Is travel blogging for everyone?

Those of you who are regular readers of Vagablogging know the value of a travel blog when you’re looking for information or a community of like-minded people. Just because you enjoy reading travel blogs, however, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll enjoy writing one.

There’s a checklist of things that long-term travelers generally have in common when they’re planning a trip. Each person’s list will be slightly different, depending on their situation, but many of the items … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (3)  | June 18, 2011
Category: Notes from the collective travel mind

Travel bloggers united at TBEX 2011 in Vancouver

Travel and writing can both be lonely endeavors, with friends and family not understanding why some of us are obsessed with both.  The best fix for the blues is to surround yourself with people who have the same dream, and even better, have achieved success.

For anyone into travel writing, Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) is the highlight of the year. It brings together travel writers to swap stories, make new friends, and give each other … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | June 17, 2011
Category: Lifestyle Design, Notes from the collective travel mind, Travel News, Travel Writing

Sweets in Puebla

The Mexican city of Puebla has more than one way to satisfy a sweet tooth. The next time your travels take you through the colonial town, don’t think the treats end with the chocolate in mole poblano.

The best place to get an eyeful of delicious options is to head straight to Puebla’s Calle de los Dulces, or “Sweets Street,” which is full of shops selling … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (3)  | June 16, 2011
Category: Food and Drink, North America

Travel quote: Anais nin

I walk ahead of myself in perpetual expectation of miracles.

The above quote from Anais Nin I have found to have great personal application and significance for myself. Reading it again recently it struck me how well the quote suited the life of a vagabonder, or anyone taking a journey. Travel involves taking a leap of faith that something exceptional will be waiting for us to experience or lay our eyes on. Yielding to these … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (3)  | June 15, 2011
Category: Travel Quote of the Day

Colombian culture at Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The best way to get an in-depth look at a culture is to travel to where it is. No guidebook, TV show or movie can replace the experience of being immersed in the daily life of a place. But when it’s not possible to go everywhere you’d like, books, films and festivals certainly help.

If you’ll be in Washington, D.C., in late June and early July (official dates are: June 30 to July 4 and … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | June 9, 2011
Category: Languages and Culture, South America

The best part of coming home

As we prepare for travel it is easy to get caught up in all of the new and beautiful things we will see and experience. It can be enticing to daydream about new foods, the sound of foreign languages, navigating new cities or means of transportation, or gazing at profound shrines or sights around the world. Other times, the nature of some trips have us looking forward to simpler things, like getting away from our … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (8)  | June 8, 2011
Category: Notes from the collective travel mind

Andrew Potter on the complexities of preserving culture

“Just about every place worth visiting makes a point of promoting a preserved form of its supposedly pure and undiluted cultural past to tourists. Often it involves aboriginal groups: singing and drumming by the Cowichan people on Vancouver Island, for instance, or Maori dancing in body paint and traditional clothes in New Zealand. But you can also go to resorts in the Caribbean where they all dance around with fruit on their head even though … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (3)  | June 6, 2011
Category: Travel Quote of the Day