BEEN-SEEN.COM - A DIFFERENCE IN WHERE AND HOW WE TRAVEL

One day you'll be able to make movies using a camera attached to your fingertip, but until then we'll have to make do the unfeasibly nifty Sony HDR-TG1 Handycam. It's a camcorder that shoots in high def and slips into your pocket.

The sounds of summer. Closing one's eyes - or opening the ears - evokes a typically nostalgiac set of cadences. Children's laughter, the call of seagulls, and the crashing of waves along a seashore. Yet, summer's street symphony could never be complete without another of its ubiquitous melodies - the songs of the ice cream truck.

Any little kid will tell you that treehouses are rad. And any big kid will tell you that so is high-quality, delicious Asian and Indian food. So now, for the little kid and the big kid in all of us, behold the Nahu Harbor Diner restaurant in Okinawa Japan: a restaurant that is up in a tree.

Out in middle of the Northern Pacific Ocean where one would expect to see little more than the endless pristine expanse of ocean and sky and its complementing hues of blue and perhaps the occasional poetic albatross floats an environmental disaster so disgraceful that all humanity should turn red from shame - the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

For an innovative take on the standard swimming pool, look no further than the gorgeous floating pool at Villa d'Este, Lake Como. This isn't your typical method of beating the heat, guests can experience the unusual sensation of relaxing in water above water while gazing at the dramatic mountains of this northern Italian holiday spot.

Mulholland Drive is one of those insanely long streets that weaves its way through a huge swathe of Los Angeles. It goes all the way from the ocean, starting at Pacific Coast Highway, through the hills - and ends up in Hollywood, offering great views all the way. Sometimes it stops and gets a bit lost, and at night its elevation over the city provides great sparkling vistas and more than a little eerieness. A little like the David Lynch movie of the same name - long, often dark, creepy and confusing.

Once again I am forced to express my jealous admiration for the new breed of magic, eco-friendly car. Oops, did I say magic? I meant magnet: this car overcomes the force of gravity through the strategic use of an electric engine...and magnets.

While it can be argued that there is never a good time for war, the timing of the Russian-Georgian conflict has struck a dissonant chord with the international community. The Beijing Olympics-inspired harmony of brotherly spirit and international goodwill were temporarily drowned out by the South Ossetia-related bloodshed. Abruptly popping the bubble of sporting bliss like it was a kid’s birthday balloon.

If you're looking for inspiration, you could do a lot worse than head for Cove Park. A retreat for artists located on the fringes of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park in Scotland, it combines incredible natural beauty with creative recycling.

Ignore Miami Vice, Scarface and other Hollywoodish stylized representations of cocaine, and consider for a moment the South American plant that grows on Andean hillsides. The bush before all the chemical processing required to transform it into the white powder that the world's populace masochistically desires, and that fuels an illicit billion dollar industry: Erythroxylum Coca.

Anyone who has traveled, even if only a few miles, knows that making a journey broadens the mind. Doing it regularly - and widely - even more so. Some travelers sum this experience up better than others, and here are 52 of the most interesting quotes about travel we've found. If you know of any others (or have any wisdom of your own), please let us know. Meanwhile, enjoy these, and let them inspire you to travel even more.

There are some hotels that make you start planning vacations. I already love Greece, especially the Cyclades islands with their incredible volcanic landscapes and whitewashed buildings - so I only really need a slight nudge to want to go back. Seeing the Cavo Tagoo is like someone giving me a huge shove.