We introduced the Lost Girls earlier in the year, after they’d won the 2007 Travvies award for Best Group Written Travel Blog. But in case you don’t remember them, Lost Girls Jen, Holly and Amanda are three twenty-something New Yorkers who put their media careers on hold to take a year-long trip around the world; a vagabond move if there ever was one.

Well, that year has just come to an end. And, as they’ve blogged, the Lost Girls are now facing the inevitable drag that comes with the end of an amazing trip. Then they’ve got re-entry to figure out.

But just before they wound up their trip, the Lost Girls caught the attention of a producer at CNN, who invited them to be profiled on CNN’s Project Life. Hosted by medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Project Life explores living healthfully in a series of blog and video stories covering diet, exercise and lifestyle. In its Project Life video story on gap years, CNN followed the Lost Girls around for a day in Sydney, revealing through their experiences one of travel’s most important benefits: reducing stress by simplified living. A good lesson, and a thick silver lining to the end-of-trip gray cloud.

To watch the video, stop by the Project Life Web site and select the gap year video.

“Most people live…in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using only his little finger.”
–William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1901)

We’ve all heard that in some parts of the world the left hand has only one function. But what about the lesser known world customs? How does a traveler avoid the cultural faux pas? Last year, Rolf wrote about common faux pas among travelers, suggesting ways to keep from being perceived as an “Ugly American”. But how does a traveler know exactly what offends who and where? Kwintessential and eDiplomat are two websites that can help the well-meaning traveler learn what to do (and not do) when traveling in specific countries.

Say that you have been invited to a dinner party that begins at 7:00 p.m.. What time are you really expected to arrive? This depends a lot on what part of the world you are in. In Turkey, guests are expected to arrive exactly on time for a dinner party. However, in Argentina, arriving on time is impolite; guests are expected to arrive 30-60 minutes late. When throwing a party in Brazil, expect guests to arrive late, but never suggest an “end time” for the party. Also, suggesting that guests bring any food or drink to Brazilian parties is very impolite. But polite guests in South Africa call the hostess before the party, asking what to bring. Confused yet?

Other common dilemmas for the traveler include:

• Meal time is ripe with opportunities to offend. In Switzerland, diners are expected to use eating utensils at all times, including when eating fruit. However, in Morocco good manners have diners scooping food with a piece of bread (held in the right hand) or the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand.
• Body language also varies vastly between countries. In many Asian nations, touching the head of another person is a very rude act, not the playful hair tousling it may be to Americans.
• Posture is very important in Indonesia. Crossing the legs is considered rude, especially placing an ankle over a knee. Proper posture has a person sitting up very straight with both feet flat on the floor.
• In many parts of the Americas, travelers from the United States have to be careful not to refer to themselves as “Americans” since those in South America are also “American”. Instead, the U.S. passport bearer should refer to themselves as a United States citizen or a North American.
• If giving flowers in Azerbaijan, it is important to know that one must give an odd number, as even numbers are reserved for funerals.

These websites can offer a good starting point for travelers to learn local customs in order to avoid leaving a trail of unintentionally offended people in their wake.

“Luxury, then, is a way of / being ignorant, comfortably / An approach to the open market / of least information. Where theories / can thrive, under heavy tarpaulins / without being cracked by ideas.”
–LeRoi Jones, “Political Poem” (1969)

As we noted back on St. Patrick’s Day, the springing up of Irish pubs around the world is making sure you could celebrate that holiday Irish-style just about anywhere. The trouble is, Irish-style isn’t always so Irish.

But no matter. Authentic or not, the branded Irish pub is a sign of the times; and officially so, now that World Hum has ranked it among its “Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet.”

World Hum’s designation, not to be confused with the new Seven Wonders of the World (or the old, for that matter), included some surprising, though compelling picks. That was the fun of it. Their criteria were unique (”places, things and people that embody ways the planet is shrinking and cultures are colliding”), but they suggested questions about where the world is going.

Which, of course, isn’t easy to predict. Interestingly enough, within days of World Hum naming the Starbucks in China’s Forbidden City one of its Wonders, protests shut the place down. And so World Hum was left with six. Rather than pick a new seventh themselves, though, World Hum relied on another of modern times’ wonders, the citizens of the Cyberspace, to make the choice, and opened up the floor.

A few people offered up Coca-Cola, but in the end it was a frothier beverage that prevailed. Citing “the way the Irish pub has replicated itself across the globe,” World Hum honored a suggestion posted to the site, the Irish Pub, concluding “the Irish pub represents an effort to connect the world through something the parts of the world that drink alcohol can appreciate—a night out in a welcoming place, accompanied by a full, creamy pint.”

So, congratulations, Guinness, you purveyor of Irishness! You are a world shrinker!

–”If the beaten track is created for the tourist, the tourist herself creates an ‘off the beaten track’ to reassert her own autonomy and independence. Having discovered how attractive this toe dipped in freedom is to most people, the tourist industry has also gotten into the off-the-beaten-track business, usually more expensive and fundamentally more snobbish in its appeal for places where ‘the rest of them’ won’t be.”
– Lucy R. Lippard, On the Beaten Track (1999)

Some travel blogs begin and end with the departure and return flights of a particular journey. The trip over, the blogging ends. Some bloggers, however, realize midway through their experience that life itself is a journey, and they can’t quite stop writing about it. Kendall’s Quest is about just such an adventurer.

Originally started as a blog for a month-long trip to Portugal in 2006, Kendall found she had much more to say than just the usual “look what I did here” stuff. So she kept writing. And writing. She’s a spiritual traveler, finding meaning in whatever she sees and experiences. She’s an inspiration to her fellow solo female travelers on the BootsnAll boards, and routinely provides great information and encouragement to them and others.

Kendall isn’t a spring chicken anymore, and - as they say - with age comes wisdom. She approaches travel, and seemingly everything she does, with a knowing quality I think younger travelers find appealing. She is still excited about travel, to be sure, but doesn’t get worked up or panicked about things:

What I like best about getting old is the clarity that comes from watching the roller coasters soar and sink for so many years that, while I never lose interest in what will happen next, I am also less likely to expect that whatever is happening now will go on happening. Buddhists call it impermanence. The breath arises and falls away, and that becomes a metaphor…

And now she’s hoping to retire at the end of 2007 and move to a new city. But something tells me “retirement” won’t be anything like a stopping point on this woman’s journey:

Each day I see a little more clearly what a miracle it is to be single, responsible to no one but myself, still relatively healthy and as sane as I’ve ever been, and about to live in some beautiful new place where the necessity to earn a living and provide for other people no longer dominates my life. Scales fall from my eyes. I want to move into a new landscape and touch it, smell it, roll in it, squish it between my fingers, chew on it, drench myself in it, know all its seasons and moods and colors, know it well enough to adore it: I want to move in and grow roots in it and make something, maybe something with my hands, that doesn’t have to be successful, doesn’t have to please anyone, or sell, or meet anyone’s standards but mine.

If that doesn’t sound like a true vagabonder talking, then I don’t know what does.

Forget the fossil fuels. Andrew Skurka has his own way to see the country.

First, he decided to hike 7,778 miles in 11 months (that’s almost a marathon a day). Now’s he’s attempting a 6,875 mile hike in under eight months. Meet Andrew Skurka, 26-year-old backpacker and long-distance hiker extraordinaire.

This summer, he is hiking the Great Western Loop, a 6,875 mile loop of the Western United States that has him scheduled to log between 30 and 37.5 miles per day. He is hiking through 12 National Parks, 75 wilderness areas, and passing through many areas that could be deeply affected by global warming. He is hoping to raise awareness of the ecological damage global warming would cause.

In 2005, Skurka became the first known person to complete the 7,778 mile Sea-to-Sea Route from Quebec to Washington state. The route is by no means the shortest way across the continent, taking a roundabout way and connecting existing hiking trails across most of the North America. Many long distance hiking trails run south-to-north, allowing hikers to get an early start with warm weather while the northern areas finish thawing out. However, the Sea-to-Sea path is mostly northern, which caused Skurka to be in the Great Lakes region in the dead of winter.

A glutton for punishment, Skurka took on a wintry challenge reminiscent of the Sea-to-Sea hike in January 2007 with his Ultralight in the Nation’s Icebox adventure, hiking 385 frigid miles (carrying only 14 pounds of supplies, excluding food and water).

He also has a long list of other hikes behind him, as well as a degree from Duke University and an impressive career as a professional hiker, speaker, and “outdoor ambassador”.

Check out some footage from this summer’s adventure, and read his website for updates on his progress.

The wonderful California indie bookstore Book Passage will be once again hosting their Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, this August 16-19. Faculty at this year’s conference include Don George (Global Travel Editor, Lonely Planet), Catherine Hamm (Travel Editor, LA Times), Isabel Allende (author of Inés of My Soul), Jamaica Kincaid (author of Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya), Robert Holmes (award-winning travel photographer), our very own Rolf Potts, and many more.

The four-day schedule is packed with panel discussions, interviews, workshops, and master classes in travel writing and photography, all concluded with a champagne and chocolate reception. You can learn from the best in the business, and also get to spend a weekend in the beautiful Bay Area.

The conference is a might pricey at $635, but it’s widely regarded as the best of its kind. To be a part of it, you can sign up here.

Link (via World Hum)

You’ve heard of Yapta, right? And Kayak? Farecast, too, huh?

Then you probably know about Orbitz. And Travelocity and Expedia. Which means, of course, you’re an expert on finding cheap airfare. Well, you’re a few steps ahead of me. I’ve been booking a lot of flights this summer, and every time I think I’ve done well on price, some new fare-finding service comes out and reminds me otherwise.

Actually, I have heard of all the sites above. I just wasn’t sure I was keeping up with all the developments. So I was glad to see a good overview of the fare-finding process in a recent L.A. Times story, “Surfing the Internet before you fly can uncover the best fare.”

As it turns out, I was up on most of them, though sites like SideStep.com and Mobissimo.com were news. The best tip in the article wasn’t about any individual sites out there, though, but on how to use all of them together to your advantage. Author Peter Pae lays out a three-step process: in short, search the sites of your favorite airlines, then the fare-finder sites (like Orbitz and and Kayak), then stop by fare monitoring sites like Yapta and Farecast.

Pae gives other fare-finding tips in the article, too, and there’s an interesting lead about how Farecast came about. It’s well worth a read if you’ll be flying this summer.