June 14, 2007

Our June newsletter for Slow Travel Gold Star members is about blogging.

Welcome to Our Newest Bloggers!

Slow Travel members Andasamo and girasoli will be traveling to Italy this summer and each will be blogging during their adventures. Check out their blogs:

There and Back Again ... Repeat by Andasamo

Venice, Rome, and a Few Places in Between by girasoli

Slow Travle member Leslie has also joined the blogging crew with tales from her travels and her life - Kaleidoscope.

And, Kaydee will be returning to spend the summer in France with husband Charley and daughter Kelly, you can follow along on their journey at The Trail's Our Thing

See our complete list of Slow Travel Bloggers.

Why Blog?

Memories fade, but the written word can last forever. Blogging, whether it's on a trip, during the planning stages, or while we're just day-dreaming about trips to come, gives us a record of things that happened, of things we're planning to happen, or things we're hoping will happen. Not only does it give the blogger a means for recording this information, it allows others to share in those experiences, thoughts and dreams too.

Must I Only Blog About My Travels?

No. While SlowTrav is a travel website, we do not limit the content of blogs. However because we are a travel website, we do hope you will share your travels with us before, during and after, eventually turning your blog entries into trip reports.

What Features Do You Have?

We have several features and add more all the time. Some of the more recent things you can do with your blog:

Header Photos

Several of our bloggers have added photos to the headers. These photos add a bit of color and character to your blog and can be changed by season, by trip or by whatever whim suits you. To see some examples of these, check out, The Trail's Our Thing and Palmabella's Passions.

Styles

While we provide each of our bloggers with a standard SlowTrav look (e.g., Views from the Slow Lane), using the StyleCatcher feature, each blogger can change the look of each ones individual blog (e.g., Venice, Rome, and a Few Places in Between and Kaleidoscope). Read more on how to use StyleCatcher.

Categories

Your blog can have any number of categories used to organize your entries. For example, you can have a different category for each trip you take, or you can have categories for different aspects of your life (e.g., travel, dining, books). The choice is yours. With the category feature, your readers can then find a set of entries based upon similar interests rather than paging through any number of entries you've posted.

Extended Entry

All of our blogs display the last five entries on the first or home page. However, for those of us who are a bit verbose, or those of us who would like to include a few pictures in an entry, this can slow down the loading of the blog for readers, especially those with dial-up. Using the Extended Entry option, allows you to put a "tease" on the first page, while linking to the main content of your entry on it's own page within your blog (e.g., What I Really Think).

Join Us

Want to get it on the action? Read more about blogging on Slow Travel or contact kim@slowtrav.com.

Happy Blogging!

Kim Riemann
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