Quotable

Travel Wisdom: Never, Ever Pack When You’re High

Like what you see? Subscribe to the full RSS feed.Here’s a travel tip: never, ever pack when you’re high. You get there, you open your bag, nothing matches. For the whole trip, all you have to wear is a Hawaiian shirt, an oven mitt, and a lava lamp. The rest of the bag is full […]

Franz Kafka on You vs. the World

Via WhyGo: In a fight between you and the world, bet on the world. - Franz Kafka I think Kafka was a bit of a “glass half empty” sort of fellow.

Bernard Meltzer on The Real Measure of a Person’s Wealth

The real measure of a person’s wealth is how much he would be worth if he lost all his money. - Bernard Meltzer

On Living with No Regrets, Andy Rutledge

Andy Rutledge, chief design strategist for a new media company, is an inspiration for me both personally and professionally. In a recent blog post titled Life Lessons, Andy shares this bit of wisdom: How did I get what I have now? How do I get to do what I do now? Almost all of the […]

A Guide to Better Travel Writing (Part 3): Insight and Inspiration from the Pros

Inspirational tips, quotes and insightful miscellany from some of the world’s best writers.

To Daydreaming Travelers: All That Extra “Stuff” Is Holding You Back

Sane, thoughtful people know that money doesn’t buy happiness. Nothing new there. But sometimes it’s hard for day-dreaming cubicle jockeys to imagine quitting a cushy 9-to-5 desk job to pursue their fantasies of long-term travel. Good news according to a recent article in Newsweek: Psychologists have spent decades studying the relation between wealth and happiness,” […]

TS Eliot on Going Too Far

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. - TS Eliot Spoken like a true traveler.

Ben Saunders on Following One’s Dreams

From Ben Saunders, who is “the youngest person to ski solo to the geographic North Pole and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton”: If you could offer one piece of advice, what would that be? Follow your heart. Do what you’re passionate about; do it to the best of your ability, […]

Tom Robbins on Writing Your First (Travel) Novel

I received a pep e-mail today from the folks at National Novel Writing Month. A bit of advice on the craft of writing your first (travel) novel from Tom Robbins, a published author: When you sit down to begin that novel of yours, the first thing you might want to do is toss a handful […]

Tim Leffel on Prepackaged Travel Vacations

This seems a rather appropriate complement to The Super Ultimate Definitive List of the Only 1001 Places You Need to See Before You Die. Ever.. [T]ake a look at this ad from Visa that is running … this month. It’s a vending machine filled with flag-covered countries: the UK, France, Italy, Australia, India, Mexico and more. […]

Quotable: Why What ‘Almost’ Happened Is Irrelevant

Don’t almost take your trip of a lifetime. Don’t almost quit your job, or your relationship, or whatever’s holding you back to follow your dreams. What almost happened is irrelevant. What actually did happen is everything. - JJG Mama always said: “Almost only counts in darts and hand grenades.” And Mama was always right.

Maya Angelou on Blogging

Via WhyGo: You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you. - Maya Angelou If there’s one golden rule of successful blogging, this is it. And of course, that’s […]

The Wisdom Of An 87-Year Old Traveler

WorldHum’s Matt Villano gets nearly stranded in Norway. A kindly 87-year old Norwegian man - a traveler to five continents and over sixty countries in his youth - gets him back on track and shares a bit of traveler’s wisdom in the process. “All I’ve tried to do in my life is explore,” he offered. […]

“The Hum Of Possibility”: Rolf Potts On Long Term Travel

Rolf Potts on “the hum of possibility” that long term travel provides: The “hum of possibility” is the feeling that anything can happen at any moment — a heady openness to the new and unexpected. It’s hard to experience this feeling at home, since home life is made more efficient and manageable by certain self-insulating patterns […]

Death Is Indeed A Great Motivator To Travel

A blunt bit of motivation to travel and squeeze every bit of juice out of life, as only Steve Jobs could put it: “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose.” - Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement 2005 (Hat tip: Vagabonding.com)

The Best Quote I’ve Heard In a Long Time (via The Quest for an Authentic Life)

Filed somewhere between half a dozen Fight Club quotes and this one from the BnA forums might be this, a quote from Richard Bode’s Beachcombing at Miramar: I have a choice, the same choice that faces every man. I can live a frivolous life, trying to impress others with the house I live in, the clothes […]

On Living In The World

I found this one particularly interesting today. Via WhyGo: Most people are on the world, not in it - having no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them - undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but separate. - John Muir

Travelers Who Shouldn’t: Traveler Comments That Make You Say “Duh!”

John Frenaye over at TripSo.com has an amusing post on 25 “Stupid Traveler Comments” (along with the bemused agents’ unspoken responses). A few of my favorites: How much is a train to Jamaica? (We are sold out, but if you call Amtrak, they have space. Be sure to ask for a seat on the left side of […]

What No Reservations Can Teach Us About Life

From last night’s episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in Cleveland: When you’re dead, it robs life of many pleasures. Harvey Pekar Brilliant!

Just Dance, Dammit!

Angie over at GirlGoesGlobal has a lovely and quotable piece entitled Just Dance (the “Dammit!” is my addition): Tucked away in a dusty, locked box in our brain is a dream. Something we take out when we’re alone and quiet. Something that begins with “I hope” or “I wish” and for a moment, we get lost […]

Don’t Live Every Day Like It Could Be Your Last

A wise man once told me: Don’t live every day like it could be your last. Live every day like it’s the day you’ll be remembered for.

Flirting With Life

WhyGo writes: Travelling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.’ - Lisa St. Aubin de Terán Lovely.

Stop and Smell the (Cliched) Proverbial Roses

Among the many ways that I envision our RTW trip making a difference in my perspective on life, I hope to gain more of an appreciation for the little things. To stop and smell those proverbial, and quite cliched roses. Thanks in part to my full time work as a web designer, I […]