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Website upgrade for Footprints and Memories

As I write to you now, my website Footprints and Memories is undergoing an upgrade. This is the first step I am taking to expand on the idea of Footprints and Memories.

So far, I've been treating Footprints and Memories as a blog where I post my travel articles as well as new items I find interesting.

Now, after having learned from my editors over at Worldette and In The Know Traveler, I am about to expand on the website to open it up for more content and ideas.

To do this, I'll need to re-define the categories to make it easier to find content. Then I'll add new sections to the site.

For the new sections, I am thinking a section for destination guides - quick guides to culture experiences to enrich a journey to a destination.

I can also start doing book reviews, knowing that many of you also enjoy a bit of armchair travel, like me.

Most importantly, as the website need to start be self-sustaining and fund itself, I am going to open it up for advertising.

However, changes will come slowly, but I would love to have your support when it is eventually finalised!

What would you like to see on the new Footprints and Memories?

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May 6th 2013 @ 11:09

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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April digest from me!

I had a birthday this month, which inspired me to write Birthdays mark another year to travel. I don't dread growing another year wiser and very much look forward to what this year and the rest of my life will bring!

I have also had a great inspiration boost. I joined Marie Teather on a quest to achieve my life's dreams on her 'F* It and Book It' course. It's a course designed to help us to look into our goals and realise solutions on how to achieve them - including my goal of travelling the whole world!

The course has just started and will go on for the next 4 weeks. Marie will however, open up more courses if she gets more interest for it. Check out her life's inspiration shop on Worldette here:

Transform your worries, fears, and boundaries into wild adventures and redesign your life - The Worldette Shop

My articles continue to appear on In The Know Traveler, and this month I wrote about my Easter trip to the Sunshine Coast, when we went driving around the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, of which I paired with an article on Footprints and Memories on Noosa and exploring the Eumundi markets.

Then, I re-lived my New Zealand trip from a couple of years back with an article on driving New Zealand's South Island on ITKT.

British TV series Doctor Who is turning 50 this year, which then inspired me to write about why I love the show and how much travellers like me have in common with the Doctor!

Happy reading

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April 28th 2013 @ 05:49

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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Blogger awards: paying it forwards

Footprints and Memories had been making some blogging friends in the Wordpress community, and had been lucky enough to gain a bit of support in ways of blogger awards.

Generally, these are not 'real' awards of the industry, but awards that bloggers pass onto fellow bloggers of distinction to create a network and allow all of us to learn a bit more about each other and spread the words about our blogs.

Read the latest here - Liebster Blog & The Versatile Blogger Award (I had to answer some questions and you get to learn a little more about me!)

As part of paying it forward, it had nominated Jason from Salty Popcorn for the same awards

Happy blogging!

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April 13th 2013 @ 08:32

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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What are you complaining about today?

Holidays should be fun, but are our un-realistic expectations ruining it for some of us? (Image source: Morgue Files | Credit to: dougshow)

I am now truly speechless.

"We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels."

Don't laugh, according to a recent Thomas Cook and ABTA travel survey, that was a real tourist complaint, among the many that just seemed too stupid to be true, such as "The beach was too sandy."

Many of these complaints are the result of un-realistic expectations and lack of research / respect for local customs. I want to believe most of us are better than this.

Read the full article on Wanderlust Magazine: 20 astonishing holiday complaints

So. What are you complaining about today?

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April 11th 2013 @ 05:13

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Richard Branson to service an Air Asia flight - tickets for this flight on sale!

Two years ago, Sir Richard Branson lost a bet to Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes about who had the better Formula 1 team, and was dared to shave his legs, put on his best smile, put an Asia Asia crew uniform on (and I believe it was the 'female' uniform that was requested) and service on one of Air Asia's flights.

And this flight, will be the service from Perth to Kuala Lumpur on the 12 May this year, with tickets on sale right now from $399 one way for those who might want to spend the six hours getting tea and coffee from the Sir!

According to Air Asia, there will be fun and games on the flight and all proceeds from seat sales will go towards Australia's Starlight Children's Foundation.

Too bad I have to work!

For those interested, check out the details and book at:
Coffee, Tea or Me? Richard Branson on Air Asia

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April 8th 2013 @ 12:10

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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Are you obsessed with loyalty points?

I am members of seven different frequent flyer program, five different hotel loyalty programs as well as programs that are some what associated with travel related businesses.

You can say that I am obsessed with collecting loyalty points for the free flight / hotel stay.

However, I have learned over the years that it is not possible to get anything out of these programs if you scatter your points everywhere! So since two years ago, I picked one major frequent flyer program and one hotel program to concentrate on, and have now had enough points to fly / stay / get cash vouchers from them.

Not all loyalty programs are equal, and it is easier to accumulate free travel from some than others. Qantas Frequent Flyers for example, give points and status credits based on sectors, not money paid, and even the shortest domestic flight can guarantee you 1000 points per sector; however, it takes more points to go anywhere with Qantas, as opposed to Virgin Velocity program which gives points based on how much you have paid for the flights rather than miles, so you could potentially get very little points if you pay at their discounted rates all the time, however it takes smaller amount of points to start getting you free travel and therefore balances the equation out.

Similarly, hotel loyalty programs can be based on stays or total nights, some allow you to accrue points on extras spent at the hotel, and some has the ability to offer more than just free night rewards.

If you want to look into these, here are some of my tips:

1. Choose a program that are you likely to use - there is no point signing up to a luxury hotel program, if your travel preference is to stay in motels or budget hotels. Same with airlines, there is no use for you to sign up to an airline frequent flyer program if you are not going to fly them frequently.

2. Choose a program that is more suitable for your personal habits - You may fly domestic more than international, you may pay for discounted fares rather than the flexible fares all the time, and you may only stay in hotels for one night at a time rather than extended stays. All of these need to be taken into consideration in the program you choose and how the program's benefits suit your preferences.

3. Choose a program that is more flexible - Some programs only offer one type of rewards, others many. A hotel program may allow you to use points to book flights, and a frequent flyer program may allow you to use the points for car hire. If your intention is to travel widely and not always with the same hotels and airlines, choose a program that will benefit you if you decide not to stay/fly with them.

4. Choose a program that has partnerships and affiliates - Airlines are now partnering with each other to provide better routes for travellers, and hotels are often associated with each other for various marketing reasons. Choose a program that has a range of partners that you are likely to use so that you can earn points on your travels as much as possible.

5. Be sensible - just because you are part of a loyalty program doesn't mean you have to use it all the time. Weight up the differences, don't let earning points be your number motivation to stay in a hotel or fly a particular airline. Sometimes, the cost may outweigh the points, it's up to you to decide.

For those interested in some light reading, here is a report on Consumer Loyalty Programs by Hanover Research.

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April 8th 2013 @ 03:00

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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Travel April Fools!

Did you enjoy April Fools on Monday? Were you especially shocked at some whacky announcements made in various publications? I was suitably fooled by Steven Moffat's announcement that they are taking away the Police Box as the Tardis on Dr. Who.

I came across this article in Travel Talk that had a list of announcements that almost got people fooled!

On April Fools day, Virgin announced the world's first glass bottom plane, and the first 'pet therapy' service to calm flight anxieties.

TripAdvisor offered a deal to visit Aunt Gerties House, and Drop Bears are apparently more likely to attack tourists than locals.

Read: April Fools! Our pick of this week's best jokes

Enjoy reading!

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April 3rd 2013 @ 05:23

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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March digest from me!

I hope everyone had a great long weekend.

It has been a little hectic in my professional life, as I am finally busy at my day job, which is a blessing because sitting around doing nothing is the worst kind of thing to do at work!

Meanwhile, Worldette has been redesigned but our assistance editor has left and not sure what is happening with the site right now. Therefore no articles there from me in March.

On In The Know Traveler, I wrote an article on the Cat Museum in Kuching, which I recommend every cat person reading this right now to visit, as well as an article on the food tour I went on in Wellington last year.

March had been the most travelled month so far, with a weekend in Melbourne, a weekend in Auckland and the long weekend on the Sunshine Coast, which allowed me to write up all sort of things for my own website, Footprints and Memories.
Rediscovering Melbourne
Charming Parnell of Auckland
It's all sunshine in Noosa

I also reflect on what I consider to be my best trips and why there are certain places that are nice to travel in but bad to live in.

Enjoy reading!

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April 3rd 2013 @ 02:59

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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February digest from me!

It's a belated digest, but I blame that February was over by the 28th

It was a quiet month for me, and I spent more time doing research into the writing market than actually writing, which was just as well as my full time job have been keeping me busy.

I have been negotiating a few press famils but nothing is coming through, so now I am just going to contemplate on paying my own way around places so I can write about them. However, never fear, I am going to travel either way so there will always be stories for you to read

On In The Know Traveler I have only really written one article in February called Kep the Crabs Coming - it's about Kep, the little seaside town in Cambodia where I ate lots of crabs.

My usual Confessions of a Dromomaniac column on Worldette featured my thoughts on black tourism, and a letter to my husband on Valentine's Day with a travel wish list.

And my husband Will just laughed at the list!

I also featured a very inspiring young lady, 10 year old Martha Payne, whose school lunches blog raised enough money to provide school meals for a school in Malawi!

The Worldette website is currently being re-designed, and you may not be able to view the above contents - however, be assured that it'll be back up soon.

New contents are always being uploaded to Footprints and Memories, and February featured a photo essay on Mongolia, things to do beyond the Great Ocean Road, eating around the world in Sydney and I introduce five of my favourite travel literature. There are also news on eco tourism development as well as the fate of the Berlin Wall.

I hope you enjoy the reading and leave me a comment if you have anything to say!

Happy travels.

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March 2nd 2013 @ 07:41

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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Do you enjoy some armchair travel?

I get a little frustrated when I am not on the road travelling, when I could crave to wake up to somewhere different, to eat different foods and to just take off.

To ease my pain, I would pick up a travelogue and start reading, and live the travel experience through someone else's story.

Image source: Morgue File. Credit to: Carool

I am currently reading Don't Look Behind You, But... by Peter Allison, Australian author who has worked in Africa as a safari guide, who shares his tales of lion encounters and getting arrested for guiding without license. It is actually his second book about his African adventures, the first being Whatever You Do, Don't Run, and I have been enjoying it immensely.

Not only do I enjoy pretending that I was there with him, looking out to the ever ending African plains and drifting across the Okavango Delta, I also enjoy reading about the adventures and misadventures (mostly about the misadventures, because they are funny; and they are funny because it's not me that almost got chomped by Hippos!).

I do have a large collection of travel books, and Lonely Planets aside, I have a good collection of books by some of my favourite travel writers: Michael Palin, Paul Theroux... as well as some topical stories that are more about life in another country than travel.

I think we can 'see' so much from just reading. Of course, it's never as good as actually being there myself, but it does relieve some of my anguish that 'everyone else is travelling but me' moments.

Do you enjoy reading a good travel book? What are some of your favourites?

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February 21st 2013 @ 03:51

Posted By: AmyHuang - Category: No Category

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