Crime scene tape. Photo: Alan Cleaver / Flickr Creative Commons The underground magazine Vice will be getting its own show on MTV. Magazine founder Shane Smith brings his trademark biting tone, irreverent take on current events, and in-your-face honesty to the small screen. Here's an article from MTV.com with more details: 'The Vice Guide to...

They're the bane of long-term vagabonders: those irritating fees for foreign currencies and doing transactions while abroad. Hitting up an ATM or paying with a credit card can trigger charges you may not have expected. This can smear the memory of a great trip. The New York Times Bucks blog had a post about 3...

You might be familiar with UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites , or the organization’s World Heritage in Danger list. Did you know that there’s also a Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity ? This week, UNESCO added 47 elements to the existing list of 166, making a new total of 213...

"You'll be entitled to take a sabbatical abroad at company expense." That would be music to the ears of any vagabonder looking for work. One of the big factors holding people back from travel is the worry about finding employment upon their return. However, it would be nice to have the security of returning to...

Nowadays, it's hard to imagine travel without digital cameras, Facebook, and iPods. The New York Times was lucky to interview one of the original Frugral Travelers, John Wilcock: A budget travel pioneer on a time when $5 a day was real (frugal) money Wilcock has credentials that would make any aspiring writer mad with envy:...

The rising fortunes of the emerging economies and the lowering of barriers have given students a whole world of educational opportunities. Governments are investing in improving facilities at home. Meanwhile, students impatient to get ahead are already applying to overseas schools in droves, as this TechCrunch article explains: The Global Education Race . Studying abroad...

As usual, the media is full of stories of disasters rocking foreign countries. For a good status report, check out this CNNMoney article: 5 tourist spots in turmoil . Savvy travelers are cashing in on the deep discounts being offered by travel providers. I know an American expat in Thailand who's been booking Air Asia...

This past week, the 34th session of the World Heritage Committee met in Brasília, Brazil to discuss the additions and changes to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites . A total of 21 new sites have been inscribed, including 15 cultural and 5 natural properties. Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and Tajikistan are the newest...

Looks like the guidebooks are heading for the really small screen: mobile devices. With the soaring popularity of the iPhone and other smartphones, guidebook publishers are moving to take advantage of new platforms, as this AP article describes: Guidebooks adapt to mobile download era . However, they are running into a common problem in the...

Blazing-fast Internet has become commonplace in Asia. Japan and South Korea frequently rank as the most wired countries in the world. Singapore is looking to boost its broadband infrastructure too, according to this NY Times article: Singapore gets wired for speed . John, an Australian expat friend of mine, just moved into a new apartment...

The next time you’re in a forest, imagine a building hiding in the earth just steps away from where you’re walking. According to National Geographic , a 2009 survey using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) equipment revealed images of an ancient Mayan city stretching over 68 square miles in western Belize. Presented at the recent...

One of my favorite columns is "The Frugal Traveler," written by Matt Gross for the the New York Times . He gives his final swan song in this piece: Three things I've learned about frugal travel It's a great retrospective of his career as a travel writer. While I haven't always agreed with his definition...

After a year of collecting suggestions from over 32,000 people , the U.S Dept of State has unveiled a completely revamped source for travel information, travel.state.gov . While most Americans may only interact with the Bureau of Consular Affairs when they obtain or renew their passports, their charter also includes assisting citizens who fall victim...

When you research upcoming travels online, do you often feel like you’re hunting through the results to find relevant information? A new search engine, Kaweinga , is trying to make it easier for you to get the specific travel info you need. Started by Daniel Guttentag in February, Kaweinga’s search results are powered by Google,...

Every once in a while, I'll meet grizzled older travelers who talk about traveling in Southeast Asia before the advent of Air Asia. It was either spend ridiculous amounts on flying or spending 10+ hours on a rickety bus. Budget airlines were once a secret of the locals and savvy backpackers. Now they've become much...

It seems inevitable. Every few years, some magazine or popular site comes up with a ' New Seven Wonders of the World' list. Sometimes the lists are qualified, such as Deborah Cadbury's Seven Wonders of the Industrial World , or CEDAM International's Seven Wonders of the Underwater World , but more often than not, the...

It's one of the great train journeys: the Trans-Siberian Railway. The train makes tracks from Europe on one end to Asia on the other. If you can't make it out to Russia anytime soon, you can get a sample of the trip from the comfort of your computer. Here's the NY Times article: Trans-Siberian Railway...

Social enterprises have become a more popular way of developing impoverished villages. There is a compelling argument that building thriving businesses is more sustainable than donations and handouts. It also empowers locals to take more responsibility over how to develop their towns. Tourism is a natural fit, and also creates jobs at many levels of...

New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Asia's metropolises never slow down. A new Web site sets out to cover these hip urban machines: CNNGo . It currently covers six cities: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. CNNGo says they might expand to cover more cities in the future. What's...

The stereotypical Western expat in China is the investment banker in Hong Kong or the executive doing deals in Shanghai. On the other hand, the creative set has also been setting up shop in the Middle Kingdom, according to this New York Times article: For China's Western Expats, Creative Lives of Plenty . Five artists...