“Tyrants never like their subjects to travel: as long as there are no grounds of comparison, there is no basis from which to challenge the existing order. Anything that provides images of a different way of life poses a potential threat. The banning of travel goes hand in hand with the banning of books and the censorship of other sources of information. To invite the traveler to ‘examine the laws, manners and customs of different … Read more »

I tend to think of RTW travel as a year-round thing, not a seasonal thing, so I have to confess it kind of struck me as surprising when I realized that even RTW tickets have seasonal highs and lows. Sure, I’m used to the idea of a high season and a low season when I’m booking interntional airfare for even a short trip somewhere, but a RTW trip? It just hadn’t occurred to me. … Read more »

In the bar of a restaurant in Berlin I sipped on a glass of wine and contemplated a poetic and vaguely written menu. If I recall correctly, the description under the vegetarian option was something about “golden fields waving in the breeze as the clouds above turned shades of vibrant red, orange, pink and purple.” Or something equally baffling when it comes to thinking of the description in terms of the dinner you will soon … Read more »

One unexpected benefit of the global financial crisis is that the U.S. dollar is suddenly recovering ground, as travel writer Tim Leffel says in this article about the travel dollar.  I guess because the U.S. economy got hit first, it also should recover first.  Meanwhile, the crisis has only recently spread to Europe, particularly Iceland.

Oil prices have gone down drastically, which should feed into the fares for plane tickets. Unless airlines continue … Read more »

Many long term travelers permanently move out of their apartments when they leave. Others even sell their houses. What to do with one’s home before a long term trip is often one of the most difficult decisions first time vagabonds make.

The good news is that there are several options out there that don’t require us to give up our homes permanently. All we have to do is explore these options and we’ll have the … Read more »

Back when I was an aspiring musician I hated it when friends in bands would talk about how much touring sucked. All I wanted to do was tour, live on the road, play shows every night and generally live the good life.

I never did go on tour with a band, but I went on tour alone and now I can understand why my friends thought … Read more »

With oil prices dropping the odds are pretty good that airfare is going to do the same in the near future. Given that airfare is generally your biggest travel expense, that should be good news for vagabonds (couple low airfares with record low exchange rates between the Dollar and Euro and this may be one of the best times for Americans to head to Europe).

But of course airlines dropping fares doesn’t make finding a … Read more »

This is my last month of living in Spain. An adventure that was supposed to be for 6-months, lasted 2.5 years. And it’s been fantastic. It’s the beauty of letting life take you where it wants to. As long as it feels right, it’s all okay.

I used to have a very high-stressed corporate life, which I enjoyed abundantly. But at the age of 26, with 4-years of solid work experience under my belt, … Read more »

When I was in Morocco several years ago, the familiar blue-with-a-red-star cover of Lonely Planet Morocco’s guidebook was everywhere; the herds of people who crowded every hostel all had the same one, and we found ourselves tracing the same roads as lots of other people.  The most memorable times from that trip came from following the advice of a local or deciding to leave the guidebook at home and strike out on my own; break … Read more »

“To stop being a tourist, sometimes all you have to do is start standing still.” –Taras Grescoe, End of Elsewhere: Travels Among the Tourists (2003)