For the past week I’ve been battling the flu as well as the idea that I’m currently in the midst of experiencing my first real winter in over ten years. Even as I type this post there is an actual blizzard taking place outside, yes, a blizzard. Bucharest is covered in snow, my nose is clogged and I’m stuck inside because I don’t own any boots. This is the life of a traveler. Of course, it is my choice to be in the middle of Eastern Europe during the middle of winte

As most of you have probably noticed, I’ve never put up a guest post on this site. I’m quite picky about the content of the blog which is why I have always preferred to write it all myself. However, the following post is indeed written by someone else. It is written by fellow blogger, master of productivity and most importantly, my friend…Fabian Kruse of FriendlyAnarchist.com. Recently, Fabian has taught me a great deal about being productive while traveling and as a resul

The quick answer to this question – do you need a university degree to travel? – is of course a big fat ‘no’. It’s not as if you’ll be asked for your university diploma when entering a new country and you certainly won’t need to show proof of extended study in order to check into a hostel or hotel. But what I really want to talk about is the role that a university degree can play when it comes to living a life that involves long-term, and in many c

As excited as I am when I first step foot into a country I’ve never visited before, I must not deny the fact that there is also a part of me that, these days, just wants to travel to countries that I’ve already been to, countries that I can’t get out of my mind because of the life-changing experiences I had during my first, or in some cases, second visit. But it’s not always easy to do that because human beings love competition and when it comes to traveling, the mo

Coffee? You’ll see. So, your flight lands. You walk off the plane and proceed to the Immigration lines. You receive your entry stamp in your passport. You collect your luggage from the luggage carousel and you walk through the Customs area without any issues. And then you step out into the arrivals hall of the airport, ready to begin your adventure in a new land. At this point, you may already have your transportation organized and somebody or some service is picking you up. Others

Knowing that I’d be spending a decent amount of time in Romania, I loaded up my backpack with more clothes than usual when I recently paid a visit to my family back in the US. Normally, the weight of my backpack remains a relatively constant 8 or 9 kilograms (18 – 20 lbs) but as I crossed the Atlantic Ocean this time, I was carrying 15 kilograms (33 lbs), a weight that I can’t remember carrying around in a long time. Why all the extra clothes? I simply figured that being

When people ask me why I blog, I always give the same reason. I simply state that I want to help others understand that a life of travel, which basically means having travel play a significant role in your life, is so much more possible than most people ever imagine. And I am constantly reminding myself of that mission every time I write a post, reply to my emails and use social media. So whenever I receive a message from someone who was inspired by my blog and who started traveling as a

When I first began researching how I was going to get from Bucharest to Ulcinj, Montenegro, the first destination of my upcoming trip to the Balkans, I started off by checking airfares. I figured that flying there would just be the easiest method and considering that the distance is a lengthy, but reasonable, 850 kms / 470 miles between the two places, how expensive could the airfare be? Well, the answer turned out to be ‘very expensive’. My initial airfare searches gave me far

As I mention on this blog, in terms of accommodation, I typically stay in hostels, guesthouses or budget hotels when I’m traveling. And those options have worked quite well for me over the years, which is exactly why, when I decided to spend my week-long vacation in Ulcinj, Montenegro, I started looking for guesthouses and budget hotels as I normally do. There were some decent budget options, all of which cost around $15 or $20 per person, but for some reason I had trouble making a d

Young, naïve, frightened and desperately trying to look brave, I walked out of Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport at midnight, my first time in Asia, my first time backpacking, my first time in such a foreign place. And apart from my flight to Thailand, I had chosen not to do any travel planning at all. So, there I stood, my courage starting to fade, wondering how I was going to find a hotel and why I hadn’t booked a room in advance. I eventually found the official taxi stand, hoppe

According to official Romanian immigration law, citizens of most countries are allowed to visit and stay in Romania for no more than 90 days in any 180 day period of time. So once you’ve spent 90 days in this country, you must then remain outside the country for 90 days before being able to return. However, as of yesterday, I’ve now spent over 140 days in Romania since the end of December 2011, coming and going as I please. And I haven’t broken any laws whatsoever. It

I can tell you very quickly how many times during my travels I’ve had an incident overseas that required real medical attention. Three times. In thirteen years. The first time was when I fell into the moat that surrounds the Old City of Chiang Mai, Thailand. I had been celebrating the Thai New Year (Songkran) when I somehow lost my balance and ended up in the dirty water below. The problem was that during my rescue, which involved a chain of people reaching over the moat wall to pull

A few weeks ago, a reader of the site wrote an email asking me an interesting question. He asked me whether or not I owned anything besides what I carry around with me in my backpack. Am I a true minimalist attempting to live life with fewer than 100 possessions at all times or do I actually have an apartment or huge storage space somewhere that is overflowing with stuff? First, let me describe what I do carry inside of my backpack. It’s basically a collection of some clothes (shorts

Potatoes. A simple leaf bowl full of fried potatoes from a street vendor. That’s all I wanted last night. And while I did indeed end up eating a plate of potatoes from the potato street vendor that I encountered while wandering around the streets of the Pahar Ganj neighborhood in Delhi, the truth is, I probably paid more for those potatoes than anyone has ever paid for such potatoes in the history of potato street vendors. Here’s the mistake I made. After walking up to the vend

I was in my room in Delhi one day when I looked at the time. I had to make an important phone call but I suddenly realized that I didn’t have enough credit on my phone and so I rushed out of the hotel in order to find a shop where I could recharge my local SIM card. Walking into the market area nearby, I looked left and I looked right. I saw a mobile phone shop down the road and so I headed in that direction. On the way, a cycle rickshaw almost ran over my foot, a motorcycle driver b

Today I write to you from Palolem Beach, a most idyllic stretch of sand in the southern part of the Indian state of Goa. And it is right here where I shall plant my nomadic rear end for the next ten days or so in order to catch up on work, to celebrate the New Year, and most importantly, to take part in some relaxed beach living, which happens to be a kind of living I enjoy sprinkling into my lifestyle every now and then. And while I’ll write more about my time here in Goa at some po

As I alternate this morning between packing my backpack and standing on the balcony of my room in the South African wilderness, where I have a clear view of some zebras and wildebeests wandering around the river bed, I am left speechless. I am speechless, not because of the animals, but because of the fact that I have now traveled to South Africa, not once, but twice in my life at this point. I am also speechless at the fact that before South Africa, I was in India for three months, and th

Have you ever asked yourself, “How will I possibly make money while traveling?” or “How will I survive on the road?” or maybe “How can I can’t start traveling when I don’t have much money?”. Chances are that these very thoughts have indeed crossed your mind (they cross all of our minds at some point!) and there’s also a chance that you haven’t found any answers. As a result, you’ve still yet to take that first step and start

After my recent post that outlined “42 Ways You Can Make Money and Travel the World”, it was brought to my attention that while the options I listed all sound good on ‘paper’, a select few of the options have some real risks associated with them. So, I promised the reader who mentioned this to me that I would write a post focusing on the riskier side of travel, something that he felt wasn’t discussed realistically, or at all, on most travel blogs. It’s a tricky top

How do you choose your next destination when you have the ability to choose almost anywhere in the world? Then, once you decide where to go, what do you do to prepare for your travels? And finally, for those who don’t have a limited number of days for their trip, how on earth do you decide how long to stick around each place you visit? The above questions were asked in the comments section of my last post when I asked all readers of the blog to specify what you want me to write about