Links

Travel Websites

*Updated on April 12, 2012, so all links should be accurate.*

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.
Do It While You’re Young is the girl’s guide to study abroad, trip reviews, hotel reviews and travel perspectives. They run trips to Costa Rica AND pay their writers!
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.
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.
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.
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.*

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.
A Chick with Baggage is the blog of Abbey Hesser, an American living in Spain, crossing off Bucket List items and making herself laugh.
Grace, What Are You Doing? is the blog of a Sydney uni student spending time studying in Malaga, Spain.
Runaway Jane is an adventurous Scottish girl who is already a travel blog force to be reckoned with by creating three blogs, including her personal blog, Living in a Hostel and Make Money as You Travel.
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.

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.
C’est Christine is a recent Australian expat, having spent time in California and France before landing in Melbourne.
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.

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.
Connvoyage tracks Connie Hum’s adventures and misadventures in Southeast Asia, from working in Hong Kong to taking multiple career breaks.
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

Amateurs in Africa is about two Aussies on the unlikely backpacker trail through Africa.
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

Christine in Spain is just as the name entails. Seattle native Christine has been living in Spain and takes beautiful photos.
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.
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.
Nomadic Chick is Jeannie Mark, a Canadian corporate runaway currently in India.
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.

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.
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, rounding up weekly #TNI responses.

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.

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.
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.
Everything Everywhere is a go to site for the most beautiful photos of everywhere you can think of.
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.
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!
Patty Hodapp is a freelance writer for Huffington Post, Lost Girls World and more, who insists that “there’s always time for travel!”
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 and Blog Crushes

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!
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.
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.