While on a film production in southern France (no really, for this), we were cruising along the autoroute between Toulouse and Narbonne. I was in the driver's seat, which, for the record, is not the spot you want to be in while driving through this part of France. You get the occasional glimpse at the countryside, but as the sun shines and the southern landscape passes by, you definitely want to be a passenger so you can take it all in.

"Look... a medieval village!" I exclaimed, pointing to our left.

It was Carcassonne.

"No big deal," one of our team members said with a bit of humor.

This had become our joke on this trip; pretending to be unimpressed. But if you're not impressed by a road trip through France, you've been sleeping.

To the American eye, it's always shocking to see historic monuments like this; on a road trip in the U.S. the oldest thing you might find is a Revolutionary War battle site. You're hard pressed to find a cathedral or a chateau looming about.

Carcassonne rose out of the rolling landscape, its protected walls reminiscent of a time that we'd only ever read about. A road sign reminded us that we were passing a UNESCO Heritage Site – in case the medieval village to the left wasn't sign enough.

If you travel when you're single, the following scenario may sound familiar: You get a friend to drop you off at the airport early, you make it through security and grab a coffee or a pre-trip beer, you wander to your gate and board, scoping out the people around you. You sit down in your seat - damn, how did you get stuck sitting in the middle row again? - and you secretly cross your fingers hoping for someone attractive to sit next to you instead of that overweight man/woman with overgrown nose hairs making their way down the aisle.

Attractive person saunters by. If only you had been in row 30A instead of 28C.

But thanks to Richard Branson, there's help.

Virgin America is now offering Seat-to-Seat Delivery, making it easy to flirt with that hottie (scare them?) a few rows back by sending them drinks, snacks and even meals. Nothing better than hitting on fellow travelers. Who better to explain how it works than Branson - king of international affairs - himself?



The best part about it? Given the fact that airplane food has become so expensive, your potential mile high club partner probably won't turn the free drink/food down.

No jokes about salty nuts please.

Paris is one of those iconic travel destinations that everyone seems to have on their travel list at one point or another. It's romantic. It's beautiful. It's chaotic. It's French.

I came three months ago, with the excuse of needing a month to focus on a couple of writing projects and somewhere inspiring to do it in. I still haven't left.

Paris is one of those places that sucks you in. The kind of place that when you ride your bike down a street just before dusk, you risk getting in an accident because you're mesmerized by the golden light hitting the tops of the buildings. It's a city of well-known landmarks, but also one of hidden gardens, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, hipster bike shops, abandoned railways turned to community gardens and moments of serendipity. That's the Paris that I have fallen in love with, and will be sharing with you this week on our #OnTheRoad Gadling Instagram series.

[Photo credit: Anna Brones]

Utah is one of my favorite escapes. There's something about sitting on a slab of redrock and watching a black sky dotted with stars. You're in the middle of nowhere, alone, surrounded by silence, overpowered by the feeling of grandiose canyons.

Flickr user djurma captures exactly that in this nighttime photo of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. You can feel that stillness just by looking at it.

Want your own photo featured on Photo of the Day? Submit it to the Gadling Flickr Pool or on Instagram by mentioning @gadlingtravel and tagging #gadling.

[Photo credit: djurma]

Beyond travel, we're also big music fans here at Gadling; largely because music is a great way to get to know a place. This month happens to be Public Radio Music Month and we're teaming up with NPR to bring you exclusive interviews from NPR music specialists around the country. We'll be learning about local music culture and up and coming new regional artists, so be sure to follow along all month.

You might know Seattle for its grunge, alternative and indie scenes - this is after all the home of the Experience Music Project - but as Sean MacLean tells us, if you haven't been paying attention to the classical music of the region, you're missing out.

Name: Sean MacLean

Member station: Classical King FM 98.1

Regular Show/Contribution Beat: Northwest Focus, weeknights 8-10 p.m., with live musicians Friday nights at 8. Afternoon/evening host Monday - Friday 4-10 p.m.

1. When people think of music in Seattle, what do they think of?

Options! The Early Music, jazz, rock, and film scoring cutting edge, but also Benaroya Hall, home of Seattle Symphony, where you can sip outstanding Washington State Syrahs while enjoying the view from the giant windows that give out onto beautiful Elliott Bay, then go into the splendid acoustics of the floating hall and have your heart blown wide by timeless music.

2. How do you help curate that musical scene?

Through "Northwest Focus": since living in Seattle means figuring out what NOT to see that night, we pick the most engaging events to link at our website, and give our listeners a chance to meet local classical musicians on "Northwest Focus LIVE" on Friday nights at 8. The shows are archived and YouTube videos are shared. The groups get exposure, and our audience is enriched. We get a lot of feedback about the quality of the music scene here.

Beyond travel, we're also big music fans here at Gadling, largely because music is a great way to get to know a place. This month happens to be Public Radio Music Month and we're teaming up with NPR to bring you exclusive interviews from NPR music specialists around the country. We'll be learning about local music culture and up and coming new regional artists, so be sure to follow along all month.

Portland, Oregon might be known for its indie scene, but as Matt Fleeger shows us, it's also home to a burgeoning jazz scene. As Fleeger points out, when most people think of jazz, they think of a scene that ended in the late 60s. On the contrary, it's a genre that's alive and well, full of fusion acts and creative ensembles. Check out Fleeger's playlist for a good feel of what this city has to offer.

Name: Matt Fleeger

Member station: KMHD Jazz Radio

Regular Show/Contribution Beat: Program Director/Host of "New Jazz For Lunch" M-Thurs 12 (noon) to 1 PM, M-Thurs.

When people think of music in Portland, what do they think of?

A DIY, underground approach to music, independent music. In terms of Jazz, highly creative ensembles and players – people who aren't afraid to think outside the box a bit.

How do you help curate that musical scene?

At KMHD, we try to "hold up" the really creative, interesting, different sounds that are coming out of our city. We partner with the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, which is an organization is concerned with fostering new Jazz compositions and releases a different CD featuring a Portland band each month. We bring local musicians into the studio every Friday afternoon for live performances direct to air, and we film local bands playing in various spaces throughout the city. My show in particular features all new releases in an attempt to expose our audience to new sounds. Often times, the Jazz audience gets caught up in the thinking that Jazz ended in 1969, but there are many very interesting sounds and directions happening within the scene today.

Over dinner recently, a fellow Gadling blogger, some other travel lovers and I were discussing the merits of San Francisco. We decided that our favorite part about it was that it just has that special amount of "funk" that is hard to find in other cities. It's hard to describe, but if you have been to San Francisco, you know what I am talking about.

That feeling is perfectly captured in this photo of colorful and slightly seedy signs on a main drag in the city of hills and streetcars. It's busy, and you get the feeling that behind every sign is a story. Makes me want to go and spend a sunny day exploring.

Want your own photo featured on Photo of the Day? Submit it to the Gadling Flickr Pool or on Instagram by mentioning @gadlingtravel and tagging #gadlingtravel.

[Photo credit: pkorsmok]

Beyond travel, we're also big music fans here at Gadling; largely because music is a great way to get to know a place. This month happens to be Public Radio Music Month and we're teaming up with NPR to bring you exclusive interviews from NPR music specialists around the country. We'll be learning about local music culture and up and coming new regional artists, so be sure to follow along all month.

Today we're checking out the scene in Detroit, and local host Chris Campbell has his finger on the pulse of all that's progressive and underground. His playlist that he made exclusively for Gadling is full of tracks you've probably never heard, but certainly won't be able to stop listening to. If you think Detroit is just a rap scene as depicted in "8 Mile," think again.

Name: Chris Campbell

Member station: 101.9 FM WDET

Regular Show/Contribution Beat – The Progressive Underground w/Chris Campbell

1. When people think of music in Detroit, what do they think of?

Generally speaking, people think of Motown Records, but Detroit also has a vibrant techno/electronic music scene (it's the birthplace of techno music) in addition to a burgeoning progressive hip hop and R&B scene as well. The electronic, future soul and progressive hip hop genres are the scenes that we tend to focus on during our show broadcasts.

2. How do you help curate the Detroit musical scene?

I curate the electronic music scene through artist/DJ spotlights, atmospheric mix segments and artist interviews, which are also posted through various media networks (WDET website, Sound Cloud, etc).

You could go to Barcelona and see Sagrada Familia, and the contemporary art museum and all of the Gaudi houses, but if you head to the capital of Catalonia and don't take some time to simply peruse the streets and check out the graffiti, you'll miss out on some of the best art and creative inspiration that the city has to offer.

I, for one, am not usually a fan of graffiti, but done well, it's a form of public art. In fact, graffiti in Barcelona is as ubiquitous as spots to drink an outdoor cortado. Walking one day I noticed a huge art supply store, their main window display a collection of cans of spray paint.

Barcelona graffiti is funky, recognizable and oozing with a creative spirit that you are hard pressed to find anywhere else - well, except maybe Berlin. Make your way down any alleyway and it's almost like you're in a modern art gallery; plus, I don't need to remind you that it's free. Here, art is democratized, and you can see it on almost every street if you just look.

The best time to go graffiti scouting is outside of business hours, when stores have their shutters - common canvases on the Bracelona graffiti scene - pulled down. Granted, not everyone is a fan; a couple of years ago the city cracked down on businesses that were commissioning graffiti artists to paint on their shutters. Eventually, those works were even deemed illegal, and the scene moved to the suburbs. But there's plenty of good graffiti to be found all around, and if you're a fan of the independent art scene, and like a different way to get a feel for a city, plan for an afternoon or two of wandering the streets and seeing what works you can track down.

Gallery: The Graffiti of Barcelona

[Photo Credit: Anna Brones]

We love music here at Gadling, and this month is Public Radio Music Month, which is why we're teaming up with NPR to bring you exclusive interviews from NPR music specialists around the country. We'll be learning about local music culture and up and coming new regional artists, so be sure to follow along all month.

Today we're headed to the birthplace of jazz: New Orleans. But New Orleans offers a whole lot more than jazz, and the local scene is one that's well known outside of Louisiana. Thanks to local music host Gwen Thompkins we get the insider scoop on the music of this exciting city, from singer-songwriters to high school brass bands.

Name: Gwen Thompkins

Member station: WWNO, New Orleans

Regular Show/Contribution Beat: Host, Music Inside Out with Gwen Thompkins. NPR contributor.