Thanks to some melatonin and well-timed sleep, I’ve been hungry for Hungary for the past two days and have returned to my regular disposition of shameless debauchery. Since I’m here to write about Hungarian wine, I don’t even have to try very hard. I visited the cellars of sparkling wine producer Törley while most people …

My new MSNBC column (via Tripso) is out now, called Reservations About Making Reservations. Of course the majority of backpackers go for months or a year finding rooms on the fly without even thinking about it, but from the comments I’ve gotten already on Tripso, you’d think I proposed some radical idea that’s going to …

I tend to be more than a little cynical about charities and aid organizations, partly because so much of what they do doesn’t solve the fundamental problems of a poor country. The aid just keeps people poor and dependent. Heifer International is different. I am in Little Rock, Arkansas right now for a travel writers …

I’m neck-deep researching a travel planning guide I’m co-authoring with Rob Sangster that will cover Mexico and Central America and here’s a useful tidbit of info worth passing along. Following are bus prices for executive or first-class buses between several cities in Mexico. I know, I know–if you’re a backpacker on a strict budget you’re …

This post is from my first visit to the town of Tequila in 2006, before it really took off. The Tequila region of Mexico was just coming off the announcement that it got a UNESCO World Heritage designation and was starting to gear up for more visitors. Consider this a snapshot before the big crowds …