Spring festivals are getting underway, bringing the promise of prime walking weather. Although it’ll be a little while before Norway warms up, St. Olav’s Way is a trek (and bonafide pilgrimage) to check out.

The route stretches about 400 miles (643 km) northwest from Oslo to St. Olav’s grave in Trondheim. It traces lakes, rolls over hills, cuts into and out of forests “Read more »

Have you ever returned from a trip and wished there were an easier way to show your friends and family the exact route you took on your journey? Check out Wikiloc, one of three winners of the 2009 Geotourism Challenge, sponsored by Ashoka’s Changemakers and the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations.

Wikiloc allows communities to create their own maps of … Read more »

Planes, trains, and buses. These are the modes of long-haul transportation that vagabonders are most familiar with. However, every continent save Antarctica has a great river running through it.

The shortest is the Murray River in Australia at 1,476 miles, with the longest being the river at the heart of civilization, the great Nile at 4,132 miles. The Yangtze and the Amazon are both a close second at around 4,000, with the Mississippi … Read more »

What do you get when combine CouchSurfing with sailboats? Vagabond Sailing, of course. Vagabond Sailing (a name inspired by Rolf’s Vagabonding) aims to be a way for vagabonds and travelers of all stripes to connect for a group travel experience on the high seas.

Sailing might not be the first thing that pops in your head when you think of budget travel, but … Read more »

First, decide you’re going to go.

The untraveled route is the route you haven’t taken yet. Or maybe it’s your old route with new eyes.

Go on foot. Bike. Horse. Rollerblade, skateboard, pogo stick.

Start climbing from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port or descending from Read more »

Kayaking is a great way to explore a place. The skinny craft is multi-faceted: It goes through churning whitewater, along lake and estuary coastlines, and can even catch a wave. But when you’re traveling, how do know which operators are truly professional and which you should avoid?

Prices for kayak rentals and short, guided trips can be affordable for vagabonders, depending on the … Read more »

While maps are an indispensable tool for travel, they don’t always provide enough detail to get around. A map of Marrakech doesn’t show the maze of the medina. When one has to walk through a graveyard in Mexico to get to a remote beach, there isn’t a signpost saying ‘This Way‘. If you don’t know which road you’re on in Costa Rica, a map won’t help you figure it out.

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As Marcus Sortijas pointed out a couple of weeks ago, interest in bicycling is on the rise. This makes sense in a number of ways. In terms of healthy living, incorporating physical exercise into activities that are themselves enjoyable is easier than avoiding going to the gym. As the cost of gas inflates and there is more awareness for maintaining a clean environment, a mode of transportation that serves both the function of commuting … Read more »

Historically speaking, the word “vagabond” does not conjure up the best images. You might think it’s cool to describe yourself as a vagabond, but how about having a V branded on your hand? Not so cool, but in fact that’s just one of the many punishments meted out to vagabonds over the years.

While no one (that we know of) is heating up branding irons … Read more »

Apart from time, some money, and an open mind, the act of traveling doesn’t really require much from the traveler. Still, there’s always an incident where I find myself saying “I wish I knew how to do that”. Here are some skills I wish I learned before I started traveling:

Tying knots. I used to think that knots were mostly for … Read more »