Links

Travel Websites

General Travel Articles: Feed your travel porn urge and find tips along the way.

• The Art of Backpacking is a great resource for backpackers because it not only covers the facts of destinations, but the relationship side of travel. Plus, founders Michael and Teresa are majorly awesome.
• Backpack Forever lets you share your travel tips that you can’t find in guidebooks AND get paid for it!
• BootsNAll has great articles for the independent traveler and inspires you to go further. Check out their How I Travel interviews with travel’s greats like Anthony Bourdain and musicians like Chris Carrabba.
• Dave’s Travel Corner is a go-to site for a little bit of everything: articles on specific destinations, advice on gear and photography.
• Go Backpacking was started by David Lee as a resource for backpackers and has grown to one of the top travel websites around.
• Matador Network is a place for travel junkies to get together and discuss everything you won’t find anywhere else from hostel sex to marijuana laws.
• RTW Backpackers was created by British travel bloggers as an all in one site for round the world travelers.
• Wanderlust and Lipstick has both advice and tours for female travelers.
• World Hum takes all your favorite travel writers and puts them together in one place.

Group Travel/Tours: If it’s your first time abroad or you are going alone, these groups offer cheap all-inclusive travel for students just like you.

• EF College Break was the group I first traveled with when my friend Christine and I took the Amsterdam and Paris trip in 2006. I liked that they include optional activities and suggestions for meals without making you feel like you’re on a group tour.
• BusAbout has everything you need to travel around Europe freely without the hassle of trains. They pick you up and drop you off at hostels and have great routes and side trips.
• Paddy Wagon has super easy, super cheap tours of Ireland. We took a day bus trip around the western coast for a whole 20 euros. It took us to the best photo ops and we saw other travelers we had met at our hostel while on the tour.
• Esotouric Tours are unlike anything else I’ve ever been on. I took the Film Noir tour of Los Angeles, but they’re also known for their Black Dahlia tour.
• Groovy Grape Getaways offers tours for backpackers throughout South Australia and the Northern Territory, including trips to Kangaroo Island, Uluru, The Great Ocean Road and the Barossa Valley.
• Scooteroo offers one of a kind day tours in the small Queensland town of Agnes Water. You get to ride around town on real motorcycles, decked out with helmets and leather jackets, spotting kangaroos along the way.

Sleeping: Because the five-star hotels aren’t going to cut it with your budget.

• CouchSurfing provides travelers the opportunity to sleep for free at a CS member’s house. It’s a great opportunity to meet people, even if you aren’t keen on the idea of sleeping in a stranger’s house.
• Hostel World has every hostel you can imagine all over the world and lets users provide feedback, so for the most part you can trust the reviews.
• Charleston’s Not So Hostel is one of a kind. Housed in an old Charleston single, this eco-friendly spot has breakfast, parking, private and dorm rooms, internet and linens. They now have a second location on Cannon Street.
• AirBnB: Another option in Charleston is to stay with my dear friends Brady and Angie in their home in Avondale.
• Palmer’s Lodge Hostel London is an amazing boutique hostel outside of London in the Swiss Cottage neighborhood. Not only do they have free internet, privacy curtains, a cafe, laundry services, a common room, free breakfast and 24-hour reception, but also have an in-house bar with a sexy bartender (hello, Brendan). It feels like home.
• Silver Gate Hostel Split is not as fancy as Not So Hostel or Palmer’s Lodge, but I met some really cool people there. It’s very cheap and close to everything you could possibly want to see in Split.
• Ozzie Pozzie Hostel is a homey hostel in coastal Port Macquarie, Australia. The owner Richard hosts weekly pizza nights, complete with boxes of goon.
• Backpack Oz and Guest House is easily the best hostel in Adelaide, for its prime location and amenities. The staff is very nice too!
• Bungalow Bay Koala Village is one of two budget options on Magnetic Island, but this YHA wins because of its in-house wildlife sanctuary.
• Wombats Hostel Vienna is one of the best places to stay in the city, right next to the famous Naschmarkt.
• PLUS Hostel Berlin has all the luxuries of a hotel, pool, sauna, full restaurant, but at the price of a hostel.
• Doug’s Mountain Getaway is a special place in the mountains outside of Innsbruck, Austria. It’s a cozy lodge that you might want to stay in forever.
• HomeAway, who now owns Vacation Rentals By Owner, allows you to stay in strangers’ homes all over the world. It’s not nearly as sketchy as it sounds.

Travel Blogs

Kindred Travel Spirits: Amazing twenty and thirty somethings who inspire me to travel. There are hundreds more on my Google reader, but these are just a few of my faves. *I’ve put them into categories to make it easier to digest. I know most of these belong in multiple categories, but work with me here.*

Adventure Travel

• Four Jandals is an adventure blog written by Kiwis Cole and Adela. They are lovely people I met in Portugal and again in London.
• The Planet D is Canada’s adventure couple, inspiring travelers everywhere they go.

USA Travel

• Absolute Travel Addict: My Atlanta friend April travels all over the place but her heart is in Jamaica.

Canada Travel

• Candice Does the World has three of my favorite things: beer, Canada and redheads. Someone give this girl a tv show!
• Seattle Travels is not about Seattle the city, but rather a Canadian photographer named Seattle. She also creates some wanderlust worthy map products, so check those out too!
• Travel Yourself is a solo travel show by Cailin O’Neil, a lovely Canadian always game for a beer and a meetup. Also check out her blog, Cailin Travels.

Europe Travel

• 48 Hour Adventure is a genius concept developed by Justin Morris, an Aussie I had the pleasure of meeting up with in London. He spends up to 48 hours in his destinations, trying to conquer them.
• Forty Before Thirty is a great blog that tracks Jayne’s adventures in trying to see 40 countries before she turns 30 and life in London.
• Monkeys and Mountains is written by Laurel, a Canadian expat living in Germany and traveling the world.
• Rear View Mirror focuses on Europe primarily, where she lived for many years, but is now living the nomadic life.
• Runaway Jane is an adventurous Scottish girl who is already a travel blog force to be reckoned with.
• The Aussie Nomad is another awesome Aussie living in London (they’re everywhere!) who strikes fear in all Americans with his Vegemite Challenge!

South America Travel

• Bacon is Magic is the blog of a carnivore Canadian named Ayngelina who spent the last year or so traveling around South America solo, eating every type of meat imaginable.
• Jasmine Wanders is an American girl who needed a change in her life, so she left for New Zealand. She is currently spending time in South America.
• Over Yonderlust was created by Erica and Shaun, tattooed high school sweethearts, currently conquering South America.\
• Tourist 2 Townie: Gareth has been living in South America, volunteering along the way, for the last few years, seeking local experiences.

Australia/New Zealand/Oceania Travel

• Bitten by the Travel Bug is by Nicole, who has left her life in Adelaide to see Asia and London, with a stint working at a summer camp in the States.
• Brooke vs. The World has quickly become a favorite of mine because after Brooke explored places like Kyrgyzstan, she settled down for semi-domestic life in Australia.
• Grace, What Are You Doing? is the blog of a Sydney uni student spending time studying in Malaga, Spain.
• Heels and Wheels is Bobbi’s blog about her expat experiences in Australia and New Zealand and her travels around Asia and the United States.
• Pack Your Passport is a great blog by Beverley, a British girl on a working holiday in Australia, living in Melbourne and now Sydney.
• The Life That Broke is the story of my dear friend Lauren, an American who picked up her life and moved to Australia, just to fall for a fellow American.
• There’s No Place Like Oz is about my friend Heather’s year spent here in Australia, working and traveling. Although she’s back home now, she’s still got plenty of posts about the food, people and beaches Down Under!
• Travels at 88 MPH is written by Rebecca, a fellow blogger I met in LA, who spent a year in New Zealand and Australia.
• Wayward Traveller is about Annie, a native Washingtonian, who lived in Italy and studied abroad in Australia before returning Down Under to settle down.

Asia Travel

• Aussie on the Road, also known as Chris, is someone I met at the very end of my Australian adventure and I wish I had met him sooner! He’s hilarious and a great person to share a drink with. He’s currently teaching English in China.
• Runaway Juno is written by Korean Juno Kim about her adventures in Asia and the USA. She also runs a photography site!
• Sit Down Disco is my friend Adam’s blog. He spent a year in Bali and has just gone back to spend an indefinite amount of time in Southeast Asia.
• UnBrave Girl is no scaredy cat. Sally is a teacher in China and challenges herself to act more like a grown up by venturing outside of her couch.

Africa Travel

• A Girl with Gumption is written by Melanie, a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. I’ve especially become fond of her “Bitch in Senegal” series where she argues with crooked bus drivers in their own language.

Solo (Female) Travel

• Adventurous Kate is one of the more well known female travel blogs, mostly for Kate’s outlandish experiences everywhere she goes.
• C’est Christine is a recent Australian expat, having spent time in California and France before landing in Melbourne.
• Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler follows the adventures of Alexandra Kovacova, a Slovakian girl currently based in Italy.
• Gringette in Beirut is a Skirt! Setter blog about my dear friend Sarah’s life in Beirut. She’s a major badass/inspiration for picking up and moving to the middle east.
• Journey with Jess Jones is an adventurous gal who has spent the last year working on a boat in South America.
• Katie Goes Global is the only person I know to cover all of the former Soviet nations as a solo female traveler!
• Lost Girls World is another that made me start blogging. They have since moved to a full writing staff, book and maybe even a movie!
• My Beautiful Adventures tracks Andi’s adventures through India, Brazil and wherever else is next for her, namely a trip down the aisle! She’s the traveling acupuncturist and is also a fellow College of Charleston alum.
• Solo Friendly is just how it sounds. Gray discusses important things you should know before taking off for a trip alone. She also runs a site about going to Vegas Solo.
• Suzy Guese has a redheaded temperament. Her weekly Suzy Stumbles series always finds great content.
• The Travel Belles started out as Southern belles out to conquer the world, a theme dear to my heart, but now even some Yankees write for the belles.

Food Travel

• The Road Forks is another drool-worthy blog, documenting food from Akila and Patrick’s trips around the globe.
• Legal Nomads is the blog of the fun-sized lawyer Jodi who quit the work force to travel the world. Her posts on Thailand were especially helpful for planning my trip.

RTW Travel

• As We Travel from Nathan and Sofia, is a well-organized blog with great videos on their stints in Europe and Southeast Asia.
• Beer and Beans is a gorgeous blog, created my journalist and photographers Randy and Beth, experts on WWOOFing.
• Breakaway Backpacker is about Jaime, a Kelly Clarkson lover and sometimes scandalous backpacker currently traveling the world, starting with South America.
• Don’t Ever Look Back is a RTW blog by two Aussies preparing for their big adventure, starting in Hawaii.
• Go See Write is the work of former lawyer Michael Hodson, who prefers to see the world by land.
• Nomadic Matt is one of the most well-known travel bloggers on the web. He has some great resources for young travelers.
• Time Travel Turtle is the well-written travel blog of Michael Turtle (real name!).
• Twenty Something Travel has tips, articles and photos of Stephanie’s 20something adventures. She is currently on her round-the-world adventure she has been dreaming about for years.
• Vagabond 3 is a group of three friends who had an amazing round-the-world trip finding Mexican restaurants in every country and are now enjoying life back in LA.

Expat Travel

• Ali’s Adventures is one of my fellow Atlanta tweeters. She has been all over the place, including Antarctica, but is now moving to Germany with husband and fellow backpacker Grounded Traveler.
• Almost Fearless details the lives of Christine, her husband and son as they spend months at a time settling down. They are currently located in Thailand, one of their favorite places.
• Christine in Spain is just as the name entails. Seattle native Christine has been living in Spain and takes beautiful photos.
• Oneika the Traveller is a Canadian living in London with her German boo. She’s been throughout Europe, South America and Asia.

Volunteer and Responsible Travel

• Connvoyage tracks Connie Hum’s adventures and misadventures in Southeast Asia, from working in Hong Kong to taking multiple career breaks.
• Flora the Explorer is about Flora’s experiences volunteering in India and her preparations to do the same in Ecuador.
• Uncornered Market focuses on responsible and sustainable travel, written by storytelling couple Dan and Audrey.

General Travel

• A Dangerous Business has quickly become one of my favorite sites around for Amanda Williams’ Traveler Thursday feature, provocative posts and overall integrity in the travel blog community.
• Beers and Beans: Bethany and Randy’s site has arguably the best photography anywhere.
• Camels and Chocolate is one of those blogs that made me want to start doing the same. Plus she has her traveling photog hubby and successful writing career.
• Maiden Voyage, founded by the lovely Emily Starbuck Gerson, offers travel advice for 2o-somethings and rounds up her favorite posts for the monthly Gen Y Travel Blog Carnival!
• The Budget Traveller: Kash is one of the friendliest people I’ve met in my travels. His blog shows travelers that you can travel well on a budget. Check out his Luxury Hostels of Europe project to see what I mean.
• The Runaway Guide is the original badass travel blog. Leif ran away from home at age 16 and has been traveling ever since.
• The Travelling Editor: Dylan is travel blogging’s social butterfly, always game for a meetup. If you’re ever in London, go grab ramen with him and chat about his hitchhiking trip across Canada.
• The Traveling Philosopher is the new site by tweetaholic Spencer Spellman. He’s got some great stories from his travels, including time Down South, as well as a stint in Costa Rica!
• Trail of Ants has the most comprehensive blog link page on the internet, plus a funky site design.
• Y Travel Blog is your go-to site for pretty much every type of travel, from teaching abroad to couples travels to traveling with children. Plus Caz and Craig happen to be some of the nicest people I’ve met!

Friends, Blog Crushes and Other Website I Love

• Addie Ridgeway is an old friend of mine who is volunteering in Guatemala with Kids Alive.
• Charleston Daily Photo is mostly a photoblog of the Charleston area, but Joan has some amazing stories to share of her life in India and her free trip around the world. If you ever get the chance to sit down with her, definitely do so.
• Chelsea Talks Smack is a hilarious blog that ranges from inspirational to ranting to hilarious about Chelsea’s life through breakups, new crushes and hopefully a successful music career!
• ExOfficio has been my amazing sponsor for the last year, sending me lovely clothes to wear on my adventures.
• Her Packing List is another blog I write for, which has everything you need to know about packing for your big trip.
• JC Austrian Adventures follows my friends Christine and Joey, newly engaged and living in Salzburg, Austria.
• Martinis or Diaper Genies? takes two of the most random objects and puts them at home with confessions, Suri Cruise and excellent Photoshop skills. And congratulations on her new baby!
• More is Better is probably not safe to read at work, but always makes me fall out of my chair with posts about parallel parking in San Francisco, the weird things people pay Nicole to do and her bromance with roommate and fellow blogger Jamie.
• Musings from the Middle is the blog started by my sister Sammi on her solo trip to Montana this summer and has since been her creative outlet in her home of Boone, NC. While you’re at it, check out Three Sisters, the blog I share with Sammi and my youngest sister Rachel.
• Real Foods Real Kitchens is a food show created by my cousin Craig. He travels around the country to homes to experience family recipes.
• So it’s not a blog, but use Scotti Cline Designs for all your graphic design and printing needs, specifically with wedding invitations. She also helps me when I want to delete my blog because I don’t like the way it looks.
• The Door Foundation is the organization that I volunteered in Thailand with.
• This Is My South is my newest project, a travel blog and guide devoted to visiting the southern United States.

Do I even need to say this? I have not been paid or persuaded in any way to add these travel links. So don’t bother asking.