Adventures help us grow. When we push ourselves past our fears and attempt something new and exciting, we learn more about ourselves. Throughout the years, through all my travels, I have always pushed myself to seek out adventure. I have to be honest, at times it has made me reach beyond my boundaries and tested...

Butter heads at the fair It was December of 2004 when I took my first Contiki trip for two weeks in Australia. On the first night I met two girls from Minnesota and that’s where the love affair with the State Fair began. For years Cara has been teaching this New Yorker about all things...

Why travel far and wide you ask What will you perhaps find? There’s so much here to see and do Why go far to unwind? So much to say – the words are hard They make so much sense to me Stay here to find the everyday Or go abroad and see? The fun, the...

Chocolate lava cake at Melbourne's Lindt Cafe Travel, like chocolate always leaves you wanting more. With the first bite of chocolate lava cake-I was hooked. Dark chocolate may be my addiction, but travel is my vice. A three-week journey in Israel was the longest I’d ever been on a holiday and it was magical. That...

You get into some crazy situations when you travel. The food you eat, the people you meet and the things you see. Yet on later reflection, those are the same things that build character and allow you to evolve as a person. Derek Sivers described this well in his blog post: Push, push, push. Expanding...

Cost/day: $0.8/day Guyana isn’t really that cheap. However, if you’re creative and have some skills, anything is possible. I worked at Dadanawa Cattle Ranch for two and a half months in exchange for food and board. Most of my money went towards toiletries, insect repellant and beer. Being frugal was easy because the nearest town...

Cost: $50/day What's the strangest thing you have seen lately? Lavacicles. These pointy tooth-like projections can be found on the roofs of many of the incredible lava tubes and caves at Lava Beds National Monument in northern California. They formed when viscous lava that was dripping from the top of the tubes cooled and hardened....

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...

A friend of mine has a very specific definition of adventure: It must involve danger to life and limb. Mountain climbing? Check. Diving with sharks? Check. Taking on a new assignment at work? Nothing doing. For me, adventure has always included all of the above. Even taking a walk through my neighborhood has an air...

This morning I read about a hotel that's under construction. There's an art museum going up around the corner, and the hotel is designed to complement it by displaying contemporary art in the rooms and common areas. Construction is partly financed by a local nonprofit focused on downtown revitalization. The husband-and-wife operators are excited --...

That's the tagline of The World's Greatest Travelers Global Scavenger Hunt . It's a blind date because you will not know in advance the countries you will be visiting, you will be told as you board the plane! So, if you ever really wanted to go on a properly planned, round-the-world scavenger hunt, here's your...