Skepticism and salvation in Cyprus

5951903754_02826af8e9

Photo Credit: TeryKats via Compfight cc

Perhaps I never would have met the Iranian had it not been for the influenza epidemic raging across Europe at the time. Because of the flu, Larnaca — a holiday beach town on the southern coast of Cyprus — was nearly empty of tourists. I was walking along … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Skepticism and salvation in Cyprus  | July 19, 2014
Category: Rolf Potts, Travel Writing

The death of the mile high club

Take off...

I want to take this opportunity to declare that the Mile-High Club is, for all practical purposes, defunct. Much like the practice of phrenology or the fad for goldfish swallowing, the notion of having sex on commercial airplanes is no longer worthy of serious consideration.

Before I get inundated with angry e-mails accusing me of being a prude, let me be clear … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | July 5, 2014
Category: Air Travel, Rolf Potts, Sex and Travel

The tourist is always the other guy

Random Travelers' Society 

Image credit

A few years ago, when the tide of war was shifting in Afghanistan, Northern Alliance troops began using a contemptuous moniker for the Pakistani, Uzbek, and Chechen militants who were fighting alongside the Taliban. “The [Afghan] people,” Alliance commander Ustad Mohammed Atta told TIME magazine, “want to kill these tourists.”

Not “terrorists”, … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on The tourist is always the other guy  | May 24, 2014
Category: Rolf Potts

We don’t (really) know Jack

Jack Kerouac Manuscript Photo in San Francisco Magazine

Image credit

Of all the throwaway lines I’ve fed into my travel-writing biography over the years, one creates the most fascination with readers. I am, according to a major American newspaper, “Jack Kerouac for the Internet Age.” This little quip, which appeared … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on We don’t (really) know Jack  | May 10, 2014
Category: Rolf Potts, Travel Writing

5 Travel lessons you can use at home

Backpackers

Image credit

Travel has a way of slowing you down, of waking you up, of pulling you up out of your daily routines and seeing life in a new way. This new way of looking at the world need not end when you resume your life at home.

Here are 5 key ways in which the … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on 5 Travel lessons you can use at home  | May 3, 2014
Category: Lifestyle Design, Rolf Potts

Rolf Potts on budget travel

Backpack on boat 2

Whenever anyone asks me why I still travel on a shoestring at the ripe old age of 38, I usually tell them about the time I learned how to play the bagpipes in Havana.

Granted, I could probably relate a more typical story about the joys of budget travel – some tidy parable of money saved and experiences gained – but when … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (2)  | April 5, 2014
Category: Backpacking, Rolf Potts, Vagabonding Advice

Must I get “Off The Beaten Path” when I travel?

Ankor Thom

I’m a big advocate of getting off the beaten path, but I would agree that there’s nothing wrong with the attractions of the “tourist trail.” These standard attractions—from Machu Picchu and Angkor Wat right on down to small-town museums and curiosities—are part of what inspires people to travel in the first place.

So why do salty … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Must I get “Off The Beaten Path” when I travel?  | March 22, 2014
Category: Rolf Potts