 |
You might have heard that 2010 is a Jubilee Year on the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage route that filters into Spain from all over Europe. The number of walking pilgrims is expected to double to 200,000, all because St. James‘ Day falls on a Sunday. Demand won’t only be running high for beds: More hospitaleros (volunteer … Read more »
Bargaining in Chatuchak Weekend Market in Thailand. Photo: Eugene Tang / BangkokSights.com
One of the biggest obstacles to traveling is the language barrier. Simple tasks like asking where the bathroom is, telling a taxi driver to take you to your hotel, and others can seem like impossible missions.
Can technology bridge the gap? Some new … Read more »
Okay, actually I didn’t. Candice Walsh did. And on her blog, Candice Does the World, she makes a pretty good case for why that is perfectly okay.
Among many vagabonders and travelers, the term all-inclusive is practically a dirty word. Saying that you traveled to a foreign country and did little more than lounge on the beach and drink frozen cocktails will get you shunned, … Read more »
The legendary lost civilization of El Dorado, said to be in the Amazon jungle, has led many explorers to come up empty-handed for nearly 500 years. According to a report in the journal Antiquity, three scientists have found more than 200 earthworks (dating from A.D. 200 to 1283) in Brazil’s upper Amazon basin near Bolivia. Their studies were based on archaeological work in Brazil and … Read more »
Got a great photo of New Year’s the last time you were in Asia? Well, dust it off and submit to the Asia Welcomes 2010 Photo Contest. It’s sponsored by the Asia Society, a nonprofit organization working to strengthen links between the United States and Asia.
The contest will accept any photos taken between 2000 and 2010, so the field is wide open to entries. The photo doesn’t have to be taken in … Read more »
As a child, you often rode a bus that crossed a bridge over a river. You would look out the window at the river meandering toward its source in the mountains, and you would wonder. You grew up, went to college, found work on another continent and forgot about the river — for a while.
You put the work on hold and returned to your home, once again riding your childhood bus across the bridge. … Read more »
Over at Flyover America, the old traveler’s conundrum was brought up. Do you go back to a place you know and love, or do you continue your exploration of the world? With limited time and money, it seems you have to make a choice. But when you find a place that affects you in a very powerful way, that choice becomes even harder.
It seems every … Read more »
Have you ever considered travel to Antarctica? By bus? OK, maybe not the bus part, but you have to admit that it would certainly be an adventure. Andrew Evans, contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler, just boarded a bus on New Year’s Day in Washington, D.C.—headed for the frozen continent.
His bus trips will take him through the southern states to Texas, then across the border … Read more »
America’s top intelligence officer in Afghanistan has a plan for fixing intel operations in the country — and he’s turning to vagabonding techniques to do it. Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn points the way in a new report that isn’t bureaucratic hardtack — it’s sensible, easy to digest, and actually looks healthy.
First, the report’s view of the current situation:
In many first world countries, tonight will be celebrated with parties, drinking, and the inevitable shouting in unison of “..5!..4!..3!..2!..1!..HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Some will find themselves in public plazas with hundreds or thousands of revelers like those in Times Square, some will be at all-night clubs, and some may celebrate with smaller groups of friends, perhaps sitting around a TV and watching Dick Clark for the 38th time.
However, as Simon Winchester pointed … Read more »