Here’s a secret: I love being a cheesy tourist. As much as I love getting off the beaten path and learning about local cultures, sometimes I love the artificial world the mainstream travel industry has created. I think a lot of people think too deeply about travel, as if every moment on the road has to have profound impact and meaning. They are too quick to write off mass tourism. I’ve always found travelers who shun anything “cheesy” to be [...]

People always ask how travel has changed me. If I look back at who I was before I began traveling and compare that to who I am now, I would have to say that travel has made me a better and more well-rounded person. I’m way cooler now than I was at twenty five when I first left to explore the world. Simply put, I’m a lot more awesome now than I used to be. In fact, I think travel [...]

I’m not going to lie – I think I have a pretty good travel blog. You probably do too, if you read it. I work hard to provide excellent practical travel advice to help you travel better, but I’m not the only great travel blogger out there. In fact, and I know this might be shocking, there’s a lot about travel that I’m not an expert on. Family travel? No idea. Travel as a woman? Clueless. Information on hotels? Only [...]

With 2011 almost over, I can’t help but look back on this year with gratitude. This site has grown beyond my wildest expectations. It seems that every year only keeps getting better. For that, I have all of you to thank. Without you, this site wouldn’t be what it is. Thank you! And since this year saw so many new readers, I thought it would be a good idea to sum up the year and highlight some of my favorite [...]

I often write about my favorite hostels in regions around the world but I’ve never written about my favorite hostels in the world. With more than 55 countries and five years of backpacking under my belt, I’ve stayed in hundreds of hostels. Some were so bad that I’ve blocked them out of my memories. But out of those hundreds, I have some clear favorites. Places I’ll never forget and will go out of my to stay in: Rocking Js (Puerto [...]

Sushi is my favorite food. I’d eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I could. (In fact, I have had it for breakfast before.) Since it is such a popular delicacy and you can pretty much find it anywhere in the world, I make it my mission to try sushi everywhere I go in an attempt to find the best sushi places in the world. After visiting countless sushi restaurants over the years, these are my favorite destinations for [...]

I’ve been backpacking for over five years now. That’s a long time to travel period, let alone staying in hostels, dorm rooms, living out of the same backpack, and traveling on the cheap. I really love this form of travel though, which is why I’ve continued to do it for so many years. I enjoy hostels, meeting people, light travel, the wild adventures, the youthful vibe, and not having guides and tours hold my hand the whole way. Plus, I [...]

We all want to take that vacation, career break, or gap year, but with the way the economy is right now, many people are concerned about being financially stable. To some, travel is not an option. It is a luxury. However, the idea that travel is always expensive is simply not true. There are plenty of great travel destinations in the world that won’t break your bank once you’re there. Here are five of my favorites places to travel on [...]

Everyday, more and more people are starting travel blogs. It’s hard to keep up with them all. I wish I could because I love reading people’s travel stories. They keep me excited about life on the road. But there’s too many blogs to read. Yet I do have some favorites and I wanted to bring your attention to some great travel sites that are worth reading: (Note: I picked blogs that weren’t already popular and well known as I wanted [...]

With all the flying I’ve been doing lately, I’ve come to realize I may fly too much. I feel like Ryan Bingham from Up in the Air or at the least Johnny Jet. Over the next six weeks, I will be traveling to several destinations in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia for both business and pleasure. It’s a hectic travel schedule and one that will definitely help me rack up a lot of frequent flier miles. I’m going [...]