While scouting for the first descent of the Baro River in Ethiopia, a tributary of the White Nile, I heard about a Peace Corps volunteer, Bill Olsen, 25, a recent graduate of Cornell, who decided to take a dip in the river at Gambella, a village near the South Sudan border. The locals warned to … Continued
This is part two of a two-part series on the restorative splendors of Vermont. Read Part One Here. Not much past The Long Trail Brewery, named after the 273-mile footpath that runs along the main ridge of the Green Mountains, paralleled for most of its length by Route 100, I trundle into the Vermonster, the … Continued
Thank you to Richard Bangs, the Judge for our Inspiration Travel Writing Contest. YOU can decide the WINNER of our VAGABONDS CHOICE AWARD– Click here to VOTE now! And GET READY for our Independence Writing Contest with BIGGER Cash PRIZES starting May 11! At first coffee on the morning of September 11, 2001 I was in … Continued
Thank you to Richard Bangs, the Judge for our Inspiration Travel Writing Contest. YOU can decide the WINNER of our VAGABONDS CHOICE AWARD– Click here to VOTE now! And GET READY for our Independence Writing Contest with BIGGER Cash PRIZES starting May 11! The morning next we take a hike to the Tibetan village of … Continued
“There is no happiness for him who does not travel. Therefore, wander. The fortune of him who is sitting sits, it rises when he rises, it sleeps when he sleeps, it moves when he moves. Therefore, wander!”—- The Rig Veda – 800 – 600 BC Walking down a vacant road on the way to Padum, … Continued
The Spirit of the Catskills -Richard Bangs Before arriving at a new place we all carry the luggage of pre-conceptions. There are usually holes in this kit; we’re almost always wrong, at least to some extent, about our notions. My idea of the Catskills came from two very different periods, the live television run … Continued
Even though few therapists would agree, sometimes neglect paths to the best possible outcome. Such is the case with the Adirondacks, whose fierce geography, unproductive soil, and hard weather diverted early American settlers to more benign plots. As a result, a state of raw wilderness maintained into the 19th century. Some credit the turning … Continued
It’s the final afternoon in paradise, and I head for Hell. Hell, it turns out, is a flash in the road near West Bay, named for a swatch of spiky, tortured, black, ironshore that looks like midday in the garden of evil. There are just a few structures in Hell: a bar named Club Infernal; … Continued
Winter 2013–We Said Go Travel Writing Contest: Free Entry, Cash Prizes, Raffle WeSaidGoTravel.com invites you to enter its 2013 Travel Writing Contest with a $200 first-place prize and no fee for entry. The theme for the Winter 2013 contest is “Inspiration: A Place you Love.” We hope your article will encourage others to consider going … Continued
The hours melt away as I snorkel the brilliant reefs, hike the filigreed interior, draw figures in the sand, collect lovely shells, even paddle around the island in a leaky plastic kayak. I finish reading my one book, Explorers of the Nile, and then stare at a palm tree. I come to admit I’m bored. … Continued