7 Travel Destinations Made Famous by James Bond

This post was posted by thehipmunk on Hipmunk’s Tailwind Blog on January 6, 2016

With the recent debut of the latest installment in the James Bond movie franchise, Spectre, we’ve been reminded of one of 007’s greatest qualities—namely, that he’s better traveled than most people on the planet (okay, he’s a fictional character, but the point still stands).

In fact, in his 50 years of service, Bond has visited nearly 50 countries, while most of the films feature upwards of six distinct locales. Want to globe-trot like James Bond? Simply jet-set to any of these stellar destinations.

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1. Hong Kong, China

The bustling city has been featured in several Bond films, including You Only Live Once, Die Another Day, and The Man with the Golden Gun, which includes scenes shot in the famous Peninsula Hotel. Considered one of the world’s best hotels, the Peninsula boasts a Rolls Royce fleet, a rooftop helipad, marble baths, exceptional service, and (fittingly, for Bond fans) traditional British tea.

2. Istanbul, Turkey

In the opening of Skyfall, Bond finds himself in search of a stolen hard drive in the city of Istanbul. He then chases an assailant through Eminonu Square, one of the oldest in the city (Bond also visits Istanbul in From Russia with Love and The World is Not Enough). To make your visit as luxurious as Bond’s would have been (had he not been dodging would-be assassins and chasing down bad guys), book a stay at the lavish Shangri-La Bosphorous, which promises an in-room espresso machine, 300-count linens, heated bathroom floors, a separate shower and soaking tub, and complimentary high-speed WiFi.

3. Jamaica

The whole country makes the list on account of its significance to the Bond franchise. Not only was nearly all of the original James Bond movie, Dr. No, filmed on the island, but it’s also the site of the emergence of Honey Ryder (the first Bond girl, played by Ursula Andress). The country is also heavily featured in Live and Let Die. To top it all off, Goldeneye, Jamaica is the former home of the late Ian Fleming, the creator of the James Bond franchise. His house has now been incorporated into a luxury boutique hotel, which keeps Fleming’s writing desk and typewriter on display.

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4. Khao Phing Kan, Thailand

Dubbed “James Bond Island” by 007 fans, this island in Thailand had its moment in the spotlight in The Man with the Golden Gun. Located within the Ao Phang Nga national park, it makes for a stunning destination for nature lovers and film buffs alike. Head to any of the cheap hotels in nearby Phuket after your day of adventure.

5. London, England

No list of this kind would be complete without mention of 007’s headquarters. Home to M16 and featured in nearly every film in the Bond franchise, London is hands down Bond’s most frequented destination. While M16 has moved from London office buildings to Whitehall’s Old War Office, the Barbican, and its eventual headquarters on the Thames, London will forever remain Bond’s home.

6. Mexico City, Mexico

Spectre marks the second time Bond has found himself in Mexico. The first time around, in License to Kill, Bond checked in at the Grand Hotel Ciudad de Mexico. This time, 007 is amongst the crowds during the Day of the Dead parade celebration in Mexico City’s Zocalo square. Mexico City is one of the most populated cities in the world, so you’ll have no shortage of sightseeing opportunities at any time of year.

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7. Venice, Italy

The canals and gondolas of Venice make for frequented terrain for the Bond franchise, with spots in From Russia with Love, Moonraker, and Casino Royale. Stroll the Piazza San Marco and ogle the Cipriani Hotel, where James Bond is seen mooring his yacht in Casino Royale (It’s also reportedly where Daniel Craig himself stayed during filming).

While you may not be landing on a helipad or saving the world from nuclear meltdown, you can still travel the world in style at any of these 007 locations.

Email hello@hipmunk.com to check hotel prices to Hong Kong, Istanbul, Mexico City, Venice, or London!

Cover Photo: Nationaal Archief, the Dutch National Archives, and Spaarnestad Photo

My Monthly Update – I can’t believe it!

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It’s already December 2014. I can’t believe it. This year flew by. I’ve been a published author for six months and it has been a world wind and I don’t see it slowing down. I have one month to finish some projects, and plan for more, but I’m super excited about 2015.

Events

December 8th, 2014 – Hope for Him (Hope Series Book #2) Release Day Blitz. If you want to help me promote my release, please sign up here.

Hope for Him (Hope Series Book #2) Release Day Blitz Sign Up

Each blog participating has the chance to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

December 13th, 2014 – Santa Facebook Hop – more details to come.

December 15th, 2014 – Love Addiction Anthology Release Day Blitz & Party.

Come hang out with us and celebrate 8 moving stories of love and lust to melt away the winter blues.

December Goals

Complete Publication schedule for 2015.
Complete marketing/publishing budget for 2015.
7,129 words on Hope for Us
11,432 words on A New Season

Sydney Quotes the Movies

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I wasn’t sure if it was because of Chris Nolan or Matthew McConaughey or because it was a movie about outer space, but I thought it was all around brilliant. Plus, it had a lot of great quotes and it made me think.  I love that in a movie. 

“We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars, now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt.”

“Mankind was born on Earth. It was never meant to die here.”

“Murphy’s law doesn’t mean that something bad will happen. It means that whatever can happen, will happen.”

“Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends time and space.”

“I have a cue light I can use to show you when I’m joking, if you like.”

Movie watching List for December: 

The Hobbit – Third and final. What am I going to do next year with no Hobbits? 
American Sniper – True story and Bradley Copper. 
Exodus – It’s Ridley Scott and epic movie making. The sea parting scene is reason enough to go see it. 

What are your big plans for 2015? Have you seen Interstellar? What do you want for Christmas? 

Have a great December, everyone!

#TattooTuesday – Lyndsay McCreery

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Have I got a Tattoo Tuesday for YOU!!!!

Take it away Lyndsay, 

Each and everyone single one of my tattoo’s has a meaning. I currently have 6 tattoo’s, 3 individual ones and 3 that make up one big one that start my sleeve. They each cover a scar, a scar that remained from a past that I longed to escape, and I fount the best way to do it. What better way to start over then with something beautiful?

My first ever tattoo at the age of 18, it was a rash decision I’m not going to lie. I didn’t go to a tattoo parlor and get it done by a professional. I was visiting my cousin who by out of consequence had been doing tattoo’s. I knew exactly what I wanted so I told her and got it done the same day. You can imagine that it’s not very good right? The rule is always get your tattoo done by a professional. Even though she isn’t a professional, it’s my first and probably most memorable one. The meaning behind it will always be one I live by. I may think negative thoughts about myself or my surroundings, but I will only speak about positive thoughts. Don’t embrace the negative, instead embrace the positive. Because there’s always a silver lining, even on a cloudy day.

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Now my next tattoo came a few months later, now this one I planned. I found a drawing online and immediately sent it to my friend for her to draw for me, it was everything I wanted. I had always loved Batman and the characters. My favorite was The Joker though. I saw a lot of myself in him, now I’m not a sociopath or a serial killer or anything but I just connected with him. His scars was a big part of it, he had scars that everyone could see, he didn’t try and hide them. It’s as if he wore them proudly even though they were a source of pain. Another thing was every time Batman defeated him, he never stayed down long. He got back up and he fought back harder. My next tattoo made me realize I can’t take my scars to seriously, I couldn’t take life to serious. I have to find something to life about, I have to find that strength to wear my scars proudly not because I’m ashamed of them, because I’m proud of them. They each represent a battle in which I lost, but I got back up and fought harder and I sometimes won. Because I have to lose sometimes and I’m okay with that.FullSizeRender (2)

 

My 3rd tattoo as you can see is also Batman. Now as a little girl I didn’t spend my nights watching Disney movies, I spent them watching old batman movies. I watched every single film, night after night. I fell in love with it, and the whole idea of it. I didn’t have a hero growing up but Batman quickly became mine. Now the reason why I chose the Bat signal is for a number of reasons but i’ll give you the only one that matters most. For me, the Bat signal means hope. A hope that a hero is out there, hope that someone is always looking out for you, but most importantly that you can always find hope. So now I look down at my wrist everyday and I see scars, I see sadness but I can always find hope.

Now my last tattoo is a bundle of 3 which make up one big tattoo. Now this I put a lot of thought into it and I planned for months. This one probably means the most to me, because it represents the 3 most important people in my life. My brothers and baby sister. Now I’ll have to explain this one for you to understand it. I’ve battled self harm since I was 9 years old. It was something that got me through each day when all I wanted to do was give up. I didn’t think I’d have anything to fight for, anything to live for. Then by the time I was about to turn 11 came my brother Jude. He was born and suddenly I had something to fight for, because he needed me. I was the one to fed him, changed him and made sure he had everything he ever needed. He was my reason to fight, but then I also had another reason to fight as well, because along came my brother Alexandar. I did the exact same with him as I did with Jude. I was living with my dad when he came along but that didn’t stop me. I cared for them because they didn’t have anyone else who would. I struggled but I managed. Then Dixie came into my life. A little sister I always wanted but unfortunately 5 days after she was born Jude, Alexandar and Dixie got took away and went to live with there grandmother. I saw them maybe 5 times after that and I’ve not seen them since. That was 6/7 years ago. The stopwatch represents that no matter how much time has passed or much will pass, they’ll never leave my life and my heart. The birds represent that they may fly away but I’ll always be here waiting for them with a home and welcome arms. They’ve flown away and they’ve grown into such beautiful children, but it doesn’t matter if I’m not in there life anymore, as long as they are happy and they have the childhood they deserve then everything will be alright. They’ll hold a place in my heart and they have permanent place in my life. It may be in ink and on my arm but at least it’s close to my heart.

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My tattoo’s each hold a painful memory underneath but as I look at them today I no longer see pain, I see beauty and happiness. I plan to have more, I plan to have something to remember my battle with self harm, and I plan to have something to remember the fresh start I have made. I’ll leave you with a Batman quote that oddly fits my tattoo story.

“It’s not who you are underneath, but what we do that defines us.”

Thanks so much Lyndsey, amazing story of over coming. I love you ink, too. 

If you have a tattoo story and want to be featured on Tattoo Tuesday, leave me a note in the comments. 

My Monthly Update – Better Late … and SQM

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Release Month

Hope for Her (Hope Series Book #1) was released on October 1st and it had a great release day, and 5 days later, it is still in the top 100 in African American Romance. I also received some great feed back from readers. Here are a couple of my favorites:

“Speechless, Mouth open, shaking my head, laughing, crying, smiling.”

“This book touched my heart, made it ached, and ripped it right out.”

One reader even declared Hope for Her, her favorite book this year. Considering it’s October, I thought that was pretty cool. haha.

Hope for Her will be .99 cents for another 10 days!

Events

October 6, 2014 (Tonight) from 4:00 – 8:00 pm CST, I will be taking over at the United Indie Book Blog on Facebook.  Lots of great giveaways and I will share some exclusive excerpts from Hope for Him (Hope Series Book #2). Come and join me.

October 9th, 2014 from 4:00 – 8:00 pm CST – The New Adult Street will be taking over at the Twin Sisters Rockin’ Book Reviews on Facebook.

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October 30, 2014 from 10:00 am – 10:00 pm CST – Trick me or Treat me? Romance Book Lovers Halloween Party. Join The New Adult Street Team for great giveaways and fun halloween activities. Costumes optional.

October Goals

Edits for Hope for Him (Hope Series Book #2) are due to my editor no later then October 15th.

The final 30,000 words on Hope for Us (Hope Series Book #3) due on November 1st.

Prep for NaNoWriMo – I am thinking about the first book in a two book series. The tentative titles – A New Season (Season Series Book #1) & Off Season (Season Series Book #2)

Guess what, the book is about a girl and a football player. Big surprise.

Sydney Quotes the Movies

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Classic Denzel Washington and another good director outing for Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, anyone!!)

Some of my favorite lines perfectly delivered by Mr. Washington:

“Change your world.” His advice to a troubled young lady. 

“Old man got to be the old man. Fish got to be a fish.” His take on the classic novel, The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. 

“Hit it on something stupid.” As to why he had cuts and bruises on his knuckles. 

“When you pray for the rain, you have to deal with the mud, too.” Great advice to anyone. 

“Progress, Not Perfection.” Advice to his coworker. 

Loved this movie.

Have you seen the The Equalizer? What was your favorite part? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo next month?

Have a great October, everyone!

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It’s been a while since Mr. Alex J. Cavanaugh hosted a blogfest. His are always the best.

Everyone has a favorite movie or band that no one else has ever heard about. For whatever reason, they remain undiscovered and underrated. Now is your chance to tell the world about this obscure treasure!

I had to think about this one. I am a trend follower most of the time, but I think I have a couple of unknowns to introduce you to.

If you have some underrated treasures you would like to share, join the blogfest and let us know.

MOVIE – BAND/ARTIST – TV SHOW – BOOK

Post about one or all four – dealer’s choice!

Music:

I reference movies in my writing all the time. It’s rare that I will reference music, but this song fit into my new book, Hope for Her (Hope Series Book #1) perfectly.  Vivian Green’s Emotional Roller Coaster

This song get’s me every time I hear it. Too bad she didn’t do more.

Movie: 

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I love Keanu Reeves, always have and always will. I know he may not have the best acting chops, but there is a reason people still star him in movies. He has a presence. One of my favorite Keanu movies is Street Kings.

Synopsis:  LAPD detective Tom Ludlow is a ruthlessly efficient, unorthodox undercover cop. Captain Jack Wander always covers for Tom, as do even his somewhat jealous colleagues. After technically excessive violence against a vicious Korean gang during the liberation of a kidnapped kid sex slave, Tom becomes the target of IA’s hotshot, captain James Biggs, who feels passed over after Wander’s promotion to chief. Tom’s corrupt, disloyal ex-patrol partner Terrence Washington sides with IA but is killed during a shop robbery in Tom’s presence.

Television Show:  

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Homicide: Life on the Street – A police homicide investigation unit investigates violent crimes in the city of Baltimore.

If your a fan of the original Law & Order and Law & Order SVU, you probably watched Homicide. I can watch these episodes over and over again.

Have you seen or heard of my Underrated Treasures? What are some of yours?

Check out the other Underrated Treasures by clicking here.