If you’ve got a good head on your shoulders and a good internet connection, you can stay for free, safely, in the houses of kind people all around the world! How? Couchsurfing.org.
For some of you, this article will be a review of a global trick you already know well. For others, however, this may be a thrilling new insight into budget travel!
As we proceed through the steps of [...Read More!]
Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria,” is a standout text in teacher training courses. In it, Tatum argues that self-segregating with members of our own “groups” is not always so bad.
Sometimes self-segregation is positively essential in maintaining our sanity!
I realized last week that I’d started talking with my male travel buddies as if they were women. Really, this is just dumb. [...Read More!]
I sincerely hope, as you read the title of this article, that you pictured a wee virus wearing a tiny coat lined with silver sequins.
Watch him prance around flamboyantly in his flashy outfit! Cute little guy.
That image just about sums up the series of snags and their silver sequin linings that occurred over my past twenty-four hours. Here’s an account of what happened.
Snag #1: Hanoi gave my computer diseases!
Last [...Read More!]
I received a lovely email from an American backpacker in Mexico recently, requesting tips on finding pals while traveling. This article is a response. Keep those emails zinging my way, readers! I like them.
(Note: the photos in this article are street scenes from Chiang Mai, Thailand. What a livable, enjoyable place! Look at how pretty the disco ball temple walls look in the glow of night traffic!)
Before [...Read More!]
A cute little 10-inch netbook computer can be in your hot little hands for less than $200 nowadays. If you stuff one into your backpack before your next trip to anywhere, you will be endlessly thankful.
Why?
All of the beautiful photos in this article are from spaces in Luang Prabang, Laos, that have free Wi-fi internet access. Honestly. Isn’t that amazing??
“WHAT?!” you holler, jumping closer to the screen. [...Read More!]
The famous author from whom I bought my dear little Asus eee PC threw me a sharp Facebook message in response to one of my status updates. “What happened to the computer?” he typed. “I leave for Kabul in 30 hours. Give me the lowdown.”
So I did. “At exactly the same moment I was being groped on a moving motorcycle atop a mountain in rural Vietnam,” I replied, “a [...Read More!]
After two months on the road, voyaging from Boston to California, to Japan, to Southeast Asia, which gear has proven to be the most and least useful? What should YOU consider packing if you’re planning a long-term trip, particularly to the Developing World?
1. A medium-sized travel backpack (non-wheeled!) which zips more than halfway open (not top-load) and which fits in an airplane overhead bin. I almost splurged on a [...Read More!]
Meg looked up from her tea with disdain. “Why the heck would you possibly need three bathing suits?” she asked.
“I want to be on the beach all the time!” I protested.
“Yea, well, you probably won’t be,” Meg snapped. “Take two swimsuits, MAX, you little pack rat!”
I glowered as I plopped the red bikini into the Leave-With-My-Bro-in-the-U.S. pile, but Meg was right: I thought I had packed light, but [...Read More!]