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Every year (just in time for Christmas shopping), I curate a list of travel gear/gadgets/services that will appeal to travel-enthusiasts. Here is my list of best travel gifts for 2017; the best of the best of everything I’ve seen or tried out this year, from packing tools to multi-functional dresses, smartphone trackers, fun books, and Sim card services.

Disclosure

Throughout the year, I’m regularly contacted by travel gear and service providers who want to offer me their product in exchange for a review.

I say no more often than yes.

But occasionally, I see something that could be valuable for travelers like myself – and by extension, you – and I do say yes. This article is comprised of a selection of these items; travel gear and services that I’ve had a chance to use throughout the year, and am happy to introduce to you here. In most cases, I’ve been given a discount or free sample (and I’ve used a few affiliate links). In a few cases, I’ve shelled out my own shekels to own them. In all cases, you can expect my 100% honest review.

Without further ado, check out my list of the best travel gifts for 2017.

2023 Note: This post has been updated for accuracy of links and content.

eSIM (Global Data)

These days, living and traveling without some sort of data plan on your phone is unthinkable. To be honest, the first time I ever had data was in 2016. Prior to that I never knew the “joys” of such constant connectivity. Late to the game (and reluctant to be so connected) as I am, I must admit that it’s really handy on the go for maps, WhatsApp (which is a primary way people stay in touch in many countries), Uber, and more.

I use a few different data eSIM cards, depending on where I’m going and what my connectivity needs are. But I always have a global data plan with Airalo, either as my main plan or as a backup. They have the best global data rates hands-down: 20gb of data with a 365 day expiry date means no matter where you are in the world, you are connected. Gold!

You don’t want to use your home phone/data plan abroad due to ridiculous roaming charges, so you get a data eSIM. A few clicks/swipes on your phone to switch data carriers to Airalo and you’ve got access to data abroad without using your home phone plan.

2023 Update: Since 2017 I have been using Global Data all the time – at home and abroad. I have a VOIP app called Fongo (for Canadians only; residents of other countries could use Hushed), which gives me a Canadian phone number that I can be reached on anywhere in the world as long as I have WiFi or Data.
I use global data to ensure I have data.
Thus, the only thing I pay for in terms of telecommunications is data, and all my data needs – regardless of where I am in the world, 365 days a year – are under $200/year.

Check out this article to learn more about eSIMs and find the best international data eSIM for your needs!

See also: How to Use Your Cell Phone Abroad

EXPANDABLE PACKING CUBES

I love packing tools. Like, a lot. I wrote a whole post about them here. In fact, I need to be careful not to have too many packing tools in my luggage, since past a certain point they actually take up more room than they save. For example, I used to have standard packing cubes, and I liked them a lot from an organizational point of view, but given the sturdy/rigid material they were made of, they had to go when I downsized everything I owned to carry-on luggage. Now that I’m back to checked luggage, I realized I missed having packing cubes – which have come a long way in the last few years.

My compressible / expandable packing cubes of choice are made by Knack Bags; a company that also makes some pretty slick expandable backpacks that I review here. I like Knack Bags packing cubes because they’re sturdy which means they hold their form and compress clothes more effectively than other ultralight packing cubes. Tradeoff: they’re just a hair heavier/bulkier.

Want more packing cube goodness? Here is a deep dive into the top packing cubes on the market, plus tips for using packing cubes effectively.

SPACESAVER COMPRESSION SACS

I went back to checked luggage from my (glorious) carry-on days, because not only do I now tend to travel through three solid seasons, but I also have a few “shamanic” knick-knacks that I can’t bear to part with. So in order to fit everything into my current luggage, I bought these compression sacs for my cool-weather clothing.

They’re like giant zip-loc bags with one-way vents. Fill the bag, zip it shut, then roll it to get the air out. Works a charm for things like sweaters and jackets that take up a lot of luggage space but can squish down dramatically with the help of these sacs.

Available at Amazon.

Learn about my favourite packing cubes, spacesaver bags, and other amazing packing saviours in my article about Best Packing Tools and Tips!

CHIPOLO

Do you have a habit of misplacing stuff? Or are you worried about possible theft on the road? Then Chipolo might be for you.

Chipolo is a simple smart Bluetooth device that you attach to stuff you don’t want to lose. It’s compatible with Android and iOS devices, and connects your belongings to the Chipolo app on your phone. Open the app at any time to see where your Chipolo is on the map. From your phone you can also ring the Chipolo so it makes a noise (oh yeah! My purse is under that heap of clothes!), and if you’ve misplaced your phone, you can ring it by pressing the Chipolo.

Unfortunately, one of the two Chipolos I was sent was defective, but they immediately offered to send me a replacement anywhere in the world, so I can attest to their good customer service. When I showed it to a friend, she cringed and said something about privacy issues, and how these kinds of trackers are the ultimate invasion thereof – but I’m not so sure. I think a smartphone in and of itself makes you pretty damn trackable.

It’s available in two versions: the Plus and the Classic. The Classic has a replaceable battery (which lasts about six months), and the Plus is a bit sturdier without a battery to replace, but it has a limited life span; it’s good for a year, at which point you can send it back to Chipolo in exchange for a new (discounted) Plus. They also recently released the Chipolo Card; a super-thin card that fits perfectly in your wallet or passport holder.

I tend to have a pretty keen eye on my stuff, but I must say I rest a bit easier with my Chipolo.

FAT CHICK GOES AWOL

I really enjoyed reading this book! It’s a travel memoir written by Anna Mitchell, a 130kg woman who quit her job to hike and bicycle (on a recumbent trike) some really (like, epically) long distances in Australia.

In the course of the book, she fights the perception that she can’t do it, and breaks the “soft chains” (as she refers to them) that make it easy not to push beyond comfort zones and do something amazing. She’s also the first person to admit her shortcomings, and writes with humility and a charming self-deprecating humour, despite her amazing accomplishments.

This is one of those books….you know the kind. The sort of book that I thought about even when I wasn’t reading it. The sort of book that I wanted to get back to as soon as possible. I enjoyed it from cover to cover, and I hope you do too. It’s light, fast, fun, and underhandedly inspirational.

And, the book has garnered lots of attention; among other honours it won a bronze medal for Best First Book at the 21st Annual Independent Publisher Book Awards 2017.

For a 25% discount, use the code HOBO25! 

Want Some More Gift Ideas?

These may be the best travel gifts for 2017 that I’ve discovered, but most of the items below are also still part of my travel entourage. Check out these other travel gear profiles for more ideas of what to get the budding traveler in your life:

The Ultimate Packing List for Full-Time Travel

My Search for the Perfect Travel Sandal

Best Luggage for Long-Term Travel: Backpacks vs Rolling Luggage

Pro Packing Hacks: These are the Best Travel Accessories

This post Best Travel Gifts: Packing Cubes, Global Data eSIM, Trackers, and More! appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

Although I’ve only been to Spain a couple of times, I’ve enjoyed the unique attitude, food, lifestyle, and culture. And Seville (in southern Spain) has its own identity within the realm of all things Spanish.

So when Karen McCann (award-winning journalist and author) and her husband Rich moved to Seville full-time in 2004 after visiting Seville for a few years, you’d better believe a book came out of the experience.

Dancing in the Fountain: How to Enjoy Living Abroad is a light, entertaining, and insightful peek into what it’s like to move abroad to Seville and immerse in a country and culture that is foreign to what we are accustomed.

See also: The Irony of Expat Life – Pros and Cons

See also: 4 Financial Mistakes Most U.S. Expats Make

I was quickly caught up in the well-woven stories, and I laughed out loud more than a few times; the acid test of a good book for me.

Although it’s far from a how-to style of book, there’s a lot to be learned and McCann’s vision is to help others follow in her footsteps. In an interview on her site, she said:

“I want to demonstrate that living abroad isn’t as difficult as many people think. People often say they wish they could live the way I do. While some truly can’t, due to career, family or other circumstances, often the only real barrier is that they can’t imagine how to go about it. I wrote Dancing in the Fountain to give people ideas about how it can be done and what fun it can be.”

I think the best way to illustrate McCann’s writing style and some of the topics covered in Dancing in the Fountain is to provide some short excerpts from the book that caught my eye as I read.

On Moving Abroad

We’ve all read articles about how to keep your brain’s synapses firing by doing Sudoku, taking up knitting, or going bird watching, but frankly, I find life in a foreign country to be a far more interesting and effective way to stay sharp. -page 14

Moving to a foreign city is an opportunity to reinvent yourself that rarely exists outside of the witness protection program. –page 91

When people ask me what I miss most about living in America, I always say it’s my family and friends, because of course I do, and besides, if you don’t say that, everyone thinks you are totally heartless. But to be perfectly honest, what really springs to mind is how much I miss Saran Wrap.

Living abroad, the first thing you give up is the ability to go on automatic pilot. Even the simplest daily activities, such as preserving a half lemon or buying basic household tools, require ingenuity and fortitude. –page 183

I especially identify with this; which is part of why I was happy to “just be” in Switzerland, and why one of my favourite things to do when I travel is spend time in a supermarket.

Seville’s Probing Communication Style

I am often gobsmacked by the highly personal and/or utterly impossible questions our Spanish friends put to us, such as “How old are you?” and “Have you gained weight?” and “Who do you think is prettier, me or my daughter?” They expect an answer; evasions are considered bad manners. Once my hairdresser asked “You don’t have any children. Is it because you don’t want them or can’t have them?” This was a bit forward, even for a Spanish woman, but it did lead to a discussion more interesting than the comparative merits of mousse versus hair spray. –page 183

Siestas

American friends often object to siestas by saying that napping during the day makes them groggy; worse, they’re worried it could prevent them from sleeping properly that night. Until I moved to Spain, I had never noticed how fearful we all are in the US about not getting sufficient sleep. –page 79

I may be Canadian, but I’m guilty as charged on this front.

The basic daily structure and routines are dramatically different in Spain to many other countries. I observed some of those differences when I visited Spain myself.

I have rarely, if ever, heard a Sevillano complain about lack of sleep. The general attitude seems to be, “Oh well, it was worth it.” They assume they will survive some short-sleep nights without any trouble, so they do. I’ve adopted a similar attitude, and if my energy is at a lower ebb than usual, I take comfort from the fact that thanks to the siesta, I only have to keep up the momentum of my day for seven hours at a stretch, not fourteen or sixteen. –page 80

Daily Life and Festivals in Seville

“But what do you do all day?” Friends from America are always asking.

One of the reasons I love Seville is that nobody who lives there would ever dream of posing such a question. Whether they’re working, going to the university, raising kids, on the public dole, retired, or in some less definable situation, the answer most Sevillanos would give is: “I just live.” But when I try to explain that to my American friends, they find it very unsatisfactory indeed. “But really,” they persist, “what do you do? How do you fill your time?”

It’s not hard to fill your time in a city as devoted to public celebrations as Seville. The year is studded with them, like skyrockets exploding one after another, each one so brilliant it eclipses everything else. And the longer I live in Seville, the more I find I am steering the course of my life by these bright lights on the horizon. –page 168

Health Care

Although I’ve had some highly varied medical experiences around the world, I actually found the care (and cost) of visiting a doctor in the US was among the better experiences I’ve had. But that was before I read about Seville’s free house calls.

Spain…has universal health coverage for its citizens, and the primary care is excellent. First of all – are you sitting down? – they make house calls. All the time. Without a fuss. It’s routine. The winter after we sold the house in Ohio and bought the cottage in California, I developed a bad case of bronchitis, and after I’d spent four days in bed, Rich phoned our Sevillano health care providers. They said they would send someone out in two hours. Exactly two hours later, a physician showed up at our door carrying his little black bag. I think the last time that happened in the US was during the Eisenhower administration. The doctor examined me right there in my own bed, gave me a diagnosis, prescribed medicine, and departed. No money changed hands; I think they may have done an automatic debit of my bank account for five euros. –page 157

Appreciating Life

No one here has to be reminded to stop and smell the roses. Every spring, when Seville’s orange blossoms fill the air with the sweet scent known as azahar, everyone goes around sniffing and smiling for weeks. –page 207

I think that travel in general teaches us to take ourselves off auto-pilot and appreciate our surroundings. In so doing we learn a lot and redefine our priorities. To relocate to a place where stopping to smell the roses is a way of being and not just ubiquitous phrase, is very special indeed.

Thanks, McCann, for the reminder.

I received a free copy of Dancing in the Fountain for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This post Dancing in the Fountain: Expat Life in Seville appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

Not going to university….was one of the best life decisions I made.

With my being a Professional Hobo and all, you probably would suspect that I don’t have a University degree, nor have I ever owned a house.

But I wasn’t always a Professional Hobo. For over 10 years I ran with the ranks of the working Canadian population’s median, earning a good income and spending it as society dictated was acceptable. However somehow in the mix I still managed to escape the holds of both University and home-ownership – by the skin of my teeth.

And honestly, if either the University or the house had transpired, I’m not sure I would be sitting on a Caribbean island today, living a financially sustainable life of full-time travel.

And that. That would be a shame.

Escaping University

When I graduated high school, my parents – as any good parents would – encouraged me to go to University. By this point I was very involved in the arts; stage managing large theatre shows, acting in Fringe festivals and short films, and dipping my toes into the world of television with a show I was producing and hosting.

Although this was already a career of sorts, it wasn’t the kind that actually paid the rent, so I knew I had to find a career that would support me in the long run (or turn acting into a paying career, which I knew was a statistic oxymoron).

But I simply didn’t know what I wanted to do with the chasm that represented the rest of my life as a “grown up”.

At the tender age of 18, does anybody?

So I cut a deal with my parents. I gallantly offered to save them the money of supporting me through University getting a general degree in something useless like underwater basket weaving for lack of my having any other solid direction. In University’s stead, I’d responsibly garner life experience, take courses, and when I was ready to commit to a higher education, I’d pay for it myself to squeeze all the value of it that I could.

My parents raised me to be strong and independent; they couldn’t exactly object to this decision which I’d already made, so they quietly conceded.

Over the years, I acquired skills from a number of careers: administrative services, television production, property management, musical theatre performance, various entrepreneurial ventures, and eventually financial planning. I took courses in each of these fields to further my knowledge, and eventually committed to the Certified Financial Planner designation: an internationally recognized designation that takes years to complete.

See also: How to Change Your Career in a Changing World

Success without a Degree

Meanwhile, a high-school friend of mine with strictly traditional parents went the University route. Her parents thought I had thrown my life away. Every time my name came up in conversation, they’d bow their heads and shake them sorrowfully, since I’d effectively ruined my life by not going to University.

Over the years I struggled – and prospered – and eventually made waves through various careers and businesses, being interviewed for newspapers and television shows and doing large public speaking engagements about financial planning; my friend’s parents almost winced with each success.

My friend relished sharing my accomplishments with her parents, delighting in reminding them each time that I never went to University.

Depending on your career of choice, a University education may help, but it’s not a necessity.

The Necessity of University

Some careers (like medicine, education, engineering, and law) of course require a University education. And if you’ve chosen these careers, power to you – you know what you’ve got to do.

But if you – like me, and so many others out there – are still trying to define yourself, a degree isn’t necessarily going to provide that definition or direction. It will help you think in new ways, expand your mind and knowledge, and you’ll learn how to please professors. But University isn’t the only place to acquire these life skills.

Escaping Home Ownership

In the last years of my marriage, something wasn’t right but we weren’t sure how to fix it. What to do? Follow society’s roadmap to life of course: buy a house! (Because 25 years of debt makes everything better, didn’t you know?)

It’s a blessing that house prices in Toronto were outrageous at the time, and the one house we found appealing enough to make an offer on fell through. In fact it was only a short while afterwards that we realized our discontent wasn’t in “throwing our money away on rent” – it was in the life we had built together that no longer served us. The change we needed wasn’t a move of home; it was a much deeper change.

Simultaneous to my own home ownership tribulations, my friend had just bought a house with her new husband. With rocketing house prices and low interest rates, they bought more house than they could afford (but which the bank seemed to think they could), and they joined the ranks of being house-rich and cash-poor.

The years of misery that ensued for her may or may not have had to do with the restrictions and unrealistic expectations of first-time home ownership, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t help. She was trapped by her own wealth of assets; forced to maintain the status quo just to make mortgage payments.

It was this life-long commitment to debt in the form of bricks and mortar that effectively eliminated my friend’s ability to make new life choices.

(And her ensuing divorce was made even uglier by their inability to sell the house when the time came.)

It’s Not All Bad

Far be it for me to suggest that a University education and home ownership are bad things. They won’t ruin your life (at least, not in and of themselves).

What I’m challenging is the popular notion that in order to be successful in life, you must have a degree and own property.

A degree does not equate to employability.

And monthly rent payments rarely – if ever – equate to the full cost of home ownership (when you account for taxes, repairs, fees, and the myriad of other expenses above and beyond a mortgage). You are not “throwing your money away” if you rent.

(Along those lines, here’s an excellent article by a colleague of mine about the reality of renting versus buying a home. He goes so far as to cite renting as the “New American Dream”).

Business, Life Choices, and Non-Conformity

Chris Guillebeau coined and popularized the concept of The Art of Non-Conformity, having written a best-selling book on the topic already.

(As you know, I’m a big fan of Chris’s website and books, having read and reviewed many of them myself. He’s the brainchild behind the Travel Hacking Cartel, which was the catalyst for my interest in travel hacking and my ability to fly long-haul in business class for less than the price of economy tickets.)

In The Art of Non-Conformity, Chris deconstructs many of the societal norms that we tend to blindly accept, and challenges us to go beyond our comfort zones to chase our true passions and turn them into lifestyles and careers.

On University

Chris is a man of many University degrees, and yet in The Art of Non-Conformity he challenges the necessity of a degree, and instead outlines a specific course of action you can take to further your knowledge and gain the essence of life skills a degree is supposed to impart – all for a fraction of the cost of tuition.

His list of alternative University “courses” includes items like:

• Subscribe to the Economist
• Memorize the names of every country, world capital, and current president or prime minister in the world
• Buy a RTW plane ticket
• Read basic texts of the major world religions
• Subscribe to language-learning podcasts
• Loan money to an entrepreneur
• Acquire at least three new skills each year
• Read at least 30 nonfiction books and 20 classic novels
• Join a gym or health club to keep fit
• Become comfortable with basic presentation and public speaking skills
• Start a blog
  
  

On Home Ownership

Like me, Chris is not a fan of home ownership, citing even good debt as being restrictive from a lifestyle design perspective. With a nice dose of balance between future-planning and current-living, he summarizes his view on debt here (page 157):

Even the so-called good debt locks people into decisions that they may not be comfortable with for all the years they hold the debt.

And although some would argue that you can sell your home before paying it off if it no longer serves you, there are a lot of people who are stuck with undervalued houses who wish they could do just that. A friend of mine recently sold his home in the aftermath of a divorce, and was left with nothing – nothing – but $30,000 in debt to show for it. Ouch.

There are Many Paths

I’ve led a non-conventional life for as long as I can remember. So it was in my nature to challenge conventional norms like going to University and buying a house, and my non-conventional approach has served me exceptionally well.

I know I’m a bit of an exception to the norm.

But I also know I’m far from being alone.

Don’t drop out of University or cancel that bid on a house because you’re reading this (in fact I flatter myself to think you actually might). They aren’t bad in and of themselves. But don’t accept the template lifestyle if it doesn’t resonate with you.

I believe our societal landscape is changing, and we have the ability to re-write the book of life right now. In the meantime there doesn’t have to be any rules. Just passion, creativity, and commitment.

What do you think? What are your own experiences with University education and home ownership?

Note: Chris recently published his second book: The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future.

This post How NOT Going to University or Buying a House Saved my Life appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

A) based on the author’s experiences (as far-fetched as it seemed from the blurb), and

B) about train travel through Europe (something near and dear to me),

…I decided it was worth a peek.

What surprised me was how voraciously I read the book, enjoying unique twists and turns from the book’s structure to the main character’s outlandish travel adventures.

Synopsis

InterRail jumps into the middle of the action with its hero, Francesco – a 21 year old from Italy – using an InterRail pass to travel around Europe with nothing more than a change of clothes and some spare change in his pocket.

With an open mind and a few strange turns of events and chance encounters, Francesco is led through Europe on a whirlwind of adventure that conjures the phrase “flying by the seat of his pants.” In no particular order, he loses all his money, wins big money in Monte Carlo, hitches a ride in a Maserati and gets in car chases, falls in love, is attacked delivering “a package” to Amsterdam, stays in mansions and sleeps on park benches, and on and on the adventures go.

How it Reads

Despite the incredulous turn of events stretching what could believably happen in just a few weeks, I was quickly sucked into the plot and found myself doing what I most love with books: thinking about it even when I’m not reading, and eagerly waiting to get back to the book. Hence – it was a very easy quick read.

But…

My biggest criticism of the book is that despite its title, it has very little to do with trains, or InterRail other than the fact that Francesco has an InterRail pass and a certain geographic freedom that goes with it. Given my love of train travel and my own European train adventures during the Ultimate Train Challenge I had expected the book would have a lot more train-centric content.

Points for Structure

In contrast to my criticism, one of the things I liked most about InterRail is how the book starts partway through Francesco’s trip and doesn’t end when he returns to Italy – where his incredible adventures are still far from complete. In fact, about a third of the book is set in Italy, allowing the reader to see how Francesco’s travel experiences change his perspective and ultimately shape his life.

This is something so often overlooked in travel memoirs, but so very important – as many travelers experience a free fall of “reverse culture shock” in trying to re-assimilate and understand aspects of “home” that were once very familiar but no longer are, given the inner changes that travel inspire.

It also means that much of the backstory (including Francesco’s motivation to travel in the first place) is provided after his trip is done, which I found to be a very interesting – and effective – approach. In truth, travel adventures tend to continue long after any trip has finished.

How Travel Has Changed Over Time [Author Interview]

Although there’s a certain timelessness to InterRail, there are clues (from technology to currency references) that it is not set in the present day. In fact, InterRail is set during the summer of 1992, but the only reason I know this is because I chatted with the author, Alessandro Gallenzi:

“The book is loosely based on my first InterRail trip, which I did on my own, like Francesco, in the summer of 1992. The itinerary is the same, more or less, and many of the characters, adventures and scrapes are from real life.”

Nora: Travel was a different thing twenty years ago. Could somebody have a similar travel adventure as Francesco in this day and age?

“Although things have changed a lot in the last twenty years and the world has become more globalized, there are still great swathes of undiscovered territory even in Europe. Individual cultures, traditions and languages are still surviving – and you’ll see that if you avoid the most obvious touristic hotspots and travel around the various countries it is still possible to capture the uniqueness of each place.”

Nora: Do you think that traveling today is easier or more difficult?

“Much easier in a way (facilities and infrastructures are better, people travel more), but it’s a lot more expensive. I used to be able to travel inexpensively by night on overnight trains, and now they are discontinuing many of these services, replacing them with fast day trains for which you have to pay eye-wateringly expensive supplements.”

Nora: How have advances in technology helped or hindered our ability to have unencumbered travel experiences such as Francesco’s?

“I am not a technophobe, but thank God my life is not ruled by technology, so perhaps I am not the best person to ask, because I tend to use new technologies only when I see a real practical benefit, just in the same way as I use a washing machine or a dishwasher.

I’m not a gadget person, either, and I travel with a pre-historic mobile phone (which doesn’t tend to ring when I am away, as very few people know the number) and with no digital camera. I like to see, feel, smell and taste when I travel. I like to travel light.”

Indeed, traveling light (truly light, not fancy-techy-ultralight-with-expensive-gear-and-gadgets) is a bit of a lost art. Although I travel relatively light (everything I own fits into a small daypack and suitcase), the majority of my daypack is filled with technological gadgets: laptop, camera, iPhone, MP3 player, and a host of associated cords, accessories, and connectors).

And some days, I feel just as imprisoned by as liberated by these gadgets. InterRail reminds us of a time when travel was a little bit simpler, a little more organic, when people kept their eyes up and simply observed and interacted with the world around them.

And when you do that, it’s amazing what can happen.

I received a free copy of InterRail (published by Alma Books) for review. The opinions expressed in this post are my own.

This post InterRail, and How Travel has Changed in the Last 20 Years appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

There’s something about the feel, the look, and even the smell of a book. I love turning the pages, feeling the cover, and devouring the text – on a plane, a beach, in a waiting room, lounging in bed, or anywhere else I happen to have a few moments to “escape”.

There’s something about the printed word, read off a good old fashioned piece of paper, that represents a pinnacle of success to many writers, should their words be immortalized in such a way.

There’s something about books. Multiple times a week, people tell me “you should write a book”! Never mind the fact that I’ve probably written the equivalent of a dozen books between this website and all the other places I’m regularly published in magazines and extensively online.

There’s just something about books.

I was lucky enough to have my words first immortalized in print as a co-author of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget, released in 2009.

And I’m pleased to announce the new release of my second co-authoring experience, in a book called From The Grand Canyon to the Great Wall: Travelers’ Best, Worst, and Most Ridiculous Stories From the Road.

The book is a compilation of 67 stories written by 54 different authors taking place in 45 different countries around the world. I have two stories being published in the book – one about a bizarre encounter I had on a side street Spain, and one about the rigours of romance on the road.

Getting Support as a Writer

With the release of my first book, I learned a few hard lessons about getting moral and professional support, especially while living abroad.

It has made me gun-shy about self-promotion in general; even more so when it comes to dealing with family and friends.

So I don’t want to flog this book on anybody – be you a stranger, a travel/writing colleague, or my mother (hi mum!).

I won’t keep track of who does and doesn’t order the book, so don’t worry – you’re not being watched.

I do believe, however, that From The Grand Canyon to the Great Wall is a fun read, and I expect you’ll enjoy it.

Thank you for your support!

This post From the Grand Canyon to the Great Wall: I’m Published (Again)! appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island

This post was originally published in 2010. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content. 

At the ripe age of 21, Peter Rudiak-Gould landed on Ujae, a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands that is 70 miles (by plane no less) from the nearest telephone, car, store, or tourist, and 2,000 miles from the closest continent. He turned to face a sea of 450 unsmiling brown faces who made up his Marshallese community for a year, while he taught English to the island’s school kids.

Peter’s integration to this new life is simultaneously hilarious and painful. Not remotely being what he expected, the learning curve was huge, and life was far from the exotic tropical paradise he had envisioned.

For starters, he immediately discovered that the last volunteer who had been there was much better than him. This was something the locals reminded him of multiple times a day, plaguing him with merciless comparisons.

He mused at his state of sanity in dreaming up this scheme to live on a faraway island for a year:

“What was it about islands that I found so alluring? It was this: islands are isolation, isolation is differentness, differentness is possibility, and possibility is hope.”

Integration and Identity

Despite his multi-faceted learning curve, Peter adapted to life on Ujae. He became fluent in their language, learned to fish (not very well by Marshallese standards mind you!), and painstakingly tried to teach the island’s children some English. His skin darkened a few thousand shades and his hair lightened the same. But as much as he integrated, he also realized something pretty important: that he is still Western.

“I had always fancied that I wasn’t, that I had somehow escaped the influence of my upbringing and emerged free-thinking and unburdened by cultural baggage. How wrong I was. I was Western – deeply and terminally so. I carried my civilization with me at every moment: my nervous efficiency, my emotional openness, my sense of individual entitlement, my war against the status quo….Living in another country had finally made me realize how much I was a product of my own country”.

How true! Don’t we as travelers tend to identify more with our upbringing and culture once we are removed from it? I can only imagine how stark this realization would have been living as culturally remote as Peter was.

Living in America….But Not

Peter discussed what it is to live in a country that is technically part of the United States, but at the same time is so far from it – both geographically and culturally. This hasn’t been helped by the fact that the Marshall Islands (Bikini Island in particular) was the major site of nuclear testing during the Cold War. The United States’ ongoing mismanagement of this little piece of “paradise” so far from the homeland was apparent to Peter:

“..Critics saw garbage piles and thought ‘irreversible devastation!’ when they should have thought ‘solid-waste management problem.’ They saw makeshift shelters and thought ‘abysmal deprivation!’ when they should have thought ‘housing shortage’. They mistook the country’s nuclear legacy for the obliteration of an entire nation, rather than the forced migration of several hundred people and the irradiation of several hundred others. These premature obituaries were based on a kind of cynical paternalism: the assumption that the Marshallese had no ability to solve problems or adapt to change. I had done my share of criticism too, but it was hard to reconcile these dreary descriptions with my own memories of men fishing on pristine reefs and women preparing for a feast.”

And towards the end, Peter painted a queer yet strangely familiar picture of the integration of American society into the old Marshallese ways:

“The people of Ujae ate instant ramen, but opened the package with a machete…They served Kool-Aid, but treated it like Perrier; at Spam, but savored it like filet mignon. They sipped their morning coffee, but sweetened as often as not with coconut sap. Some of the islanders could recite the medicinal properties of native plants and the hit singles of the Backstreet Boys with equal ease….it had been surreal to live here, with a people who were in equal parts hunter-gatherers and yuppies, in a place exactly halfway between jungle camp and New York City – a place where a man might spear fish for subsistence in the morning and play half-court basketball in the evening, a place where the same person who shared with you the ancient meaning of the colored lines on the back of a crab could also recite Snoop Dogg lyrics”.

The Island Life

There were other ways in which the customs and people of Ujae were entirely foreign to Peter too. I especially enjoyed how Marshallese society dictates that you’re never in too much of a rush to chat. As much as work needs to be done, the pace of Ujae island life was generally relaxing with regular conversations along the way.

On a sparsely populated island, marriage opportunities don’t come along every day. But during his year as a volunteer, Peter received a marriage proposal from a girl on a neighbouring island, and even unwittingly offered up a marriage proposal himself!

While on the topic of men and women, I found myself wondering how different the volunteer and living experience on Ujae would have been if Peter had been female. Men and women in Marshallese society don’t commingle much, and their set daily tasks (as well as the quantity of work to be done by each gender) vary drastically, usually in favour of the men. Peter observed that the women were constantly working, with little apparent down-time. And nobody – male or female – truly understood the meaning of privacy on the island.

My Two Cents

The book wended its ways into my thoughts and actions each day, while I followed Peter in his – at times – agonizing experiences and eventual cultural immersion (of sorts) to the Marshallese way of life.

I got right into the book and voraciously read the majority of it in a short time. I found myself giggling out loud at the humour and general semantic brilliance of various passages, reading paragraphs aloud to anybody who would listen. When I neared the end (as I tend to do with books I like), I slowed my pace so as to make it last as long as I could!

Although the book was written (at least in part) because the Marshall Islands disappearing due to global warming, it isn’t the primary focus of the book, as you might suspect given the title. Instead the theme of global warming is incredibly subtly hinted at throughout and formally introduced beautifully in the Epilogue, once the reader has already unwittingly fallen in love with both the author and the people of Ujae Island. Instead of the book being an environmental soap box as I had suspected, it was a true travelogue of Peter’s bizarre and enchanting experience on Ujae, with an environmental (and cultural) reality check at the end. And I believe that in presenting the environmental issues as he did instead of as a constant theme through the book, they will have a deeper impact on the readers. For that, and for so many other reasons too, I loved it.

Feel free to pick up a copy of Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island and see for yourself.

(Editor’s Note: I received a free copy of the book for review, and there are affiliate links in this post.)

I don’t write a huge number of book reviews, but you can read the ones I have done here: Book Reviews

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The description on the back cover of Imagine: A Vagabond Story calls it “a memoir of sex, drugs, and Salsa dancing”. And let’s just say I don’t remember very much Salsa dancing.

But read a little deeper, and you’ll see the author making a journey that is more intangible and metaphysical than it is geographical (in only the way that travels can be for those who are open-minded and explorative).

After college (well, sort of; it’s a long story – read the book!), Grant buys a one-way ticket to Mexico, stuffs his pockets with a couple of hundred dollars, and takes off to live in and travel through Central America.

He works under the table at a few resorts before hopping in a van with some backpackers and driving down through Central America (final destination: Guatemala). In wending his own way back to Mexico, he volunteers in trade for accommodation at hostels, and meets a colourful cast of characters along the entire way.

Initially, I must say the book was not my cup of tea. As a more mature traveler myself (at the time of writing this I was of 33 years old, but that makes me older than most backpackers), I don’t identify with the young party-hardy crowd as much as, well, younger people would, I guess. I haven’t done cocaine (which is a common theme in Imagine), and I don’t really drink unless I want to kill the entire following day cradling an inhumane and totally unfair hangover.

So although it was fun to live vicariously through Grant’s illustrious adventures, all my old decrepit paranoid mind could think about were STDs, foreign jails, and drug overdoses – despite the fact that none of these things actually came to pass in the book. So, Imagine made me feel pretty freakin’ old. (Or maybe just not part of the “hip” crowd – I’m not sure.)

Then again, what safer way to see the wild side than from the comfort of your living room and with your nose buried in a book?! Which is just what I did; for a brief moment, I threw all caution to the wind, got a one-way ticket to Mexico, and partied right there with the author, without worrying about all the stuff I tend to worry about. Armchair travelers and partiers will appreciate this tale.

Beyond the initial shock value of the party lifestyle, Imagine is a story of personal growth. Through his travels, Grant learns more about himself, defines his personality, and develops a foundation of self that no doubt has helped him to become a published author. He writes very honestly and without ego (a unique quality in an author), which allows the reader to follow along his journey and to learn his lessons too.

The book ends well, with one adventure closing and another opening, making you (or at least me) want to email the author and say “so then what happened?!” Which for me, is the sign of a fulfilling read. Imagine: A Vagabond Story hooked me in, and has me wondering what the author’s next adventure will be.

There is just one question that nagged at me most of the time I was reading the book: What on earth did his mother think the first time she read it??? (see? I must be old. Bah – humbug)!

This article was originally published in 2009, and has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.

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Queen of the Road: The True Tale of:

47 States,

22,000 Miles,

200 Shoes,

2 Cats,

1 Poodle,

a Husband,

and a Bus with a Will of Its Own

…pretty much sums it up, right?

This post was originally published in 2009. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.

This travel memoir is written by Doreen Orion, self-proclaimed Long Island Princess who counts among her life’s accomplishments, the accumulation of 100 pairs of shoes.

When her husband Tim (who earns the loving nickname of Project Nerd) reveals his “mid-life crisis” dream of traveling around the United States for a year on a bus, Doreen begrudgingly hangs on for the ride of her life. Being bus phobic, a homebody, and wondering how on earth she would fit 100 pairs of shoes (as well as the matching outfits) on a bus, this was not her idea of a good time. But in the spirit of compromise required for a successful marriage, she is finally lured in by the dishwasher and satellite tv that just might make this bus trip survivable.

With a creative and contextual martini recipe to start off each chapter, and a dose of self-deprecating humour to keep the tone light, this is a fast and fun read. More than once, I was caught in a public place, guffawing out loud at Doreen and Tim’s antics and adventures.

I find that many travel memoirs can be anticlimactic by the end, but Queen of the Road doesn’t disappoint. Lessons are learned, values are enhanced, and crises are averted. I closed the book at the end with a smile on my face, and anecdotes to share with my friends in recommending that they read Queen of the Road themselves.

This post Queen of the Road: Book Review appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!