Travel Index
Here’s almost all the content we’ve published to date — free and “paid-subscriber-only” articles alike, organized by both region and topic.
Travel Humor and Personal Essays
Austria
The Christmas Markets of Vienna
Belgium
Which Country Makes the Best French Fries?
The "Art Nouveau" Neighborhood in Antwerp, Belgium, Should be More Famous Than it Is
England
Seven Surprising Things About London
Hogwarts in the Snow... is a Total Snow Job
London's Pubs Are Disappearing. Which is Too Bad Because They're Amazing.
London's Crystal Palace Lives! (In my Imagination, at Least)
Iceland
The Water Meets the Sky at Iceland's Fabulous Sky Lagoon
Greece
Seven Surprising Things About Athens, Greece
How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Graffiti. Kind of.
Italy
Seven Surprising Things About Italy’s Cinque Terre
Seven Surprising Things About Lake Como, Italy
Travel Tips for Italy's Cinque Terre (From a Guy Who Loves Bargains and Hates Crowds)
On Being Blow Away by Travel Destinations I’d Never Even Heard of Before Visiting
The Secrets of Picking the Best Gelato
Is a Week in an Italian Villa as Romantic as it Sounds?
Everywhere We Go, We Find Ourselves in the Middle of a Huge Party (Matera, Italy)
Overtourism is Bad. But Tourism Helped Save Italy's Cinque Terre.
Lake Como by Ferry, Foot, and Funicular!
My Flight Over Lake Como in a Friend's Floatplane was AWESOME
Malta
That Time We Stayed in a Medieval Castle — and I Found a Secret Passage Down to the Dungeon!
Netherlands
Seven Surprising Things About the Netherlands
Amsterdam at Night is a Very Magical Place
Sinterklaas Came to Town — and He Carried a Lot of Baggage Along with his Bag of Toys
Efteling Amusement Park in the Netherlands is Everything Disney Used to Be
Spain
The Place We're At Now: Valencia, Spain
Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain, is the Coolest Festival You've (Probably) Never Heard of
I Loved Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences. Will Everyone Else Eventually Love It Too?
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Seven Surprising Things About Sarajevo
The Tragedy of Sarajevo's Olympic Triumph
Sarajevo is a Great Place to Visit (But a Lot of Locals Don't Want to Live There)
Sarajevo's Weird, Wonderful Abandoned Olympic Bobsleigh Run
Tito's Bunker and the Joy of Travel Off the Beaten Path
Rafting the Coldest River In The World
Bulgaria
That Time Our Apartment in Bulgaria Caught on Fire
Croatia
Six Reasons You Should Go to Split, Croatia
What Wind Is So Powerful It Knocks Down Wind Turbines — and Also Makes Cheese?
Varoš: The Tiny Croatian Neighborhood That Taught Me A Big Lesson
If This Is Dalmatia, Where Are All the Dalmatians?
Women Artists in Croatia Are Reclaiming Their History — One Mural at a Time
Czechia
Prague’s Magical Olšany Cemetery
Paris in Spring? Non! Prague in Autumn Is The Place To Be
Georgia
Horoom Nights: Pride, Freedom — and Sex — in Tbilisi, Georgia
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Green Moss
Hungary
Is it Okay to Travel to Homophobic Countries?
A Chance Encounter on the Danube Gave Me Hope for the Future
Swimming in the (Second) Largest Thermal Lake in the World
Pic Post: The Swans of Lake Balaton
Macedonia
Seven Surprising Things About Ohrid, North Macedonia
Ohrid, North Macedonia: Another Fantastic Place We'd Barely Even *Heard* of Before Living Here
The Guest House (in a Village in Rural Macedonia)
What Would the Jurassic Park Ride be Like Without Cheesy Robotic Dinosaurs?
Romania
We’re in Transylvania, and I Can't Stop Thinking About Vampires
Why Do We Feel Like We're Always Being Watched in Sibiu, Romania? Because We Are!
Serbia
Seven Surprising Things About Belgrade (and Serbia)
Weird Travel Facts! Central Europe Edition
What's the Best Way for a Travel Writer to Cover a Place They Didn't Like?
Türkiye
I Went to Istanbul for Medical Tourism! (But It Didn’t Go Exactly as I Expected)
The Shocking Thing I Found Inside a Turkish Hammam
The Touching Lesson Behind Istanbul's Love for Its Many — MANY — Cats
My Search for Istanbul's Perfect Coffee House (and the Surprising Result!)
Cambodia
Seven Surprising Things About Cambodia's Angkor Wat
The Travel Lunatic: A Floating Village, a Bad Embassy, and My Literally Being Eaten Alive!
Can We See Ten Angkor Wat Temples in a Single Day?
Malaysia
Seven Surprising Things About Malaysia
Thailand
Seven Surprising Things About Bangkok
We Didn't Want to Come to Chiang Mai Because of All the Digital Nomads. We Were Idiots.
Songkran is Thai For "Soak the Westerner!"
My Quest for the Secret of Thai Cuisine, Part 1
My Quest for the Secret of Thai Cuisine, Part 2
The Travel Lunatic: Did We Finally Go "Beyond Rangoon"?
Does One Night in Bangkok Really Make a Hard Man Humble?
Grading Thailand's Famous Mae Hong Son Loop
“We Asians Aren't Taught to Think for Ourselves”
We Recommend! A Chef’s Tour — various guided food tours of Thailand (and southeast Asia)
Vietnam
My Favorite Food is Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Australia
Seven Surprising Things About Sydney
I Went Canyoning in Australia’s Blue Mountains (So You Don’t Have To)
Six Amazing Things We Saw in Australia's Blue Mountains (and Two Disappointing Ones)
All About Australian Meat Pies! (By Someone Who Doesn't Really Like Meat)
"By the Time We Australians Get to the End of a Word, We're DONE."
The Place We’re At Now: Whale Beach, Australia
My Lifetime Love Affair with Sydney's Amazing Rock Pools
Polynesia
The First Polynesians Crossed the Pacific Without an All-You-Can Eat Buffet
Alaska (U.S. State)
That Time We Were in a Cabin in Alaska Surrounded by Grizzly Bears
The Travel Lunatic: Alaska is So Beautiful It Will Blow Your Mind
We Recommend! Major Marine Tours — boat tours of Kenai National Park out of Seward, Alaska
Canada
Is Vancouver, Canada, the Perfect City?
Colorado (U.S. State)
The Travel Lunatic: They Call It the Wild West for a Reason
Mexico
Why I Never Get Sick of Mexican Food (at least When I'm Living in Mexico)
Texas (U.S. State)
Deep In The Heart Of Texas...Are Some Amazing Wildflowers
Washington (U.S. State)
Seven Surprising Things About Seattle
Seven Surprising Things about Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula
The Travel Lunatic: Tacoma Doesn't Stink!
The Place We’re At Now: Port Townsend, Washington
Health Care
How Does Health Care Work for a Long-Term Traveler?
Who Has the Best International Health Insurance: SafetyWing or Genki — or Someone Else Entirely?
Which is the Best Travel Insurance: SafetyWing, World Nomads, or Genki?
What Are We Doing for Health Care Insurance in 2023?
I Went to Istanbul for Medical Tourism! (But It Didn’t Go Exactly as I Expected)
Is Genki a Good Health Insurance Option for Nomads and Long-Term Travelers?
We Recommend! Safety Wing and Genki — travel and international health insurance
General
How Two Gay Guys Sold Everything, Left Home to Travel the World...and Lived Happily Ever After
Our Finances! How Are We Able to Afford a Life of Continuous Travel?
How Much Did We Spend in 2023?
In 2022, We Spent $56,000 (While Traveling the World)
There Are Still Massive Travel Bargains Out There
We Have Officially Entered Our Seventh Year as Nomads. Now What?
"I Have Limited Time to Travel. Should I Stay in One Place — Or Try to See as Much as Possible?"
Can We Please Stop with All the Nomad Hate?
I *Really* Hate Wearing Sunblock (But Also Really Hate Skin Cancer)
Brent and Michael’s Secret Travel Hacks: A Series
You Should Travel to Central and Eastern Europe (Part 1 of 2)
You Should Travel to Central and Eastern Europe (Part 2 of 2)
Brent and Michael’s Guide to Travel in the Off Season
Plane Crashes Are Suddenly Everywhere. It Doesn't Mean What You Think.
Everything You Wanted to Know About Nomading (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Do Long-Term Travelers Really Need an "Onward Ticket" When Entering a New Country?
There Are Different Ways to Think About Money. But My Way Will Save You $6000+ a Year.
Why Are Breakfast Buffets in American Hotels So Unbelievably Bad?
We Recommend! Chase Sapphire Preferred or with United Gateway or Explorer (get 60,000+ free mines) — Travel Credit Cards
We Recommend! Airalo eSIMS/data and phone plans for travelers
We Recommend! Cotopaxi Backpacks and Western Rise Pants — travel gear
Cruise Ships
Brent and Michael's Guide to Living Long-Term on a Cruise Ship
Fifty-Seven Days on a Cruise Ship
Six Surprising Reasons We Like Cruise Ships
Cruise Ships Are a Fantastic Way to See Alaska, Part 1
Cruise Ships Are a Fantastic Way to See Alaska, Part 2
Is It Ethical to Take a Cruise?
Food
My Favorite Food is Vietnamese Spring Rolls
My Quest for the Secret of Thai Cuisine, Part 1
My Quest for the Secret of Thai Cuisine, Part 2
Which Country Makes the Best French Fries?
Should You Get Another Order of That Incredible Mushroom Dish?
Why I Never Get Sick of Mexican Food (at least When I'm Living in Mexico)
The Secrets of Picking the Best Gelato
LGBTQ
Just How "Out" Should Gay Travelers Be?
Horoom Nights: Pride, Freedom — and Sex — in Tbilisi, Georgia
Is it Okay to Travel to Homophobic Countries?
The Worst Part of Traveling While Gay
We’re a Gay Couple That Had to Get Married Five Times
Brent
What If We Reviewed Everything Like We’re Now Supposed to Review Airbnb?
My Father Just Died. Here's the Eulogy I Gave at His Funeral
Twenty Years Ago, Everyone Thought My Gay Teen Novel Would Flop. They Were Wrong.
Scenes From a Weird and Angry America
I Actually Love Getting Older, Thank You Very Much
That Time I Learned We're All on Different Paths (Even When We're on the Same Path)
There's a Secret to Successful Travel. It's Also the Secret to a Successful Life.
I Accidentally Conducted a Social Media Experiment on Myself. I Really Like the Results.
What I Learned From Getting Stuck in Some Mud as a Kid
That Time Someone Ducked Into Our Airbnb to Use the Toilet
The Beauty of a Terrible Jack in the Box Taco on Christmas Day
Relationship Advice for Straight Couples from a Long-Term Gay Couple
Is It Still Worth It for Writers to Put Up with All the Bullshit?
What Makes 80s Music and Movies So Appealing?
The "Chosen Family" Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be
Should the 50-Something Year-Old Woman Tell the Young Man to Take His Shoes Off the Train Seat?
What's It Like to Stay in a Hotel for Two Months?
The Weird Little Story of My Big Toe
For 20 Years, I Regretted Leaving Hollywood. Lately, I Think I Made the Right Call.
Oh, Sh*t, I Think We Just Blinded Our Friends' Dog!
It’s a Lot Easier to Make Friends Outside of America
On Mitt Romney, Dolly Parton, and Moral Reckonings
The Incredible Beauty of Unlikely Friendships
America Needs to Stop Its Insane Tipping Practices
Madonna vs. Cyndi Lauper: What Their Careers Taught Me About Art
America is Very Fat — and the Rest of the World is Getting Fatter Too. Does It Matter?
That Time Our Plane Caught on Fire Over the Atlantic
The Worst Person in the World Led to the Best Decision of My Life
My Mom Was Wrong About Travel (But She Was Right About Cleaning the Kitchen Sink)
My "Misfit Toy" Theory of Digital Nomads
2022 was the Year That Substack Saved my Life
Michael
I just Turned Sixty. No, I Don’t Have Sixty Pieces of Advice.
The Thing I Want You to Know About My Mother's Death
This is Not Another Terrible Toilet Travel Story
Sleeping With the Enemy: My Struggle with Insomnia
That Time I Met the Luckiest Woman Alive
It’s Really Hard to be Healthy in America
That Time a Woman Offered to Take Our Selfie — and She Turned Out to be a Chinese Annie Leibovitz
A Letter to My Young European Friends Who Smoke
Travel Writer Blamed For Major Athens Olive Shortage
Did I Do the Smart Thing or the Dumb Thing?
Is Rotisserie Chicken the Perfect Food?
That Time I Got Drunk At a Serbian Winery
A Chance Encounter on the Danube Gave Me Hope for the Future
The Croatian Fish Market: The Fish Speak!
When Nomad Travel Plans Go Sideways
How Our Romantic Night on the Train to Budapest Almost Went Off the Rails
In Malaysia, I Had Cosmetic Work Done on My Face (Part 1)
In Malaysia, I Had Cosmetic Work Done on My Face (Part 2)
People Watching Around the World
Travel Writer Blamed For Major Athens Olive Shortage
My Parents Only Wanted What was Best for Me. Too Bad They Had No Idea What It Was.
Michael Jensen and the Temple of Darkness
It’s My Birthday, and I Can't Believe How Much I've Changed in the Last Four Years
Tips From An Amateur Photographer
April Fool’s Day
"Airbnb Experiences" to Include New Feature: "Airbnb SEXperiences!"
ChatGPT Will Never Take Over Travel Journalism — or Anything Else Either
We Have a New Corporate Sponsor!
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2018
Las Vegas, Nevada
New Orleans, Louisiana
Orlando, Florida
Naples, Florida
Miami, Florida
Jensen Beach, Florida
Key Largo, Florida
Funchal, Portugal
Ponta Delgada, Portugal
Malaga, Spain
Alicante, Spain
Cartagena, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Valletta, Malta
Polignano a Mare, Italy
Monopoli, Italy
Brindisi, Italy
Ostuni, Italy
Matera, Italy
Bansko, Bulgaria
Velingrad, Bulgaria
Rome, Italy
Naples, Italy
Kotor, Montenegro
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Korcula, Croatia
Mykonos, Greece
Santorini, Greece
Toulon, France
Postojna, Slovenia
Curacao
Aruba
Cartagena, Colombia
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Corinto, Nicaragua
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
Huatalco, Mexico
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Port Townsend, Washington
2019
Seattle, Washington
Krabi, Thailand
Koh Lanta, Thailand
Hoi An, Vietnam
West Chester, Pennsylvania
New York City, New York
Geneva, Switzerland
Grimentz, Switzerland
Bologna, Italy
Tbilisi, Georgia
Dilijan, Armenia
Sevan, Armenia
Rome, Italy
Tivoli, Italy
Florence, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Naples, Italy
Catania, Italy
Madeira, Portugal
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Bahamas
Amber Cove, Dominican Republic
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
St. Lucia
St. Kitts & Nevis
Antigua & Barbuda
Seattle, Washington
2020
Mexico City, Mexico
Georgetown, Texas
Seattle, Washington
Sequim, Washington
Mount Rainier National Park
Mount St. Helens
Lyall, Washington
Portland, Oregon
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Ogden, Utah
Moab, Utah
Florence, Colorado
Denver Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Helena, Montana
West Yellowstone, Montana
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
2021
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Seattle, Washington
Istanbul, Türkiye
Brasov, Romania
Sibiu, Romania
Sighisoara, Romania
Bran, Romania
Budapest, Hungary
Keszthely, Hungary
Vienna, Austria
Prague, Czechia
Kutna Hora, Czechia
Hvar, Croatia
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Blagaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Split, Croatia
2022
Port Townsend, Washington
Sitges, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Malaga, Spain
Alicante, Spain
Marseilles, France
Genoa, Italy
Civitavecchia, Italy
Naples, Italy
Crete, Greece
Mykonos, Greece
Kusadasi, Türkiye
İstanbul, Türkiye
Athens, Greece
Como, Italy
Torno, Italy
Bellagio, Italy
Tremezzo, Italy
Varenna, Italy
Lugano, Switzerland
Milano, Italy
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Konjic, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Novi Sad, Serbia
Belgrade, Serbia
Ohrid, Macedonia
Ljubaništa, Macedonia
Levanto, Italy
Monterosso al Mare, Italy
Vernazzo, Italy
Corniglia, Italy
Manarola, Italy
Riomaggiore, Italy
Porto Venere, Italy
La Spezia, Italy
Gouda, Netherlands
The Hague, Netherlands
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Antwerp, Belgium
Brussels, Belgium
Cernobbio, Italy
Brighton Beach, United Kingdom
London/Croydon, United Kingdom
2023
Seattle, Washington
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Penang, Malaysia
Bangkok, Thailand
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Kampong Phluk, Cambodia
Chiang Rai, Thailand
Mae Song, Thailand
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Mae Hong Sai, Thailand
Pai, Thailand
Seattle, Washington
Denver, Colorado (Michael)
Boulder, Colorado (Michael)
Albany, Oregon (Brent)
Sitka, Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
Skagway, Alaska
Icy Point, Alaska
Skagway, Alaska
Hubbard Bay, Alaska
Seward, Alaska
Vancouver, Canada
San Francisco, California
Honolulu, Hawaii
American Samoa
Papeete, Tahiti
New Zealand
New Zealand
Sydney, Australia
Cronulla, Australia
Eleura, Australia
Katoomba, Australia
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