reporter. If you are a writer of any type, business owner, website analyst, really anything, you need to check out his site. I'd also like to mention that I met him twice. First, at the 1996 Democratic convention in Chicago. The second time, I was struggling to carry my child and her stroller down the subway stairs at the Columbus Circle station in NYC just before we left to travel. He stopped to ask if I needed help.

I've met other travelers. @collazoprojects. Julie Shwietert, a writer and traveler from NYC and Puerto Rico writes wonderfully on her blog about all topics ranging from travel to politics and more.

I met Julie through the Twitter posts of @umarket of Uncornered Market fame. Their website follows their absolutely amazing travels through tens of countries. Their thoughtful articles and striking imagery make you want to visit. If you can't, though, you have this sneaking feeling that you've been with them through China, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Latvia and so many other places I simply cannot list them here.

There's also @ARoadRetraveled. @tripwolf. @travelojos. I've chatted and compared travel notes with all these people. In addition, each has a website where you can learn more about their experiences traveling and perhaps one day, I will write for some of them or they will guest blog for me.

Sometimes, you find inspiration. @kendrathornbury, for example, is a Life Coach, Spiritual Guide, Manifest Mastermind Guide, Law of Attraction Guru, SpiritAlive Creator, Joyous Being, Free Spirit, Humanitarian, Alive Enthusiast (as her profile says). Each day, she posts wonderful statements about how to move yourself more freely through life and reach your goals.

"When you are aware and awake in the moment, you have the leverage to create whatever you want. U are not a slave to circumstances," she posted last night. And there is such a lovely picture of her smiling on the beach on her website.

I've met other parents. @fogandthistle Another NYC mom. She has a blog and Etsy shop where she sells original papercut designs. I plan to buy one of her gorgeous nightlights. Lila has been asking for one for quite a while and her room here in Salta is so unbelievably dark at night.

And finally, it's a great source of news. I'm following all sorts of news outlets such as @nytimes, @suntimes, @guardiannews. And BOOM, all headlines with links are sent directly to me.

"But why do I need all this information?" I'm sure many of you are still asking yourselves. I've already seen more visitors to my blog. And, well, I guess I may as well tell you. I have a new project brewing. It involves an expansion of the What Lila Sees section of this website. I'm aiming to launch in June.

There are other less obvious benefits to Twitter as well.

1. Improved Memory

Imagine. You are following the information threads of anywhere from 10 to 10,000 people. It's a constant stream of information. Then one day, you see a reply from someone line @CouchsurfingOri saying "Could've been that stalker! :)"

What? I had no idea what he meant. Was that message intended for someone else? I had to think back to all my interactions with him and all the things I posted in the past day or so. Then I got it! I posted something about that horrible yowling outside our casita last night. "What the hell was it?" I wondered.

2. Teaches Patience

You can't ask everything at once. And when you do make contact with some, you can't just blurt out right from the beginning: "I have the great idea. You really should help me." No, you have to start chatting, understand who the person is, what they do. You have to get to know them as you would in real life, but on Twitter, you rarely receive the immediate response you would at a real cocktail party. You have to wait for your answer.

3. Encourages Positive Thinking

There is a real culture of Pay It Forward. I've noticed the things that attract the most interest, tend to benefit as many people as possible. @twitchhiker, for example. He's a reporter for the Guardian who intends to travel for a month soley with the help of Twitter tips. All money he raises goes to charity.

People credit each other for posting solid articles and thoughts by this funny little thing called retweeting. By retweeting, you also help yourself. The person you credit is thankful and passes along your name. The people who appreciate what you've passed along thank you as well.

And since this is a site so often used for marketing, almost everyone I've encountered presents a positive, helpful face. You have to be open to people and you never know from where a good idea will arise, so most people are willing to have conversations and help. In ten days, I have yet to see anyone be anything but decent and constructive. A far cry from You Be Mom, where people remain anonymous and tend to tear each other apart.

4. It Is the DOS Version of the Future
Best yet! Twitter is it's own world with it's own rules. In it, you open yourself to a constant stream of information from so many disparate sources. It's absolutely dizzying. Hot dang if I don't feel like Johnny Mnemonic, only the yakuza aren't chasing me and presumedly my head won't explode if I don't find the key to the data stored in my head.

One day, I'm betting we'll receive this feed directly into our brains. There, we'll meet our Twitterverse Tweeples wearing brilliant 3D avatars lounging on sumptuous digital couches and sipping martinis while sorting through the latest information about some big business mogul releasing a horde of insects into a crowd or accept a request to speak to a classroom of children in the South of France or Guam. I imagine my eyelids will be quickly fluttering as I receive the information.

Yeah, Twitter. I drank the Kool Aid. I'm a true believer now.