Feature Articles

That Time I Lost My Passport

I’m a man of routine. Whenever I fly, I put my boarding pass in my passport, and then put both of those in the magazine pocket in front of my seat. I flip through the bad in-flight magazine. I put it back. I tune out to my music. Grab my passport and exit the plane.

Except this time, I missed a step.

Stepping out of the restricted area at the airport, I suddenly had an awful realization.

“Oh shit!”

I had left my passport on the plane…Read More

My Biggest Travel Regret

I sat down to write about my travel regrets and realized I only have one: I never studied abroad when I was in college.

Studying abroad is the annual ritual for thousands of college students. They travel all over the world to get away from home, experience something new, take classes overseas, meet new people, and party in foreign lands. Most American students seem to flock toward Europe, where cheap transportation makes weekend trips to exotic cities easy.

When I was in college, I never caught the study abroad bug. At that point in my life, I wasn’t big into traveling. Studying abroad sounded cool, but it also sounded like a tedious administrative process — and I was lazy. I liked my campus life; it was easy. Forms and paperwork got in the way of sleeping late, four-day weekends, and fraternity events.

But what really held me back was a single idea that seems to hold most others back, too. It’s the belief that something might be missed while studying abroad. What would happen if I left home? What changes would happen with my friends? What parties would I miss? What gossip? What if there was some big event at school and I wasn’t there? What if the President came? What if this? What if that?…Read More

Why I Love Solo Travel

Traveling alone is the only way to truly roam free, as far as I’m concerned.

A year ago today, I was shaking in my shoes at the prospect of traveling by myself in Southeast Asia. I was utterly terrified that I’d constantly be lonely. I was about to board a plane to Bangkok with no clue what the year to come would have in store.

Let’s be real, I hate being alone. That “me” time that other people seem to crave? Nope, I don’t desire that. In fact, I’d even go as far as saying I hate “me” time. Totally and completely hate it!

I need to be social every day or I’ll get depressed.

I don’t really seem like a good candidate for traveling solo, do I? I certainly didn’t think I would be. I tried everything – talking to friends about meeting up for various legs of the journey, trying to con my cousin into coming along, and even considering a much shorter trip so that I wouldn’t have to go it alone. In short, I was petrified.

Eventually it became clear that there was no way to wait for a travel buddy and also see all of the things I wanted to see before retirement…Read More