The Best Travel Writers' Blogs and Web Sites

The Weblog continues to evolve from being a largely self-indulgent electronic diary to a form of interactive writing which provides talented travel writers new ways to communicate their adventures and discoveries in real time. The result is often a more engaged form of travel writing. Writers now often act as spokespeople for virtual communities, inspiring and inciting others to explore other physical and virtual worlds. In addition, many aspiring travel writers are either seeing the Blog or personal website as a sufficient medium in-and-of-itself to communicate their experience, or are using the Web to develop their travel writing skills. The following are some of the best sites we have found hosted by travel writers. - web editor Gregory Hubbs

Rolf Potts (RolfPotts.com)
Rolf Potts' collection of sites are rich in resources and interactivity. There are links to some his own fine stories, his inspiring book on Vagabonding along with links to the resources discussed therein, a vast and growing compilation of interviews with travel writers, and finally his own personal blog.

Tim Leffel's Cheapest Destinations (travel.booklocker.com)
Tim Leffel's award-winning blog is comprised of a series of entries which constitute excellent practical articles on budget travel in and of themselves. The blog also links to the site for his excellent book: The World's Cheapest Destinations: 21 Countries Where Your Dollars are Worth a Fortune, which he supplements with many of his favorite resources and articles.

Woldhum.com
A combination blog and a travel writing web site with a literary bent edited by Jim Benning and Michael Yessis. A substantive site which includes many interviews with travel writers and other useful resources.

The Tranquilo Traveler
Joshua Berman co-authored Moon Handbooks Nicargua and wrote the latest edition of Moon Handbooks Belize (winner of the Bronze Lowell Thomas Award for Best Guidebook in 2005). In blog.joshuaberman.net, Joshua records in words and images an odyssey around the world, combining honeymooning, volunteer service, and a form of slow travel he dubs “The Tranquilo Traveler.”

Gadling.com
A great collaborative blog, with many entries by Erik Olsen, exploring engaged travel for adventurers and featuring interviews with travel writers via Podcasts.

Blog Gone Europe
Rick Steves’ Europe through the Backdoor website, www.ricksteves.com, also features Rick's new blog, graced with his usual natural fluid writing style and the insights of a very experienced traveler in Europe.

The Written Road (www.writtenroad.com)
Jen Leo - editor of award-winning satirical travel books such as Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road and Whose Panties Are These? - hosts a very lively and resource-intensive site which provides inside travel writing news and opportunities for amateurs and freelancers alike.

Write to Travel: Exploring the World of Travel Writing (Writetotravel.blogspot.com)
Liz Lewis is a freelance writer from New Zealand who provides interesting posts on the world of travel writing and has conducted a series of interviews with many excellent and well-known travel writers.

Travel Writing: Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

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