The QE2’s Final Hurrah

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Observing Rosh Hashanah, In Uganda and Elsewhere

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Cheesy Souvenirs + Famous Landmarks = Very Cool Travel Pics

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Greyhound Canada (and Its Passengers) Can’t Catch a Break

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Vagrant Ruminations of a Compulsive Traveler

Where does the urge to hunt for that “fleeting fix of elsewhere” come from? Peter Wortsman recalls a life of travel inspiration. 

Rolf Potts: Revelations from a Postmodern Travel Writer

His new book “Marco Polo Didn’t Go There” includes his best stories from the past 10 years. Michael Yessis asks him how travel writing has changed in the last decade—and what he sees for the future.

Notes From an Unofficial Tourist Greeter

Summer is over, and so is Julia Ross‘ season as an ambassador to travelers in Washington, D.C.’s Woodley Park neighborhood. She’s happy to be off duty.

10 Great Travel Race Movies

Slow travel is well and good. But there’s something irresistible about a great travel race movie. World Hum Travel Movie Clubbers Eva Holland and Eli Ellison share their favorite vicarious thrill rides.

Eat Ceviche in Lima

Grab a Cusqueña and get comfortable. As Nicholas Gill explains, a trip to a Peruvian cevichería can be an all-day immersion in good conversation and raw seafood.

How Should I Spend My Time in Spain?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

Unsentimental Journeys: Wrestling With Paul Theroux

Bronwen Dickey considers “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Great Railway Bazaar”

3.21.07

A Very Long Way to the Hong Kong Cafe

In Ilulissat, Greenland, Daisann McLane found one righteously good Singapore curry chau mihn. More surprising, though, was the man who emerged from the kitchen when she shouted, ”Hai go douh yauh mouh jung gwok yan a?”

2.21.07

Caught in a Czech Funk

All David Farley wanted from the tourist information office in the tiny town of Nove Hrady was directions to the train station. Then he asked the young clerk a seemingly innocuous question: Was that funk booming from the speakers?

1.23.07

Saying Goodbye in the Sierra Madre

Jeff Biggers was living among the Tarahumara in Mexico’s Copper Canyon when he was invited to a funeral for a local woman. Amid the sorrow and song, he peeked at ‘the other side.’

12.29.06

Unlocking Beirut

When Catherine Watson left Lebanon’s capital city in the 1960s, she carried home the key to her former apartment. Forty years later, she returned with her prized souvenir and found it could still open doors.

11.29.06

I Still Don’t Know For Whom the Bell Tolls

In Florida’s Key West, land of tropical cocktails, Doug Mack went to Ernest Hemingway’s house looking for inspiration. He found some, but not the kind he hoped.

11.10.06

The Art of the Deal

In Marrakesh, Morocco, Peter Wortsman bargains for goods with the city’s savviest shopkeeers. For him, the give-and-take is not just about the money.

10.18.06

The Speed of Rancho Santa Inés

The saying goes: Bad roads, good people. Good roads, bad people. On a sleepy Mexican ranch, C.M. Mayo finds out what the Transpeninsular Highway brought to one stretch of Baja California.

9.21.06

The Winding Road to Joshua Tree

She moved to Los Angeles, found herself in the midst of a personal monsoon and began skipping dinner parties. Then Deanne Stillman rearranged her life around trips to her new church: Joshua Tree National Park.

9.12.06

Lost City of the Silk Road

To know the heart of Turkmenistan John W. Kropf thought he had to know the ancient city of Merv. That was just the beginning of his search. 

8.18.06

Smackdown in Tijuana

The teeming border city has a bad reputation. But in a rickety arena on a Friday night, Jim Benning discovers the forces of good still have a chance against the forces of evil, at least in swan-diving, chair-slamming lucha libre Mexican wrestling.

8.3.06

Yukon Summer Sky

A century ago, Canada’s Yukon River carried dreamers from around the world in search of gold. Laurie Gough recently followed in their wake and found a multi-national assemblage immersed in love, languor and a valiant quest to save a runaway honey-baked ham.

8.1.06

Around the Globe with No Clothes On

Michael Yessis visited seven countries in less than three hours—all without a swimsuit—at Spa World, Japan’s kitschiest, most worldly spa. 

7.17.06

Bali’s Bargaining Ballet

On a trip to the Indonesian island, Jerry V. Haines bought a batik shirt, a painting and a flying pig. Along the way, he discovered that haggling is like a dance, and you can’t stop dancing until the music is done.

7.3.06

The Sound of Sunshine

Frank Bures was working for a boss he didn’t like, spending too much time alone. It was a dark time. He found light in the bright, poignant music he first encountered in Africa: soukous.

5.31.06

The Places We Find Ourselves

Her official title was faculty sponsor. But in the confusion of post-Katrina New Orleans, Kristin Van Tassel realized the slippery nature of the roles we all play.

5.1.06

Lust in Translation

When the phone rang in his hotel room in Xian, China, Jim Benning expected to face a frustrating language barrier. He never could have imagined a woman with a sultry voice cooing at the other end.

4.10.06

France, Interrupted

In a lake house near Rodez, the wine was flowing and party-goers were immersed in a rugby match on TV. Terry Ward was chatting with locals, enjoying the moment. Then the telephone call came from home.

3.16.06

The Pasta Nazi

Not long after moving to Rome, David Farley thought he had the city wired. Then he visited Al Cardello restaurant and met chef Angelo.

2.27.06

A Brief and Awkward Tour of the End of the Earth

Jason Anthony was working as a U.S. Antarctic Program fuels operator when he was called to remote Vostok Station. It was a trip he would lie to take.

1.23.06

A Direct Impression

To guide him through Tunisia, E. Casey Kittrell chose a nearly 100-year-old travelogue and discovered what it’s like to travel with an observant, prescient, and, sometimes, bigoted man

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