it's on. pre-registration tix for tbex 2011 went on sale today.

Holy crap. Within minutes of receiving an email from Wanderlust and Lipstick Founder and Editrix, Beth Whitman that Travel Blog Exchange tickets had gone sale, more than half of the blogger pre-registration tickets had already sold. In less than seven hours. Wow. Since TBEX is being held in roadtrip friendly nearby Vancouver, B.C. and I'll be hot off the heels of The Global Citizen Project, I plunked down the $50 pre-registration ticket fee (it jumps to $80 during regular registration, which I believe starts September 5th, 2010). Sure, my travel dance card is locked and loaded with the next 11 volunteer projects for TGCP and I'm typically not one to plan anything so far ahead, but I'm giddy about the prospect of having so many of my peers in the PacNW and hope that folks take me up on my offer to show 'em around Seattle. Mi es su casa and there's not much I love more in life than a good roadtrip. I don't want to get all Julie the Cruise Director, but there's anything I can do to make my fellow travel writer/blogger's stay in the PacNW more enjoyable, holler. When it comes to my hometown, Seattle, baby I was born to hostess.

mail enhancement

Be a tree’s BFF when you say bye bye to snail mail and start using Seattle-based start-up Earth Class Mail’s cyber mail services. Here’s how it works: Sign up for an online P.O. box and total control of your mail at the click of a mouse. Every unopened piece of mail is scanned both front and back, bar-coded, and tracked at the stadium-sized Beaverton, OR sorting facility before it arrives digitally in the customer’s online mailbox. Recipients are directed towards a secure website, where they can decide to have their mail opened and scanned, or forwarded, recycled, or archived without ever touching a hard copy. Skeptical of your confidentiality? Employees are screened via a patent-pending security system that called upon the safety smarts of the FBI Cybercrimes Division, among other leading experts. The mail handling facility bans all recording devices like mobile phones, computers or any device that could record or send information. Perfect for jet-setters, business travelers and expatriates who want a consistent mailing address, or those who wish they called a specific zip code home, like Seattle.




Wanna Try?
Earth Class Mail, 93 S Jackson St., Seattle; (206-905-2400). Plans start at $9.95 month plus a $25 set-up fee, with options for singles, couples and small business. Available in 19 major U.S. cities, including Seattle.

non-profit spotlight: crooked trails

A trip to the Amazon a few years ago sparked our l-u-v affair with South America. Crooked Trails’ travel programs to Peru, India, Nepal, Kenya, Ecuador, Thailand and China, along with its community development efforts, like the Seis Vacas Para Peru program (6 Cows for Peru), sealed the deal and had us running to the alter. The Seattle-based non-profit, community-based travel organization strives to teach the ethics of responsible travel. Crooked Trails Co-founder and Executive Director, Christine Mackay, dishes with me on her commitment to change the way people travel.

CP:  What does Crooked Trails do?
CM: “Crooked Trails is a non-profit travel organization based in Seattle. We take people to live and work with communities around the world. Our focus is cultural immersion and responsible travel. I like to say it’s like a mini peace corp. experience that is in the hands of the communities we visit. We broaden people’s horizons and change lives. At least that is what our participants say.”

CP:  Why do you think this work is important?
CM: “Responsible travel is important because tourism is the largest industry in the world and the impacts on the economies, cultures and environments of people around the world is often negatively impacted because of tourists. It doesn’t have to be that way. Tourism can happen with host communities not to them if they have control over it. So we want to show travelers as well as host communities that tourism can be beneficial and a lot of fun to boot.”

CP:  What’s your favorite place to travel to?
CM: “I was thinking about this in December while I was traveling in Thailand. I had been to Thailand easily a dozen times and spent about 6 months there in total but this visit in December was the first in 5 years. I fell in love with it all over again and I realized that my favorite country is usually the one I am traveling in at the moment. I seem to appreciate wherever I am at any given time the most. It sure makes it easy to pick a place. But I just got back from Bhutan it was an amazing place – very fresh, fragile and traditional.”

CP:  What's your eco-confession?
CM: “I like sound of spa resorts, although I have yet to visit one.”

CP:  What's your eco pet peeve?
CM: “Seeing tourists using plastic water bottles when they could easily filter their own saving themselves money and time as well as the host countries environment.”

CP:  What's the eco thing you can't live without?
CM: “My steriPEN which cleans water in 60 seconds by using ultraviolet light.”

CP:  Name one place you gotta see or one thing you want to do before you die?
CM: “It was Bhutan but I just ticked that off the list, so now it’s Antarctica.”

CP:  Which type of transportation do you prefer: biking, walking, busing, train riding, or driving an eco-automobile?
CM: “I actually like mixing it up. It’s great to combine modes of transport to spice up the travel. I do love trekking though and have done it around the world.”

CP:  Are you more likely to vermicompost or put a bucket in the shower?
CM: “You got me. The only thing I have done close to combining a bucket and a shower is a sponge bath.”

CP:  If you were a character in a movie, who would you be?
CM: “Xena, the warrior princess.”

CP:  Fill in the blank: If I weren't a Travel director, I’d be…a travel writer for National Geographic.

CP:  Which do you prefer, crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
CM: “Now that depends on the bread. Smooth for whole grain bread with seeds, but crunchy for finer breads and crackers.”

Wanna Try?
Crooked Trails, www.crookedtrails.com or (206-383-9828)

Small Changes Add Up
If 10,000 Seattleites sent their kids to school with a reusable water bottle instead of a disposable water bottle each day, it would keep the weight of nearly 130 milking Holstein cows out of the landfill.

Photo courtesy of Crooked Trails

for whom the bella tolls - mother's day is may 9

Nothing quite says you’re the world’s best mama quite like a bouquet of fresh cut flowers. At Terra Bella Flowers in Phinney Ridge, the majority of stems are organic, and many sourced locally including tulips from Alm Hill Garden in Bellingham, peonies, berries, dahlias, and chocolate cosmos from Jello Mold Farm in Mount Vernon. Owner Melissa Feveyear also buys from local farmers’ markets and from The Children’s Garden in Carnation. Roses come from Portland, California, and Ecuador, although Melissa suggests buying local tulips and hyacinths for Mother's Day if you want to be as green as possible. Wrap ‘em in willow with a couple sprays of hot pink roses and cymbidium orchids from Portland's Peterkort Roses and you have a beautiful European garden mix of sustainably grown blooms to drool over. By buying flowers grown here in the Northwest instead of sourcing buds grown around the globe, we support out own economy and reduce the need for mass transportation. TerraBella Flowers also rents and reuses its props and containers and is more than happy to set up a carbon offset program for your wedding or other event.

Wanna Try?
TerraBella Flowers & Mercantile, 8417 Greenwood Ave. N., Seattle; (206-783-0205)

Small Changes Add Up
If 10,000 Seattleites bought roses sourced from Portland, OR instead of Ecuador, it would keep the weight of 385 Liberty Bells out of the landfill.

national volunteer week

Whew. There’s a lot going on this week. It’s National Volunteer Week (April 18-24), which I honored today by volunteering a few (far too fast) hours at Marra Farm Giving Garden in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle via the United Way of King County. My county’s United Way chapter works closely with Solid Ground, an organization that provides shelter, food, home care, transportation and other basic services to more than 38,000 families and individuals in need throughout King County. Under the aegis of Solid Ground and several other organizations, the four acre Marra Farm engages people in sustainable agriculture and education (of all ages) while enhancing local food security. (The food grown at Marra Farm goes to local residents and the senior lunch program through the Providence Regina House Food Bank, Mien senior citizens, and Concord Elementary School students and their families.) To get an idea of how much this little four acre plot contributes to the local community, consider this: In 2009, more than 1,400 volunteers contributed over 6,200 hours to help us grow more than 16,000 pounds at Marra Farm. Wow.

Marra Farm also has one heckuva fascinating history. First of all, it is one of only two historical farms preserved with Seattle city limits (the other being Picardo Farm in Wedgwood, Seattle). It was operated from the early 1900s until the 1970s by the Marra family, until they sold it to King County Parks and Recreation under the premise that the parcel must remain open space. The land got very little love until the immigrant neighborhood residents joined efforts, along with a VISTA volunteer to kickstart restoration efforts in the late 1990s.

Big thanks to Marra Farm Coordinator, Sue McGann for being such an amazing ambassador of the land and of farming and for reminding us to honor the farmers who grow our food and to always support our farmers' markets. You made me leave Marra Farms yearning to return and get my hands back in the dirt to play some small part of the bigger picture. Also, thank you Erica and Yuri of United Way of King County for coordinating this volunteer opportunity and for throwing free Seattle Mariners tickets into the mix to sweeten the already satisfying deal. I look forward to working with all of you again. (Be still my volunteer lovin' heart.)

A quick side note also in the volunteering vein. I'd like to thank Sarah Van Auken of Volunteer Global for the nice mention of The Global Citizen Project's fundraising efforts in her "Fundraising for Your Volunteer Trip" blog post. Sarah's been an incredible supporter of my project and a fantastic proponent of volunteer travel and I'm so very glad this gal is on my team. She rocks.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there this week and do something for the world already. Even if you only have an hour or two to spare, between National Volunteer Week and Earth Day (coincidentally, my birthday), there are oodles of volunteer opportunities this week. Go make a difference. (Because I know you can.)

less than two months to go

Less than two months from today, The Global Citizen Project will kick off. Ten of the twelve projects have been confirmed and I hope to have the few remaining nailed down as soon as possible. Several of the flights and program fees have been paid for, with strategic frequent flyer mile planning kept in mind to help cover airline costs later in the project. Despite going into this with a clear plan and a projected budget, the act of pulling all of the logistics together has required a tremendous amount of well-thought out (read: overanalyzed to death) decision-making. In real life, I tend to be a jump-into-the-deep-end-of-the-pool-sans-water-wings kinda gal, who just has a knack for making things happen. Planning The Global Citizen Project has required a great deal of patience and thought as I try to make the smartest decisions possible. While I’m still pinching myself that I was able to raise over $20,000 in 90-days (thank you), there is not much wiggle room for budgeting errors and I want to make sure that every dollar will have the greatest effect possible. Fingers crossed, I should have a final itinerary of where I’ll be and when, and a little bit about each project available in the next week or so to share with you. Thanks for bearing with me on this one. Once I take off in June, I need my plan to be locked, loaded and logistically squared away and I want to be as certain as possible that I'm making the best possible decisions for the project.


As I pull details together for TGCP, I’ve been catching up on non-TGCP related editorial work. Most recently, I wrote a travel feature for The Costco Connection on the ambitious culinary programs at Pueblo Bonito Resorts in Cabo San Lucas, worked on some press material for one of my favorite publicists in the whole wide world, Andrea Burnett, penned a top ten honeymoon feature for HotelChatter.com and articles on Montpelier Plantation in Nevis, B.V.I. and The Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco for Jetsetter.com (a member of the Gilt Groupe). I also started a loose outline for a book proposal on The Global Citizen Project (you never know) and have been lining up some TGCP-related writing gigs for pre/post projects.

The last few weeks have also seen a non-stop string of fantastic visitors, house guests and new friends. I absolutely love to cook, entertain and show off Seattle – even more so now that I know I may not see some of my favorite faces for quite some time. Sure, TGCP is only a one year commitment, and yes, I will be back and forth to Seattle over the course of the year, but the reality is that there are a lot of people whom I will miss dearly. The last house guest arrives Monday, a dear friend from Chile, followed by friends visiting from Alaska on Tuesday, before I take a red-eye Thursday night to New Orleans for a long-time friend’s wedding. There, in one of my favorite parts of the country, if not the world, I’ll get to see several close friends, many of whom I haven’t see for years due to great geographic distances. As an added bonus, the timing of the wedding also coincides with the French Quarter Festival. I'm one giddy girl just thinking about all of the free musical entertainment to be had just two blocks from my super cheap hotel (found on Hotwire, natch).

In other project related news, this past week I went to the University of Washington Travel Clinic where I survived the first of three visits to complete all of the necessary vaccinations for the next year of travel. Full disclosure: Despite a childhood filled with Friday afternoon allergy shots (for nine years), I’m a total baby when it comes to shots and blood. So, when Nurse Lisa spelled out exactly what would be needed to travel safely and my per appointment injection threshold, I almost fainted. (I’m not even going to go into the stacks of country-by-country printed material of warnings she sent me home with.) And here I thought I was all fancy already having Hep A, Typhoid and Yellow Fever vaccinations under my belt. Oh, how far my yellow World Health Organization card has come and I still have two appointments to go. I suppose a few pesky needles (and bruised/sore arms – every vaccination in the first round was administered intramuscle) is no great shakes compared to the possible complications should I pick-up the diseases in question. Plus, Nurse Lisa wields a needle with such deftness that my wincing really was kept to a minimum. That alone will make returning for round two all the more easier.

One last housekeeping issue as I’m in full-tilt logistics mode: If you have not received your backer reward yet, please send me your mailing address to cpfeuffer (at) yahoo (dot) com. There are still a few Chipotle Burrito Bucks, Theo Chocolate Bars and one lonely bag of Lighthouse Roasters coffee still milling around. Jennifer B., your Theo Chocolate is wrapped and ready to go.

Here's wishing everyone a happy Easter (if you celebrate) and a happy spring.

new backer reward - one night stay at hotel max (seattle)

A quintessentially comfortable, utterly hip experience awaits you at the Hotel Max.

In the heart of downtown Seattle, Washington, the Hotel Max offers an artistic setting for both business and pleasure. The Hotel Max provides the platform for both emerging and established Seattle artists and photographers. There are more than 350 original paintings and photographs found throughout our Seattle hotel in the lobby, guest rooms and corridors.




The fine print: This Gift Certificate entitles you to enjoy a One Night Stay inclusive of Valet Parking. Reservations will be made based on availability. Incidental charges are not included. Other restrictions may apply.
The value is $299, but can be yours with a $150 pledge to The Global Citizen Project.

Photo courtesy of MACSURAK

seattle on sale. 24 hours only - starting at midnight tonight (PST)

It is my plan to swap my BlackBerry for a backpack to serve 12 different community causes in 12 countries over 12 months, with a project I conceived, The Global Citizen Project. TGCP has raised more than $10,000 so far, but only has TEN days remaining to reach its $20,000 funding goal or else the project will not happen and I will not receive a cent. Donations start at $1 and there are several tokens of gratitude being offered for different levels of pledges.





For 24 hours only, from midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow night (PST), you can support a great cause and save money of lots on several really cool Seattle items. Prices will be adjusted on Kickstarter at midnight tonight (PST), so if you see something you like, please pledge ASAP. Prices will be switched back to pre-sale amounts at midnight tomorrow night. Thanks in advance for checking out TGCP!

ONE FREE BURRITO, BURRITO BOWL, SALAD OR ORDER OF TACOS AT CHIPOTLE
$8.50 value. NOW, a $5 pledge to TGCP.
(Valid in WA and OR only)

THE SEATTLE TOURSAVER 2-FOR-1 TRAVEL DISCOUNT BOOK
$80 value. NOW, a $40 pledge to TGCP.
Over 115 buy-one-get-one FREE Seattle travel deals for Seattle, San Juan Islands and Victoria BC. Save on flightseeing, adventure travel, whale watching, harbor cruises and hotels.

ONE NIGHT STAY AT ACE SEATTLE
$165 value. NOW, a $82.50 pledge to TGCP.
Ace Seattle is a 28 room hotel located in the heart of Belltown. It’s near downtown, and within walking distance of many popular destinations, like the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and the Seattle Waterfront. Blackout Dates Apply.

SOLD! ONE NIGHT STAY AT HOTEL VINTAGE PARK
$250 value. NOW, a $125 pledge to TGCP
This charming Kimpton hotel in the heart of downtown Seattle celebrates Washington's Wine Country by dedicating each room to a local winery and vineyard.. It was recently named to Travel + Leisure's "Best 500 Hotels in the World" list.
The gift certificate will be valid for one year from date of issue and some blackout dates may apply.

ONE NIGHT STAY AT TULALIP RESORT CASINO + $25 FOOD CREDIT
$200 value. NOW, a $100 pledge to TGCP.
The 370-room luxury hotel, next to the very popular Tulalip casino, includes a deluxe spa, restaurants, meeting rooms, a ballroom and a special area for weddings around a landscaped pool.
Good for: One night deluxe accommodation and a $25 food credit. Valid until: 2/28/2011 Disclaimer: No redeemable cash value; gratuities and alcohol not included; based on availability, certain blackout dates may apply and is not valid during New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day.

TWO NIGHT STAY AT THE WOODMARK HOTEL YACHT CLUB & SPA
$550 value. NOW, a $250 pledge to TGCP.
The Woodmark Hotel, Yacht Club & Spa is the only hotel on the picturesque shores of Lake Washington. The Woodmark features 100 rooms, most with views of the lake, and all with luxury amenities, as well as a full-service spa, two exceptional restaurants, distinctive event spaces and an intimate, residential, waterside ambiance.

Photo courtesy of net efekt

media mention: road remedies

The people in my world are truly awesome. I've had moments in my life which have required major rallying, but I am blown away on a daily basis by the kindness of others and their support for The Global Citizen Project. Today is no exception.

Travel writer, Lowell Thomas award winner, fellow Seattleite and friend, Amanda Castleman wrote-up TGCP on her blog, Road Remedies. If you want to cut your teeth on travel writing or take what you know to the next level, Amanda teaches a ten-week, online course Travel Writing: From Press Trips to Punctured Tires about four times a year. Thank you, Amanda for this lovely post and for all the other behind-the-scenes stuff you've done to help promote the project.

new backer reward: one night stay at ace hotel seattle

Pledge $100 to The Global Citizen Project for a one night stay at Ace Seattle.

Ace Seattle is a 28 room hotel located in the heart of Belltown. It’s near downtown, and within walking distance of many popular destinations, like the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and the Seattle Waterfront.

Blackout Dates Apply.
($165 value)