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gtrot’s Guide to Chicago

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Are you headed to Chicago soon? Do you live in Chicago? If so, you’re in for a treat! A while back we shared a post with Tripping covering our favorite eats, shops and sights in the Windy City. Check out the places where you might catch the gtrot crew hanging out!

Eats:

Chicago Q – This is one of our gtrotter’s favorite restaurants in Chicago. It’s located in the heart of downtown and serves up tasty gourmet barbecue.

DMK Burger Bar- Looking for a burger? This is you place! They have great burgers and specialty fries! We recommend the Truffle Parmesan!

Purple Pig- Known for it’s ‘Wine, Swine and Cheese’ this tapas bar has a great outdoor patio and a long wine list. Great tapas that change with the season are great for sharing!

Yolk- Breakfast anyone? Red velvet French toast or Nutella crepes? Have your choice at this local favorite.

Terzo Piano- This Italian restaurant has a great view of the city (Millennium Park) and amazing cuisine, which is all local and organic.

Shops:

Akira- The boutique chain is affordable, trendy and there are numerous locations throughout the city.

Block 37- Located in the downtown area, this new shopping center is on State Street with stores like Zara, Puma, Sephora and more!

Michigan Avenue – Welcome to the Magnificent Mile. If you don’t mind shopping with a lot of people and love the rush, this is your spot. So many flagship stores and restaurants for you to visit.

Nightlife:

Barleycorn – Located in Wrigleyville, walk past the Wrigley stadium straight into a lower level restaurant and bar and upper level dance party. Fridays are pretty cray cray!

Big Star- Whew, the margaritas are very strong!

Kingston Mines- At this famous blues bar you can enjoy live music every night.

 

For more Chicago attractions, check out the full list on the Tripping Blog.


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Promotions | gtrot September Takeover Sweepstakes!

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

September is the month of giveaways! Not only do we want you to travel and have a great time while doing so, we want you to share your travels with us. Very soon, sharing travel with friends will become a totally different experience, for the better! We’re here to help you get out of dodge and explore the world! Share your trips with us and “Like” us on Facebook for your chance to score some sweet prizes. You can tweet entries, too!

Starting this week, we’ll be giving away Groupon gift cards every week to gtrotters chosen at random, with the final prize being two free roundtrip flights anywhere in the US!  Are you excited yet?

How do you enter? It’s really easy! Sign up for gtrot, if you haven’t already. It’s quick using Facebook Connect (don’t worry we’ll never post anything without your permission)!

There are two ways to enter:

To enter on Facebook, “Like” gtrot on Facebook.

To enter on Twitter, tweet “I want @gtrot to send me to _________ this fall! #gtrottravel”. You can enter with a tweet once a week.

You can enter on Facebook and Twitter.

The Grand Prize winner will be announced on October 3, 2011. The first round of the contest has begun, so start spreading the word!

Prizes and Schedule:

First Round: 9/12/11- 9/18/11 Winner announced 9/19/11

Your Chance to Win $50 Groupon gift card

Second Round: 9/19/11- 9/25/11 Winner announced 9/26/11

Your Chance to Win $100 Groupon gift card

Third Round: 9/26/11-  10/02/11 Winner announced 10/03/11

Your Chance to Win Grand Prize: Two round-trip flights (worth $500) anywhere in the US!

gtrot Takeover Sweepstakes Promotion deets:

1) No purchase necessary. Entries are based on Facebook friends joining gtrot between September 9th and October 2nd, how many Facebook friends “Like” gtrot on Facebook and how many Twitter users tweet the specified link. Weekly winners will be announced at the end of each contest period on Facebook and Twitter (if applicable).

2) The grand prize drawing will take place October 2, 2011. The winner will be notified via email. If they do not claim their prize within 30 days they will forfeit their prize and an alternate will be selected. Winners names will be announced on The Trot Blog.

3) The grand prize includes two roundtrip flights ($500 value).

 

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Burning Man 2011

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Monday (August 29) kicked off Burning Man 2011 in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. During the 8-day experiment, participants create what is known to be Black Rock City, a community that strongly encourages self-expression and self-reliance. The art theme for Burning Man 2011 is “Rites of Passage”. The Burn will happen Saturday night. This year, there is a livestream of the experiment available to everyone who couldn’t make it. For the first time in 25 years, Burning Man tickets are completely sold out!

Streaming by Ustream

For more information on Burning Man 2011, head over to the official website.

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Featured Traveler | Nellie Huang: WildJunket

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

This travel journalist is a Singapore native. She’s taken her talents everywhere from Spain to Tanzania and has written for a plethora of media outlets. Meet Nellie Huang, the creator of WildJunket and our latest Featured Traveler!

Name: Nellie Huang

Tell us a little about yourself:

I’m a freelance travel journalist with love for the unknown and an eye for adventure. Hailing from Singapore, I have traipsed through continents to find home in Spain, where I live for now. In my quest for adventure, I have climbed an active volcano in Guatemala, reconstructed a school in rural Tanzania, followed the trails of sea lions on the Galapagos Islands and dived the depths of Borneo. My work has been published in print media Food&Travel, International Lifestyle, Jetstar Asia in-flight magazine and Exhale magazine; as well as online media CNNGo, National Geographic IT blog, Women Adventure Magazine and Travel+Leisure Asia, amongst others. I am a contributing guidebook author to VIVA Travel Guide Guatemala, having authored the chapters of Coban and Tikal.

Favorite city you’ve been to:

Granada, Spain and Cuzco, Peru. Both for their bohemian air and natural charm.

Favorite restaurant:

Mango Restaurant in the Kilimanjaro region, between Moshi and Aruba. I used to eat there everyday when volunteering in Tanzania and loved the chicken rice set there.

Best place to relax:

Le Paradisier in Ifaty, Madagascar for its gorgeous setting and tranquility.

Best place to have fun:

Seoul, South Korea for the best street food, nightlife and all-night-long entertainment.

Best trip you’ve ever taken:

Island-hopping in the Galapagos.

What one piece of advice do you have for travelers?

To let go of all your insecurities, step out of your comfort zone and live life to the fullest.

Where else can we find you on the web?

www.wildjunket.com

www.nelliehuang.com

www.facebook.com/nellie.huang1

www.twitter.com/wildjunket

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#wwkds Roundup: Week Two 08/15

Monday, August 15th, 2011

This was our second week hosting “Wander Weekends” (#wwkds) on Twitter. We had a few people share what they did last weekend and we really enjoyed reading their responses. We’d love for more people to participate. Instead of having a designated time slot, we have decided to make #wwkds an all day event! Tweeters from around the world will be able to use the hashtag all day. We want everyone to share what they did in their respective cities.

Here are a few #wwkds tweets from today:

@yarby: @gtrot travelled over to Asheville, NC. Beautiful weekends in the mountains! #wwkds

@br_ttany: I went to Griffith Park for the first time, had great German Beer at Wirsthaus and saw Happy Potter!#wwkds

@zetgem: @gtrot Spent a day picnicking and walking around Governors Island (@Gov_Island) in the heart of NYC! #wwkds

@hunywok: @gtrot Was at the Iowa State Fair and ate nothing on a stick. Did have a milkshake tho..yummo!#wwkds

We hope you’ll join us next week! Happy travels!

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Featured Traveler | The Best Of: Travel Advice

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

We’ve been doing the Featured Traveler posts for some time now and wanted to highlight the “one piece of advice given to travelers” from a few of our Featured Travelers. If you’re traveling soon, you may want to take their advice for the best travel experience!

Kevin Bluer: Go out of your way to be humble and respect absolutely everyone. Regardless of what you might occasionally think, every single person on this planet has near identical wants and needs: health, sustenance, shelter, etc. In addition, make a concerted effort to “connect” with local people. Without doubt, the most memorable aspects of any trip I have ever taken have come from doing this, although I definitely have a long way to go in terms of perfecting the art.

Annemarie Dooling: Never plan anything. You know the old adage, “If you wanna make God laugh, tell him your plans”? It’s never more true than in travel. Prepare for emergencies with guidebooks or apps or cell service or the number of friends or consulate members, but don’t plan anything. You’ll be really disappointed when the plans fall through.

Andy Ellwood: GO. If you have the chance to see, experience, or try something new, do it. Look for advice from locals and make time for the things that aren’t in the guide books or on ‘Top 10′ lists. And most of all, roll with the punches and hang loose. Things will change and not go according to plan.  Be okay with that and bounce back immediately and find the joy in the journey.

Chris Guillebeau: Don’t listen to anyone who says you’re doing it wrong. You don’t have to travel (or do anything else) according to someone else’s vision of your experience.

Peter Shankman: Smiling gets your incredibly far.

Gwen Taylor: Be non-judgmental.  Yes, the preverbal “they” do things differently but act like you are Margaret Mead who said, “Anthropology demands the open-mindedness with which one must look and listen, record in astonishment and wonder that which one would not have been able to guess. “ Seek to understand like an anthropologist not a xenophobic.

Candice Walsh: Bring napkins. Trust me on that one.

Happy Travels!

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