It’s time for another collection of the best travel stories on the web, from the award-winning webzine Perceptive Travel.

One of the features is mine this time, a piece on getting to the roots of good coffee by visiting farms where the beans are grown. Come along for the ride to Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia in Alert in the Americas.

On Ontario’s remote Moose Factory Island, where the Cree First Nation is cautiously courting tourism, Carolyn Heller learns that there’s more to see than the “sights.” See Going Where No Roads Go in Ontario.

Lea Aschkenas heads into the Amazon jungle of Ecuador and fights discomfort and insects to appreciate the teeming life around her.

Graham Reid checks out some new and noteworthy world music. Afro-soul, Indo-jazz, desert blues, and “Autotune goes to Africa.”

Travel book reviews from William Caverlee include Encounters from a Kayak, Food Lover’s Guide to the World, and On This Earth, A Shadow Falls.

As usual, we’re giving away some cool travel gear as well. Last month someone scored a new pair of hiking shoes from Wolverine. This month we’re giving away a whole Travelling Light package from Sea to Summit. The winner will take home a daypack that compresses down into a tiny pouch, a mesh laundry bag, Travelling Light See Pouches, and a travel wallet. If you’re on our newsletter list already, check your inbox or bulk folder. If not, sign up here to get in on the action next time. You can also follow Perceptive Travel on Facebook and watch for the contest questions.

March is in like a lion and it’s time for another strange and wonderful issue of Perceptive Travel webzine, home to the best travel stories from book authors on the move.

Fresh off our third year in a row placing as “Best Travel Journalism Website” in a major awards competition, this month we’re putting out some offbeat tales from not so offbeat places: Gatlinburg, Montreal, and Nairobi.

These aren’t perky surface-level tales you’ll read in an airline magazine however. First, Vera Marie Badertscher of A Traveler’s Library makes her debut with a Tennessee trip to check out the progression of Moonshine in the Smoky Mountains. Darrin DuFord returns with a quest to find seal meat in Montreal, while Luke Armstrong finds a day of futility at a Kenyan soccer match with the Prime Minister in attendance.

William Caverlee highlights new and noteworthy travel books, from the Silk Road to the Appalachian Trail. Graham Reid is back to spin some new world music albums worth checking out from Senegal, Turkey, Portugal, and the world of Samba.

As always, we’re giving away something free to some lucky reader who is staying in touch. Two lucky readers actually: we’re giving away two nice watches from Armitron. Yeah, I know, you’ve got a pocket watch to tell you what time it is, just like they had in the 1800s, but that’s not so handy when you need your hands free. And when you’re abroad, you’re probably not going to be on your pocket watch, I mean smartphone, so often with international roaming being such a reaming.

Last month we gave away a Battery Porter portable charger from Digital Foci. If you’re on our newsletter list like Daniel from New Mexico is, maybe you would have won. Sign up here for next month, or get in on the action for the watches by liking Perceptive Travel on Facebook.

The February issue of Perceptive Travel is now out, fresh off our racking up a record six best travel writing awards from the North American Travel Journalists Association. We could just kick back and bask in the glow of our medals, but no, we’re going to keep cranking out interesting, unique, offbeat travel stories for your reading pleasure.

This month Bruce Northam takes us traveling around the Yukon Territory, a place the size of California that has 35,000 people. Want to reinvent yourself or start over? Leave your iPhone in busyland and head north to stake a claim.

Camille Cusumano last brought us the story of a hiker gone missing in Patagonia. This time she visits the seedy side of Buenos Aires at Feria la Salada, otherwise known as the Thieves Market. She won’t be going back…

Becky Garrison, author of Jesus Died for This? tries a pilgrimage to Glendalough in Ireland and finds that it’s going to take some effort to get away from the tourist hordes.

I cue up a worthwhile trio of world music from Brazil and central Africa, while Susan Griffith handles the travel book reviews: two on expatriate experiences in Europe, one with a travel quote for every day of the year +1.

Also we’re giving away a grab bag of travel gear goodies. The newsletter already went out, but you can still join us on Facebook to get in on the action. See the home page for details: Perceptive Travel.

Perceptive Travel is tagged as the “best travel stories from authors on the move” and this month we’ve got something awe-inspiring, something pensive, and something with a very unique point of view.

Michael Buckley went snorkeling with the biggest fish on the planet—whale sharks—off the shore of Donsol in the Philippines. You’ll want to check it out for the photos and video if nothing else.

Beebe Bahrami returns to the land she covers in her books, Spain, but when lost in the countryside she recalls advice from her Persian grandfather. Down a Stream in Iran and Up a Creek in Spain.

In an earlier story, David Drotar wondered what an alien would think when landing in Quebec. Now he’s gone on a bear-watching trip in British Columbia, Canada, but sees it through the eyes of a family of bears and the salmon.

But wait, there’s more! I review some new music, including a snoozer of an album from Iceland’s Bjork and a 20-piece spectacle band from Portland I can’t wait to go see this weekend when they come through my city.

William Caverlee handles the travel book reviews this month, including one on the infamous container of rubber duckies that spilled in the Pacific, the duckies then riding the currents to places far and wide.

Happy October. It’s time for the new issue of Perceptive Travel, with stories from Bangladesh, Canada, and Guatemala.

Tim Brookes, author of Thirty Percent Chance of Enlightenment, looks at global weather changes by visiting one of the wettest places on land: Dhaka. See 104 Percent Humidity in Bangladesh.

Tony Robinson-Smith goes on a hike so treacherous and hard to navigate that Parks Canada makes you take a test first before you can proceed. See Long Range Traverse in Newfoundland, Canada.

Luke Armstrong has published several stories on Guatemala in Perceptive Travel, including on devil bonfires and a smoking statue, but this is the first one that required rabies shots: Surviving Loco.

I step up to review three new and noteworthy travel books this month and Graham Reid returns to do the world music reviews.

Congrats to last month’s gear winner who got a Timex WS4 caribiner watch. This month we’re giving away a pair of convertible travel pants from Mountain Khakis. You can only win though if you’re signed up for the newsletter or you’re a fan on Facebook.