Traveling alone can be a rush. You don't have that cocoon of familiarity if you travel with friends, which can insulate you from the experience. You're free to come and go as you please. Want to spend the whole day sightseeing? Want to spend the whole day at a coffee shop reading a book? You...

In case you need any more motivation to figure out how to work remotely, here's one more: 50 photos to inspire life as a digital nomad . Of course, having the dream is the easy part. Wishing for something isn't the same as working to get it. If only we had a road map, so...

Lonely Planet has been releasing a free roadtrip itinerary each week, from its new title USA’s Best Trips: 99 Themed Itineraries Across America , due out in September. The itineraries are available in .PDF form until the end of August (Labor Day to Americans). If you're in the States and want to test their road...

As any health conscious person may know, it’s actually pretty hard to get all of the essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs from food alone. Even for the most health conscious person, it is still a difficult task. So how do you maintain a proper intake of vitamins while traveling? While I’ve moved...

Several months ago, Vagablogging reminded readers that STA travel was again accepting applications for their Summer Intern Positions and encouraged everyone to get out there and apply. Well, now the lucky winners have been chosen and have been on the road and reporting since the end of May. This year’s itinerary is just as enticing...

When columnists try to explain why Americans (supposedly) don't care about the World Cup, they turn to the same old examples. They point out qualities of the game: Too low scoring, no commercial breaks to grab snacks, no hands allowed. I think the real reason that most Americans aren't into the Cup is because most...

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...

If you believe what you read here on the Interwebs, the path to travel salvation is through a Wi-Fi connection. The Ultimate Setup is to be location independent, a digital nomad, with the freedom to go anywhere you want, at any time, while the PayPal payments roll in. Your laptop will set you free. But...

One of the most common pieces of advice for would-be independent travelers is to save all of your disposable income for the journey. Spend only on experiences! So what to do when, mid-trip, you fall in love with an object ? Just like spontaneous experiences, the act of travel is peppered with spontaneous items we...

At some point in our travel planning, many of us consult a guidebook. How much we each rely on it differs, of course—from those who give a cursory glance early in the process to those who carry it around like a totem from place to place. And some have thrown over guidebooks nearly entirely for...

Horses, camels, elephants, dog sleds, and rickshaws. Bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, and Segways. Airplanes, helicopters, zeppelins, and hot air balloons. Cars, buses, boats, and ferries. Trains, cable cars, monorails, and funiculars. How many modes of transport have you used? Our own two feet are the oldest means of transporting ourselves from place to place, and riding...

Most travelers are familiar with the slew of European rail passes offered through Eurail or through your local STA agent. Travelers can purchase country specific passes, lump a few countries together on one pass, or even purchase a “global pass”. Country specific passes are available for 17 European countries, allowing travelers to really get around...

When you move to another country, when do you begin to feel off the road? Does it take a week, a few months, a stationed apartment and a lease? Behind your apartment doors, sure, you are likely to feel less like a road-roaming warrior. But when do you begin to feel like the new life...

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...

I like to criticize technology's effects on travel -- how it can shut us off from both sight and sound, turn soul-searching into wi-fi searching, and funnel hours of exploration into the confines of a monitor. But today, the man in dark glasses reminded me how blogging can push you further into the analog world....

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...

Within the backpacker lexicon there is a certain unwritten assumption that everything must be done on the most severe cheap. That all corners must be cut, as one must go without as much as possible to become this Champion of Cheap. One of the first lessons we learn on the road is that travel is...

Sometimes travelers get home from a trip feeling like they need a few days to physically recover from their travels. A wise traveler should cultivate a lifestyle that translates seamlessly between their time on and off the road. Here are a few health conscious habits that will help keep you in top form while traveling...

Have you ever returned from a trip and wished there were an easier way to show your friends and family the exact route you took on your journey? Check out Wikiloc , one of three winners of the 2009 Geotourism Challenge , sponsored by Ashoka’s Changemakers and the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations ....

Some of the travel world's harshest criticism is reserved for those who impose the norms and expectations of one place onto another. It can be as simple as dressing a certain way, demanding speedy service, or expecting a certain language. It can be as heavy as trying to impose a style of government, farming or...