Not For Tourists 2011 NYC Guidebook
If you know anything about me, than you probably know that Black Friday isn't exactly my favorite day of the year. I typically do anything and everything to revolt against the day, including but not limited to: sleeping in, not showering until later in the day, and not spending a penny. It's my own "opt-out" day. To celebrate Black Friday this year I decided to do a giveaway, so that you can have a chance at an early holiday gift, while not having to move from your comfy chair. The giveaway is for the new 2011 New York City Travel Guide by Not For Tourists. I was thrilled to recently have the opportunity to hang out with Not For Tourists' Managing Editor, Craig Nelson, during a recent visit to NYC. Since Not For Tourists is one of my favorite travel guides, I wanted to do a giveaway on The Traveling Philosopher (No compensation, nor hot chocolates, nor burgers, nor Swedish Fish were exchanged for writing this sentence.). Craig was nice enough to donate the newest New York City Guide to give away.
There are a lot of reasons why I love Not For Tourists' guides over many of the other travel guides. For one, their guidebooks are small, pocket-sized and don't double as dumbbells, unlike so many other travel guides that are so bulky and include so much irrelevant information. However, for those of you, like myself, who have short attention spans, I've included a few more reasons, in list format, about why I like NFT:
- Maps. I love maps and NFT includes very detailed maps of major neighborhoods. With the New York City guidebook you get a fold-out of the NYC subway.
- Each guidebook is written by several writers and editors. I like the diversity that you'll find in how there's not just one writer, but multiple contributors. Also, NFT depends on locals who are already in a city and know the area, rather than sending a writer there.
- Not For Tourists rocks it on social media. NFT has a huge following on both Facebook and Twitter and actually connect with their readers. Despite a following of over 50,000 people on Twitter, they actually talk to their followers and frequently retweet relevant travel content.
- Branded guidebooks. This is something that's new to me, but hotels, for example, can brand Not For Tourists guidebooks and hand them out to guests. There isn't anything better that a hotel could do for me when arriving to an unknown destination than handing me a guide to the city as I check-in.
- Versatility. There's a lot of different faces to Not For Tourists. I already mentioned their use of social media, but you can enjoy NFT information and guides across a variety of mediums. This includes wallet maps, PDF downloads (For example, instead of buying an entire guidebook, you can download just the guide to a particular neighborhood), iPhone apps, and dynamic web content.
And now to the giveaway itself. The giveaway begins today, Black Friday, and runs until Friday, December 10th at 11:59 PST. One entry is allowed per person. To enter, leave one comment below about what your favorite thing to do in New York City is. If you've never been, then leave a comment about what you would most like to do in NYC. For example, a sample comment would be: "I've never been to New York City, but I would love to go to Ellis Island because it's where my ancestors came over to the United States to". On Saturday December 11th I'll randomly choose one winner from the comments below. Once I email the winner, you'll have three days to respond, before I pick another winner. Good luck and thanks for entering!
