Just Released Lilly Pulitzer E-Cards!

Today stationary company cocodot announced their release of new Lilly Pulitzer e-cards. These great cards come in your favorite Lilly patterns and are ready for all occasions. 

While an e-card will never replace the courtesy and thought put into a hand-written note (Lilly makes note cards too), these e-cards do offer another fun, fantastic way to send out special messages to your friends, families, and co-workers. What will you use Lilly to say?

Cheers, Kate

Now Boarding Bin Laden

Apparently, British Airways has a fake boarding pass going around with Osama Bin Laden’s name on it as a sample in some advertising. Someone will get fired over this decision, but it’s still interesting to see how one name can cause so much. I’m glad I’m not flying again until November. Read the story on Yahoo! News here: British Airways red-faced over faux image of Bin Laden boarding pass. Has this story affected you? Any thoughts?

Practical Traveler Reviews Flight Meta-Search Engines

The Practical Traveler, NY Times own travel blog, has sent out a nice piece reviewing several ‘meta-search’ engine sites in the post ‘Sites That Do Your Fare Digging.’ Anyone who has asked me for travel advice has been to Kayak.com, and my new favorite TravelZoo.com. I love Kayak because it tells you where to look for the best price, and TravelZoo sends out a weekly alert filled with fantastic travel deals as well as last-minute alerts. Something to sign up for if you’re looking for quick deals or last-minute getaways.

I was unaware that TravelZoo also runs meta-search engine Fly.com, and equally unfamiliar with Momondo.com. After conducting my own search, I found a ticket $300 cheaper on Fly than on my traditional favorite Kayak. So perhaps it is worth looking at a few sites. Thankfully now you only have to search three, instead of thirty. Please let me know if you have a favorite search site that has been helpful for you to find great travel deals. Then we can all fly somewhere sunny, at least until spring really sets in!

Sky High Wi-Fi

As I begin to set off on various modes of transportation around New Zealand, I remembered receiving email from AirTran announcing WiFi service on all flights by September 2009. Why I’m on their email list, I have no idea, but it gave me something to ruminate over. How will WiFi on airplanes change social media applications?

My immediate reaction was of annoyance. For a flight under 3 hours, the cost is $9.95, and $12.95 for flights over 3 hours. I think that public service providers should include internet in the ticket price, if they are going to offer it on the flight, and I refuse to pay for a service which should be a perk for using their airline. Like leather seats and satellite TV on JetBlue (the main reason I fly them across the country). Regardless of the cost, the availability of internet service on planes means two things. First, that cell phones actually can have reception. Second, that social media is about to take on a whole new face.

While riding the Metro in Washington, D.C. everyone learns to not use their phone. If you choose to use public transportation, then you should be courteous enough to

Phone service should never be allowed on planes. Period. First thing that happens is a pilot crashes because of texting or looking at a picture message or getting Twitter updates. Next thing is the utter annoyance of every person in the cabin because of the rude and loud conversation of one person. Neither of those things would be pleasant. Flights should be in the same category as the subway, since they are both means of public transportation. If cell phones are allowed on public flights, I will seriously consider selling my soul for a private jet.

But social media will finally have a new outlet!

Social Media: Grief for the MTV/AOL Generation

When one goes travelling, the worst fear is something disastrous will happen and you have to go home early. I met an 18-year-old German boy who had a death in the family and had to return before seeing any of New Zealand. I also recently lost a sorority sister Elizabeth White to a three-year battle with cancer. When I return home in a few weeks, it will be coming up on the one-year anniversary of the death of Milena. She was a friend to all and had only been initiated into Alpha Chi Omega two weeks before passing away.

When I first heard I regretted her loss, but I continued my afternoon routine checking through various social media platforms. I was repeatedly reminded of the impact of her death through the explosion of Internet activity, commonly described as grief. The same applications we use to stay in touch with family, to connect with other travellers, and to find upcoming parties also becomes a virtual memorial.

I remember watching as friends posted Tweets in mourning, as my Facebook news feed became a wall of loss, and instant messenger’s ‘away messages’ showed the sorrow of their users. We were grieving as an online community, an extension of our physical, human community. This was the way we showed each other that her family was on our minds and the pain of our friends was felt inside our own hearts.

In line with my peers, I left my own goodbye messages to Milena across any social media application I could. I attended a candle-light vigil inside our sorority house and a gathering of friends on campus. And within minutes of returning home after a late TCBY run, I was shocked by the new updates on my news feed. Friends were no longer satisfied with their own posts, but began leaving messages on Milena’s wall.

While this is a typical daily activity for many as Facebook has no restrictions on users, I did not understand the purpose of writing messages that she would never read, especially if only written 24-hours earlier their receiver would have been aware of the note. This new method of grieving was bizarre and unnatural.

I began to explore this idea - of leaving love notes to the dead across social mediums.

A popular place was the memorials for victims of the Virginia Tech shooting three years ago. Students commented that they left messages for their fallen classmates when their favorite songs played on the radio, when memories of good times cropped up, or when other reminders occurred. It was an interesting method for commemorating those taken from us suddenly or before, we believe, their time. For years, victims of car crashes or similar disasters have been remembered by semi-permanent memorials, like flowers on the road side or the stone memorial of the 32 Virginia Tech victims.

But a social media memorial is an interesting creature. At this time, the most recent post for Milena was only two days old, celebrating her birthday which would have been last weekend. How long will this last? We have transformed life from reality to virtuality, and the internet serves as the major connection for young people across the globe. Will our lack of physical community continue to reflect in other aspects of life? Does a virtual memorial satisfy the need to explain humanity and provide an outlet to hold on to those who have gone?

Personal Plug-Ins

The Currency Game

While money in different countries is a whole other issue, its important to research what currencies are used in the countries you are going to.  Small devices like camera batteries can be charged with only a converter and may not need a transformer.  Higher powered devices like  cell phones, laptops and hair straighteners might need the transformer to make sure too much current isn’t hurting the device.  In Antibes, France I had to go to the hairdresser because I burnt my hair off using my American curling iron on too high of a setting.  Needless to say, a hairdryer is on my list of ‘things to get when I get there,’ along with a pocket knife.  Check out the World Electricity Guide for country specifics.

Staying Connected

If I didn’t think about it, I would pack my iPod, laptop, digital camera, Garmin GPS, webcam, and cell phone all along for the ride.  Fitting those into a backpack with my J.Crew shorts and Polos is going to be pretty tough.

Instead of emptying my backpack and finding most of these:

I’m downsizing and the first order of business is getting the most options out of the least number of devices.  I’m cracking down and buying an iPhone.

This is harder than you think.  I need one not in a contract with a service provider that is as new as possible with the maximum amount of memory.  Oh yeah and I can’t spend hardly anything on it so it’s tough.  The biggest difference between the 3G and 3GS is the video camera in the 3GS.  This would give me the potential to make video calls home over Skype instead of having to haul my laptop, buy a netbook, or use an internet cafe.  Otherwise, the iPhone replaces my iPod, GPS, and phone  as well as giving me access to Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter, so I can still keep up with life back in the States.  I can’t wait to pick out a dozen applications and buy a pink case for it.  The biggest frustration is getting one.  Ebay has plenty that are well over $600, which is more than my plane ticket cost me.  And Craigslist is full of scams, I’ve tried to contact a few of them with no luck.

Downsizing my other electronics is going to be hard.  I probably won’t bring a laptop because frankly it’s bulky, heavy, and New Zealand is a completely developed country.  There’s also a WordPress app for the iPhone so I can update this blog remotely (I know, you’re excited now).  Probably getting an international phone number freaks me out more than anything, since everyone back home doesn’t really know how to use those.  Luckily, Vodafone has prepaid SIM cards for data, so I don’t have to worry about that.

But what do I do when I get back in March?  I’m offloading my expensive Verizon account because my mom wants her own personal cell phone again instead of just her work phone (a horrible Palm Treo), and because their overseas service isn’t very good.  A couple on my Ireland tour paid to activate their international roaming, and Verizon never did.  American phone companies are overly resistant to the SIM card option, so that’s out too.

At least in the next year I’ll have had phone numbers on 3 continents, so if anyone is trying to reach me, whether friend, family, foe or shark, it’ll be a hell of a lot harder.  Unless I give you my number.