takeatripwithmiranda

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Top Travel Destinations for U.S. Citizens by Year

Recently I’ve been diving a little bit into graphic design, and I’ve been living every second of it. I still have a ways to go in perfecting my skill, but I wanted to post a little infographic I made about the top destinations that U.S. citizens travel to yearly. Enjoy!

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Social Media Tips & Tricks for Steering Clear of Ethical Issues on the Web

It’s safe to say that social media has changed everything about the way we live our lives today. While the use of social media has countless upsides and advantages to staying connected with your social network, there are also precautions that users must take to stay safe and out of trouble.

Since the massive evolution of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other various networks, legal issues concerning everything from unregulated sharing of user’s content to defamation and disclosure of confidential information. 

We’ve all heard the horror stories of Facebook selling a users personal photos and professional careers being driven to the dirt because of one simple tweet. The sheer vastness of the world wide web makes it easy to fall into a social media trap. However if you are careful and aware of these possible mistakes, it is also easy to use social media in a safe manner.  I’m about to go over some simple tips to keep in mind when using social media on the web to help you stay out of any legal or ethical issues you may be afraid of. 

Infographic courtsey of PCMag.com

I will start with a tip I can’t stress enough. Always read the user agreement terms of service thoroughly! These will always state everything that the networking site intends to do with your information. It will more than likely always contain information on privacy settings you will most likely want on.

Be very cautious about posting defamatory content. Usually, if someone is sued for posting defamatory content online, the social network can get out of the lawsuit but the user can’t. Don’t be left alone to fight a legal battle that you might have not meant to happen alone. 

With that in mind... think about what you are posting before you post it! If you haven’t started your professional career, you probably don’t want to be posting any photos or content that could jeopardize that. If you do have a professional career, know that everything you do is now also under the name of the company you work for.

Pinterest is a copyright infringement case waiting to happen. Always be aware of what is copyrighted material and what isn't. It may not be likely, but you could be held responsible for copyright infringement. There is a lot of grey area when it comes to copyrighted information on the web. If there is any doubt in your mind, don’t post it. 

Ethical web knowledge and use comes with practice, so get out there and stay safe!

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This is Australia!

I have always been infatuated with the idea of going to Australia. Everything about the continent interests me, from the exotic wildlife to the incredible beaches I’ve always known that at some point in my life I will take a long vacation there. Possibly even move there if I like it enough! 

Since Australia has been on my mind lately, I decided to take a look around twitter to see if I could learn anything new about the amazing place. I was very excited to see the trending topic and hashtag #ThisIsAustralia being used by professionals that I frequently follow on twitter and my personal friends alike. I was browsing the hashtag for hours, and was excited to find so many amazing photos and information about the land down under. 

Here are some of my favorite finds from my exploration into this trending topic:

I’ll start with a dream of mine... Bondi Beach. I’ve seen so many photos of this breathtaking beach, and It is on my bucketlist to get here someday. @InstaAusBeaches knew the way to my heart with this tweet. 

Cradle Mountain is one of the most popular attractions in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park in Tasmania, Australia. The hike rises to 1,545 metres above sea level, producing this breataking view at the top. I will make it here one day! Travel Blogger @ohsunnymornings is an avid user of #ThisIsAustralia. 

I never thought that it would snow in Australia, so following this hashtag definitely taught me something new! Writer for Random House AU, Fleur Ferris caught this out-of-pocket moment amazingly. 

I love how this trending topic is used by everyone, even locals. Here I can see how a regular Australian, @Mikey_Nicholson is enjoying his evening relaxing in bed, with a local beer and some Vegemite. I definitely will have to try the staple food when I visit! 

Following travel trending topics is a great way to gather some ideas of things to do that you may have not known about before! If I had been there around this time and had seen this tweet by The Museum of Australian Democracy, I would have checked out Architecture Museum Week for sure! 

Ever travel to a country and been a little worried about not knowing the entire scoop of their political happenings? Twitter is a great way to educate yourself and get in the know of what if happening across the globe. Tweet by Australia Day Ambassador Andrew Heslop.

Following this trending topic was fun and educational! It made my craving for Australian adventure stronger than ever. I am going to keep following this hashtag as I plan my soon-to-be trip and even contribute some travel ideas of my own to it! 

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Say Hello to Ello

It’s easy to get a bit bored of the usual social media platforms that we use so routinely day in and day out. As I was scrolling through my Instagram feed for what seemed like the millionth time today, I decided to go on a hunt for something new. A new social media platform that was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Insert Ello. 

Ello was created in 2014 as a completely ad free alternative to other social media networks. The platform is still in beta, but from my little experience with it, I can see how it is quickly catching on within the genuine artists of the internet. Ello promises to never sell user data to advertisers or third parties. The network does not force a real name policy, not even requiring you to enter your first and last name upon profile creation. 

Because of those factors, Ello prides itself on being a global creative community where people can be whoever they want to be, without exploitation and manipulation. 

The creators went as far as to post an ‘Ello Manifesto’ where they explain their promises to never sell user data for their benefit. If you ask me, it’s simply amazing. In this current day and age where Facebook owns everything you post, this is incredibly refreshing. 

You have to request to join, but it took about 5 seconds for a confirmation email with an invitation to join to reach my mailbox. 

I love the sincerity, and just overall positive feeling of their brand. The video below is their introduction to making your profile: 

I can’t wait to dive deeper into this social network, I can tell people who use it value all aspects of life genuinely, and want to share it with the other people on their network. Hello, Ello! 

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National Geographic Travel Magazine and their brand

I was lucky enough to analyze National Geographic Travel Magazine’s social media presence for 7 days as an assignment for my Social Media Strategy class. After seeing how their organization handled their Twitter and Instagram channels, it is safe to say I learned a multitude of things regarding how to run a successful social media brand.

Their brand is already extremely well known, being under the amazing National Geographic Society. This is something that sets the ground running for their brand, and they do a wonderful job of displaying what they’re all about on their various social media platforms. 

National Geographic Travel does an amazing job of globalizing their content, but also posting lots of content relating to the United States, as it is a U.S. publication. From what I saw more than half of their content is on places outside of the U.S. and at least a few posts a day are on places in America. 

Their online persona is extremely professional on Twitter and Facebook. Their Instagram is my favorite platform, for the reasons that it is fully images. The captions on the images are completely original, making all users feel connected to what is being posted. 

Using images within social media content is extremely important. I have seen firsthand that images create more interaction between followers. 

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Showcasing Our Amazing School to the Twitterverse

This week in my Social Media Strategy class at Chico State, I went on a Twitter scavenger hunt with my classmate Gwendolyn Corner. The hunt consisted of 10 items, that highlighted life on the Chico State campus and the importance of social media.

As we set out on our scavenger hunt, it occurred to us that finding willing participants may be somewhat difficult. We figured not many people would be open to having a photo of them posted to a stranger's social media. On the contrary we found that many students were more than willing to help and seemed genuinely interested in the assignment!

Here are our findings:

A student on the street: 

A professor on the street:

Gwen and I were shown a different perspective regarding social media when we asked a criminal justice professor his take on its role in society. His view is that social media's main role is in law enforcement and protecting the public with instant updates. It makes perfect sense, and it was nice that his first thought was such a good example of social media usage.

Extracurricular extravaganza:

Little-known fact:

First-year wildcat pride:

fanatic fans:

73 days to graduation:

I'm hungry:

Freestyle:

Academic excellence:

Here are our favorite tweets from fellow classmates: 

This exercise was a great way to experiment with showcasing particular things and events on Twitter. We really worked on how to take the most visually stimulating photo on a smartphone, and construct a caption to tell a story with it. It proved to be a challenge with only 140 characters and all we wanted to say, but we played with our details and made it work. We managed our time and worked quickly, giving us a good feel of what it might be like to work under a pressing deadline. This exercise gave us a chance to act as if we were in the shoes of PR professionals of various positions, and this aspect of the assignment was our favorite. 

We had an absolute blast running around campus together, taking pictures of fellow students and finding new things out about our campus! We hope our followers enjoyed learning more about Chico State from our point of view! 

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Travel is Nothing Without Visuals.

When I was preparing for my journey abroad, one of the first things I knew I needed was an amazing camera to capture every moment with. Luckily the power of mobility is taking the world by storm, meaning every smartphone these days comes equipped with a fairly decent camera. Being a student on a budget and wanting to save every cent I could for travel, I decided not to buy a fancy camera and to just use my iPhone 5. 

Using my iPhone's camera was a great call for many reasons. It is so compact and easy to carry, making it is easy to grab out of your pocket and snap away at any given moment. I had all of my photos on my phone, making uploading to social media apps an absolute breeze. I also had all of my favorite photo editing apps at my fingertips with my photos ready to upload! If you plan on taking this route while abroad, I would always recommend backing up your photos, just incase your smartphone gets pick pocketed or lost. 

Being in so many different and breathtaking settings while abroad, I had a lot of practice on what makes a fantastic photo that you can hardly wait to upload, and what makes an irrelevant photo headed for the delete button. I want to share a few of my favorite pictures I took while in Europe and some tips on how to make the most of capturing stunning visuals on a smartphone while traveling! 

Be sure to capture life just as it is happening where ever you are:

I took this photo in Split, Croatia while walking to a local beach recommended to us by a friendly traveler who worked at the hostel we were staying at. This man was working diligently on his boat for hours, as he was still there when we made the walk back from the beach. Everything seems to happen so fast while traveling to new places, it's easy to forget about taking pictures of aspects of life that may seem normal. I can't stress to you how happy I am that I took the time to take photos of locals in their element. Looking back on pictures like these take me back to this exact memory and remind me of how life was lived there. This seems like a simple photograph, but it really represents what Croatia stood for to me without overplaying obvious cultural differences. 

Don't be afraid to experiment with angles:

This photo I took standing on the upper balcony of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. St. Mark's is hands down the most gorgeous church I have ever been in, and the many details of the entire work are not to be overlooked. I was standing directly underneath this beautiful mosaic of Christ, but by playing with my angle and stance, I was able to get an amazing photo of it. You can't really even tell that there was absolutely no room around me to otherwise take a proper photo! Angles are key when trying to differentiate your photos when taking so many at once. 

Play with your natural light:

Everyone knows that the best time to take pictures is at sunrise or sunset, a.k.a. the magic hour. This gives surroundings a warm and not too bright directional glow, making everything soft and stand out. It's obvious that you can't shoot during these times only while traveling, so you always have to make due with the lighting you have. This is a photo I took looking at the sky from Torino, Italy's Basilica di Superga. The sun is directly behind that enormous cloud in the sky, and it made for a multicolored sky that set a magical tone over the entire setting. This picture will forever bring me back to the exact special feeling I had under that glittering sky. 

Panoramic photos are necessary:

Sometimes a picture of a landscape as a whole can look a bit messy and end up having no detail to it. There are some situations however, when taking a photo of an entire landscape is absolutely essential to capture the full moment. I took this picture on a hike from the costal town of Monterosso to the neighboring town of Vernazza in Cinque Terre, Italy. The hike was 2 hours long and had the most incredible panoramic views I've ever seen. I took hundreds of photos on the hike, and only a handful of them came out decent. My advice would be to always keep the horizion line as straight as an arrow, and use the grid on your smartphone camera to properly utelize the rule of thirds. 

Keep it simple:

This is a photo I took of a lock from 1908 on the Love Lock Bridge in Paris, France. I was scanning the locks on the bridge and this one especially stood out to me. Focusing in on a certain element of whatever is happening in the moment is crucial. This produces a photo that tells you exactly why you wanted to take it in the first place. Drawing attention to the little details will make you so happy when looking back on pictures. 

Lastly... Don't forget to get yourself in on the fun! 

While traveling, it is so easy to get caught up taking pictures of all the happenings around you that you forget to capture yourself in that special place! The photos you take will be so much more meaningful if you are in some of them. If you're traveling with a partner it makes it easy! I had a trick I liked to use where I would learn, "Excuse me, would you mind taking a picture of me please?" in the language of what ever country I was in, and ask the locals! This always sparked up great conversation and I usually would make a new foreign friend. 

Taking incredible photos and keeping your friends and family updated with them is the perfect way to share your experience with the people you love. They appreciate it so much, and you will too looking back on your journey. I hope you find these tips on visuals helpful and enjoyed a glimpse into my time abroad! 

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Off the grid? Mobility has changed travel for the better.

I can say without a doubt that my smartphone saved my life many a times during my experience abroad. I absolutely hate admitting this, but I can't imagine life before the internet was so easily accessible and instant communication so necessary. We live in an age were wi-fi is offered at almost any business, making finding places to eat, booking hotel and flight reservations, reading local restaurant reviews, and discovering amazing unknown attractions just around the corner an absolute breeze. 

I've compiled a list of my top 8 favorite apps that I used in my time abroad, and I hope that on your next adventure these can be of some help! 

1. Couchsurfing: Couchsurfing was my best friend while traveling through Europe. It is essentially a social networking platform for hospitality exchanges all over the world! In other words, travelers make a profile and have the option to open their home to other travelers to come and stay with them for no fee, just the priceless experience of getting to know someone from another culture. I made lifelong friends with my couchsurfing hosts and will no doubt use this app when I travel once again. 

2. XE Currency: Currencies in other countries can get super confusing, and having this app was my way to always know just how much money I was spending while traveling. You can quickly convert any currency to U.S. dollars, or any other country's currency of your choice. This is essential when country-hopping as much as I did abroad. 

3. Instagram: Instagram is my absolute favorite social media platform. This is a great way to keep your social network updated with where you are and what you're doing with one easy photo post. Not only can you edit your photos to perfection, but you can tag exactly where you are with their location feature. This way, you can assist others in making choices on where to travel by the help of your specific tagged location. It's a continuously growing network, so more and more of your family and friends will be on Instagram soon if they aren't already. 

4. Viber: As we all know, international phone fees are off the charts expensive. Viber is a good aid in avoiding these costs while still being able to make calls and send text and SMS messages. It can run solely on wi-fi internet connections, making it easy to use anywhere that you can pick up a wi-fi signal. The best part is, the app is free!

5. Yelp: Being in cities where I hadn't ever been before, I was often stumped on where to eat. If there wasn't anyone I could ask for a restaurant recommendation, I would open up Yelp and explore my options of what was around me. It is super helpful because local businesses have all of their contact information, menus, and mapped locations programmed into the Yelp system. I could also read other customers ratings and reviews, helping me know what to expect. Yelp isn't only for restaurants too, you can search any service or business you would use on a daily basis such as; hotels, nail/hair salons, transportation stations and methods, as well as your general markets and stores. 

6. The Go-Pro App: If you have a GoPro, this app is a must have for travel. It gives you the ability to transfer images from your go pro instantly to your cell phone. The transfer only requires a simple connection to a wifi signal. With the transfer of your image onto your phone, you can post it to all your social media sites for friends and family to see. This app also lets you explore the top go pro images of the day which may spark ideas on possible future pictures you may wanna reenact. 

7. Google Translate: I lived in Torino for 4 months, which is a city in the Northern Piedmont region of Italy. It was very uncommon for locals there to speak english, so Google Translate saved my life on many occasions. There are so many translator apps to choose from when downloading, but I found Google's to be most accurate and easy to use. It has a library of 90 translatable languages!

8. Google Maps: A maps app is obviously a must for navigating a foreign city. Google maps is crucial to have on your smartphone because no matter if you have service or not, Google Maps will show your location dot on a map and move with you. I also love that it has the option for public transportation directions with times. I have used this in every city I've been in and the bus/train/subway directions have always been correct and on time! 

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And on sunny days, we study.

It's mid February here at Chico State, and the sun is coming back to us in all of its shining glory. The main campus is made up of 119 acres of gorgeous 18th century brick buildings, lush green grass, various tree and plant species, complete with Big Chico Creek running through it all. With Winter on the back burner and classes in full effect, its been awhile since students here have had the chance to spend time in the warm sunshine. I found a student making the most of this gorgeous 80 degree day, while getting her homework done at the same time. 

Here, Student Carolyn Pyle is photographed studying in the grass in front of Kendall Hall. Kendall Hall is what I consider the main building here at Chico State. Not in the sense that it is where the most important happenings take place, but it is the most iconic portrait of what Chico State embodies. The University's time capsules are buried in front of Kendall Hall, and the main walkway that leads to the building holds the giant brick and bronze Chico State plaque. The grassy field in front of Kendall Hall is a wonderful place for outdoor activities. 

Journalism & Public Relations major Carolyn Pyle is from Redondo Beach, CA and a Junior here at Chico State. Being from Southern California and making the move up to the Northern half of the state has helped her appreciate warm weather that much more. 

Carolyn sits on the grass in front of Kendall Hall enjoying the sunny day and strengthening those brain cells. 

Carolyn's minor is marketing, and she has a big test tomorrow. Judging by the way she spent today, lil' lady is looking at an A+! 

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Just another college student with the travel bug.

I've always been passionate about traveling the world. I believe that seeing everything the world has to offer expands the human mind in ways unlike any other experience can; and that everyone can learn something amazing from stepping outside of their comfort zone. Meeting new people with new cultures is absolutely fascinating to me, and I want to do it for the rest of my life because the world is massive, and there is so much out there I want to learn.

I have been lucky enough to have traveled overseas a number of times in the first two decades of my life. From the likes of jetsetting through Europe, and vacationing all the way to the southernmost tip of South Africa; these experiences have truly shaped me into the person I am proud to be today. I understand that working towards a career where traveling is involved might be far fetched, but I can’t see myself living a professional life any other way.

Writing is a major passion of mine, I’ve been a journalist since high school and I’ve written poetry and short stories starting at an even younger age. I’m a huge people person, and I love communication. My dream career would be to either write, conduct publicity, or manage marketing for a travel and culture magazine or website.

A perfect example of a magazine that is doing amazing things within my interest would be National Geographic Traveler. The publication is always gorgeous with amazingly detailed information, and the whole concept of National Geographic is exactly the organization that I would love to work for. Travel + Leisure magazine is another publication who I always enjoy reading. They are always featuring beautiful and new destinations in their works, and I find their layouts to be absolute perfection.

I’m so excited for Social Media Strategy because I know that the skills and tools I’ll learn to perfect in this course will be vital and extremely useful in my career path. I can’t wait to dive into Twitter, because it’s the perfect social media platform to get involved with other professionals in my career beat. It’s also a wonderful way to keep my followers updated with my own accomplishments, and I’m excited to build a brand on the platform.

Photo credit: Chris Ford, Flickr CC link