Long- term travelers of all kinds will tell you that one of the most important preliminary steps to taking off is The Purge. That period of time that you devote to deciding which material possessions will still be necessary and dear to your heart after traipsing all over the globe in pursuit of clarity, freedom,...

The travel community is truly one of the most giving I know of. Most people who travel do so because they recognize how much our world has to offer. We want to connect . We want to help. We may not always have lots of money, but we do have very big hearts. When tragedy...

There is something magical about riding an elephant. Their huge, lumbering bodies swaying slowly along while you sit atop, taking in the view. It’s an experience that is never forgotten. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told. Despite my intense desire to know what it feels like to ride atop one of the world’s...

What happens when the education you receive on the road starts to make you question the lessons you learned before you left? History is one of those subjects that never fails to look a whole lot different once I’m in a different country. Despite the tragedies that occurred in the region during my lifetime, I...

Travel, for me, has always been an amazing journey into the discovery of what connects us all as human beings. Travel is also hard, exhausting, and seriously trying on the nerves at times. The dichotomy that exists within the experience of traveling is part of what makes it so worthwhile. It's this dichotomy that forces...

Most travelers consider volunteering at some point. We see a need and we know that we have the time, energy, or money to be able to lend a hand and be a part of creating change. Helping people feels good. Working on environmental issues and seeing results is exciting. We don't just want to talk...

About a decade ago, on a whim, I took a trip to Costa Rica and opened the door to a world I didn't know existed. I still remember crowding around the computer with my friends and studying ticket prices. I remember feeling a little silly that I had never been out of the country except...

I am often asked why I travel. What is the benefit? Is all the work, preparation, and planning worth it? So, I set out to identify what it is I really feel I have gained through travel. While this list may not be the same for everyone (and I expect it wouldn't be), I bet...

How many among us have made the trek back to a favorite destination of years past and realized that, well, it just isn't the same anymore? The bus drops us off in the sleepy surf town we remember fondly from our first backpacking adventure and we wonder where that Roxy store came from. We hop...

Should you ever travel to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, there's a good chance you'll meet Francisco in the city's humid, touristy colonial zone. Barefoot, emaciated, and filthy from sleeping in the street, Francisco looks far older than his 19 years, and his wavering gaze carries a look of hardened desperation. I...

As we travel around the world , one of our most important goals is to connect with people and find out what common threads exist that bind humanity together. It is so very easy to categorize people and to explain away the worlds ills with generalizations and dinner table chats on politics. But who are...

Most of us travel so that we can see the world, get out of our “box” and explore another culture, or corner of the world. If we wanted everything to stay the same, we would just stay home! It boggles my mind when I see travelers who spend their entire time abroad trying to recreate...

Having recently been in Memphis over Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday weekend, I realized once again that few things make you feel connected to history like being near a historic landmark on a significant anniversary. In this case, it’s the thought-provoking National Civil Rights Museum on the birthday of the great icon of the movement....

Friends seem disappointed when I admit to skipping out on Thailand's famed Tiger parks, or interactive zoos where tourists can safely cuddle up to entire tiger families. The photos are pretty cute, and there were plenty of times when I was certainly tempted. Now back in the US, I've become determined to uncover the truth...

Cairo, Egypt “Spirit,” wrote the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber , “is not in the I but between I and you.” He wrote this in a 1923 essay translated into English as I and Thou . Here’s another line from the essay: “Egos appear by setting themselves apart from other egos. Persons appear by entering into...

Cairo, Egypt Part of the totality of a place is its politics, and in long-term travel you'll likely pass through a variety of political landscapes that affect the lives of the people who call a place home. The Egyptian man above, for example, challenged the legitimacy of his President's 30-year-old rule and on February 2...

Kanchanaburi, Thailand The photo above, which shows a gravestone belonging to one of the nearly 7,000 Allied POWs buried at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand, illustrates the difficulty we have in making sense of tragedy. Last week two talented photojournalists, Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington , were killed in the Libyan city of Misrata....

Cairo, Egypt “Right now Egypt is like having a fast pass at Disney. People should come over.” These are the words of Rick Zeolla, the general manager of the Cairo Marriott, quoted last week in a New York Times article titled " Tahrir Square, Egypt's New Tourist Draw ." In that same article, the general...

Jordan Valley, Israel/Palestine It’s not everyday that you stand on the side of a highway, a car pulls over, you get in, and moments later the driver says you’re an answer to prayer. Up until this car stopped, the day had been full of disappointments. I had left Jerusalem that morning and gone to Jericho...

Do you know an organization or a project that uses innovative solutions to protect the environment and strengthen the heritage of local residents in coastal, waterway or island destinations? Ashoka’s Changemakers , National Geographic and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) are looking for them. The 2010 Geotourism Challenge awards $5,000 to the top three entries,...