Chapter Four

Online Travel Research Portals

BootsnAll.com
A long-running resource for planning and researching independent travel.

Travel Noire
A “digital media company serving millennials of the African Diaspora.” The site features news, travel tips, city guides, and inspirational stories.

TripSavvy
One of the largest travel-planning portals on the web.

Travellerspoint Travel Community
An international meeting point for travelers worldwide, useful for planning journeys and finding (or keeping in touch with) travel friends.

Matador Travel
A worldwide online community of travelers, writers, photographers, adventurers, and grassroots organizations.

Johnny Jet
Articles about air travel, weather, money, travel warnings, insurance, packing, guidebooks, and dozens of other specialty topics.

World Travel Guide
Basic travel information on destinations worldwide along with city and country guides.

Wikitravel
A collaborative travel wiki maintained by the community. Travelers can update the information on specific things to do, hotels, restaurants, and more.

The Savvy Backpacker
Packing lists and city guides for backpackers.

Online Travel Consumer Information

TripAdvisor.com
A well-known website for discovering popular things to do in different destinations and reading reviews left by other travelers.

Yelp
Local information, ratings, and reviews for businesses in cities around the world.

Travel Social-networking and Blog Networks

Meetup.com
Meetup helps people meet like minded friends around the world.

GAFFL: Get a Friend for Life
This website and smartphone app helps people find locals and travel buddies in destinations they are planning to visit.

The Nomadic Network
An online community and forums for finding travel enthusiasts near you.

TravelBlog.org
A collection of travel journals, diaries and photos from around the planet.

Hospitality and Hostelling Resources

CouchSurfing
An international hospitality exchange service that connects travelers with locals in over 230 countries and territories around the world.

Servas
A non-governmental, multicultural peace association that connects travelers and hosts in over 100 countries.

Friendship Force
Friendship Force International provides opportunities to explore new countries and cultures from the inside by bringing people together at the personal level. Through the signature program of home hospitality, local hosts welcome international visitors into their culture, sharing with them meals, conversation, and the best sights and experiences of their region.

Caretaker Gazette
The Caretaker Gazette has helped people find property caretaking and house sitting jobs since 1983. They provide information to caretakers, house sitters, and landowners.

HouseCarers.com
Caretaking network that has been helping people find house-sitting opportunities since 2000.

MonasteryStays.com
A service that arranges stays in Italian monasteries.

Hostelworld.com
A popular hostel search and booking service. The website includes articles for inspiration and advice on hostel life.

BeWelcome
A free, not-for-profit community that connects travelers and hosts around the world.

Couchers
A free, community-led alternative for couchcurfing.

Sleeping in Airports
Guides for sleeping in airports during long layovers instead of getting a nearby hotel.

Online Government Travel Resources

Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Official online home of the U.S. Consulate.

Canadian Consular Affairs
Official travel and consular resources for Canadian citizens.

Passport Services, U.S. Department of State
Everything Americans need to know about applying for and receiving a passport.

Canadian Passport Office
Everything Canadians need to know about applying for and receiving a passport.

U.S. Embassies Abroad
The official list and contact info for all U.S. embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions in every country.

U.S. Department of State Travel Resources
Useful resources for American travelers including information on how to handle emergencies, visas, entry requirements, and more.

CIA World Factbook
A database of basic political, geographical, demographic, economic, communication, transportation, military and transnational statistics about every country in the world.

Guidebook Publishers

Lonely Planet Publications
Lonely Planet is the biggest and most well-known franchise in the budget travel world. These well-researched and well-organized travel guidebooks cover every region of the world — and the series also includes language phrasebooks, trekking guides, wildlife viewing guides, travel health guides, international food guides, maps, atlases, and travel videos. The Lonely Planet website is a useful portal for travel research, with basic tip sheets for every country in the world, columns from travel experts, an online health guide, “Theme Guides” to give you travel ideas, and international news.

Moon Guides
Based in the USA, Moon Guides are an excellent resource for destinations around the world.

Time Out Guides
Time Out Guides focus on the best experiences in the most popular cities around the globe. Their brick-and-mortar Time Out Markets found in some cities offer a curated experience for travelers.

Let’s Go Publications
Updated yearly by Harvard students since 1960, Let’s Go guides have a young emphasis, and address the basics for beginning travelers with a strong focus on European and North American destinations.

Rough Guides
England’s answer to the Lonely Planet, with an emphasis on Europe, Asia, Central America, and North America. In addition to guidebooks, Rough Guides also produces phrasebooks, world music guides, and reference titles regarding travel health and women’s travel.

Frommer’s Guides
One of the bestselling travel guides in America for more than 50 years. Founded in 1957 with the publication of Arthur Frommer’s Europe on $5 a Day, the series has since expanded to include guidebooks covering destinations all over the world.

Bradt Travel Guides
Bradt Travel Guides are British guidebooks with excellent coverage of Africa and South America, as well as unusual destinations like Iraq, the Arctic, and the Falkland Islands.

Rick Steves’ Europe Guides
Well-researched independent budget travel guides to popular destinations all over Europe.

Fodor’s Guides
One of the world’s largest publishers of English-language travel and tourism information.

Travel Idea Books

The World’s Cheapest Destinations: 26 Countries Where Your Money is Worth a Fortune, by Tim Leffel (Al Centro Media, 2019, ebook and print)
An old favorite for budget travelers searching for the cheapest international destinations, with price examples and key attractions.

How to Travel the World on $50 a Day: Travel Cheaper, Longer, Smarter, by Matt Kepnes (Tarcher Pergiree, 2015, ebook and print)
Tips, tricks, and secrets to comfortable budget travel; a blend of advice ranging from travel hacking to smart banking.

The Rough Guide First-Time Around The World, (Rough Guides, 2016, ebook and print)
A general trip-planning guide with tips on things like creating an itinerary, keeping safe, and saving money. This all-encompassing book also has overland maps and descriptions of global attractions.

Make the Most of Your Time on Earth 4, (Rough Guides, 2019, ebook and print)
A handpicked list of 1,000 incredible travel experiences from around the world.

World Party: The Rough Guide to the World’s Best Festivals, (Rough Guides, 2006, print)
A guide to over 200 of the greatest events on earth, including what you need to know before you go and what to do while you’re there, as well as the practical details that can make or break your trip.

ABC Travel Greenbook: Connecting the African Diaspora Globally, by Martinique Lewis (independently published, ebook and print)
A directory of celebrated, Black-owned businesses on six different continents.

100 Countries, 5000 Ideas: Where to Go, When to Go, What to See, What to Do, (National Geographic, 2022, print)
A large-format book with a lifetime’s worth of travel ideas.

Adventure and Expedition Travel

Alastair Humphreys
National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Alastair Humphreys plans and executes expeditions, large and small, from epic treks across vast tracts of land to after-work “micro-adventures.”

International Information and News

The Economist
This London-based magazine offers excellent international reporting and is widely available overseas.

AP Global News Network
The Associated Press celebrates more than 175 years of reporting news from around the world.

The New York Times World News
International news from the paper of record.

BBC World News
International news from the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Google News
Powerful news aggregator and search engine.

OnlineNewspapers.com
Database offering quick access to online newspapers from countries worldwide.

World Press Review
Drawing on newspapers and magazines around the world, this monthly magazine examines international issues often overlooked by other outlets.

Al Jazeera
International news coverage, especially of the Middle East.

Independent Travel Magazines

Outpost Magazine
Toronto-based magazine written by adventurous independent travelers.

South East Asia Backpacker
A magazine covering all things Southeast Asia since 2008.

Vagabondish
“Adventurous travel for semi-responsible adults.”

Afar Magazine
San Francisco-based magazine covering experiential travel.

Perceptive Travel
An online magazine featuring travel stories from wandering book authors.

Roads & Kingdoms
Award-winning coverage of travel, food, and politics.

Independent Travel Blog Resources

Rolf Potts’ Vagabonding blog
Advice, news, and links for the vagabonding traveler.

Vagabonding Life
Greg escaped a cubicle in 2006 and has been sharing vagabonding adventures since.

The Broke Backpacker
A long-running blog about cheap world travel.

Nomadic Matt
Matt’s tips, photos, videos, commentary and resources related to travel.

Minority Nomad
A blog and stunning photography by Erick Prince.

Nomadic Notes
James Clark shares stories and resources for vagabonding digital nomads.

Go Backpacking
Dave Lee’s blog began in 1998 to inspire and motivate others to make their travel dreams come true.

Maptia
A collaborative effort for visual storytelling and cultural topics shared by over 200 contributors.

Rick Steves’ Travel Blog
The personal blog of Europe expert Rick Steves.

Wandering Earl
Earl’s blog detailing over 20 years of adventurous vagabonding travel.

The Professional Hobo
Traveling full time in a financially sustainable way.

Notes From the Road
A different kind of blog with beautiful sketches and photography.

General Travel Magazines

Conde Nast Traveler
Well-written stories with a strong emphasis on upscale and luxury travel. Website features photos, travel advice columns, and contests.

Islands
Stories by top writers about travel to the islands of the world. Some features archived online.

National Geographic
This classic, beautifully photographed magazine has probably inspired more vagabonders from childhood than any other American magazine in the last 100 or so years. The interactive website features archived photos and stories.

Hidden Compass
Online magazine with stunning photographs and travel writing from around the world.

Outside Magazine
Travel and adventure writing with an emphasis on outdoor sports. Website features articles and advice about travel destinations and gear.

Travel & Leisure
An American Express publication with an emphasis on luxury travel. Well-written articles on foreign cultures and destinations.

Wanderlust
UK-based magazine for the independent traveler.

Student and Gap Year Travel Resources

Gap Force
Helping people plan gap years of all types since 1989.

Travel Cuts
Travel booking service for student and youth travel.

Institute of International Education
One of the world’s largest and most experienced international education and training organizations.

The Big Trip, (Lonely Planet, 2019, ebook and print)
An essential guide to gap years and sabbaticals that details unique experiences, trip planning, and how to potentially turn your travel passion into a new career.

Delaying the Real World, by Coleen Kinder (Running Press, 2005, print)
Details job and travel opportunities for the recently graduated twenty-something who yearns to create a long- or short-term adventure.

Escape Guide to the Ultimate Gap Year, by Amar Hussain (Escape Guides, 2013, Kindle)
A short ebook for planning and preparing an ultimate gap year.