Category — World Travel

With us today is Mark Hayward, author of the popular travel blog, mytropicalescape.com and owner of a bed and breakfast in Puerto Rico.  Thanks for joining us, Mark.

            1 - Tell us more about yourself.  How did you wind up on a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico?

My journey to Culebra and owning the Palmetto Guesthouse B&B was about ten years in the making. My wife and I always knew that we wanted to travel and try to avoid working in a corporate environment (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).

In January of 1997 we went into the U.S. Peace Corps and headed off to Papua New Guinea for two years. Even back then we knew that we wanted to have a small business somewhere in the Caribbean but it took another ten years of hard work and using what I call “stepping stone” employment to help get us to our current destination.

In fact, after living in Papua New Guinea for two years, we then lived on Samoa the in South Pacific for five years and from there we headed to Tortola, British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean for an additional five years. While in Tortola we thought that we would stay there forever, but during our second year of living there the immigration policy changed to where you could not apply to be a resident unless you lived on island for TWENTY years. That seemed a bit crazy in that I would have to wait until I was sixty before I could actually be a legal resident.

After looking around the Caribbean a bit, Culebra seemed like a perfect fit. The island is part of Puerto Rico so it’s a U.S. territory. That means we do not  need special permission to be able to live here, we don’t need work permits, and if we like, we can run twenty businesses if we want. Oh yeah, and the beaches are amongst some of the best in the world.

2 - How has social media changed the way you look at the web?

Funny, before we bought our guesthouse I didn’t give social media a second thought, but when we took over the Palmetto it hadn’t really been run as a business for over two years. No marketing, no promotion, no real room sales, nothing and we suddenly had a huge mortgage.

Social media and the web put the power of marketing and reputation building in my hands. If we had purchased our property even ten years ago there is no way we would have survived. Social media has changed everything for the small business owner - - having a couple of blogs, posting video to YouTube, and maintaining photos at Flickr has allowed us, at almost no cost, to spread the word about who we are, what we are, and what we have to offer.

 Also, during our first year of operation we didn’t pay for one advertisement anywhere and we found ourselves being featured in both Islands Magazine and Conde Nast Traveler. None of our early success, or the magazine articles, would have happened without the use of social media.

3 - Has the popularity of international traveling changed recently? Anything notable or in the news that has seemed to make a drastic push either way?

I am not sure the popularity of international travel has changed at all recently. However, I think, how people travel, has most definitely changed. Everyone from luxury travelers to business people and backpackers now have more chances to learn about and their destination and interact with people who live in whatever country they might be going to.

As far as the news creating a dramatic push for travel in either direction, well, I think the news about the economy will have an impact on travel. There are certain segments of the market that will always travel but I think for families who might take a typical one-week vacation to the Caribbean those folks will most likely stay close to home. The good thing about Culebra is people from the U.S. don’t need a passport to travel here since we are a territory. Hopefully that will entice more travelers to think of us as a destination for their vacation.

4 - Your website seems to be popular and was mentioned in islands magazine, many social media connoisseurs want to know what the turning point for your blog was toward its popularity.

I have two websites that I update regularly, MyTropicalEscape and Culebrablog. I originally started MyTropicalEscape to keep friends and family informed of our travels and progress as we attempted to purchase the Palmetto Guesthouse. Over time it has morphed into a space where I write about what interests me and I also try to motivate people to take that “next step” in their life towards whatever it is they dream of doing, e.g. working from home, moving overseas, or traveling.

My other site, Culebrablog, was part of our marketing plan for the business. We have a very small niche of people who travel here and the top keyword is “Culebra.” I don’t really know anything about SEO but within about two weeks I was able to get to the front page of Google for that term.

The readership of MyTropicalEscape has stayed the same for quite some time so there really wasn’t a turning point for popularity. But, there definitely was a return on investment (ROI) turning point, which came about a year after I started both sites. In fact, both Island and Conde Nast magazines discovered, and subsequently wrote about us, via my websites.

5 - Train for Humanity seems to be one of your more prominent projects now, and is already growing with leaps and bounds on social media networks and abroad. How intrinsic to the success and the spreading of its news has social media made itself to you and your project?

We launched Train for Humanity on September 9, 2008 with nothing BUT social media so its intrinsic value is huge. Actually, social media is even stated in our mission, which is:

getting in shape + social media + blogging = social good

In fact, without social media Train for Humanity, whose goal is to utilize everyday athletes (i.e. non-professional athletes) who are in training for various endurance events to help raise awareness and funds for humanitarian crises, would not exist. All of the blogger co-founders live in various corners of the world and we were brought together via our shared passion for helping people, social media, and the Internet.

It’s normal to see a few Chinese tour groups in airports or other tourist locations, but when we found out the Chinese Travel Service setting up this trip, we had to check it out. We found out, as anyone traveling to a foreign country, that this tour group had many questions about what kind of preparations they should make for their trip to Israel. They wanted to be in compliance with the culture they’re not used to and be respectful for the local’s and their own sake. Will all the shops be closed on the day of rest? Are there Chinese restaurants in Israel? Where can we buy a menorah? Should we not bring any snacks with pork?

(Image: Destination Israel)

All-in-all, this is really exciting for two cultures separated by continents to connect for a leisure, sight-seeing and history. This is only the beginning; the trip marks the first of many similar groups from China going to not only Israel but several other nations on the Chinese Travel Service’s approved list.

This also heads up a series of airports that link from Tel Aviv and other outgoing routes in Israel. New goals are being set with increased visitors found from both directions. This helps a great deal with GDPs and GNPs alike. It’s also greatly encouraging to see the amount of interest found in Israel, which goes a long way for welcoming visitors entering the country.

During much of his prison term, activist Nelson Mandela served it on Robben Island, just off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. The island itself is in Table Bay, and has been used for centuries for various reasons. During your visit to South Africa, you will experience a visit to this historical island, named so, as “robben” is Dutch for “seal”. [Read more →]

We are joined here today with Co-Founder Iris Hami. Thanks for joining, us Iris.

1 - What improvements in the travel industry have you seen in the last few years?

The flow of communications has improved tremendously. Also, the ability to find information on the internet, as well as passing information to your clients has improved tremendously.

2 - Where are your favorite places to visit?
[Read more →]

This May will see the 60 year celebration of Israel’s independence. For six decades, Israel has made great strides in creating a country that easily rivals many others that have been around for much longer. The economy is bolstered by many international agreements, which in turn lends itself to many exports and companies coming to Israel to do business. This, in turn, has led to a huge rise in tourism, which Israel is famous for. [Read more →]

There is a place in Israel that is a place of healing, regrowth, and learning. The KKL-JNF has strived to make a difference in the Jewish homeland, and that impact is seen as a glorious success. The learning came from the fact that it’s not always best to change the way nature operates, because 50 years ago, it was thought that the swampy areas of Lake Hula should be drained. Only by reflooding the area and allowing nature to take its course has the Hula Valley seen the return of wildlife and plant growth. [Read more →]

Photo by Matias Sanchez

Maybe you have heard about the “lost” Ethiopian Jewish tribes. It may seem a little far fetched to think some Jews originate in Africa - but it is true, and their story is nothing short of remarkable. [Read more →]

If you like living here on planet Earth, and are socially conscious about its future, then ecotourism is for you! Imagine being able to visit a rainforest, not just learning about them on the world news. Imagine gaining personal growth from experiencing the environment you care about. This is ‘green’ travel. [Read more →]

Traveling can be great, in fact it can be awsome, but no one wants to be sick while traveling, especially when you have planned so much. There’s plenty to think about, but who wants to think about being sick on a trip? Nothing beats an exotic destination or a new found favorite vacation spot, but for those who have been stuffed up, achy, tired, jetlagged, feverish, ill, or any other way of describing ’sick’, it can turn that dream in to a nightmare. [Read more →]

So you’re looking to get some questions answered about international travel. This is perfectly normal. You have thought about Europe and whether that 80’s hair band (with such hits as “The Final Countdown”) was named after it, well, it was! This is a great question so let’s tackle a few more! [Read more →]