This month GoNOMAD Editor Max Hartshorne shares some tips for making your next trip easier and safer, including taking along a power strip so you need only one adapter, scanning your passport and emailing it to yourself, and limiting luggage by shipping extra stuff.
Max, who usually takes about twelve trips a year, says most of these tips occurred to him after he wished he had thought of them.
Kelly Westhoff and Quang Nystrom in
Torres del Paine National Park in Chile
Max has also sent back blog entries about a great trip to New Zealand, his latest "favorite place."
Speaking of tips from a pro, GoNOMAD Senior Writer Kelly Westhoff has some advice on how to travel with your significant other without killing each other. She and her husband Quang Nystrom spent eighteen months traveling around the world.
They had their disagreements, she reports, but "In the end, travel made our marriage stronger. My husband and I might have started our six-month journey as honeymooners, but when we came home, we were solidly married."
We've also included some very important tips from Travel Doctor Stuart Rose on staying healthy in high-risk destinations.
Besides the advice category, we're presenting what we're known for -- top notch travel stories. Matthew Kadey on biking in Cuba, Sony Stark on the Lake Region in Chile, Tristan Cano on the famed Rock of Gibraltar, and Mridula Dwivedi on the palaces and peacocks in Bundi, Rajasthan.
Margie Goldsmith has a lovely piece about visiting the Globe Theatre in London and standing on Westminster Bridge in the exact spot where William Wordsworth penned his famous poem.
Lisa Linsley and her friend Allie visited Provincetown, at the end of Cape Cod, during Leather Weekend. "We both commented on the breath of fresh air we felt when seeing people so openly express themselves," she writes, adding that this was a new experience for them, since they are both from Connecticut.
All in all it's just another month of top-notch travel writing on GoNOMAD.
New stories recently published on GoNOMAD:
Love the One You’re With: How to Travel Together Without Killing Each Other
In the end, travel made our marriage stronger. My husband and I might have started our six month journey as honeymooners, but when we came home, we were solidly married. It was as if our trip condensed six years of marriage into six months. I returned home with a deeper understanding of myself and my husband. And it’s not just me He agrees that our travels turned our beginner marriage into something stronger than it was before...
Visiting New Zealand: Off to My Favorite Land, Far, Far Away We are off to Auckland and then Wellington, New Zealand. One of the things on the itinerary that excited me the most was Nelson Helicopters. We'll soar in a chopper over mountains and land up there, and hike our way down. We will also take a ferry across the strip of ocean that divides the north and south islands. Sometimes it's rough, but our friend Gabrielle assured us that sometimes it's not. An adventure, no doubt!
The Rock of Gibraltar: Beaches, Bunkers and Birding
With 300 days of sunshine a year and an almost uninterrupted coastline, you would be forgiven for thinking that Gibraltar is just a sun-soaked Mediterranean retreat. However Gibraltar is perhaps just as famous for its turbulent history. Walking through Gibraltar’s streets, you encounter remnants of Gibraltar’s Moorish, Spanish and British past including a medieval castle, derelict walls and bastions and abandoned military hardware...
Kipling’s Bundi: Peacocks and Palaces in Rajasthan
When my nephew Sunil and I visited the Sukh Mahal (Palace of Comfort would be the rough translation) at Bundi, the caretaker who opened the room filled with paintings told me (in Hindi), “This is where the Mowgli writer stayed.” I told him the writer’s name was Rudyard Kipling and the book that is associated with Bundi is Kim not The Jungle Book. But he told me firmly, “It was the Mowgli man who stayed here.”
London Calling: The City of Immortal Rhymes
I leaned on the railing at Westminster Bridge, taking in the view. The sun made the river seem as though it was blanketed with glittering sparklers. As I stood back up from the railing, I realized I had been leaning on a small plaque that read: “William Wordsworth 1770-1850, Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 1802.” A poem followed and I read a stanza. "This city now doth, like a garment wear / The beauty of the morning silent, bare..."
Provincetown, Massachusetts: Biking, Art and Open-Minded Culture Visiting off-season, on a windy, drizzling Saturday, I obviously didn’t go swimming and didn’t lie out in the sun. As the rain rapidly increased on the long drive there, I got antsy wondering what would be there to do in the rain, in October. I mean what else is in Provincetown besides beaches? The answer turned out to be... everything! Provincetown really has something for everyone, whether it is the arts, biking, whale watching, or boating...
"I Wish I’d Thought of That!" - Tips from a World Traveler
I’ve been traveling on international trips about 10 times a year for the past five years. Since that time I’ve compiled the following tips that in most cases occurred to me after I wished I had thought of them. Below are some recommendations that will make your next trip easier and safer. 1. If you’re given a piece of paper by customs or somebody else with a uniform in the airport, save it. You will most likely be asked for it again on your way home...
Staying Healthy When Traveling to High-Risk Areas
If you are traveling to lesser-developed countries, you have probably been warned by your family and friends about malaria, E. coli, and dengue fever, not to mention Delhi belly, more commonly known as travelers’ diarrhea. “As serious as these illnesses can be, don’t let these warnings deter you from traveling” says Dr. Stuart Rose, a board-certified emergency physician and owner/CEO of Travel Medicine, Inc....
The Lake Region of Chile: Temperate Rainforests and World-Class Volcanoes
Few people realize that the Lake Region (Los Lagos) in Southern Chile looks just like New Zealand. The environment shares the same rugged appearance from formidable mountains to icy glaciers to craggy fjords. But, if you’ve never been to Kiwi country, Chile might win you over as the more affordable destination. I visited temperate rainforests and world-class volcanoes, old-world Bavarian farms and indigenous tribes - all about 150 miles apart....
Hidden Gems in South Central Idaho: A Pleasant Detour From the Ordinary
If high-end resort towns don’t appeal to you, perhaps a side-of-the-highway tourist attraction will. Chief Washakie, leader to the Shoshone people, welcomes us to explore the Shoshone Ice Caves. Something about stopping here makes me feel proud to be touring my country - like this is what good old American road trips are all about. Before our departure, the guide looks down at my sandals, "You do realize this is an ice cave, right?"
Bicycling Cuba: Bluebird Skies and Welcoming Homestays For the cyclist, roads sans cars, bluebird skies, numerous and welcoming home-stays and the diverse topography of the Caribbean’s largest country are making Cuba an increasingly popular cycle touring destination. Where else do you have beaches and cathedrals and mountains cheek by jowl? We're urrounded by a world that has come alive with resplendent views of lushly overgrown hills that hold some of the richest biodiversity in the Antilles...
Shinugu Matsuri: A Little-Known Festival in Okinawa
During the spring and summer months my weekends are occupied with photographing festivals. I live in Okinawa, Japan. For an island only about 65 miles long, it must have more festivals per capita than anywhere else on earth. A festival (matsuri in Japanese) here, is like any county fair; crowds by the thousands, popular music performed by live bands, vendors pushing their overpriced food and drinks, children’s rides and games of chance...
Roz Savage Update: Rowing Across the Pacific
We had the pleasure of meeting Roz Savage when she rowed across the Atlantic Ocean in 2005. Now, at 41, Roz is back with more motivation and determination than ever. She has proven to be not only the ultimate nomad exploring the world, and an avid adventurer, by rowing the Atlantic solo in 2005, she is now taking on the other side of the world, the Pacific Ocean to raise awareness of environmental issues...
A Visit to the Bavarian Alps: Christmas Markets and Pagan Spirits
Twelve costumed figures, some wrapped in long stripped straw, others sprouting fur under disfigured masks, charge the cobblestone streets. Everyone takes off running, as do I. Boys and girls scream in nervous laughter as we dodge street corners and hide behind unsuspecting shoppers. The ugly beasts have long red tongues, crooked noses and devil horns atop their furry heads...
Cycling the Length of South America
If you happen to run into James Pratt in some random hostel, he won’t immediately strike you as exceptional. He appears to be like any other 20- or 30-something backpacker, but behind a Clark Kent-like quality, this unassuming Englishman has embarked on a Superman-like feat: he’s riding the length of South America on his bicycle. Since beginning the journey in Caracas, Venezuela, four months ago, James has clocked about 3,000km on the road...
