The TravelCommons podcast is back on the East Coast in Boston. Recorded in the bathroom of the Residence Inn in Charlestown, I talk about the tight summer travel market, strategies for eating alone without looking like a loser, and more Classic Travel Stories — fun on Air Canada. Also, e-mail and audio comments from listeners. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.
Here are the shownotes for TravelCommons podcast #7:
Intro music — Warmth by Makkina
Recording in the bathroom of the Residence Inn in Charlestown, Mass
A great dinner in Boston’s North End at Mamma Maria (www.mammamaria.com)
Any hotel suggestions for my vacation in Geneva, Switzerland or Albertville, France?
The first day of the new podcasting functionality in iTunes is sending lots of new subscribers
The summer travel season is upon us and it’s going to be a crowded one
Audio comment from Steve Frick of Frick’s World
Strategies for dining alone on the road
Classic Travel Stories — a trio of stories from Air Canada plane rides
Feedback at comments[at]travelcommons.com, the comment board on podcastalley.com, or right here in the comments section below
Direct link to the show
Just wanted to let you know that I subscribed to the Travelcommons Podcast through iTunes 4.9 and when I opened up the program today your podcast #7 automatically downloaded into my library. Cool stuff. Podcasting goes mainstream thanks to Apple!
i just got your podcast through iTunes 4.9… It’s a great show… Really facinating advice and stories for travel lovers all over the nation… Keep it up! Thanks!
Mark, you are too funny! Your travelcommons podcast is my favorite of the 20+ podcasts I listen to regularly. Every time you talk about the “bathroom of the week”, it just makes me laugh. I told my husband, and he said, “does that mean he’s doing a “pottycast”?” Hmm. I was in Las Vegas last week, and was listening to you in the bathroom of the Bellagio – how’s that for class?! Keep up the good work, and thanks for your humorous approach to a subject that can be very trying at times.
I love the “pottycast” comment. If you notice the T/C logo that now (finally) comes up on the iTunes directory listing for T/C, you’ll note the briefcase in the bathroom tile motif. Not quite as posh as the Bellagio, granted. But then again, you’ll notice that, other than the Camelback Inn, I haven’t been podcasting from the grand hotels. I normally choose my hotel based on proximity rather than amenities — at least for my business travel. I’m trying desperately to get everything wrapped up so that I can head over to Europe for two weeks’ vacation. I’m hoping that the hotels there will be a bit more plush…
Podcst #7 was my first, and I enjoyed it.
I’m a regular traveler and often find myself dining alone. My son, a chef in New Orleans (Herbsaint on St. Charles) suggested sitting at the bar if they serve food, and I’ve done that with some remarkable consequences. Bartenders will almost always chat (if they’re not slammed) and I’ve enjoyed some great conversations at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville, Jeanty at Jacks in San Francisco, Cafe Pinot in LA and many others. At Rubicon in SF, a restaurant known for its superb wine list, I had been chatting with the bartender about their wines. He brought a glass with about an ounce of wine and asked me what I thought. It was just superb. He then told me that it came from a bottle of 1952 Cabernet Sauvignon that had been brought in that evening by a very wealthy customer who had shared a glass with the Sommelier who, in turn, had shared it with the bartender and then on down to me. Friendly chatter will sometimes result in a bartender refilling a half-empty wine glass and “forgetting” to add it to the check, samples of new wines and a variety of other benefits those dining at tables don’t enjoy.
I’ve eaten at the bar of the Rubicon a number of times and had some beautiful classes of wine. Haven’t been comp’d yet, but had some great stuff.
You’re right about chatting up the bartenders. Having tended bar on Capitol Hill during my college days, on a slow night, you’re happy for any reasonably intelligent conversation. It helps pass the time ’til closing time. And in many bars, the bartender is the alcohol captain — everything runs through him/her. If they decide they like you, you’ll get a little “pay back” for helping the night run quicker.
What kind of food does Herbsaint serve? I’ll look it up next time I’m down in NO.
New York Times travel writer Julia Reed described it as modern creole. (In a February piece in the Times she thought it among NO’s four best in the creole/Cajun category.) The founder is an Acadian who really knows the food you find around Lafayette and Breaux Bridge. He brought my son out from Palo Alto to help open the restaurant five years ago and it has become very popular among the locals. They do some interesting stuff with rabbit, smoked sausages etc., and they have a very interesting wine list.
Hi Mark,
I’m one of your original fans and every show just gets better.
Since marketing is my business, I wanted to share some observations with you
on the new iTunes system.
I’ve noticed that the most popular of the independent podcasts listed on iTunes list themselves in several catagories.
Using the Dawn & Drew Show as an example (the best example of good Podcast marketing since I would guess it’s only the marketing that’s made this one popular at all). It’s listed in iTunes under “comedy”, under “podcasts”, and twice under “public radio”.
Obviously the more catagories, the more exposure and subscriptions.
Travlecommons could easily qualify under:
Podcasts
Audio Blogs
Public Radio (It seems to be a generic catch all)
Talk Radio
International (You give a lot of European travel information)
Transportation (No one teaches us more about TSA than you)
And the most obvious one of all:
Comedy (you are one of the funniest guys in Podcasting, come on!)
Keep up the great work!
Mary
Mary –
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll re-work my XML feed when I get back from vacation.
Regards,
Mark