I'm off to Greece
I'm headed to Greece on magazine assignment, and I'll be there -- mainly in the islands -- for the...Read this article
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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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A comment about comments
It's now been about four months since I disabled the comments here at Vagablogging.net -- and I think I'm going...Read this article
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The Hobart Travel Issue
The current issue of the literary journal Hobart is entirely devoted to travel fiction and nonfiction -- including an...Read this article
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More feedback from Vagabonding readers
I head off for Paris tomorrow to teach my creative writing workshop, so today I wanted to share some new...Read this article
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Goodbye, Wichita
[Above: The old house where I grew up in Wichita, Kansas.] After thirty-three years of living in one place,...Read this article
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I am not Rick Steves
Europe travel icon Rick Steves' appearance on a segment of 60 Minutes late last month has resulted in a strange...Read this article
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Paris writing workshop registration still open
Though the initial enrollment deadline for my creative writing workshop in Paris was last week, I've just been informed...Read this article
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Talking solo travel on NPR
This morning I talked about solo independent travel with writer Wendy Knight and host Marty Moss-Coane for the "Radio Times"...Read this article
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More good words from Vagabonding readers
I'm still working away in seclusion up in northern Kansas, but I wanted to pop online and post a few...Read this article
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I'll be off writing for awhile...
For next few weeks, I'll be on the family farm in northern Kansas, finishing a screenplay project. This means I'll...Read this article
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Inspired by those who were inspired
Though I don't typically blog about the mail and feedback I get from Vagabonding readers from week to week, I...Read this article
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Slots in my Paris creative writing class are still available!
I recently received word that the slots in my Creative Writing Workshop this July at the Paris American Academy are...Read this article
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Study writing with me this summer in Paris
Creative Writing Workshop at the Paris American Academy July 2nd through the 28th, 2005 I'll be teaching an intensive,...Read this article
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The Best Travel Writing 2005
Travelers' Tales has just released their second-annual Best Travel Writing anthology, which includes selections from the likes of Pico Iyer,...Read this article
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BTK in custody: They got the bogeyman
It's somewhat surreal to be sitting here in New Orleans and following all the BTK Strangler coverage on the news...Read this article
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Vagabonding hits Korean bookstores
[The cover for the Korean translation of Vagabonding.] A recent slew of emails from Korean readers has tipped me...Read this article
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Please give 10% (and travel to Thailand)
I am still dealing with limited online access in New Orleans, but I wanted to post a quick couple of...Read this article
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Tsunami relief and my friends in Thailand
I am in Memphis at the moment, en route to New Orleans, so this will have to be quick. Since...Read this article
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Cool moments, 2004
[Above: Rolf takes in the spectacle at Machu Picchu back in January of this year -- one of his...Read this article
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Signs of Confusion: My new essay in World Hum
A new travel essay of mine, "Signs of Confusion", has just been published by World Hum. A meditation on the...Read this article
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Help me fight Parkinson's Disease
Vagablogging readers might recall that I won a Lowell Thomas Award earlier this year for "Virgin Trail", my Central America...Read this article
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Thanks, Jen!
Well. If this isn't a stellar birthday tribute, I don't know what is....Read this article
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Whatever happened to Bradley Goldstein?
In the house where I do my writing in Baja, there is a copy of The Book of Lists...Read this article
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My Patagonia story in the SF Chronicle Magazine
This Sunday, my Chile travel story, "The Other Patagonia", appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine. The story recounts my...Read this article
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Not an ad for iPod (though it may sound like one)
It's been nearly eight consecutive years now that I've been living in a semi-permanent state, taking a bare minimum of...Read this article
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A tale of three Rolfs
I'm currently back in Baja after a weekend trip to Los Angeles, where I had the rare opportunity to hang...Read this article
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Punditing (and paddling) in Georgia
If this blog has fallen silent late this week, it's because I've been at the Governor's Conference on Tourism in...Read this article
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Good news from the Lowell Thomas Awards
My thanks to everyone who alerted me about the results of the 20th annual Lowell Thomas Awards in travel writing....Read this article
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Vagabonding interview on Canada's Radio Outpost
This week I was interviewed by Daryl Richel for Canada's Radio Outpost show, which focuses on adventure and independent travel....Read this article
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Remembering Laurel Lee
My favorite writing teacher from my college days, memoirist Laurel Lee, died of pancreatic cancer last week in Oregon. She...Read this article
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I have become a Republican
Well, after 15 proud years of voting as a non-affiliated Independent, I have now become a Republican. Sort of....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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That familiar old American road
[Flashback to ten years ago: Based out of a Volkswagen Vanagon, Rolf takes some journal notes during his first...Read this article
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California (and Baja California) livin'
After a couple weeks of being all over the place, I'm now firmly back on the West Coast, once again...Read this article
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Next stop: New York
[No, that's not New York: A shot of the sunset in northern Baja, where Rolf was holed up for...Read this article
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Mexico-bound
I’m leaving today for Mexico, where I hope to get some writing done (and have some fun) in northern Baja....Read this article
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Pico Iyer and the end of my West Coast road trip
I’ve spent the past couple weeks traveling down the West Coast of the United States in a white, hubcap-less 1984...Read this article
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On the road. Again!
Well, after driving a 2003 Land Rover Discovery II across the Americas and a 2004 Lexus IS300 down the Mississippi...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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A Desert By Any Other Name
I had a new article in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle Magazine. Entitled "A Desert By Any Other Name", it explores...Read this article
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Wanted: A place to live and work
After having lived almost exclusively overseas since 1996, I've returned to the United States this month with the intention of...Read this article
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Native eye for the tourist guy
I randomly managed to catch the travel blog roundup in this weekend's USA Today, but what I failed to notice...Read this article
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New Orleans, USA Today, and this blog
In recent months I haven't had much of an opportunity to read American newspapers, but yesterday morning I got a...Read this article
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A brief report from Carnival in Rio
[Above: Rolf is decked out for the Beija-Flor samba school parade the night before Fat Tuesday in Rio.] Carnival...Read this article
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Lost in the Translation: My new essay in World Hum
This week, a new travel essay of mine went online at World Hum. It's entitled Lost in the Translation --...Read this article
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My elephant polo article in Conde Nast Traveler
I have a short feature about elephant polo in the January 2004 edition of Conde Nast Traveler. Entitled "A Jolly...Read this article
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I am alive and well and in Peru
[Above: Rolf in the coastal desert of Peru.] One again, I am posting to apologize for not posting more...Read this article
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A Vagabonding interview in Transitions Abroad
This month, I am happy to be interviewed in Transitions Abroad, which for my money is the single most useful...Read this article
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Virgin Trail: My Slate series has started
After a week of furious key-tapping in Costa Rica, my Slate "Well Traveled" series is now finished and online. The...Read this article
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Excerpts from a book written by my nephew Cedar, who is 4 years old
My nephew, Cedar, who is four years old and lives on a farm in Kansas, wrote a book for me...Read this article
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More buzz about Vagabonding
Reviews and profiles of Vagabonding are still trickling in, including a recent piece by Janet Fullwood in the Sacramento Bee....Read this article
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Still running ragged on the road
Checking in once more -- from Mexico City this time -- to let everyone know that I´m still doing great...Read this article
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Lowell Thomas and Laughing Hyenas
For the past four years, I've been privileged to have my stories appear in various travel award anthologies, including the...Read this article
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Signing my life away to reality television
As I mentioned in earlier posts, the Drive Around the World expedition is being filmed by a three-man video team,...Read this article
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A "Best American" bridesmaid again
Ever since my story Storming 'The Beach' appeared as a main selection in Best American Travel Writing 2000 (which was...Read this article
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Dispatches from the Parkinson's Institute ball
[Above: All dandied up for the Parkinson's Institute fundraiser in San Francisco, Rolf mugs for the camera with cousin...Read this article
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A belated National Geographic heads-up
I just realized that in September I had short pieces in both National Geographic Traveler and National Geographic Adventure, yet...Read this article
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Drive Around the World: My next adventure explained
[A pop-up photo of the Drive Around the World team and vehicles near the Golden Gate Bridge can be found...Read this article
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Update continued: Surgery, booze, and my farm in Kansas
In addition to getting a comprehensive checkup at Bangkok's Bumrungrad Hospital a few weeks ago, I also got a piece...Read this article
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Vagabonding in Motionsickness and Student Traveler
This month, I am interviewed about Vagabonding and the writing life in Student Traveler magazine. I've blogged an outtake from...Read this article
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“Rolf Potts Speaks Out”, from Student Traveler
September/October 2003 issue interview by Claire Smith Describe where you are right now… Right now I'm in Ranong, Thailand, a...Read this article
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Lost in Los Angeles
Contrary to earlier plans, I never made it back up to San Francisco yesterday. I'm currently in Santa Monica, with...Read this article
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A quick recap of three countries and two states in three weeks
I've covered a lot of ground in Asia and North America since my last serious round of blog updates. My...Read this article
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Stateside.
I've been back in the United States for well over a week now. Been busy catching up with family and...Read this article
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On the road again
Starting today, I'll once again be in motion -- first to Bangkok, then to San Francisco, then to see my...Read this article
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Leaving Asia: A short history of my clothing
In a matter of days, I will move out of my south Thailand apartment, pack up all my belongings (which...Read this article
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The Paris Report
Earlier this month, while traveling through France, I managed to get myself arrested at a casino in Normandy. This is...Read this article
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The joy of a void
Jen Leo recently sent me this picture of a sold-out shelf of Vagabonding books among the "Staff Picks" at Powell's...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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More good news from Italy
The Italian translation of Vagabonding appears to doing very well in the six weeks since it was released. On the...Read this article
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I'm taking off for Paris
There is a certain irony in maintaining a travel weblog: to regularly update it means, well, that you aren't really...Read this article
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La Repubblica's Vagabonding review
Following on to my surprised announcement on Monday that Vagabonding had been translated into Italian, here's an English version of...Read this article
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Summertime Rolls
Monsoon season in southern Thailand can be a strange time of year. The heavy rains can last all day, and...Read this article
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Big in … Italy?
Yesterday evening, I learned -- with no small sense of astonishment -- that La Repubblica, the largest national paper in...Read this article
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Miracle-vision on Koh Yao Noi
Just over a month ago, there was a miracle on Koh Yao Noi, an island one hour east of Phuket...Read this article
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Getting around to following my own travel advice
Deep in the pages of Vagabonding, you'll discover that I advise readers to avoid fast food and packaged meals on...Read this article
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What I'm listening to in the jungle
The walls are a bit thin at my residential hotel here in south Thailand, so I can generally hear what's...Read this article
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My neighborhood eatery in National Geographic Traveler
The monsoon rains seem to have started here in Ranong (which is a rainiest province in Thailand as it is),...Read this article
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Up for studying travel writing in Paris this summer?
This July I'll be teaching the travel-writing portion of the intensive creative writing program at the Paris American Academy. The...Read this article
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Exercising possibility: A morning in Burma
This morning, I went on my obligatory monthly visa run to Kawthaung, the small Burmese border town that lies about...Read this article
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SARS collector's cards and other trophies of travel
It has been a very odd and eventful past three weeks, taking me from Wichita to Memphis to Los Angeles...Read this article
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Back in Asia
Just a heads-up for those of you surfing in this week. After two months of touring the United States to...Read this article
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Mergui sea gypsy story in Destinasian
My story about the Moken sea gypsies of southern Myanmar, which originally appeared in Conde Nast Traveler last summer (under...Read this article
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Vagabonding debuts on Book Sense bestseller list
The American Booksellers Association has released its Book Sense Bestseller List for the month of January, and it looks like...Read this article
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Vagabonding a Bay Area bestseller
Today’s Travel Quote of the Day is "Miracles" by Walt Whitman, and it would seem to be a small miracle...Read this article
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Vagabonding Q&A in World Hum
The current edition of World Hum features an interview with me about my new book. World Hum takes travel seriously,...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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Vagabonding in this week's Bohemian
An article about Vagabonding appeared today in the North Bay Bohemian, an alternative paper that serves Marin, Sonoma and Napa...Read this article
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More props for Vagablogging
This blog has received some more appreciated attention in recent days. World Hum calls Vagablogging "chock full of thoughtful travel...Read this article
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Vagabonding book winners
Five people have won copies of Vagabonding through a contest I've been running at Vagabonding.net. The winners are: Jessica Pancoast...Read this article
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Vagabonding Q&A in USA Today
Jayne Clark from USA Today spoke to me about Vagabonding during a wee-hours phone call to Bangkok earlier this week....Read this article
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Props for Vagablogging
Vagablogging got a nice mention this week in Jen Leo's travel writer's resource, Written Road. "I'm happy to say that...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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Vagabonding excerpt in Outpost Global Travel Guide
Outpost magazine is using an excerpt from Vagabonding as the lead story in their annual Global Travel Guide issue, which...Read this article
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Rolf's Laos story in January Conde Nast Traveler
I haven't seen it yet (and thus I don't even know the official title of the article), but my story...Read this article
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Props for RolfPotts.com
My personal website got a nice mention this weekend in a Best of the Web type roundup from the San...Read this article
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Gifts for the World Traveler
I have a couple of items on World Hum's annual "Gifts for the World Traveler" satire this week. One is:...Read this article
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