Ylliks

I don’t mind giving way to my colleagues who have to take their partners or school holiday into account when it comes to summer holiday planning. Far from it. I prefer to have my summer holiday in september, simply because it has so many benefits.

First of all, rates for hotels/hostels/B&B’s are down from peak season. Since they’re trying to fill their rooms, their are some real bargains to get. As an example, for my upcoming trip the places I will stay are around 50% cheaper than during peak season. Same goes for air tickets.

Secondly, because I travel just outside of peak season, it’s not as busy at touristic sites (if you would be inclined to go there). Sure, there are still people around, but it’s not standing-in-line-and-hope-you-get-more-than-a-few-seconds-to-look-busy.

Third, because more than half of the country is out on holiday during july/august, work isn’t as busy as normal and you can “ease” into your holiday.

And last but not least, there’s a bit of (maybe sadistic?) joy in reminding your colleagues that your holiday is still coming up while theirs is still a year away.

There’s this recurring line in the Lethal Weapon films spoken by Murtaugh (played by Danny Glover) where he states that he’s “too old for this sh*t”. Sometimes I have the same feeling. Not that I can’t get out of bed in the morning because I did some exercising or strenuous work the day before or anything like that. It’s more that in order to entice a laugh I burst out a cultural reference and people don’t seem to get it. Here’s a recent example.

On Twitter I follow a guy named Aaron Lee. He’s in his early twenties and links and writes about all things social media. As a favor to someone he send out this tweet regarding a girl who looked for a guy named Paul from Liverpool she met at a festival. My reply, without stating it in order to get a laugh, referred to Paul McCartney of the Beatles. Aaron’s reply clearly stated he didn’t get the joke. And I thought the Beatles and their members where known all over the world!

And there have been many other examples where, for fun, I referenced an older catchphrase (for instance this one) from older series or movies or just a thing that was part of popular culture at one point during my life and people don’t get it.

This all could be that it’s not about me getting too old or my references being out of date, but the fact that I’m just not funny. Luckily I still get a laugh with these things from friends my age.

Over the years I’ve read several stories about people making money with online ventures. Even I have dabbled a bit in that with writing articles on sites where ad revenue is shared (although that’s a single digit monthly payment). Over the last couple of months I’ve become more an more interested in this so I thought it would be a good idea to make it into an experiment. Usually I’ve already done the experiment when I talk about it here, but this post will be more of an announcement.

There are a couple of reasons why I want to try this. a) I’ve been toying with the idea of running a (professional) blog for a while now b) it would give me a chance to learn about running a business and branding c) I could do something with a subject I’m passionate about (travel) d) it seems like fun.

I’ve already done some research to see if there’s a chance of succeeding with the goals I’ve set myself (see those below) and it seems there is. So that’s a good thing. Although my strategy isn’t exactly set in stone right now, it will feature a blog that will be the central hub of it all. I’ve bought the domain name and a friend of mine is now tweaking the theme (my php-skills where just lacking too much). I have some ideas on how to monetize (there are several options like ads, sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, products etc. etc) and promote it (guest posts, article marketing, social media) and I want to have that strategy ready to go by launch date.

As with every experiment there should be some goals. I’m aiming for a August 1st launch and in half a years time (so that’s February 1st 2012) I would like to make 100 euro a month from it. Everything that’s above that is a bonus. Also I would like to create some form of community with people who feel as passionate about the subject as I do. I also want to see if there can be some opportunities that derive from me doing this.

As said, there are still some details to work out on how I’m going to go further with this, but luckily that’s what experimenting is all about. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

I haven’t used public transport regularly since I was a student (many years ago), mainly because I wasn’t impressed by it then. Yes, it would get you from A to B, but travel information was scarce, never mind the fact that it wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel. But with my new job I have been commuting and going to meetings outside the office more and used public transportation to get me there.

And I’m pleased to say that things have improved quite a bit since my earlier experiences. Trains, trams and buses have become more comfortable. Buses and trams have LCD displays which show which stop is next (so you don’t have to rely on the mood of the driver to know where yours is). Bus stops have electronic information boards which show you which line will be next and how much time it will take to arrive. Sites like 9292OV can give you a complete route to your destination and with the new OV chipcard you have a single payment option for all your public transport travels. And with the night lines it’s even become an option as transport for a night on the town.

But it’s not perfect yet. Every once in a while a train still will be late or will just be cancelled. Buses and trams still break down. You can order your OV chipcard online and have it send to you, but when you want to use it for train travel you’ll still have to stand in line at the station ticket desk to have it activated. Same goes for when you want to charge it automatically. Villages outside of the greater urban areas still are difficult to reach.

Still, it’s much better than I remember and there’s real improvement. In many large cities, public transport is the best way to get around. You don’t have to stand in traffic jams to get there and you don’t have to pay outrageous fees to park. During rush hour most public transportation is even a quicker and better option. Just hop in a train and relax with a book or paper (or use a laptop since free wifi is available in some trains now as well) and use a bus or tram to get to your final destination.

It can be quite a joy to use public transport nowadays.