When your budget approaches the big "O" halfway across the world, everything becomes less peaches and sunshine and more hunger pangs and angry fits. Luckily, you don't need a trunk of Portuguese gold to turn the situation around.

Arguably the greatest party on the planet, Rio's Carnaval falls right at the top of every partier's puke bucket list. Here's how to do it right.

While in Nha Trang, I met an English teacher who had been in Vietnam for many years. He said the Vietnamese are taught that their problems are caused by the West, especially by the French and Americans.

Covered in steep hills and rickety descents, Lisbon takes some climbing to explore. While most of Europe gives up the goods pretty easily, Lisbon makes you work for its main attractions.

Never thought of Canada, did you? Well this sleeping giant knows how to have a good time. When Amsterdam stops burning, hop past Washington, blaze through to Vancouver and make Holland beg for forgiveness.

I wondered what motivates other people to get up, quit their jobs, and travel the world. So I asked. And here is what people said.

You've heard of some of these places, while others are completely new -- each has a little something sassy to get you anxious to move.

Oslo is only expensive for the uninformed and there's always a way to sneak your way to cheap. Whether you're showing off your own crown jewels or stealing the Royals', there's no need for your wallet to ever leave your backpack.

Travel is delightfully (and frustratingly) unpredictable. Foreign correspondents and international aid workers often get special survival training. The next best thing is this back-pocket travel survival instruction manual.

It's scary leaving everything you know and heading off into the unknown. However, once you look at why you are afraid of doing it, you'll realize there's no reason to be scared. You can travel.

Today a growing number of older travelers are realizing that they are at the perfect stage of life to hit the road and see the world. Here are just a few reasons why older travelers might have a better experience than their younger counterparts.

To be honest, I'm a bit of a "bourgeois hippie," which basically means that while I can sleep in tents, crash in squats and otherwise rough it, I maintain my inviolable right to pack personal style alongside my sleeping bag.

I did not take an impromptu trip to Greece to assume the role of embedded journalist. I just wanted to take my first real vacation and climb Mt. Olympus to high-five Zeus.

I think five years is a good point in which to sit back and reflect on what exactly travel has taught me through this long, strange trip.

The fact of the matter is that Rome, in late summer, is inundated with tourists and the most resourceful traveler would be hard-pressed to escape the hoards of tour groups roaming the city.

Plan well and a trip to Switzerland -- while modestly more expensive than a visit to the country's European neighbors -- doesn't have to break the bank.

Living out of a backpack for a year really does change you. It changed me: I'm a born-again minimalist.

It doesn't take a lot of time to realize that Munich is both a world class destination and an unassuming city.

Berlin had a busy century. The city saw the end of an empire, two World Wars, the rise and fall of "The Wall" and - more recently - great artistic migration and widespread gentrification.

The three short films Rick Mereki made during his travels to 11 countries in 44 days are making the rounds on the internet today, like that featuring ...

Amsterdam is a city with a reputation for two things and let's just say neither of them is healthy living.

For those of you thinking about backpacking, consider taking a break in Belgium.