Looks like the guidebooks are heading for the really small screen: mobile devices. With the soaring popularity of the iPhone and other smartphones, guidebook publishers are moving to take advantage of new platforms, as this AP article describes: Guidebooks adapt to mobile download era.

However, they are running into a common problem in the tech world: compatibility. Mobile networks may not offer the same availability of apps from country to country. The cost of … Read more »

Blazing-fast Internet has become commonplace in Asia. Japan and South Korea frequently rank as the most wired countries in the world.  Singapore is looking to boost its broadband infrastructure too, according to this NY Times article: Singapore gets wired for speed.

John, an Australian expat friend of mine, just moved into a new apartment near Tokyo. When John got Internet installed, he settled for a 200 megabit per second connection. There was a waiting … Read more »

Everyone wants to get off the beaten path, to carve their own, unique experience out of traveling, but how do you do it? The internet is full of tips and guides to out of the way places, but in the end getting of the beaten path is less about where you go and more about what you … Read more »

I caught the first two episodes of Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Around motorcycle journey the other night and was struck by the extraordinary amount of planning that went into the trip. Granted McGregor and Boorman had a number of concerns outside the scope of most of our trips — motorcycle repairs, film equipment, medical supplies for … Read more »

When you research upcoming travels online, do you often feel like you’re hunting through the results to find relevant information? A new search engine, Kaweinga, is trying to make it easier for you to get the specific travel info you need.

Started by Daniel Guttentag in February, Kaweinga’s search results are powered by Google, … Read more »

Clean water is one of the major issues facing the developing world. As outsiders, vagabonds typically rely on bottled water in such areas, but plastic water bottles are a major contributor to disturbing things such as the Pacific’s trash island, to say nothing of the strain they put on local landfills.

The far better option … Read more »

The most difficult long-term travel question is also perhaps the most common: how much does it cost?

It’s almost impossible to answer that question because it depends where you’re going, when you’re going and how exactly you plan to travel. Tiny variations in how you travel can have a huge impact on your trip costs. Do you plan to eat street food or sit down … Read more »

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.

Wikiloc allows communities to create their own maps of … Read more »

Travel affords us a chance to see things many will only encounter in books, a chance to learn about ourselves and the world around us, but there’s another thing I’ve started to think is equally important — travel gives us a chance to be alone.

Not only are we yanked out of our familiar culture and thrust … Read more »