Movement

Why rail trails are great, sort of

  The Springwater Corridor Trail is a rail trail in the Portland area. It starts out on the eastern waterfront, and follows the Willamette River south for about 4 miles before turning inland along Johnson Creek, through the towns of … Read MoreRead More

Why cheap travel isn’t the best

  I spent the night of my 23rd birthday on the floor of the Greyhound Terminal in San Francisco. … Read More

Run the numbers after your trip

  When I come back from a long trip, I tend to do three things: Sleep copiously (though not necessarily in the correct hours for my current time zone) Dump the contents of my bag either into the trash or … Read MoreRead More

Travel hacking to get free hotels

  I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Gwangju, South Korea. The question that invariably popped up whenever I told anyone that I was staying in Gwangju (even Koreans all said this) was, “why!?” Yikes, do they know something I … Read MoreRead More

How to enjoy your travels more (and come home less exhausted)

  It’s a gorgeous Spring day here in Tokyo. Sunny, warm, light breeze. There’s a bird outside saying “‘Caw’” like it’s got scare quotes around it. “‘Caw.’ I’m a bird, it’s what I say. ‘Caw.’” And here I am, inside, … Read MoreRead More

How to determine how much money you need to travel

  Warning: this post contains math. I want to expand on a point I made last time about reasons people don’t travel: namely not having enough money. I’ve been having an ongoing conversation where I’m trying to convince someone to … Read MoreRead More

Why you don’t travel more

  “I wish I could travel more.” Oh, if I had a frequent flyer mile for every time I’ve heard this lament. Travel appears to be the universal wish. Even the usual mileposts of marriage, kids, and house don’t seem … Read MoreRead More

How to book an award ticket in 785 easy steps

  In my last post I talked about how adventure shouldn’t be postponed. To this end, I decided to redeem some of my frequent flyer miles for the first time ever. … Read More

Don’t let your adventures expire

  I’ve been collecting frequent flyer miles for over a decade, when I bought one of my first plane tickets on US Airways and absentmindedly signed up for their Dividend Miles program. At the time, it didn’t seem possible that … Read MoreRead More

Lift only one leg at a time, or how to move forward successfully

  One <blank> at a time. You can fill in the blank with many possible answers. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you recover from alcoholism or other diseases? One day at a … Read MoreRead More