Jeremy Kressmann is a writer based in Brooklyn, NY. His recent trips include a visit to South Africa and a five month journey through Southeast Asia in 2010. He once tried Haggis and thought it was delicious.
Paris is a visually arresting city no matter where you look, whether it's the city's ornate architecture, fashionable residents or jaw-dropping art museums. Take this photo by Flickr user Cosmic Smudge, who captured this intriguing Paris scene after a rainstorm, as evidence. I love the mysterious umbrella holder, whose face remains unseen, complemented by splashes of bright red and flashes of gold from the buildings behind.
Taken any great travel photos of your own in Paris? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.
Today's magnificent shot comes to us from Flickr user John Overmeyer, who captured this elegant image of flamingos feeding at Kenya'sLake Nakuru. The lake's high concentration of algae attracts huge flocks of the birds and other wildlife to the area, bringing with them plenty of nature photographers. I love the washed out colors, the various poses of the different birds and their hazy reflections in the water below.
Taken any great photos during your own travels? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.
Last week, thousands of residents along the East Coast had their homes destroyed or were left without electricity and heat by Hurricane Sandy. This week brought yet another injustice as a vicious Nor'easter storm bearing snow and frigid temperatures left victims scrambling for shelter. That's why we were heartened to hear about a just-announced partnership between NYC.gov and apartment rental service Airbnb to coordinate free housing for New York area storm victims.
Since the storm hit New York and New Jersey last Monday, Airbnb has seen a surge in last-minute bookings in storm-affected areas like Atlantic City, New York City and the Hamptons. As a result of the surge, Airbnb announced it was partnering with NYC.gov to waive all fees for all Sandy victims looking for shelter on the service and put in a new call for generous New Yorkers with extra space to donate extra rooms and couches to those in need.
Airbnb is one of several services that let savvy apartment owners make money off their unused space, but what sets them apart is the site's emphasis on community. Rather than just a place to rent apartments, the site's users can now help displaced New York, New Jersey and Connecticut residents find help in a time of need. We hope more travel brands will look to this example and continue to encourage this kind of generosity and community among members.
Yellowstone National Park is among our country's most famous, and arguably most beautiful, natural wonders. In addition to dramatic scenery, the park is home to an impressive array of wildlife, including elk, wolves, bears and that most iconic of symbols from the American Plains: the buffalo. I love the lighting, the idyllic setting and most importantly, the herd of buffalo grazing in today's photo of Yellowstone's Lamar Valley, courtesy of Flickr user Max Waugh Photography.
Taken any great photos of our nation's national parks? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.
New Yorkers and residents along the Eastern Seaboard are just beginning to emerge today from the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy - millions remain without power, thousands of flights have been cancelled and transportation throughout the region has been severely disrupted.
If you need further evidence of what it looks like in New York here on the ground, just check out this shot posted this morning by a flight attendant at LaGuardia airport. The airport, which lies in a low-lying coastal area remains severely flooded this morning.
For those of you in transit this week, stay patient. It could be a few days before normal flight, train and bus service in and out of the New York area resumes normal activity.
UPDATE: A special thanks to tireless LaGuardia airport worker Francesco Giannola for your photo.
London'sHeathrow airport is among the world's busiest airports for passengers, with the total number of travelers passing through in the first half of 2012 topping out at over 46 Million. Think about that number for a moment and try to put it in context. It's not easy, is it?
To give some sense of what a typical travel day looks like at this London transportation hub, watch the above video. This dizzying time-lapse of takeoffs and landings, with planes hovering mid-air like buzzing honeybees entering the hive, is a hypnotic visual reminder of just how much travel we're all doing these days.
There's some wonderful technique at work behind Flickr user Ambre's photo of a cyclist in Santa Monica, California. Ambre is using a special camera called a Lomo, which among other effects, allows the photographer to take four sequential shots on the same frame of film. She's used this feature to great effect in today's shot: I love the sense of motion as the bike glides in (and out) of the viewer's field of view, along with the washed out colors that capture the brightness of a sunny California day. You almost feel as if you were out there on a beach cruiser, gliding along the Pacific coastline.
Taken any great travel photos? Why not add a few to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.
C'mon, who doesn't like rainbows, bikinis or the beach? But you have to be honest - how often do you find all three in a single travel photo? Yet that's exactly what we came across in today's exuberant photo by Flickr user Enjoy Patrick Responsibly. The shot, taken in Barbados, is such a fun and clever blending of the usual travel "cliches" that we couldn't resist posting it while simultaneously shouting "yahoo!" at the top of our lungs.
Taken any great travel photos lately? Why not add them to the Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.
In 2012, it's hard to imagine catching a flight as anything but a routine, frequently dehumanizing process – waiting in long security lines, bad food and cramped terminals conspire to make our flying experience less than enjoyable. This wasn't always the case - back in the 1960s, flying was considered a glamorous, cutting edge industry, and the design of the airports matched that perception.
A great example of this is long-ago closed TWA Terminal at New York's JFK Airport. Opened in 1962 and designed by visionary architect Eero Saarinen, the building's soaring departures lobby, sleek waiting lounges and polished interior beckon travelers towards an optimistic golden age of travel that was just getting started. Today, that terminal lies tantalizing out of reach, a designated National Historic Landmark that rests unused and waiting directly in front of JetBlue's massive new Terminal 5.
Earlier this weekend, Gadling traveled out to JFK as part of Open House New York to take a sneak peek inside the now-shuttered terminal of TWA to get a taste of what air travel used to be like. Want to see what the glory days of air travel looked like for travelers? Take a peek inside the gallery below.
Today's image comes to us from Flickr user arunchs, who captured this visually striking shot inside the Hawa Mahal, a palace located in the city of Jaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan. I love the contrast between the two sides of the images - on the left, we have a muted off-white series of arches. On the right, a colorful collection of stained glass windows, the sunbeams casting rainbow checkerboards across the floor.
Taken any great photos during your travels? Add them to our Gadling group on Flickr - we might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.
Last week, thousands of residents along the East Coast had their homes destroyed or were left without electricity and heat by Hurricane Sandy. This week brought yet another injustice as a vicious Nor'easter storm bearing snow and frigid temperatures left victims scrambling for shelter. That's why we were heartened to hear about a just-announced partnership between NYC.gov and apartment rental service Airbnb to coordinate free housing for New York area storm victims.
