I’m off taking a real vacation in the only place possible: one without wifi. While I lock away my computer and play on the beach for two days, I asked my dear friend and Peru travel buddy Zoe Norvell to fill in for me. At this point in my life: I can’t be bothered with taking…

WHOA THERE WAIT A SECOND! Phew. I thought you were about to click out of the page there for a minute, because I know from my recent reader survey that these roundups are pretty polarizing — some of you love ’em, some of you hate ’em. I tried to use your feedback to improve this roundup…

Travel Porn is a feature in which I review books from my beloved travel literature genre. So far I’ve reviewed Bangkok Noir, a short story collection that brings the noir genre to the steamy streets of Thailand, Hotel Honolulu, a fictional account of a Waikiki hotel manager’s quirky life in a paradise lost, Tiger Balm, the memoir of a…

Since Zoe arrived in Peru, we had been doing a thorough exploration of the country’s hostel offerings. And while I love backpacking, I never agreed to be exclusive with it — and never has this girl needed to flirt with a little luxury more than the days before and after tackling the mighty Inca Trail. The…

Read about days one and two of my trek here, and days three and four here. While the Inca Trail is one of the most popular treks in the world, it can be surprisingly hard to find solid information on the logistics, breakdowns of complete costs, and reliable reviews on trekking companies. If you’re panicking about whether…

At the end of the second day of the Inca Trail, I felt a massive relief that the hard part was over and that it would be non-stop fun all the time from there on out — and hoped I wasn’t fooling myself. Turns out, I wasn’t. Day three would be my favorite day of the…