Coming soon to online is yet another round-the-world adventure that I wish I would’ve had the foresight to apply for. “Gap Year” is not only hosted by the social networking community Bebo, it’s interactive with it.

Of the six participants in the reality series, only three have been announced: from the US, Canada, and New Zealand. But we’re still waiting to hear who will be representing the remaining Bebo territories: Ireland, the UK, and Australia.

We won’t be waiting too long—they all start their travels on May 21. During their six-month “journey of adventure and discovery,” they’ll be competing in challenges while trotting around the globe.

And that’s where the interactive bit comes in: you can cast your votes every week to influence their trips and their challenges. Exactly how much influence, it’s hard to say, since their itinerary is already touted to include: Iceland, South Africa, the Amazon, Russia, Machu Picchu, Vienna, the Himalayas, the Burning Man Festival (Nevada), and a Full Moon Party (Thailand).

Or else, if you’ve got local knowledge, share it. Or if you’re in their area, meet up with them. Throughout, you can follow their progress through blogs, photos, maps, and videos. All through Bebo, of course.

Bebo is a social networking website of 40 million people—400 of whom sent in video applications to vie for the six spots in the series.

I just got back from Prague and I may have jinxed the weather when in my last post I said I’d be sitting in the sun while you read it. Of the 5 days I was in this beautiful city, it rained long and hard for 2.

“Ah it’s just rain! I’m not going to let a bit of water ruin my trip,” I thought, so I went out in the pouring rain in my raincoat, with an umbrella, to explore the city.

The rain was so hard, you could hardly see anything; it was cold and windy, so my fingers didn’t take long to get numb and my umbrella didn’t last 5 minutes; I was not going to even try to take my map out; there was no one on the road to ask directions. So I walked. And walked. And walked.

After about an hour of walking, absolutely drenched and shivering, hoping to find a little cute cafe, I stopped at what looked like a local cool place, which it was. However, I was the only person in there, and the bar lady didn’t speak a word of English. So I sat there. Tried to talk. Ordered a coffee. Read a little. Tried to talk again. Then just felt very alone and lost. I had strayed from the center whilst braving the rain. My map was soggy and the rain showed no signs of stopping. So an hour later, I head out again. I was still wet, but not shivering and felt strong enough to head out again.

Just wanting to find any sign of life, I somehow hit a tourist patch — and wow, never have I felt so good entering a warm, colorful souvenir shop. So after 3 hours of going in and out of (otherwise dreaded) souvenir shops, I headed away from the crowds to find another cafe. I found a small one with a fireplace! That’s where I spent the rest of the afternoon. Dripping wet and alone.

Although those two rainy days weren’t horrible, I felt like I lost two days of experiencing Prague. I’m happy that I stepped out both days, but I didn’t accomplish much. Nothing story-telling happened; I didn’t meet anybody. I went to the Museum of Torture Instruments, and a Synagogue. What else can you do when it rains? I suppose I could have gone to more museums and Synagogues.

What do you do when you decide to travel and get hit by bad weather?

As you read this, I’ll probably be sitting in the sun at a cafe in Prague (unless it decides to pour heavily!). Yes, I’m on a short though long needed break from Madrid and my computer!

A friend asked me what book I’ll be taking for the flight; I’ve just started reading Jack Keroauc’s On The Road (no, I haven’t read it before so shoot me), that’s what I plan to have in my bag if I haven’t finished it before — which is possible — I started it yesterday and have been hooked.

Otherwise, I’ve stopped taking books for trips. I used to buy easy reads just for flights and lazy days; but lately all my trips have been so short and my brain has been overloaded pre-departure, so for the last year or so I’ve been resorting to Time Magazine, the Economist or even OK! magazine (yes, yikes!) for my in-flight entertainment. I find the short snippets they write easy to read and the variety helps me stay alert for longer periods of time when in the air.

The last few books I read on flights were: Lonely Planet’s “Tales From Nowhere“, Traveler’s Tales “Hyenas Laughed At Me And Now I Know Why” and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter Of Maladies.

That’s it for me: short stories or magazines. What do you read on flights?

Next month at the RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page I interview Andrew Hempstead, who has been a fulltime travel guidebook writer for nearly 20 years. His advice to aspiring travel writers in simple: “In a word: specialize,” he says. “Guidebook publishers often look for local talent. Keeping this in mind, unless you have strong ties to another part of the world, the city or region where you live should be at the very top of your list of areas of expertise. Having written or contributed to a guidebook, the author is assumed to be an expert by other publishers and the general public, which makes building a reputation around a specific destination an excellent way to convert expertise to monetary returns. Using a guidebook as a “business card” opens doors throughout the industry.”

Full Andrew Hempstead interview online here.

When I tell others about my desire to visit, say, India or the Middle East, they often recoil with a mix of horror and disbelief. It’s odd that the places I most want to go are the same places that my best friends describe as– direct quote here– “literally the last places I’d want to go in the world.”

How can good friends who have so much in common have such differences of opinion over their travel wish lists? Part of the reason, certainly, is a matter of personal taste: “Some are fond of the preacher; others of his wife,” as the old saying goes. Some drink Pepsi, others like Coke. Some are dying to spend six months in India, while others are content with a week in Cancún.

But certainly there’s more to it than that. There’s so much misinformation out there about the “rest of the world”– be it India, the Middle East, Africa, Central America, you name it. When I returned from Morocco, I was asked if I ate mud and slept on dirt floors. Similar questions have been asked about every “third world” place I’ve been: What kind of disgusting foods did they have? Did you ever talk to the people who lived there? How’d you avoid the locusts?

Questions like these, though curiosity about one’s trip is always appreciated, demonstrate that, to put it bluntly, most people have no idea what they’re talking about.

Even travelers are guilty of the same sort of ignorance. For the longest time, for example, I had no interest in going to Russia. It seemed bleak and utterly unappealing. But then I began reading Russian authors, then their English-language newspapers, then I picked up the Cyrillic alphabet. Now, I’m a full-fledged Russophile, and can’t wait to get over there.

What’s the lesson in all this? One word: research. I found Russia uninteresting because I didn’t know anything about it. After learning even a little of its history and culture, it was like new doors suddenly opened.

So go ahead. Invest some time in making the world a bigger, more varied, more dynamic place. Look at that map on your wall, and find somewhere you’ve never been and never wanted to go– Uruguay, Tajikistan, El Salvador, wherever. Dig up some pictures of the country, read an article or two about it, see if they have any English-language newspapers. After thirty minutes, I admit, you still might not want to go there– but it probably won’t be because the place is uninteresting.

One of the questions people ask when they find out that I run my business whilst travelling the world permanently is this:

“Doesn’t it put people off that you don’t meet clients face-to-face and that you travel around all the time?”

In my experience so far, no it doesn’t; but then I’m particularly careful to set and manage expectations whilst running my business – a branding and online marketing consultancy.

If you’re thinking about running a business which services clients whilst travelling the world, then here are my tips for how to deal with the inevitable questions this brings from prospects and interested parties:

1 – Unless the client is likely to be impacted by the fact you travel (e.g. different time zones, you’ll be non-contactable because you’re travelling etc.), you don’t necessarily have to tell them that you do. If it doesn’t make a difference to the service you provide then don’t give them a reason to think it might by pointing it out.

2 – On the other hand, if the fact that you travel sets you apart and is part of your USP (unique selling point) then you should definitely mention it. I often point out to prospects who are considering working with us to help market a business online, that we know what we’re doing because we have to do it ourselves given that we travel permanently. It’s usually a big plus!

3 – Don’t ‘not’ tell people; by this I mean don’t keep it a secret if it’s a natural thing to mention, otherwise people will rightly feel deceived. It can also become a talking point – I typically have my location and the time difference (e.g. Currently in Thailand GMT + 7) in my email signature which often provokes comment and conversation.

My main advice is this…if you feel the fact that you travel impacts your business and the people you serve in anyway, then it’s your duty to tell them; if it doesn’t then feel free not to but you may find it opens more doors and cements a better relationship if you do.

I’ve never (yet, anyway) properly done the South East Asia backpacking thing. But I’ve heard so much about it from British gap-year veterans, American hippies and Canadian ESL teachers that I feel as though I know it well. In fact, I used to figure I’d heard about it so many times that I had lost interest; it had become a cliche. I was thrilled to be proven wrong when I found Noelle Tankard‘s blogs, over at Matador Travel, from her seven-month South East Asia stint.

Noelle’s an 18-year-old Los Angeles native with an eye for telling details and a way with words. Her travels so far have taken her from a vegetarian cooking school in Northern Thailand to a dash over the Burmese border, and from a dentist’s chair in Chiang Mai to a slow boat ride down the Laotian Mekong. They all make great reads, whether you’ve been to Luang Prabang and Bangkok, you’re planning a trip there, or you just want an armchair travel experience. Start from the beginning and read them all, or try some of my favourites: “Here we are now! Entertain us!“, “Who are you with? Are you a journalist? Why are you here?“, “Common Denominators: Soy Sauce and Chillies“, and “The Slow Boat of Archetypes“.

You’d think it’d be easier to slow down—to take the time to connect and enjoy the things that matter the most. This is true whether you’re a traveler or in the routine of daily life.

An article that recently caught my eye was The Guardian‘s “The Slow Way to Go” about Cittaslow—an organization that lives and promotes the slow life. If you’re like me, you’ve already heard of Slow Food but not about its sister organization. Cittaslow was based on the same principles of sustainability and conviviality, but applied to other things in addition to food.

The 11 countries in Cittaslow’s international network (Italy, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, South Korea) share an interest in:

• Quality of urban fabric (historic buildings, gardens, parks, use of new technology)

• Environment (pollution, waste management and recycling)
• Infrastructure (open space, seating, public conveniences, access, traffic management)

• Local produce and products (local producers and suppliers of food and crafts, healthy eating, the arts, farmers market)

• Hospitality (facilities for tourists, community life, Slow Food)

• Awareness (communications, local involvement, education)


Sure, I look at this list from the traveler’s point of view. If possible, I want to travel in a way that connects me to the locals and their culture as much as possible. I’d much rather see, eat, experience something that’s ingrained with the history of a place rather than the quick buck of commercialism. But of course, more than these personal interests I’m a fan of these goals for the longevity of the culture itself.

Of course, some countries have no problem with the slow life—that’s just how they normally operate. But it’s those countries or regions with such a quick pace of life and a blind eye to sustainability where Cittaslow could be a welcome change.

I’m hopeful that more cities will take it on. Each of the 11 member countries has only a handful of represented cities. Unfortunately, the US doesn’t have representation yet—I have to wonder what the first city to join would be.

If this interests you, too, you might want to check out the book “Go Slow England,” written by Alastair Sawday, the author of The Guardian article. It promotes “being slow, eating and travelling slowly, of changing lives and places in order to achieve a new balance.”

There is no longer need to steal little shampoo and shower-gel bottle from hotels! I have found every budget travelers dream come true store that sells everything in mini-size — personal care items: shampoo, non-rinse shampoo (just what you need for camping!) shower gel, deodorant, toothpaste, moisturizer; travel-size first-aid kits; long-life food products; name it and Minimus has it.

Depending on what you choose, the mini-sizes range from .25oz to 1.7 fl.oz (about 50ml), it’s branded stuff (example — Clairol, Head&Shoulders) and it’s cheap!

1.7fl.oz of Head&Shoulders shampoo = $1.65; 0.85oz regular Crest toothpaste = $0.69 (prices without shipping, of course).

I hate refilling those awful little hotel shampoo bottles, and am always annoyed at how, when I don’t have those bottles, my shampoo and shower-gel together weigh more than most my clothes. This company is awesome! It took me a while to find them, looks like they’ve been around since 2004. However, they are based in LA so overseas shipping for products is either unavailable, or too expensive. Bummer.

[Via LA Times Travel Blog]

A reader named Brian recently weighed in with the following question:

This September I will be making my way from the U.S. to London to Munich for Oktoberfest. After that I want to venture around Europe for several weeks. My main concern is where to go and which hostels to sleep in. I’d rather not make reservations everyplace, but I want to make sure I’ll have cheap places to stay as I travel.

This is what I told him:

My first advice would be to get a good guidebook(s), which will give you plenty of advice on where to go, where to stay, etc. Though you’ll want to be independent of guidebook info from time to time, a good guidebook can make a big difference in your trip!

A couple other things will be helpful as you journey across Europe. One is word-of-mouth, as other travelers you meet in these hostels will have good ideas for other destinations, hostels, bargains, etc. The other option is the Internet, as message boards at places like Bootsnall.com or LonelyPlanet.com will give you plenty of ideas for travel (you can post your own questions there as well). As for hostels, online bookers like Hostels.com can help you plan in advance — though September is not high season, so you should be able to easily find hostel beds as you go. The big exception to this is Oktoberfest in Munich, which is always jam-packed — so be sure to plan your lodging as far in advance as possible. You might also want to make advance plans for London, since that is your first destination, and advance planning may help you save money in that notoriously expensive city.

Of course, you should also look into hospitality exchanges, like Servas, Couchsurfing, or Hospitality Club, which allow you to stay for free with engaged local hosts across Europe.