The fact that people around the world speak the same language differently is fascinating. The difference may be small but its consequence may be countries apart. A twang here or there in your accent has the power to define where you come from...or not. Having lived in 5 countries, my accent is messed up --...

I'm writing to you this month from Italy, where Spring is just beginning to wake up and stretch herself out a bit. Whether you, too, are coming out from your winter hibernation, or saying your finally goodbyes to summer, a change in season is the perfect time to start thinking about your next great travel...

Over at Brave New Traveler , road-weary Tim Patterson finds some inspiration in a list of his 50 favorite travel quotes . Quite a few of them I've heard before, but there are also some new gems: “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” -...

If you're planning to head to Switzerland or Austria this year for Euro 2008 but you're worried about the weak dollar and the hassle of finding affordable accomodation, you might want to check out Sleep-In - a Swiss venture which aims to pair local residents in both countries with fans looking for a cheap (sometimes...

It’s a fine line that the air traveler treads. Which is better—to stow your valuables in your carry-on for safe-keeping, or in your suitcase so they aren't confiscated while going through security? Two recent articles made me consider both sides. MSNBC confirms the incredible number of items confiscated from air passengers—13 million items in 2006....

Ever cram into a packed flight or lose your luggage and wonder whether the next flight out—the one that you didn't take—would've served the same fate? I'm no psychic, but the new website InsideTrip.com gives travelers the type of knowledge upfront that might help avoid some of those hassles. Newly launched today, InsideTrip was founded...

Back in November, I recommended Brook Silva-Braga's travel documentary, A Map for Saturday , as the perfect holiday gift for the independent traveler. I wrote: Brook was an Emmy-winning producer with HBO's Inside the NFL, when he quit his job to take a trip around the world. Carrying nothing on his back but five pounds...

In December I came across a blog called Reid On Travel , documenting Lonely Planet author Robert Reid’s guidebook-writing travels. I started following it because I was interested in learning more about the on-the-ground realities of researching and writing travel guides, but there’s a lot more to Reid’s blog than just insider info on the...

The experience of living in the middle of a national power crisis in South Africa has prompted me to think about what one needs in a travel survival kit for the modern vagabond - or at least the modern vagabond who travels with a laptop and works on the road. Currently my husband and I...

Yet more proof that our tastes are all a bit different (or fundamentally the same?)—there's now a social networking map . Gadling introduces us to the map that was first published by the French newspaper Le Monde. There we see the number of hours per month (in the millions) that users spend on the most...

A recent entry on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree struck me. The post ("The return home after 13 months of travel...") begged the age-old question "but what do I do at the end of it all, when I return home?" It may hit some of us harder than others—and when asked prematurely it may keep someone...

Over at Vagabondish , Amanda Kendle has an interesting article about the advantages of walking around one's travel destination, rather than taking a bus or taxi or metro. Not only does walking facilitate more personal experiences of a city, she writes, it's also great exercise and will yield better photographs of your trip. She also...

It's one of the things most travelers strive for - that feeling of being "local". And yet most of us realise that we're unlikely to ever be true 'locals' and are always destined to be somewhat of a tourist or visitor in many of the places we visit. But is this always a bad thing?...

Amtrak just announced that it's upping its security, starting with the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston. With words like "deploy" and "Mobile Security Team" in the official ">news release , Amtrak lists its new plans, from the "See Something, Say Something" program to security awareness training for the Amtrak workforce. Most noticable to the...

It took a recent trip with a friend for me to realize how accustomed I am to solo travel. Don't get me wrong—traveling with her was a refreshing change with its own perks: a nicer hotel, guaranteed conversation over dinner. But it also struck me that I had less time to journal, I felt as...

When I would read about natural disasters I would always think, that's terrible but it's never going to happen to me -- the same thought when you hear about a plane crash -- for some unfathomable reason, you always feel that it's never going to happen to you so you don't think about preparing for...

Most travelers are familiar with the Lonely Planet brand, with its library of guidebooks covering destinations around the globe, and most of us have at least an LP book or two on our bookshelves. While people don't often know the names and faces of the masterminds behind big international companies, Lonely Planet's founders, Tony and...

I encourage people to travel solo for the freedom it allows and the openness to others it promotes. But there's one thing I don't like about traveling alone: when I return home, almost all my photographs are of scenery and other people. In other words, the pictures of my trip are missing just one thing--...

Everybody knows about sites like Facebook and MySpace, where you can build a profile and keep in touch with your friends online, or make new friends in the vastness of cyber-space. But you may not know that there are also several smaller, similar sites, dedicated especially to travel and travelers. Sure, sure, you might say....

Leaving everything you know and setting sail for the unknown can be a daunting experience - usually counter-balanced by the thrill, anticipation and excitement you feel about your big adventure. Some people never get that far though - overwhelmed by the "what if?" questions that they pose to themselves or that others throw in their...