Back when I was first writing Vagabonding, I checked into buying the vagabonding.com Internet domain — and I was somewhat alarmed to discover that someone already owned it. Who, I wondered, had reserved vagabonding.com, and what were they going to do with it? Naturally, I was afraid the domain might be used as, say, a shrine to RV travel, or a commerce site for package-tourism, or (since I’d been writing a Vagabonding column for Salon.com for several years) a travel journal by some online stalker pretending to be me.

As it turns out, however, Vagabonding.com has developed over the past year into an excellent round-the-world travel blog run by American Mike Pugh. Not only is Mike taking the thoughtful, independent route of a true vagabonder — his site is one of the best-designed travelogues I’ve seen online. His reports give nice examples of the kinds of opportunities to be had on the vagabonding road, and the site can be encouraging for those still researching their travels. Definitely worth checking out.