Everybody who loves Louis Armstrong knows his birthday was on July 4, right? It turns out that it took until the mid-1980s to learn that Satchmo’s special day wasn’t July 4, 1900, but August 4, 1901. And why do you care? Because if you’re anywhere near New Orleans the first weekend of August, you can...

Vagabonding for an extended time through Europe isn’t the same shoestring travel it was 20 years ago, but the continent still remains as alluring as ever to travelers. It can be rather expensive to travel abroad in Europe long enough to really immerse yourself in the culture and feel like you intimately know the place....

We’ve all wished for travel: to be able to take the time off, to afford that time off, and sometimes, that we spent more time in a particular location. But have you traveled to a destination to wish for something? Well-known wishing customs include throwing a coin into the Fountain of Trevi in Rome (which...

Celebrate summer with a harvest festival. That’s right. In Barbados, the exhausting sugar cane harvest ends in June, and Crop Over is an over-the-top summer carnival to mark the relief at the delivery of the last crop. Started in the 1780s, when Barbados was one of the world’s most important sugar producers, Crop Over celebrated...

We all have them, whether it’s the extra time we could have spent in a destination, or bringing far too much gear on our travels. Many times, travel regrets don’t stick with us for very long after we return home. When they do, they can be a lesson for future trips. One of my biggest...

While markets often get the prize for variety and amazing local color, grocery stores also allow great insight into a culture. Not the supermarkets we see back home, but small, neighborhood grocery shops. The necessities on store shelves can serve as a cultural study, souvenir source, or simply a place where you can restock your...

If you’re in South America and looking for a grand cultural festival in June, head to Cusco, Peru, for the Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice. Every year, on June 24, more than 200,000 people gather at the Incan fortress of Sacsayhuamán for Inti Raymi —the celebration to honor Wiracocha, the Sun God. The original festival was...

Communication technology is getting better all the time, but how about their human users? They may still lag behind the times, as globalization brings people closer, while they can't speak to each other in a common language. Matt Gross, writer of the NY Times Frugal Traveler Blog, set out to find a way to improve...

The practice of circumambulation, or walking around a venerated object, is incorporated in many contemporary beliefs and practices, but predates most of them. These ceremonial pilgrimages can go around an entire mountain, a small stupa, a shrine, or even a person. Some religions prefer to follow a clockwise path—others choose a counter-clockwise route. A well-known...

When we travel, we often scrutinize our interaction with residents of the areas we’re visiting. How do we get up close and connect in a way we might miss if we were just passing through? How can we get a local perspective on what life is like in a different place? The answer is often...

We all have different souvenir styles. Some focus on shot glasses, others on local crafts, and some folks shop for home electronics or clothing while on vacation. There are travelers who prefer unconventional mementos , like recorded music, rubbings, or even words. And plenty of people follow the advice: “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.”...

Delhi, India I've written previously about the pleasure of a local newspaper set next to a cup of coffee. In this post I want to zero in on one of the benefits of this arrangement. Here it is: In addition to a hopefully pleasant aroma rising from your cup, inside your paper are stories about...

No matter where you go, there's always danger in being oblivious. Quicksand, scams, and plain old disease wait for those who don't know any better. But travel also plunges us into a healthy oblivion -- the sort of state that reminds us just how little knowledge we carry with us. I could spend all day...

Spring is just around the corner, as are a handful of festivals in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. If you’re looking for a break, but want to avoid typical Spring Break destinations, here are the spots to hit in late March through early May: The BVI Spring Regatta lures sailors and landlubbers...

I can’t count the amount of times I heard, “Oh yuck—too crowded with drunk college kids” when I told people I was going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. The problem is, the folks who commented had never been there, and their perceptions of the annual event stemmed from TV news footage of just one...

Learning a new language can be an enriching experience. Unfortunately, not everyone has the time or patience to sit through foreign language classes. I remember having little success with my one semester of French in college. My professor was such a terror that I was afraid to sign up for a second semester. What really...

French – the language of love. Actually, when the sexiest phrase that comes can come out of someone’s mouth is “j'ai un chien appelé Pongo” - maybe not so much. The beauty of travelling the world is that you can intentionally and unintentionally further your language skills so much quicker than back in the Motherland....

. By Tim Ferriss How can you possibly maintain fluency in two foreign languages -- let alone five or six -- if the opportunities to use them are months or years apart? Few topics provoke more anxiety and depression in independent language learners than the prospect of irretrievably losing a hard-learned new language. After you...

By Tim Ferriss Remember Pig Latin? Perhaps you toyed with it in grade school or uttered the occasional "amscray," but it won't get you very far in pickup lines or job interviews. Outside of the Anglosphere, on the other hand, syllable inversion is much more than a childhood memory or annoying habit. In the U.S.,...

Note : Today I'm debuting a new feature here at Vagablogging -- "Learning Languages, with Tim Ferriss." Tim Ferriss is fluent in five languages, has studied more than 15, and has spent the last 12 years analyzing the world's best language learners. He has lived in more than 25 countries, designed curricula worldwide for Berlitz®,...