Sanjay Surana: The Life and Not-So Crazy Times of a Travel Writer

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Sanjay SuranaTravel Writer

GET UPDATES FROM Sanjay Surana   Like 7 The Life and Not-So Crazy Times of a Travel Writer Posted: 05/03/2013 11:47 pm Follow   Adventure ,   Adventure ,   Hotels & Resorts ,   Writing , Bragging , Danger , James Bond , Travel , Travel Writing , Travel News
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When I read a travel writer's bio, and notice all the wildly offbeat and dangerous things that he or she has done, I wonder to myself, why oh why? Not why did they do those things, though the thought does cross my mind, but why does it matter? Why this compulsion to tell the reader? How does it in any way relate to them being a good writer? Don't get me wrong, I'm as guilty at the next scribe, conveniently dismissing my less exciting work assignments to focus on the few choice 'adventures' that I've had, but none of these episodes adds to my basic skill of how to tell a story. It just shows that I, and the rest of my fellow wordsmiths, have taken part in some silly shenanigans and hope to impress the reader by boasting about them. Ultimately, it's a game of global one-upmanship. In case you're not clear what I am referring to, it's the line in a bio that usually reads something like one of the following:

1. Ate fried snakes with the triads of southwestern China

2. Jumped into the sea from the top of an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Aden

3. Cut off a goat's testicles as part of mating ritual with tribes in Papua New Guinea

4. Wrestled a crocodile while accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature

5. Raced a Formula 1 car on the dirt roads of the Democratic Republic of Congo

6. Flossed a great white's teeth off the coast of South Africa

7. Made a wig out of live tarantulas in the Australian outback

8. Slept in a beehive in the Arctic Circle

9. Trekked across Africa in a pair of flip flops, three days after open-heart surgery

10. Was stranded in the Pacific for 14 years on a raft made of empty pinto-bean cans

You get the drift. The reason that most of us writers add this kind of pseudo awe-inspiring drivel to our bios is to make our lives seem extraordinarily fascinating. We live life on the edge, grab it by the horns (insert your own corny saying here), never knowing what will happen next, what unspeakable act we'll do during our glamorous, thrilling assignment. A travel writer's life shouldn't be mundane. It can't be. That would defeat the purpose of the profession -- getting paid to see the world and share our experiences with someone other than our cat. We are supposed to be the literary versions of a James Bond movie (without all that espionage and killing of course), hopping round the globe from one scenic spot to the next with gay abandon.

But the pauses between our trips -- trips that, I might add, usually consist of doing little more staying in a hotel, wandering the streets, trying to chat with some locals (usually through hand signals, due to language barriers), filling our stomachs with mediocre, hastily sourced meals, and then writing all that up -- are anything but thrilling. We take out the garbage the night before trash collection day though sometimes forget. We throw on some old clothes to buy milk and toilet roll from the supermarket. We line up dutifully at the post office to get our tax returns in on time, sent by registered return receipt. We wonder whether our home insurance premiums will shoot up at renewal time. We still have difficulty placing the 50 states in the correct positions, or is that just me? But we cannot give anyone reading our work that impression, can we? It would be so . . . deflating.

Here are 10 things that I would like to, though never will, read in a writer's or blogger's bio:

1. Had her photo taken by the Africa Rocks exhibit at the San Diego zoo

2. Ate stale butter biscuits at a bus stop in Ghent while it poured with rain

3. Got sick drinking the tap water in a youth hostel in North Dakota

4. Took Spanish lessons in Spain

5. Missed a flight home because he forgot to adjust the time zone on his watch

6. Didn't realize that she'd need insect repellent for a summer trip to Denali National Park

7. Bought a "My dad went to Sydney and all he bought me was this this dumb T-shirt" for his teenage son

8. Got seasick while tubing on the Deschutes River

9. Only travels to destinations where there's a Domino's or Papa John's. Otherwise what to do for dinner?

10. Always leaves his towel on the floor after a shower

Readers care to add any more?

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Which Keywords are Best for a TRAVEL BLOG?

Hi,

I decided to launch a travel site, which has the format of a travel blog, but it will be a real site, not a blog - meaning that I'll be doing all the coding and content writing and it will have more features than a blog etc.

But I'm not sure whether I've chosen my keywords well...

How do people find GENERAL TRAVEL BLOGS or in my case: a general travel site?

So far I only managed niche sites, this is way too broad... It will contain destination guides, photos, maybe even reviews and polls. I will have keywords for those.

But for main page - primary keywords I guess it will be "travel", "travel blog", "travel stories", "travel guides"... any more ideas on which keywords kick-in well for general travel sites/blogs?

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Rebecca Dolan: A Rail Accident Proves That Amtrak Is The Only Way To Travel

Rebecca Dolan: A Rail Accident Proves That Amtrak Is The Only Way To Travel HPFB.init();
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GET UPDATES FROM Rebecca Dolan   Like 47 A Rail Accident Proves That Amtrak Is The Only Way To Travel Posted: 03/19/2013 7:00 am Follow   New York ,   Trains ,   Travel Blogs , Amtrak , Derailment , New York Travel , Rhode Island , Train Travel , On The Road , Travel News
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In a day and age when traveling has become little more than a series of indignities, riding the rails can itself feel like a vacation. Amtrak is really the only way to travel.

This weekend was just another reminder of how civilized the world of train travel can be. I was scheduled to return to New York from Rhode Island on Sunday night when my plans were thwarted by a freak cargo train derailment that resulted in the cancellation of every Amtrak trip between New York and Boston. These things happen -- extremely rarely -- so I was withholding judgment, seeing how the folks in the train station would react.

Had I been at an airport, I would have expected mass hysteria. People would have been simultaneously screaming into their cell phones and at ticket agents. Ticket agents would be stonewalling on refunds while offering to re-book passengers on a 10:00 p.m. plane the next day with a connection in Chicago. Baggage would be irretrievable from within the bowels of the mighty airport.

Here's how it actually went down at the train station: After an announcement was made that the 4:44 Acela Express was cancelled, passengers quickly and quietly queued up for the ticket windows, where the smiling Amtrak associates rebooked us for the next convenient departure. Easy as pie.

Only one woman started giving the ticket staff the third degree. Not too bad.

I should disclose that I have long been an Amtrak acolyte, taking it for both short hauls and overnight jaunts. Its exchange policy is liberal and its refund policy generous, meaning plans can stay flexible -- my plans are always flexible, derailment or no.

Sitting on a train is also less claustrophobic than squeezing into a plane; standing up is a thing and middle seats aren't. Amtrak also gets points for accepting cash for snacks when airplanes only take credit. That is called customer service people.

Sure our rail system is still light years away from comparing to those in Europe or Japan, but it ain't half bad. If more people got to know it, there would be more demand and maybe -- sometime decades from now -- the rails would be as awesome as this. Hey, a girl can dream.

 FOLLOW TRAVEL Like 33k   Get Alerts #ad_bottom_article_text {margin-bottom: 15px} New York TravelOn The RoadTrainsRhode IslandIn a day and age when traveling has become little more than a series of indignities, riding the rails can itself feel like a vacation. Amtrak is really the only way to travel. This weekend was just ...In a day and age when traveling has become little more than a series of indignities, riding the rails can itself feel like a vacation. Amtrak is really the only way to travel. This weekend was just ...     Most Popular Elizabeth Warren Talks $22-An-Hour Minimum Wage PRINTABLE NCAA Tournament Bracket History Channel's Satan Looks A Lot Like Obama... Elisabeth Hasselbeck's Days At 'The View' Are Reportedly Numbered CNN, Fox News Air Name Of Underage Rape Victim Indian Officials Suggest Swiss Tourist, Husband Partially To Blame For Gang Rape Britney Spears Reunites With Ex-Husband Ohio Rape Trial Verdict Announced Gwyneth Paltrow Reveals Devastating Miscarriage Hillary Clinton Comes Out For Gay Marriage MSNBC Almost Entirely Dominated By Opinion, New Study Says PICTURES: Nailed It! PHOTOS: Kate Middleton Almost Trips On Her Heels At St Patrick's Day Parade Marine Draws Gun, Stops Brutal Crime BEYONCE'S BACK Banned For Life Karl Rove Mocks Sarah Palin Tenure As Governor Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart's Fame Is 'Tragic,' Says 'Twilight' Author Fox News Contributor Makes Shocking Judd Joke Soccer Player Celebrates Goal With Nazi Salute Follow HuffPost Email Facebook Twitter Google Plus RSS Mobile HuffPost Daily Brief Travel Get top stories and blogs posts emailed to you each day.

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