Wherever I go in the world I usually find myself on a leisurely walk that leads to an old (or not so old) cemetery. Although they vary greatly, they are often shaded and quiet with no other visitors around. Taking a break in a cemetery can offer a much needed chance for some peace and...

I came across an alarming article via TreeHugger today . Two raw foodists were charged with smuggling when they were bringing 2.5 pounds of raw chocolate through the US-Canadian border. Canadian authorities mistook the chocolate for hashish. But their trouble with customs didn't stop there. On another trip within the US, they were arrested at...

Crazy politics aside, it's just as crazy to not vote in the upcoming US elections—even if you're living abroad or traveling on November 4th. (I'm a huge believer in accounting for every vote. Have you seen how close some of these elections have been?) Eva posted a great blog about the topic a few weeks...

Someone I follow on the Twitter web service is traveling in Greece right now and posted an interesting "tweet" earlier today: "looking for a laundromat... the mundane stuff is what makes travel feel real." Not only is this exactly the sort of thing that makes Twitter so interesting -- mundanity recast -- it's also something...

Living here in Madrid, I often feel left out when it comes to cool traveler/travel-writing events. If you want to be upclose-and-personal with those heavily in action in the travel industry, New York seems like the place to be. So those of you living in NYC, interested in travel as well as travel-writing, here's an...

Those of us born in the last forty years tend to take cheap air travel for granted, but rising oil costs, environmental concerns and the current economic crisis could mean the end to cheap plane flights. The New Republic recently published a rather depressing piece about the future of air travel under the gloomy title,...

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I've been posting reports from my book tour events through a Gadling special feature entitled Rolf Potts: The Marco Polo Book Tour Diary . This book tour diary, which also contains all manner of tangential material (in a post last week I interviewed myself, Blender-style ,...

MSNBC.com had a funny article called 3 biggest mistakes business travelers make. It made me want to write a vagabonder version. Here's some mistakes I always make when traveling: --Not having an electric adapter. I never realize it until I have to recharge the batteries on my digital camera. When I see the socket that's...

Katie Couric recently interviewed Sarah Palin ( click here for the video ) and brought up the fact that many people were questioning why Palin didn't get a passport until last year. According to Couric, viewers were wondering if this meant that she had a lack of interest in the world. Palin's reply made a...

So, who hasn't wasted an afternoon rooting around on Snopes.com ? If you haven't, now might be the day to try. Snopes is a website devoted to debunking urban legends, myths, and hoaxes in the realm of travel as well as everyday life. So maybe the cactus didn't explode and spray baby tarantulas everywhere, but...

Think that the world’s great explorations are all in the past? Think again. Somehow I missed the article that ran earlier this summer in enRoute (Air Canada's in-flight mag). They’ve collected insights from a handful of present-day Canadian explorers—including Colin & Julie Angus, who recently completed a self-propelled boat and bike expedition from Scotland to...

Do you write about your travels? If you're like most of us, you probably have notebooks full of stories, anecdotes and other traveling tales. Well, if you'd like to do something with those stories, the DeepTravelers website is holding a Travel Writing Extravaganza with a chance to win a $500 cash prize for your story....

For most of us trip planning involves things like guidebooks, maps and maybe a tour of Flickr to check out some photos of the area. All of those a great tools, but don't forget some other things -- like music. No I don't mean a new iPod, I mean local music -- bands, musicians, clubs...

As a vagabonder, and a woman, I sometimes reflect on how it is I ended up feeling like a Vagabonder in the first place. Especially since it has caused a lot of difficulties in my personal relationships...being the one who's always on the go means being the one who's always leaving people behind. As vagabonders,...

Missing home is an integral part of being away from home. You're in a strange place, you may be away from a partner, you don't have the same 'in' jokes that your buddies back home have, no one can pronounce your name (let alone your home town) correctly, and nobody makes a roast chicken dinner...

There are so many times when I associate food with a travel destination. Crepes and Paris, gelatto and Rome, China and kung pao chicken, the list is endless. One of the saddest parts about going home is missing out on all the great eats you had while traveling. That's why the good folks at National...

Looking for the perfect travel sandal? Something comfortable, durable and able to keep up with you wherever you go? Check out Chacos , based in Paonia, Colorado. I've had a pair for over three years now and they're still going strong. They are almost the only thing I wear on my feet anymore and I...

Whenever we make general observations about people from a specific state or country, we're a step away from stereotyping or, at worst, racism. But anyone who travels extensively tends to make their own generalizations about an area's personality, regardless of how inaccurate our own observations might be. The Wall Street Journal recently featured a study...

There are long trips, years spent on the road -- and many of us have been fortunate enough to take them -- but then there are epic journeys that go somewhat beyond what most of us will ever do. Consider the journey of husband and wife team Alex and Sonia Poussin: for three years the...

I'm surprised they haven't yet done a movie based on this book , one of the greatest American novels of all time. Although it seems like talks for the movie have been on for years, only now do they finally have a screenplay by writer Russel Banks, and pre-production has begun. It is to be...