New Media Awards Powered by USA TODAY and 10Best Readers Focuses on Thrifty Travel Advisors
Winners in the 10Best Readers’ Choice New Media Award for Best Budget Travel Blogger have just been announced after a four-week voting period ended earlier this week. The winners are as follows:
Rick Steves' Europe Rick Steves
Rick Steves advocates smart, affordable, perspective-broadening travel on his blog, Rick Steves’ Europe. He also writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio.
Leave Your Daily Hell Robert Schrader
Robert Schrader's Leave Your Daily Hell blog inspires, informs, entertains and empowers tens of thousands of travelers a month. His unusual take on travel, vacations, and everyday life gives his insights a real-world usability with an entertaining twist.
Traveling Mom Kim Orlando
After years of traveling every week for business, Kim Orlando sought out other moms who traveled to understand how they dealt with the guilt, family budgets, the scheduling and their personal relationships. Her site, Traveling Mom, dispenses advice from the trenches to help make travel–and life–much easier and often much more fun for the working adult.
Euro Cheapo Tom Meyers
Tom Meyers started Euro Cheapo in 2000 and blasted off for Europe in search of deals. He returned to New York in 2002, set up an office, and has led the Euro Cheapo team from the Big Apple ever since. Updating the site and staying on top of the listings keeps him busy with frequent trips to Europe – always on a budget.
About.com Budget Travel Mark Kahler
Many people let concerns about money keep them from seeing the world's greatest places, while others assume only "big name" destinations (with prices to match) are worth seeing. Mark Kahler thinks, "these mistakes can deprive you of life's most satisfying travel experiences." He knows the ways to afford the dream trip or just a nice family vacation and shares them at About.com's Budget Travel.
Budget Traveller Kash Bhattacharya
Kash Bhattacharya has been traveling on a budget for the last four years, blogging about his adventures with tips and advice from the road atBudget Traveller.
Hobo Traveler Andy Lee Graham
Andy Lee Graham started traveling on the cheap in 1998 and has perpetually traveled the planet for 16 years, exploring more than 90 countries. Follow his adventures at Hobo Traveler.
The Savvy Backpacker James Feess
The Savvy Backpacker, created by James Feess and his wife, Susan, is dedicated to helping future travelers plan their budget-backpacking trip to Europe. But this differs from most other travel sites because of its focus on all the nitty-gritty details of planning and preparing for a trip – not the destinations themselves.
Y Travel Blog Caz Makepeace
Caz Makepeace is a serial traveller and blogger, outdoor adventurer, sports fanatic, and sunset mojito lover. She also wears the hats of writer, speaker, social media influencer, and mentor. She travels with her better half, Craig and shares the world through their stories, which offer an abundance of tips to help people nurture their desire for travel at their Y Travel Blog.
Wanderlust and Lipstick Beth Whitman
Beth Whitman wears many hats as a seasoned traveler, businesswoman and guide. She leads small group adventures to off-the-beaten-path destinations, she's the author of the Wanderlust and Lipstick guides for women travelers and the publisher of the Wanderlust and Lipstick website featuring tips to make the most of adventurous travels without going broke.
A panel of experts picked 20 initial nominees, and winners were then determined by popular vote. Experts Nora Dunn (The Professional Hobo), Christopher Elliott (Elliott.org) and Michelle M. Winner (Culinary Traveler) were chosen based on their extensive experience in social media and focus on thrifty travel strategies.
10Best and USA TODAY extend their congratulations to all the winners. The contest was promoted on 10Best and USA TODAY. Upcoming New Media Awards include Best Travel and Food Blogger, Best Business Travel Blogger, Best Hiking and Outdoors Blogger, and Best Travel Photography Blogger.
NoraDunn is The Professional Hobo: a woman who sold everything she owned in 2006 (including a busy financial planning practice) to embrace her dreams of long-term travel. She's been on the road ever since, having traveled to/lived in 50+ countries. As a writer, she shares tips and tricks to travel ultralight and in style, and her books include How to Get Free Accommodation Around the World, and Working on the Road: The Unconventional Guide to Full-Time Freedom. Visit her website to learn how to travel full-time in a financially sustainable way.
Nora Dunn
NoraDunn is The Professional Hobo: a woman who sold everything she owned in 2006 (including a busy financial planning practice) to embrace her dreams of long-term travel. She's been on the road ever since, having traveled to/lived in 50+ countries. As a writer, she shares tips and tricks to travel ultralight and in style, and her books include How to Get Free Accommodation Around the World, and Working on the Road: The Unconventional Guide to Full-Time Freedom. Visit her website to learn how to travel full-time in a financially sustainable way.
Christopher Elliott
Christopher Elliott is a consumer advocate,... Read More
Christopher Elliott is a consumer advocate, multimedia journalist and customer service expert known for his practical advice and creative solutions to customer-service problems. He writes the On Travel column for USA Today and is the author of the upcoming book How to Be the World’s Smartest Traveler (and Save Time, Money, and Hassle) (National Geographic Books/Random House). He blogs every day at elliott.org.
Christopher Elliott
Christopher Elliott is a consumer advocate, multimedia journalist and customer service expert known for his practical advice and creative solutions to customer-service problems. He writes the On Travel column for USA Today and is the author of the upcoming book How to Be the World’s Smartest Traveler (and Save Time, Money, and Hassle) (National Geographic Books/Random House). He blogs every day at elliott.org.
Michelle M. Winner
Michelle M. Winner is a freelance writer and... Read More
Michelle M. Winner is a freelance writer and online lifestyles and travel editor. She is president of International Food Wine & Travel Writers Assoc., and member of SATW and SPJ. Her photography has appeared in Saveur Magazine, she was a Condé Nast Digital Media contributing editor, and special project editor for the New York Times Food online. Her work has appeared in Forbes online, WSJ online, Business Insider, Luxe Beat Magazine and blog,Western Art and Architecture, Northwest Travel Magazine, and MyDestination Hawaii. She is an international food judge, travel writers' conference speaker, and travel book author. You can follow her work at Culinary Traveler and Luxe Beat Magazine.
Michelle M. Winner
Michelle M. Winner is a freelance writer and online lifestyles and travel editor. She is president of International Food Wine & Travel Writers Assoc., and member of SATW and SPJ. Her photography has appeared in Saveur Magazine, she was a Condé Nast Digital Media contributing editor, and special project editor for the New York Times Food online. Her work has appeared in Forbes online, WSJ online, Business Insider, Luxe Beat Magazine and blog,Western Art and Architecture, Northwest Travel Magazine, and MyDestination Hawaii. She is an international food judge, travel writers' conference speaker, and travel book author. You can follow her work at Culinary Traveler and Luxe Beat Magazine.