The best holiday destinations and travel ideas!
Posted: 6/19/2019 | June 19th, 2019 Last month, I announced the release of my next book, Ten Years a Nomad: A Traveler’s Journey Home. It’s about how I became a traveler, my life as a backpacker, all the lessons I learned, and what those lessons mean for travelers. It features stories I’ve never told and goes …
As travelers of the world, we have a unique opportunity to break down barriers, foster cultural exchange, and create a positive impact on communities around the world. We can banish stereotypes of our own cultures, stimulate the local economy, and bring fresh ideas and perspective to places. Travel can be a life-changing thing — not only for the destination you are visiting but also for yourself. We …
A few months ago, I read the book Visit Sunny Chernobyl by Andrew Blackwell, about the worst’s biggest garbage-ridden and polluted places. It’s like the anti-travel guide. It’s about all the places a traveler wouldn’t go, the ugly places we overlook. It was interesting to learn about these places that exist but never get any coverage. Smart, funny, and well written, this is one of my favorite books I read all year…
Visiting Morocco has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I’ve always wanted to ride a camel, see the desert, explore maze-like medinas, and drink tea with Berbers. As I stood overlooking the Sahara one morning, marveling at the rhythmic, undulating dunes of the desert, I realized that my dream had come true. For miles around, the dunes rolled like red-tinged waves in the sea. I had ridden a camel to the spot where …
Wandering around the Fez medina, I could feel the stares. “Where are you going? Want to go to the tanneries? I’ll take you. No money. Don’t worry!” the medina’s faux guides said as they chased me down the street. “No, I’m fine,” I’d reply, trying to dodge them at every turn. Turning down side streets, stopping to look at a map, or admiring a view caused them and any nearby vendor to pounce and badger me, inviting me into stores, restaurants, and attractions. There were moments when I would turn …
Today, professional photographer Laurence Norah of Finding the Universe, continues his five part series on taking better travel photos. Photographs are an important part of the travel experience and with so many of you being budding photographers, Laurence’s series is here to help you improve your photography skills. We’ve gone a lot of the basics in this series so, in part four, Laurence is taking…
It’s that time again, everyone! No, not when we all rush out for Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks (ok, it’s that time too) but time for my annual reader survey. Every year, I do a survey to find out how much you hate this website…I mean…what I’ve done right in the past year. I’m constantly working to improve this website’s content, design, …
Switzerland conjures up many images. On one side, there are majestic mountains, delicious fondue and chocolate, big banks sheltering people’s money, precision watches, and an orderly society. On the other, heart attack–inducing prices: $8 USD coffee or beer?! $50 steaks?! A $15 menu at McDonald’s?! $35-40 hostel beds?! WTH! Switzerland is rated the most expensive country in the world to…
In July, I launched a new charitable foundation called The Foundation for Learning and Youth Travel Education (FLYTE) to raise money for high schools in rural and low-income communities so that they may send their students on international educational trips. Since it launched, we’ve raised $11,400! First, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you! This is completely awesome! Your support …
From Matt: For close to a year, Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse has been writing a monthly column on solo female travel for this website. She’s covered WWOOFing in South Africa, hitchhiking in China, safety tips, what to tell naysayers, and much, much more. Over the last few months in response to many emails and inquiries, Kristin and I worked together on a guide to solo female travel. It includes lots of practical travel information but also tips and advice that are specific to women and their travel needs. It’s an awesome book. Here’s …
