Latest Articles
- $7,035.57 = How much it costs to travel around the world through nine countries over five and a half months
- Revisited: How to pack for an independent traveler with no set return date
- A glimpse in the thoughts of Bolod Namkhai Mukhadi
- Beijing to Ulaanbataar Mongolia: The nitty gritty of independent travel
- How to get Chinese and Russian visas as a United States citizen: My experience
- Writing assignment: "Inside The Candelaria Festival of Puno, Peru"
- Marathon hitchhiking: Southern Mexico to Michigan in 7 days over 3,400 mi
- Mango Surprise: Being the victim of a random, delicious act of kindness
- Legendary Vagabonder Rolf Potts with priceless advice on travel
- Fire juggler in San Pedro de la Laguna, Lago Atitlan, Guatemala
Latest Destinations
- Romania: WWOOFing in Transylvania and back to the US
- Bulgaria: Nice cities, tipped off about an isolated beach, and getting perspective from a prostitute's cigarette burns
- Istanbul, and a few tips on curing impotency from the Hittites
- Giant carved heads, incredible valleys, camping on the Mediterranean, and a heavy dose of Roman ruins
- Lessons from a Kurdish-Swede rapper about Kurdistan, and finally getting my hands on an AK-47
Wandering Tips
Quick and dirty travel tips
Written by Tyler Cole | 24 April 2010
Looking back in my notebook, I found some scribbles of useful or handy tips that I picked up while on the road. None are particularly worthy enough to write whole page on, and only a handful were generally applicable to traveling, so I decided to start this page as a sort of collection of these sorts of tidbits I would like to share.
How to pack for a trip with no set return date (with post-trip comments)
Written by Tyler Cole | 16 January 2010
Note: this has undergone revisions beyond the comments in italics below. See this link for my most updated packing list: Revisited: How to pack for an independent traveler with no set return date
[Post trip comments are in italics]
On the eve of a trip that I'm hoping will get me from Peru to the US by land by summer, I thought I might go over what's going into my bag. A lot of people have asked what I pack for a trip that long...well in short, I try to pack lightly and I don't pack everything I need for that long. I will always be in places where people live and have stores, and I can resupply with what I need. My style is not exactly the superlight style, but I try to pare everything down to the essentials. (Excuse me if I seem a bit out of it in the video, it was the night before leaving around midnight and I was a bit scatterbrained.)
Tips to turn a long bus ride into an unforgettable time
Written by Tyler Cole | 13 January 2010
Budget travelers are more than familiar with bus travel, since added travel time is usually the first thing in exchange for the cheaper ticket.
That said, this extended time in a fixed location presents a good opportunity to slow down and connect with those all around. Very often the temptation is to pop in the ear buds, swallow down some sleeping pills, or clam up into a guide book, but we should all know better than to sacrifice the journey en route to the destination. First, let's prep for the bus ride.
