This week’s question is about one of my favorite topics: sex on the road! Hi Kate, I’m a HUGE fan of your blog. I’m planning to travel the world and I’ve been reading various blogs to get ideas and to figure out where to start and how to set things up/etc. I’m not sure who to
Ask Kate: What Is Sex Like on the Backpacker Trail? Read More »
Picture it: Lloret de Mar, Catalonia. 2012. A young girl stands in a blue tank top and hopes her flimsy strapless bathing suit top will withstand the vigors of a hike along the Costa Brava coast. Well, um, except that young girl was me, and that top, a magenta bandeau that I found for $12
The Crashing Coast of Lloret de Mar Read More »
Here’s something I’ve learned from a year and a half in the UK: if you open any guidebook about this nation and skip London, Edinburgh, and the most touristy sites, you’ll soon see tales woven of cities once dark and desolate, cities defined by their industries, where life was hard and cold and there wasn’t
Hello, Glasgow: The Gritty and the Pretty Read More »
What happens if you’ve always planned to travel — but you end up with a great life at home that you don’t want to leave? And what if the clock is ticking on your ability to do so? Hi Kate, A friend of mine has asked me to go and work and live in Australia
Ask Kate: Should I Give Up My Great Life To Travel? Read More »
A few months ago, I decided to tally up the UNESCO World Heritage Sites I’ve visited. The total? 51. You can see the full list here. A very respectable number, and one that I should be proud of. But not as good as it could be, considering how much I travel. I’ve never actively sought
My New Goal: 101 UNESCO World Heritage Sites By 2014 Read More »
Long before arriving in Berlin, I knew it was a city for hipsters. But Berlin is a gargantuan place — several times the size of Paris. Just where was the hippest neighborhood of all? I started researching and saw people say that both Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg were very cool places to live. But they
Living it Up in Hip Kreuzberg, Berlin Read More »
What took me so long? I’ve been living in Europe for the past year and a half, traveling to Europe for a decade before that, and I only just made it to the wonderful city of Berlin. The secret’s out. This place is BEYOND fabulous. I fell in love hard and fast with Berlin, and
Berlin: City of Hipsters, City of Entrepreneurs Read More »
At 18, you’re a legal adult. But does that mean you’re old enough to travel the world on your own for a few months or longer? This might seem outrageous to my American readers — but in other countries, Australia in particular, it’s not uncommon for 18-year-olds to backpack long-term. This week’s question examines age
Ask Kate: Is 18 Too Young To Travel Long-Term? Read More »
Of all the emails I get, a good portion of them are from readers wanting to know there is to do in a certain destination — but definitely not any touristy stuff. Well…isn’t that the point? I get it. You’re a traveler. You’re refined. You want to differentiate yourself from other tourists. You don’t want
It’s Okay to Be a Cheesy Tourist Read More »
I’ve wanted to pay my respects at the World Trade Center Memorial since it opened, but it has eluded me up until now. Visiting requires booking a visitor pass in advance, and when I had tried, it had been sold out for weeks at a time. Maybe that was just because it was the summer,
Visiting the World Trade Center Memorial Read More »