Dahab, Egypt There are a gazillion things to observe when on the road, and here's one of my favorites: the books people read. Anytime you see someone reading a book, they're traveling. There is of course the geographic location in which they are actually reading. The English fellow above, for example, is sitting on the...

I just saw the movie "127 Hours", which is less about travel than standing still -- it's about outdoorsman Aron Ralston's 5-day stint in a Utah canyon, trapped by a rock which fell and pinned his arm against the wall. Yep, he's the guy that had to cut his own hand off with a pocket...

First, a caveat, you are about to read a review of book about "Lady Adventurers," How to Climb Mt. Blanc in a Skirt written by a man, Mick Conefrey, reviewed by a man, me. That said, Conefrey's book is not just a handbook for the independent, female explorer, but a great look at the history...

A urinal in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma). Photo: Marcus Sortijas Travel writers have it easy. They get to see the world, express their creativity through storytelling, have adventures--and their company pays for it all! How sweet is that? Seth Kugel, the current writer of The New York Times "Frugal Traveler" column, bursts that bubble in his...

The Adventurer's Handbook is entertainingly subtitled, "From surviving an anaconda attack to finding your way out of the desert," which carries the implication that it's another one of those worst-case survival manuals that reminds you to clench your butt cheeks when you dive off a cliff so water doesn't rush into your nether regions and...

Looking to break into the elusive world of travel writing? Rough Guide is offering a travel writing scholarship through WorldNomads.com. The scholarship allows the winner to go on assignment as a travel writer to Turkey this summer. The lucky applicant will spend a few days learning travel writing essentials with Rough Guide writer Terry Richardson...

Creative Writing Workshop at the Paris American Academy July 1 st through the 29 th , 2011 For the seventh year running, I'll be teaching an intensive, month-long creative writing workshop at the Paris American Academy . This hands-on English-language writing program includes courses in: Fiction Poetry Travel Writing Memoir Screenplays and dramatic writing Literary...

(on the road to) Weyto, Ethiopia It's Christmastime, which means the TV-version of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! , published in 1957, has been in a few of our living rooms. Among other things it's a nice little travel story, showing the positive effect that sliding off our perch and encountering our neighbors...

A couple of weeks ago I offered signed copies of my two books as a holiday gift option; today I want to share a few other gift ideas. Each year publishers and gear companies send me far more books and equipment than I can review here -- but a lot of what I get turns...

Linda Ballou’s Lost Angel Walkabout isn’t your standard collection of travel essays. At first impression it reads more like nature writing than anything else. Sure, most travelers are drawn to the scenic beauty of the countries they visit, or a powerful sea or desert expanse. However, Ballou brings an intelligent meditation to her travels in...

I admit, I took this directly from a book (called "The Six Rules of Maybe", and written by fantastically inspirational YA novelist Deb Caletti), and not a travel book either, but I found it so interesting and so worthwhile a way to decide things that I wanted to share it with y'all vagabonders. 1. Respect...

Fleur Britten's "On The Couch" is the first travel memoir about couchsurfing I've seen; this doesn't mean there aren't any others, naturally, but it does mean that I picked it off the library shelf with a surge of excitement. "Ooh!" I thought to myself. "This is gonna be good!" I was, unfortunately, wrong. Couchsurfing is...

As you might guess from the title, Don't Tell Mum I Work On The Rigs, She Thinks I'm The Piano Player In A Whorehouse , is a bit of a quirky exploration of the itinerant oil rigging lifestyle. As vagabonders, we get pretty focused on how we can work and travel; can we write for...

Over at Shetravels , an image-intensive, witty travel blog chronicles the account of a woman and her husband who are spending a year traveling around the world. The pictures are basically travel porn: if you can sit at your desk drooling over them and NOT want to give everything up and move to Cambodia, you're...

A hollywood screenwriter turned travel journalist, Judith Fein knows how to find and tell a story. Her latest compilation, " Life is a Trip: The Transformative Magic of Travel " highlights people and places that have been pivotal moments in her life. A true vagabond at heart, she isn't content unless she is exploring the...

In her book, A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel , Annie Griffiths Belt shares with us the rise of her career as one of National Geographic ’s first female photographers. At a time before National Geographic was the greatly respected publication it has grown into today, Belt was one of the first to get...

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to learn more about motivations for travel. "Why?" seems to be the most urgent question put to travelers. It's asked not just by others, but also by the conscience. Everyone seems to want an explanation -- friends, family, former/current/potential romances, current or future employers. Whenever someone asks,...

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...

Our journals are as varied as we are. Some are highly decorated; others are plain. Some are spiral-bound; others lack lines. Regardless of how we choose our journals, or what we choose to fill them with, it’s always fun to get a look at someone else’s trusty travel buddy. Compared to some, my journal is...

Lisa Alpine’s book Exotic Life: Laughing Rivers, Dancing Drums, and Tangled Hearts is a sprawling anthology of 19 travel tales. Alpine is an inspiration to women travelers everywhere. She fearlessly wanders through one obscure destination after the other, leaving her complete trust in the experience. She answers that timeless question - Can solo women travelers...