HelloTraveler.com CLEARANCE Sale

April 17th, 2010

Up to 75% off regular prices!

We have some bits and bobs (as one of our British customers says) of  products that we are discontinuing or are no longer able to source.

So, it’s the perfect time for a Spring Clearance Sale. There are items from all categories and we’ll be adding more over the weekend. Come and get them while they last!

Find SALE items right here.

Unique Travel Scrapbooks — we’ve got ‘em

April 8th, 2010

Unique is good, right? It’s memorable. And that’s how your travel recollections are. Unique to the destination, to the activities and sites, to the travel companions and to your photographs, which provide the most lasting memory for most travelers.

On that note, we’ve brought in some vibrant and different FABRIC-COVERED travel scrapbooks. A fantastic Cowboy Scrapbook and lovely Asian Scrapbook in 12 x12 sizes. And we’ve added 3 smaller Tropical Scrapbooks and 1 Travel the States Scrapbook in 8×8 size.

These beauties are covered in cotton fabric, front and back, and of high manufacturing quality; made in the USA. Our prices are excellent with the 12×12 size normally retailing for over $30. Lastly, if you like them it’s relevant to know that fabrics get discontinued routinely so we cannot predict whether we’ll have these 3 months from now, let alone 6 months. Grab them while they’re hot!                            You’ll find the selection here: http://www.hellotraveler.com/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=sc1

Yes! Mini destination photo albums

March 30th, 2010

We know that customers like destination and theme-specific products. So, we’re always looking for things in that regard. Sometimes we’re able to come up with new items on our own.

Check out these great-looking small photo albums!

Aren’t they charming travel photo albums? Here’s the extra kick….rather than typical photo insert sleeves, these have white cardstock pages. We include a number of photo mount stickers for attaching your pics but this format means you can also write or draw on the pages, adhere or staple mementos, whatever you like. Make it a photo journal.

And they all tie up with a little ribbon!  See current selection here:  http://www.hellotraveler.com/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=minialb2

New Cruise Journals

March 12th, 2010

As usual, we dig to find good products for our niche. And we liked a couple of cruise journals that were created by the Mystic Seaport Museum.

Vintage Cruise Journal –  is a classic, retro-inspired journal with nautical maps and old photos on the front cover. The inside has been kept simple and flexible with plenty of lined pages and blank pages, which are great for writing some more, sketching or adhereing mementos. It includes measurement and sizing conversion table and a listing of world times.

You’ve got to love the covered spiral binding for it’s ease of use and the perfect size of this journal at 6 x 7 1/2.  http://www.hellotraveler.com/detail.aspx?ID=1788&Name=Vintage-Cruise-Journal

Cruising Memories Diary – We weren’t sure this would be the type of journal our customers would be looking for but, it seems they’re interested. The first page includes  fill-in sections about your yacht (what, you don’t have one?). But, the rest of it is like a typical cruise journal with prompted sections, including :  Day/Date,  Port Departed/ Port Arrived, Weather, Where & What we ate,  What we bought, Who we met, etc. Plus plenty of lined space for general writing. It’s covered in a navy leather-like covering with gold embossing, is hardback and measures 7 x 10.  http://www.hellotraveler.com/detail.aspx?ID=1789&Name=Cruising-Memories-Diary

Anchors Aweigh!

Where the heck have I been?

January 15th, 2010

Getting in the regular habit of blogging takes some doing. There’s been too much time between my posts. It’s one of my New Year’s resolutions to write posts regularly. I’m pretty good about focusing on those resolutions!

But, the good news is that the Holiday selling season worked out okay, given these thrifty times. And, going to the Caribbean in winter is always a treat. A week in St.Lucia was a thrill after a hectic 4th quarter.

Have already attended the Atlanta Gift Show and found some nice new travel or beach-themed frames, photo albums and gifts. Check back in the next month as we add nifty new things. Happy New Year!

Travelers stick together

January 15th, 2010

It’s certainly always nice to get noticed. It’s even more fun when someone is compelled to write about their discovery.  

Laura Carroll, Managing Editor of StudentsInEurope.com came across Hello Traveler  recently, liked what she saw and decided to write a review about us. Yippee! You may read her review here.

Holiday Shopping Made Easier!

November 30th, 2009

This Holiday season we’ve added two sections to make shopping a little easier. It’s always fun to find great items to put in stockings and because they need to be of small size, you’ll find many neat things collected in the  Stocking Stuffers category.

Sometimes we’re able to obtain special pricing on terrific products and we love to pass on those savings. With that in mind, you’ll also note the Special Holiday Deals category. All sorts of items are there; from travel journals to scrapbooks and photo albums, to picture frames.

We hope you enjoy finding special travel gifts at HelloTraveler.com

Gift Certificates at 15% off — that’s rare!

November 19th, 2009

Indeed it is. There are various schools of thought in retail-world. Some feel that it doesn’t make sense to ever have a storewide SALE. Why discount products that sell well at regular retail prices? It’s hard to argue with that.

You’ll notice that stores like Michael’s and others offer a hefty 40 % off coupon regularly but, it’s only for one item. Then they’ll have various, rotating categories of merchandise on sale. Obviously, it’s a relevant program for both retailer and shopper because it’s been in place for many years.

We generally put on sale items that: we have just a few remaining pieces, are slow sellers or products we’ve been able to buy discounted from the manufacturer and are passing on the good pricing.

However, one of the very fun things about having your own business is being able to do whatever you want! So we decided, for a limited time, to offer Gift Certificates ON SALE. They make wonderful presents for the Holidays especially if you know someone will be taking a trip next year. We always sell loads of travel journals at Christmas time. As well as things like cruise picture frames and photo albums. This year we have more destination-specific products than ever. Luggage tags are always welcome stocking stuffers.

But, don’t forget……you could just buy one for yourself. That’s where the storewide sale comes in. You can use it to buy anything we have at 15% Off.

Hurry, because this offer ends on Fri, Nov 20 at 5PM EST.                      Here they are: Gift Certificates

                               agiftcertimagesm                                                          agiftcertimagesm

New Country Flag Photo Journals — COOL!

October 12th, 2009
rn_englandjournalsm1We’ve just brought in some new hybrid travel journals. We refer to them as hybrid because with just blank white pages inside they can be used as a mini scrapbook, a journal to write in or….our favorite…..a photo journal.

Measuring approx. 9 x 6 there is plenty of space to install regular-size photos along with some favorite stories. They come with a set of 3-D stickers that will look great on the outside and inside. 

AND, they’re at a perfect price for gift-giving…….think upcoming holidays!

Sample pics below and find the series of 9 styles here: http://www.hellotraveler.com/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=/rn

                                                                    rn_germanyjournalsm
Mexico Photo Journal                

Keep an interesting travel journal

August 24th, 2009
Visual images add great dimension to a travel journal

Visual images add great dimension to a travel journal

This is a copy of an article I wrote for a travel resource website a couple of years ago. Info is still relevant.

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Do you keep a travel journal? For those that already do, congratulations. Perhaps I may offer a few new ideas to your usual style. And for those who don’t, well you really should. Because you think you’ll remember that hilarious interaction with a local character or those amazing, off-the-beaten path dining spots, but maybe you won’t. Here’s one such funny instance that I didn’t want to forget, so I scribbled it in my journal (this is the cleaned-up, reads-in-sentences version):

~ Istanbul, 2004 - I really liked the little café buffets of Istanbul, with their huge trays of creative meat, veggie and carb dishes displayed in their broad front windows. So, I stroll into a place like this one day about 3PM to have a late lunch. I was the only customer there so the server decides to have a chat. He asks (in struggling English, sigh….is it always so obvious?) where I’m from and when I reply “America” his eyes get big and he says, “Ohhhh, Miami?” He had been there and liked it. I answer, “No, I’m from Atlanta, Georgia”. Well, you can‘t believe what he does next —he puts 3 fingers up to his O-shaped mouth and begins to make American Indian sounds. I was confused for a moment and then started to chuckle and thought to myself ‘I can’t believe I’m going to do this, but…..’ So, I nodded and began slicing my arm up and down like the so-called Atlanta Braves Tomahawk Chop, plus making the war chant that goes with it. Well, the guy went into hysterics, laughing uncontrollably, and then began doing it himself. So I said “ baseball” and he replies “YES, baseball!” Oh geez, there are even Braves fans in Turkey. Who would have guessed it. That little interaction totally made my day…and his too, it appeared. ~

Given that I was on a 3 month trip I , so easily, could have forgotten that particular incident. Plus, it used to drive me nuts when a friend was taking a trip to a place I had been, a destination that had a really special B & B, retro shop or funky restaurant, that I so badly wanted to recommend but had kept no information. Not helpful at all, so now I keep a book of notes.

Initially, my problem was that I thought it had to read in some sort of intelligent, chronological fashion, like a book. Hello! What was I thinking? Nobody can write a journal like that and still sink their teeth into the traveling. The point of the journal is just to get the info down. You don’t want it to absorb lots of time, you’ll miss too much.

Listed below are some techniques I’ve employed to make the writing process easy, interesting, visually appealing and more fun.

1 - You simply must buy a journal that will lie flat when opened. Seems obvious but, plenty of them won’t. And if you have to fight with the darn thing, it will win. And there goes your valiant attempt at journal-keeping. Buy spiral bound or Smythe-sewn.
2 - Sometimes it’s very useful to create a section at the top of some of the pages with fill-in prompts like these: Destination, Date, Accomodation, Restaurants, Sites Visited, etc. Whatever is important to you. This makes it much simpler to reference later on and lends a bit of organization. There are also journals on the market that are already designed this way.
3 - Take a highlighter pen with you, or a red pen, in addition to your usual writing instrument (mechanical pencils work well). Incorporating more than one color on the page makes the text infinitely more interesting to the eye. And brings focus to important elements.
4 - If you’re traveling with someone or met a memorable character along the way, ask them to write a short story or impression in your travel journal. A few of those sprinkled around will add some colorful dimension to the writing. Sure, go ahead guys, ask that saucy waitress for her autograph…..and maybe a lip print next to it!
5 - Use the best adjectives you can think of. Don’t hold back. That annoying guy at the train station wasn’t just a jerk……he was a smelly jerk. Well, what did he smell like…..skunky cologne, last night’s garlic, a wannabe Cuban cigar? Trust me, you will begin to laugh then and forever on when you makes notes like that.
6 - If you like unlined journals you can easily turn them into a visual work of art by adhering nifty items inside. Like a small picture from a brochure, an extra stamp, a business card, that leftover 10,000 Vietnamese dong bill, a museum ticket. Take along a small roll of acid-free photo mounts and keep them with your writing tools in a ziplock bag, along with the collected mementos and this endeavor will be super easy and produce amazing results.
7 - If your trip is to just one area, like London or Tuscany, etc. paste a small map inside the front or back cover of your journal. It provides geographic perspective and you can install dots to the places you’ve visited. Map freaks like myself love this sort of thing.
8 - Guide books often provide some great context for describing something. Here’s an example from my own journal:

~ I just couldn’t quite figure how to define the degree of smog in Cairo and then I remembered how the Rough Guide described it, it was perfect…. “that inhaling the air of Cairo is like the equivalent of smoking 30 cigarettes a day”. Nuff said. ~

The whole idea is not to take the writing of a travel journal too seriously. Mostly because it may result in you never keeping one and also because it may wind up reading more like a periodical than a memoir. Make it uniquely yours and enjoy the journey.