What's in this issue?
TRAVELER REPORTS
Travel News For Travel People
Jennie Eng searches for some serious relaxation in Morocco. Read More
Mark Feenstra discovers that those wishing to help rebuild areas struck by the tsunami may not be as welcomed as they expect. Read More
Luminita Bianca Cuna pays her respects to a Mayan saint. Read More
Rosario Charie Albar highlights the top attractions in Rome. Read More
In Jordan, Michael Cornn discovers rock climbing, the meaning of the word friable and a moment that will last a lifetime. Read More
Sometimes, Victoria Shepherd learns, the best attractions are away from the big city lights. Read More
Go to all the new BootsnAll articles »
WHERE NEXT?
New frontiers for modern-day explorers and independent travel
This month's winner for pushing the limits with traveling is: Manihiki Atoll, Northern Atolls, Cook Islands
The northern atoll of Manihiki in the Cook Islands is the end of the road. Difficult and expensive to get to, Manihiki is about as distant from anywhere in the Pacific as a traveler can be. Samoa lies 800 miles to the west, Christmas Island in Kiribati, 1000 miles to the north. Rarotonga, the main island from whence we came, is 700 miles to the south.
Rich McIntyre was the first traveler to visit this island in 3 years. It's home to around 200 people who survive off fishing and diving for black pearls. Rich was able to chronicle an amazing tale of the 1997 cyclone that devasted the island.
Find out more information about the surrounding region.
TRAVEL PEOPLE
Interviews with people on the cutting-edge of travel
Doug Lansky, Travel Author
After two and a half years of working his way around the planet - picking bananas in Israel, snowmobile guiding in the Alps, selling carpets in Morocco, and hitching on yachts - a car accident in Thailand brought Doug Lansky home. Six months later, Doug was back on the road, but this time with a nationally syndicated travel column that grew to reach over 10 million readers in 40 major newspapers.
Doug's books have won several awards and the most recent, First Time Around the World, is a Rough Guides bestseller. Doug is working on two books for Rough Guides while he tours on the lecture circuit.
BootsnAll recently met up with Doug Lansky and had a chance to interview him about his new upcoming book The Rough Guide to Travel Survival: An Essential Field Manual.
Why did you decide to write this book?
During the years I worked as a travel columnist and traveled the world full time, I carried this SAS Survival book. I bought it because it was small and easy to throw in my pack and it seemed like a good thing to have along just in case. Then one day on a long bus ride I finished the novel I was reading and, out of boredom, picked up the survival book. I was fascinated by the information, but found it overwhelming and way over my level. The print was too small and there were about 20 different kinds of knots and all these complicated animal traps. Plus, there was no clear-cut strategy on what to do, and in what order, for various survival situations. I remember thinking "I hope I never need this book."
Who is it aimed at and what does it cover?
It's written with aid workers, foreign correspondents, and adventure travelers in mind. This book is designed to function as a field guide for those who have no experience with survival and serve as a helpful checklist for those who've already taken some sort of survival course, but want to make sure they remember everything in a panicked situation (which is exactly why pilots and trauma medics carry a checklist). It covers pre-trip preparation (e.g. figuring out if countries are safe and packing a survival kit), dangerous city survival, war zone survival, natural disaster survival, safari animal survival, desert survival, at sea survival, jungle survival, arctic survival, and mountain survival.
Read BootsnAll's entire interview with Doug about the travel survival book.
Purchase an advance copy of Doug Lansky's book: The Rough Guide to Travel Survival: An Essential Field Manual.
BOOTSNALL TRAVELBLOGS
Endless amounts of travel news, thoughts, opinions from BootsnAll bloggers on the road
Don't forget, if you're about to head off on an extended trip and you've just got to have one of your own, talk to us about getting your own Travel Blog. All you need to do is make sure you're a BootsnAll member and we'll take care of the rest.
Sign up for BootsnAll membership here »
Check out the BootsnAll TravelBlogs »
TRAVEL TALK
A travelers community for ranting and raving about world
Being a Responsible Traveler
Are you a responsible, prepared traveler? Do you carry a medical kit, copies of your passport and share with your family where you will be? Or are yo someone who just travels, not taking any precautions? Which is better?
To Travel to Myanmar or not
A constant debate in Southeast Asia backpackers circle is whether it's a good decision to travel in Myanmar. Some travelers believe that tourist dollars go to support a repressive government and that you should boycott the country altogether; other travelers think that if you expose the locals to outside influences they will rise up and topple their government. Whatever you believe, the question is, "should you go?" See what other travelers think.
Curious about Colombia?
Whenever the average Westerner thinks of Columbia, they think of drugs, violence, and being kidnapped. This is a country that has built itself a seedy reputation, partly due to Hollywood and partly due to truth. But, recent travelers and friends have said that Columbia is actually a great place to travel, and as long as you don't work from some big foreign gas company, you should be fine, if you keep you wits about you. Read what BootsnAll members had to say.
Round the World: What are your five tips
Bootsnall members sound off on their best advice and tips for traveling around the world. Listen Up!
FEATURED TRIP - Hundreds of Last Minute Trip Deals
If you are looking for a last minute, very cheap, adventure tours, check out our Impulse Deals. All trips are 20% off! This section is updated daily.
Check out all of Bootsnall Adventure trips
