Travel Maven Blog ...... David Molyneaux posts from TheTravelMavens.com

Fathoming the impacts of do-gooder cruises to the Caribbean

New cruise line Fathom will sail weekly from Miami to the Dominican Republic or Cuba

Considering the hard labor required to pour concrete over dirt floors in rural Dominican Republic houses or to haul heavy bags for reforesting the hills, I will make other choices if I book an “impact tourism” week on the new Fathom cruise line.

Women at Chocal in the Dominican Republic prepare cacao beans for making chocolate for sale.(Photo by Len Kaufman.com)

Volunteering to make a difference during vacation appeals to my better nature, but I don’t want to work that hard.

How about making chocolate, building water filters, or helping teach basic English phrases in local schools?

All of these projects are among the volunteer activities that will highlight a cruise with Fathom, starting in April, when its only ship, the 700-passenger Adonia, begins one-week voyages from Miami into the Caribbean.

Israeli outdoor markets abuzz about Cleveland's LeBron James and David Blatt

Tel Aviv, Israel

For a Clevelander traveling the world these days, the celebrity status of NBA star LeBron James brings us instant recognition.

Buying a Cavs shirt in Safed, Israel

Whether you are in Asia, Europe, or the Middle East, nearly everyone seems to know one fact about Cleveland, Ohio, USA: LeBron James plays basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Folks in Israel know another thing: David Blatt, an American famous here for his prowess in leading championship basketball teams, is head coach of the Cavs.

As my wife and I were walking this week in Safed, one of the holiest cities in Israel, in the hills above the Sea of Galilee, I helped to reduce some basketball anxieties among a group of merchants in the local outdoor market.

We had arrived in Israel on luxury cruise line Silversea’s 540-passenger Silver Spirit, docked in Haifa, and were touring with a private guide. 

SATW 2015 public auction for fun and exotic travel starts October 19

Travel destinations such as Scotland and Tabago, a train ride across Canada, and activities such as scuba diving and kiteboarding top the bid lists as the startup approaches for the public auction conducted annually as a fundraiser by the Society of American Travel Writers.

Browsers and bidders may log on to the SATW auction website:

http://events.readysetauction.com/satw/2015

View the catalog.

Create an account.

You may bid as often as you like

The auction starts October 19, 2015, It runs online until Nov. 8, 2015.

Items are donated to SATW. Items will be mailed directly to the winners following the auction.

If yours is the highest bid, for instance, you could be Honorary Duckmaster when you stay at the Peabody Memphis. Who knew?

 

The Plain Dealer, Cleveland's Susan Glaser, honored for travel coverage

A special congratulations to my hometown newspaper, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, Ohio, for winning the 2015 Bronze award for Best Travel Coverage in newspapers of less than 350,000 circulation, in the annual Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition.

Susan Glaser

Judges singled out The Plain Dealer's travel editor Susan Glaser:

"The energetic Susan Glaser writes the cover story or stories and adds a column each week. That gives the Cleveland Plain Dealer section a local brand. Her topics range from Disneyland to small cities in Ohio, and she writes with a sense of authority while still providing easily accessible information. Compilation stories, such as four fall getaways, add variety to the city-specific features. Stories on art exhibits and service pieces round out the section."

Glaser's work also is published on the newspaper's website, Cleveland.com.

A list of the winners, the judges’ comments, and a video of all winners are available on the website of the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.

(Caveats: The writer of this blog, David G. Molyneaux, is president of the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, which oversees the annual Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition. Molyneaux is not involved in the judging that is done, for payment, by a major university journalism school, which for 2015 was University of Missouri. Molyneaux also was travel editor at The Plain Dealer for 24 years, and Susan Glaser worked with Molyneaux as a travel writer and editor during some of those years.)

 

National Geo's Traveler, Outside, New York Times top Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition

Philadelphia Writer Wins Travel Journalist of the Year

LAS VEGAS, Nevada

National Geographic Traveler, Outside magazine and the New York Times are the top media winners in the 2015 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, overseen by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.

Freelance writer Todd Pitock of Philadelphia is Travel Journalist of the Year for his wide range of reports, from Botswana to Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House, the U.S. Whiskey Trail and Denver’s beer breweries.

“Pitock demonstrates not only a tremendous grasp of thick description but also an uncanny ability to bring meaning to his travel writing,” wrote judges from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Also honored for Grand Award travel portfolios were freelance writers Tim Neville of Bend, Oregon; Christopher Solomon of Seattle; and Melanie Radzicki McManus of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison.

National Geographic Traveler won seven awards, including the Gold as Best Travel Magazine. “The magazine inspires readers,” said a judge. National Geographic Books took a Gold, for Best Guidebook, on Peru, by Rob Rachowiecki, with photography by Vance Jacobs.

Outside magazine won eight awards, including three Golds in the categories of Travel News/Investigative Reporting, Cultural Tourism and Travel Journalism Websites.

Travel + Leisure and Afar magazines each won three awards. Departures won Gold for best travel coverage in other magazines.