Best as we can recall, only three people didn't like living on an island full-time: Robinson Crusoe, Tom Hanks and Gilligan. For the rest of us, the idea of a home with a water view in any direction is the ultimate dream.

Traveling alone, whether you're a man or a woman, is one of those taboo things for some people and is the most adventurous way to travel for others. It can be the single most rewarding travel experience that you will have or it can be lonely and depressing. It's all what you make of it.

Perhaps now is the time to start listening to those well-meaning folks who say such frivolous things like, "There's no time like the present."

Do you travel as often as you please? Would you hate me if I told you that I did?

As I embark on my latest adventure abroad, I'm mentally preparing myself to do without all the things I miss most when I travel.

Interesting shapes or places on a map frequently move us to go and see what's there. It might be an island, a peninsula, an isthmus, a continent. For Loreen Niewenhuis, it was Lake Michigan.

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.

In the summer of 2006, at the height of my career, with three Emmy-awards on my shelf, I slammed on the brakes. I quit. I gave it all up to travel the world. And I don't regret it one bit.

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.

On the surface, I should be nothing but excited. So what am I anxious about?

Telling people I have been traveling for four years usually makes them think I am rich. Well, I'm not. Plan for your spending habits and you'll find yourself staying on budget and on the road for a long time.

Should this year's travel fantasy Eat Pray Love drive you to wanderlust, you're in luck. On September 14, free seminars on how to plan extended trave...

Our own fears and lack of confidence keep us from going overseas and taking that trip we dream of. After you take the leap you will realize that all your worries were for naught.

Everyone loves to travel. Yet few people end up doing more than just taking a two week vacation. St. Augustine once said "The world is a book, and he who doesn't travel reads only one page." I keep that quote in my mind constantly.