Category: Awards

Travelrants wins Travolution Consumer Travel Blog Award

Travelrants

Travel Blog author Darren Cronian has won the Travolution Award for best consumer travel blog with his Blog Travel Rants.

He was chosen from the following shortlist:

  • Travel Rants (Darren Cronian)
  • TravelMail Blog (various authors)
  • Viator Blog (various authors)
  • Select World Travel (Lee Harrison)

I believe winning from these great blogs will add extra to this award for Darren.

The Laudatio says:

Darren Cronian has single-handedly set the benchmark to which other consumer-focussed blogs should aspire. Controversial, relevant, thorough and, perhaps most tellingly, much better than something mainstream media organisations are trying to achieve.

In the week before the award Darren was very nervous and even in bed with the flu.

I wasn’t aware how nervous he was until, only after I had heard of his success on Twitter, I red his post Travel Awards and Blogging:

I’m not sure why but I’m nervous about the awards; I’m not too great around people I don’t know, and what about if I do win, the thought of getting up and collecting my award – nervous.

I still remember fondly that Darren once kicked my *ss to go on with blogging and he became a real virtual friend in the meantime: Never hesitating to share his experiences with anyone.

Keep on the good work Darren !

South Africa's 10 Best Travel Blogs Nominated

SA Blog Awards 2008
SA Blog Awards 2008

The Nominees for the Best South African blogs Featuring Travel Related Content:

Source: Eish

Update April 16, 2008: and the winner is capetowndailyphoto.com. Congratulations!

The 2008 Travvies – Best Travel Blog Awards: Open for Nominations. Be Quick!

Travvies 2007

The 2007 Travvies
Last year, more precisely on January 30, 2007, Upgrade Travel Better announced the 2007 Travvies, a first and very good initiative, awards for travel Blogs because:

Other blog “award shows” exist out there, such as the Webbies or the Weblog Awards, but despite there being thousands of travel blogs, the travel category has never been included in these other awards. Thus, the Travvies were born.

It kicked off on February 5, 2007. There were 6 categories. Here reiterated with the 2007 winners:

  1. Best Travel Blog: National Geographic Inside Traveler by Emily King.
  2. Best Destination Blog: Newyorkology by NYC based Amy Langfield.
  3. Best Informative/Practical Travel Blog: The Cranky Flier by USA based Brett Snyder.
  4. Best Group-Written Travel Blog:The Lost Girls’ World by Three New York City based ladies.
  5. Best Single-Author Travel Blog: The Cranky Flier again by USA based Brett Snyder.
  6. Best Photography on a Travel Blog: Exposed Planet by Netherlands based Harry Kikstra

I covered the 2007 Travvies in a post Travvies 2007: Best Travel Blog Awards: open voor voting (and I only now see the typo I made in the title: “voor” is Dutch for “for”) and one about The the 2007 Travvies Winners.

There were some comments made that the jury had decided to nominate Cranky Flier in two different categories. Also there were some comments that the Blogger who could organize the most votes won. As to the first comment I would agree that it would be nice to have nominations only once in every category plus, possibly a second in the Best over all category, but I am no juror. It amazed me one of the jurors joined the discussion then. I believe jurors should not be involved in the actual discussion. As to the last comment i would say: “Well, isn’t that the usual US way of life and doing things?”

I also covered the post of a Guardian journalist/ single author blogger, who made up his own Alternative Travvies.

Although Cranky Flier didn’t reach the 25 most valuable Blogs by 24/7 Wall St yet (only travelpod did), he was mentioned as one of the 50 most influential Blogger by the Guardian in The World’s 50 Most Powerful Blogs.

The 2008 Travies

The 2008 Travvies

A bit later than I had hoped, as announced on March 15nd, last monday Upgrade : Travel better opened the nominations for The 2008 Travvies.

CHANGES IN 2008 (ARE)

* The “Destination” blog category has been changed to be the “Destination or Trip Narrative” category.
* New category: Big Media Blog. Most of the Travvies categories are pro/am. This category is designated for those in the mainstream media whose blogs are an extension of their company’s website.
* New category: Podcast/Video. Blogging isn’t just about text and pictures, after all.

In order to nominate up to 3 blogs of your choice, you can add a comment in one of the category posts of Upgrade: Travel Better:

  1. Best Travel Bog.
  2. Best Single Author Travel Blog.
  3. Best Group Written Travel Blog.
  4. Best Destination or Trip Narrative Travel Blog.
  5. Best Informative or Practical Travel Blog.
  6. Best Photography on a Travel Blog.
  7. Best Big Media Travel Blog.
  8. Best Travel Podcast or Video Blog.

Of course I have shamelessly nominated myself for some categories, but also was happily surprised to see that there is someone else out there, Gary of Everything Everywhere who nominated me for the Best Informative / Practical category. Thanks Gary!

Sean Dodson with The Guardian´s Alternative Travvies.

Is it because the Guardian or Sean Dodson didn´t think about launching a Best Travel Blog Award themselves? Their reasoning is even wrong, because at least one of the winners of the Travvies is a Dutchman´s Blog (Exposed Planet) and not a US based Blog. Anyway, they had to publish their own Guardian Alternative Travvies list in Sean´s Best of the Net Column:

Well at least there are movements in the field.

The 2007 Travvies Winners

Travvies 2007

Today the Winners of The 2007 Travvies were published:

A grand total of 2306 votes were cast. In some categories, the competition was truly fierce, with the winner separated from the runner-up by single digits.

The winners:

  • Best Photography on a Travel Blog: Exposed Planet.

    Based in the Netherlands, Harry Kikstra, a self-described “climber / expedition leader / photographer / filmmaker / producer / writer / public speaker / cycler and many other things” proffers up a beautiful portfolio of images from his travels around the world. His photos portray both people and places — a reminder that the beauty of travel is not just found in vistas we see, but in the cultures we visit.

  • Best Single-Author Travel Blog: The Cranky Flier.

    Self-described airline dork Brett Snyder serves up commentary on the aviation industry with insight, humor, and a penchant for Photoshopped stock imagery. If it’s about air travel, he’s likely to have an opinion, though in reality it’s not always as curmudgeonly as his blog title implies.

  • Best Group-Written Travel Blog: The Lost Girls’ World.

    Three New York women faced burnout in a “quarterlife” crisis, put their media careers on hold, and took a year to travel the world as a group. The blog is their collection of dispatches from the field, as they explore South America, Africa, and (most recently) Asia. Jealous readers, living vicariously, can pick up locally-specific travel tips as they watch these women living the dream.

  • Best Informative/Practical Travel Blog: The Cranky Flier.

    Cranky, again! Though other blogs were nominated in multiple categories, the Cranky Flier is the only one to actually win multiple awards. As mentioned above, Brett Snyder’s focus on airline news and opinion, with a humorous touch, has won him many fans.

  • Best Destination Blog: Newyorkology

    Amy Langfield helps her readers get a lay of the land in the City That Never Sleeps, with news and event listings for tourists and locals alike. For visitors hoping to hit the ground running, the site is a goldmine of up-to-the-minute information that traditional travel guides might only get around to putting in print 12 months from now.

  • Best Travel Blog: National Geographic Inside Traveler.

    Finally, the big one: Best Travel Blog. Emily King, National Geographic Traveler’s assistant to the editor, and researcher Jessie Johnston round up stories and links from (quite literally) all over the map. Sometimes practical, sometimes destination-specific, but always about exploration and travel. The 2007 award for best travel blog goes to them.