The world is your playground.

The Tesla experience. You can have it too.

By on May 9, 2013

We all heard the news, right? Yesterday Tesla announced their earnings report, where they surged past already frothy expectations in revenue and profit, bringing the stock price to an all-time record high. In the midst of all the buzz and excitement, we can’t help but ask: how many of us can actually put down a cool $70k and get one of our own? We certainly can’t.

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Collaborative consumption services make it a bit easier to afford those dream luxuries like convertibles that cost about as much as your entire college tuition. You can rent it out on services like Getaround, or if you prefer to keep other people away from the wheel, you can drive people around through Vayable. You’d also be bringing joy to the masses because now everyone can get the Tesla experience too!

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Still don’t think its in the cards that you’ll own a Tesla in the near future? You can get the Tesla experience by exploring great city of San Francisco with Getaround founder, Jessica Scorpio. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even be able to pitch her your startup idea while you’re at it.

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And the winner goes to… Buenos Aires!

By on May 7, 2013

A few weeks ago, we launched Vayable Destinations, a resource for travelers with insider tips provided by our guides and community. You voted for your favorite guide, and the winner is… Buenos Aires with 277 Facebook likes! A cosmopolitan mix of Europe and South America, its dramatic tango, political ups and downs, and opinionated porteños make the city anything but boring. Notable runner ups were Austin in second place is 116 likes and London in third place with 92 likes.

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Aigul, the contributor, is a Russian expat and journalist living Buenos Aires. Be sure to go on her street art tour if you happen to visit Buenos Aires! She got a sweet cash prize of $300 as well as, of course, bragging rights. We met her as well as other guides and community members last week in Recoleta. Enjoy the photos from our event!

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Buy One, Get Mom Free

By on May 7, 2013

This weekend is Mother’s Day! She had to change dirty diapers, attend school plays, and clean up after never-ending messes. This weekend is the time to show our appreciation for the moms in our lives.

Whether she’s into finding the best hidden vineyards in Napa, sailing the seas, or learning about history, give her an experience that you think she’ll love. To sweeten the deal, we want to treat your mom to a Vayable experience!

Book before this Sunday, May 12th and Moms go free (it’s on us)! Simply book for one fewer than the size of your party, and email us support@vayable.com to let us know.

Don’t live close to Mom? Get her a gift card for an experience, and we’ll rebate $10.

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Vayable Runs for Boston

By on April 22, 2013

We were deeply saddened by the tragic events of last week at the Boston Marathon. Stories of people turning back  to help those in need and runners going straight from the finish line to donate blood at the hospital serve as a reminder that we, as a community, in the face of adversity, are resilient and good to one another.

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We’ve been touched by the outpouring of support from our community. Our guides around the country have volunteered to lead runs as a fundraiser to help people most affected by the events of April 15.

On Sunday, April 28 no matter where you are and what shape you’re in, we will all run for Boston. Sign up for Vayable Runs for Boston by booking the event in your city. Over the week we’ll keep up updated by amounts raised by each city. All proceeds (including fees) go to the One Fund Boston.

Don’t see your city but want to lead a run? Sign up here to lead your own! Anyone can make a difference by just going on a run!

On April 28, we are all runners, and we are all Bostonians.

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The award goes to… Dublin’s ghost bus!

By on April 19, 2013

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Votes came streaming in all week and the results are finally in. And the winner of Vayable’s most unusual experience goes to… The Gravedigger Ghost Bus in Dublin!

Our friends over in Ireland are on to something… If a pub crawl and dramatized plague ghost stories are not an unusual way to spend an evening, then I don’t know what is.

  Experience # FB likes @ start # FB likes @ end # increase
1 Gravedigger ghost bus ride in Dublin, Ireland 1 207 206
2 Hairy crab snacks and a vintage 1950s sidecar ride in Shanghai, China 0 64 64
3 Ninja training in Kita, Japan 4 36 32
4 Introduction to Barcelona’s stunning nude beach 0 18 18
5 Hang out with a rapper in Rio’s favelas 7 19 12
6 Macaroon tour of Paris, France 0 4 4
7/8 Bollywood behind the scenes in Mumbai, India 1 3 2
7/8 Video document your adventure in Berlin, Germany 0 2 2
9 Stripper lessons in Vegas, NV or San Francisco, CA 0 1 1
10 Thrift shopping with new gay bff in New York, NY 0 0 0

Have a unique experience that you want to share? Sign up here as a Vayable guide.

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Vote for Vayable’s Most Unusual Experience!

By on April 16, 2013

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Top 10 Most Unusual Experiences

Over coffee this weekend, someone asked me what makes Vayable so special. The answer? Our guides connect people to one-of-a kind experiences that you can’t find anywhere else.

Testing this theory, today we scoured our pages in search of the most unusual tours out there. Here’s what we came up with: Vayable’s first Top 10 Unusual Experiences (in no particular order).

And now… it’s the moment of superlative truth! Which of these experiences is the most inventive and unusual? Go to the pages above and vote by clicking the Facebook like icon! Vote and vote again… Because by voting, you enter in a lottery for a special Vayable gift package!

Voting ends at 12 pm (PST) on Friday, April 19. The winner will be announced on Friday afternoon—and will be featured on our blog and put at the top of their city’s listings!

Have a unique experience that you want to share? Sign up here as a Vayable guide.
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Announcing Vayable’s first Community Photo Contest

By on March 18, 2013

Calling all photographers! Vayable is searching for beautiful photos that, besides technical quality and composition, showcase the unexpected and capture the magic of a place.

Enter photographs in any of our categories – NY, SF, London, Paris, Barcelona, Rio, Istanbul, Buenos Aires and Wild Card Travel — and compete to win cash and prizes. We are looking to highlight photos in all these cities and beyond (so please do submit even if it’s Bangkok!).

After reading the contest rules below, you will be ready to enter the contest.  There are two ways to enter: upload through this submission form or email your photos to photos@vayable.com.

The contest will open March 16, 2013 and close May 31, 2013 . On a weekly basis, we will post some of our favorite incoming entries to Facebook.  Good Luck and see you on Vayable!

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Contest Rules:

Who may enter:

Photographers must be 18 years or older.

What to enter:

Photographs in our nine categories which are of special interest to Vayable.com.

NY, SF, London, Paris, Barcelona, Rio, Istanbul and Buenos Aires — Locales, peoples and activities in all these places that convey a sense of place.

Wild Card Travel — Locales, people and activities everywhere else in the world that convey a sense of place.

Photographs MUST be shot by the entrant since January 2010.

Please submit photos in Landscape orientation and not altered beyond minor adjustments (spotting, dodging, burning, sharpening, contrast and slight color adjustment)

How to enter:

Please submit photographs on-line through this form or by sending photos via email to photos@vayable.com.

Photographs must be in .jpg or .gif format and around 5 MB or at least 300 dpi at 3,000 pixels on the longest side.

By entering the contest, entrants grant Vayable, and those authorized by Vayable, a royalty-free, non-exclusive license to display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or subsequently developed, for any educational, promotional, publicity and all other standard Vayable purposes. Any photograph reproduced will include photographer credit as feasible. Vayable will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.

Prizes:

Grand Prize: $150

Category Winners: $20 Vayable Gift Cards

 

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Announcing: Vayable Ambassadors

By on February 14, 2013

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When George W Bush was up for reelection, I kept hearing my friend’s parents say that if “He gets reelected I’m leaving the country.”  Of course, he did get reelected and they did NOT move out of the country.  And it left me disappointed because I imagined these fabulous baby boomers becoming expats: leaving their home city, state or country and really entrenching themselves somewhere else, becoming a true local.  Think of all the intrigue, the rites of passage and the cultural shift that happens every day! I wanted to live vicariously through them because, personally, I am not strong enough to leave my freedom fries for more than a few months.

But it turns out there is a shortcut to becoming a local anywhere in the world and Vayable Guides are it! Since our launch, our guide community has grown exponentially and among these guides there are some that we can truly call an Ambassador: someone who entrenches themselves in a culture and people and can give you access whenever you might want it or need it.  These guides are making Vayable even better than we thought possible.

Since it is St. Valentine’s Day, we thought it would be appropriate to launch our Vayable Ambassador program.  Think of it as one big Valentine to the guides who are going out on the most tours, getting the most reviews and being role models.  Want to know more? Head on over to our Ambassador page.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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A Vayable Love Story: Mike and Erica

By on February 13, 2013

At Vayable, we are romantics. We love bringing people together and creating friendships; maybe, if the stars align the right way, something more will come out of it! With Valentine’s day around the corner, we thought that we would share our love story of two guides. Here is a guest post jointly written by Mike and Erica. Soon you will be able to book a joint beer and wine tour they will lead!

1It was 12/12/12, a cold night in the SOMA district of San Francisco. Vayable’s holiday party was jamming inside the walls of Terroir, one of the best natural wine merchants you can come by. I post up at the bar, not knowing anyone inside, and barely connected to the Vayable community. Next to me is Mike, sommelier and key-speaker of the evening, and my soon-to-be boyfriend just waiting for the questions after his talk. Our connection was undeniable. After a few hours of meeting a people, but mostly getting nerdy with one another over aroma and taste, finish and complexity, we knew something special was there.

Our romance was serendipitous –  just as our love for beer and  passion for wine is. Vayable brought us together and now we hope to bring what we love to the Vayable community.

Some of the greatest ideas people conjure are when they are around a table – eating food, sipping glasses of fermented goodness, and engaging with each other. Community is formed with full bellies and open hearts. We hope to bring people together through an innovative, engaged, and delicious beer, wine and food pairing collaboration. For a very long time people have commented on the beautiful relationship between wine and food, and more and more these days people are also becoming interested in the dynamics between beer and food. We hope to see how exactly each sip makes eating more vibrant, how they contrast and compliment one another, while paying attention to how they affect one’s palette.

Our vision is rooted in both of our love for things craft – so much of what we have access to today is watered-down and capitalized to the point where you forget someone is actually making what you are using, what you are eating, what you are drinking. Small breweries, vineyards, and wineries exist everywhere, with people building something from a passion, from nothing, with their bare hands. Their hard work goes unnoticed by the masses, and we hope to change that, little by little, every single day.

We thank Vayable for bringing us together, for the gift of love and passion, and for the excitement of exploring the world.

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Introducing: The Calendar and Scheduling

By on February 11, 2013

This month we are spreading the love with a slew of new features! You’ve been asking for it, so we built it for you! We are taking the calendar for guides out of beta and releasing it for everyone to start entering events and blackout times.

 
Add events. Go on auto-pilot! 

Whether you want to create a single event or schedule repeating tours — when customers book these they will be instantly confirmed, making it easier for everyone!

 

 

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Block off times you are unavailable.

Maybe you work during the day or are going on vacation. Customers will not be allowed to request these times.

 

 

Here’s the nitty gritty:

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As always, they will still be able to request any date or time that you have not set as unavailable, and these reservations will still require your approval. So what are you waiting for? Start setting up your events! All you need to do is go edit your experience and navigate to the “schedule” tab.

If you have any questions or just want to give us a shout, please feel free to give us a shout at support@vayable.com!

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