Finding your voice as a travel writer

voice thumb“There is nothing more meaningful than being true to yourself and finding your own voice. Follow your heart and don’t let anyone discourage you.” – Jane Fulton Alt

Did you ever think about your own voice? What do you sound like when you speak? Have you ever listened to yourself? What would you sound like if … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Finding your voice as a travel writer  | June 29, 2016
Category: Travel Writing

The worst tourists in the world

14849732_740027f47a_zI read with interest a recent study by the Trans-Global Association for Travel and Tourism Commerce, which rated the behavior of tourists from all the world’s industrialized countries. Consistently ranking last in the study — bottoming out in categories ranging from airline etiquette to podiatric hygiene — were travelers from Great Britain. “This settles it,” a TATTC … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (2)  | January 20, 2016
Category: Hospitality, Hostels/Hotels, Travel Writing, Vagabonding Advice

Are Travel Bloggers Journalists?

About a year ago, I received an email from a woman whose name I didn’t know and cannot now recall. The crux of her dogmatic email was to “inform” me of the true definition of a journalist, and why a travel blogger/writer should not be so presumptuous as to use that title. I replied that I had never used that title, that I considered myself a travel writer. She replied, “Oh, I thought you were … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Are Travel Bloggers Journalists?  | December 9, 2015
Category: Travel Writing

How Not To Travel the World

Lauren had never eaten rice.

Yet she had just purchased a one-way flight ticket to Eastern Europe.

Maybe you’ve dreamed about traveling the world. Ideas of where you’d go, what you’d see, how you’d pack, and those pristine white beaches fill your quiet moments.

But the thought of leaving your comfortable life and its solid routines scares you. It’s an huge world and despite those jaw-dropping beach photos, you’d be tackling this vast unknown-ness by … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | October 21, 2015
Category: Female Travelers, Travel Writing

Remembering the Hippie Trail

TomoryFor independent travelers just now beginning to travel in Asia, the legendary overland “Hippie Trail” of the ’60s and ’70s is a natural source of fascination and envy. Unlike today’s Lonely Planet-toting backpackers, the counterculture wanderers of the hippie era pioneered their Asian routes by word-of-mouth and trial-and-error. Hence, in indie travel terms, Hippie Trail travelers are … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (95)  | August 7, 2015
Category: Travel Writing

Vagabonding: How adventurers and stories inspire the modern traveler

Vagabonding-wholeToday, there’s a Facebook group for just about everything. Full-time families, digital nomads, long-term travelers, family travelers, solo travelers and everyone in between have a footprint in the digital world. Just how drastically the Internet has changed a traveler’s adventure we will never know, but, whether you are a traveler of the WIFI generation or one from those … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | June 3, 2015
Category: Travel Writing, Vagabonding Life

You have now entered the Tourist Zone

sadhuA few years ago, after finishing a journey in the Indian Himalayas, I traveled to the desert state of Rajasthan and visited the Hindu holy-town of Pushkar. A scenic outpost of 13,000 residents, Pushkar was famous for its Brahma Temple, its serene lake, and its annual Camel Fair. Several travelers had recommended it to me as a mellow … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (2)  | April 18, 2015
Category: Asia, Travel Writing, Vagabonding Advice

The Savannah of travel writing

During random social occasions it’s always with a pinch of pride and much more self-pity that I gulp down when I am introduced to new acquaintances as a “writer”. In fact, once my friends drop the “W word”, the person who until a moment ago was thinking “who’s this long-haired nerd standing in the way to the bar” always steps back with eyes and mouth open wide. It’s a moment of mutual awe, as if … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on The Savannah of travel writing  | February 22, 2015
Category: Travel Writing

Traditional Christmas in Europe

Of the many things Europe does well, it’s the continent’s magnificent Christmas festivities that can charm this cynical traveler every time. From Scotland to Switzerland an extraordinary spirit of festivity, connecting this generations to others long since passed, can be felt in the wintertime air. The traditions of the season are still strong in this thoroughly modern part of the world, where bustling Christmas markets fill the main square of big cities and bucolic, half-timbered … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Traditional Christmas in Europe  | December 14, 2014
Category: Europe, Notes from the collective travel mind, Travel Writing, Vagabonding Field Reports