In the post that follows I am asking for feedback. Here’s some background: Over the years many of our past guests have written me asking for advice about travel in general or travel to places other than Costa Rica. I have found it very satisfying to help with advice on anything from, “where should I go for [...]

One difference is that we are creating this blog together, so what is in it will reflect our preferences. For example, this post reflects your comments. Max Waugh wrote: “I think the idea has potential, though it will be interesting to see what can make it unique compared to other interactive travel resources such as Lonely Planet’s [...]

In the well over 80 comments we have had so far the question of whether to do your own travel planning and arranging or use professional help is one of the most frequent themes. This does not come as a surprise.  If the shared belief of the participants in this blog is that Vacation Time is [...]

Shannon Borrego emailed me to note that the number of comments is going down for each successive post and to ask if she was missing something. Since her observation is correct, I figured that for this week’s post I should give you a progress report and once again ask for feedback. First the Progress Report This makes the [...]

Last December it occurred to me that there might be some value in creating a blog that would serve as a vehicle for the world’s best travel planners and arrangers to have an ongoing conversation with sophisticated committed travelers. To see whether the idea had any traction I wrote it up and mailed it to Costa [...]

Hi Michael, Yes!It is a great idea, I will like to share my experience of travel with others, so I will like to participate in your blog although I am french speaking (from Quebec).

Michael, I think it is a good idea. You look at some of the other blog spots that have taken off in regards to various parts of travel and there is a place for it. I also think setting up alliances with other similar firms is a good source of cross referrals. Since our trip with you, we have mentioned on several occasions that we wish you did the same thing in Africa or could recommend a firm that cares as much about the overall experience. If you build it, they will come.

Hi Michael, I am happy to participate. One caution, although you have more marketing experience than I do. Possible conflict of interest if blog comments from participants can be rewarded with a travel perk. Would hate for a nasty marketing backlash if your competition wanted to make something look scandalous.

Dear Michael, I think this is a great idea and I do feel that the trip I took to Costa Rica was the best trip I've ever had. I'm still recommending it to people if they are looking for a honeymoon idea. Unfortunately, due to the economy my traveling has been very curtailed and Costa Rica is the last place I've gone to for fun that wasn't accessible by car. Even the travel funds for work are rare, so I feel like my advice would be too dated to help much with the blog. But I'm sure you'll get some good insights from lots of other people. I wish you the best, as I think you have a great company.

Good point. The idea is not to reward people for saying wonderful things about me, Costa Rica Expedition, or even the blog. The idea is to use the blog to select a few people who together would create a magical few days. I am working out the idea as I go along. More in a few days

Precisely, Robert. The idea is to achieve what you suggest and hope fully. Proust said, "The highest aim of travel is not to see new sights, but to gain new eyes." My hope for the blog is that it helps us all not only find out what to see and where to go, but also how to travel in most nourishing way possible.

We struggle to find quality active vacations similar to the one we took in Costa Rica yet we are always looking for similar experiences in mew countries. This summer we went to Turkey and worked with a local travel agent to create an active, customized itinerary which worked out very well but it would be great to have a source of ideas and this blog concept could be a good start.

Go Michael! The more interactive, the more creative and the more conversational, the more engagement and real. I think this could be the beginning of answering interesting questions which resonate...such as how do you define a "vacation"? When you think of spending quality time with others, how do you most want to do that? What types of new experiences are most memorable for you based on your past experiences? What were you doing and why did that experience stick with you? In your "wildest dreams", what's next on the travel frontier? Met with Don George about this with another company a couple of months ago. Very good thing to be doing for Costa Rica Expeditions. Will publish my CRE story...

Hello Michael, I think that this is a great idea! In researching any vacations, I actively use the internet and sites such as Trip Advisor in order to gain and / or share information about destinations, accomodation, etc. The thing that seems to be missing is a forum such as the one which you are launching; something which will provide real insights into various vacation destinations and ideas, as well as providing a venue for addressing specific questions and concerns, from the front lines, so to speak. I will be glad to participate!

Hello Michael: I suspect that this will prove very resourceful. I am already looking for more information on Africa. Of course, I am always thinking of Central America and the riches of its biodiversity. I have used your resources as a part of every trip (3x) in my stitched together trips to CR. To Lynne above, fortunately, my Son embarrassed me to come to China while he was there several years ago! One of the most important aspects was havinng a native Chinese friend travel with us. The kids were the travel guides and I guess, I was the banker. Michael, one suggestionns (that may be in the threads above) is some way to providing a subject/topic/keyword identifier as your blog grows. Thank you for the opportunity.

This sounds like a good idea. We loved our CRE trips and even converted a friend who is a world traveler and always avoided "group tours" like the plague. He came to Costa Rica with us and we traveled with your fabulous company...he was floored by the experience. One of my interests is combining travel with language learning. We've done it in Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico. I'd like to get to some other Latin/South American countries as well. It might make a useful blog discussion!

Hi Folks: Nice idea, Michael! I agree with those who suggest that some form of classifying will be required. As an educator, almost all my travel has been leading student groups on "study away" programs. I don't know how often CRE is used by school groups vs. individuals/couples, but the needs (and resources) are often quite different. If groups are a big part of your business, coordinators would find a subcategory very helpful. cheers, Wade

Hi all-I love the idea of a travel blog and reading everyones commments as well as contributing to the discussion of travel. With two kids 8 and 11, our family has a certain perspective, as well as some limitations for travel, but it also can be doubly rewarding to see a child see a spider monkey for the first time, or some other awe inspiring moment. The only problem I see with this is that the commments might remain very general or go into tangents(specific regions) and it will be difficult to search for them with out subcatagorizing by region or topic. Good luck.

I like the idea and am happy to contribute. My wife and I have been married for over 21 years and we typically take 1-3 adventure trips a year, so we can share insights on a lot of places- we even hit our seventh continent last year (although like us, some of the information may be a little old, depending on the local). My only suggestion is that you divide this blog in some way so that it doesn't become overwhelming. I am already a little intimidated by the number of posts in just a day or two and I fear it will become so large that people will start to tune out. Maybe we should each be assigned to groups based on regions we would like to comment on or the types of travel we like to do.

I think part of the issue may be the strange and fuzzy line between an interactive chat format and a blog that readers might comment on but is not by nature interactive. I've been reading consistently, both posts and comments, but haven't found the more recent posts compelled me to comment. Which is ok - I think part of the interesting dynamic going on here is the evolution of the site and the people contributing to that evolution. So keep it up, Michael, I think it's going great. Topics: I like the topics that pose thoughtful questions about how and why we travel, also topics sharing specific travel experiences that might give someone something new to try, or somewhere new to go. Like Rattviksdansen, a folklore festival in Rattvik, Sweden. Which is awesome.

Good question, Shannon. In theory if you click on reply if it is a comment the person will get an email with your question and the reply will be published on the blog. That is the theory, but as one of my first computer gurus told me, "Computer Science is an oxymoron." So please help me try it out and reply online (on the browser) confirming whether you received an email. If you did not, I'll ask the programmer to work on it. The idea is that you ask the question online. The person that you asked replies online and that way we all have the benefit of being in on the conversation.

Dear Michael, Instead of "SuperBlogger", how about "The Time of your Life"? This fits in with your idea of vacation-time being precious time when we all want to have what we call "the time of our life". Yet there's a more serious connotation : the awareness of Time passing.....What are you doing with your Life, which is Time ? As for travelling with a partner, I enjoy it. Didn't always! But life has a way of coming at you from all sides when you're young or even in your 40's & 50's .Struggles are many - work,desire for success,money,children,ups & downs......Sometimes it's tough.Yet now, more than 30 years later, a kind of contentment sets in,together with a interest in doing & seeing new things together - a wonderful reward for having stayed the course. So, yes, I'd prefer to share new experiences with my husband..... However, if only one of us was able to go,he's the one who has the most to offer in the way of environmental passion & knowledge.His enthusiasm is contagious! He was in heaven in Costa Rica,talking to all those like-minded people .I could never begrudge him that experience again,if there weren't room for spouses & partners this time.

ENOC, You are pointing out one of the great values of travel, getting to know local people. How to help travelers get to know local people when they have a limited amount of time and in many cases have to surmount a language barrier is one of the things that we are continually wrestling with. It is also something that I was thinking of writing about for this blog. If there are more people interested in pursuing this topic let me know.

I travel for very different reasons, Birdwaching, work, visiting family members I have abroad, tourism... But what I always remember and makes me want to return to one place is sharing with the people in the place, getting to know why they do things the way they do, finding out about their local and personal history. For that to happen the traveler's attitude has to be right (that's on me) and some time available has to be there "free". If that is going to be, and you choose me, count me in. About the name, ¿How about lifeblogging trip to costa rica?

IF there were a very fast and easy way to learn such a teaching method, it would be really useful for a lot of things, not just "voluntourism". There isn't. Some people, though they would love to be, are never going to be great teachers. Just because they can speak English, does not mean they can teach it. Besides this flawed assumption, the three main things that made me uncomfortable with this idea were: a) the title of this post. In order for us even to be considering this, the post should be called "How Travelers Can Help Local People Who Need and Want to Learn English." I think this was addressed in previous comments, but teaching English is not necessarily better than building a fence if no one is doing a needs assessment and following up - knowing that this is a need - and making sure THIS is the most effective and overall positive way to do so. b) the statement: "What I need is a way for my guests to have the rewarding experience of using only a few hours of their vacation time teaching English..." This shouldn't start with what WE need. c) my biggest issue with this: why kids? In my opinion, volunteer work and larger NGO projects in general should have a goal of helping people more easily solve these same problems in the future. If the problem is that kids are not learning English and they need/want to, then having someone transient teaching a few of them for a few hours is not helping anyone solve the same problem more easily in the future. If anything, why not have the travelers teach the TEACHERS - because at least then you are investing in a resource which can be improved and renewed. (I fear that the answer is that "the travelers want to work with kids" in which case go back to b.) We need to consider child safety issues as well as I'm pretty sure having a stream of visiting foreigners working with kids for short stints will be less beneficial and pose more risks than a well vetted and trained permanent teacher) I have a lot more thoughts about voluntourism and potential impacts on my blog. Here is a post about what I have seen go wrong with voluntourism: http://lessonsilearned.org/2010/02/voluntourism-what-could-go-wrong-when-trying-to-do-right/ Thanks for sparking the conversation, Michael (and for passing it on Alexia!)

Hi Jan, I love your idea of travel as "like reading a book but one is living the part." My husband and I like to read books, fiction, or non-fiction, evocative of the places we are going to visit - it always adds to the experience to imagine what the author or his/her characters saw there. Willa Cather for New Mexico, Keats or Shelley for Northern England, Bill Bryson for hiking in New England, Jonathan Spence for China. Also, for places we've never been, great travel writing can put us there in our imaginations! I'd love to see a book discussion on this blog about books that have sparked an interest in a different culture or amplified a travel experience.