If you’re going to be in New York this weekend and you love travel, consider checking out the New York Times Travel Show, a veritable smorgasbord of travel information from resorts, hotels, spas, cruise lines, tour operators, tourist agencies and adventure travel companies from around the world. Along with vendor booths and live entertainment performances representing a vast array of cultures, the show features a Taste of the World Pavilion filled with international cuisine and cooking demonstrations, a Spa Pavilion offering sample treatments and discounted packages at spa resorts, travel author appearances and special travel deals offered to folks brave enough to book their next vacation on the spot. And with travel experts Rick Steves, Arthur Frommer, Ian Wright and Stephanie Abrams - among many others - leading seminars, the show offers a rare chance for face-to-face learning from leading peeps in the industry. Cost: $15.

And while we’re talking travel mags….Fancy yourself a travel writer, photographer or magazine editor? Budget Travel’s 10th anniversary issue will be written and photographed by readers. They’re in the home stretch, but are still looking for:

- Foodies in the Southwestern United States who can recommend great spots to refuel

- Pet travel photographs (you know you’re hoarding some cute ones)

- Someone traveling abroad in the next two weeks who’ll pick up some items from a foreign supermarket

- Your best family travel tips (e.g. how to usher get ankle-biters through airport security)

- Feedback on any trips you’ve taken after reading about them in the magazine’s 40 Best Deals section

Last Chance! Our All-Reader 10th Anniversary Issue Needs Your Help!

Behold, Travel + Leisure’s roundup of the best airport restaurants, bars, lounges and spas:

Best Airport Restaurants and Other Time Killers

inTravel - a pretty slick looking online travel magazine - is running an ongoing contest that could land you $100 for travel stories and photography. You can read all the details in this craigslist post, but essentially, almost any travel experience will fit into one of the site’s categories. Each month, the story that receives the most votes (here’s where Internet savvy friends and family come in handy) wins.

Lonely Planet is givin’ it up fo free, yo. Spend $40 in the online store, and you’ll get a free copy of the recently released Lonely Planet Blue List 2008, a guide to favorite spots around the world compiled by Lonely Planet authors, web site contributors and photographers. And you could easily drop that kind of cash by scooping up a few of the latest Lonely Planet books to roll off the presses.

Before your next trip abroad, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by NPR National Correspondent Eric Weiner. A self-described unhappy American, Weiner set out on a journey to a diverse array of countries, some of which purportedly contain high numbers of truly happy people (Thailand), while others (like Moldova) are hotbeds of misery. His conclusions on what makes some countries “happy places” and others just the opposite is an excellent meditation on cultural differences and the ways geographic, environmental, historic and socio-economic circumstances shape the spirits of the world’s varied populations.

NPR affiliate KQED radio featured Weiner today on its Forum program - of you’ve got some time to kill, it’s worth a listen. During the show, Weiner discusses such things as Bhutan’s economy of happiness, waxes philosophic on the mystery of the Swiss population’s contentment (hint: lots of chocolate, legal euthanasia and public transportation that actually runs on schedule, go figure) and lies about his hair.

Interview with Eric Weiner on KQED

Don’t have time to listen, but want to know more about the jist of the book? Here’s an interview with the author: Q&A with Eric Weiner.

Associated Content writer Zane Ewton posted an interview with Ed Hamilton, author of Legends of the Chelsea Hotel: Living with the Artists and Outlaws of New York’s Rebel Mecca, published in November. While the interview is mostly about Hamilton and his journey as a writer, his connection to this famous New York hotel is what caught our traveler’s eye. Not only is the Hotel Chelsea famous for its star-studded roster of former guests (everyone from Leonard Cohen to Patti Smith has stayed there), but it’s also been at the center of much debate recently thanks to a controversial change in ownership. The interview is worth a read for any travel junkie hungry for the what’s what and who’s who.

Seriously, one of the best little pieces of writing about modern day air travel that I’ve read recently. Anyone who flies frequently should read this piece by Wayne Curtis of the New York Times JetLagged blog:

User’s Manual to Seat 21C

Heading to China? Should you be planning to tote a Lonely Planet China guidebook along on the trip, now would be a good time to start fashioning a book cover for the volume, which has apparently been banned by the Chinese government for a map that makes Taiwan appear to be a separate country from China. Talk about a quick way to piss off the Chinese. We read about the ban over yonder at World Hum, but you can check out the original story in the Age.

World Hum pointed us to the New York Times blog JetLagged: Navigating the Unfriendly Skies, which debuted this week. Some excellent travel writers are churning out the content: Betsy Wade, who penned the paper’s Practical Traveler column for 14 years; Pico Iyer, the novelist and essayist; and Wayne Curtis, New Orleans native and author of And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in 10 Cocktails. One to bookmark and add to the ‘ole RSS….