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.

Take a hit of the April issue of Perceptive Travel and you might reach enlightenment. Or at least be entertained.

We’ve got weirdness all around this time, starting with a story about an archaeological site in Panama where the caretakers believes it’s really a place the aliens visited way back when. See What to Do About Barriles?

James Dorsey is back with another tale of stumbling into a village in Africa and finding himself the instant elder. He wants to buy a souvenir pipe. They just want him to smoke khat with them. So it’s time for Passing the Pipe in Ethiopia.

Anja Mutic makes her debut with a tale about her first trip to India—and therefore her first impressions—being part of a luxury travel press trip designed to only show the edited version of the country. See India of Light and Darkness.

Naturally we’ve got the scoop on new books and music worth checking out, so see the April travel book reviews from Susan Griffith and the April world music reviews from Laurence Mitchell.

Win some travel gear!

Each month we give away something cool to someone who follows the webzine via the monthly e-mail newsletter or the Facebook page. See links for both on the home page and enter. Last month two readers won a nice new Armitron watch and this month we’re giving away some $100+ hiking shoes from Wolverine. What are you waiting for?

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 out, with more of the best travel stories from book authors on the move.

Once again it’s fair to say “best travel stories” because for the third year in a row, the publication I edit placed for “Best Travel Journalism Site” in the annual awards from the North American Travel Journalists Association. We got the Bronze this time, but first was National Geographic Traveler’s website and I think theirs is actually produced in a real office with a water cooler. (Two of our stories won too—see the home page for details.)

This month we travel to three distinct places and go beyond the usual tourism brochure fluff.

Chris Epting has a story on where the Rolling Stones spent their early years while touring around the U.S. David Lee Drotar finds the dark side in Costa Rica, looking at what all that tourism and real estate development is doing to howler monkey habitats. I’ve got a piece on a place few people seem to visit, but should get onto their radar: the eastern half of Slovakia.

Susan Griffith highlights new and noteworthy travel books, including a biography of legendary travel writer and adventurer Redmond O’Hanlon. Laurence Mitchell is back to spin some new world music albums worth checking out from troubled Mali; Persia via India; and Bollywood and Havana via Canada.

As usual, one of our readers will get something new by entering the monthly gear contest and winning. Last month’s winner is getting decked out in a travel clothing outfit from Mountain Khakis. This month we’re giving away a small portable battery pack for your quick-dying iPhone or other gadgets. If you’re on the monthly newsletter list, you already got your chance to enter. If not, sign up here for next time and get a shot at this month’s by following Perceptive Travel on Facebook.

And between new issues, don’t forget to check out the cool PT blog!

It’s a new year and time for a new issue of Perceptive Travel, with offbeat stories from book authors moving through the Azores Islands of Portugal, the Sahara Desert of Algeria, and rural China.

If you’re just joining us, I launched Perceptive Travel webzine in 2006 and the blog soon after. It’s won a slew of “best travel writing” awards and gotten stories into travel writing anthologies. Each month the webzine publishes interesting narratives from wandering authors as well as reviews of new travel books and world music albums.

This month Judith Fein returns with a story about Public Art in the Azores—the islands way off the coast of Portugal. Guidebook author Jessica Lee goes exploring the desert of Southern Algeria with the Tuareg people and discovers why a simple piece of cloth is ideal Desert Wear in the Sahara. James Dorsey and his companion deliver some medical supplies in rural China and during the thank-you banquet he finds the rumors are true: they’ll eat just about any Creepy Crawlies in China.

Also, William Caverlee checks out some interesting new travel books and Graham Reid runs down some world music from four continents.

Last month one reader got a Christmas surprise when he won a Magellan GPS unit. This month we’re giving away a Granite Creek travel pants and shirt combo from Mountain Khakis. You can only win if you enter and you can only enter if you’re on the e-mail newsletter list or you follow Perceptive Travel on Facebook. Do it now!