Apr 25th, 2013 at 10:00AM:
For some reason, every continent seems to have a roof.
Bolivia is known as "the roof of South America" for its high, empty and multi-colored altiplano that has an average elevation of 12,300 feet.
Mt. Kilimanjaro has been called "the roof of Africa" for its glacial, 19,340-foot summit that presides over the equatorial plains.
The Tibetan plateau, meanwhile, is such an expanse of high ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
vagabondtales posts
Vagabond Tales: Where Is The Roof Of North America?
Apr 25th, 2013 at 10:00AM:
For some reason, every continent seems to have a roof.
Bolivia is known as "the roof of South America" for its high, empty and multi-colored altiplano that has an average elevation of 12,300 feet.
Mt. Kilimanjaro has been called "the roof of Africa" for its glacial, 19,340-foot summit that presides over the equatorial plains.
The Tibetan plateau, meanwhile, is such an expanse of high ...Vagabond Tales: Fear And Loathing In San Felipe
Apr 16th, 2013 at 10:00AM:
The strip clubs in San Felipe, Mexico, aren't open on Tuesdays.
For most travelers to Baja, this isn't overly concerning. After all, with all of the surfing, fishing, diving and fish taco eating that can easily consumer your entire day, the fact that strip clubs are closed for one day of the week shouldn't be a point of concern.
If, however, you've descended upon San Felipe after three ...Vagabond Tales: How Travel Can Literally Make You Younger
Mar 18th, 2013 at 9:00AM:
The famous Spanish explorer Ponce de León spent parts of his travels on an unfruitful search for the fountain of youth.
Sailing from Puerto Rico to Florida in 1513 on a voyage, which would become the first documented European exploration of the American mainland, rumors of de León's search for the mythical fountain wouldn't arise until documents published after his death ...Vagabond Tales: How Traveling Helps You Realize You Look Weird
Jan 21st, 2013 at 11:00AM:
When I was 4 years old I had my picture taken by a large group of Japanese tourists.
While this in and of itself is slightly strange, the curious part of the story is where it happened. I was seated with my family – mom, dad, and infant baby sister – while casually enjoying a lunch of hot dogs on the lawn of the Washington Monument.
Having exhausted whatever amount of ...Vagabond Tales: Welcome To Portland, Strip Club Capital USA
Dec 24th, 2012 at 9:00AM:
As I squeeze the last bits of orange garnish into my pint of Blue Moon, a man to my left is having his nostrils plugged by a gyrating set of female genitals.
Releasing him from the flesh cave, the attractive blonde stripper – to the immense enjoyment of the sophomoric and semi-erect set of friends he's brought with him – suddenly doubles around and stiffly slaps a hand across ...
Vagabond Tales: In Search Of Placerville's Apples And Outlaws
Dec 3rd, 2012 at 12:00PM:
When it comes to travel there are really only two forces that drive us to the destinations we visit.
Either we hear about them from somewhere else, or we stumble upon those we know nothing about.
In the case of the Nicaraguan rodeo, that was a stumble. For nearly anywhere else, however, either we have read about it in a book, learned about in school, watched a documentary about it on ...Vagabond Tales: Setting Sail For The Most Remote Place On Earth
Nov 12th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
There is a bit of contention with regards to where exactly the most remote place on Earth actually is.
Most lists you encounter will feature the usual suspects such as the island of Tristan da Cunha, the village of Ittoqqortoormiit (Greenland), the Svalbard archipelago (Norway) and McMurdo Station (Antarctica). Just last month we published one such list right here on Gadling.
...Vagabond Tales: Don't Take Smelly Things Camping Or A Bear Might Eat Your Face
Oct 25th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
Despite what you might think, this has nothing to do with socks, sweaty shirts or anything else that absorbs bodily smells while out on the trail. All those things are fine.
This is more in reference to things that have a pleasant odor, such as deodorant, toothpaste or even Gold Bond foot powder. Sure, these hygienic amenities will keep your feet dry, teeth clean and armpits wintergreened, ...Vagabond Tales: Can Travel Writers Take A Normal Vacation?
Oct 22nd, 2012 at 10:00AM:
I know what you're thinking. Travel writers are always on vacation, so what a silly concept for an article.
Sure, climbing active volcanoes in Chile and staying in castles in Ireland sounds like an enjoyable time, and often times, it is.
But it isn't exactly a normal vacation.
When others might be bathing on the sundeck of a dive boat on the Great Barrier Reef, travel writers instead ...Vagabond Tales: The Rewarding Adventures Of 'Genealogy Tourism'
Oct 10th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
The house pictured above is a very drab house. It's cold. It's empty. And no one has lived in it for over 120 years.
Sure, there is a fresh layer of green paint on the door, but that was put there by the neighbors. Why they did that I'm not sure, because this house was abandoned long ago.
This house isn't anything famous, and it isn't in a town you've ever heard of. This house is in ...Vagabond Tales: Averting Death In A French Field
Sep 6th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
You don't need to have traveled to France to be familiar with the French concept of laissez-faire.
A phrase, which translates to "let it be" amongst economic scholars, references the way in which governments should, in theory, let an economy take care of itself. "Hands off," essentially.
Despite being an academic term rooted in economics, many travelers to France might argue that this ...Vagabond Tales: Reinventing The Swim-Up Bar
Aug 27th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
"There's only one thing wrong with this wave," quipped John, a 50-something-year-old surfer from Seattle, who, like the rest of us, had come to the Mexican outpost of La Saladita to score some perfect waves, warm weather and oceanfront lobsters and beer.
"It's too far of paddle to come back in and get a beer."
Such is the crux of long, perfect waves the world over. A long ride means a ...Vagabond Tales: A Bojangles Virgin No More
Aug 17th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
In the eight months I've been penning "Vagabond Tales" I've written about experiences from all corners of the globe.
Some of them have been exotic such as swimming with elephants in Thailand, and others have been a bit more dangerous such as kayaking with Alaskan killer whales or nearly being kidnapped in a Borneo jungle. I have ventured onto floating islands in Lake Titicaca, roasted ...Vagabond Tales: The Curious Case Of Indonesia's Pulau Bintan
Aug 9th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
Of course you've heard of Bali, but have you heard of Bintan?
Of the 18,000 or so islands, which make up the archipelago of Indonesia, the same five or six names invariably pop up when it comes to Indonesian tourism. Bali, the Gili Islands, Sulawesi, Java, Flores, Sumatra ... but what about Bintan?
Believe it or not, in terms of overall visitor numbers, Pulau Bintan is actually one of ...Vagabond Tales: Dodging Toxic Gases And Peering Into The Center Of The Earth
Aug 3rd, 2012 at 9:00AM:
"You see that smoke?" asked Andreas. "Tell me if you see the smoke."
Gazing towards the thin patch of smoke emanating from the icy summit, our group of volcano-climbers nodded in silent agreement.
"That smoke is very important," he continued, his rapid-fire speech laced with a strangely casual lilt.
"Why?" inquired a British climber, his attention focused on cleaning his fingernails ...Vagabond Tales: Cellphones And Candy Bars In The Floating Islands Of Peru
Jul 26th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
There is a running joke amongst Peruvians that when it comes to Lake Titicaca, Peru got the "Titty," and Bolivia got the "kaka."
All anatomical and bathroom jokes aside, the world's highest navigable lake does in fact stretch across the borders of both nations. When read from left to right on a map, it would appear that the Peruvians may have a reason on which to make their case.
My mind ...Vagabond Tales: Eavesdropping On An Elderly Soldier In A Rural Slovenian Café
Jul 19th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
The great nation of Slovenia has a wealth of many things, but it only has one island.
No, it's not located off of the coastline that some have dubbed the Mini-Riviera. Rather, it's set up in the mountains in the middle of a pristine retreat famously known as Lake Bled. It is a teardrop-shaped island in the middle of a placid lake. There are no inhabitants, and the main building is a ...Vagabond Tales: Shady Back-Room Deals With Questionable Thai Gangsters
Jul 11th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
There is a Nikon camera lens on the ocean floor between the Thai islands of Phuket and Koh Phi Phi.
No, I didn't see it while scuba diving with leopard sharks in the warm waters of the Andaman Sea (I swear they sneak right up on you). I know it's there because I put it there – with my foot.
Despite my knack for getting off the beaten path, the ferry ride from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi ...Vagabond Tales: Kayaking With Orcas And Dodging Icebergs In Alaska's Kenai Fjords
Jul 2nd, 2012 at 10:00AM:
Of all the wildlife in the animal kingdom, killer whales really get a bad rap. First of all, only about 20 percent of them even eat other mammals such as harbor seals or sea otters, with the remaining 80 percent simply dining on fish like so many other marine species do.
You know who else eats fish? Dolphins. And nobody is scared of a dolphin.
Speaking of dolphins, killer whales are ...Vagabond Tales: The Drunken Art Of Nicaraguan Bull Riding
Jun 22nd, 2012 at 10:00AM:
Nicaragua's Isla de Ometepe is an island of many things.
It's the highest lake island in the entire world, and it has the most perfectly conical shaped mountain in all of Central America. Seeing as it's set in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, it's home to the world's only freshwater sharks.
Isla de Ometepe is volcanic, home to two volcanoes – Volcán Concepción and ...
