A few weeks ago, Contiki Holidays put up a message on Facebook that “you can literally save hundreds of dollars going with Contiki over doing it on your own” and that backpacking was “so 1997.” Amused, I tweeted how that wasn’t right since independent budget travel is always cheaper. Contiki tweeted otherwise. Whether or not you believe backpacking is “so 1997,” (it’s not) it doesn’t change the fact that Contiki is NOT cheaper than independent travel, and I found it [...]

I think of many of my posts while in the shower. This one just came to me ten minutes ago while I was getting fresh and clean. Rather than sit on it, I’d thought I’d post it now before I forgot all the witty things I was going to say. Everyone has their own favorite travel companies- companies we always use, products we never travel without. Here are my favorites: Travel Insurance For travel insurance, I always use World Nomads. [...]

Last night, I watched the movie “A Map for Saturday.” It was amazing. Utterly and totally amazing. The movie was recommended to me by a fellow traveler, and chronicles a man’s round-the-world trip in 2005. It is filled with interviews from other backpackers, and very accurately captures the highs and lows of travel. It’s the best travel movie I’ve ever seen. For anyone who has ever backpacked or traveled for a long time, it’s an easy movie to relate to. [...]