Ottsworld
After quitting her job, leaving New York City and travelling the world, Sherry Ott realized that she could never go back. She now earns her pennies by teaching English and through her writing and photography, while continuing on in her travels.
The Long Horse Ride: Interview with Megan Lewis
Megan Lewis is on an 8,000 kilometre horse ride from Beijing to London.
The culmination of the 2008 Beijing Olympics marked the start of the horse ride, which is scheduled to finish in London in 2012.
The ride is designed to carry a goodwill message from Beijing to London, as well as raise funds for disadvantaged children through the work of Schoolchildren for Children.
Just before she was about to set out on the second stage of her journey, I exchanged emails with Megan about the inspiration behind this trip, and her experiences so far.
The Simple Three-Part Budget Plan for Travelling Europe
If there’s one thing budget travellers in Europe are good at it’s surviving on bread and cheese and not showering for weeks probably budgeting. Because we’re trying to leave home and keep travelling on the smallest amount of savings, every scrap of income is carefully stored and cared for until we hit the continent.
My wife and I travelled through Europe from March 2006 to September 2008. We visited over 30 countries during this time and — as well as creating the Indie Travel Podcast, an award-winning website about budget and independent travel — figured out how to keep ourselves alive while we weren’t working.
The Long Horse Ride
Megan Lewis part of the way through a horse ride from Beijing to London. Setting off after the Olympic closing ceremony last year, she plans to arrive in London in time for the 2012 Olympics.
Roaming Rachael
Rachael Hanley got tired of eyebrow-high snow in upstate New York, so she quit her newspaper job, threw away her shovel and headed off to Quito, Ecuador to try her hand at travel writing. She is currently on assignment in Nicaragua and plans to work her way up to Mexico by September.
How I Learned to Shut Up and Listen
I sat at a table of no fewer than fifteen people on the street Pio Nono, entry to Bellavista, the down-home party section of Santiago, Chile. I’d been invited to go out for a beer after the monthly critical mass bike ride, and we stacked our bikes tidily (handlebars to rear wheel) against a nearby tree and set to the matter at hand. We sat at a long series of card tables extending down the street, each of us perched on one of those ubiquitous white plastic chairs, serving ourselves beer into small glasses from the liter bottles of Escudo on the center of the tables. Some, drinkers of fan-schop (a Chilean specialty), mixed theirs with Fanta. I drank mine plain, and listened.
I arrived to Chile in 2004, with way more than a passing knowledge of Spanish. Between high school and a couple of travel and study stints in the mundo hispanohablante (Spanish-speaking world), I could express myself fairly well, if not cleverly. Hadn’t I explained the electoral college to a group of teachers in Antigua, Guatemala in the 90s? Wasn’t it me who grabbed other travelers by the hand to take them to the post office, the bus station, to get their hair cut? I enjoyed helping, expressing, being in charge. I could get you a seat on the bus, a doorstop, tape to fix a book – you name it. I could ask for it directly or circumlocute it. I spoke, and people understood. At the time, I felt that this was the only necessary linguistic accomplishment. You, listen to me. And then it was over.
12 Hidden Gems: Great Destinations that Caught Us by Surprise
If places we expect much of sometimes disappoint, the inverse is also true. Today, travellers share about places they visited that turned out to be hidden gems.
From the very obscure to the well-known, each of these travel tales attests to the fact that the best moments in travel catch you by surprise.
Unearthing Asia
The brain child of Nikolas Tjhin and Michelle Lee, Unearthing Asia is a vibrant multi-author blog aiming to uncover and share the finest parts of Asia. Through destination guides and travel tales, the enthusiasm of the editors and writers shines through. A great resource for anyone planning a trip to Asia.
99 of the Best Travel Blogs
Travel blogs are a dime a dozen these days. But finding the good ones, that’s the challenge. You know, the ones that inspire you with a burning desire to dust off your old suitcase, stuff it with some clothes and gadgets, and buy an open-ended ticket to somewhere far far away.
Those are the kinds of blogs we feature on TravelBlogs. And we’ve uncovered plenty of gems over the past few years. As TravelBlogs is about to feature its 100th blog, I thought it would be an appropriate time to stop and heap praise upon the 99 excellent travel blogs already featured.
Planet Nomad
Late last year, Elizabeth Jones moved to Morocco with her husband and three kids. Her blog is an engaging account of expat life in Northern Africa.
