Oct 142012
 
National Park Service logo from Wind Cave National Park

Some rangers are still searching for Twitter instructions in their Mission 66 manuals (NPS crest at Wind Cave NP in South Dakota)

Last update: 14 October 2012

Many National Parks and National Historic Sites have joined Twitter, and the daily outpouring of American history, alluring photos, and new discoveries at the parks near you makes for a good addition to your stream which, if it’s like mine, spends too much time stomping around in kittycat images and tech complaints.

A few of the wiser managers at the National Park Service are trying to get its rangers to tweet, and interestingly, staff interest is rising even as the budget is falling.

Far from being boring tickers about road closures and forest fire risk, many of the National Park Service streams are often tended by people who get really excited about nature and history. For example, the African Burial Ground (a delightfully active one for such a small site) might share a resource for researching your slave ancestors in Virginia or link to a database that details the machinations of the slave trade. Other feeds may be manned by rangers who can answer history questions for you.

What’s missing? Many Civil War battlefields, despite the fact we are now amidst the 150th anniversary of the war. Also, some rangers, despite being the foremost authorities on their turf, rely on volunteer organizations to do the heavy lifting; that’s the case with Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park, an otherwise good feed. Others seem to lack overseers with passion or funds: The omnibus @NPS_CivilWar account, untouched since late September 2011, is not cutting it.

In general, natural sites get more attention than historic or cultural ones. Where’s Jimmy Carter National Historic Site? Manzanar National Historic Site? Where’s the Carl Sandburg Home, Frederick Douglass’ house? Mount Rushmore, despite having four big mouths, is mute.

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Feb 092012
 

Jason Cochran: The Ward of Cheap in London

My recent post on San Francisco touring pitfalls was such a success that it’s not too early for another winning budget travel video. This one is about London, and how to see it without spending more than $15 a day. I have passed more time in London than in any city other than my home, and I have written about it quite a lot, too.

Between you and me (don’t tell anyone), my guidebook to London, is probably the best one I’ve written. I was in the zone. That’s the same book that was award best guide of the year by the Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Awards. I took some of the ripest fruit from that guide and turned it into a video.

You should have seen me racing around London in a single day to shoot all this footage with my little camera (for a site that’s now defunct). It’s easier said than done since there I was on my own and there was a lot of running around to be done. And I shot this on the same day as a video about what the U.K. Post Office can teach America’s and one about the successful Barclays free bike loaner system, also known as Boris’s Bikes. I was mildly moist, enjoyed nothing of the sights, and I might have chosen my wardrobe better. Then I hustled off to Southampton to do another video about the naming of the new Cunard Queen Elizabeth ship.

Let no one say travel writing is like a vacation. You have to get the goods, and the goods have got to be good.

Yeah. I know. Uptown complaints.

But this is good. There are actually some incredibly useful tips in here for saving cash there once you arrive — without missing out on what makes London London. I’m proud of this, as I am my book:

Once you’ve laid out a million dollars for airfare and hotel (although my book has some terrific secret hotels), these tips will save you save you dosh.

Fun fact: The opening and closing shots were lip-synched because the original audio was too messy. You probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t told you, but I now know what Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds go through in their ADR sessions.

Feb 072012
 

Today, I present a segment (with some really handsome shots by Matt Crum) about all the ways to make San Francisco, which is already a good-value city for vacations, into an even better value.

One of my books is a guide to San Francisco, which is barely still for sale. I don’t think you should necessarily rush to buy it, because it may be the most plainspoken guide to San Francisco ever written. I sort of tell people things are not as exciting as they’re cracked up to be. On The Haight: “You’re more likely to meet slumming rich kids from the suburbs who have discreetly parked their Beemers a few blocks away than you are to meet any actual hippies.” And I proclaim the vagrant-plagued Tenderloin “a national shame.”

Oops.

I do think it’s true. But as it turns out, people don’t always want the unvarnished truth in their guide books. They want a li’l bit of cheerleading.  Framed this way, though, in a helpful how-to video, navigating the mistakes of San Francisco becomes much more appealing.

This originally ran (in a much shorter version) for a website that is now in website heaven.

Jul 282010
 

Today was a day lived at light speed. Press event, work, lunch with a colleague, more work, coffee with a friend from Tourism Australia, more writing. The frenetic pace carried right into Fox News’ newsroom. The stage manager grabs me late, and then I was placed in this seat (a new one for me) at the very last possible moment before my “hit.” Literally seconds. Earpiece in. As soon as it’s in my head, or so I think, Philly tells me that I’m on in 10 seconds.

Trouble was, the top of my head was still out of frame. For all the world was about to know, I still had hair. I relay this urgent information to the guy on the floor with none of the sense of urgency that the situation actually called for. Frame hastily jerked up, and go!

I think we were all having an off day. But it still came off — much like my IFB earpiece — even if the crush made me deliver something that was somewhat more hyperbolic than the original post I wrote about this topic for WalletPop.




As soon as I was out of the chair, I was back on the subway (which runs alongside the studio, pretty much) and in the Lower East side for the latest Restless Legs reading series. There, I caught up with a bunch of my favorite travel peeps, including the people behind Nomadic Matt (whom I interviewed yesterday on camera for WalletPop — stay tune for that), Legal Nomads, Budget Travel, EuroCheapo, Gadling, and The Lost Girls.

A busy day is a good day.

Jul 202010
 

I was invited on the two-day inaugural preview on Norwegian’s colossal new cruise ship, the Epic. While most of the other journalists were upstairs getting soused on the open bar (which I did — later), I was downstairs investigating the new “Studio” cabins. These new solo quarters will enable people who wish to vacation alone, or at least have a stateroom to themselves, to avoid paying that dreaded “single supplement” which keeps so many people from taking the trips they’d like to take.

I thought it’d be much more fun to make a video about them than to just write something. So my friend Josh Koll shot me. We had it in the can in 10 minutes, but as far as I know, I’m the only journalist who made a video of these rooms. As if that’ll win me any prizes.

I also cut it, which may explain why it’s a little choppy. I don’t expect you to share in my sense of accomplishment, but Final Cut Pro can be a beast.

Jul 132010
 

I took a few days out of a five-day vacation to create this video because I thought it would be so cool to have an internationally shot segment on WalletPop. I am especially proud of a few of the shots in here, such as the shot of the traghetto gondolier shot from below. On the Grand Canal in a rocky gondola.

I really need to learn how to put work demands on a shelf when I’ve got time off. Then again, when I create stuff like this, I’m 1) doing something that pretty much no other website is doing 2) creating a cool video scrapbook of the places I go and the people I meet and 3) having fun anyway. And I’m learning.

The post that this video lives in comes with a list of 10 ways to save in Venice.