WINOL Adventure; A Work In Progress.

For the second semester running, my role as Editor of WINOL's Travel and Adventure Magazine means that over the past few weeks I have been working closely with the Web Editor to make the website more user/navigator friendly (outlined in my Critical Reflection) and making it one of WINOL's most viewed magazines to date (see post). 

As the magazine is very much "picture led", the decision to keep the main slider (above) aims to advertise all the best features in a way that is very valuable in grabbing the audiences attention. When it comes to improvements, we have added less subtle side tabs that lead to the main WINOL news site and to all the latest Adventure features content.

From the main slider, you'll be transported to the written website (we're working on adding video - baby steps) which has undergone a major overhaul. The live Twitter feed has been added and as you can see at the top of the page, there are tabs aimed to make the website more specialised and structured.

Adventure Statistics #1

Circulation figures date from 21.10.2013 via alexa.com.

In the table below are estimates of websites’ UK and global popularity over a number of months; the lower the number, the better the rank. 

I aim to track the WINOL.CO.UK rank towards the end of each month.

WEBSITE NAME	GLOBAL RANK	UK RANK
WINOL.CO.UK	1,294,102	36,672
ALUXURYTRAVELBLOG.COM	32,798	37,836 (US)
THEBRITISHTRAVELER.COM	2,361,295	-
ENGLISH-HERITAGE.ORG.UK	47,596	2,562
GROUPTRAVELWORLD.COM	3,778,495	-
NEWMOTORING.COM	446,849	11,512
VISITWINCHESTER.CO.UK	915,178	61,432

The table shows that competitor ALUXURYTRAVELBLOG.COM receives more hits globally, most likely due to its round-the-world content, which I hope to include more of in the ADVENTURE MAGAZINE over the coming months. 

In the UK however, ENGLISH-HERITAGE.ORG.UK thrashes the league table with a whopping 2,562 popularity ranking. This could be due to the fact they manage many tourist sites around the Hampshire area, with the website containing information regarding their opening times, their location, etc. 

An upcoming feature mentioning some of their most historical locations will be available in the ADVENTURE MAGAZINE over the coming weeks and I hope by making the most of social media (through twitter interaction and tagging, for example), it will invite more traffic to the site.  

Similarly, if we compare the ADVENTURE MAGAZINE to some of its sister publications (below), we can quite clearly see that it has outranked them in page views. It also appears to take the lead from the main news site WINOL.CO.UK, overtaking it by approximately 500 views.

I think this has been down to the competition launched a couple weeks back through the @AdventureWINOL Twitter page, which I believe has succeeded in drawing a lot of traffic to the site. I would like to include one of these at least once a month.

Circulations figures date from 1^st September 2013 to 21^st October 2013 via Fasthosts/Matrixstats.

WEBSITE NAME	NO. OF PAGEVIEWS
WINOL.CO.UK	7015
WINOL TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE	7650
ABSOLUTE:LY (FASHION)	6219
NEW WINCHESTER REVIEW	5066
THE VOLT (MUSIC)	4448

I hope to maintain this level of popularity throughout the semester. 

Fresh Meat.

three counties

one week

peterborough 

the east coast 

it's my first day

in the office

hardly the life

of a traveller

yet I'm still

determined 

to make you

proud of me 

breaking down 

as I lose myself

in the hustle

and bustle 

of the working city  

pushing past

all the insecurity 

in a leap of faith

that's turned more

into a dive

except I land

in jetwashed portaloos 

and sodden toilet tissue 

with no seat to rest

feeling trapped 

in the middle

of nowhere with

only a smeared mirror 

and a run down sink for company

Do I battle through or just walk away?

Revelation.

*Possible documentary idea.

A little something that has inspired me to look deeper into my ancestry.

First family funeral, 

But I don't feel sad, 

Because honestly, 

I hardly knew you, 

My biological grandmother.

I can't imagine what it must have been like for you. Growing up with the knowledge that you were given away at birth.

I imagine it must feel like the highest form of rejection. You're the puzzle piece that has never quite fit, even after a lifetime of trying to finish it.

Perhaps that's why I've had such a sheltered upbringing. You wrap me up in cotton wool so nothing like that can ever hurt me the way it hurt you.

I understand now and I'm glad I came to support you that day. And I'm happy that after all these years you're finally finding who you are. 

Yes I was sad, but not because of her but because of you.

From death brings a new life and I say embrace it.

Majorca Travel Blog #8

Wednesday 7th August 2013.


Day 7: A Final Day Abroad.

We've pretty much done what everyone else does on their last day abroad, plan to pack everything we haven't had the chance to do into one 12 hour slot. When in reality we just lazed around by the pool (as the seas were too choppy to pedal boat) and had yet another mid afternoon siesta.

You know, the thing I hate most about sand is that it gets everywhere. And after a collection of minuscule bugs choose to crawl up the inside of your leg, drawn to you like a scarab beetle to warm flesh, you just can't shake that subconscious niggling feeling inside your eardrum that sparks whenever you decide to remotely enjoy it.

To make matters worse, there was a topless woman laying in the shade round the corner from us (bit pointless) next to a bird that decided to bury itself in the already bug infested sand. Regardless, I continued to watch a straw hat with a black band bob its way towards the shore as I complained about the everyday problems of living in a house share.

Sweating like a pig from the heat, I decided to take my mind off of the current situation by weaning myself back into working university life and catching up on some law reading. This time last year consisted of a riveting read by Karl Marx and "The Communist Manifesto" (still haven't got around to blogging) which I remember being situated amid the copulas amounts of "50 Shades of Grey."

Majorca Travel Blog #7

Tuesday 6th August 2013.

A day in a doodle.

Majorca Travel Blog #6

Monday 5th August 2013. 


Day 5: Aqualand. 


Now I wouldn't say Aqualand was one of those spontaneous trips you'd take as a family for some quality bonding time, especially at 41 euros a ticket (plus all the additional fees they don't warn you about). It is however, a water park that's certainly suitable for the summer season.

Leaflet Provided at Hotel (With Additional Notes).

Like every year before it, this would be the "big trip" of the holiday (i.e. the most expensive) and for us, it was a toss up between a western themed adventure (which I was keen to do last year but had a bad experience with a ranch), aquatic Marineland (which included a dolphin show) or Aqualand - the bog standard ride orientated theme park. 

As you can probably already tell, I am by no means a regular at theme parks (afraid of heights) and I swore before arriving that I wouldn't go on anything that was even remotely detached from the ground.



2 hours on a perfectly air conditioned coach (no travel sickness) and we were sat like passive zombies recovering from the 7am wake up call requested from reception. 

Entry was pretty speedy despite having to fight our way through the rowdy crowd for a souvenir photo with a scarlet macaw, which we mistakenly took for a parrot after being told about their distinguishing green feathered head's (my brother is studying the rainforest at school). 

We passed a Mr. Bean lookalike dressed in one of those Arabian money suits (think Aladdin's Abu) and despite being a fan, my brother still refused to have a picture taken with him.