You have a good start. Anyone who's even considered taking a long-term travel break, or even several shorter ones, has to have an adventurous spirit. But how do you stack up against other folks looking for adventure? A post on Gadling this week discussed a recent survey commissioned by Intrepid Travel , which found that...

Claire Litton wrote earlier this week about traveling low-res as a genuine option to lugging all those i-products around. The timing was right on the heels of my recent digital breakdown. I probably should have known better than to plan to do a few social media updates and minor editing tasks while I was spending...

It’s not often that you run into an industry that encourages sabbaticals. In my past employment with Internet portals, only one company’s HR department considered it, but only after you’d worked there 10 years or more. Does that mean you’re out of luck if you’re yearning for a travel break from work? Not according to...

I regularly fly through Houston’s IAH airport when I’m returning from travel to Central and South America, and lately, I’ve been running into brochures for the Global Entry Trusted Traveler Program . Enrolling allows members to speed past those horribly long immigration lines, and check in at a kiosk instead, currently available at 20 airports...

The “pack light” mantra has been beaten into travelers who don’t have personal jets. It’s a good practice, too. Have you been following Rolf’s No Baggage Challenge ? It’s much easier to pack light when you can leave toiletries at home and just buy inexpensive replacements in your destination. It can also be simple, depending...

You’ve saved your money, packed your bags and are ready to embark on a new adventure. Through all the planning, the same image came to mind: the perfect beach. Whether rocky, sandy, tropical or wild, beaches conjure up images of vacation and relaxation. But how do we know if that perfect beach is clean? I’m...

I expected that it would be excessively hot on the late August day that I’d be working on a home in New Orleans. I’d already imagined it in my mind: alternating time between standing on a ladder and collapsing under a tent to balance my body temperature. Instead, it rained steadily on the day before...

The best travel soundtrack is made of the distinct sounds of a place. A foghorn’s wail, the sizzle of cooking, a howler monkey’s roar, or an imam’s call to prayer—all can bring us back to a place as easily as seeing a photo. What about your playlists? Do they help conjure a moment on a...

It’s inevitable: Whether your choice places to stay when you travel are hostels or hotels, you’ll eventually end up couch surfing in the home of a friend or acquaintance. How do you know you’ll be a good guest? Lifehacker ’s recent “ Be a Perfect Guest in the 21st Century ” points out that the...

As often as possible, I try to get a window seat when I’m traveling. Certainly anything beats the dreaded middle seat, and crawling over other people when you need to stretch your legs can be a pain, but that window seat has the best thing on board—a window. A recent article by Peter Ferry on...

Everybody who loves Louis Armstrong knows his birthday was on July 4, right? It turns out that it took until the mid-1980s to learn that Satchmo’s special day wasn’t July 4, 1900, but August 4, 1901. And why do you care? Because if you’re anywhere near New Orleans the first weekend of August, you can...

Beyond Santo Domingo and the resorts of Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic is wide open for travelers looking for outdoor adventure. On a recent trip to the country’s Samaná Peninsula and parts of the North Coast, I was able to take part in four distinctly different experiences that only scratch the surface of the great...

We’ve all wished for travel: to be able to take the time off, to afford that time off, and sometimes, that we spent more time in a particular location. But have you traveled to a destination to wish for something? Well-known wishing customs include throwing a coin into the Fountain of Trevi in Rome (which...

Looking for a surf safari on your travels but need to learn the sport first? It can be fun to take a class while you’re on vacation—but how do you find professional operators? Prices for surf classes can be affordable for vagabonders, depending on the location. Popular tourist destinations may be more expensive, but once...

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...

Celebrate summer with a harvest festival. That’s right. In Barbados, the exhausting sugar cane harvest ends in June, and Crop Over is an over-the-top summer carnival to mark the relief at the delivery of the last crop. Started in the 1780s, when Barbados was one of the world’s most important sugar producers, Crop Over celebrated...

We all have them, whether it’s the extra time we could have spent in a destination, or bringing far too much gear on our travels. Many times, travel regrets don’t stick with us for very long after we return home. When they do, they can be a lesson for future trips. One of my biggest...

While markets often get the prize for variety and amazing local color, grocery stores also allow great insight into a culture. Not the supermarkets we see back home, but small, neighborhood grocery shops. The necessities on store shelves can serve as a cultural study, souvenir source, or simply a place where you can restock your...

The next time you’re in a forest, imagine a building hiding in the earth just steps away from where you’re walking. According to National Geographic , a 2009 survey using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) equipment revealed images of an ancient Mayan city stretching over 68 square miles in western Belize. Presented at the recent...

At some point in our travel planning, many of us consult a guidebook. How much we each rely on it differs, of course—from those who give a cursory glance early in the process to those who carry it around like a totem from place to place. And some have thrown over guidebooks nearly entirely for...