I’ve written about international running events before, but there’s a race coming up that’s worth mentioning: The Human Race , which is being billed as “the world’s largest running event.” I like the scope of it—in 25 countries—and even though the races won't be simultaneous, they'll all take place on August 31. There’s something to...

Last week I sang the praises of the bicycle, calling it a part of the solution to all sorts of energy, environmental, and health problems. This week I'll speak up in defense of the bicycle's hard-livin', lady-killin' cousin, the scooter. When Korean traveler Wan Lee visited me in Missouri during his scooter trip around the...

Get those travel shots ready! The deadlines for two travel photography contests are coming up in the next few weeks. City Magazine is holding a contest for the cover photo of the Fall '08 Travel Issue. The deadline is July 31 (at 11:59pm EST). Submissions should "capture a unique moment in the life of a...

Remember that delicious street food you had in Hong Kong that gave you a dodgy stomach for a few days? Or the time you had to stay behind shivering with fever in your hostel while your travel buddies went off on a 3 day camping trip to Kakadu? Sometimes the excitement and rigor of long...

Add another hostel booking site to the list. Except this one isn’t from a start-up, it’s from Lonely Planet, Expedia and Hostelworld. Not a bad combo, eh? It’s definitely promising, but it only launched a few days ago on the Lonely Planet website, so we’ll have to see how it develops. Travelers can browse by...

While browsing the website of the bicycle-maker Trek , I noticed the company's tag line touting not just their brand but bicycles in general. It read: "The Bike. A Simple Solution to Many Complex Problems." Whether it's rising gas prices or carbon emissions or obesity, bicycles are a step in the right direction. Little known...

I've been a big fan of trains for a long time now. (I'd say I'd always been a big fan, but that's not entirely true - in the early '90s there was a VIA Rail incident involving a breakdown, several hours spent in -30 degree cold, and me thinking my young life was going to...

It's winter where I am at the moment (in Cape Town) and everyone's response when they hear this is, "If you've been following the sun for the past 18 months why on earth did you go somewhere that's in winter?". I've discovered however that the benefits of being here out of season (almost) outweigh the...

A few weeks ago I looked at suggestions for saving on European travel. But what if the places you visited weren’t just cheaper, but free? A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle reminds us how many great landmarks don't charge admission—and we’re not just talking about visiting the Obscure Museum of Mothballs. Hawaii’s USS...

I can't travel extensively with family members -- we often have different traveling ideals, budgets and temperaments. I love my best friend to death, but I cannot imagine doing a long trip with her -- we like different things, she prefers hotels to hostels, she is vegetarian, she talks too much. I love my brother,...

And just like that, new landmarks are born. Actually, they’ve all been around for years and years, but it was just yesterday that 27 new sites were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The announcement of the new sites (19 cultural and 8 natural) came during the World Heritage Committee’s current session in Quebec...

Today, July Fourth, is the day that we Americans are required by law (only kidding) to reflect on all the freedoms and liberties we enjoy. I'm certainly glad to live in the United States, but one of my most cherished freedoms is the ability to get the hell out if I want. Not everyone in...

Up here in Ottawa, July 1 was Canada Day. And of course, across the border, tomorrow is the Fourth of July. So I guess I've had national holidays on the brain this week. One thing I love about travel is coming across new holidays and celebrations in the places I visit - a few years...

The second question people ask me, when they find out that my husband and I have no home and pretty much travel round the world permanently is: "So when do you plan to stop and settle down?" (the first, if you're interested, is "How do you do that?"). Our standard response these days is "When...

We’re all in this together—isn’t that one of the things that travel reminds us? And at the same time, we each bring something different to the table. I’ve just run across Global Oneness , an organization that takes a look at this idea, this paradox. And they’ve made it an interesting idea to consider with...

Over at the San Francisco Chronicle, John Flinn assembles a laundry list of reasons why you might think about canceling your travel plans. In this tongue-in-cheek article, "Always a good reason not to travel" Flinn exposes the rationalizations for staying home that almost all travelers make at one time or another. For example: You could...

If you spend any time online you've probably already heard of Twitter, right? If not, it is what's known as a 'micro blogging' service, letting you update your followers with all manner of tweets (there's a whole new Twitter-based vocabularly you'll get used to). The real power of Twitter however is the conversation - or...

How many times has a movie destination started you dreaming about a new place to visit? (Dozens, or maybe hundreds of times?) Some film locations just seem to have that effect. They might be blatantly featured, or they could lie in the background the whole time, discreetly showing more of themselves with every frame. But...

For those of you who have already had the experience of telling your friends and family that you're leaving on a long-term or RTW trip, there's a great new thread on the BootsnAll travel boards . While many of the people closest to you probably know that your personality includes a love of vagabonding travel...

Recently, Aaron asked for readers to name their most treasured mementos. I’d have to agree with him that the journal has to be one of the best. I’ve been a long-time fan of journaling, and I know that my style has changed over the years. At first, it was sequential and detailed, down to the...