Living on-the-cheap may soon feel a little less so—at least in the UK, where the Youth Hostel Association has grand plans for the next year: to invest in the renovation of its hostels. £13.5 million to be exact. That's real change in the air: 12 hostels have already been upgraded 37 hostels will receive £13.5...

Ready to see your travel story or photo in print? There's a new travel magazine that exists solely to help that happen. The cover of Everywhere magazine's premiere Jan/Feb issue says it all: "The new magazine made by you. Created by the world's smartest travel experts—our readers." The submission process seems pretty easy: after you've...

Several years ago, I studied abroad in Morocco and brought with me a laptop and a Dell Jukebox mp3 player, which is basically an imitation iPod. One weekend, after returning home from a trip to Tangier with some friends, I entered my room to find that some jerk had stolen those two expensive electronic devices....

With the second edition of Vagabonding being created as we speak, it got me thinking about the changes in the world of travel that have occurred since Rolf wrote the first edition. In those days the art of long term travel was indeed "uncommon" - but today it seems that everyone is at it. No...

These cold, rainy days are perfect for one of two things: not leaving bed all day; or escaping to an independent bookstore, with all the time in the world to comb the shelves for travel inspiration. Fortunately, I recently found myself doing the latter. I found Sabrina Ward Harrison's " The True and the Questions:...

Technology—if it doesn't make travel easier, at least it's more fun. First, I learned that cell phones are being used for keyless room entry at a few French hotels . Then, I read that eye scans will be used on a wider scale at Heathrow's Terminal 1. As of last Friday, the airport is using...

I didn't realize until yesterday that this is a Leap Year. That means we get one extra day added to the ordinarily too-short month of February. That's one more day you get to spend any way you like it - which is pretty cool, considering many of us wish for extra days in the week...

I don’t mean in terms of packing, or reading and re-reading a guidebook, or even booking your flights. I mean preparing for the place itself – the landscapes, the music, the food, the history… I usually try to read up on a bit of history and maybe catch a movie or read a good novel...

As I write this, I'm listening to some of the cheesiest pop you could imagine! Although I'm currently on the road with my husband, I've done the solo travel thing and found companionship and comfort in my headphones at times when I've felt unsociable, insecure or unsure of my surroundings. In the same way that...

A hairdryer with the wrong type of plug. Books you've already read. Clothes that are off-season. Once priceless, now practically worthless. What to do? Even when you simplify your belongings at the start, that moment months later in front of your backpack is inevitable. All of the things you accumulated don't seem to fit inside,...

Travel trouble-shooter Chris Elliot has just released the first of what will be a series of video-casts. It is only a minute long and gives you tips on how to avoid the one problem that we often face when we travel: losing luggage . Now, I have to admit that I have been very lucky...

The term "ecotourism" is turning 25-years-old this year. It's growing up, isn't it? I've never been good at determining ages, but somehow I would've thought that it was younger than that. But at the same time I'm glad that the environmental and cultural sensitivity of this travel niche has been around for a while (though...

It's difficult, not to mention unwise, to make sweeping generalizations about entire cultures and societies. But in the case of modern Japan, it's hard not to. I've always found there to be something a bit eccentric -- though endearingly so-- about modern Japanese culture. And when I stumble across things like Chind?gu, it only reinforces...

I've lived in or around 5 very different cities this past year - Panama, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Dubai and now Cape Town. Not being a "city" person anymore, I have to admit that this post likely comes with a certain bias against cities.... However one question I've been wrestling with recently, having arrived in Cape...

JetBlue is banking on the idea that we've overspent over the holidays. In addition to its current winter sales, it's offering a $20 credit to those who book their flights with its Bill Me Later service through January 31st. The way that Bill Me Later works, you only have to submit a few pieces of...

I'd like to think that I'm always cool, calm, and collected on the road. Sure, my selective memory might only remember Ko Tao, where the zipper on my luggage busted. Clear thinking meant temporarily throwing my belongings into a garbage bag, so I could catch the longtail boat before the next storm. But my friends...

There is probably no better education than traveling. It opens your mind, makes you stronger, stirs your curiosity, builds confidence and gives you knowledge about the world you live in. Unfortunately, the one thing it doesn't give you easily is a job you like, that will sustain you unquestionably. Consider yourself lucky if you can...

Most of us know what it's like to tell family and friends about an upcoming trip and have someone among them say, "What do you want to do that for?" Thankfully, it's usually something you can shrug off as fear of the unknown. Sure, travel is at the core of your being, and you can't...

Looking back at that old dog-eared journal that I kept during my first trip, I can tell that it's not as good a memento of my travels as it should be. Of course, it probably looked like most people's travel journals-- the date at the top of each entry, followed by a chronological record of...

National Geographic Traveler has just unveiled a new web-exclusive book review column: Don George’s Trip Lit . Don George is a giant on the travel writing scene: he’s edited literary travel anthologies, worked as Lonely Planet’s Global Travel Editor, and was the founding editor of Salon’s much-missed Wanderlust section (to which our own Rolf Potts...