The first time I was in Paris, I went to the Louvre and -- like a million other tourists before me -- headed straight for the Mona Lisa. Since the famous French museum houses one of the most extensive art collections in the world, I'll admit that making a beeline for a painting I'd already...

“Hypoallergenic bedding, pet free and a non-smoking room on a non-smoking floor, please”-that’s my typical request anytime I make a reservation to stay just about anywhere. I move a zillion times on the train if there’s a smoker or heavily doused perfume/cologne wearer near me. Scented anti-bacterial, oils or lotions set me off in an...

Wham! After being in transit for so long, that fresh outside air smacks you in the face when you finally step outside of the airport and take that first deep breath of non-circulated stale airplane air. It took forever to get here. After hours and hours you got to the airport, flew on the plane...

My Dad's photo of Lago de Atitlan, 1973 It seems the nature of humanity to freeze a moment in time. We remember a person, a place, an experience, as it was when we were last present with it. It is frozen, forever, in our minds; like the fading koda-chrome slides my parents took across the...

Here's a curious trivia tidbit from U.S. history: In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams took leave from their Europe-based diplomatic duties and traveled to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit the home of William Shakespeare. Not much was recorded of the occasion, but one fact of their pilgrimage to the Bard's birthplace stands out: At some point...

(Working on Trinity) As you may have guessed from the photo above, the situation with Trinity went further downhill from my last post. Here's the video I shot at the end of a very long day - when it was clear that Trinity just wasn't going to make it home. (Click image to watch video)...

(Overheated near Barstow.) Well folks - a small change in plans! I was going to do a different type of post this week and upload a video of some gorgeous canyons that I rode through in Arizona. Alas it isn't to be. First, I'm can't find an Internet connection with a decent upload rate. More...

(Camping in Siberia) Earlier this year, I rode a Ural motorcycle and sidecar through Siberia, up 1800km of ice roads and ending in the Arctic Circle. It was one hell of a journey which taught me how to survive in extreme sub-zero temperatures. More importantly, it expanded my limits and showed me what I was...

I awoke, this morning, thinking about our journey and the excitement of being home for a few months. I opened my eyes to messages of love and daily life from people around the world, fellow travelers, as well as those who never leave home and I realized, again, just how thankful I am for the...

Should you ever travel to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, there's a good chance you'll meet Francisco in the city's humid, touristy colonial zone. Barefoot, emaciated, and filthy from sleeping in the street, Francisco looks far older than his 19 years, and his wavering gaze carries a look of hardened desperation. I...

Image credit This month marks the beginning of student-travel season in Europe, which means that -- at any given moment -- continental McDonald's restaurants will be filled with scores of American undergraduates. Quiz these young travelers, and they'll give you a wide range of reasons for seeking out McDonald's -- the clean restrooms, the air...

(The family we met in Siberia - one of the most memorable nights of the entire trip.) Last week, I heard that a friend of mine had been in a serious motorcycle accident in Bali. A serious accident - broken ribs, fractured pelvis, collapsed lung. He wrote about the experience - about his injuries, about...

"Thus, the secret to interacting with people in foreign lands is not to fine-tune your sense of political correctness (which itself is a Western construct) but to fine tune your sense of humor.... And while humor might seem like a fairly contemporary way to deal with unfamiliar environments, it's actually a time-honored travel strategy... On...

While this is my story, I'm sharing it because we all have family and those that we love. When we least expect it, tragedies happen and the skills that we hone while traveling can be invaluable in getting us through. Camping in Siberia en route to the Arctic Circle (-43C) Truth is - this year...

When you’re Down Under on a working holiday visa, taking some time out to explore the varied landscapes of the largest island on earth is an essential addition to your itinerary. Those with the benefit of time to explore but the restrictions of a small budget, should avoid organized tours and internal flights and instead...

Before you get to the right angle, you might find yourself stuck in a dangerous corner/ picture by Kit Yeng Chan The email you have been waiting for a long time has finally landed in your inbox. Fat, juicy, inviting bold caps lure your eyes in. It’s no matter of life or death, but if...

Just how extensively you should prepare yourself before vagabonding is a topic of much debate among travelers. Many experienced vagabonders believe that less preparation is actually better in the long run. The naturalist John Muir used to say that the best way to prepare for a trip was to “throw some tea and bread into...

When I handed in my resignation letter, put what few belongings I hadn’t sold into storage and packed my life into a 55L rucksack, I became a vagabond. Without bricks and mortar, without a stable income and without fear of regret, I altered the direction in which my life was headed and set off to...

Whenever anyone asks me why I still travel on a shoestring at the ripe old age of 38, I usually tell them about the time I learned how to play the bagpipes in Havana. Granted, I could probably relate a more typical story about the joys of budget travel - some tidy parable of money...

Some questions just never get old. This question came in almost eleven years ago from a reader. Rolf's answer is as applicable today as it was over a decade ago. Do you wonder if it's still safe to travel? I got an interesting question from a woman in Texas. The gist of it was this:...