When I first went backpacking around the world, I never even thought about a lot of things I wouldn’t leave without today—and I’m talking about more than a smartphone. I never bothered with travel insurance, for example, figuring I was young, healthy, and had the money to pay a doctor if required. Now I don’t …

Ever since I started this budget travel blog back in 2003, I’ve written regularly about safe travels and the perception of travel risks. Even though people—especially Americans—generally face more deadly risks at home than they do abroad, people who don’t travel much think it’s a big scary world out there and they have to be …

Are you going backpacking in Europe or heading to the continent for an extended travel trip? Or maybe you can work remotely so you’re taking your time? Touring Europe on a budget is tougher than in some other parts of the world, but I’ve done it multiple times and am going to share what works …

How do you know if your backpacker travel budget is too low when you’re traveling around the world? In short, it’s if instead of just making some comfort sacrifices, you’re losing your money perspective, being extra risky with your health, and skipping great experiences.   I get asked a lot of the same questions from the …

In one of those strange twists of frequency, Alaska has come up in three travel conversations I’ve had this past week and one podcaster I was listening to was talking about how it was the state in North America he still hadn’t been but wanted to so he was making plans. It feels like a …