There are typically two schools of thought when it comes to taking long trips - either people save up enough money to just go and do the kind of trip they want and home when the money runs out, or people plan to work along the way to support an even longer trip than they...

The New York Times has a great photo slideshow called Why We Travel 2008 . It's a collection of stunning photos with fun-to-read anecdotes. A perfect antidote for those who are currently not on the road (but long to get back on it!). The stories range from the touching, like a woman who taught impoverished...

As a writer who's often trying to keep herself on track for stories, poetry, and whatever novel might be in the cooker, inspiring yourself to write while you're traveling is sometimes hard. But if you're always traveling, then you're never writing...and then you can't really call yourself a writer anymore, can you? It's easy enough...

Most countries are rife with official houses of worship, and you can find churches, mosques, synagogues, and even Wiccan communities in a lot of unlikely locations if you look. Remember not to assume that just because you are of a particular faith, that the faith is accepted or widespread in a particular country; if your...

I know we keep going on about how the economic downturn - while bad for lots of people - is great for travelers. And that's still true. If you can afford to travel right now, you'll find airfare and hotel deals pretty much everywhere, at prices you wouldn't have imagined possible (especially when we're heading...

National Trails Day is the first Saturday in June (this coming Saturday), and it's designed for celebrating the hundreds and thousands of walking and hiking trails available in our national parks, here in the United States. Some parks will have events (races and raffles) and others are just available for you to enjoy wherever and...

As constant travelers, you may find yourself stumped with how to answer not only the question "Where are you from?" (I was born on the East Coast of Canada, lived two hours from Niagara Falls until I was was 18, then lived in Pittsburgh, PA and now I live in Los Angeles...but I'm often COMING...

Although those of us at BootsnAll HQ continue to be flabbergasted at some of the jaw-droppingly low travel deals we see lately, and although we keep preaching to anyone who'll listen that these deals are so good that everyone who possibly can should take advantage of them, we know that not everyone can hit the...

I'm always curious about alternatives to mainstream travel, so when I heard about this option for accommodations I was intrigued. AirBnB is a website where locals offer a place in their home (be it an airbed, bed, or entire home) where you can sleep for the night and get a more local experience than at...

With so many businesses, and almost all airlines, offering some variant of frequent flyer miles -- points you can collect from going on flights or buying products, that you can reddem later (theoretically) for goods and services -- it seems like a no-brainer for an enterprising Vagabonder. Earn points on flights, and redeem them for...

Even though all the travel industry gurus keep telling us that prices on international airfare are going to keep going down and we'll be seeing more great deals right through summer, I continue to be amazed at some of the incredibly low fares being offered. And that's true for simple round-trip tickets and more complicated...

Legal justice abroad (or the lack thereof) has been in the headlines in recent weeks. Roxana Saberi , an American journalist, was convicted of spying in Iran and sentenced to eight years in Tehran's Evin Prison. Her family was initially told that she was arrested for buying a bottle of wine - forbidden in the...

I mentioned a little bit about this scholarship in an earlier post I made on this blog, but I felt it warranted a bit more interest all on its own. Rotary International is a community-based service group, whose members are often leaders of industry (read: lawyers, CEOs, bankers, etc, although there are certainly less white-collar...

Delaying the Real World is a charming and thoughtful book written specifically for twenty-somethings urging them to make the most of their lives. The world is out there, this book reminds us, and this supposed "real world" we've all heard about? Not so fun. Or useful. The book urges us to follow our dreams, whatever...

One of the most common questions asked by people who are planning a RTW trip is, "Is this budget adequate?" Long-time visitors to RTW forums have no doubt seen this question in various forms countless times - but for the person who's asking, it's absolutely critical to their planning process, which is why I'm always...

It's an ironic practice: criticizing other travelers. We're all foreigners to the place we're visiting, but we can't help but try to differentiate ourselves from the standard tourists. This MSNBC.com article discusses the 5 types of travelers that are killing tourism . As an American, I couldn't help but feel a bit stung at the...

The age of the netbook is upon us! What is a netbook? An-even-smaller-than-your-laptop computer that is available as cheap as $300. They have small keyboards, tiny screens, and are immensely portable. Why would you want a netbook instead of something else? Well, they're cheap, tiny, lightweight, work relatively well, can run both Windows and Mac...

As I'm writing this, it just so happens to be April Fool's Day. The interwebs are crawling with hoaxes, and finding anything resembling a real news story is challenging - especially when the real news seems fake half the time, anyway. Having said that, there are some really funny fake travel stories out there today,...

If you are like most people, you enjoy the occasional warm soothing beverage before bed (or during the day, or perhaps in the morning to pry your eyelids open). If you are like me, you prefer tea to coffee; there's something about the soothing nature of soaking delicious unfurling leaves in warm water and holding...

With the rush on "volunteer vacations" -- Celine's Vagablogging article on spring break students comes to mind -- there are numerous websites and agencies that, for a fee, will set up your volunteer experience for you. You pay them (usually between $1000 and the entire costs of everything) and they will find you a spot...