Next to shoes, choosing the right jacket for a trip is my hardest decision. It’s more difficult when you’re spanning several cities, leap-frogging continents, or criss-crossing the equator in both directions.

How can you choose a jacket lightweight enough for a cool fall night but warm enough for a snowy trek through the city? And let’s not forget the waterproofing aspect if you get caught … Read more »

Water is a huge deal when you’re traveling. Drinking contaminated water is the quickest way to sabotage your health. But water quality can vary greatly outside the United States, especially in developing countries.

You could stick exclusively to bottled water. But your budget (and the environment) would hate you.

But don’t worry — there’s a better way. You can purify the available water. This method … Read more »

Travel with its long flights and sitting in transport can wreck havoc on your health. But how can you avoid both while traveling?

The answer is simple: give yourself a challenge. The challenge is in the form of a fitness tracker. As Peter Drucker, an Austrian-born American management consultant, says, “What gets measured, gets managed.”

Fitness trackers aren’t just one-function pedometers anymore. Most track your … Read more »

Patrick was eating at a Olive Garden in Buffalo, New York when he should have been enjoying fresh pizza at a sun-baked cafe in Rome.

A few days earlier on Friday in Charlotte, he had been leaving on a two week trip with his girlfriend to Europe. He couldn’t wait to see Cinque Terre’s famed breathtaking cliffs and explore Paris’ countless monuments. This moment had been six months in … Read more »

It’s the worst part of traveling: being so tired that you miss the amazing sights you traveled miles to see. Instead, you spend your first few days of your trip, curled up in your bed, sound asleep. Have you ever landed in the new country only to feel bone-tired, pounding headache, and an overwhelming apathy?

Welcome to jet lag. This is your body complaining about … Read more »

There’s something to be said for getting lost. 

I rather like it, actually. Taking off with no destination, exploring a city by braille, and the serendipity that inevitably arises as a result are intoxicating. There are days in which the last thing I want is a map, or directions, or to “get there” in … Read more »

Engineers at UCLA are working on converting an iPhone into a small laboratory. Weighting less than 2 ounces, the iTube attaches to your phone and analyzes a food sample in about 20 minutes using a colorimetric assay test. The user grinds up a small sample of food with hot water and places it in the tube along with an extraction solvent. After several other testing liquids are added; the phone then captures an … Read more »

Business travelers, also known as “road warriors,” are some of the most experienced trip hackers around. Although here at Vagabonding we espouse slower wandering, these hard-core types have streamlined the process to a science. Their advice appeared in this New York Times article: How the tough get going: Silicon Valley travel tips. Prominently featured in the article is Tim Ferriss, known as the author of … Read more »

“The travel pillow for people who hate travel pillows!”~ thetravelhalo.com

Booking overnight transportation can reduce the number of nights one stays in hostels or hotels; but adequate rest in the upright position is challenging. And honestly, most travel pillows out there aren’t worth the space and effort to bring along. I’ve field tested a number of different kinds…

1) Complementary ones on the planes 2) Rectangular ones filled with foam beads 3) The … Read more »

Warning for men: if talk about female cycles makes you uncomfortable or queasy I’d suggest you skip this post!

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Ladies, we can’t all live in the remaining hunter-gatherer cultures where ones menstrual cycle is a sacred celebration. Nor are we still band from our own households for three days like the old laws in Nepal. And frankly I doubt if I strip naked to walk through a field, anyone would still believe that I … Read more »