The echoes of war remain

My travels in northern France have always provided vivid reminders of the battle for Normandy, which raged from D-Day through the summer of 1944. Though partially healed by the decades, scars still remain in the rolling countryside, picturesque villages, and gentle beaches.

Sixty-nine years ago today, the Allies waded ashore on the beaches of Normandy, France, and began the liberation of Europe from Hitler. A US veteran of the Normandy campaign said recently, “Out of … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (2)  | June 6, 2013
Category: Adventure Travel, Europe, Notes from the collective travel mind, Travel Writing

Vagabonding Field Report: disappointment on the path to Machu Picchu

 

Cost: $130/day!

 

What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately?

 

Diminutive, lean, weather-worn, mountain men carry immense packs stuffed with tents, cooking implements, sleeping bags and the like for tourists making the three and a half day trek along the official Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. These are the Chaski’s.  They charge up and down the mountains in ragged leather sandals, past lines of tourists with expensive hiking boots … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | December 6, 2012
Category: Adventure Travel, General, South America, Vagabonding Field Reports

Edgy travel with Tony Wheeler

Lonely Planet guidebooks have inevitably become the kind of extra weight I rarely want to put in my backpack anymore. Why? Because they lead a traveler to the same ol’ tired paths everybody else is going to: a kind of one way ticket for jaded travel entertainment made up of bars, guesthouses and a bunch … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | November 22, 2012
Category: Adventure Travel, Notes from the collective travel mind, Vagabonding Advice, Vagabonding Life

Vagablogging Field Reports: chasing altitude in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru

Cost: $20 a day

What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen recently?

In and around Huaraz it’s common to see elderly Quechua woman ambling along paths, bent backed, hauling heavy loads in carrying cloths called K’eperina. Garbed in colourful attire, bowler hats perched upon their heads, they doggedly trek along steep, high altitude slopes that would have fit twenty-somethings huffing and puffing. One of these woman I remember particularly well, because she looked positively ancient. She hopped … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (2)  | November 3, 2012
Category: Adventure Travel, South America, Vagabonding Field Reports

Vagabonding Field Report: León and her volcanoes, Nicaragua

Cost: $20 a day What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen recently?

Volcano boarding down the slopes of  Cerro Negro, outside of León, Nicaragua has become a popular activity with travelers, especially since making number two on CNN Go’s Thrill Seeker’s Bucket List.  Ignorant as to what was involved in this new sport I had visions of cutting sharp turns in powdery volcanic ash, much as as snowboarder would in fresh powder. In actuality … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Vagabonding Field Report: León and her volcanoes, Nicaragua  | October 6, 2012
Category: Adventure Travel, Central America, Vagabonding Field Reports

The Royal Geographical Society: Still a treasure in its third century

Located in a classy but nondescript building in the Kensington neighborhood of London, the Royal Geographical Society is not your normal tourist attraction—but it should hold a special place in every traveler’s heart. Founded in 1830 as a dinner club hosting lectures from hearty travelers, the Society (or RGS as it’s often called) became a world-class institution for the advancement of knowledge about the planet.

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Posted by | Comments (4)  | October 5, 2012
Category: Adventure Travel, Europe, Notes from the collective travel mind

Travelling the danger zones

There are some places in the world where we, as travelers, or as humans, are discouraged from going. First of all there is Afghanistan, the mother of all evil. Then comes Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Iran, and a few more monsters on the list. I did not expect that Turkey was on it, too. But as I crossed the border from Iran and got off a car in the small town of Yuksekova, … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (3)  | September 27, 2012
Category: Adventure Travel, On The Road

Long-distance footpaths

Recently I’ve been reading, “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. When the author was in her mid-twenties she solo hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Her book unfolds as she treks north, nursing her blistered feet and cumbersome heavy pack along a majority of the 2,663mi (4,286km) trail. It initially begins at the Mexican border, passes through California, Oregon, and Washington in the USA and over the border into Canada. Several years ago I’d … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Long-distance footpaths  | September 6, 2012
Category: Adventure Travel, Africa, Asia, Central America, Destinations, Europe, Female Travelers, Images from the road, North America, Oceania, On The Road, Simplicity, Solo Travel, South America

Vagblogging Field Report: scuba diving in the Bay Islands and Cayos Cochinos, Honduras

Cost: $50-60 a day

What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen recently?

Immediately after learning to scuba dive in Utila, I hopped on over to nearby Cayos Cochinos (Hog Islands). Some of the small islands and cayes that make up Cayos Cochinos resemble one of those ‘paradise island’ posters that bored office workers paste on their cubicle walls to remind them of the next holiday they’re working towards. You know the ones. Chalk white sand at … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Vagblogging Field Report: scuba diving in the Bay Islands and Cayos Cochinos, Honduras  | September 1, 2012
Category: Adventure Travel, Central America, Vagabonding Field Reports