In Vagabonding , I address the various motivations for choosing a long-term travel destination. Ultimately, I tell people that it doesn't matter where you choose to go, since all destinations have so much potential, and the surprises of the road always outweigh the expectations. Among the suggested travel motivations, however, I mention how many American...

This month at RolfPotts.com, I interview journalist Tom Miller , whose travel books include Jack Ruby

This spring, I blogged about the debut of Young Pioneers , a 'zine that covers the world of independent travel; this week, I learned that it has been nominated for a 2004 Utne Independent Press Award , which recognizes excellence in alternative and independent publishing. Utne

My old editor and mentor Don George recently wrote to inform me that that Lonely Planet has just posted a new humor story competition on its web site. To read about the competition and enter a travel story or stories, click here . The subject and setting of the stories are completely open; the only...

In this month's issue of National Geographic Adventure , Robert Young Pelton dispenses guidebook advice in a column called Cooking the Books: Five things travel guides never tell you . The jist of his advice is to not take your guidebook too seriously. "Ask the locals where to go and what to do," Pelton writes....

This month's Q&A with Michael Shapiro marks my fourth full year of interviewing travel writers at at the RolfPotts.com Writers page. Shapiro (who is the 48th writer I've featured since November of 2000) is an appropriate interviewee on this occasion, since his new book, A Sense of Place , itself features in-depth interviews with travel...

Guidebook writer Carl Parkes has started a new blog, entertainingly entitled " The Horrible Truth About Travel Writing ". Parkes claims the blog is meant to showcase "articles and opinions helpful to travel writers, whether new to the profession or seasoned pros." "There are plenty of websites and blogs that praise the world of being...

[This appeared today in Travel Weekly . See above for comment.] Tools for the trade: Staying in touch on the road Travel Weekly (09/14/2004) By Casey Kittrell Jenny Froelich sits beside the Futaleufu River, blissfully exhausted after another day of rafting some of Chile?s best white water. Her gear hangs from a nearby tree, drying...

This month at my RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page I interview Jennifer Leo , whose latest women's travel humor anthology, Whose Panties are These? , comes out this month. In addition to doing PR and editing anthologies for Travelers Tales , Jen has written for Time , Lonely Planet, and Student Traveler . Her blog, Written...

This month, my travel writers page at RolfPotts.com features an interview with Sarah Erdman , whose book Nine Hills to Nambonkaha -- an account of her years as a Peace Corps health volunteer in northern Cote d'Ivoire -- comes out in paperback this month. The hardcover edition won a 2003 New York Times Editor's Choice...

I have a column about travel writing in the current issue of Transitions Abroad . Entitled Advice to Travel Writers: Make Travel Itself Your First Priority , it's an updated version of the travel writing advice I posted on the RolfPotts.com Writers page some years ago. The ten basic points of advice are the same...

So you

Scholars and professional translators have determined that "ilunga" -- a word in the Bantu language of Tshiluba for a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time; to tolerate it a second time; but never a third time -- is the "most untranslatable word in the world. "Shlimazl", a Yiddish word...

Over the last two months, I have featured a couple of guidebook writers at the RolfPotts.com Writers page

The World Hum blog already beat me to the punch on this one, but it's worth mentioning again that Thomas Swick has written a story about Bangkok's great Atlanta Hotel in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- and I'm quite certain that I'm the "acquaintance" from the story that initially suggests he stay there. Swick isn't...

Voting is underway for the best snapshot submitted in the last year to Doug Lansky

I was recently informed that a Vagabonding discussion community has sprung up at Orkut.com -- Google's Friendster-style social networking site. The Vagabonding community (which is found here , though you need to sign in as a member to see it), is nearing 100 members, and contains a number of discussions about vagabonding travel. For more...

Last week, while he was in San Francisco promoting his book Dark Star Safari , Paul Theroux was asked by fellow travel writer Brad Newsham what he thought individual Westerners could do to affect the world's current situation. Theroux's reply, which Newsham posted on his website , is as follows: "I think there's a lot...

This month on the RolfPotts.com Writers page I interview Stephanie Elizondo Griest , whose first book, Around the Bloc , was published last month by Villard/Random House. In the interview, Griest warns prospective travel writers against making broad conclusions about other cultures. "Our world is an intensely complex place," she says. "It is imperative that...

In reference to the post above, here is the text of the Amazon.com article from the New York Times : Amazon Glitch Unmasks War of Reviewers By Amy Harmon Close observers of Amazon.com noticed something peculiar this week: the company's Canadian site had suddenly revealed the identities of thousands of people who had anonymously posted...