I recently came across an article by writer Vanessa Vaselka, which lamented the lack of female road narratives in pop culture. Her thesis -- that travel tales told by women, but which...

"I'm moving to China next week," I explained to bank teller, when she asked me how I was doing. "So I'm feeling a bit nervous at the moment. And you?"

Rather than answering my question, the woman signaled to her colleague to come over her as she processed my deposit....

It would be difficult to counter the argument that Cape Town, South Africa is one of the most captivating cities in the world, from a visual standpoint first and foremost.

Strewn over the foothills of mountains that tower up to a kilometer over the Atlantic Ocean, which surrounds the...

The town of Hogsback, perched amid the Amatola mountains in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, has gained fame among locals, travelers and nerds for inspiring J.R.R. Tolkien to write works such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Unfortunately, this region's claim to fame is just as mythical...

Lesotho is completely encircled by South Africa, so making a visit to the fabled mountain kingdom was a big priority of mine when I knew I'd be nearby. The only question was how. Many options for visiting Lesotho exist, but several of them are logistically challenging.

I could've traveled...

South Africa's Wild Coast, which occupies much of the territory between the cities of Port Elizabeth and Durban, is part of the Transkei, a region of the country that was designed as a homeland for indigenous African tribes prior to the end of Apartheid.

Although the dawn of democracy...

The concept of the "bucket list" has become ubiquitous in recent years. In no arena is this more true -- or, indeed, more applicable -- than travel. Our vast planet, with its hundreds of countries, billions of people and incredibly varied landscapes, is the ultimate bucket list.

I should know:...

Dear Robert:

You busted your ass, beat the odds and silenced the haters -- you made it to India! You've just made a huge step in your life as a traveler and while there's a lot more work to be done, you deserve to savor and enjoy this moment.

I...

I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm a pretty vain person. In fact, looking back on all my travel experiences, the ones I enjoyed least were the ones where I felt the least attractive, where I had (or perceived myself to have) any of the following: bad skin,...

I love cats of all shapes and sizes, so when I learned that backpacker hub Chiang Mai was home to one of Thailand's infamous "tiger farms," I had basically but no choice to include it in my travel plans this past September.

There was just one thing that bothered...

Like thousands of other loyal Continental elite flyers, I unwittingly became a United Airlines MileagePlus member at the beginning of this year, when the merger between the two carriers became official, and Continental ceased to exist.

And, as I would imagine has been the case for many other former...

When I came across news late last week that "rockets [had] landed in Tel Aviv," my heart sank. And my jaw dropped: I vividly remembered a conversation I'd had with my friend Lior the last time I visited Israel,...

The first thing I saw after I cleared immigration in Houston the morning of April 24, 2011 was an advertisement for the now-defunct Continental Airlines. No one says 'I take too many vacations,' it read.

I laughed. Haggard, delirious and sunburned a bright, lobster red from

This afternoon, when I visited the Erawan Museum near Bangkok, my friend Pin encouraged me to perform various Buddhist rituals with him in front of the massive three-headed elephant mounted on top of the museum building. Eh, I thought, ignoring the fact that I, well, don't believe in anything remotely...

During my recent visit to the all-but-destroyed island of Bali, a local friend convinced me to stay someplace I wouldn't have chosen on my own: Spartacvs, an all-male, clothing-optional resort.

Now, I love naked men as much as the next gay dude with a travel...

I'm not supposed to be in Bali right now. Just one week ago, in fact, I had a booked-and-paid-for flight to Sri Lanka -- which, you might remember, is one of my top 7 places I still need to visit. I...

This weekend, I decided to travel with my boyfriend Henrique to the island of Koh Samet. Less foreigner-infested than sex tourism hotspot Pattaya, but approximately the same distance from Bangkok, Koh Samet provides a more "real" Thailand travel experience.

Recently, a fellow travel blogger mentioned me on Facebook. "You basically call Bangkok home now," he prefaced his comment, referring to the fact that I recently changed my "Current City."

I couldn't humor him with an answer to his Bangkok-specific question -- he'd asked me about reggae music, which I...

People frequently ask me how I afford to travel as much as I do. They're surprised to learn that my annual income has never once reached the average per-capita GDP of the U.S. -- yet I have taken 11 overseas trips, all of them self-funded.

If I can afford...

Like so many other Americans, I lost my job in early 2009. Although I sent out dozens of résumés per week, I hadn't scored even a single interview by the time spring came around.

One afternoon I took a break from job hunting and came across a blog that described...