As you may have noticed, Rolf is currently in the midst of traveling around the world with only what he can carry in his pockets. He's got a toothbrush, a change of underpants, and an iPod Touch to do his blog posting from, as well as some presumably bulging cargo pants pockets. I did see...

The goal of many vagabonders is to blend in with the locals so well that they become invisible. Although the color of our skin sometimes makes that impossible, it's still fun to try. The Life magazine website had a great slideshow called How New Yorkers Can Spot a Tourist . Some of the points are...

When I was a child, my mother thought I'd join a nudist colony; I was always taking off my little toddler dresses and running around in the backyard with nothing on. As an adult, I've managed to parlay comfort with my body into an easily portable financial application: nude figure modeling. There are two genres...

Throughout the planning stages for our upcoming three-month trip across Southeast Asia, the single biggest factor has been what to do with our pets. Time ? Grad school can be worked around. Money ? We'll manage, especially in a region where we can get by on $25/day if we need to. Apartment ? We were...

Traveling alone can be a rush. You don't have that cocoon of familiarity if you travel with friends, which can insulate you from the experience. You're free to come and go as you please. Want to spend the whole day sightseeing? Want to spend the whole day at a coffee shop reading a book? You...

In case you need any more motivation to figure out how to work remotely, here's one more: 50 photos to inspire life as a digital nomad . Of course, having the dream is the easy part. Wishing for something isn't the same as working to get it. If only we had a road map, so...

Lonely Planet has been releasing a free roadtrip itinerary each week, from its new title USA’s Best Trips: 99 Themed Itineraries Across America , due out in September. The itineraries are available in .PDF form until the end of August (Labor Day to Americans). If you're in the States and want to test their road...

Coming back across the bay from San Francisco this afternoon, I was surprised to discover that the front wheel of my bicycle had been stolen. After casing everyone and every corner I could see, I gave up ever seeing it again. Being the Bay Area, I walked a few hundred yards down to the bike...

Everyone wants to get off the beaten path, to carve their own, unique experience out of traveling, but how do you do it? The internet is full of tips and guides to out of the way places, but in the end getting of the beaten path is less about where you go and more about...

Last summer, when Marco Polo Didn't Go There was making its debut in Italian translation, the Italian version of Glamour magazine asked me to offer readers 10 tips for improving their travels. Mixing advice straight from the pages of Vagabonding with some more recent sentiments, this is what I told them: 1. Go slow Remember...

Becca and Nate in Surin, Thailand. Photo: Becca Becca and Nate are the writers of the hi & thank you blog , for which they were recognized as a 2010 Lonely Planet Featured Blogger. In the post Reflecting: The Cost of Travel , Becca paints a vivid financial and spiritual portrait of their trip through...

My greatest muses being my own two feet, I set out from home this evening to find a story. Ostensibly, my quest was to attend a meeting of the ' East Bay Green Drinks ' group to discuss emerging green technologies. My simpler objective was just to meet people. I arrived at Luka's Taproom and...

Do you have friends and family who write off travel as impractical? Sometimes good strategies can work in both travel and business, as this blog post by tech company 37 signals illustrates: Getting Real with Travel . The post cites the experiences of Marcel Uekermann, who's a fan of 37 Signals' unconventional approach to business....

Not long ago I heard from a reader named Zach, who was newly married and headed to Seoul to teach English with his wife. He asked me for advice on how to make the transition to expat-teacher life in Korea. Since it's been 12 years now since I've lived in Korea, my advice to him...

Cairo, Egypt Stability and control: that's the role of an aircraft spoiler. As your jet prepares to land, the spoiler may rise to decrease lift, increasing the rate at which the aircraft descends or slowing the speed of the aircraft down. The Wright brothers would have been impressed. For the long-term traveler, however, the spoiler,...

Delhi, India I've written previously about the pleasure of a local newspaper set next to a cup of coffee. In this post I want to zero in on one of the benefits of this arrangement. Here it is: In addition to a hopefully pleasant aroma rising from your cup, inside your paper are stories about...

Sometimes travelers get home from a trip feeling like they need a few days to physically recover from their travels. A wise traveler should cultivate a lifestyle that translates seamlessly between their time on and off the road. Here are a few health conscious habits that will help keep you in top form while traveling...

The most difficult long-term travel question is also perhaps the most common: how much does it cost? It's almost impossible to answer that question because it depends where you're going, when you're going and how exactly you plan to travel. Tiny variations in how you travel can have a huge impact on your trip costs....

I recently got an email from a woman who suffers from a diagnosed case of social phobia and is worried that this might compromise her travels. "I am afraid that my introverted personality is going to effect the way I travel, and I won't be as opportunistic when it comes to the social aspect of...

In many ways, Jason Bourne is the ultimate vagabond: he has multiple passports, speaks multiple languages and has no permanent address. Some PTs, or permanent travelers, are almost like real-life Jason Bournes. Minus the kung-fu skills and the CIA assassins. One case study to read is the Sovereign Man blog , written by Simon Black...