New Orleans after the hurricane
I've been monitoring the post-hurricane devastation and chaos in New Orleans this week with much apprehension and sadness. I rang...Read this article
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Peter Moore at RolfPotts.com
My interview subject this month at the RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page is Peter Moore, who has been called "The...Read this article
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The latest in Islamic swimwear
This swimwear line, which is no joke, reminds me of an old In Living Color sketch, wherein Islamist swimsuit...Read this article
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Right-wingers getting racked
[Above: Karl Rove takes one for the team.] Kansas expat cartoonist Travis Millard recently published a mini-zine on Fudge...Read this article
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Vagablogging.net in TIME Magazine
This blog (and my book Vagabonding) got a nice mention in both Time Europe and http://www.time.com/time/asia/tga/article/0,13673,501050808-1088774,00.html">Time Asia this week, thanks...Read this article
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New travel writing grants and contests
For those of you interested in funding your travels and getting published, here's a couple of new travel writing contest...Read this article
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Taras Grescoe at RolfPotts.com
My August interviewee at the RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page is Taras Grescoe, who has written travel articles for The Times,...Read this article
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New travel writing portal up at TransitionsAbroad.com
My (mostly) offline July in Paris has left me lagging behind on my general travel and travel-writing blogging, so today's...Read this article
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C.M. Mayo at RolfPotts.com
This month at the RolfPotts.com Writers page, I interview C.M. Mayo, who is the author of Miraculous Air: Journey of...Read this article
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Pennsylvania tourism enlists travel bloggers
Though blogs have long been a popular way for independent travelers to showcase their adventures online, it seems as if...Read this article
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When travel message-board discussions go bad
This is possibly the funniest, most disturbing thread I've ever seen on a travel message board. As Josh from Crabwalk.com...Read this article
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Mark Jenkins interview at RolfPotts.com
This month at the RolfPotts.com Writers page, I interview Outside Magazine adventure travel columnist Mark Jenkins, who has written three...Read this article
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Don George's Bay Area book events
Don George will hold the first of several June Travel Writing events tonight (Monday the 6th) at the Left Coast...Read this article
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J. Maarten Troost at RolfPotts.com
This month at RolfPotts.com, I interview J. Maarten Troost, author of the hilarious 2004 travel book The Sex Lives of...Read this article
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Cleo Paskal interview at RolfPotts.com
Today I'll give a sneak preview of my April interview with Canada's National Post travel columnist, Cleo Paskal. As a...Read this article
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Travel writers are the last great generalists
Lonely Planet Travel Writing author Don George was intereviewed by World Hum this week. Here's my favorite outtake: "When I...Read this article
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Six of the best: Travel blogs
This blog was recently included among "Six of the best" travel weblogs by The Guardian (UK). Other blogs listed include...Read this article
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Seven myths of being a travel writer
Jen and Carl beat me to this days ago, but in case anyone missed it, I did want to point...Read this article
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Iraq Culture Smart Cards (from the U.S. Marines)
Last year I blogged about the Marine Corps' primer on cultural sensitivity in Arab lands, which seemed to resemble the...Read this article
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Don George interview at RolfPotts.com
This month at the RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page, I interview legendary Bay Area travel editor Don George, whose how-to book...Read this article
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Help Shanti take tsunami aid to Thailand
If you or anyone you know is still looking to get money or other aid to tsunami-affected areas of Thailand,...Read this article
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When vagabonding makes you feel like dancing
I recently got an email from Jason Gaspero (who pops up in my book, in the "Vagabonding Voices" section), who...Read this article
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Jen Leo needs a date
[The irrepressible Jennifer L. Leo, with a Valentine's Day bidder.] In honor of Valentine's Day and the week that...Read this article
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Rory MacLean speaks out at RolfPotts.com
This month at the RolfPotts.com Writers page, I interview Canadian-English writer Rory MacLean, whose travel books include best-sellers Stalin's Nose...Read this article
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Tsunami aftermath update
Although it has been over a month since the December 26th tsunami destroyed large swaths of the south and southeast...Read this article
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Some thoughts on Bruce Chatwin's fabrications, from Crabwalk
At Crabwalk yesterday, Josh Benton had an interesting entry about travel-writer/novelist Bruce Chatwin. "Chatwin occasionally made things up," Benton writes....Read this article
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Travelers, and grassroots tsunami aid
I've been encouraged in recent days by the amount of grassroots effort on the part of travelers to help the...Read this article
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Larry Bleiberg on travel writing for newspapers
This month at the RolfPotts.com Writers page, I interview Larry Bleiberg, who has been travel editor of The Dallas Morning...Read this article
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Bloggers' Favorite Books of 2004
Jen Leo has already mentioned this, but I'll reiterate that Newley Purnell has posted "Bloggers' Favorite Books of 2004", which...Read this article
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Wendy Knight interview at RolfPotts.com
This month at the RolfPotts.com Writers page, I interview freelance writer and editor Wendy Knight. Wendy contributes travel stories to...Read this article
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Call for Submissions: Travelers' Tales Prague and the Czech Republic
Have you had an interesting adventure in the Czech Republic? Editor David Farley is searching for funny, quirky, meaningful, adventurous...Read this article
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Starbucks, censorship, and diversity in the heartland
Yesterday, I learned that my longtime friend Mike Marlett, who publishes an alternative newspaper called F5, has had his publication...Read this article
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AfricanAncestry.com
In Vagabonding, I address the various motivations for choosing a long-term travel destination. Ultimately, I tell people that it doesn't...Read this article
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Tom Miller interview at RolfPotts.com
This month at RolfPotts.com, I interview journalist Tom Miller, whose travel books include Jack Ruby’s Kitchen Sink, The Panama Hat...Read this article
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Young Pioneers 'zine nominated for an Utne Indie Press Award
This spring, I blogged about the debut of Young Pioneers, a 'zine that covers the world of independent travel; this...Read this article
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Lonely Planet humor story competition accepting entries
My old editor and mentor Don George recently wrote to inform me that that Lonely Planet has just posted a...Read this article
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Five things travel guides never tell you
In this month's issue of National Geographic Adventure, Robert Young Pelton dispenses guidebook advice in a column called Cooking the...Read this article
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Michael Shapiro interview at RolfPotts.com
This month's Q&A with Michael Shapiro marks my fourth full year of interviewing travel writers at at the RolfPotts.com Writers...Read this article
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The Horrible Truth About Travel Writing
Guidebook writer Carl Parkes has started a new blog, entertainingly entitled "The Horrible Truth About Travel Writing". Parkes claims the...Read this article
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Tools for the trade: Staying in touch on the road
[This appeared today in Travel Weekly. See above for comment.] Tools for the trade: Staying in touch on the road...Read this article
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Jen Leo interview at RolfPotts.com
This month at my RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page I interview Jennifer Leo, whose latest women's travel humor anthology, Whose Panties...Read this article
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Sarah Erdman interview at RolfPotts.com
This month, my travel writers page at RolfPotts.com features an interview with Sarah Erdman, whose book Nine Hills to Nambonkaha...Read this article
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Travel writing advice in Transitions Abroad
I have a column about travel writing in the current issue of Transitions Abroad. Entitled Advice to Travel Writers: Make...Read this article
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The Six Sins of Self-Publishing
So you’re tired of the traditional publishing submission process, convinced of your own literary competence, and willing to go DYI...Read this article
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The most untranslatable word in the world
Scholars and professional translators have determined that "ilunga" -- a word in the Bantu language of Tshiluba for a person...Read this article
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Tips from guidebook writers: Nystrom and Pariser
Over the last two months, I have featured a couple of guidebook writers at the RolfPotts.com Writers page – Lonely...Read this article
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Another ode to Bangkok's Atlanta Hotel
The World Hum blog already beat me to the punch on this one, but it's worth mentioning again that Thomas...Read this article
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"Signspotting" contest at Bootsnall
Voting is underway for the best snapshot submitted in the last year to Doug Lansky’s wacky sign column, “Signspotting: Unintentionally...Read this article
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Vagabonding community at Orkut.com
I was recently informed that a Vagabonding discussion community has sprung up at Orkut.com -- Google's Friendster-style social networking site....Read this article
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Theroux: "I wouldn't give money to an NGO...I would give it person to person"
Last week, while he was in San Francisco promoting his book Dark Star Safari, Paul Theroux was asked by fellow...Read this article
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Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in Rosedale, Mississippi
Last month, while I was driving down the Mississippi River on a magazine assignment, I had a curious experience...Read this article
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Stephanie Elizondo Griest, yak penis soup, and other Rp.com news
This month on the RolfPotts.com Writers page I interview Stephanie Elizondo Griest, whose first book, Around the Bloc, was published...Read this article
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Deconstructing my Amazon listing
A couple months back I read a New York Times story (posted below) that reported on a “glitch” in the...Read this article
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Amazon Glitch Unmasks War of Reviewers
In reference to the post above, here is the text of the Amazon.com article from the New York Times: Amazon...Read this article
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The cleverest New Yorker cartoon I've seen this year
The juxtaposition here cracked me up, especially after having just traveled in Latin America. This image of Che Guevara...Read this article
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The Savvy Traveler takes a curtain call
I learned from Jen Leo's blog this week that public radio's Savvy Traveler program has gone off the air. This...Read this article
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Tom Bissell and Ayun Halliday at RolfPotts.com
Since I’ve been on the road of late, I’ve been slow in calling attention to two new travel writer interviews...Read this article
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Paul Theroux makes the Bad Sex Award shortlist
Travel writer Paul Theroux made the shortlist for the annual Bad Sex Awards, which humorously honor bad and overwrought depictions...Read this article
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Rest in peace, Elliott Smith
I was astonished to discover today that singer-songwriter Elliott Smith died in an apparent suicide late last year. I'm not...Read this article
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The lost Jack Kerouac Choose-Your-Own-Adventure
Being on the road in South America, I don't have any time to check up on web readings, but Mike...Read this article
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A sneak preview of my Tim Cahill interview
After three years of monthly interviews with travel writers at RolfPotts.com, I was finally able to track down a longtime...Read this article
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Talking with Isabella Tree and James Sturz
Though I've been on the road since early November, I'm still updating my Writers page with profiles of professional travel...Read this article
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Halliburton ain't just a soulless multinational
I don't usually comment on the comments to this blog (at least, not on the main page), but I was...Read this article
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Talking with Moon Handbook author Wayne Bernhardson
This month in the RolfPotts.com Travel Writers section, I interview guidebook author and southern South America expert Wayne Bernhardson. This...Read this article
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Q&A with travel writer Melissa Rossi
This month at the RolfPotts.com Writers Page, I interview Melissa Rossi, who -- in addition to writing a rock biography...Read this article
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Around the web: Dave Barry's blog
Late last week, humorist Dave Barry (with a little cajoling on my part) linked my "Power-Struggle Between Butter and Margarine...Read this article
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How to Dance Properly
In the event you have a spare moment in the office, this is very funny....Read this article
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Summer travel reading list in the Globe and Mail
The suggested "Summer Reading List" is a longtime institution in the book sections of major North American newspapers -- and...Read this article
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Summer travel reading list in the Globe and Mail
The suggested "Summer Reading List" is a longtime institution in the book sections of major North American newspapers -- and...Read this article
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Tony Wheeler talks about guidebook writing
This month on the RolfPotts.com Writers page, I'm happy to feature an interview with Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler. In...Read this article
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Elaine Pagels on how the Gospels developed
I don't deal much with religion issues on this blog, but religion does intrigue me -- and that's why Elaine...Read this article
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Mike Pugh's vagabonding adventures
Back when I was first writing Vagabonding, I checked into buying the vagabonding.com Internet domain -- and I was somewhat...Read this article
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Dude, Where’s My Dude?
For those of you who missed it in the New York Observer last month, here's Ron Rosenbaum's entertaining dissection of...Read this article
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Bored with Cabo? Try Kabul.
Ever since the Taliban fell in late 2001, I've been curious about when tourism would return to Afghanistan. Apparently, it's...Read this article
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Will Bill Bryson tackle the Arab world next?
Travel humorist Bill Bryson has written about America, Europe, Australia and Africa, but now it looks like he has sights...Read this article
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I Made Pizza for Kim Jong-il
As a former South Korea expat, I am always on the lookout for travel stories about the reclusive regime of...Read this article
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Pico Iyer interview at LonelyPlanet.com
Lonely Planet editor Don George recently interviewed Pico Iyer, who is one of my favorite travel authors. In the interview,...Read this article
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Coast-to-coast on recycled vegetable oil
Here's a novel road-trip concept: According to a recent CNN report, a group of US college students is traveling across...Read this article
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Michael Palin on travel in the Muslim world
Salon featured a nice interview this week with Monty Python vet Michael Palin, who recently completed a new travel documentary...Read this article
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Europe-bound backpackers sought for MTV documentary
I seem to have caught wind of the news a little late, but it appears that MTV has been recruiting...Read this article
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Nude cruises and tours to Saudi Arabia
For the past couple years, I've been convinced that backpackers and independent travelers were the only folks still traveling in...Read this article
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Ban nightclubs! Force people back to square dancing!
This week's Chronicle of Higher Education features an interesting article entitled "Cultural Globalization Is Not Americanization". The writer, British economist...Read this article
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Rick Steves talks travel at RolfPotts.com
This month on the RolfPotts.com Writers Page, I feature an interview with Europe travel guru and PBS television host Rick...Read this article
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Gee whiz! (what I'm reading in the jungle)
It's been just about a week since I returned to Ranong, the south Thailand jungle town where, a little over...Read this article
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Updatum: Tony Perrottet and David Stanley interviews
In the process of trying to get back on the road in Asia, I let my RolfPotts.com updates slide a...Read this article
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Use your flashlight to lift the walls right off of you!
My brother-in-law David Van Tassel alerted me to this lampoon of the new Homeland Security icons from www.ready.gov. I’m sure...Read this article
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Rolf talks to Moon founder Bill Dalton
This month at RolfPotts.com, I feature an interview with indie-travel guru Bill Dalton, who founded Moon Handbooks back in 1973....Read this article
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Bob Shacochis rants on the importance of living abroad
Back in November, Men's Journal featured a list of the "60 Things A Man Must Do in His Lifetime". By...Read this article
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Long Die Travel Writing!
By Rolf Potts As a travel writer, it was interesting for me to learn that contemporary travel literature is now...Read this article
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Pusanweb judging and stories on life in Korea
Late last month I served as a judge in the Pusanweb Writing Contest. Pusan is where I lived as an...Read this article
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Pico Iyer talks travel with Rolf
Writing a book has many joys to go with the challenges, and one of the joys in writing Vagabonding was...Read this article
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WeeCheng completes his odyssey
After 71,000 flight kilometers, 61,000 kilometers of land travel, 55 border crossings, 44 countries, 4 continents, 50 World Heritage sites,...Read this article
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Google's Year-End "Zeitgeist" top-ten travel destinations
This year, the web-search engine Google has included the Top Ten Destinations of 2002 as part of its annual Year-End...Read this article
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Tourist at an Anti-America Rally
Of the many writers whose work I'm showcasing on Vagabonding.net, perhaps my favorite is Kelly Sobczak, who traveled through Ethiopia,...Read this article
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One More Whale Liver Smoothie for Jesus!
Since it's Christmas, I wanted to share a hilarious "screed" from commentator James Lileks, who takes a few well-aimed swipes...Read this article
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