Since I’m getting some traffic love from 110+ Thesis Customizations post, I decided to put together some of the best stuff from abroadening for 2009:

New York City Launch

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Paris Episode

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Also check out 101 Most Awesome Adventure & Travel Twitterers You Should Be Following and 10 Must-Haves for the Digital Nomad.

If you like this site, please follow me on Twitter or add yourself to Facebook or Google Connect or Subscribe to email updates (in the sidebar to your left). Thanks for visiting!

Tomorrow evening (November 21st) at 7:30 pm I’ll be at Books Inc in San Francisco talking frankly about what it’s been like traveling, filming an online TV show, and taking questions about travel, photography, mud wrestling, and living on impulse.

If you or anyone you know are in the San Francisco area, I’d love to have you come out and join me. I’ll be sharing my travel tips, experiences, and interacting with the audience with a little Q&A sesh.

You’ll get to hear how this whole thing started, what I’ve learned, and what you can do to travel more, pursue your goals, and create your own life the way you want. Plus there will be cookies (if you bring them).

If there is any interest, I might see if I can setup a live stream of it from the bookshop.

Here are the meetup details. Hope to see you there.

I travel a lot. In 2009 I have logged more than 80,000 miles spread across 25+ trips. I have more bags for specific types of trips than anyone I know. Packing and unpacking is something I’ve perfected over the years, if only out of necessity.

So here I’m going to share some my best “secret weapons” for traveling and living a location independent lifestyle. These are all tools I’ve used to make my life easier, whether traveling within the US or abroad. Hope you find this list useful and if there are any tricks or tools that you’ve found especially helpful in your travels, please share them in the comments.

scribbletastic

1. Moleskin Notebook – I bring an empty one of these every time I am abroad and it’s perfect for taking notes, doodling, and writing down phone numbers, addresses, new facebook friends contacts, and a lot more. I’ve danced my ass off in London until morning, soaking all my clothes, and the moleskin has survived that and much more. I get the really thin pocket version, which you can pick up in a 3 pack at a Border’s near you.

2. Kayak Flight search – This is my first stop for searching flights for both domestic and international travel. 90% of the time it has the best airfare prices anywhere. Check out this cheap flights guide for a more comprehensive list (and check out the international tab atop the page).

my precious

3. 13″ Macbook Pro – The best laptop to lug around, period. I just got one and absolutely love it. I switched to a Mac 1.5 years ago and have not looked back since. Everything just works and is easy (esp. Time Machine). A lot of people like netbooks, but they’re way underpowered for video viewing or graphics work so I’d stick with a 13″ Macbook Pro.

4. Dropbox – file storage and syncing – I put all my important files (website files, documents, etc.) into my dropbox folder and it automatically backs up and syncs all of them. Bonus: You can access files on your iPhone, share folders with friends, and more. It runs in the background and doesn’t drain your system resources like a lot of the other apps.

5. Boingo Wifi Access – Boingo rocks! It only costs $10/mo. and lets you access WiFi from a bazillion places on earth, including Europe. I signed up for this in the UK last year and it cost me $30/mo, so it’s much better to get it while you’re still in the US. I use it to get free WiFi at every Starbucks I go to (that in itself is worth the price). It also includes most McD’s and a whole lot of other places – usually you just click on the “roaming access” button (or something similar) and sign in.

6. Canon PowerShot SD780 compact camera – The smallest pocket camera that also takes the sharpest pictures out there, plus it has HD movie mode which takes high quality video. My friends always rave at the quality of pictures this thing takes and it fits in the smallest pockets without being bulgy or uncomfortable.

Barcelona time

7. iPhone – Not a travel “must-have” unless you want to jailbreak it, but I have one and I use it well. While I can only use voice services in the US without paying expensive roaming charges, I use this thing for WiFi access all the time. I used it in Barcelona airport to hop on a Boingo hotspot and book a hostel this summer without having to pull out my laptop. Plus, if you turn on international roaming, it’s something like $1.50 per minute – not cheap but it’s still available if you need it. I use Skype for most calling outside the states, but sometimes it’s worth having the phone on you. Just be sure to always disable data roaming when outside the US. Bonus – I use it to listen to all my music and audiobooks (via Audible, see below).

8. Audible – I usually download audiobooks before a long trip and listen to them while in flight, in line, or anywhere else where I want to put my downtime to good use. Some of my faves are 4 Hour Workweek and the Power of Now.

9. TripIt – Whenever I book a flight, I forward the confirmation email to plans@tripit.com and it keeps all my trips organized automatically. I then sync it with Travel Tracker ($20 but worth it) on my iPhone. This has saved my ass a few times when I I was running late for a flight and needed to look up a confirmation number at the check-in kiosk. (If you’re on it, connect to me at TripIt.)

veganom nom nom

10. Heart-Thrive snacks – These are the best on-the-goal meals, period. I stick a few of these in my bag whenever I travel and I always have breakfast or a snack on a plane when I’m hungry. They’re small, pack a lot of protein, are dairy and gluten free, & are pretty tasty.

Software I use on my Mac: (Free) Gmail & Google Docs, Skype, FireFTP, Tweetdeck, Evernote (Expensive) Lightroom, Photoshop, Dreamweaver

Want more travel gear advice from experience? Check out some of these quality posts:

• Tynan’s travel gear
• Chris Guillibeau’s travel list
• Travel accessories for stylish women (this is my girlfriend’s pack list)
• You might consider packing cubes
• Practical travel gear by Tim Leffel
• Road tested travel gear by Almost Fearless
• Tim Ferris packing tips
• Cody’s 49 Tools for living location independent
• Johhny Vegabond’s cool visual packing list

Hope this above gives you some ideas and will make your travel easier. Feel free to add more in the comments. If there’s anything I would say to conclude this is “experiment and find what travel gear works for you” since every single one of us have our own personalities, desires, and requirements.

A few weeks ago I emailed a bunch of my traveling friends and asked each of them to send me a picture they’ve taken that represents what traveling is all about. Below is a collection of photos that encapsulate travel, as seen from the eyes of travelers worldwide:

[Click on the pictures below to view larger and see who contributed it]

1. Christine Gilbert from Almost Fearless – Lake Nicaragua, near Isla Ometepe and Monkey Island
2. Beth Blair from The Vacation Gals – “Traveling to me means transformation. It is impossible for a traveler to return home with the same outlook they had before they left.” Picture is from a sunset cruise in Turks & Caicos
3. Dave Cornthwaite from The Big Paddle – “This shot is myself in the middle of Australia’s Lake Hume in a kayak, en route from source to sea along the Murray River”
4. Billie Frank from The Santa Fe Traveler – “Me in Ireland, one of my two ‘homes’ on earth. It is Dunmore Head in Dunquin, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry – said to be the most western point in Ireland (besides out-lying islands).”
5. Janice Waugh from Solo Traveler Blog – “To me, travel means going into the back streets. Here’s a shot of a back street in Old Havana.”
6. Heather Cowper from Heather on Her Travels – “This photo encapsulates the reason why I travel – it’s a story of venturing into the souk, eating in some corner cafe and then experiencing great friendliness and hospitality from the locals.”
7. Sherry Ott from Ott’s World – “What is traveling to me… cultural, colorful, natural, and joyful.”
8. John Bardos from Jet Set Citizen
9. Rachelle from Inn the Kitchen – “Walking the bustling streets of Rome on a Monday I came across a nun enjoying some gelato. Just an ordinary day on her way to church. I think I must have ate my way through Rome in all the little tucked away resteraunts and places where no one spoke any English … and of course … a new flavor at every Gelatoria we came across.”
10. Markus Mindaugas from Abroadening (hey that’s me!) – “You can read about a place a thousand times, but until you see the color, flavor, and experience a place with your own five senses, you won’t truly know it”
11. Laura Mills from The Wander Woman – “Traveling is discovering the unexpected.” In this case, swimming pigs in Exuma.
12. Craig and Linda Martin from Indie Travel Podcast – “For us, travel is the excitement of new and unexpected discovery.”
13. Lea Woodward from Location Independent – “Here’s a photo which sums up travel to me: Choice & Freedom”
14. Isabelle Kenis from Isabelle’s Travel – “Capturing the beauty of a foreign country and holding it in your memories, that’s what traveling is all about!” This is a sunset in Huntington Beach, California, USA. “I think this comes close to what travel is to me. I love the beach, the ocean and the States It’s also a beautiful sunset, I think.”
15. Liz Borod Wright from Travelogged
16. Tynan from Life Nomadic – Shibuya station in Tokyo
17. Aye from Got Passport Will Travel – “Travel for us means exploring, respecting, growing and embracing!” This particular picture was taken @ Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia

The mud people

We're on the front page!

Earlier this month I flew out to Austin, Texas to dance, sing, and play at Austin City Limits with 7 of my good friends. ACL was a 3 day music festival featuring 160 bands including the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, Pearl Jam, and DMB. It was a fun long weekend and since I didn’t have a cameraman, all I have to show for it are pictures.

It rained on the 2nd day and all of Zilker Park (the venue) got super muddy. But like they say “when life gives you mud, go slide in it.” I swear they say that. The day after the festival we walked by a newspaper stand – and whatya know? We made the front page!

All smiles

The front pic of the Austin Statesman

You can check out more pics of ACL here.

Twitter is home to many travel junkies who like to share their amazing adventures and provide the rest of us jetsetters with entertainment and useful tidbits of information. To make it easier for you, we have compiled a list of 101 of the most awesome travel and adventure twitterers out there. Here is a list of our favorites who we think you should be following:
(p.s. this is in no particular order, not to bruise any egos. follow them all).

1. adventuregirl – Adventure Girl, Stefanie Michaels is author of Guide to Adventure Travel, featured expert travel guest on CNN and FOX News, & quoted in publications such as The New York Times. Michaels was also named Senior Travel Editor with Affluent magazine.
2. thebackpackertv – The Backpacker TV connects hikers from all over the world so they can share experiences on the trail as well as enjoyment of the backcountry with others.
3. LarryHabegger – Larry Habegger is a travel writer, editor, journalist, and teacher who has been covering the world since his international travels began in the 1970s. As a freelance writer for more than two decades and syndicated columnist since 1985, his work has appeared in many major newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Travel & Leisure, and Outside.
4. travelblggr – Rachelle is the co-Innkeeper and co-owner of Tremain Street Cottages in Florida. She is also an actor, blogger, and short form video producer for the Travel Channel. Rachelle contributes to a column in Pulse Magazine, & The Green Scene.
5. trazzler – Trazzler recommends trips unique to your location and travel personality by placing you emotionally into specific moments and locales all over the planet. Founder Adam Weller built Trazzler to help you explore the limitless travel opportunities our world has to offer.
6. EverywhereTrip – Creator of EverywhereTrip, Gary Arndt has been traveling and blogging around the world since March 2007. In 1999 he circumnavigated the globe. EverywhereTrip is a travel blog featuring photos and posts from his adventures.
7. WeBlogtheWorld – We Blog the World is a group that writes about the “latest social and cultural trends, technology, sustainable energy and other new initiatives that are making an impact internally and externally.”
8. almostfearless – In July 2008 Christine Gilbert took the leap from being a manager in a large Fortune 500 Company and decided to become a traveling freelance writer. She sold all of her belongs, and began a full time traveling adventure. So far she has traveled around 13 countries and over 20 cities.
9. LanceArmstrong – Lance Armstron is a 7-time Tour de France winner, & full time cancer fighter – LIVESTRONG!
10. earthXplorer – JD Andrews, founder of EarthXplorer, spent more than 19 years traveling around the globe (71 countries across 6 continents), shooting and editing travel/tourism videos for various cruise lines, airlines, and tourist boards. EarthXplorer productions officially started in late 2008, specializing in travel related productions as well as Charity videos, commercials, corporate videos & documentaries.
11. frombecca – Rebecca is 6th generation Australian, she recently discovered she has over 700 years of heritage of dairy farming in her DNA – in this life she has worked as a chef in a number of restaurants, as well as a special events caterer, and private chef – now also sharing with others as a freelance writer and food blogger.
12. ARoadRetraveled – Simone di Santi: Traveling Girl + loaded camcorder on adventures = travel shows! Simone is producer and host of A Road Retraveled and Traveling Tidbits.
13. CoTravelGirl – Angela Berardino is a travel addict, Mac geek, lover of cocktails, & figured out a career to over-indulge in all. It involves social media things with travel & outdoor brands.
14. DanTraveling – Dan and his wife Janet travel the south, mostly on weekends, and show people what they find. They work full time in marketing and Janet is a metal-smith. We are You-Tube Partners and video hobbyist.We donate half of any Ad-Share revenues received to a different charity each quarter.
15. BrilliantTips – Brilliant tips is a multi-blogger site providing smart travel trends, hot spots, activities and deals.



16. Journeywoman – Evelyn Hannon is the CEO of Journeywoman, largest online travel resource for women + free tip newsletter going to 65,000 women in 100 countries.
17. DaveCorn – Dave is currently on his 2009 project: The Great Big Paddle which involves three incredible water journeys which you will see Dave travelling a total of 9000 miles through Australia, Europe and South America.
18. travel_titbits – Travel_Titbits provides things to do and sights to see around the world. It Combines travel tips, news, tools and advice collected from people passionate about travel.
19. solotraveler – Solo Traveler is a group of bloggers located around the world that range in age from 23 to 68. They offer solo travel tips, advice, stories, inspiration, destinations, ponderings and reflections for every style of travel.
20. hobonora – In 2006 Nora Dunn sold her business & got rid of all of her belongings taking the plunge into an adventure of a lifetime. She has been traveling for a few years; writing and tweeting about the lessons learned, the people she meets and her discoveries.
21. leawoodward – Location Independent People is founded by Lea & Jonathan Woodward. Lea started out her professional life as a management consultant based in London, whilst Jonathan was a corporate graphic designer. Fed up with the instability of the rat race and working for other people, they both decided to make a go of it and set up their own business.Lea & Jonathan left the UK in early 2007, determined to find a ‘home’; instead they realized that they enjoyed the nomadic lifestyle that being location independent enabled – and are still travelling between some of their favourite countries including Thailand, South Africa and the Caribbean.
22. jimkchin – Jimmy’s passion for travel, climbing, and skiing, exploration and photography has taken him on a break-through expeditions around the globe, and has made him one of the most saught-after expedition photographers in the world.
23. nomadicmatt – Matt is a twenty-something vagabond who has been on the road regularly since 2005. After a trip to Thailand in 2005, he decided to finish his Masters, quit his job, and, in July 2006, set out to travel around the world. He’s been traveling ever since.
24. girlsgetaway – GirlsGetaway.com is a gathering place for women to plan a wild and wicked world adventure, or a place to find out all about great local weekend trips with the girls. They are in the process of building an exciting new travel and social networking site designed for women looking to find travel information.
25. laurably – Laura Bly is a certified dromomaniac, and travel writer at USA Today.
26. theplanetd – Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil met in 1991 married for 11 years and have climbed, paddled, hiked and biked their way through 5 continents. They are constantly looking for a new adventure or unique way to discover the world and will be travelling back to Asia this winter where they will be taking on even more adventures. Their goal is to teach the world about other ways of life and raise awareness of social issues that different communities face each day. While the list of adventures can go on and on, they feel that they have only scratched the surface of what this world has to offer in the 30 odd countries that they have visited. They look forward to more great travels with each other for the rest of their life.
27. Duzer – Ryan Van Duzer is a jumpin, kickin, life lovin maniac with a passion for burritos. Currently he is producing short travel videos for the Travel Channel. He is a travel journalist & a one man band who shoots, hosts and edits all of his own segments. His dream is to produce and host educational, inspriing and entertaining TV for a national network.
28. BreatheDreamGo – Mariellen Ward is a freelance writer and editor living in Toronto, Canada, whose passions are traveling in India, studying / practicing yoga, writing, spreading positivity and inspiring others to connect with and live their dreams.She feels that her purpose is to share the beauty of India’s rich culture and ancient wisdom with the world and help connect with their dreams and discover the joy and power of living with that kind of inner source.
29. doorwaystravelr – Lisa Field-Elliot captures her great adventures in words and images to share and hopefully inspire you to look for your next doorway to freedom.
30. marcuswaring – Marcus is a travel features editor in London, editor at www.nowfly.co.uk and author of The Deranged Book for Old-Timers (Summersdale).
31. 501Places – 501 Places – sharing the world with you. Owned and edited by Andy Jarosz, 501 Places shares short stories and articles from Andy’s travels, focusing particularly on the history and personal stories that make a place unique. A new post every day.
32. traveldudes – Traveldudes provide valuable tips, ideas and advice from travelers based on their first-hand experience.Traveldudes is a community of travelers whose aim is to assist fellow travelers on their adventures around the world and help enhance their travel experience.
33. IsabellesTravel – Isabelletravels guides your adventures making it easier for you to find that one answer you’ve been looking for. She shares her personal experiences from her trips in the USA, Caribbean and Europe. Including tips on where to find everything you need to make your vacation a memorable one!
34. Richard Branson – Richard Branson is the bio chairman of Virgin Group.
35. JasonsTravels – Jason Hussong is a Denver based journalist who loves to travel and blog about it. Photo by Vintage 11 Studio.
36. TripsnTravels – TipsnTravel loves to travel, and wants to see the world, meet different people from different cultures, backgrounds and ethnic groups.
37. promaptraveler – ProMapTraveler.com is aimed at those interested in traveling or who just want to know a little bit more about the world in general. Producer Rhett Hoffmeister has not only lived abroad and traveled extensively but also has a passion for it.
38. kiwitravwriter – Heather Hapeta provides authentic travel tales that make people think “I want to go there”, or conversely, “that’s the last place I’d want to be” depending on the story.
39. timestravel – The Times Travel crew from London tweets travel news and deals for a restless Tweetosphere.
40. ottsworld – Sherry Ott is lost – wandering/living in Asia. She’s a corporate American runaway traveling the world; sharing her life and travel experiences.
41. vagab0nderz – Carlo is a contributing editor at Matador, writer, photographer, questioner, & wonderer.
42. IntheHotSpot – Annabel Candy is a web copy writer. She writes a blog with information, inspiration & idiosyncrasies for people who want to live better. Annabel is “jiving” (heh) her dream in Noosa, Australia.
43. craig_martin – Craig Martin runs The Indie Travel Podcast: an on demand podcast that answers the viewers emails.The Indie Travel Podcast is all about travel, especially independent travel.Producers Craig and Linda are full-time travellers who aim to bring you some tips and topics from the world of independent travel.
44. ShannonRTW – ShannonRTW is a mid-twenties backpacker traveling around the world for a couple of years – or perhaps a lifetime! Shannon wants to meet new people, learn new languages, and experience life outside of the microcosm of the United States.



45. whereivebeen – Katy is Where I’ve Been’s Community Manager who keeps you updated on travel news, tips, and advice.Whether you are filling out your map from your life-changing trip to Cambodia to making dinner reservations on a Friday night, Where I’ve Been now allows its users to find locally, travel globally and share everything.
46. travelspauline – Pauline is a history travel writer who loves food and wine, museums and landmarks, vintage cars and trains who also writes for examiner.com.
47. frankcoles – Frank Coles is a globetrotting author, journalist, editor and copywriter with over a decades experience as a media professional.
48. goplanit – GoPlanit is a social travel planning tool for exploring destinations and planning group trips.
49. DonnaLHull – Freelance writer specializing in travel and human interest content.
50. travelingmamas – TheVacationGals.com sharing their adventures with the world. They offer tips on great (and not so great) places to visit with children and how to have the best family vacations — but it’s not all about the kids, of course! Romantic escapes, girlfriend getaways, and solo trips are also important to them.
51. WanderingEds – WanderingEds is a travel site for global educators – travel guides, travel recommendations, author interviews, and more. They are an eclectic group of global and traveling educators, bent on sharing our passion for travel with like-minded individuals.
52. TwoBackpackers – TwoBackpackers documents the experiences of Jason Castellani and Aracely Santos as they travel the world in a journey of discovery. Jason and Aracely both find greater joy being outdoors, learning about the world, and lending a helping hand. They embark on this journey to follow true passion and also contribute to create a better world.
53. Wanderlisting – Wanderlisting finds up-to-the-minute news, deals, tips and tales from the world’s leading travel experts, bloggers and explorers and presents them to you in one convenient location.
54. Words_of_wander – Ann Goldberg loved traveling and realized that traditional travel agents didn’t get it – and couldn’t help. So, she started looking – and booking – on her own.
55. natgeoadventure – Natgeoadventure unites adventurers of the World where you can share adventure photos, videos and more from the National Geographic Channel.
56. What_Boundaries – Two travelers are two people who quit their jobs, sold everything, and now love traveling the world and writing about it!
57. linktotravel – Linktotravel links you to fresh and interesting travel news & information from around the world.
58. Travelogged – Liz Borod Wright is a NYC-based writer/editor focused on Travelogged which will take you all over the country and all over the world. From the beaches to the slopes, from ancient ruins to modern architecture, our network of insiders has got it covered.
59. travelojos – Steve Roll created Travelojos which provides information about traveling to and living in Mexico and other destinations in Latin America. He hopes to engage in worthwhile conversations and exchange insights with a community of like-minded travelers and expats.
60. thetravelbee – TheTravelBee simply adores traveling, and the objective is to help other deaf travelers.
61. WanderLu – WanderLu is a travel writer, novelist and magazine editor traveling the fantastic world.
62. ghtravelblog – Graham is a frequent world traveler, travel blogger, coffee lover, customer support guy that likes to cook and mix drinks.
63. GotPassport – GotPassport is a family of 3 plotting, scheming, planning, organizing, and strategizing to become expats and a location independent family!
64. enchantedtravel – Mary Ann is a travel industry insider, trip coach, travel seminars, blogger, francophile, carry-on fanatic and proud mother of 2.
65. smartwomentrav – Carol Margolis founded SmartWomanTraverlers which help women travel smarter and enjoy their journeys.
66. caroldtravels – Carol Driver is a journalist who has just returned to the UK after travel writing her way around the world – looking for her next adventure.
67. TheWanderWoman – The WanderWoman is a 20-something blogging about adventures on the road less traveled.
68. TravelSocial – Roseanne Landay is the director of strategy, business development and social media for major travel company exploring the world of travel and social media.
69. JetSetCitizen – John Bardos is your guide for Jet Set Citizen. Jet Set Citizen is about those living the new lifestyle Design at the intersection of work, play and travel.
70. ShaneSakata – ShaneSakata an expat living and writing about Japan’s great travel destinations, history & culture.
71. wheresPAUL – Paul Sanchez devoted to the promotion of human welfare, traveling, and adventures.
72. wandermom – Michelle Duffy is a traveler, a mother of 2 kids, and co-author of Traveling With Kids, She shares her experiences as a traveling parent and encourages people to take their children to interesting places far and wide.
73. wendyperrin – Wendy Perrin is the real-life person behind The Perrin Post. Wendy is a travel fanatic, editor, columnist, author, speaker, road warrior, mom of 2 boys, trying to juggle it all.
74. dkeahey – Deanna Keahey The original Adventurous Wench Outdoor Adventure for Women.
75. Marilyn_Res – Marilyn Terrell is the chief researcher with National Geographic Traveler magazine.
76. TravelingTed – the Chicago Adventure Travel Examiner for Examiner.com exploring adventure travel and what it means for the Chicago outdoorsman.
77. highsteph – Steph Davis writes about rock climbing, BASE jumping, wingsuit flying, friends and wild places.
78. vagabondish – Vagabondish.com editor, Mike Richard discusses offbeat backpacking and travel news, advice and how-to tips from around the world.
79. sub5mango – Jack Moscrop is an adventure traveler who enjoys & tweeting about writing, photography and emini trading.
80. johngottberg – John Gottberg Anderson is a full-time freelance writer and photographer writing primarily on travel and dining subjects. John is a former editor for the Los Angeles Times, the Paris-basedMichelin Guides and the Singapore-based Insight Guides. He has also co-authored 20 books and articles in more than 50 magazines around the world.
81. BethBlair – Beth Blair is a freelance writer specializing in lifestyle, bridal, culinary, spirits and her true passion, traveling and co-founder of TravelingMamas.com.She pens monthly for USATourist News Magazine and content pages for USATourist.com. Her blog posts have been featured on major news websites including Travel Meredith, Fox and NBC affiliates, Reuters, Chicago Sun Times, and others.
82. myadventureguy – Myadventureguy is a retired Army NG & computer analyst serving up amazing summer adventures & ideas for your traveling plans.
83. thetripchicks – The Trip Chicks are two unconventional tour guides/travel agents with 25+ travel industry/airline years, 70+ countries, and a whole heap of travel (mis)adventures under our belts. Their goal is to educate, entertain, and help save you time, money, and stress on your next trip.
84. TravelTweet – Michael is travel & photographer who has visited 120 countries. He is the founder of TravelNotes.org and Travel-Write.com. Travel Notes is an online guide providing updated country and city guides, local tourist information, reviewed web sites, regular travel articles and suggestions of things to do.
85. everywhereist – Everywhereist stays away from the main-stream travel genre rather providing an attainable authentic guide. Geraldine created her own travel web site to share her knowledge on travel and to help make your next trip a little more fabulous.
86. michellehiggins – Michelle Higgins writes the Practical Traveler column for the New York Times.
87. MarinaVillatoro – Marina Villatoro also known as the Travel Experta takes her love for Central America and applies it to helping people create their own dream vacation. Marina has been to thirty-five countries and currently lives in Costa Rice with her husband and child.
88. WritingTravel – Lanora Schoeny Mueller from writingtravel.com is a writer, photographer, and traveler who dabbles in domestic arts, and is a proud mom of teen and adult daughters. Writingtravel.com provides a unique article collection & photoblog on Laura’s adventures.
89. Jaunted – Jaunted “is the pop culture travel guide for globetrotters, business road dogs, and arm chair travelers.” Jaunted distinguishes themselves from traditional travel guides by providing exciting daily web magazine pop culture travel reviews.
90. kag2u – Kelly Goodman runs Travellious.com, a blog for independent travelers. Travellious urges travalers not to follow a must-see checklist when traveling, but helps provide information & empowers people to create their own travel adventures.
91. WorldTravelerJ – WorldTravelerJ, Jamie V. Rodriguez is on a quest to provide travel advice.
92. travelrants – Darren Cronian writes and rants about problems that consumers face with travel.
93. NoReservations – Anthony Bourdain is your host for No Reservations featured on the Travel Channel.
94. ErikHastings – CEO of Erik Hastings Travel, Erik serves the growing audience of consumers who go online to research, plan, and book trips.
95. Galavanting – Galavanting is a web series with fun and informative destination guides and travel 101 episodes.The show was created to give an honest view of what it’s like to visit a place, give practical tips, and highlight ways to truly experience local communities.
96. chrisguillebeau – Chris Guillebeau is the creator of Art of Nonconformity. He is a writer, world traveler, social entrepreneur, and lifelong learner.His mission is to help people live unconventional lives, make their own choices, and change the world and is on a five-year personal quest to visit every country in the world.He has visited 119 so far.



97. Seanogle – Sean is 24 and living in Portland, Oregon. Most of the topics he writes about are a combination of travel and entrepreneurship, which are also two of his passions.His primary goal is to keep accountabilty as he strives to achieve his goals, and also encourage others to take action within their own lives.
98. tynanbtyb – Tynan loves life and explores its possibilities by ignoring common sense and discovering what is really possible.
99. DaveGorman – Dave Gorman is a journalist, comedian and TV star based in London, England. His latest adventures include cycling the British mainland while simultaneously performing on comedic tour.
100. jetsetlife – The New Jet Set is a subculture of people who choose to live their life now, instead of deferring their dreams to later in life. They have learned to leverage technology to create income, time and freedom so they can regularly travel from one stylish or exotic place to another for pleasure.
101. abroadening – Abroadening is Markus Mindaugas’s online TV show & crowdshared adventure. The goal of Abroadening is to inspire others to act on their dreams & experience the world through traveling and challenging the very notion of what’s possible.

We spent many hours compiling this list of people and hope you find it helpful. We handpicked each result and tried to get rid of all spam accouns, bigger companies, and low quality accounts – if you want to add all these people at once you can do so via TweepML. If you see something that should not be on here, please let me know. Please share some of your own favorites in the comments below.

Looking for more than 101? Here are a few other quality travel twiterrer lists:

• The Travelers Notebook 23 relevant travel twiterrers
• Nileguide’s top 10 travel twiterrers
• 200+ travel twitter users on #followfriday
• Elliot.org’s 50 travel list
• Voyageek’s 50 travel twitterers
• Travel related companies you can follow

If you are one of the people mentioned in the list and would like to provide us with what you think is an even better description of what you’re all about, let me know.

late night in Madrid

After 30+ hours of travel from NYC via Florida, I landed in Madrid this morning, where I met Chris Low who had gotten in a few hours earlier. No problems at customs. Stamped. Now what?

At this point we had no plans whatsoever. I remembered how nice it was in 2002 to have a car in Europe so I decided to rent one – we got a Volkswagen SomethingorOther from Hertz (or El Hertz since we’re in Spain), a diesely beast with plenty of room and a GPS to help us get lost without getting lost.

I hadn’t driven a stick shift in a while and the tranny knew it (no, I’m not calling Chris a tranny, the stick has 6 gears and a hidden reverse, which makes it go “crrrrrrunch” once in a while. ok, all the while). We drove to the city center after several circles. The GPS lady – we call her Hertzena – pronounces stuff weird and there’s cars bearing down on you from every direction, so yeah, there’s lots of circling.

We found a giant P, which apparently signifies parking so we parked the car and headed over to the Ham Museum to get lunch. Yes, Ham Museum. It’s like a real museum except instead of paintings of ladies and abstract art, there’s shanks of smoked ham and abstract meat. Plus you can eat the art.

Mmmmm, salty hammy art.

The curator

We walked around the city a while and took a much needed siesta, after which I realized it’s 09/09/09 so I had to go out and take a picture of this momentous date.

09:09 on 09/09/09

We grabbed some local grub (paella) which was half food, half sea vermin tentacles/particles to be spat back out. The city was alive with people late into the night, but being tired, jetlagged, and full-bellied we called it a night. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Crunshy