Features

Illuminating ‘Dark Travel’

The "Lonely Planet 2007 Blue List" and Adam Russ's "101 Places Not to Visit" spur Frank Bures to contemplate why travelers don't always want to be delivered from inconvenience.

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What Items Should I Bring on a Summer Road Trip?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

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Rick Steves, It’s Time For a Tijuana-Off!

lucha libre Mexican wrestler Tijuana Photo by Jim Benning

The travel guru recently suggested that the Mexican border city is a hellhole. Tijuana-defender Jim Benning invites him to go mano a mano, travel writer-style, south of the border.

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The Woman in the Keffiyeh

kuffiya Photo illustration by Jim Benning.

In southernmost Turkey, women are known as the forbidden ones. So when a beautiful local invited Jeffrey Tayler for a ride on her horse-drawn cart and unmasked herself, he tried not to look. But he failed.

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Cullen Thomas: Inside ‘Brother One Cell’

The book's author spent three and a half years in South Korean prisons. Frank Bures asks him about his travels and his love for the country that put him behind bars.

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An Island in Costa Rica

An Island in Costa Rica Photo by Misho Ceko.

When she decided to spend her vacation volunteering at an orphanage, Tara Swords thought the kids would just need a little love to blossom. Then she met 5-year-old Catalina.

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How Much Money Do I Need For Long-Term World Travel?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

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The Distance From Dachau to Darfur

Dachau Camp Fence, Germany Photo by Peter Delevett

Peter Delevett recently visited the Nazi-era concentration camp in Germany. Afterward, he wondered: Why wasn't he doing more to stop the genocide occurring right now in Sudan?

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Gregory Hubbs: Remembering Transitions Abroad Founder Clay Hubbs

Gregory Hubbs: Remembering Transitions Abroad Founder Clay Hubbs Photos courtesy of Transitions Abroad.

Thirty years ago, he created a magazine to celebrate life-changing travel. Hubbs died March 29; the magazine lives on. Jim Benning asks his son about his father's legacy.

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Mark Ellingham: Rough Guides and the Ethics of Travel

Mark Ellingham Photos courtesy of Mark Ellingham

The celebrated guidebook publisher marks its 25th anniversary this month. Michael Yessis asks its founder about the early years, "binge flying" and the ethics of travel in the modern age.

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Eating Fajitas in France

Eating Fajitas in France iStockPhoto

He's a Mexican food addict. So when Jim Benning spotted the Tex-Mex restaurant in Lyon, France, he had to eat there. He knew it would be awful.

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A Very Long Way to the Hong Kong Cafe

iceberg, greenland Photo by Nick Russill via Flickr (Creative Commons)

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?"

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I Don’t Want to Travel with a Guidebook. What Do You Think About Traveling With an Atlas?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

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‘SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy From a Plane’

Giant Bibles, Bird Zappers, Hot Dog Shooters and so much more. Frank Bures says Kasper Hauser's parody of the in-flight catalog SkyMall is better than the real thing.

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Stephanie Elizondo Griest: ‘100 Places Every Woman Should Go’

The writer wants to inspire women to set out on their own sola adventures. Jim Benning asks her about the best and worst destinations for women travelers -- and the use of "male repellent."

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