Do you have friends and family who write off travel as impractical? Sometimes good strategies can work in both travel and business, as this blog post by tech company 37 signals illustrates: Getting Real with Travel . The post cites the experiences of Marcel Uekermann, who's a fan of 37 Signals' unconventional approach to business....

As soon as I've returned from a trip, I'm usually imagining where to go next. One of the first tools that I use in researching a destination is Google Maps. Even the best guidebooks can't give you the level of detail and overall geography that is made possible through worldwide satellite data. This view of...