Last week, my Yahoo! News "Traveling Light" column dealt with the very complicated issue of dealing with beggars on the road . From my article, here are five principles to help navigate this sadly common and difficult travel situation: 1) Spend some time in the community before you give to beggars Not only will a...

Last month, while I was driving down the Mississippi River on a magazine assignment, I had a curious experience in Rosedale, Mississippi. As I was eating lunch in a place called Leo's Market, a waitress mentioned that Rosedale is the place where the legendary bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange...

For every travel destination, there is always someone with an opinion about why you shouldn't go there. One person will say "I would travel pretty much anywhere, but never India." while another person says, "I could go pretty much anywhere but never Mexico." For a long time Colombia was the place I figured I'd never...

Too many of us are stuck on the merry-go-round of dreaming about a long term travel adventure and a break from the 9-5 of our careers. It seems like something that other people get to do, the lucky ones, not us. So, we stalk their blogs, we wish we knew where to start, we keep...

As a fan of great museums, England, and historical stuff in general, I’m excited about a brand new museum that has just opened this week. Located in the historic dockyard of Portsmouth on England’s picturesque south coast, the Mary Rose Museum houses the sixteenth-century hulk of the HMS Mary Rose, the pride of Henry VIII’s...

We all know that most cities are desperate for tourism money in this lousy economy. Some are going to great lengths to generate interest. Now a PR man (or woman) has looked at a map and cooked up the tourism industry’s latest publicity stunt: Two towns, separated by an ocean and thousands of miles, plan...

Sean Keener, CEO of Boots-N-All is a friend of mine and one of the most passionate people I know when it comes to developing resources to empower and encourage independent travel. A few months ago he let me in on the Beta testing of the ace up his sleeve, and today I'm as excited as...

AT&T this week rolled out new international data packages with prices cut nearly in half, a change that comes six weeks after Verizon announced a new international data package. Although these options are still more expensive than using an international SIM card, the changes signify progress toward making smartphone internet use more affordable and accessible...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjY_hJL3nxY Planning a trip can be a logistical tangle. At any one time, I'll have more than half-a-dozen tabs open in my web browser, each a different website. For example: Wikitravel - Get general info. Air Asia - Find cheap flights in Asia. Hostelworld - Book hostels. Urbanrail - Look at subway maps. Travelfish -...

If you haven't read last week's post on the " Rise of the Tourist ", I suggest you give it a quick once-over before reading on. Short on time? No problem. I'll sum up the broader points: Tourism is big business and in 2012 there is expected to be 1 billion global travelers. This trend...

Along with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, tourism has become one of the world’s dominant drivers of global, national, and local economic growth. At last tally, “the industry” – an aggregate of airlines, hotels and a slew of service businesses ranging from tour guides to street food vendors – employs a staggeringly high 200+ million...

Media has been abuzz lately about the infamous dealings of dog trafficking. It's not the purebred puppy mill business they're describing, but the smuggling of dogs for dinner in Southeast Asia's Mekong Delta. Street dogs, purebreds and even stolen pets with collars on are making their way via small wire cages to restaurants and dinner...

Social networks have made a dramatic impact on travel. During my first backpacking trip in 2004, I relied on e-mail addresses to stay in touch with the new friends I was making. I once met a girl in Paris. Later into my trip, I was shocked to run into her at my hostel in Edinburgh....

Let's face it: most archaeology work can be quite boring, compared to the Indiana Jones fantasy. You're more likely to be dusting off pottery than exploring lost cities. However, sometimes reality can trump fiction. The New York Times had this incredible news: Beneath a Temple in Southern India, a Treasure Trove of Staggering Riches ....

Travel and writing can both be lonely endeavors, with friends and family not understanding why some of us are obsessed with both. The best fix for the blues is to surround yourself with people who have the same dream, and even better, have achieved success. For anyone into travel writing, Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) is...

Often while traveling, it seems that there’s no place immune from a wireless connection. Hotels, cafés—even buses allow you to connect with the world using your cell phone, laptop, or notebook. It’s been many years since I’ve heard someone make a call from an airplane using those seat-back phones: “Hey, you’ll never guess where I’m...

There's always trouble going on somewhere in the world, but 2011 has been a particularly wrenching period. Revolution has swept the Middle East; Japan has endured disaster after disaster; America is carrying out military operations in three countries. One has to ask, "Is it safe to travel now?" The answer is "Yes," according to travel...

Are you one of the 30 percent of U.S. citizens who has a passport? If not, and you’re planning on traveling out of the country any time in the next year, mark Saturday, April 9 on your calendar. On that day, the U.S. Department of State will host its third annual “Passport Day in the...

Lots of people want to travel, right? Who wouldn't? However, precise numbers are hard to come by. Gallup, a polling organization, spent 2007-2010 asking this question to young people in 148 countries: "If you could move permanently to another country, to which country would you move?" To see their answers, check out this cool infographic:...

What if you could: --travel around the world for free? --get experience as a travel writer? --express your creativity through videos, photos, blogs, and tweets? You can! STA Travel is holding the 2011 World Traveler Internship . The two winners will hit 16 countries and serve as travel correspondents. The runners-up will get to spend...