I poke. I push. I prod. I try to get people out of their cubicles and traveling the world. That’s what I do. That’s my thing. I show others that traveling doesn’t have to be expensive, that anyone can do it, and that your fears are unfounded. I try to be a living example for that. Judging by the emails I get from people, I think I’m successful at getting people onto airplanes and out into the world. But last [...]

Anyone who says Christmas is the most stressful time of the year has never had a book deadline. My book on world travel is due in less than 2 weeks and, to be quite honest, I’m not close to being done. At least, I don’t feel like I am. Other writers are telling me this stress is normal and everyone feels this way at one point but I’m not sleeping well, my eyes hurt from staring at my computer, and [...]

I need your help. Over the last four years I’ve produced over 1,000 pages of content on this website, which I can only assume have been helpful to people since my Google Analytics tell me I get return visitors and I don’t think my parents can hit refresh that many times! So as I dot the I’s and cross the T’s on my book, I would like to include you in it. If you have used this website and it [...]

With the end of my trip coming hard and fast, I’m at a crossroads. As I prepare to move on to the next stage of my life, two roads lay ahead of me and I’m not sure which one to take. I’ve always had this dream of living in Europe. I’ve traveled Europe a lot but I want to live in one place, learn the language, and experience European life as a local, not a tourist. I’ve always envisioned myself [...]

I travel alone most of the time because if I waited to travel with my friends, I would never go anywhere. I can’t count how many aborted travel plans I’ve made with my friends. From city meetups, to two week holidays, to backpacking adventures across Europe, something always seems to “come up.” When it comes down to the wire, my friends rarely come through. Once in a blue moon, they make it. My friend Joe joined me in Belize, Kristin [...]

“Now, if I buy all your flowers, you’ll go home, right?” said the Aussie girl next to me. “Yup” said the little girl selling roses as she handled the bundle to my friend. We were in Bangkok and I was watching my Aussie friend take pity on a little Thai girl selling flowers to drunk backpackers on Khao San Road in Thailand. She bought all the flowers, feeling good about herself and confident that she had kept a little girl [...]

“What would you like?” the lady asks me in her English accent. “Iced green tea,” I reply, unfazed by her accent, she unfazed by mine. We may be foreigners to each other, but nothing feels really foreign about us. I grab my drink and head out the door, making my way back into the busy streets of London. I’m a little lost but not worried. I am, after all, in the country that invented my language. I look at a [...]

Recently, a commenter remarked on a recent post: “I do wonder after so many years of travel you don’t seem to have been to that many places, and I would have to say also that many of your destinations are pretty “safe”, well tred places.” I told him we all go where we most desire to go and my destinations are based on that. This turned into a debate about giving travel advice, what makes an authentic traveler, and a [...]

After weeks of hyperactive travel, I’m resting in Salzburg, Austria. It’s a beautiful city with some beautiful mountains as a backdrop. My plan is to simply relax while I am here and recover. I’ll do a bit of sightseeing but after a whirlwind 3 weeks between Mexico, Germany, and far too many beers at Oktoberfest, I really just want to do a lot of nothing. I haven’t felt like I’ve had anytime to myself lately and sometimes you just need [...]

Among long-term travelers, there seems to be a certain degree of competition, a one-upsmanship if you will, over who can visit a place while spending the least amount of money. It’s a badge of honor to say, “Well, I did France for X dollars cheaper than you,” as though the cheaper you go, the more authentic your experience might be. I have seen this attitude expressed on my site when I share my cost of traveling posts. There are always [...]