World traveler Chris Guillebeau recently wrote a post on Anderson Cooper 360 about all the things he wished he'd known before he started traveling. While a lot of his tips - keep all receipts until you are out of the country, travel with cash, and check your credit card statement weekly for fraudulent charges -...

Nick Baker, the Internet Cafe Hobo, will be traveling around the world and visiting Internet cafes. The details are in this BBC World Service article . Although Internet cafes may be facing a decline with the rise of netbooks like the Eee PC, they are still a common pit stop on the travelers' trail. Especially...

I suppose you could call me an expat in training. I’ve dipped my toe in by purchasing property in another country (Honduras) and have even begun to build my island dream home. But I’m years away from actually chucking it all and living there full time. A few weeks ago, Matador Abroad featured an article...

A few weeks ago, I came across a blog post titled " Authentic Travelers Don't Eat McDonald's ." At first, I was ready to post a comment of my disagreement. But as I read further, I realized the author was rebutting the title statement. There's nothing wrong with indulging in the occasional Westernized meal, he...

With all the bad news from the media, positive trends don't get that much coverage. It's easy to find news about where not to go. But how about an update? What often goes unnoticed is when dangerous places get safer. Forbes Traveler had an article called Not-So-Dangerous Destinations . It goes in the opposite direction...

A house in Bali. Photo from MatadorLife.com. Matador Life had an article a while back called What Can $150K Buy in Real Estate Around the World ? The photos were a real eye-opener about the great values available around the world. It's mainly pictures and figures, but the comments were instructive. There was also a...

The New York Times "In Transit" travel blog reports that Lonely Planet is re-introducing its cycling guides . The company noticed that out-of-print editions were selling for many times their listed price on websites like Ebay. This shows biking is making a comeback (or was it never away?). In any case, it's great to hear...

While we all crave that perfect sunset, that misty mountain, that heavenly beach, the real world of vagabonding is full of more annoying experiences. Need a place to vent your frustration? Then check out The Titanic Awards , created by travel writer Doug Lasky. The awards are given to those travel experiences that achieve the...

Sometimes the hardest part of a trip is simply booking it. Finding the best deals, avoiding hidden fees, tracking down a place to print out reservations, and dealing with electronic glitches can be incredibly frustrating. The NY Times has an article on this issue, Worst Part of a Trip May Be Booking It on the...

Mice, hamsters, geese, and toads display impressive skill in finding their way to their food or shelter. Even when they are blindfolded and sent through winding paths they can easily get back home. The same can't be said for humans. In similar tests, we don't do as well as other animals. In a recent conference...

With all the travel websites offering good deals, which ones really deliver great value? Matt Gross, writer of the New York Times Frugal Traveler blog , put them to the test in a battle royale, Travel Websites: A Click-On Showdown . The contest pitted old favorites like Kayak with relative unknowns, like Dohop and Bing...

This month at the RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page I interview guidebook writer Robert Reid , who has updated 21 Lonely Planet guidebooks, created his own experimental free guidebook to Vietnam , and written articles for the New York Times , San Francisco Chronicle , World Hum and Wanderlust . Here some outtakes from our interview:...

With all the news about climate change, carbon offsets are getting more attention. Should we pay for carbon offsets with our transport? Budget Travel magazine delved into the topic for its article, Are Carbon Offsets Worth It? The article stresses the importance of choosing a legitimate organization. Have you ever bought carbon offsets? Share your...

Though the Interviews page at RolfPotts.com features an extensive roundup of media dialogues I've done over the years, not every Q&A I've done has reached my typical audience. Sometimes this is because the interview is for an academic project; other times it's for a non-English-language periodical; and yet other times it's part of limited promotion...

This month at the RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page I interview my longtime friend and travel-writing colleague David Farley , whose book An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church's Strangest Relic in Italy's Oddest Town debuts this month. Farley has also written travel stories for the New York Times , the Washington Post , Conde...

Good news for student vagabonders hoping to make that leap abroad. This Matador pulse article, 1% of American students study abroad , introduces the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act. If it gets signed into law, it could enable more students to take that first step overseas. Here's the official website . Some of...

The New York Times has a great photo slideshow called Why We Travel 2008 . It's a collection of stunning photos with fun-to-read anecdotes. A perfect antidote for those who are currently not on the road (but long to get back on it!). The stories range from the touching, like a woman who taught impoverished...

If you're not second-guessing yourself about making that trip, plenty of relatives and friends are ready to remind you just how dangerous it is to travel abroad. This article on Brave New Traveler about Why Bad Things Happen to Good Travelers discusses the issue in detail. The author shares his personal perspective, in that he...

You've come back from the trip of a lifetime, but now it's time to start job-hunting again. If the economy wasn't bad enough, there's also a big gap in your resume from while you were abroad. What to do? Rolf has recommended putting your trip on your resume. Travelers Notebook did an article on this...

Has travel become such a common commodity that people are passing up ancient architecture and natural scenery for . . . sewage plants, prisons and poverty museums? I'm not making this up. Check out Newsweek's article, Way Off the Beaten Path . A quote from one person about the sewage plant tours was funny: "Don't...