Yesterday we posted our first travel research article that can be found in the Psychology of Research section of the website. But what the heck are these posts about, why are we writing them, and how do readers know if this information is even accurate? A reader –Jackie H.—just posted a question on our previous travel research article Travel Research: Nontravelers Live More Sedentary Lifestyles Compared to Travelers asking us “What is up with the travel research articles and where do you find this info? Will these become regular features?” We appreciate this feedback and hopefully this post will better explain the purpose of these posts! What’s up with the Travel Research Articles? Good question, let me explain. I (Jessica) am a researcher and psychologist during the day, and part of my job involves staying up-to-date on research in the area of psychology. This provides me with free access to… Read the rest
Travel Research: Nontravelers Live More Sedentary Lifestyles Compared to Travelers
Did you know that travelers exercise more and engage in more activities even when they are not traveling than nontravelers? Recent research suggests that nontravelers live more sedentary lifestyles than travelers even when they are “at home”. Let’s take a closer look at a research article in the Journal of Travel Research. Research Study We’ll explore a recently published article on the behavior of travelers versus nontravelers: Litvin, S., Smith, W., & Pitts, R. (2013). Sedentary behavior of the nontravel segment: A research note. Journal of Travel Research, 52, 1131-1136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0047287512457265 How the Research was Conducted The researchers compared activities of a random sample of 60,000 Americans who completed a mailed survey. Of these, 79% were classified as travelers (reported having traveled for pleasure or vacation in past 2 years) and 21% were classified as nontravelers (reported not having vacationed in the past 2 years). They were all asked how frequently… Read the rest
When you Still Want to Hold a Real Book: Tips for Traveling with Books
Do you like to travel with books? Ever thought that if you packed every book you wanted to take along, your books would need their own suitcase? Welcome, you are not alone my fellow bibliophiles. I love traveling with books and this article provides tips on how to travel with books (yes, actual physical books!) while still packing light. In the 1700’s, young men and women embarking on a Grand Tour throughout Europe may have traveled with a trunk full of books to aid in their search for enlightenment and culture. Times have changed and traveling light is key to reducing hassles while traveling. Not to mention avoiding pricey airline baggage fees. Books are deadweight in your bag, they aren’t collapsible, foldable, and don’t serve a million purposes. So what do you do? Friends have suggested Kindles, Nooks, and other e-book readers. I could read books on my IPad, laptop,… Read the rest
Attending a Performance at the Palais Garnier: How to Book Tickets to the Paris Opera Garnier
Interested in attending an opera or ballet at the historic Palais Garnier in Paris? This article explains in detail how to book tickets online for the Paris Opera. It will provide step-by-step guidance on using the Paris Opera website along with a number of tips based on our own experiences on booking tickets and attending performances at the Opera Garnier. It also gives you resources if you are trying to book a performance that has been sold out or if you need to resell your Paris Opera tickets. Now if you have already booked tickets, go to our article that provides Paris Opera tips on what to wear and what to expect during the actual performance. While most people’s visits to Paris may not be complete without a visit to the Lourve or the Eiffel Tower, all three of my trips to Paris thus far have included attending a performance… Read the rest
How to Start a Travel Blog in 10 Easy Steps
Do you want to set up a travel blog? Or perhaps you are thinking about overhauling or moving your current blog? Given that we just went through the process of creating a new blog ourselves and it is fresh in our minds, we wanted to share the experience with you. This article discusses a step-by-step process for those who are new to blogging about how to set up a travel blog. We provided detailed information to take you through the process of setting up a travel blog in 10 easy steps. We also give you all the information about our own choices at each step as an example. While there is no “right” or best way to set up a travel blog, this will hopefully give you a good overview of the steps and options that are available. How to Start a Travel Blog in 10 Easy Steps We’ve broken down… Read the rest
Welcome to Our New Travel Blog: Independent Travel Cats
Welcome! We appreciate that you are reading our first post ever on our new travel blog: Independent Travel Cats. We have just taken our first step into the cyber world of travel blogging! We are a young couple living in the San Francisco Bay area who love to travel, and want to share our travel experiences with the world. We both have very different backgrounds, outlooks on the world, and reasons for traveling; we hope that these diverse perspectives will enrich the usefulness and utility of the content of the blog to other travelers. We hope that through this blog we will be able to not only help others travel better, but that this blog will also provide an outlet for us to be able to connect with other travelers and learn from their experiences. We invite you to join us on our journey! Our main goals for our new… Read the rest