Travel can be expensive. Even those planning to work their way around the world have to start with some money for the first leg of a trip. The Saving for Travel website is an excellent place to start strategizing a savings plan. First, use the round the world budget calculator to get a rough idea...

Last week, my Yahoo! News column was about how it's actually cheaper to travel for long periods than short periods. Recently, a reader named Kim recently wrote with a tie-in question about traveling over the long term: My boyfriend and I are planning an around the world trip for 2 years. We want to do...

A reader named Scott recently wrote me with the following question: How do you get published? I am working on a book proposal, but publishers don't take unsolicited manuscripts or proposals and agents don't seem to want unpublished writers. The book is nonfiction, about living and working in Russia for the last two years. I...

This month's cover story in Outside Magazine is entitled "50 Ways to Change Your Life" -- and one of those life-changing strategies comes from yours truly. In the section called "Give yourself a hall pass," by Amy Marr, I share four tips for creating travel-time in your life: "I don't have time" is the most...

Recently, I got a travel question from a Florida reader named Justin Cecil, who wrote: I have just graduated high school and will attend college at the end of August. One of my goals in life is to travel the world -- and I plan on backpacking through Europe within the next few years. Ultimately,...

I recently got an email from Nathan, an English teacher in Hangzhou, China, who wrote: I've read your book several times and really really loved it. I was thinking the other day about you saying you took a motorcycle trip across China, and I had a one question. How did you manage to get around...

In a recent email message, a Vagabonding reader from Wisconsin named Briana writes: I am a recent high school graduate and have decided to delay going to college for a year in order to travel. I got a copy of your book as a graduation gift and have been busy planning and working ever since....

My latest Ask Rolf question at World Hum comes from reader Ty Brady, who posits the following query: I want to telecommute—not from “home” but from anywhere in the world where I can connected to the Internet. All the work I do is on a computer, and 15-20 hours per week would give me enough...

This week at Yahoo! News, my "Traveling Light" column focuses on international travel safety , five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. My conclusion? That, for the most part, the real travel dangers are quite similar to the dangers travelers encountered before 9/11. That is, petty crimes and accidents are still more likely to be...

I recently got the following message in my inbox, from a reader in Pennsylvania named Vanessa. She writes: Have you ever felt like you're suffocating, living the day-to-day life that everyone lives with work and coming home and doing it all over again? I have since I began college 3 years ago. I'm taking baking...

A young Vagabonding reader named Austin recently emailed me to say this: I'm entirely new to the idea of vagabonding. I'm 17 years old, and I plan to hit the road around age 19. Right now I'm on the fence about what I plan to do when I get older and I don't want to...

My newest Ask Rolf column at World Hum involves a question from an American named Mike, who wonders when he should take the leap to go travel the world. He writes: I’m in the U.S. Coast Guard, and I constantly daydream about traveling throughout Southeast Asia and Australia and too many other places to name....

I recently got an email from a fellow named Chris, who will soon be moving to Korea for an expat stint. Hoping to get the most out of his overseas experience Chris wanted some pointers on how to explore Korea for the first time. Off the top of my head, here were my top-five pointers...

Following on to yesterday's post, Boston Globe travel writer Tom Haines also recently wrote a story about packing for the journey , and he points to a number of small, essential items to pack for good times: Flashlight, for finding the lamp switch or, when there isn't one, the toilet. Toilet paper, for when you...

This past weekend, San Francisco Chronicle travel editor John Flinn put together a great feature about traveling with just one carry-on bag. Some of his best pointers include: The amount of stuff you think you need is directly related to the size of your luggage. Get a smaller bag and you'll make do with fewer...

This week's Traveling Light column is a conversation with guidebook author Philip Briggs , whose Bradt: Northern Tanzania guide hit bookstores this spring. Among other things, I ask Briggs about the feasibility of self-guided travel in Tanzania, and this is what he told me: It's easy enough to travel between towns using public transport (and...

This week, my newest Yahoo! News travel column, Slumming the Golden Arches , focuses on a curious question: Why do travelers so often seek out McDonald's overseas, when they would never eat there at home? The answer, I posit, lies in the fact that the Golden Arches create a smoothly standardized absence of place and...

This week in my Yahoo! News travel column , I field a travel question from Stefanie in Bremerton, who asks: I am planning a trip to Europe for an undetermined amount of time. Should I bring my cell phone for emergencies? What is the protocol on that? Bringing a cell phone from the U.S. on...

A couple months ago, I read in Tim Leffel's blog that author Taras Grescoe has pointed out that supporting a pack-a-day cigarette habit in New York City for a year costs as much as a round-the-world plane ticket : At $7.50 a pack, a common price in New York, the tab after 365 days would...

My latest Yahoo! News travel column is entitled " Why We Buy Dumb Souvenirs ", and it examines the idiosyncrasies of souvenir-hunting. "The tourist quest for souvenirs has always been somewhat skewed," I write, In ancient Anatolia, locals hawked supposed Trojan War relics to credulous Greek travelers, and excavations in Italy have suggested that ancient...